Falling Leaves

This month’s designer challenge for Kreaxions is to create something with a fall theme.

I started with an opal paper … it has a shimmer to it and the ink went on a bit lighter.

I used an embossing folder and then Distress Inks and water to create the background, then trimmed it up to fit my card. I added a bit of brown cardstock behind to emphasize it a bit.

I had a metal acorn in my stash and thought it would be cute to emphasize it on a circle. I used the Kreaxions Circle Cutter to cut out the circles. Because you can adjust it to any size, it is easy to make mats for the circles.

Technique Thursday: Fall Leaves

Today’s technique is an oldie-but-goodie from Tim Holtz — used to create these fabulous fall leaves.

 

Tim calls this Wrinkle-Free Distress.

To start, you need your non-stick craft sheet, a mister of water, a piece of cardstock and a few Distress Inks.

The type of cardstock you choose will make a difference in the final outcome. I used plain, white cardstock and the inks soak right in. If you use a treated surface, like Manila tags, your colors will be more vivid.

Next, swipe your ink pads across your non-stick craft sheet so they are close together, but not touching.

Now, spritz them with water — a lot of water — until the color beads up, like this …

At this point you are ready to swipe your paper through the ink. Tim says to just lay the paper flat on the craft sheet and press it down to absorb the color. I dragged mine through the different colors to mix it up a bit.

Then, I dried the paper with my heat gun and did it again. On the second time through, I used a bit of Dusty Concord and Mustard Seed to help brighten it up a bit. Had I used a manila tag, the inks would have been brighter on their own. After drying, this is what mine looked like …

Next, I used the Tattered Leaves die by Tim Holtz/Sizzix to cut out my leaves.

Before attaching them to my tag, I took a bit of Brushed Corduroy and Walnut Stain inks to the edges. And, I thought they needed some sparkle so I spritzed them with Perfect Pearls Mists in Heirloom Gold. I bent them a bit to add dimension and adhered them to my tag.

For the rest of the tag, I applied a saying from We R Memory Keepers, wrapped around a bit of twine, and added some ink. You could easily apply the same technique to a card or scrapbook page.

If you’d like to try the technique out for yourself, I’ll be at Capture-A-Memory in Flint Township from 2-6 p.m. today. Hope to see you there!