I created these cards for a fall-themed Instagram hop. The theme was supposed to be making your own plaid, but as you’ll see I cheated.

For my background I used plaid pattern paper from my stash. I used my trimmer to cut it down to 2” by 5.5”. I inked the edges with Vintage Photo, stabilized it with some Kraft cardstock and adhered it to my Kraft cardbase.

Botanicals

The botanical dies are from Kaiser Crafts. They’ve long since retired, but Spellbinders have great alternatives in their Sealed collection. They’re on sale as part of Spellbinders’ Warehouse Sale right now. The Spellbinders dies would actually be better because they have longer stalks. Here are some I’d recommend:

• Sealed Gingko Leaves

• Sealed Berry Sprig

• Sealed Blooms

I cut them out of pale blush and grey cardstock. If you like these modern muted tones, they come from a Recollections paper pad called Neutrals. I doubled them up with some Kraft cardstock for stability. The grey was a little too muted for me, so I blended some Shaded Lilac Distress Oxide on the edges, using tiny detail blending brushes. Then I adhered the botanicals along the center edge of the plaid pattern paper. I used foam tape under some of the leaves for added dimension.

More cheating

To literally tie the composition together, I used another cheat. I admire people who can use twine on their cards, but when I do it, it never comes out quite right.

The solution is the Sealed Twine Die Set. It basically cuts out faux twine. I cut mine out of Kraft and colored it with a Tombow Marker in a red that matched the pattern paper.

My sentiment comes from a Spellbinders stamp set called Fall Greetings. I embossed it with Ranger’s Super Fine Copper powder and fussy cut it. I colored in the words with a black Tombow Marker for added contrast.