Rust Rules!

Hello all!  Can you believe it's October already?!  Time for a new set of challenges around Craftyblogland.

I'll be back very shortly with my offering for Country View Challenges, but first we're kicking off the new theme over at Our Creative Corner.

Our brilliant leader Laura is our host this month, and she's inviting you all to Go Rustic.  Here's what she had to say: We want to see a huge variety of items here, so make anything you like, but add some RUST!  Now you can take this rust-ic creativity to any level you like - you can use just use some rusty autumnal colours or you can really go for it and work with gorgeous, rough textured, grungy, real or faux rust.

Before you go and check out the amazing inspiration over at Our Creative Corner, here's my starter for ten...  I've kept it pretty simple this month.

I do love a bit of rust and I think it goes perfectly with one of my other favourite things, corrugated cardboard.








I built up my hanging over a piece of cardboard which I rusted up with lots of layers of paint and embossing powder.











The paint included lots of DecoArt colours - Burnt and Raw Umbers, Burnt Sienna, Quinacridone Gold, Transparent Red Iron Oxide amongst others.

And for texture there are various Distress embossing powders - Walnut Stain, Black Soot, Vintage Photo - as well as the Ranger Antiquities Rust.










I added Weathered Wood Distress Paint around the edges later on to provide some contrast, and to tone in with the central panel.












For that panel, I stamped one of my favourite Tim Holtz quote stamps onto some white card, and then inked around it with Weathered Wood Distress Ink.















Around the corners I stamped possibly my all-time favourite branches, from the Silhouette Blossoms set by Autumn Leaves.













The Idea-ology flowers have been treated with the Crafty Notions Rusting Powder.  (You apply it over multi-medium and then spritz with vinegar and let it work - you can see the process in detail in my post Tea Dye and Rusty Hinge.)

I layered in a couple of washers from that same rusting session and attached my little floral arrangements in opposite corners.













It still needed a little something extra, so I layered in some torn book pages to give it a little lift, and the whole thing is strung up with twine that's been roughed up with some more Weathered Wood Distress Paint.







I hope you like my rusty rustic hanging.  My team-mates are also rust-lovers and you're going to be amazed by what they've come up with this month, I promise.

Check out their fantastic projects over at Our Creative Corner and we hope you'll be inspired to come and play soon.  Our sponsor this month is the fabulous Funkie Junkie Boutique, so make sure you comply with all the challenge rules to qualify for the prize!  Oh, and I'll be back very shortly with the new CVC challenge details... see you then!

A sword, a spade, and a thought should never be allowed to rust.
James Stephens