It's Looking a Lot Like Fall.....in August!

Yes, it's August, and yes, it's in the 90s outside.  And here in my part of Oregon, the Willamette Valley is blanketed in smoke from forest fires both to the east and the west.  But I've been looking toward fall, and making items to stock in my Etsy shop and my card rack at Top Drawer Upscale Resale and Boutique!  Up first- pressed fall leaf/flower laminated bookmarks, which I've been making for a number of years now.  I haven't made any new ones for awhile, and it was so much fun pulling out my stash of pressed fall leaves (which I, along with my daughter, collected and pressed myself) to make these!

I threw a few flowers in there as well- I love the Black-Eyed Susans with fall leaves!  And there aren't a lot of orange flowers out there, but the fuchsias I used in that last one coordinate perfectly with the orangy leaves.

In addition, and I alluded to this in a previous post, I recently ordered some matte laminate from my laminate supplier, Oregon Lamination Company.  The reason- to experiment with making pressed flower and leaf  greeting cards!  As it has been a busy summer, I did not get around to making any with flowers, but since I had my leaves out and was playing with them, I figured I'd take a stab at some cards.  I used a collage style on an off-white background, and used paper colors to compliment the leaves.  I think they turned out nicely!  The matte laminate, unlike the gloss that I use for bookmarks, does not reflect any light, and you almost can't even tell it's there.  After experimenting with different ways of putting pressed flowers and leaves on greeting cards, this is the only one that has really worked to protect the delicate flora from breakage with use.  Being laminated, these leaves will last for years, assuming it is not stored in direct sunlight.  Wouldn't these be gorgeous in a picture frame?

These cards are standard A2 size (4.25x5.5) and come with an off-white envelope.  I've listed the top two in the photo in my Etsy shop, and will be taking the bottom two to my card rack at Top Drawer.

In addition to the fall colors now exploding in my Etsy shop, I have also listed some pressed flower bookmarks.  I recently got an order for 3 bookmarks, and after reviewing my remaining listings, I realized that I only had one bookmark left in my shop!  Well, I had some inventory that was not listed, so today finally took the time to take pictures and get them listed.  Along with the regular pressed flower/leaf collage bookmarks, I also listed 3 of the Jane Austen book page bookmarks that I had left over from the Jane Austen Faire last year.  Surprisingly- one of them was favorited only minutes after I listed them!

My spare time is short these days, but I'm hoping to get some more fall products completed for both my Etsy shop and my rack at Top Drawer soon.  I already have a start on a couple of Halloween cards, using a paper that I bought last year and had some left over.  I had made 2 cards with it, and both sold out, so hopefully someone will like these too.  I just LOVE fall- it is my favorite season, and it's so fun to finally be able to make some more fall items!