Friday, November 6, 2015

Topsy-Turvy Autumn; Fall Leafing Up!

Hi Everybody!
Oh My! Lys at  Our Creative Corner has a challenge "Topsy Turvy" which is sure to scramble anyone's brains! If you read my title, you will see mine was a little scrambled by the time this went to post!  Here's my upside-down, inside-out, chaotic mess of an Autumn card.


One of my favorite memories as a kid was going up to the birch woods on the edge of our farm.  This was a magic place, especially in the fall, when the leaves would fall down like rain! The leaves always looked gold to me, against the bright blue sky.  My sister and I would lay on our backs for hours and let those tiny leaves drift over us. Unfortunately where I live now, we don't get that sort of autumn beauty, so I have to remember it through my artwork.

Let's start with the bottom layer.  I brushed Pitch Black Adirondack paint Dabber on white card, followed by my new DecoArt Weathered Wood Crackle Medium.  When dry, I brushed on Tumbled Glass and Faded Jeans Distress paints.


To do something totally topsy turvy, I decided to use the negative space of die cut leaves for my focal point.  I used a Tim Holtz Decorative strip die repeatedly on a piece of scrap paper.  I painted this lightly with  DecoArt gesso.  Once dry, I blended on Distress inks in Tumbled Glass, Faded Jeans and Chipped Sapphire and gave it a spritz of water and allowed this to dry naturally. Notice the darker blues are at the bottom.  I wanted this to be a dusky sky with the first stars coming out (upside down, of course).  I spritzed on my new DecoArt Media Shimmer Mister in white to the darker areas for stars.



Next, I wanted do do something out of order (Topysy Turvy) for the leaf backing.  I had a piece of leftover interfacing  (used for sewing) I had colored with various sprays last fall.  I ran it through my Big Kick with a Crackle embossing folder (Darice), which I had swiped Walnut Stain Distress ink over on the raised part to de-boss the crackle--just another topsy turvy element!


I made the frame using the negative space from a Spellbinder's die.  I used a TCW stencil and DecoArt Crackle paste to get the woodgrain, which when dry, I colored with Distress inks in Gathered Twigs and Walnut Stain. I added another negative "frame" cut from brown card left from a previous project. I heat embossed that with clear embossing powder and a Heidi Swapp wood grain image. I swiped on a little watered down DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylic in Titanium white to bring out the grain. To finish, I topped it with Frantage to look like a light frost.


I used Grunge Blocks to spell out Fall. Did you notice I turned one of the L's upside down? These were finished with Pitch Black paint Dabber and Tumbled Glass Distress paint. The word "leaves" was made from Tim Holtz  old Seasonal paper stash.  I cut letter blocks out and glued them on waste card board, cut them out, sanded the edges, swiped the edges with Tumbled Glass Distress paint and embossed randomly with Frantage. Typically I edge with a dark color, so this is one more Topsy Turvy thing on this card.


The leaves were a happy accident (more Topsy Turvy). My intent was to cover my negative leaves panel with clear UTEE.  I gave it a coat of gesso and while still wet, sprinkled on UTEE.  Duh, I left it to dry on a piece of copy paper, and then embossed with my heat tool, so it stuck to the copy paper. I tried pulling the leaf panel off, but it tore, and left these embossed leaves!  I blended over them with Distress ink--I think Wild Honey. I ended up having to fussy cut them out. Uggg! So much work went into them, I just had to use them!  To tie them into the project, I took a few die cut leaves, swiped them with Tumbled Glass Distress paint and embossed with Frantage.


There you have it! Fall Leafing Up! I'm sorry I had to explain myself, but I didn't want anyone to think I just made a bunch of mistakes--which I DID, of course.  But they all worked out in the end! The sun decided to go away before I could finish my photo shoot! The most carefully laid out plans sometimes go topsy turvy!


I hope you enjoyed this post and that you are not completely confused!  I would like to enter this into the following inspiring challenges:
Country View Challenges November # 33 The Colour Blue
Frilly and Funkie Let There Be Light! I used gradients of blue color to represent a sky at dusk and added first stars of night.
Stamps and Stencils Remember, Remember
The Artistic Stamper Fabric My fabric is the interfacing. 
Try It On Tuesdays Lots of Layers
Sweet Stamps November Anything Goes
Sparkle and Sprinkle November Anything Goes I used embossing powder on the smaller frame, UTEE and Frantage on the loose leaves.
Use Your Stuff Challenge # 198 Use Old Stash Grunge Blocks??? I got those 4 years ago! The paper stash-old; Spellbinders die-old, TCW stencil--old.

Thank you for dropping by today and for leaving your lovely comments! Hugs and Blessings!
Sara Emily

UPDATE: I'm honored!!!
Blog Challenge Winner Blinkie              Images intégrées 1

29 comments:

  1. I love your falling leaves, my dear Sara! That light frost effect on your background is just marvelous! What can I say about your leaves - they are STUNNING! Oh, I adore that grunge look! What an awesome technique you used on those! Fabulous design, my friend!
    Huge hugs and lots of love to you! Branka xxx

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  2. Stunning Sara, and I love the idea of making the leaves look like they are falling! The blue background is a perfect choice, really adds to the illusion of the falling leaves! So much texture, even on the little teeny tiny leaves, your attention to detail is always such a point of interest for me! Another stunner my friend!

