Thursday 24 October 2013

Falling Leaves

Hello everyone, Alison (butterfly) here, and like many of the team I've been having a wonderful time with Katy Fox's fabulous new leaf stamps.  I've been having fun playing with gesso, inks, clear embossing and fussy-cutting (well... not so much fun with fussy-cutting - I'd be lying if I said it was my favourite thing to do!).


The background was a by-product of me doing some stencilling with the Roman Letters onto another tag with gesso.  I had this tag nearby and flipped the stencil straight over onto it to get a reverse print of the Letters here.


The gesso partly acts as a resist, but - being gesso - also takes some of the colour when you ink over it, as I then did.


I think there's Peeled Paint, Rusty Hinge, Spiced Marmalade and maybe a couple of others in the mix here.  (Sorry - this was made in the middle of house-moving so I've only a hazy recollection of what I actually did!)

I blended the same colours onto a piece of Manila cardstock, and then stamped the leaves in various combinations of Archival Ink - Sienna, Olive, Fern Green and Sepia - using two or three ink colours on each stamp.


I clear embossed the stampings as I went, using the Wow Superfine powder.  And then the cutting...  The embossing gives you a bit more sturdiness on the very fine areas, like the stalks, so it's quite helpful when you're cutting.


I seem to have added some Grunge Paste to create some "earth" at the foot of the tag, patting it on with the palette knife for extra texture, and inking it along with the rest of the tag.


One leaf had the privilege of being home to the Camus quote which is also on the stamp plate - it's a lovely font, I think.  It's stamped in Potting Soil Archival ink.


I arranged the leaves around the tag, and then mounted them using padded tape, sometimes a couple of layers of it, to get different heights above the background.


I like the glossy leaves against the chalky background of the gesso.


A very simple, natural tag topping of some raffia tied with twine, and my autumnal tag is done.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  The October Alter Something Challenge still has a few days to run here at The Artistic Stamper, so do come and play... and I'll see you again in November.

Ingredients used:
Artistic Stamper Stamps:  Katy Fox, Leaves
Crafter's Workshop: Roman Letters stencil
Distress Inks: Peeled Paint, Spiced Marmalade, Rusty Hinge
Archival Inks: Olive, Fern Green, Sepia, Sienna, Potting Soil
Grunge Paste
Wow Embossing Powders: Superfine Clear Gloss
Gesso
Manila tags
Manila paper

33 comments:

Julie Lee said...

What a lovely autumn tag! Those leaves are so beautiful. I love the effect of the gesso and the Grunge Paste too. Fantastic effects and a wonderful quote. Julie Ann xx

Elly said...

What a beautiful background and i neeeeeed the leaf stamps. (:o)

slbt17 said...

very pretty - love this!
Sandra ltb

Marci said...

The leaves look very realistic, and the chalky background does set them off very well. I like the tag and the quote.

Larisa said...

Fantastic tag! I love the background a lot) I wish I had gesso paste to play with it.. but it is impossible to get it here..

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous tag. The background is fab & I love the colours of the leaves.

Brenda Brown said...

Gorgeous.
hugs {brenda} x0x

Helen said...

Beautiful tag, I love the leaves, they look real... the background is wonderful, I love the backwards letters... Thanks Alison.

Kezzy said...

Wow wow wow beautiful autumn tag, love it especially the background :-) Kezzy xxx

Astrid Maclean said...

Great background Alison and yes, those leaves are fantastic stamps and yours have come out great!!

Jenny Marples said...

Awesome sauce! as my son's would say. This is a gem created during the onset of mayhem. I seriously don't know how you do it superwoman! Love these leaves. Jenny x

Redanne said...

So beautiful...the leaves look divine against that chalky background. A stunningly beautiful tag Alison. Hugs, Anne x

Deborah said...

Wonderful! You've used the roman writing stencil to great effect.

Alie Hoogenboezem-de Vries said...

A stunning autumn tag Alison!

craftytrog said...

Great background, & I do love those stamps! ;o)
Alison xxx

craftimamma said...

Gorgeous background Alison with such wonderful colours. Love all the texture on both the background and the leaves. Lovely quote too!

Hugs
Lesley Xx

Cocofolies said...

A wonderful tag with a great background !! I love your roman letters stenciling technique and the wonderful colours you used too, they really pop these large and beautiful leaves. Great work as usual Alison :) Coco x

Dianne said...

Yowzer,yowzer, yowzer, what a stunning tag,looooooove the background you created, and those leaves are superb, this tag is making my heart sing and my wings flapping like crazy, thanks so much for sharing your amazing tag, hope you have a wonderful day..

May said...

WOW...Wonderful autumn tag Alison...the background is amazing...Those leaves are simply fantastic. Love it!! Hugs May x x x

froebelsternchen said...

oh wow.. Alsion that is just wonderful... I adore it!

Sandy said...

Once again Alison - you hit the jack pot and in the middle of a move too! If I could put you in a box, I would sell you and be so rich I just couldn't stand it!!!!!
sandy

Heather said...

A beautiful, creative tag Alison.
I love the wonderful techniques you have achieved, especially the amazing leaves...........I love the sentiment!!

hugs
Heather xx

Mona Pendleton said...

Gorgeous tag Alison! Those leaves look amazing and I love the beautiful background!

Corrie Herriman said...

Love this, especially the clear embossing on the leaves !
Corrie x

Jools Robertson said...

Stunning, love the textures and colours
Fab stamps, so detailed

Jools x

Anonymous said...

The colours are glowing with warmth, just what is needed on an Autumnal evening.
Wishes
Lynne

pearshapedcrafting said...

Love those Autumn leaves, the colours, the textures - amazing! A beautiful tag to cheer us all up! Chrisx

Sid said...

Loving your tag !!

Hettie said...

Gorgeous Alison.
xx

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous! What a fabulous representation of Fall. I love the leaves.

sara j said...

What a wonderful tag Alison - just beautiful. And I absolutely agree with the quote! Great Job.

Mary Elizabeth said...

Wow!!! Gorgeous ... as always! -- Mary Elizabeth

Artyjen said...

That embossing really brings the leaves to life ;)
xoxo Sioux