A Fall Beauty

Happy Fall and Welcome!

How crazy is it that it is November 1st already? As I get older, time seems to go by so much faster with every passing season. Fall is my absolute favorite of all the seasons! The colors in the trees, falling leaves and a slight chill in the air making it fun to wear comfy clothes and snuggle with blankets….I for one, don’t think Fall lasts as long as it should. I hope each of you has had a chance to enjoy some of your favorite Halloween and Fall traditions.

And before we rush to quickly into the Christmas and Holiday cards and projects. I have a Fall card to share with you. It’s made with the new stamp set, Nature’s Wonder (CMS343)…such a beautiful set!

I made this back in July for the Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Fall release that he announced on Facebook Live….crazy that it was that long ago. See? Where the heck did that time go?… But anyways, some of you that follow me on instagram may have remembered me sharing a post about a buckle. I couldn’t share this super secret card…but I could share one of the embellishments.

Here is a close-up…I know, I’m a tiny bit obsessed with the buckle, but how couldn’t you be? Plus, guess what…the belt, IT’S PAPER!!! WHAT??? Not leather??? All because of the fabulous 3D Lumber Texture Fade. My favorite 3D! …as of today anyways! 😉

So, If you haven’t tried the Tim Holtz Idea-ology buckles yet, you should!! I fell in love with them when I saw my friend Zoe use one of them on a project. You can check out her fabulous tag HERE. Isn’t it fabulous? All that vintage chippiness…SO SWOON WORTHY!!

So…with that, I had to give one a try and this card seemed perfect for it!

Let’s Begin!

First, I started by creating the background papers for the card.

With my stamp platform, I stamped several of the leaves around a piece of watercolor paper in a random pattern with a variety of Distress Oxide Inks. After they were stamped, I cleaned the stamps lightly (leaving the previously stamped paper in the same place) reinked the stamps with Ground Expresso Distress Ink and stamped the leaves overtop of the previously stamped leaves. I then took a water brush and colored the leaves. Then I dried the paper with my heat gun, and blended Hickory Smoke Distress Oxide around the leaves. You can see in the photo below that I created several background papers that day…so many beautiful possibilities!!!

Next up I created the plank background…

I blended, smooshed and dried Gathered Twigs Distress Ink and Oxide onto a piece of watercolor paper. Spritzed with water and dried with my heat tool until I had a good “wood” looking background.

Then I stamped the plank background stamp with Ground Expresso Distress Oxide, and blended some around to add a bit more grunge.

Next the leaf focal point…

I stamped the leaf onto a piece of scrap watercolor paper with Gathered Twigs Distress Oxide and blended some of the color with a water brush.

Then I added some of the previously used colors with my water brush.

Then I blended some Hickory Smoke Distress Oxide and some random drips mopped up from the water brush coloring on my craft mat. (Always good to use the leftover drips of water and ink for something)

Next up, the buckle… 🙂

With my finger I added bits of Picket Fence, Broken China and Peeled Paint (not pictured) to the buckle and let it dry. I also did this to the brad to attach the buckle to the belt.

After the paint was dry, I blended a bit of Mushroom Alcohol Ink over the paint and Voila…a chippy grungy-licious buckle!!! Easy, quick and so satisfying!

The belt…

I embossed a piece of brown cardstock with the 3D Lumber Texture Fade. Then folded the edges horizontally to create a pocket for the belt buckle to slip into. With my finger I blended some Vintage Photo and Tarnished Brass Distress Crayon onto the “belt”.

The buckle was then attached to the belt with a brad.

(Here is a photo of the folded paper to create a pocket for the buckle. I added adhesive inside, then folded it over.)

Then I began arranging the card…

With my sewing machine I stitched around the edges of the backgrounds with black thread. For a quick and easy embellishment, I stamped a scrap piece of notebook paper with one of the ticket stamps from the Ticket Booth (CMS337) and blended it with some ink. I layered and adhered all the parts together to create the card. The card base was a piece of patterned paper from the Tim Holtz Collage Paper Stash.

Thank you so much for stopping by! Enjoy November!!

Creatively Yours,

Stacy

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Gather your supplies-

Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous- Nature’s Wonder (CMS343), Craze and Planks (CMS344), Ticket Booth (CMS337)

Tim Holtz/Sizzix- 3D Lumber Texture Fade

Tim Holtz/Ranger-  Mushroom Alcohol Ink

Distress Crayons- Vintage Photo, Tarnished Brass

Distress Paint- Picket Fence, Broken China, Peeled Paint

Distress Ink and Oxide-  Hickory Smoke, Gathered Twigs, Vintage Photo, Aged Mahogany, Iced Spruce, Ground Expresso

Distress Tools/Mediums- Distress Sprayer, Media Mat, Heat it Heat tool, Blending Tools, Watercolor Paper, Water Brush

Tim Holtz/Idea-ology-  Collage Paper Stash, Buckles

Other- Sewing Machine and Thread, Notebook Paper