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Friday 5 October 2012

Milling around

Hello all - Friday at last, and time for a new challenge over at Fussy and Fancy... the task for this fortnight is to make an Easel Card, but other than that it's entirely up to you.  There's lots of inspiration from my fellow Design Team members, and here's my contribution.





I'm loving autumnal crafting - though I've yet to be tempted down the Halloween path... I'm still obsessed with trees and leaves, and particularly with my new die, the Tim Holtz Decorative Strip Die called Autumn Gatherings.

I used it on this tag in pretty much the formation suggested on the packaging, but for this card I've broken it apart a bit, scattering leaves and twigs across the whole card.

And, as regular followers will spot, I've cut it out of my much loved bread wrappers!




Making the easel card was more straightforward than I'd feared.  I found this very clear tutorial at Crafty Devils Paper Craft just by doing a Google search.

A few simple folds and you're done - and I found it made sense not to stick the main square onto the base until most of the work was done... it just made it easier to get the layout arranged.

You can do all sorts of fancy stuff with the shape of your easel card - as you'll see over at Fussy and Fancy, but I thought I'd stick to the basics on my first one.

I have made this card which I loved, and which worked as an easel card - but only by chance really, not with this properly structured architecture.



I used some textured white cardstock to create the card base and main background.  It's got a nice weave in it which shows through the blended DIs of Tea Dye, Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap and Vintage Photo.



I tried to make sure that all the surfaces were inked which would end up visible, even from the back.




And I used the card leftover from cutting the Autumn Gatherings die last time around as a template to do the stencilling, inking the leaves mainly in Walnut Stain DI.







I love these stamps from Artistic Outpost - the Old Grist Mill set - they're just so full of vintage atmosphere, and seem so perfect to me with the autumn colour palette.

And the water mill, using the power of nature to create energy, is coming right back into fashion of course, with alternative energy - tapping into the power of the natural world.

For the main image I blended Sepia and Coffee Archival inks onto the stamp and stamped onto white cardstock.  For the echo, it was Coffee and Black Archivals stamped onto kraft glassine paper.




You have to heat the kraft glassine after stamping, or the ink will remain smudgeable, and the heating also has the amazing effect of making the image sit somehow 'inside' the paper rather than on the surface.




The two mills are layered in a fan with a paper doily which has some more Walnut Stain on the edges to weather it, and a piece of Core-dinations embossed with the TH woodgrain embossing folder.  And more bread wrapper autumnal bits and pieces are scattered around, adding autumnal leaf mulch texture.



I also added a third stamp from the set - the lovely little olde-time newspaper advert.

I adhered one of the Autumn Gatherings leaves to a tiny tab (cut with the TH Tiny Tabs and Tags die) which I'd used a few weeks back to practise one of the Andy Skinner Timeworn Techniques on - the textured rust.

And you can see one of the Autumn Gatherings acorns here too, as well as the pale mesh ribbon from The Funkie Junkie Boutique which I chose as decoration.




Simple garden twine tied in a bow is the final touch on the main panel.

When you create the base for the easel card, it's really good to give it some dimension so that there's some height.  This will mean there's something to prop the main image against, to hold the easel in place, as it were.





I've built my base embellishment on some corrugated cardboard, also from the FJB, gesso'd and inked very roughly for a rustic look.  

Then there's another strip of the embossed Core-dinations, sanded of course to reveal the contrasting core, and the wonderful sentiment from the same AO set.  


More bread wrapper leaves and twigs scattered around complete the look.

I hope you'll be inspired to join in this fortnight over at Fussy and Fancy - we'd love to see your easel cards - and it's definitely worth hopping by to see what the rest of the DT have come up with.

Nature will bear the closest inspection.  She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain.
Henry David Thoreau

Never say there is nothing beautiful in the world anymore.  There is always something to make you wonder in the shape of a tree, the trembling of a leaf.
Albert Schweitzer

I'm entering this in the following:
Simon Says Stamp and Show are offering us some Leaf-spiration this week
The Artistic Outpost October Referral challenge has begun - Anything Goes using an AO stamp
There's a new Vintage Stamping Challenge blog, sponsored by Flonzcraft, who are starting out with an Anything Goes
Papertake Weekly are celebrating their 5th Birthday with an Anything Goes
The Artistic Stamper challenge for October is the Natural World
Crafty Creations would like to see projects with the Colours of Fall
And with the ribbon and corrugated cardboard bought from the Funkie Junkie Boutique, I'd like to add it to the Sunday Share over at Frilly and Funkie

55 comments:

Izzy said...

