October Watercolour Weekend

  I am up on the Art Impressions blog today!

Scroll down to the end of my post to enter my Giveaway!

 

October crafting - it's a balance between fall & Christmas projects for me, so these will be the last of my fall Ai paintings for a while!  My first card features the tub from the recently released 5923 - Farmhouse Container Set, filled with different flowers and foliage.

I stamped the tub in N55 on my Canson XL Watercolour Paper, then masked the top edge of it and added the two sunflowers from 5594 - Harvest Scarecrow Set in #993/177/969.  The ferns from 5830 - WC Mini Wreath Set were added in #126, and the foxglove from 4052 - WC Flower Set 1 was stamped repeatedly in #565, angled in different directions.  Everything was touched with a damp brush, and layers of colour were painted on the flowers.  The small grass from 4051 - WC Foliage Set 1 was added in #158, and painted as a wash below the tub.  #496 was added as the sky.

The background paper is from 5835 Mini PP.

My second card is a slimline (8 1/2" x 3 1/2"), and I have cased this card by Marie Nicole, as I loved how she used a gnome for the A, and I knew how great this would look with the 5785 - Gnomes Set.  I die cut the letters from the 5072 - Block Letters Die Set in kraft paper to spell out Grateful, omitting the A.  I blended some Walnut Stain Distress Oxide ink onto the bottom of each letter to create a soft gradient effect.

All of my images are stamped in N55 on Canson XL Watercolour paper.  I used a mix of #565/249 to create the teal colour that I painted on his hat and pants, using several layers to create the darker tones.  N55 and N75 were painted on his boots and mits, and light tones of N55 were painted on the edge of his beard.  A little #850 coloured up his nose.  Some #947 is painted on his tunic, as I wanted it to match some of the shades on the pumpkins.

The two pumpkins from 5059 - WC Harvest Set are always my favourite pumpkins to use on projects!  They were painted in tones of #993/933/947/969 and #249/565 respectively, with #126/158 added to their stems.  I wanted a few leaves scattered around my project, so I used the two clusters from 5795 - Berries Set, colouring them with dabs of #993/126/905/933158.  After fussy cutting everything out, they were mounted to my project with some thin 3D foam tape, to add a little dimension.

I used the 5463 - Slimline Dies Set to cut out my background paper, which I matted with some teal cardstock, and then adhered it to my kraft cardstock base.

Giveaway time!

I have two of the recently released flower sets (5917 & 5918) to give to someone who leaves a comment on the Watercolour Weekend blog post on the Art Impressions blog. **Please note** - the giveaway is open to Canadian residents only! - I'm afraid that's where I'm mailing from, and to keep mailing costs down, avoid duty etc... we're going to give our Canadian fans a chance this time.

Just leave a comment (click here for a link to the Ai blog!) before midnight ET, Sunday, October 13th - and I will update thepost with the winner's name on Thanksgiving Monday, October 14th.

Autumn Sealed Sprigs

 I put together a few fall cards this week to show off some of my newest wax seals.  This is the Autumn Sealed Sprigs die set from Spellbinders, with a swirl from the Sealed Squiggles die set, cut from Spellbinders Treasured Gold Cardstock.

After die cutting and gluing all of my cardstock sprigs, I spattered them with gold paint, wrapped some metallic thread around the panel, and added my wax seal.  The seal is the new Forest Mushrooms
oval , made from Antique Gold wax, and coloured with a gold Decocolor paint marker.

I love the pop of blue in with the fall colours!  You can find all of your Spellbinders needs at The Papercrafter's Workshop.

Wax Seal making!

 It was a wax seal kind of day...  I needed to make a few for an upcoming workshop, and of course you can't just make a couple.  I think I did about 30 this afternoon.  I'm really pleased with my efforts.

I'm especially happy with my two and three colour blends - I'm really loving the look.

I wasn't convinced about this red/orange/yellow combination - some mettalic, some not - but they're starting to grow on me.

You can get all of your Wax Seal supplies at The Papercrafter's Workshop!

Layered Leaf Sunset

I made another silhouette style card using the August Betterpress Society plates "Layered Leaf Prints".  This time I did a landscape orientation, and used a Bisque Cotton Card panel to do my ink blend.

I used Distress Oxide inks: Faded Jeans, Wild Honey and Spiced Marmalade to create a sort-of soft, moody sunset.  I used the three leaf plates from the main set, and the two from the monthly add-on set, all pressed with Betterpress Black ink.

There are four really wonderful sentiments included this month, so I added the little Thinking of You to the top corner.  I think this would make a great sympathy card, but could still work as a birthday card maybe with a little bling added.

You can get a Betterpress Society subscription by contacting the Papercrafter's Workshop.

Layered Leaf Prints

I have two Night Sky Silhouette cards today, featuring the August Betterpress Society press plates from Spellbinders - "Layered Leaf Prints".  This is such an amazing set of plates!  You'll see quite a few projects from me over the next few weeks.

I starting by choosing a few different ink blends from my Pinterest boards, wanting to create some interesting night skies.  The first features Peacock Feathers, Faded Jeans, Seedless Preserves and Black Soot, blended onto Neenah Classic Crest paper in Solar White.

The next blend is Antique Linen, Evergreen Bough and Black Soot.  I know - it seems like a bit of an odd combo.  After this photo was taken, I added a little Tattered Rose to the very bottom, which gave it just a slightly blush hue, which you'll see in the other photos.

I let my panels sit for a bit, to let the inks settle, then spattered them with water, and after that dried, with white paint for a bit of a celestial look.

I rely heavily on the grid on the chase to ensure that the plates are positioned how I want them, and I stop to check after each press, to see that things line up.  Before I remove the previous plate, I like to place the next one - which is especially important for sentiment placement.  I used the Betterpress black ink (such a great true black!) for the leaves and sentiment.

So many possibilities with this set!  Depending on who I'm sending these to, I may add some black gems, but not everyone goes for sparkle, so I'll wait to see.

You can get a Betterpress Society subscription by contacting the Papercrafter's Workshop!

Swag with a Seal

 I made a bunch of wax seals earlier this summer using flowers that I'd pressed, and a plain circular stamp, so wanted to get using them on some of my cards.  I used the Big Branches Eucalyptus and Ruscus dies from The Greetery to create my swag, mounting them on the Spellbinders Essential Arches die cut shapes.

I wrapped some twine around the top panel before attaching the seal with some foam adhesive.  I added some champagne pearls and a little kraft tag with a Lawn Fawn sentiment

The patterned paper is actually from an older Christmas paper pack in my stash - I love that I could stretch it to be used for something else.

Hello Again...

Before the day was done, I used the extra pieces that were on my craft desk, to create a landscape version of my previous card.  Why reinvent the wheel?  I was happy with my colour combo, and loved them on the pierced background... so here is version two: