Renke Leaves and Grasses for Paper Players #665

Happy Sunday.

It’s the fabulous Anne Marie’s turn to host our Paper Players challenge this week and it’s theme week.  For my card I went fairly clean and simple and used a relatively new die from Alexandra Renke called Leaves and Grasses.  I paired it with a scalloped die from Renke and a background stamp from The Greetery called Pretty Postmarks.

And here’s the badge for our challenge:

I began by blending different shades of orange, rust and yellow onto a piece of cardstock.  I then used that to die-cut the leaves and grasses.  For the background I used a stamp from the Pretty Postmarks set and die-cut the frame.  I stamped the sentiment and then added some splatters to the base that reflected the colors in the leaves.

Here’s my card:

I hope you will join us and play along with Anne Marie’s challenge this week.  We would love to see what you create.  As always, the design team have some fabulous inspiration for you:

• Ann
• Claire
• Joanne
• Laurie
• LeAnne
• Anne Marie
• Suzy
• Fran
• Tara

On a personal note:

Well, I promised a couple of photos of our decorations for fall 🙂  When we moved in there were a couple of spaces in the apartment that I had absolutely no idea what to do with.  They were just empty holes – and one of them is really big!!!  I mean it’s a wall space with a set of cupboards and it measures around 15 feet and I spent a good couple of months wondering what to do with it.  Sadly, I don’t have the photos of what we did for the summer months as I inadvertently removed them from my phone when I was cleaning up!  But I can show you the before and after for fall.

The first problem hole is in the living area – along the same wall as the TV.  After a few months of living with this hole I finally found a mirror on sale at Kirklands that perfectly fit the space.  In summer the mirror had nothing except the lamp and a vase of pale yellow daisies to decorate it.  The amount of light the mirror throws back into the room was amazing and it perfectly reflected the weather changes and blue skies from outside.  For fall I went with a more decorated look with a wreath, a couple of large acorns and the vase flowers were replaced with matching colored leaves.

Here’s what the hole looked like originally:

And here’s what it looks like now:

As the TV is mounted on the wall, it created a void underneath that needed a little something.  I moved the slim console table that we had in the bedroom of the previous apartment to this space and decorated it with some fall goodies.  Although I cannot do anything about that big black thing!!! It does look better with some decorations underneath it.  At least it isn’t just floating in the air now 🙂

Much better!  I also added a smaller table in the entry area and hung an autum sign, added some candles and a small amount of foliage.  Another awkward space that now looks better!  The back of the chair is where Smudgie likes to sleep.  He has managed to get the bend in the cushion to just the right position that he can nestle down into!

OK…. let’s take a look at the “what on earth am I going to do with THAT space”!  And the trouble with THAT space is that it dominates the living, kitchen and dining areas.  So, when it was just a blank space it was totally overwhelming.  Here’s a look at a HALF of THAT space when the apartment was empty.  The photo was taken from the living area, so you can see just how much it dominates.

So here’s the before:

So, the countertop is about 15 feet long and, as you can see, there was no outlet on top and no way to get cords through the quartz on the countertop.  So, we had to pay to get an outlet installed so that we could at least add a lamp!  But…. what to do with the rest of it?

I managed to find a supplier on etsy who makes these fabulous wall signs.  They are 3 feet high and 5 feet long so they really help to fill the space.  I also managed to find a REALLY large vase and some REALLY large branches to help fill the other end of the empty space.  I know it’s hard to tell but the vase with the leaves stand 5 feet tall.  So, that gives you some idea of how large the space is.   Here’s what it looks like now:

Of course, I had to find something to hide the outlet – so a candle arrangement from Kirklands fit the bill.  I wasn’t going to decorate for Christmas as Lou and I will be on our cruise, but having seen the difference the fall colors made, I decided to decorate as normal.  But, that has to wait until after Thanksgiving.

The great thing about having so many windows in the apartment and living in a city with so many trees, is that there were so many trees that echoed the colors of the decorations inside the house!  Like this guy!  What a gorgeous color!

I’ll be back later in the week.  In the meantime, warm hugs and prayers for those of you who need a little lift tonight.

Hugs

Jaydee

Card recipe:

• Stamps:  Pretty Postmarks – The Greetery
• Dies:  Leaves and Grasses, Wavy frame with Stitches – Alexandra Renke