The theme of this blog hop is our favourite current stamp set.
I was stumped. I simply don't have a current favourite. It's not that I don't like any them but not only am I unable to pick just one, but I was also not getting any flashes of inspiration.
I'm a bit obsessed with textures and mixed media at the moment. My scrapbook pages are full of texture but not so much on my cards.
I came across a technique that uses empty aluminium cans. You can use a Big Shot to cut and even emboss them!
I knew I had to try it and the flood of autumn themed photos of food, crafts and home decor from our northern hemisphere friends combined with dreary rainy weather had made the decision for me.
I have learned that ignoring inspiration because its not what you are "supposed" to be doing always ends badly, so I'm going to have to be that one person who has to be difficult.
I was going to have to base this on my current favourite die, which is Autumn Accents BUT the sentiment from the Sassy Salutations stamp set is one of my very favourite fonts and I recently acquired Gently Falling in the 25% off sale and it's a set I have long been wanting and definitely features in my list of faves so yay I don't ruin the blog hop!
Now...onto the actual card and tutorial!
I've never done this before do please join me on my adventure.
The first step is to deconstruct an empty can, being careful of jagged edges and any metal shards. You could use gloves but I didn't and I'm not the most co-ordinated person in the world.
Cut a section to size and run it through your Big Shot with an Original or Bigz die. I wouldn't try it with Framelits or Thinlits. I used Autumn Accents.
Run it repeatedly through the Big Shot several times. More is better because you want to be absolutely sure it cut through. The leaves will be curled but they'll straighten later.
Pick some embossing folders and proceed as normal. I ran them through twice. The folders I used were Chevron and Perfect Polka Dots from the main catalogue and Pretty Print from the Holiday Catalogue.
Stay away from folders with dense lines or this happens:
The leaves are nice and flat! Since I didn't have alcohol inks to colour the leaves I substituted with Sharpies and plenty of alcohol.
You can buy isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol in supermarkets and pharmacies but I buy alcohol in 4L bottles from a nail supply store to sterilize my nail tools.
I tried three different designs on the leaves and first sprayed then poured alcohol on them to blend the colours...nothing happened.
I cleaned off the maple leaf and the smallest leave and re-did them in the same way as the oak leaf.
Applying the alcohol very quickly after colouring the leaf helped. I drenched them in alcohol which was starting to blend the ink a little and left them to dry overnight.
It definitely improved the look and made the yellow less...neon!
Here they are after sitting overnight. I'm still not as satisfied as I would have been had I used alcohol ink so I decided to try brushing on some Glimmer Glam paint by Tattered Angels to add some sparkle and blend it more.
The Glimmer Glam did a great job but the fine shimmer and glitter in the paint did not show up so I dug out some glitter and exercised an uncharacteristic level of restraint as I sprinkled the smallest amount of glitter on the leaves.
Just for fun I painted a leftover acorn with glimmer glam and dumped glitter them more glimmer glam over it.
Now onto the actual card construction! This is what I ended up with:
The card base is an A4 sheet scores at 5 7/8" I had to trim about 1/8"off the shorter side to get it to measure 8 1/4"x 5 7/8"
The yellow mat is 1/4" smaller and the card front 1/4" smaller again.
Ink the edges of your DSP to give it an aged look if you like.
Before adhering anything, cut the DSP papers for the sentiment (brown is about 1 3/4" x 5 1/8" and the banner started off as a rectangle of about 1 1/4"by (approx) 4 1/2"
Again ink the edges and arrange the sentiment boxes and leaves on the card front and lightly mark with a pencil at a few points where they sit.
Using the Gently Falling stamp set leaf outline, stamp with Versamark so some of the leaves will be tucked under your embellishment (don't forget to use your Embossing Buddy!). I wish I moved the ones on the right out a little but never mind!
Emboss with Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder and repeat for the sentiment using the Sassy Salutations stamp set.
Adhere your brown box and leaves (I used hot glue for the leaves) to the card front and snip the ends of the sentiment to form a pennant (ink any edges!).
Grab a few lengths of linen thread and tie it around a piece of the Burlap Ribbon from the Holiday Catalogue and threading both through a Naturals Designer Button and tying into a bow.
Work out where you want it then adhere the pennant with the sentiment then the bow (also with hot glue)
If you wish to embellish the inside of your card, cut a mat from the Sweater Weather DSP and a sheet of Very Vanilla Cardstock to the same dimensions of the front of the card. Ink the edges.
Stamp the leaf outlines of Gently Falling in Chocolate Chip then using Real Red, Tangerine Tango, Crushed Curry and Crumb cake, "stamp off" the inside of the leaves on scrap paper before filling in the outlines.
I also used the ink dots from the retired set French Foliage to add to the distressed look.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed my card and are enjoying the blog hop. Your next destination is
Kylie Bertucci at Crafty Kylie
Sue Wdowik at Nigh Nigh Birdie
Michelle Mills at Hello Day Cards
Carolina Evans at Studio Evans
Teena Maher at Stamping with Teena
Angela Lorenz at Ang's Crafty Cards
Alex Trofimov at Pink Crafty Mama <------(me!)
