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Monday 10 October 2016

Autumnal Birthday

Hi all.  Well Summer is finally over and Autumn has definitely arrived now and the nights are getting quite chilly here.  There are quite a few Autumn challenges around at the moment and one is brand new.  It is CAS Watercolour Challenge being run by Loll Thompson and Bonnie Klass,  and is in addition to  the *CAS Mix Up Challenge which they already run and which this month asks for Stamping+Ghosting+Own Choice which in the case of my card below is either the die cutting or heat embossing.


The Ghosting technique is fairly new to me, and there are several ways of achieving this but I used water, i.e. removing ink by spritzing water on to the stamp and pressing down on to an inked surface.  I covered a snippet of white card with several different colours of Distress Ink, namely Mowed Lawn, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick and Walnut Stain, using a dry baby wipe as I happened to have one handy.  I then found a maple leaf stamp from a set by Hobby Art called Falling Leaves.  I spritzed it with water and placed it down on the inked card for quite a number of seconds before lifting it away.  This lifts some ink and makes a lovely pattern.  I repeated this randomly.  When I had finished I used a stitched square die, the largest in the set which is about 4" in size.

I found another snippet of white card and stamped two of the leaves using the Walnut Stain DI.  I made sure this was perfectly dry before adding several of the colours mentioned above to watercolour the leaves with, using a waterbrush.  When happy with the look of the leaves, and again when perfectly dry, I pressed them into my Versamark pad to coat them and heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.  I repeated this again to give them a nice even shiny finish.  When using water based products to colour you should use a permanent ink to stamp with, but I took a chance and although a little of the detail was lost I just readded it with a pencil before heat embossing and it looks fine.

When I had adhered the background and the leaves to the white square base card I added a sentiment stamped with Adirondack Espresso ink.

Thank you for dropping by my blog today.






I am also entering the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - Week 250 where we use up our snippets of card and paper etc.
Addicted to CAS Challenge - Watercolour.
Penny Black and More Challenge - Autumn.
Uniko Studio Challenge - Autumn (no twist though).
Happy Little Stampers October Mixed Media Challenge - Nature.
Happy Little Stampers October Anything Goes with Dies Challenge.
CAS on Sunday - Heat Embossing.
Stamping Sensations October Challenge - Autumn.  (voted winner by DT - so pleased!)
Rubber Dance October Stamp Challenge - Fall (in Love with Autumn).
Casual Fridays Challenge - 158 - 1 in 8.  (I have six leaves whole/partially stamped in the background and two whole leaves as the focal image.
*I am thrilled to have been chosen as one of the Outstanding Designs over at CAS Mix Up.

40 comments:

Loll said...

Pat ... WOW ... this is STUNNING!! I LOVE the autumn colours of your background and leaves. And the ghosting technique on the background is really, really beautiful. Distress inks are the best for getting a really good "ghost". :)

Your watercoloured leaves are amazing. They look real!! Thanks so much for sharing with both CAS Watercolour and CAS Mix Up!! xx

Bonnie said...

This is GORGEOUS, Pat! Your background is so vibrant and the leaves have ghosted beautifully! And then you added those gorgeous watercolor leaves that look real! Thanks so much for sharing this with us at CAS Waterolour and CAS Mix Up!

nancy littrell said...

Absolutely Gorgeous Autumn colors for your background and leaves. I love your ghosting technique too. TFS Pat. Hugs, Nancy

Mrs A. said...

Your leaves look so realistic and the colours are lovely. Perfect autumn shades. hugs Mrs A.

Janice said...

Beautiful card Pat, with everyone's favourite autumnal colours! I love the ghosting technique, thank you for sharing.
Janice x

Jane said...

Love this card. Gorgeous background to set off those two lifelike leaves to perfection. Thanks for linking up at Uniko.

Sarn said...

I totally agree with Loll's comments above.

Hugs, Sarn xxx

Viv said...

Gorgeous Pat - also fits in with our Stamping Sensations challenge if you want to pop over!
http://sirstampalotchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/

Susan said...

What a stunning fall color. Your colors are just perfect. Thanks for sharing at ATCAS!

Linda said...

Wow, your colors are absolutely gorgeous and your ghosting so sharp. Love your card. Those leaves are so stunning.

Ksenija @Sweet Kobylkin said...

Pat, this is gorgeous! The background you created with ghosting technique and these two leaves are absolutely amazing. It was worth trying a new technique for sure. Thank you so much for sharing your card at Addicted to CAS - Sweet Kobylkin

Jean said...

