A True Autumnal Day

Hello all!  It's time for a new challenge on A Vintage Journey and our host, the lovely Jennie, is going Crazy For Autumn Colour.  As always there's some glorious inspiration from my fellow Creative Guides, and here's my offering for you.

I seem to be slightly fixated on tags at the moment.  When you're feeling pressed for time, it's a really manageable creative space to play on; or if your mojo is feeling sluggish, there's very little pressure in just having a mess around with a tag.

I'm not saying either of those things was the case with this one - this was an experiment tag (another great tag-use)... still playing with how those Distress Inks and Distress Oxides work together.  I really enjoy the balancing act of transparent DIs and opaque DOs.













For this one I started with all Distress Inks on the mat, dipping and smooshing until I had a nice inky complexity.

I guess there's Spiced Marmalade and Wild Honey involved, and maybe some Rusty Hinge?













I then brought in Oxides from around the edges - Frayed Burlap, Vintage Photo and maybe Walnut Stain (it's a long time between making the tag and writing this post, sorry!).

I love how this gives the impression of the gathering dusk to what had been a really bright tag.












And there's that clear autumn light in the centre of the tag, and then the mists of mellow fruitfulness creeping in around the edges thanks to the chalkier opacity of the Oxides.

As you can see, I've already started stamping by this point - some of my much loved Tim Holtz wild grasses.











I stamped in various inks - some Oxide, some Distress, some Archival - and clear-embossed some for that shimmer of light that I love.

I was enjoying the glossy reflective embossing so much that I decided to add some all the way around the edges - just swiping on Versamark embossing ink direct from the pad.












In places where it seemed too much, I used a brush to soften the edges, brushing away the powder before heating it.  I love the texture you get into the bargain!












From there, it's really pretty straightforward...

The fabulous Thinlits crow is front and centre, with a  touch of spatter.











As I was providing some earthy shadows for him to stand on - a Sharpie marker, as I needed something which would work over the embossing - I realised I really loved the shading effect over the embossing.

So I added more around all the edges, just gently using the side of the nib.  I love how it highlights bits of the texture - or lowlights them, I guess.










At the heart of it all are some more of my new word stamps.

Yes, okay, I'm slightly obsessed with them - but then I wouldn't want to offer up to you words that didn't inspire me too... and they do!








These are from PaperArtsy EAB04 The Autumn Edition, some words by George Eliot, though I've not used the whole quote (hence the comma at the "end" - imperfection duly embraced).

(Has anyone noticed that I'm making sure to include at least one woman's words on each plate?  Obviously, over the centuries, far more men's words have been recorded, but I don't want ever to put out an all-male set and ignore the female voice.)









And what is the large raven looking over his shoulder to see?

Another of my favourite Tim Holtz stamps - the flock of birds circling in the sky, preparing to leave for warmer climes.












Most ravens don't migrate, so I guess he's either gazing longingly or looking scornfully at the lightweights who are setting off to avoid the cold winter weather...















...especially since they're leaving when this last autumn sunshine is still so beautiful.














Some simple rustic twine finishes the whole thing off, and that's pretty much your lot here at Words and Pictures.

But, as I said, there's oodles more inspiration to be found over at A Vintage Journey where my fabulous teammates have been going Crazy for Autumn Colour so do hop over to take a look, and we hope you'll join us along the way. 













There's a wonderful prize package on offer from the brilliant Calico Craft Parts which will go to one randomly drawn winner...








... and you could be selected as one of our Pinworthies and invited to join us further down the road as a Guest Creative Guide - so get out those autumn colours and go crazy!

Thanks for stopping by today and I'll see you again soon.

The air is crowded with birds - beautiful, tender, intelligent birds - to whom life is a song.
George Henry Lewes






I'd like to share this over at the That's Crafty Challenge Blog where the theme is Forever Autumn
At the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge they're taking A Walk on the Dark Side - I hardly ever use black, so with my raven, my Sharpie framing and the gathering darkness of autumn I hope this is dark enough
I'd also like to make a third and final entry at Frilly and Funkie where the request is to Show Us Your Stamps
In a lovely piece of timing, at Stamps and Stencils the new theme is Autumn: Season of Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness - perfect!