Autumn ~ a time when every leaf becomes a flower!

I mentioned in yesterdays post,  a card I made for Beverly of More Ink Please which I couldn’t post yesterday because I hadn’t re-sized the photos .. well I have now, and I’m here to share.

I previously made just one leaf like these some time ago after I saw one on Pinterest, and fell in love with it.  The leaf I made that time, I made using the Ranger Melting Pot, however these leaves I made using a regular heat gun, to see if I could make them in the same sort of way, as I know that not everyone has a Melt Pot, and this was the result:

I stamped leaves in various sizes then cut them out,  and using ink I coloured the leaves so that they had those wonderful autumnal colours.  I then shaped them and manipulated them gently so that they had ‘groves’ and bends where the should be.  Then smoothed an embossing pad over them and using extra thick embossing powders I heated the leaves using a regular heat gun.  I found that roughly three layers was enough to make the leaves have that deep, thick glow which suggested that they were made of porcelain or glass and precious.

Once cool I dragged a gold ink pen around the outside of the leaf, and finally I wrapped some gold wire around the leaves.

Then using a hot glue gun I attached them to a card which I’d prior to this, embossed the background in a tree bark look, and framed that background with a cut out,  –  but I’d embossed around the edges of that cut out in a random way using two colours of embossing powders and carefully melting them into each other.

I added a sentiment, and a bow and that was it.  Finished!  It was ready to be sent to Beverly.

And that was all there was to it!  😊

I’m still taking part in the InkTober challenge, but I ran out of time today to finish my drawing, so I’ll hopefully finish it tomorrow and post a blog post about it then.

Thank you so much for coming and sharing a coffee with me.  It’s so lovely of you to visit, and I just love seeing you.

Oh … and before you go  …  Let’s all wish Britt Ekland a Happy Birthday for today. She was born on this day, in 1942.  This fabulous fact about this lovely lady leaves me feeling wonderful and very young.    If she looks that good (I Googled to find an up to date photo of her) at her age today, then there is hope for me. (I was born a good maaany years after 1942!).  

I’m off now to put on a full face of cosmetics, find my favourite outfit out of the wardrobe and go somewhere where my glamour will be appreciated.  Somehow, Tesco’s just won’t cut it today.

As for you …  I wish you a truly blessed day.  Please do something to make someone else smile.  It doesn’t have to cost you anything.  You can simply say a bright ‘good morning’ to them, but just try to make someone smile today.  It costs nothing, and you’ll never run out of them.

Sending buckets of squidges through my computer screen, along the cables and bursting through your computer screen.  Wait for the moment they hit you … get ready …  …. NOW!  Feel that warm little wiggle inside?  You’ve just had a download of Cobs Squidges.  You should now be smiling a little smile.  Just a turn upwards of the corners of your mouth.  YES… THERE IT IS!  Aw my goodness, you look so fabulous when you smile like that.  Your eyes twinkle like little diamonds!

Have a lovely day my friend. 

 

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Somethings in life are always beautiful.

I had my Ranger Melt Pot out last week,  aka:  The Cauldron.,  and made a few pretties with it but … well, one thing turned to another and a little memory crept into my mind of a card I remembered seeing about four or five years ago.  Once the memory had taken shape inside my mind (in other words, I remembered enough to give it a good old bash) I thought I’d have try at making the beautiful leaf I remembered.

The leaf itself is a stamped leaf, but, after cutting it out, I turned it over and using bottles of re-inkers, I set about colouring the leaf up.  The first one I made didn’t give off the feeling I was trying for.  The colours were too deep and kind of flat.  So I scrapped that one, (my motto:  If at first you don’t succeed, destroy all evidence that you ever tried!)…  and began again, this time using different colours.  I knew what I was after:  A leaf coloured for all the seasons.    And this was the result:-

I was quite pleased with how it turned out.  It went from a brighter summer green, into a deep, rich, dark green, which then changed into rust and orange, which in turn changed into that fabulous autumn yellow.

I took LOADS of photographs of the leaf … and couldn’t for the life of me, get it to show the ultra thick embossing which I’d toiled over until it was perfection.  I wanted to catch the shine on the leaf so that you could see that this was something really pretty.  It looked like the most beautiful leaf captured inside glass. [sigh]  Sadly, I failed.  Nothing I did would catch the shine of what looked like glass.  So you’ll have to imagine that it’s there.

The sentiment – is partly something I read a while back, but I changed it round a little, added a line and changed a few words, and so made it more what I wanted the card to say.

In case you can’t read it, it says:

Whispering winds which scatter leaves at the end of Summer;  A gentle stroll on an Autumn Day;  The chill in the air on a Winters morning;  The chirrup of bird song which Spring brings.  Somethings in life are always beautiful.

I really enjoyed putting this card together and love the leaf.  In fact I loved making it so much that I think I’m going to make it again, only next time a little different.  If it works, I’ll share it with you.  If it doesn’t …  you may never hear another word about it.  But ..  I might share it if it fails miserably – just so that you and I can have a laugh.  LOL.

On the day I made this card,  I made some other things too – only this time with my Cauldron (Ranger Melt Pot), and I’ll share those things with you next time.

Anyhoo  . . .  HAPPY MONDAY!

Just to get the week off to a grrrrrreat start, I give you a joke in the hope of making your heart smile….

I just watched a wildlife documentary about beavers.  —  Best dam programme I’ve seen in a long time!  😀

Pass the smile around.  Share the joke.  Let’s see if we can get the whole world smiling.  We could use a little amusement now and again.

Have a truly lovely Monday.  May today be a good one.  Sending you squidges from my corner to yours….

 

Beautiful Roses made from real Autumn Leaves

Autumn Leaf Rose by Vanesseva
(link to Eva’s blog, below)

Aren’t these beautiful?  Can you imagine having a display of these on your dining room table, or a vase of these on your coffee table?

Visiting a blog which I follow led me to discovering the tutorial to make these fabulous roses, all made from real Autumn leaves.  The link to the tutorial is here:  http://sistersknowbest.com/2014/10/11/nicole-dukes-easy-free-diy-fall-decoration/

The photograph at the very top of this post is one owned by Nicole Duke – however a Google search hasn’t turned up anything which I can link to in order to credit this talented lady.  So I hope she doesn’t mind that I shared her beautiful creation with you, but I give her credit both for her skill in the making of the rose and also as the owner of the photograph.

However – I do want to share with you a link to the blog I follow,  –  (which in turn led to the discovery of the rose leaf tutorial in the link above) –  http://mypaperrosegarden.wordpress.com/  – and thank the blog owner – Vanesseva – for the share of the link and also give her masses of crafty credit for the incredible Autumn Leaf Rose which she herself made. (photograph credited above)

Have a truly beautiful autumnal day!