A really beautiful card Pat, the vibrant autumn colours are gorgeous and I love the shiny leaves, so lifelike.
Jean x

Barb said...

This is an absolutely stunning card Pat. The techniques are lovely and the colours absolutely gorgeous. I really like the leaves embossed and shiny. An outstanding autumn creation. Barbxx

Sue's Crafty Corner said...

I love this stunning card Pat, the colours are gorgeous and the leaves beautiful.

Sue xx

laurie said...

This is a stunning fall card! The leaves are beautiful. Thanks for joining us at Happy Little Stampers!

Paper Therapy Ponderings said...

wonderful fall card, thanks for reminding me of the ghosting method
thanks for joining us at Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes Dies challenge
Barb Housner (DT)

Paper Creations by Shirley said...

Gorgeous card, I love the background very much. Cheers xx

brenda said...

A really beautiful and elegant creation Pat, such lovely depth of colour and perfect for our Autumn theme at Penny Black and More and Stamping Sensations, many thanks for joining in.

B x

Di said...

Oh my word Pat! This is utterly stunning! What a wonderful background and the added leaves look so realistic - sure you didn't go and pick them up outside? Wow and double wow!

Hugs

Di xx

Bibi Lindahl said...

Beautiful card! You have achieved such a lovely result with the ghost technique. Gorgeous colours, too. Thank you for entering your card to our October challenge at Rubber Dance ♥ Nice to see you there! I hope you will join us again. x

TaeEun said...

What a lovely fall birthday card, Pat!!! Love the technique and colors you used! The clear heat embossed leaves look like real!!!

Nancy Penir said...

Your resist turned out amazing! Such vibrant fall colors and gorgeous stamp shapes. just beautiful!

Susanne Rose said...

Very elegant!!! This is such a pretty card! Thank you for joining the Rubber Dance challenge. Hugs!

maria's knutselplezier said...

What a beauty , I really love this card, great background, what a fantastic colour use and I love the leaves it makes just the differance!!

Have fun!!
Maria

SewPaperPaint said...

Hmmmm, I have tried this technique before with no success. But yours turned out so beautifully I will have to revisit. Perhaps it was my paper. This is seriously gorgeous stamping! So beautiful. Hugs, Autumn

Linby said...

Oh this is just gorgeous, those leaves look so realistic. Thanks so much for sharing with us at Penny Black & More.
Lynn x
DT

maria f. said...

So rich and pretty. Your ghosting turned out just wonderfully. Congratulations!

nitisartfromheart.bloggspot.no said...

This is a lovely autumn card. I love the colors you've used and I love this ghosting technique. Thank you for joining the Rubber Dance October Challenge!
Hugs, DT-Anita

anja curvers said...

This is such a stunner love, love it. Thanks for joining us over at CAS on Sunday.

Lindsey said...

Wonderful card! Love the colours and blending. Works very well with the ghosting technique too x

Darnell said...

My heavens, Pat, this is an incredible autumn card! Way to go mixing both of Lolly and Bonnie's challenges with one card!! I'm pinning this beauty!! Hugs, Darnell

My Card Attic: Hazel said...

WOW Pat, I truly thought those leaves were real! Fabulous job! Great card! Thank you for your kind words on my blog for myself and Mum, it was greatly appreciated! I'm afraid I must dash, got to sort out some more things that my poor mother had got into a muddle because of the Sepsis! Have a wonderful week! Hazel xx
My Card Attic

MaryH said...

Gorgeous LOOK! You've nailed the Ghosting technique (it's one I've tried, not very successfully as yet). You've got some of my favorite fall colors, with the gorgeous leaf motif. Love the way you've framed it out, as it draws the eye right into that wealth of color. A great entry in the CAS challenge. TFS & Hugs

Julie B said...

Love the ghosted background, the die cut leaves look so realistic too.
So pleased you joined in at HLS this month. :)

Aileen said...

Pat what a beautiful card, I had to look very hard to see they weren't real leaves. Such wonderful colours.

Beverley said...

Stunning card and fabulous technique. Love the rich autumnal colours you have used. Thanks so much for joining in at Uniko and my apologies for popping by so late to comment. Hugs Bev x

My Card Attic: Hazel said...

This is fabulous Pat, those leaves look so realistic! Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today. I really appreciate everyone who has stopped by knowing I am only able to return comments at the moment! Have a wonderful evening! Hazel xx
My Card Attic

Jeanne H said...

As Loll says, Wow! Super great card.

Lagene said...

Very Pretty! Thanks for sharing your tecnique!

Linda said...

Beautiful card. Thanks for playing along with the HLS Mixed Media challenge xx