Are you ready to see how the new Soleil Die Set can enhance those gorgeous fall photos you’ve been out taking?

Pattern #392, a mostly squares pattern is perfect for the Soleil 2×6 and 2×2 Block set and can be used with the 2×2 portion, the 2×6 die or a combination of both. I’ve used the trio of 2×2’s with this set for this layout.

I’m not sure what your fall foliage looks like every year, but around here we have a 50/50 chance of beautiful color or snow before they fully turn. Some years the colors are dull with only spots of brilliant colors. So what do you do if you want to include these photos in your stories? This is where some of the beautiful patterned papers can come to your rescue and bring the color your photos may lack or enhance what is there.

The colors were late in coming last year and lasted only a fleeting minute it seemed before the cold, damp and dreary arrived. I’ve chosen these photos from a trip down to the Mohican River area to explore an area that our family used to camp when I was a kid. It was a nice trip back, but not too colorful, yet.

You may remember I’ve often taken photos of covered bridges around the state so I’ve featured four different views of this one bridge in the center for the layout. The four outlaying photos are different spots throughout the park. I managed to find one that not only had the park marker but my dearly departed Trailblazer. 

TIP: Including this photo of my much beloved and much-missed car, helps me to date this event. I could have edited it out of the photo but, like many of your photos, you will find things in the background that will add clues to the events, the years and the location. Be careful what you crop out!

Round One

Our Mosaic Moments grid paper in Cayenne Pepper is one of my favorite colors for fall layouts and it paired nicely with patterned papers from Reminisce’s “Fall Rustica Collection”, Fall Plaid and Rustic Leaves. Dark brown cardstock for the mats blends well with the leafy brown patterned paper. The mats were cut with Die Set A for the center of the pattern and the Layering Die from Die Set AL for the photos.

I chose to use just the three 2×2 dies of the Soleil Die to cut the three segments of the semi-circle for each side of this center cluster of photos. I layered the semi-circle sections of the leafy paper on top of a 2×2 block of the colorful plaid just right for a cozy fall feel. I hand cut these 2×2 squares so that I could maintain the pattern on the grid.

TIP: Maintaining the plaid pattern on the page keeps it from feeling too chaotic with random plaid patterns going in many directions. It even allows the lines of color to reemphasize the plaid, you’ll notice how the yellow stripe in the plaid forms an outside diamond.

Now when I got the layout completed it was great. I liked how the colors all worked together, it came together pretty quick and I could have left it there. But, somehow it just seemed to beg me to do something more.

Something More

I pulled out all my Mosaic Moments dies with leaves and petals and flowers with different petal shapes along with leaves from the Acorn Borders dies and cut them out of pearl paper. I tried lots of different looks.

The Star Flower Die set was the one with petal closest to the shape of the leaves on the patterned paper, but I was not really happy with anything I was adding to the page as I played around. Then I tried the die section itself. I took the center die of the trio and placed it on the die piece and cut it. It was okay, but then I decided to trim the section of petals away from the outer 2×2 frame. I was on to something.

Next, I decided to use the same brown cardstock of the center mats so that the brown would carry outward. I centered the three petal sections on each curve and this helps to give the illusion that this is sprouting out from the paper. I then filled each petal with the color of pearl paper from Tonic Studios Autumn Maple Collection that was closest to the color of the leaves on the paper. The shimmer of the pearl papers adds a nice touch to the page.

It took a little longer to add all the extra embellishments to the layout, but it was a good way to use more of my Mosaic Moments dies and to add interest to the page. I’m sure there are many other dies that you could try out with this idea, so see what you have in your collection and see the little touches you may be able to add to a simple layout to add a little extra to boost your finished page.

I hope you will capture some wonderful fall colors this year and try a few layouts with this new Soleil Die set added to your collections!

Andrea Fisher