A Blustery Day

Hello all!  I'm here with my second offering for Rachel's lovely Create A Scene theme at Country View Challenges this month.

And, yes, I know we're well into December, but I'm clinging on to the last of autumn just as some of the trees are clinging on to their last leaves.

This altered jar celebrates just this moment, when the last of the leaves are torn from their moorings by a strong wind, and hurtle through the air for one final dance before falling to earth and becoming the mulch of humus (no, not the chick pea sort!) to nourish next year's new growth.














Trees and branches are a bit of a theme here this week, especially bare ones.  You may already have seen the Those Who Wander tag, and there are some slightly bushier versions on their way at the weekend.













The branches on this jar were created using one of Tim's new punches - the little branch.  It makes a great bare tree if you're working in this smaller scale, and you can layer it up to get a bigger tree too.













I started very simply... To get my cloudy sky, I simply spritzed a bit of DecoArt Mixed Media Mister in White Shimmer around the jar, and tilted and dabbed with paper towel until it was dry.  I love the misty autumn morning look.












The houses are cut with the fabulous Townscape On The Edge die.  They're made from kraft card, stamped with a tiny alphabet stamp and inked for a grungier look.












It took nearly two whole townscapes to get round the whole jar.

The leaves being blown gustily around are punched from some wax paper, so they're slightly more translucent than the kraft houses and trees, which gives them a more delicate look...














... especially when you light the candle inside.















The candle inside?  But of course... why else would I create my scene on a jar?!












I tied some raffia around the top.  I'd completely forgotten about raffia.  I used to use it all the time, but it had somehow slipped out of my mind.  I was reminded of it by Lisa Minckler's astoundingly lovely altered jars, and went straight to get it out of hiding!











And round at the front (if a round jar can have a front) I added some autumn gatherings.  When I shared my wandering tag earlier this week, I told you I was using leftover leaves... well, this is what they were left over from.














They're cut from kraft card and stamped with some more of the tiny alphabet...














... and I added a Philosophy Tag, altered with alcohol inks.

One of the pleasures of this is seeing the warm glow once it's all lit up...

And again, I'm sharing a couple of different lighting variations over the course of the post so you can get the general impression of the effects.  Check out the shadows the houses cast too!

I hope you like it, and I hope you'll be inspired to come and Create A Scene with us at Country View Challenges this month.  As always, there's a generous prize voucher from our sponsors, Country View Crafts, with the winner randomly selected, and the honour of being one of our Top Three or our Design Team Member's Special Mention also at stake.  Hope to see you there soon!

A cold wind was blowing from the north, and it made the trees rustle like living things.
From A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin