Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Grateful for Autumn

Hello everyone!  To those who visited my blog on Halloween, thanks for stopping by to see my Halloween decorations.  It is always a fun time for me, and I love to decorate our yard for the many trick or treaters and neighbors who come to visit.  If you missed it, and still have a little Halloween spirit in you, be sure to check it out  here.

Here is my "Grateful" table decor that I would like to enter into the following wonderful challenges:
Frilly and Funkie "A Grateful Welcome"
Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge #19 "For All That You Do, Thank You!"
Country View Challenges "Bugs, Bees and Butterflies"
A Vintage Journey "Bountiful Harvest"
Inspiration Journal "Happy Holidays" Thanksgiving theme, here!
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge "Good Ole' Days" (My leaves remind me of the good ole" days when we had the most awesome autumn color in the hills of NJ--not now in South Eastern NC--very little fall color.)
Rhedds Creative Spirit "Anything Goes"
Artist Trading Post Exchange "Any Old Iron"  The caps of the acorns have a very similar texture, as well as the micro beads on my butterfly, and the rust colors I've used throughout my piece remind me of the inspiration photo.
The Crafters Cafe Challenge #88 Things With Wings


Warning:  This will be a photo heavy post, but I will do my best to keep the details to a minimum. I wanted to make something like this using a bird cage  for my Guest Designer post at Frilly and Funkie, but was unable to find any vines locally at the time.  I received my  online order just yesterday, so I was determined to make this and enter into Frilly and Funkie's "A Grateful Welcome".



I read a tutorial by Vicki Boutin the other day on how to make a butterfly brooch out of Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements fabric, and I fell in love.  I love butterflies, and purchased Tim's Layered Butterfly die set a while back, but have not used it.  Finally a perfect opportunity! I only have one design of Tim's fabrics, so I improvised by making my layers out of muslin which I stamped with various Stampin' Up and Tim Holtz stamps in Archival and Ancient Page inks. Otherwise I pretty much followed what Vicki did here with a few minor adjustments.  I used micro beads in my vial and crackled it using Tim's technique in Vol. 3 of his Compendium of Curiosities and micro beads on the top butterfly layer instead of paint.  I was inspired to use the copper color beads by the great artist Bonnie McLain of Love, Light, and Peace, who sent me a lovely card adorned with a beautiful copper mesh butterfly. This butterfly is simple to make but takes FOREVER!  That is why I'm pulling in at the last minute for Frilly and Funkie.  It was such a wonderful outcome, I decided to make a few more using the Sizzix butterfly Movers and Shapers.



Just kidding:  These are butterflies I was chasing around my garden!  Here's the cloth butterfly and his little buddies:










So with my vine and my butterflies, I was able to get started.  I picked up this empty floral display box at a yard sale this summer, and have been adorning it with a simple candle on my porch ever since.  This would be perfect for the project I have in mind. I used a piece of scrap styrofoam recovered from my Halloween window to fill the bottom.  I covered a piece of notebook pad backing with purple burlap I have been hoarding for years (who USES that stuff?)

I had a large-ish, very orange pumpkin from my  dismantled window display, and I thought it would add some visual weight to my arrangement, but it needed to be toned down.  I dry brushed it with various acrylic paints, misted it with Perfect Pearls mist and sprinkled it with Diamond Dust, which stays on my work top until Christmas.  I thought it would look like frost on my pumpkin. I gave the same treatment to some gourds, wicker balls  and acorns I picked up on clearance at Michaels last night.

The red you see is a reflection--I am taking this photo through the glass of the display box. Why do I torture myself by assembling before taking a photo???






I made a ton of leaves using the Sizzix Movers and Shapers  leaves dies.  This is sketch paper I sopped up Distress stains thinned with water with, dried and spritzed with various Dylusions, Perfect Pearls, and Tattered Angles sprays and dried again.  Each leaf was pinched between my fingers to make the veins, and highlighted with Distress ink. Love this die, and I think it makes an authentic looking leaf.  I just need the Bigz leaf die now (it was out of stock, so I settled for the Movers/Shapers).



Oops!  Looks like I missed the highlighting on this one!


I finished these up at my daughter's piano lesson, so I took these shots on top of a baby grand! The lighting wasn't so good and the colors look faded.


I made a few flowers with petals I already had cut in my stash using Tim's Tattered Florals die. These are just cardstock inked with Distress Inks, sent through the crimper a 100x's to soften them up, and there is even some made out of some faux leather samples I hoarded. I picked up the stamens at Michaels on clearance.


