I never knew landscaping could be so much fun!!!  I think I'm going to have to make a mini garden at some point in the future.  :D

Using Aleene's clear gel tacky glue applied with a toothpick, I glued Fine Turf, Burnt Grass by Woodland Scenics to the stone steps to serve as moss.

I love the subtle quality of this material on the painted stone.  I didn't go overboard with it, figuring I can always add more but it's not so easy to remove the excess.

In one of the holes I had made in the steps, I glued two Extra Long Autumn Tufts "Silflorettes" and three Autumn Tone Goldenrod Weeds "Silflorettes" by MiniNatur.  There are more details on these in my landscaping materials post.

This whole process is messy, but I don't know if that makes me love it even more.  :D  I'll add the moss to the top riser and front pedestals when I finish the foundation.  It, too, will have moss detailing.

I tried another experiment, too.  I want autumn leaves around in my scene, but I want them to be realistic.  I ended up using regular printer paper, markers in various reds, browns, oranges and yellows, and a Fiskars leaf corner punch to get some great results.

I cut strips of paper wide enough to give me two good corner punches.  I colored the paper on both sides with the markers and let it dry almost completely.  I then went over the paper a second time with the same color, again on both sides, and let it dry completely.  I wanted a variety of colors as you can see.  :]

I also made two strips of browns only.

Using all three leaf shapes, I punched out leaves from both corners at the end of the strip and then cut the paper above the holes left behind.  I then punched the next section and so on.  The markers had curled the paper a bit, which added some nice texture to the punched leaves.

Nice little pile of leaves with good variegated color and thin texture.  :D

I have more in store for these leaves to add to the realism, but it's a good start!

Update: click here for the finished leaves.