Leaf Collage

Since I am totally ready for Christmas and have all my Design Team projects out of the way I decided to play for a change and this leaf collage is the result.

Here is how to put it together:

1.  Coat a small stretched canvas with White Gesso (Liquitex)
2.  Cover with Molasses Acrylic Paint (Folk Art) and allow to dry thoroughly
3.  Cover with a coat of Paint Crackle Medium (Folk Art) and allow this to dry thoroughly
4.  Cover with a coat of Bleached Sand Acrylic Paint (DecoArt) and watch it crack as it dries
5.  Mix a bit of Bleached Sand Acrylic Paint with some Molding Paste (Golden) and use with a small dot stencil (TCW) to add some random stenciling
6.  Spatter the canvas with some Molasses Acrylic Paint and then dry brush some Bleached Sand lightly over it
7.  Strip parts of the top layer off a piece of corrugated card stock and then dry brush with some Bleached Sand
8.  Crumple up a couple of pieces of Kraft Glassine (Tim Holtz - discontinued) and add some stitching with Metallic Copper Embroidery Floss (DMC) to one strip
9.  Cut a couple small pieces of burlap and ink with Vintage Photo Distress Ink
10.  Tear a square of canvas, ink the edges with Vintage Photo DI and coat with fabric stiffener
11.  Tear a piece of old book paper, stamp a leaf (Nature's Wonder by Tim Holtz) using Coffee Archival Ink (Ranger), then cover with Vintage Collage Medium (Tim Holtz)
12.  Add some burlap string to a copper button and adhere to collage

There you have it, a simple collage but fun to make with lots of mixed media.

Cherry Blossoms

It is time for a new challenge at Stamps and Stencils and this time Autumn, who is our hostess calls it Elements of Nature and describes it this way:

"Whether you are inspired by the glorious world around us with the changing seasons, or tempted to use elements of nature in your art work, this month we'd love to see your nature inspired entries.

Anything goes as long as you include a natural element in your art which can be either either stamped or an actual item ! As always you need to include stamping or stenciling."

I decided to make a canvas featuring cherry blossoms and while they aren't real, I think they are a great representation.

I started by covering a dollar store canvas with a coat of Liquitex Gesso.  Next I glued some strips of Tim Holtz Melange Tissue Wrap to the canvas along with some torn paper.  I added some stenciling with Golden Light Molding Paste and a Heidi Swapp geometric stencil.  Once dry I covered everything with another coat of Gesso.

I painted the surface next using dry baby wipes and lots of different paints applied in random spots - Golden Maganese Blue Hue and Green Gold, DecoArt Cobalt Teal Hue, IndigoBlu Hunter Green Matte Acrylic and Fresco Finish Pumpkin Soup and Smoked Paprika.

Next I made the branches and the blossoms from Martha Stewart Crafter's Clay and a Wilton Mold.  Once the pieces were dry I painted the blossoms with Fresco Finish Blush, Candy Floss and Blood Orange.  The branches were painted with Fresco Finish Mocha and inked with Tim Holtz Gathered Twigs, Walnut Stain and Black Soot Distress Inks.  The leaves were painted with Golden Green Gold and Fresco Finish Green Olives and then inked with Gathered Twigs DI.

I used Jet Black Archival Ink to stamp the bird from the IndigoBlu set called Live, Love, Laugh and coloured it with Prismacolor pencil crayons blended with Gotrick OMS.  I used Jet Black Archival Ink to stamp the little bee from a Tim Holtz set called Random Thoughts.

The sentiment was computer generated and inked with Cracked Pistachio DI and think it really speaks to the fact that this branch is not very full of blooms as you might see on the trees in the spring.  I personally could be considered the adversity because I ran out of clay and time - lol.

I hope you will join us and share your nature themed project.