AUTUMN TAG

It's been one of those sleepless nights so the best thing to do is craft.  I wanted to make a tag to play along with Tag-along challenge and their theme is Autumn.  Right up my street. 

I dug out some old Visible Image stamps I haven't used for a while - Nuts About Squirrels and Totally Toadstools.  I think that toadstool is one of my favourite fungi stamps!  

I created my background using Salvaged Patina Distress Oxides and Frayed Burlap with a touch of Black Soot and Walnut Stain around the edges.  I then stamped the larger toadstool and coloured it in.  I then masked it off and added some extra mushrooms around the base.  I stamped the log and added the small squirrel and an extra squirrel on top of the toadstool.  I included some of the lovely acorns at the top of the tag.

Extra stamping came from Tracy Evans with the ants (yuk I hate them but thought they would go well here ) and some background word stamping.  The Sentiment came from Waffle Flower - Fall Greetings set.

I'm adding this into the following:

Tag Along - Autumn 

Creative Fingers - AG 

Outlawz Festive Friday - Autumn 

Craft Rockets - Autumn 

Ellibelle - From the Garden 

Critter Crazy - AG 

MEADOW CARD

I was just having a play on a scrap piece of watercolour paper - creating some little squares of three different Distress Ink - Iced Spruce, Frayed Burlap and Rusty Hinge for an autumnal feel.  I then added some stamping in the squares from Alison Bomber. I added a leaf made from a book page with Tim Holtz Leaf Fragments die.  I stamped the word meadow on to some calico.  The sentiment is from an Altenew set called Autumn Bounty.  The background is a leaf stencil by Creative Expressions. 

I'm adding this into the following:

CardzforGuys - Autumn 

Unicorn Challenge - Autumn 

Inspire Create - Autumn 

Stamping Sensations - Autumn 

We love Stamping - Autumn 

Outlawz - October Poem 

Craft Rocket - Autumn 

ADDICTED TO STAMPS #503 - BIRTHDAYS

Welcome back to another Birthday challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More.  I've used a gorgeous stamp by Tim Holtz together with the co-ordinating stencil which came in the mini pack.  

I started off by smooshing some Fossilized Amber Distress Oxide onto the cardstock together with a touch of Iced Spruce.  I then used the stencil and the same Fossilized Amber to create the background.  The flower was stamped and embossed once the background was all dry and I used Tim Holtz Watercolour Pencils to colour it in. The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp set Wild Birthday which I was gifted by SSS.

I'm adding this into the following:

Hearts Quest - Birthday 

DD Triple - Blossom 

Lets Create - AG 

Krafty Chicks - Birthday 

We love stamping - AG 

THE HOLLY AND IVY - #193 ANYTHING GOES

Welcome back to another challenge at Holly & Ivy.  I've used an old Tim Holtz holly stamp for my border on my card - using the watercolour technique.  Ink the stamp up with Distress Ink and then spritz with a touch of water before adding it to the card stock.  I used Festive Berries and Peeled Paint. It gives this lovely watercolour feel.  The sentiment was embossed in Green SU embossing powder and coloured in with the same Distress Ink of Festive Berries. 

INSPIRATION STATION CHALLENGE - #78

I hope you are inspired by our image above for your dose of Inspiration Station this month.  Don't forget to tell us what elements you chose from our above picture for your project.  

I realised I didn't have any pumpkin stamps in my stash and treated myself to two new sets.  The one I used for this card is by Altenew called Autumn Bounty.  Although it is more geared to the American market as it has a lot about Thanksgiving on it which we don't celebrate here in the UK I fell in love with the pumpkin image and the set also has a lot of other sentiments and words I can use.

I started off my card by using some masking tape around the outside of the front of the card and used an old stencil with some Tim Holtz Distress Oxides to create the background leaves.  I then stamped the image and coloured it in with Tim Holtz Watercolour Pencils. The colours are a lot richer than they appear here in the picture. I used one of the word stamps from the set.

