Be Your Beautiful Self - An Autumn Card

 

Hello and welcome! Today we start a new challenge at The Funkie Junkie Boutique challenge blog, and Jenny is hosting the theme, 'Fall Foliage'. Here is how she describes it:

"According to most search engines the Fall season has officially begun so we should be starting to see the emergence of all those beautiful Autumnal colours, unless Mother Nature throws us a curve ball! Let's celebrate them anyway by creating a vintage or shabby chic project in traditional Fall shades that includes some form of foliage like leaves, berries and so on."

As always, the winner will earn a chance to be a Guest Designer at a future date at The Funkie Junkie Boutique challenge blog, and everyone who enters and follows the rules will go into the draw for the chance to win a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique. There are also Top 3 Badges for three additional outstanding entries, chosen by the Design Team. Please see the blog for details.

I needed to make a fall birthday card for a family friend who is turning 100 years young, and I chose to use my yet unopened Stamperia's Forest 8 x 8 paper collection. This collection is loaded with beautiful fall foliage images, but could really be used any time of year. Here are some close ups, and then I have a few tips to share with you further on in the post.

I had this lacey Foliage Wrap die cut on my worktop left over from my play for this Saturday Showcase tutorial. The Princess Gold and White Wonder embossing was already done, so all I had to do is blend on some coordinating inks (Frayed Burlap and Wild Honey). Then I dipped the back edge of the die cut into a watery puddle of Ground Espresso ink. I love how it seeps through and creates depth of color to the delicate cuts.

The berries are from the Layered Winter Flower die set and are colored with Candied Apple ink and a water brush and Walnut Stain marker. 

The Skeleton Leaves die cut is cut from a scrap left from my Altered Birdhouse; I just added some Princess Gold embossing to tie it in. I give details on the stamped green leaf further on below.

I fussy cut the berries from the back cover of the paper pack and tucked them in. You can see another of the beautifully detailed papers from the set in the photo, under the wood slices.

I fussy cut one of the labels from the same page as the background is made from, and added my own sentiment. The sentiment I used is from the Tiny Text stamp set, and I stamped it in Ground Espresso archival ink on a scrap.

Here are a few tips for making this card...

I chose the label/tag page to use as my overall background for the card. I smooshed Wild Honey ink pad onto an acrylic block and sprayed with water. I use the block to stamp the color onto the paper. This is my favorite way to 'customize' patterned paper. It gives an organic look and ties the papers together with your elements. I repeated this to areas of the squirrel cut apart, also from the Forest collection. After drying the background panel, I blended the edges with Forest Moss and and Ground Espresso inks and mounted to a sanded and inked panel of old Kraft Core paper.

To give the eye a place to rest from the busyness of the background, focal image and other elements, I chose this failed Lumber 3D embossed piece from my stash. I had already applied crackle to it. (I believe it is crackle paint.) Some of the crackle was chipping off, but I liked the worn look. I have linked Crackle Paste below, because you could get a similar effect. I did the acrylic block ink smoosh/transfer with Wild Honey ink, but made the mistake of blotting with a paper towel, rather than heat drying. It ended up looking like dried blood stains, but I pressed on. I salvaged the panel once again, this time by smearing and scribbling with Walnut Stain crayon. Most of the mess up would be covered anyway. This panel is also adhered to a Kraft Core panel.

I stamped a maple leaf from Nature's Wonder in Forest Moss ink onto water color paper from my stash, and colored it in with Bundled Sage ink and a water brush. As a comparison, I did the same on Distress Watercolor card, and you can see it's much crisper.  I have way more water color pads than I will ever use in the rest of my lifetime, but clearly, the Distress watercolor card is worth the investment. I ended up using the latter on my card.  After fussy cutting, I edged in Frayed Burlap.

 

That's it for me! I hope you've found a bit of autumn inspiration here today, but there's plenty more Fall Foliage inspiration from my talented teammates over at the blog. After you've had a look at each of their wonderful makes, I hope you'll link up your own vintage or shabby chic make to be in for one of the great prizes! Happy crafting! Sara Emily

Challenge shares:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Anything Goes

The following products were used and can be purchased at The Funkie Junkie Boutique:

Stamperia - Forest 8x8 Paper Pad

Sizzix Chapter 3 Thinlits Dies - Foliage Wrap

Sizzix Chapter 3 Thinlits Dies - Layered Winter Flower

Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps - Nature's Wonder

Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Stamp Set - Tiny Text

Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Watercolor Cardstock 4.25 x 5.5 inches

Distress Ink Pads  - Ground Espresso,Wild Honey, Forest Moss, Frayed Burlap, Candied Apple, Bundled Sage

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Archival Mini Ink Pad -Ground Espresso

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Crayons -Walnut Stain

Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Dabber

Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Pen 2pk

Ranger Embossing Powder - Princess Gold

Emerald Creek Eileen Hull Molten Dimension Embossing Powder - White Wonder

Tim Holtz Distress Texture Paste 3oz Crackle

Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium Matte