    Hugs :)
    My Little Craft Things

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  3. Fantastic piece Sara ! Love how you've used the negative space of the leaves ! Thanks for joining us at Stamps and Stencils. Sue C x

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  4. This is great, and love your back story..... you've really captured that image of looking at the sky at dusk....fabulous! xxx Lynn

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  5. This is wonderful! I love the use of the negative space and the background behind the leaves is gorgeous! Love it!
    ~~julia~~

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  6. Oh my goodness, this is stunning, Sara!! I love the falling leaves!! They look amazing against that beautiful blue background!! Every technique you used is so fabulous!! Even your happy accident with the UTEE looks phenomenal!! I love this!! Wow!! Gorgeous!! Have a great day :)

    Lisa
    A Mermaid's Crafts

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  7. I love your falling leaves, Sara! Gorgeous background too! Thanks for sharing it with us at TioT.

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  8. Wowzers! So many interesting and tipsy turney things going on here. What an incredible way of using different ideas and techniques to create a fantabulous design. Happy accidents? Nope, just you being the creative self you are! Love the UTEE leaves and your background and the negative space. Genius and amasballs! I would love to have been in your brain for this creative process. Would that make me a zombie? Haha! Hugz to you muffin! I am off to a local craft show. Should be fun. xx

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  9. Sara, this is exquisite! Your inspiration is beautiful and you certainly brought your memories to life. Your techniques are incredible and the results couldn't be dreamier... I adore the golden leaves atop the blue sky.. and of course your background is perfection! You are amazing. :o) Have a lovely day!

    Hugs and blessings,
    Karen

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  10. This is just gorgeous,thanks for sharing with us at Country View Challenges.xxx

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  11. Not confused at all! At least I don't think so- Well maybe just a big bit- no,no not really in the least bit! Oh my oh my- I feel all topsy turvy now!!

    I am a bit envious though of your creative ability to turn even creative mistakes into wonderful art ! You are sooo talented and clever Sarah!! I wanna come play art with you!!
    Gorgeous piece for sure and I LOVE the blues with browns! xoxo

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  12. I love your falling leaves! The idea of the negative, the story of your happy accidents... Made a beautiful creation! Thanks for playing along with us at Our Creative Corner!

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  13. Wow Sarah! This really has the very best of Autumn - clear blue skies and softly falling leaves ....and wonderful techniques - I absolutely love it! So pleased you joined us at Try It On Tuesday! Chrisx

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  14. This is a wonderful project, really enjoyed reading your description, thank you for joining us on TIOT challenge hugs Bee.

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  15. Absolutely love this - what a wonderful celebration of autumn leaves and those glorious blue skies you (sometimes!) get. Love the use of the negative die-cut space - really clever and effective.
    Alison xx

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  16. Oops, and thank you for playing along at Country View Challenges too!
    Alison xx

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  17. AMAZING Project ! Thank you for joining TIOT's! oxo Susi

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  18. Very pretty. I love the falling leaves and your memory of lying on your back among them is the same memory I have. I loved it back then but now I have to rake them and it just makes this old back hurt. Love the blue sky, which makes the leaves stand out even more as it does in real life. Thanks for joining us at Frilly and Funkie.
    Hugs!
    Cec

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  19. Stunning project Sara,
    Thanks for sharing with us at TioT
    Avril

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  20. The falling (up) leaves are beautiful and I love that you turned one of the 'l's' upside down, that was very clever. The sky you created is beautiful too and using the negative space is such a great idea too! Beautiful work! Hugs, Anne xx

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  21. Your card is really cool, I love the leaves, they look real! Happy accidents that end up like this are happy indeed! I really enjoyed your post, thanks for joining us at Frilly and Funkie.

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  22. What an amazing autumnal project! I love the rich, seasonal tones and all that luscious texture. Your art is so inspiring. I always look forward to a visit to your blog!
    Thank you so much for sharing this with us at the Frilly and Funkie Challenge!
    Hugs,
    Nancy

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  23. Beautiful tumbling leaves, and lots of dimension, very evocative Sara! Thanks for sharing your memory and joining us at Stamps and stencils. Ruth xx

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  24. Beautiful texture and layers Sara. Lovely creation in the memory of childhood.
    Thanks for joining us at Artistic stamper this month

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  25. Such a clever idea to use the negative space from those leaves for the background on this Sara Emily. Thank you so much for joining us at Frilly and Funkie. Jenny x

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  26. Beautiful background and textures. Thanks for joining us at Sweet Stamps.

    Kim - SSDT

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  27. I love the leaves against you wonderful background and the colours are perfect. Thanks for joining us at Our Creative Corner and sorry to be commenting so long after the event! Julia

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  28. Thanks for joining us at Stamps & Stencils too! Julia xx

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  29. I keep missing your posts Sara.... errrrrrrrrrrr. So today I signed up again for emails... for some reason - I keep losing you and that is totally unacceptable. Of course I am not the brightest penny in the pile when it comes to social media etc etc. NOW... onto your FABULOUS leaves. This is sooooooooooo FUN and soooo LOVELY. Autumn and leaves and fall colors are my favorite things so this is just PERFECTLY WONDERFUL in every way to me. And such a INCREDIBLE topsy turvy too!!! Love the way the weathered wood looks on this project. You did so many things to make it uniquely textured and creative. I just love it all. Oh and congrats on your Artistic Stamper win too. So deserved. Guess it's goodbye Leaves... boo hoo and on to the brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr times!!! Sending my love to you Sara. j.

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