Wow!! This is truly stunning, everything about it is so lovely! Awesome work! iz x

Inkypinkycraft said...

Gosh , congratulations on the design team, so well deserved!!! A fabulous card that captures your vintage style so well. Bigs hugs and congrats again! Trace. X

Sazzle said...

Oh WOW Alison this is amazing - I love your easel card :-)

I love your vintage style and your cards reveal different techniques each time I see them - you'll cost me a fortune ;-)



xx Sazzle xx

Francesca said...

Wow, what a fab card, so much to see. well done Francesca

Jenny Marples said...

Sooo much to take in on this one hun. Love the kraft glassine (more on the wishlist - need a millionaire!) and the rusted tag. Making masks is something else now on the 'to do' list:) Another triumph, and we now await the winners drumroll on all these challenges... hugs, Buttons x

Unknown said...



*****Superbe bravoooooooooo*

Claudia N. said...

So lovely, Alison!

Love the stamps you used and the delicate leaf-work!!!

Hugs,
Claudia xx

brenda said...

I also have a fixation with Autumnal makes Alison and am loving this one with all the lovely details and textures.

Thanks so much for sharing with us at Vintage Stamping Challenges this month.

B x

Paper Profusion said...

What a shabby beauty! Love it. Nicola x

froebelsternchen said...

omg! That´s really gorgeous! Love all on it!

Anonymous said...

Hi Alison. Fantastic project. Love everything about it. It makes a fabulous easle card but I would want to frame this. Have a wonderful weekend.
Regards Florence x

House of Bears said...

Wow, as usual your work is stunning. Thanks for the link too, another challenge blog for the bears maybe.

Lunch Lady Jan said...

Oh, that's so gorgeous!! I love the colours and textures :)
Hugs, LLJ xx

Craft Addicts - Tracy Evans said...

Wow Alison so many wonderful textures on this piece. Love your use of your beloved bread wrappers and I love the tiny tag with the rust technique. Love the stencilled leaves, this piece is so tactile, perfect for Autumn. Thanks so much for joining in the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge. Tracy x

Anonymous said...

Oh wow this is really gorgeous!! Love your leaves and your wonderful monochrome style!! This is such a beautiful Fall easel design!! HUGS :)

Netty said...

Terrific easel card with lots of fabby layers. Annette x

Minxy said...

Thanks for the lovely comments on my blog x This project is just stunning, can't beat a bit of pretty grunge x
Hugz Minxy

Astrid Maclean said...

Fabulous card Alison, love all the layers and once again you have used all my favourite colours, love it!!

Rosie said...

Wow, this is gorgeous, love every detail.

Have a great Weekend

Lisa Somerville said...

Stunning vintage easel card, so many wonderful details to look at! Thanks so much for your continued support of Artistic Outpost!

Candy C said...


Alison, your easel card featuring an autumnal theme is absolutely beautiful. You always seem to create such very inspiring and well thought out projects. Love your style! Thanks for sharing your art with us at Simon Says Stamp and Show. <3 Candy

Anita Houston The Artful Maven said...

Fall-tabulous, fall-licious, fall-tastic!!! I love these images, and you've transformed them into a wonderful world! Great title too!!!!

Redanne said...

Hi Alison, another triumph from you, love your autumnal easel card, it is really beautiful and it is a great idea to use the cut outs for stencilling, had not thought to do that before...... Crafty hugs, Anne x

Janny Jager said...

Wowwwwwwwww this is amazing Alison.
So many details
It's gorgeous.

Greetings Janny

Lisa Minckler said...

Oh no better words to live by. I just love it!!!!

catherine said...

Love the look to this card Alison. great images and super grungy distressed feel to it
x catherine

Barb said...

Oh my, what a fantastic Fall card.
Especially love your attention to detail, all the various layers and textures.
Happy week-end,
Barb

sam21ski said...

