AUTUMN ACTIVITIES

Autumn is my favorite time of year. We are fortunate enough in our neck of the woods to experience all 4 seasons to the fullest. I love the warm autumn air by day and the cool air in the evening. It’s a time to put summer to rest and our rakes to good use. For our family it means football, campfires, hunting, and Halloween, just to name a few.

Every October, I get a sense of exhilaration. I think it comes from knowing that in a short time the winter months will be here and we’ll all be hibernating and watching the snow fly.

For me, getting out with my camera in the autumn means I’ll be capturing the excitement at my son's football game along with the changing colors of the trees in the background. There’s always a magnitude of pictures to be taken at the pumpkin patch and the carving of that perfect pumpkin that took my daughter an hour to pick out. We have an apple tree in our backyard that is one of my favorite photo subjects. I take photos of it as the apples begin changing to red and snap progressive pictures to show the change. Our yellow lab even shows a burst of enthusiasm for autumn as she runs through our freshly raked piles of leaves and then turns them into her personal nest to sun in.

Let the month of October give you a boost of energy to get you through the rest of the year and don’t forget to set your clocks back one hour on October 31st.

Layout 1: SCORE

Supplies:

• Party Time Creatable by Carolee Jones
• Football Creatable by Linda Oberhansley
• 12x12 yellow background paper
• Black and white cardstock
• 3-D Dots by EK Success

Instructions:

1. Open up a workspace, I use Microsoft Word, copy and paste the Score title from the Party Time Creatable. Size the title to 10” wide using the landscape format. Print 2 of these titles onto white cardstock. Cut one title out completely and cut the referee, the football and the letters S and C from the second title. Place the cutout pieces onto the title using 3-D Dots. For the referee, place the Dots along the right side of him and adhere the left side with tape or glue, this will give him an angled 3-D look. For the letter C, place the Dots on the left side and tape down the right side. This will give the title the look of getting smaller in the background.
2. Copy and paste the football field from the Football Creatable and print it in landscape format to size 7 ½” x 10 ½”. Trim edges from the field.
3. Place the title at the top of the layout and the field at the bottom. Mat photos using black cardstock.
4. For the finishing touch add the football trophy from the Football Creatable with your favorite player's name added.
   

Layout 2: I WANT CANDY

Supplies:

• Harvest Holidays Creatable by Tammy DeYoung
• 12x12 orange cardstock
• Black and white cardstock
• Lettering Template (source unknown)
• Adler font, downloaded from internet
• Speckling Stamp by Stampin’ Up
• Black ink pad
• Black embroidery floss
• Magic Mesh, white

Instructions:

1. Copy and paste the Costume Border graphic to a workspace, I use Microsoft Word. Size to 3 ½” wide. Create a 4” x 1 ½” text box and add the text I WANT using Adler font. Print onto white cardstock and randomly stamp over the lettering and graphic with the speckled stamp using black ink. Tear them out and set aside.
2. Create the CANDY title using a lettering template. I used a picture that I took of all the kids candy. With the same picture create 4, 1” squares. You could also use printed or patterned paper. Cut out the letters and mat onto black cardstock along with the squares. Set aside.
3. Trim a piece of 12” black cardstock to 4” wide. Make a tear at the bottom and make small folds on the top corners. Adhere to the left side of the layout onto the orange cardstock.
4. Place a 1 ¼” wide piece of white Magic Mesh across the bottom of the layout.
5. Stamp white cardstock with the speckle stamp and use to mat photos. Adhere photos to layout. Arrange remaining elements onto the layout and adhere.
6. Sew the lettering and graphics down creating X’s with the black embroidery thread. Add random X’s onto the layout.
   

Layout 3: PUMPKIN, PUMPKIN, PUMPKIN

Supplies:

• Haunted Halloween Creatable by Tammy Sherman
• Assorted fall colored cardstock by Bazzil
• Circle punch by Creative Memories
• Raffia
• Square eyelets by Stampin’ Up, Close to Cocoa color

Instructions:

1. Copy and paste the Pumpkins, Freaky Face and Cat Pumpkin to a work space, I use Microsoft Word. Place the Pumpkin graphics at the bottom of the left side and size to 3 ½” wide and 3” tall. Place the other graphics on the right side. Size the Cat Pumpkin to 4” wide and 3” tall. Size the Freaky Face to 1”. Add a title, journaling or poem to the left side above the pumpkins to create a 4” border. Print onto natural cardstock. Cut the pumpkins and text. Cut the Cat Pumpkin out. Punch out the Freaky Face graphic using the circle punch and mat onto orange cardstock adding a square eyelet at the top.
2. Mat the border onto tan cardstock. Tie a raffia bow around the border above the Pumpkins. Adhere to left side of the layout.
3. Cut random strip of assorted colored cardstock and adhere to the top right side of the layout. Place eyelets on the left side of a few of the strips. Place the Cat Pumpkin graphic onto the strips and attach a raffia knot.
4. Mat photo and adhere to layout along with the Freaky Face tag with a raffia knot added.
   

Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Pumpkin Bright
N. M. Bodecker

Pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin bright,
When the goblins ride tonight,
Guide me with your kindly light
Pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin bright.

Pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin grin,
Cheshire cat and tiger kin,
Night without and light within,
Dancing, dancing, pumpkin grin.

Pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin head,
When my "Tricks or Treats" are said,
Will you light me to my bed
Kind old father pumpkin head?

Pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin pie,
I'm so sad that I could cry,
Why dear papa lantern, why
Must you end as pumpkin pie?

Pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin bright,
Autumn lantern in the night;
You'll be back next year all right?
Pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin bright.

Layout 4: CRAZY 4 S’MORES

Supplies:

• Take a Hike Creatable by Deena Rutter
• Backwoods Critters Creatable by Kerrie Fisher
• Monochromatic orange cardstock by Bazzil
• Grey cardstock
• Vellum
• Gold mulberry (source unknown)
• Eyelets, Really Rust by Stampin’ Up
• #4 stud, by Scrapworks
• Orange wire, by Wild Wire
• Small twigs
• ymo label maker
• Spiral paper clips by Making Memories
• Lettering Delights Alphabets:
  • Aunt Millie
  • Impressions
  • Button
  • Candy Corn
  • Cute Tag
• Paper Punch

Instructions:

1. Copy and paste the S’mores graphic from Take a Hike Creatable and the 3 Bears graphic from Backwoods Critters onto a workspace, I use Microsoft Word. Size to fit onto a 3”x 5” tag. Print onto grey cardstock. Cut to create a tag tearing the ends and matting onto orange cardstock. Place a small orange square at the top. Punch a hole and thread with torn mulberry. Embellish with eyelets, spiral paperclip, twig attached with wire and text printed onto vellum.
2. Tear a random piece of gold mulberry and place down the left side of the layout.
3. Place a 1” strip down the right side of the layout to be under photos and attach at the top and bottom using eyelets. Adhere photos to layout.
4. Adhere the tags at the bottom of the layout on the left side.
5. To create the title CRAZY, use a different alphabet for each letter from Lettering Delights and print onto vellum. (See alphabet list above.) Tear and attach to the layout using eyelets. Tuck the right side under the photos.
6. Create an assortment of embellishments to repeat the word “for” or number “4” and attach under the CRAZY title.