Divas by Design GDT - Anything But A Card

Hello Everyone!

It's Wednesday and time for another Guest Designer spot over at the wonderful Divas by Design challenge blog! This week the theme is ANYTHING BUT A CARD!

This is officially my longest running project so far as well as one of my favourite DecoArt creations. It took me about 15 hours over 3 days! Yipes, I am slow as mud, I know...but I want what I want, and if it takes a little longer, I don't mind. I am going to use this as my idea book for Autumn and Thanksgiving craft ideas. I plan to make a complete set for all the holidays and seasons. Without further ado, here is Autumn Idea Book!

This week our lovely sponsor is Crafty Devils Papercraft Supplies. This is a fantastic challenge with a great prize, so I sure do hope you will join me in the fun this week!!

 

For the background:

I crumpled up some tissue paper and glued it on with Mod Podge, making sure to tuck a half inch around to the back of the cover.

I used three different shades of green DecoArt Acrylic Paints and a home-made crackle paint technique to cover the tissue paper. Then I spritzed the paper with some diluted DecoArt Sun Yellow paint. Next I took some Tim Holtz distress inks Peeled Paint and Forest Moss and water coloured over all the wrinkles until I liked the look. 

I used the Crafter's Workshop Art Is stencil and some home-made marble texture paste (white and brown mixed together) to add some extra interest. Then I used a sponge and some DecoArt Titanium White, Pure Pumpkin and Sun Yellow paint and dabbed it here and there. Lastly, I splattered some diluted orange paint with the end of my paint brush.

The bronze bookplate is actually made out of polymer clay and antiqued with home-made bronze paint (gold, green and black mixed together) and black wash in the grooves. The sentiment is hand stamped and covered with Crackle Accents. I dripped Tim Holtz Peeled Paint, Rusty Hinge, Gathered Twigs and Aged Mahogany into the cracks.

I made a strip of home-made bark for across the front, but that is a tutorial for another day. It's a bit of a process and should probably have some photos all to itself, so I will put it on my post list for the future. For now, I hope you will zoom in and see how amazing the texture and layers of the bark is. It's some work, but so worth it, I think.

Look! A little bronze butterfly hiding in the flowers!! 

I cut the leaves out from Impression Obsession's Leaf Set, then coloured them with Tim Holtz distress inks Peeled Paint, Rusty Hinge, Gathered Twigs and Aged Mahogany. I spritzed them with water and crunched them up into balls. Dried them with my heat gun and straightened them back out. I edged them with Gathered Twigs and then splattered some orange paint on them.

The flowers were cut out using my old poinsettia die, the honeycomb trellis is Crafty Ann and the twigs are Nellie Snellen Bare Branch.

I am super excited to enter my Autumn Idea Book into the following wonderful challenges!

- Simply Create Too - Challenge #70 - Fall/Autumn

- Crafting For All Seasons - Challenge #86 - Colours of Autumn 

- Creative Moments - Challenge #51 - Anything Goes - Fall Colours

- Love To Scrap - Challenge #38 - Anything Goes

- Altered Eclectics - September Challenge - Anything Goes

- Inspiration Journal - September Challenge - Fall Is In The Air

- Eileen Hull Art With Heart - September Challenge - Fall Back

- The Mirror Crack'd - Challenge #1 - September - Anything Goes

(This is a brand new mixed media blog that I'm super thrilled about! I highly recommend you check it out)

- Our Creative Corner - September Challenge - Autumnal Image Inspiration

(I think what inspired me most are all the textures of the foliage and bark, I just love a project that's fun to touch)

That's it for today. Thank you for stopping in and for all the amazing comments. I read and appreciate every single one! If you have any questions, please let me know.