Creation Station's Not A Card Blog Hop

We're heading into the season of gift giving and holiday gatherings, so it is very fitting that our theme for the Creation Station Design Team blog hop this month is Not A Card.  I've created this fun decor piece for my fall tiered tray, but it could easily double as place card settings at your Thanksgiving table.

If you have hopped here from Yvonne Spikeman's blog welcome, I'm glad you're here!  We are going to have a ton of fun this month with some outside-a-card ideas.  Be sure to follow along to the rest of the hop by clicking the link below too.

Doesn't this just scream fall?!  I love that you could mix-and-match gnomes for each person's place setting, add their name, and it looks just as nice from the front as it does from the back.

I started with these cute mini tabletop chalkboard signs I purchased from Amazon--they are the perfect blank slate for a multitude of projects (no affiliate link, I just like them :) )

I used the brush tip of my Evening Evergreen Blends to colour the edges for the chalkboard piece and the ends of the base green to match my project (this is optional, but I found that the natural edges took away from the finished look).  

The base was easily wrapped in a piece of plaid Evening Evergreen DSP from the 6"x6" pack....add some Tear-and-Tape to one end and glue it flush to the slotted opening, then wrap it around the base and end it on the other side of the slotted opening with another piece of Tear-and Tape.  No scoring required!

My die cuts are all from the Sunflower Dies set, with the leaves being cut from a combination of  Evening Evergreen and Soft Succulent, the flower from Mango Melody, and the decorative stems from Crumb Cake shaded with Soft Suede Ink.  

I ADORE the stamped ribbon I made for this project.  I used the Natural Finish Ribbon and stamped the small sunflower image from the Celebrate Sunflowers Stamp Set in Soft Suede Ink all over it.  I can't get enough of this look!  Instead of tying my ribbon in a standard bow I folded the ends on top of each other and tied them with some Linen Thread.  Isn't it pretty?

My gnomie is from the Kindest Gnome Stamp Set and I coloured her with Calypso Coral Blends and a few of the neutral Blends for her skin and hair.  There is a huge variety now of  these markers that would allow you to customize each gnome if you were making these into place settings.  The banner is cut from Cajun Craze Cardstock with a die from the Stylish Shapes Die Set...this is where you could add someone's name as well.  Of course I had to add some shimmer to my project, with three Gilded Gems.

I wanted to share a picture of my fall tiered tray too, just in case you're wondering how I incorporated this little guy into my seasonal decor.  You should be able to pick out a coordinating project I shared a couple of weeks ago too!

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today, I hope you are inspired to make some amazing fall decor for your home or table!  I'd love to hear from you before you hop along to see what Denita Wright has for you this month (click below to head to her site).

Happy Crafting,

Barb