Just kidding, again!  Aren't they lovely?  I accidentally uploaded this photo when uploading to my blog...these are the last flowers from our garden before the frost last night. My cat has already eaten the caladiums! Here are the flowers I made:




The smaller banner with "Grateful" on it is actually real birch bark which blew off the tree out front when we were leaving for church yesterday.  A sign from God!  I thought I should be grateful for this gift, and used it in my arrangement.  I heat embossed the sentiment from Stampin' Up repeatedly to echo the grain of the bark, and spritzed it with Perfect Pearls and dusted it with Diamond Dust to make it look like frost.


Oh!  What happened here?


The larger banner is left over  from my Guest Designer project here.  You can see details of it on my blog, but the long and short of it is that it is made from drywall tape and embossed with Tim's Thankful Texture Fade. Unlike my last project, I was able to wind this through the arrangement in one continuous piece.





I think it all came together quite nicely, and although my original plan was to use a bird cage for this, I really didn't want to use my antique one, and thought, why spend more money, when I had this perfectly good box that would have the same effect. I was happy to use many things I already owned or had previously made in this project, but it was fun to add something new, too.

 I hope you enjoy the photos!  Thank you for visiting and for all your wonderful, inspiring comments.  I truly appreciate each and every one!











PS.  I was unable to upload the photos of the entire project due to technical difficulties...hope to do so tomorrow. (My daughter has to upload photos from her camera to the computer, since mine refuses to do it--she went to bed earlier.)  I wanted to get this entered into Frilly and Funkie and any challenges that were closing within 24 hours, since we are not going to have Internet service tomorrow. I'm writing this at 1:30 a.m to make the deadline. Please check back for the complete line of photos of the entire project. Please don't judge me on this! UPDATE:  photos are done!

72 comments:

  1. Beautiful work, wonderful colour combo. Thanks for joining us at The Crafter's Cafe !!! I hope you get to join us again for our next challenge. Agnieszka DT

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    1. Thank you for your sweet comment! I do hope to join again!

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  2. Wow Sara, I am so very glad that the butterfly helped you to create this WONDERFULLY exciting display of GRATEFUL... it is magical and mystically great... I love all the attention to detail on this... you are really super great with that ability... Love it all... the great artist... LOL... Love, Light and Peace...Bonnie

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    1. Hello, my great artist friend,
      Thank you for visiting and your always heartfelt comment. You are very generous with your praise and you don't even know how much that little butterfly did for me! Thanks so much! Hugs to you! Sara Emily

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  3. Your little window box-like display is just packed with lovely autumn goodness! Love your beautiful butterflies - all the leaves and fruits of the harvest! thank you for joining us in the AVJ Harvest Thanks challenge!

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    1. Thank you, Julia! I appreciate all your kind words! It is packed, isn't it? I just came from Hobby Lobby and saw something similar, and I didn't realize how much I put into this, until I saw theirs!

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  4. Wow, Sara another stunning project. Adore your butterflies and your frosted fruits. Beautifully designed. Thanks for joining us at AVJ and good luck.
    Julie x

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    1. Thank you, Julie! What a wonderful compliment from you!

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  5. This is absolutely gorgeous, Sara!! I'm always amazed by your attention to detail. It sets your art apart and this project is no exception! There is soooooo much autumn goodness in your lovely box. Your butterflies and flowers are magnificent (the real and the hand crafted!). The way you have layered stains and inks captures the essence of fall. Beautiful! Thanks for joining us at the Frilly and Funkie!
    Hugs,
    Nancy

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    1. Wow, Nancy! I am thrilled to have read your very nice and generous comment! You have really made my day, again!

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  6. Very nice. Love all the colors. Thanks for playing along with Craft Hoarders Anonymous.

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    1. Hi Donna, Thank you so much for your kind words. I know you ladies are busy making the rounds over at CHA with so many lovely entries this time, so I appreciate the comment immensely!

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    2. Oops, i have my challenges mixed up! That was last challenge, but I know you are still working on that one! :)

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  7. Another gorgeous make Sara :-) wonderful details and use of various mediums. Great stamping and the heat embossing on the bark looks fabulous. Fantastic rustiness. Thanks for joining in with our Any Old Iron challenge at ATP Exchange.
    Hugs Annie x

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    1. Hi Annie,
      Thank you for visiting and for your super sweet comment! I appreciate it so much!

