Falling for Wednesday Hop
Leaf Peeping
Good day, fellow crafters. Today I present to you my entry for Week 3 in the Falling for Wednesdays IG Hop sponsored by @kellysantidesigns. The theme for this week is Leaf Peeping, which for those who don’t come from more temperate climates where the trees lose their leaves in the fall, is the practice of going outdoors to observe and appreciate the changing colors of leaves on trees. It's a popular activity in regions where deciduous trees, such as maples and oaks, undergo a vibrant transformation of their foliage from green to various shades of red, orange, and yellow before they eventually fall to the ground. People often engage in leaf peeping by taking leisurely walks or drives through scenic areas like forests, parks, or countryside roads to enjoy the natural beauty of these changing leaves. I really hope that what I have put together here serves as an inspiration for you to craft something of your own. Enjoy.
Having grown up and lived in multiple different climates I have to say the ones where I get to have the opportunity to partake in the exquisite beauty of nature's seasonal transformation are my favorite. I hate the cold wintery weather but the vibrant and varied hues of leaves as they shift from green to a brilliant spectrum of reds, oranges, and yellows create a breathtaking visual spectacle that is both calming and awe-inspiring. I find it to be a form of relaxation that allows for an escape from the hustle and bustle of daily life and a chance to find solace in nature's wonders. Designing this card was quite enjoyable, and it inspired me to craft additional cards employing these methods. Now, let's dive into the process I used.
To create this card I started with some white cardstock, the Fun Stampers Journey Zen Leaves stamp set featured above, clear embossing ink, and some extra fine gold embossing powder. I used each of the stamps and the clear embossing ink to stamp the leaves in a random pattern onto the cardstock, making sure to get good coverage. I then covered the inked image with the gold embossing powder, knocked off the excess, and then heat set the powder with my heat tool.
Once the embossing powder had set, it was time to color the background. You may ask yourself, why did Tamara do it like this, wouldn’t it have made more sense to stamp on top of the background color? Well, the answer is that the background was created by using the embossing powder as a resist, which means the mica stains I used, featured below won’t stick to the embossing. This is because the embossing powder is a combination of resin and plastics and that is one of the properties it has once fully set. The next step was to apply the stains in a random pattern on the paper, heat set the ink, and then carefully wipe away the excess on the leaves.
The next phase was to assemble the card. I trimmed down the background panel to its final dimensions as well as a black mat for visual appeal and then adhered the two together with double-sided tape. I next adhered the composite to a pre-cut and folded A2 Kraft-colored card base. The finishing touch was to employ a sentiment from a Taylored Expression die set along with its corresponding shadow die to create my sentiment. This was done with same embossing technique as the leaves and the shadow was cut from the same piece of cardstock as the mat so as to not waste materials then adhered to the card using foam tape to give it a little more pop.
