I'm travelling into a new way of working, a new country, a new language, and a new hobby which I'm passionate about. Come with me for some of the journey...

Friday 26 October 2012

Every leaf speaks


Hello all, and a warm welcome to Words and Pictures on this chilly day (well, it's chilly where I am, you may be more fortunate).

I'm getting there with catching up with the Funkie Junkie's 12 Tags of Christmas, sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique, but I've skipped one - this is number 5.  I'll come back to number 4 soon.

So far I've taken the inspiration provided each week and run in the other direction from Christmas... and today's is no exception.  I've discovered I love autumnal crafting, and I'm jolly well hanging onto it for as long as possible!

Yup... autumn leaves it is.  And plenty of them, in all sorts of ways.

I've taken inspiration from Linda's original in lots of ways.  There's the music manuscript background; and I've done some embossing on it (leaves not snowflakes); I have  a four-letter word as my focal point; I've used some metal filigree embellishments; there's script on my die-cut shapes; and the original starting colour of Vintage Photo is also the same in both tags.








But the big difference, of course is that hers is Christmas and mine is Autumn.  


And, yes, I've used the American term "fall" because I also wanted to reference the leaves tumbling all over the tag, falling to the floor in that final burst of fiery colour before they turn to mulch (love that word!).




I'm actually really pleased with the lettering here.  It's the Idea-ology Alpha Parts from Tim Holtz, and they start out as black plastic.  I've added drops of alcohol ink in Gold and Rust until they mixed to my satisfaction.  


I love what a variety of looks you can achieve with these letters - I've used the same Random set a couple of times recently with slightly different recipes, and love each different result.







I treated the metal filigree the same way.  I got these corner pieces very cheaply on ebay, but they've got a bright white enamel finish, so that had to be changed!  


Again, I added various alcohol ink drops (think black was in there somewhere with these too) until I liked the look.  I love the variegated autumnal shades I've ended up with.







The embossing in the background is done with my much-loved and oft-used Artistic Outpost leaf stamp from the Old Grist Mill set.  (By next autumn I hope to have saved up to get Tim Holtz's Falling Leaves set - unbelievably gorgeous, and then I won't have to have just one leaf shape the whole time, lovely as it may be!)


After embossing, I went over the whole background with Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and - towards the edges - Gathered Twigs.  And near the end of the making I stippled on some Transparent Iron Oxide paint to fire up the colours overall.







The edging was done with Gold acrylic paint, dabbed on with a crumpled piece of paper towel to get the texture on it.  


It was slightly too bright a gold, so that got a blending of Gathered Twigs over it as well, and a touch of the Iron Oxide right at the edges.







For the leaves, I stamped a script stamp onto some light brown cardstock, and ran it through the BigShot with the TH Autumn Gatherings die.  


So music in the background and words in the leaves - combining my favourite things again with my new favourite thing (crafting, if you hadn't worked it out)...  And words in the leaves, you see - "Every leaf speaks..."












Each leaf then had to be edged with Vintage Photo to give it some more definition, and they got a collective spritz of Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls Mist (pretty hard to get them all to stay in one place as you spritz them and then blow hot air at them!).    And then there was the sticking down...







The string at the top is from a big ball of coated twine, with a brass/bronzey metallic sheen.  I can't remember now where I picked it up, but it cost peanuts and there's loads of it, so expect to see more of that!


So that's number 5... I've got 4 and 6 to go, and then I'll be up to date. What's the betting I can get it done before number 7 tips up on Monday?!




Thanks so much for stopping by today... and why do come and play along.  Linda's tags are so amazing, and kick off so many ideas and possibilities.  And you don't have to play every single one (though I think you need the full set to be in the running for the prize), and you've got until 17th December to get it done - piece of cake!!

I'm entering this in the following:
Tag 5 of the Funkie Junkie's 12 Tags of Christmas
Simon Says Stamp are playing in the Autumn Leaves this week
Artful Times would like to see Orange, Brown and White (there's just about some white left thanks to the embossed leaves!
Twisted Tuesday are playing Anything But a Card, with a twist of orange 

Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree.
Emily Brontë
And because I'm not actually much of a Brontë fan (not Emily, anyway, or Charlotte much... I like Anne - just to be difficult), I'll give you some others too.  It's just that the speaking leaves were too good to miss as a post title...
Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all.
Stanley Horowitz
And this is the fire I'm after in this tag:
A woodland in full color is awesome as a forest fire, in magnitude at least, but a single tree is like a dancing tongue of flame to warm the heart.
Hal Borland

43 comments:

gayle said...

Wow, I love this! A great background, and I love the metallic touches :)

Janny Jager said...

Great tag Alison.
Love every detail on it.

Greetings Janny

sam21ski said...

Gorgeous, fab rustic tag

Sam xx

Anonymous said...

The metallic touches make the tag dance and those leaves are glorious.
Wishes
Lynne

chrissie said...

Great tag Alison love the design.

Best wishes Chrissie xx

Kjersti said...

Another gorgeous creation Alison, and I love this one too - it's beautiful!
Have a nice weekend!
Hugs Kjersti:)

froebelsternchen said...

Such a lovely piece Alison! gorgeous!

Von said...

Fabulous tumbling Leaves Alison bet it really sparkles :)
Thank you for sharing with us at Artful Times
Von ♥

Claudia N. said...

