Crafting in August: Write and Send a Poem

Yes, yes, we know. Fall is a few weeks away (at the time of this writing). But we think writing a poem on a homemade card is a beautiful way to honor the changing of seasons.

Are we the only eager crafters out there that want to jump-start the season? By the way, we haven’t yet ventured into the world of “Christmas in July” cards yet (Card crafters, tell us how this trend emerged?) Maybe we will take the challenge next year when our confidence builds.

One thing is for sure. A poem makes for a great focal point on any card. Liz’s son loves poetry (thank you kindergarten, first and second grade teachers!). He helped Liz write an find rhyming words to this poem. He even gave it the title, “Fall Life”. After that, there was no turning back. We needed to put this on a card.

This “Fall Life” card is the perfect way to use your “someday” scraps stash. We punched out leaves from many hues of red, orange, brown and yellow paper and used them to frame the text. We did this using an oak leaf paper punch (we did not have a maple one). We also used gold distressed ink and added shimmer to the leaves. It actually gives it a nice sheen that adds interest and enhances the beauty of the card.

Here’s how to make it.

Step 1. First start with a card of your choice. We chose a 4 x 6 inch card (A4) which was brown (more like cardboard or “kraft” style). Brown feels mellow and gives it a very earthy feeling.

Step 2. Add a background. We chose burlap fabric because it looks rustic and brings warmth and texture to this project. Liz had this fabric for years and we have now been using the fabric roll in our projects.

Step 3. Next, write out a poem or print one of your choice (We’ll include the full text of our poem at the bottom of this post). We printed the poem on off-white resume paper because we liked its texture. Next, glue the poem to a background paper of your choice, but do not glue the edges. Important: Leave the edges unglued because you will be layering leaves in there.

Step 4. Now it’s time to punch out the leaves. Choose various fall colors from your yardstick or scrapbook paper stash. Orange, red, burgundy, yellow, browns, blacks, and gold are fall are autumn colors. Using our leaf punch, we probably punched 30-35 leaves from our scraps. The only glittery paper we used was an orange one.

Step 5. This is the fun part. We decided to sponge gold ink on certain leaves (okay, almost all) to make it extra special. If you are crafting with kids, assign this task to them! Basically, we took a discount store makeup sponge and tapped it into CraftsMart’s Pigment Ink Pad in Gold. We sponged each leaf a few times. Doing so added a slight gold sheen to the leaves when light hit it from different angles. This subtle but elegant touch added some magic to the card.

Step 6. Finally, frame the leaves around the poem and tuck some of them behind the poem. Place one or two on top of poem if you wish. If you like the arrangement, glue it in place.

Final touches: Finally we found some scrap paper that had some sweaters on it. We decided to cut it out from the paper and dedicate it to the mother and son who wrote it (Liz’s son chose the orange one).