All About Autumn (OBW + T-Tues + OUAS)

Fall colors!  Cinnamon!  Apples!  Oh, and did I mention fall colors?  :)  Sigh.  I love this time of year; it's my favorite season. Autumn officially began here on Sunday, and I'm dedicating this post to all things autumn, while linking up with three different parties.

First up, I'm submitting the above photo to Our Beautiful World, a photography blog that is open to all.  Their theme this week is "Fall (Autumn) Where You Are."  I chose this photo because it shows all the different colors of leaves that we have in the fall in Minnesota.  This is just a random maple tree in my neighborhood that I photographed a couple years ago.  We have a lot of maples around here, and I go a crazy with my camera when all the fall colors start to appear.  I chose this particular shot, out of all the zillions of maple photos that I've taken over the years, because it shows so many different colors all on one tree.

Next up, I'm also linking up with T for Tuesday on Elizabeth's blog.  To play along on T Day, all you have to do is show anything tea- or beverage-related.

Today for T-Day I'm showing you a delicious autumnal drink that my husband Scott and I recently discovered at a place called Silverwood Cafe.  The drink is called black apple cider, and you can see Scott with a cup of it in the photo below.  It's spiced apple cider with a shot of blackberry syrup--yum!  We had it iced, but it would be good as a hot drink, too.

Last but not least, I'm linking up with Once Upon a...Sketch today, with an autumn-colored scrapbook page about my husband's grandmother.  I used the sketch below, but flipped it to suit my photo.

Here is my layout.  I think you will be able to see how I incorporated the colors of autumn--the deep burgundy of the black apple cider, as well as the green, brown, gold, and scarlet of the maple tree--in my composition.
 

Supplies: background paper from Kaisercraft; journaling card, alphabet stickers, flair badge, & banner paper from October Afternoon; decorative cards from  Simple Stories; milk caps & ticket from Jenni Bowlin True Vintage; all other patterned paper from Authentique; stamps from My Mind's Eye; ink from Hero Arts; fabric upcycled from old jeans; thread from Singer; heart punch from All Night Media; corner punch from Creative Memories; zigzag punch from EK Success; ribbons from Scrapbook Fantasies; paperclips from Staples; paint from Ranger.

My layout is called "Muzzy," which was the nickname that my husband and his brother gave to their grandmother.  (Longtime readers of my blog may remember, from previous layouts that I have posted, that they called their grandfather, in turn, "Gump."  I think these nicknames are so original and cute.)  

The journaling theme this month at OUAS is "lucky."  With this in mind, I wrote on my layout: "Scott was lucky to grow up so close to his grandmother, Muzzy.  She was a woman of many talents: farmer, lay minister, excellent cook, talented embroidery artist, champion checker player, and loving grandma."  I never knew Muzzy, but I have heard a lot about her over the years.  It meant so much to me to make this tribute page about her for Scott.

Since Muzzy was a farmer, I added a lot of country/homespun touches, from the chicken badge to the homemade yo-yos.

I also included some vintage items, and I tore and distressed some of my paper scraps, for a "heritage" look.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.  I am happy that I got the chance to share a taste of autumn, and all its colorful splendor, with you.