It's chilly here too, Alison,

but looking at your lovley autumnal tag, bright as warming beams of sunlight, made me feel a lot cosier and warmer!

Wishes,
Claudia xx

Chrissy said...

I'm sitting here with my summer daisies, daisying away, and thinking of [FALL]Autumn...my favourite season, and just admiring your beautiful tag..love the background and all those leaves, and fabulous lettering...so beautiful Alison.

Luv CHRISSYxx

Lisa Minckler said...

You're truly staying true to your love of Autumn and it's beauty is shining through. My most favorite theme that runs through it all is that every leaf speaks. This is so crisply scrumptious with your keen sense of this beautiful season. I also love that you altered the TH black letters. I have those and never crossed my mind to try this. It's gorgeous and can't wait to see the two others!

Shari said...

I just love these tags. You did a nice job on adding oh so many details. You are very creative! Thanks for joining us at Twisted Tuesday!
Shari Nelson DT

Debi said...

Alison, I love the delicate prettiness of this and all the gold, as always thanks for all the lovely comments you leave me, they mean a lot <3 Debi x

Neet said...

Autumn is my favourite season, because of the colours I guess.
You have made a lovely job of this and it has a well thought out description to accompany it.
Love the fall.ing leaves Alison!
Neet in sunny Cyprus (soon to be cold cold England) xx

Deborah said...

Love your falling leaves (although we had falling SNOW last night). And we used to call it Fall before the Americans apparently, so you're okay :-)

Alison said...

Another gorgeous tag Alison! The colours on the word & filigree are beautiful, & I love the texture of the gold paint!
Alison x

Inkypinkycraft said...

Another beautiful piece, love how you have coloured the letters...as always a beautifully created and thoughtfully constructed piece, Alison, love trace x

Laurel Beard said...

OOOOHHHH. How pretty is this! Love it!! Loving the text on the leaves!

Thank you so much for playing along in the Simon Says Stamp challenge this week!!!

Anne (cornucopia) said...

This is stunning and incredibly gorgeous! Great artwork!

Asia King (aka Joanna K) said...

Fantastic tag! Loooove the rustic feel of it! xx

Terry said...

Beautiful autumn tag! Love the falling leaves and that gorgeous background! The gold is such a rich and elegant touch! Love this!! Happy Weekend!

Anita Houston The Artful Maven said...

It's ok to not want to jump into Christmas yet! Autumn is a special time to celebrate! This is just gorgeous!!! Love the leaves!

Astrid Maclean said...

Super tag Alison, how you have run with the elements and taken them in a different direction! I specially like the way you have altered the lettering, such a great effect!

Silvia(Barnie) said...

Wow, that's a wonderful tag, love all the leaves.

2amscrapper said...

This is GORGEOUS! Thanks for stopping by my blog on the Gecko Galz hop.

Linda Coughlin, the funkie junkie said...

Oh, oh, oh! That background is incredibly beautiful. Love the colors and the FALL letters. And all your leaves are wonderful too. Just a really beautiful piece of work. So happy to have you joining in the fun!

Hugs,
Linda

Brenda Brown said...

A delightful tag Alison, beautiful colours and techniques.
Happy Sunday.
Hugs Brenda xxx

pearshapedcrafting said...

Beautiful! Love the colours and the gold edges set it off perfectly, Chrisx

May said...

Stunning tag Alison as always, Gorgeous colours & detail...Love those leaves... Hugs May x x x

Michelle Webb said...

Alison this tag is gorgeous I love the colour and the leaves, and you're right those letter are fab! They really look like weathered solid gold. Simply wonderful. Michelle x

Sandra's Spot said...

Beautiful tag those falling leaves just lovely hugs Sandra X

Laurart said...

I am determined to get you embracing Christmas early! (from a creative point of view of course!) - Adam will come along with a gift tomorrow - Hope you like it (you don't HAVE to use it) but I hope it will give some inspiration xxx

Kezzy said...

Stunning tag, really love the colours, the golds are gorgeous. I love alpha parts from TH but never worked out how to colour them, I never thought of using the metalic alcohol inks. Hugs Kerry xxx

Jeanette (Forest Ranger) said...

Very striking!

Thank you for participating in the Twisted Tuesday Challenge!

Jenny Marples said...

What a great tag! Love your use of alcohol inks on the metal filigree and lettering. They add just the right amount of 'bling'. Hugs, Buttons x

Marjie Kemper said...

Superb!!! Love all the leaves and the fabulous treatment of those letters. Beautiful, indeed!

Tess said...

Beautiful. Loving the colours used.

debby4000 said...

Beautiful Autumn tag, wonderful leaves and details.

Thanks for joining us at Simon Says Stamps Challenge.
luv
Debby

Julia S-W said...

Gorgeous tag Alison and I can't think how I missed it!! I love the tumbling leaves and what you've done with the letters and filigree corner pieces. Wonderful.
Juliaxx

SanDee1899 said...

Absolutly marvelous ! KR SanDee1899

crafty-stamper said...

Fantastic tag love the word leaves thanks for joining us at Twisted Tuesday
Carol dT x

lena-dailyscrap said...

Gorgeous work! Love that background and the coloring!

Unknown said...

Oh its lovely - so much work and thought have gone into making this. I love the lettering its wonderful.