Fall & Halloween Cards: Autumn Inspiration

Hello fall! Here in the Pacific Northwest, there is a little bit of fall in the air and the days have grown shorter. To embrace the season in my cardmaking, I am revisiting fall-themed cards (including Halloween) in my blog archive, from the warm hues of harvest and cozy comforts of sweater weather to the playful spookiness of Halloween. Click on the card image to be taken to the original post.

Embrace the cozy weather with a card featuring a novelty sweater and a knitted pattern background.

Send a warm greeting with a card that captures the beauty of fall.

Celebrate the harvest season with cards showcasing pumpkins piled high in a rustic cart.

Bring a whimsical touch to Halloween on a card featuring a gnome dressed as a wizard cruising in a sporty car.

Haunted houses never go out of style, as seen on this card featuring an abandoned house with bats, ghosts, and a glowing full moon.

Observations As I look at the cards, I see that I used dry-embossed backgrounds or woodgrain elements on the fall cards for texture. Additionally, the color orange appeared on all of the cards. I did not include any Thanksgiving cards in this roundup; although I have made a few over the years, it is not an occasion for which I regularly make cards.

I hope this roundup sparks your imagination to create your own fall-themed cards. What are some of your favorite products with this theme? Do you have products on your “to buy” list with this theme?

Elizabeth Craft Designs Jungle Friendship

Hello! Step into the jungle with a friendship card featuring the Elizabeth Craft Designs Slow the Sloth hanging from a tree. The scene is set upon a jungle leaf background which reinforces the theme. A tropical flower adds a burst of color to the whimsical design.

Elizabeth Craft Designs Slow the Sloth

    • Cut the Leaves Background from Noble Fir cardstock. Add to a Sea Glass cardstock panel measuring 4″ x 5 1/4″. Add the assembly to a white, orange -peel textured, A-2 sized cardstock panel affixed to a card base. You can read about the use of cover plate dies to create card backgrounds HERE.
    • With the Slow the Sloth set, cut the sloth and tree branch from a variety of cardstock colors. Assemble and add to the card background with foam adhesive. You can watch an introduction to the Jungle Party collection and assembly of the sloth HERE.
    • Create sentiment and cut with an Everyday Sentiment Banner die. I created the sentiment “Let’s Hang Out” on my computer.
    • Embellish card with a hibiscus bloom and tropical leaf cut with dies in the Jungle Leaves set.

The sloth’s laid-back charm will bring a smile to the recipient and serve as a reminder to take it easy amidst life’s hustle and bustle!

Elizabeth Craft Designs Slow the Sloth


Elizabeth Craft Floral Encouragement Card

Hello! After putting together a roundup of encouragement cards, I was inspired to create a card to lift someone’s spirits. At the same time, I wanted to play with new products in the Elizabeth Craft Designs Paper Flowers collection.

Elizabeth Craft Floral Encouragement Card

    • With black ink, stamp Stampin’ Up You’ve Got This sentiment (retired) on Chamomile cardstock and cut with largest die in the Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangles set. Add to an A2-size card base.
    • Color Soft Finish cardstock with Distress Inks and cut Wild Flower 4 and Greenery Fillers pieces. Shape floral elements, add additional ink as needed for shading, and assemble. To create small, white flowers, cut Soft Finish cardstock with die in the Florals Minis set, shape, and assemble. Glue prills to centers.
    • Adhere cascade of flowers to card front.

Elizabeth Craft Floral Encouragement Card


Elizabeth Craft | Gnome Valentine

Hello! After the creating the Valentine’s Day card roundup, which you can see HERE, and rediscovering treasures in my crafting supplies, I was inspired to create a new card for the holiday. Picture a charming gnome on top of a cart brimming with hearts paired with a sentiment that reads “Loads of Love.”

Elizabeth Craft | Gnome Valentine

    • To begin, create sentiment on your computer and print. Trim to an A2-size panel and apply Distress Oxide inks in Hickory Smoke and Tumbled Glass to establish the ground and sky. Attach panel to a card base.
    • Apply Distress Oxide inks to Soft Finish Cardstock and cut pieces for the Gnome (I used the Farmer set for the eyes), Hay Ride (trailer), and hearts (various die sets listed below). Assemble the gnome and the trailer. (Note: I used a 1/2″ circle die to cut part of the wheel assembly.)
    • Add die-cut hearts to trailer. I added the hearts on the bottom row first, then I put the trailer on to the card base and filled the cart until I was happy with the amount.
    • Add gnome to cart.

You can see a similar autumn-themed card with several of the same Elizabeth Craft Designs supplies HERE.

Elizabeth Craft | Gnome Valentine


Arctic Love: Polar Bear Valentine

Inspired by my recent Valentine’s Day card roundup, I crafted a Valentine featuring a polar bear nestled inside a heart, surrounded by a backdrop of red, pink, and blue circles. With a die-cut “XO XO” sentiment, this card is created solely with die cuts.

Polar Bear Valentine

    • Cut Reverse Confetti Big Polkas Cover Panel from Snowdrift cardstock. (This cover plate is now retired, and I have been unable to locate a source for it.) Cut 1″ circles (using a die from the Everlasting Circles set) from Pomegranate, Dahlia, Pink Sand, and Sea Glass cardstock). Tape the circles to the back of cover panel (trimming circles as necessary where there is overlap). Add assembly to an A2-size card base.
    • Cut heart from Pomegranate cardstock with second largest die in the Essential Hearts set. Add to card.
    • Cut Elizabeth Craft Designs Polar Bear (retired but still available at Frantic Stamper) from Snowdrift, Onyx, and gray (Bazzill Taffy) cardstock. (I used the retired Paper Smooches Snowman 2 die for the mouth.) Assemble.
    • Cut sentiment from white glitter foam with the Journal Letter die set. Add to card.

Polar Bear Valentine