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  8. Absolutely beautiful. Your butterflies are simply stunning.
    Thanks for sharing with us at Craft Hoarders Anonymous!

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    1. Wow, Christy! Thank you so much for taking the time to visit and for your so very sweet comment! I really appreciate the time you ladies are investing looking at every one of those lovely entries for this challenge!

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    2. Again, I have my challenges mixed up...that was the last challenge, but I know you are still working very hard to visit each blog, and that is awesome that you do that!

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  9. So many beautiful details to your project Sara! I really love those amazingly creative butterflies that you've made. I'd be here all day if I mentioned each detail but to keep it short I think you've done a wonderful job! Had to laugh when you said about forgetting to take the photos before you've assembled - I know just how that feels!
    Thanks for joining us at ATP Exchange.
    Juliax

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    1. Thank you for such a wonderful compliment, Julia! I'm so happy you liked it! Yes, it's so frustrating trying to photograph through glass, too! This seriously looks so much better in person, even through the glass!

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  10. Beautiful details! Thanks for joining us at Craft Hoarders Anonymous!

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    1. Thank you for your kind words! I really appreciate it!

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  11. Hi Sara and wow what an amazing project - so much attention to detail brilliant

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    1. Awe, thank you so much! I enjoyed having a visit at your crafty blog, too! Great frame!

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  12. OMG Sara this is absolutely beautiful! So many detailed photo's to drool over! What a lovely keepsake! I really love all those leaves. You've really captured that Autumn feel! Thanks for joining the Frilly and Funkie Challenge!

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    1. Thank you, Nicole! What a wonderful compliment coming from you!

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  13. A fabulous project, super details in all your photos. Wonderful colours and textures. Thank you for joining us at The ATP Exchange.
    Yvonne

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    1. Thank you, Yvonne! I appreciate your sweet comment!

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  14. Wow! You are amazing at table decorations. I loved those butterflies and leaves. Am working on those too! Great wire, Sara. Big hugs from Bangalore.

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    1. Awe, shucks, Rupa! You are so sweet! thank you for your visit to my blog:).

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  15. Wow...your project has blown me away...absolutely stunning, so much attention to detail, fabulous color palette and embellishing, what more can I say...I just adore it...
    Thank you so much for joining us over a Rhedd's Creative Spirit...xx

    p.s. I was almost fooled by your pink flowers,lol...x

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    1. Sandra,
      Thank you so much for visiting and for your absolutely generous praise! I always look forward to your comments! Tee hee about the flowers! Wish they were my creation; flowers are not my strong point--working on that!

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  16. Sara, your butterflies and leaves are just beautiful, I really love the entire project. The colors and textures are just lovely. So much work but so worth it. Thanks for joining us here at A Vintage Journey.

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    1. Thank you for your lovely comment! My head is all puffed up now! Thank you for coming up with the theme--it was so much fun to get me in the Thanksgiving mood!

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  17. Wowza, Girlfriend! What incredible elements you're created! So impressive!
    Those leaves are so realistic! Thanks too for the blog luv. :-)
    Hugs,
    cathy

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    1. Awe, Cathy, your so sweet to return the visit! Thank you!

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  18. The butterflies in your garden are beautiful but I also love the ones you made! They are simply stunning as well! This made a gorgeous piece! Thanks for joining us at Craft Hoarders Anonymous!

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    1. Thank you for your generous praise, Glenda! That butterfly was just asking to have his picture taken!

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  19. Holy beautiful! I can't believe how may gorgeous elements are in this project! Gorgeous! I'm definitely going to be using those butterflies in the future!

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    1. Becca, You are so kind! I hope you will make the butterflies! I tried to visit your blog, but I'm afraid I could not figure it out. I will try later. Thank you for visiting!

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  20. Beautiful project, love all the details and photos. Thanks for joining us at Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge Blog.

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    1. Thank you, Pammejo! It was fun to make, especially those butterflies!

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  21. Most Fabulous! Thanks for linking up with the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog! - Ashli :)

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  22. So pleased that you showed us the close-up photos Sara or we might have missed the beauty of your creation. So beautiful!

    Thanks so much for joining in our Happy Holidays challenge at Inspiration Journal. Anne xx

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    1. Thanks, Anne! Yes, it is hard to get an appreciation of what is going on here in photos, without zooming in on the details. So happy to join in!