CREATIVE ARTISTE MIXED MEDIA #120

Welcome back to another Mixed Media challenge at Creative Artiste.  Now what do we mean by Mixed Media - it seems to have different meanings for different crafters and artists.  On our challenge group we would like to see you use at least three different types of medium - paints - be they oils, acrylics, watercolours, distress paint, - papers - such as old book pages, magazine images, designer series paper, handmade backgrounds, gesso, texture paste, die cuts, foliage, the list is endless.  We would love you to challenge yourselves out of your comfort zone and join in with us with more mixed media elements.

My piece uses some old packaging from a cat food box - when you tear away the paper you get this lovely ribbed cardboard which is a great basis for some mixed media play.  I covered it in gesso and then also some crackle paint in places. I also used some Tim Holtz Distress Paint to add extra colour to the background.  The paper leaves are from Tim Holtz die cuts and I've used old book pages and some gel prints to cut them out. Adding extra ephemera pieces created from stamps by Tracy Evans adds to the interest including sentiments from some of Tracy's older stamps.  I've added the sentiments to some burlap and tucked some dried poppy and flower seeds behind it.  This burlap is great as it comes pre-glued.  My piece measures approx 6" x 7" and will make a great piece of Autumn decor for my home. 

I'm adding this into the following:

Inspired By - Autumn/Fall 

Just Us Girls - Leaves 

Creative Inspiration - AG

MOVING ALONG WITH THE TIMES - SENTIMENT AS FOCAL POINT

Welcome back to another monthly challenge from Moving Along with the Times - our challenge to you this month if to use a sentiment as the focal point.  I loved this challenge as it made me look through my stamps and remind myself of what I have and I found this.

The sentiment is from a Visible Image stamp set called Express Yourself.  I used a background I had made with the gel press which was a very faint image and added extra stamping with a crackle stamp by Alison Bomber.  I also stamped her blackberry stamps at the top and bottom leaving the middle ground for the sentiment.  I added a Tim Holtz Transparent Wing.  I used Tim Holtz Watercolour pencils for the colouring. 

THE MALE ROOM - #203 - FOR A BABY BOY

A card for the little men in our lives this month for our challenge at The Male Room this month.  Baby cards are not really ones I seem to make so I had to put my thinking head on for this one.  I found an old Stampin Up set in the back of the cupboard which had this cute image of the kangaroo and the baby koala inside.

I had some cute baby papers which I had used for a scrapbook page recently of my little grandson so they were perfect to use on this card.  The Baby Boy banner card was part of the set and I stamped the words from the Stampin Up set inside.  I used the same background paper to stamp the image and then coloured it in with Tim Holtz Watercolour Pencils. 

PEARLY SPARKLES - PUMPKINS AND/OR AUTUMN LEAVES

Welcome back to another challenge at Pearly Sparkles.  Can you believe I don't have any pumpkin stamps!  I even had a look through what may be out there to buy but they all seemed to be hallowe'en type ones and not just autumnal pumpkins.  If anyone knows of any I'd love to have a heads up.

So my card focused on Autumn leaves.  Autumn is my favourite season and it's all just starting to happen slowly in my part of Wales.  My chutney has already been made and the sloe gin is next on the menu.  I digress.  Back to my card!  I started off with a very old embossing folder - I've added a picture below.  I can't even make out the name on it but if you have something similar in your stash this idea may work for you too.

I started off by inking up the leaves around the oval in Distress Inks in Crushed Olive, Peeled Paint, Gathered Twigs and a touch of Spiced Marmalade.  I spritzed it with some water then ran it through the Big Shot and I love how it came out.

Previously I've been playing with Tim Holtz Leaf Fragments dies even before he did a You Tube of them lol!  I used various inks to create the leaves and I also used book pages but they just didn't seem to quite fit this theme. I took three of the leaves and added them to the centre of the image.  The sentiments are from two separate Tracy Evans sets for Aallandcreate.