Oh wow, what a fantastic easel card, love everything that you have going on with it and the string is a nice touch

Sam xxx

Brenda Brown said...

Just beautiful Alison, packed full of wonderful vintage treasures, amazing layers and a your great details.
Have a great weekend.
hugs {brenda} xox

gayle said...

Great stamp choice :) loving all the layers, like the technique pics too! x

Terry said...

Love the vintage and rustic feel! So many lovely layers! Beautiful Fall creation! Have a great weekend!

Zuzu's Blog said...

love all the fab texture and layers on this grungy little number. thanks for including it in the Artistic stamper challenge ;)

Z x

Kate Yetter said...

Lovely card! I love these stamps and the vintage look!
Kate

Ana K. said...

Wow Alison, all your creations for past few days (weeks) are awesome.! I love it all and I am a bit jealous, because I was on business tri and didn’t have time to create! Keep doing great job! :)

Chrissy said...

Fantastic easel card Alison, love all the inky and distressed and stenciled Autumn colours, fabulous details..love it.

luv CHRISSYxx

Ephemera said...

WOW, this is magnificent, what a Vintage delight, love all the layers and textures. XX

May said...

WOW!!! Alison this is Beautiful...Fantastic layers,textures, stamping, Design... O my word!! I have spent the last 10 mins just looking at it... Brilliant piece of work! Hugs May x x x

Annie said...

Another stunning creative project Alison. Love the colours and techniques. TFS and good luck in all the challenges. Hugs Annie x

Bee and Dee said...

A beautiful card, love the colours and layout. Hugs Bee

Gerrie Johnnic said...

Amazing how you can put a collage together and I don't even recognize the stamp set! I've used that set so many times, but your artistic view gives another meaning to the set. Just beautiful!

Alison said...

Absolutely fantastic Alison! I love the neutral colours! Thanks for sharing your card with us at The Artistic Stamper challenge.
Alison xx

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous card Alison, love all the layers and the Autumn feel. Thanks for joining us in our first challenge at Vintage Stamping Challenge. Sue C x

Céline said...

Fab design for this gorgeous easel card Alison
hugs
céline

Sue said...

Just lovely Alison, I love brown on brown so this really does it for me x

Jill said...

gorgeous creation thanks for joining us for PTW 5th Birthday hugs Jill xx

Anna-Karin said...

Gorgeous card Alison! Love all the different textures and all those wonderful leaves (isn't autumn gatherings such a great die!). Thank you for joining us again at Simon Says Stamp and Show!

Julia S-W said...

Gorgeously inky and autumnal - I love this look! Great that you were able to add in an AS technique there too. A beauty Alison and I will certainly follow that link for the easel card as I've never made one before.
Have a wonderful week,
Juliaxx

Lucy said...

Terrifiv! Love all the details; the stencilled leaves and the tiny rusted tag,

Lucy x

Basement Stamper said...

This is breathtaking. I love the leaves and the easel card is such a beautiful fold for this gorgeous scene.

scrapadinne said...

Gorgeous easel card! I love that vintage look you've used. And I was really amazed how you created your background yourself :)
Thanks for joining us at CCC this week! :)

Hugs
Evelina

Artyjen said...

Love the colour....makes a great card and lovely idea to make your own mask/stencil ;)
Thanks for playing along at The Artistic Stamper this month.
xoxo Sioux

Marjie Kemper said...

Sooo many gorgeous layers! Love what you've done with the kraft glassine, especially. Just stunning!

Linda Coughlin, the funkie junkie said...

Another beautiful piece of work, Alison. Such lovely autumnal tones and wonderful textures. The Old Grist Mill plate has become one of my favorites too. Thanks so much for sharing with is over at Sunday Share at Frilly and Funkie!

Hugs,
Linda

Silvia(Barnie) said...

Wow, I'm missing words, that's a breathtaking piece of art, so many wonderful details and texture.
Thanks for joining us at Vintage Stamping Challenge, hope you'll be back again.

Shirl said...

Toooo beautiful and oh so vintagy ... love it Alison.

Thank you for sharing with us at our very first Vintage Stamping Challenge.

Hugs Shirley x x