All Sewn Up

Hello, everybody!  I'm so happy to be able to join up with A Vintage Journey "All Sewn Up" Challenge 19 since just getting an old sewing machine at a yard sale this weekend.  It doesn't do the best job, but can pretty much do in a pinch.

This is a card I made for my sister.  It's been a while since I've made her a card, and I thought it better be special.  I was inspired by Tim's grungy style in choosing my colors, and I've used his inks to stand in as water colors. One bit of Idea-ology in the form of a Trinket pin and a Paula Cheney bow make this a Tim Holtz inspired card with a natural twist.

This is not the sewing machine I used!

 I found a Pinterest post for water coloring using leaves as a stencil and a stamp that inspired me to pick up a few leaves on a walk one day and put them to use on this card.

 To start, I stamped and heat embossed a Stampin' Up cheesecloth image in white onto a brown card stock card.

Then I placed several leaves on a piece of water color paper, swiped Distress Ink Minis on my craft mat and spritzed with water.  I patted a silk sponge into the puddle and dabbed it over the leaves using them as a stencil.  I removed the leaves, cleaned them off, and swiped various Distress Inks directly on the back of the leaves. I spritzed them with water and placed them ink side down on the water color paper, pressing them down with my fingers to get a good impression. Once removed I dried the paper with a heat gun. I repeated this several times with different leaves. Once completely dried, I blended Weathered Wood DI over the piece. I cut my paper to size and inked the edges with Weathered Wood.

 Next I used Mini Ferns stencil by TCW and three green Distress Inks, and using an ink blending tool, blended the inks through the stencil.(Tim: here's a new ink color for you--"Fern"!)  I stamped a sentiment from Tim's Nature's Elements set in Archival Ink.  Because of the roughness of the watercolor paper, where there was little or no ink on the paper, I made a poor impression. I used a marker to touch up the sentiment.

I sewed  around the perimeter of the inked card, and used adhesive foam to attach  this to the card blank. (Call me cowardly for not sewing it onto the card!)

I squeezed out some Distress Stain (Antiqued Bronze, Peeled Paint and Tarnished Brass) on my craft mat, spritzed with water, and dragged my vintage brown seam binding  through the puddle.  I lightly crinkled it and allowed it to dry.

Lastly, I swiped some Rusty Hinge Distress Paint on an Idea-ology Trinket pin, allowed it to set up, then wiped it off to leave it in the indentations. I made a Paula bow, attached the pin, and glued the bow to the card.

I hope Kim enjoys her fall card, and I hope you all have a lovely Thanksgiving if you are celebrating it in your neck of the woods. Thank you for all your inspiring and encouraging comments!

I would like to enter this into the following inspiring challenges:

A Vintage Journey Challenge 19 "All Sewn Up"
It's All About the Vintage and Beauty Homemade Embellishments I think I could call the leaves embellishments to my paper and the bow is hand dyed and twisted from seam binding.
Artist Trading Post Exchange "Stencil Mania" I used leaves as stencils, but also used Mini Ferns stencil.
Stamplorations Stamps and Layers (My first entry here)
Frilly and Funkie A Gift From the Heart My friends always tell me that getting a homemade card is like getting a gift!

.Why not give each of these blogs a visit and consider linking up a project of your own!