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  23. Back to say thank you too for joining in our Bountiful Harvest challenge at A Vintage Journey with your wonderful creation. I do love how you used Tim's layered butterfly! Anne x

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  24. Well, you've done it again. Made my jaw thud against the table in awe and delight. Those butterflies! Magical, whimsical, delightful and beautiful! I love the "frost" on the acorns and pumpkins. I love the beautiful birch bark "banner." All those lovely little leaves and no two just alike. You are such a thoughtful, inspiring artist, Sara! Your beautiful soul spills over into everything you make! Thanks for sharing this with us at Craft Hoarders Anonymous!

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    1. Kathy, You are making my creative head swell, again, and I will have to go and create something! I'm so happy you like it! It was one of those fun projects where I just didn't know where to stop! Thank you for visiting my blog and for your always-delightful comment.

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  25. Wow. What a project. So many amazing details. And what a Halloween yard. I can't believe kids are brave enough to enter!!!

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    1. Maria, thank you! I had a look at your wreath cards and they are stunning! I'm happy you had a peek at the Halloween decorations!

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  26. What an Amazing Project and your butterflies are out of this World - so pretty and detailed - absolutely LOVELY!!! ! Thanks so much for playing with us at the Inspiration Journal / Karin

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    1. Karin, you are so sweet! Thank you for your inspirational words!

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  27. Such a wonderful creation! I love the "bottle" butterfly!

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    1. Lys, thank you! I just took a side visit to your blog and was amazed at the beauty of your wall hanging! It is gorgeous!

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  28. I had this funny feeling that I should make sure that I had some time before I came to visit you and I was right, because I have been scrolling up and down this page for 20 minutes! You are one of those 'go big or go home' people...me too, and I just love that! Your butterflies are spectacular! I especially love the perfectly placed seed beads and the tube filled with beads that you used for the body, how creative is that!! Your Sizzix acorn leaves look REAL, amazing! I love the crystal glitter you added to the fruits and banner and I really love the natural bits you included, like the birch bark! It just blows me away, all of the time and effort you put into every project you make! You are truly a fantastic and talented artist! Until your next wonderful project I send you big hugs! :)

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  29. Awe, Pamellia, you are so kind! I'm amazed by your ability to comment so positively on my posts, when yours are so spectacular! But, I like it...you put a huge grin on my face! The large butterfly was Vicki's idea (see her blog post linked above), not mine, so I can take absolutely no credit there. I just tweaked it a little bit, because I only had one of Tim's fabrics which I won on his blog this summer. So made my own fabrics. Her butterfly is beautiful, but I imagine with some practice, I'll get better. Anyway, it was a blast to make, and now I am seeing similar arrangements in Hobby Lobby! I like that I will be able to remove this stuff and change it for the holidays and seasons. So you might see the box again! Big hugs to you, too, Pamellia!

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  30. Love your gorgeous project,thanks for sharing with us at Country View.xxx

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  31. WOW I am quite speechless, this is just so stunning! I love all the techniques you have used and the colours are just stunning. Those butterflies are ace and I really want to give them a go, such an inspirational project.

    Thank you so much for coming over and joining in with us at Rhedds Creative Spirit.

    Great Big Huge Hugs

    Becca xx (DT Member)

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    1. And I'm speechless at your wonderful comment! I'm happy you were inspired by my butterflies! Hugs!

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  32. Fabulous make Sara ! Loads of lovely details . The butterflies are just gorgeous ! Thank you for joining us at the ATP Exchange x

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  33. Amazing amount of time and talent has gone into this! Many thanks for joining the Rhedd's Creative Spirit challenge and good luck!!! Melissa (DT)

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  34. Melissa,
    Thank you so much for your lovely comment!

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  35. Could have sworn I'd left you some love for this incredible creation before Sara - oh well, at the risk of repeating myself I LOVE THIS!!! I've been sat gazing for ages at all the little details you've incorporated - outstanding work! That bottle butterfly is something really special :) Thank you for joining us at A Vintage Journey (and previously at Frilly and Funkie). Jenny x

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    1. Jenny,Well, I'm so happy you repeated yourself, if you did! Very pleased you like my whatever-you-call-it!

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  36. wow your details are just stunning!!! Thanks for playing along with Craft Hoarders Anonymous.

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  37. I am not sure if I love the bottle butterflies more or the glitter more!!! This is another over the top project. Girl, you are....simply beyond amazing! My jaw is on the floor! Thanks for sharing your work with us at Craft Hoarders Anonymous!

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    1. And you, Gloria, are beyond sweet for your lovely, encouraging comments! Thank you!

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Thank you for leaving your comments...they mean so much to me.