Diffusing The Situation

This was planned as a quick post to share some technqiues and join a couple of challenges, but a trip round blogland has changed that slightly:) Firstly those eagle-eyed followers amongst you will have spotted that I am proudly displaying a Top Award from Our Creative Corner! It is a massive honour and I am truly grateful to the team for picking my 'kissing card'.

Now, a certain creative talent called Neil Walker got me thinking this morning. He did this fab tutorial on embossed acetate and acrylics (please see HERE). I already had my Indentz tree folder out with the intention of using it and colouring it with paint seemed a great idea. Thing is the tree looks a little plain on its own, but wait! I have some newly delivered diffusers from the Funkie Junkie Boutique! So first to emboss a tree in the oval, then emboss the outside with some swirls. Ta dah! It worked (well I think so anyway:)

These diffusers are like magic, only embossing the areas to which they are applied which means you can combine folders. Now I have a Grand Calibur (they are Sizzix, so intended for the Big Shot etc.) so I'm still experimenting with which plates are needed - the Indentz folders are slightly thinner than Sizzix ones and I suspect Creative Expressions ones will also differ, so just start with the thinnest plate (e.g. the raspberry one) and carefully work up as required. So you can see it easier, these are the ones I used;

The paint element? Well I used gold acrylic on the reverse, rubbing off the excess. Two things here; in this instance I didn't want too much colour over the top of the base, so the removal of most of it was great. However, I suspect more paint would be captured if a smaller embossed pattern were used and the paint were left to dry a little longer (I'm not the most patient crafter!!)

The background - woohoo! Guess who went ink misting mad again?! Punched falling leaves added more of an autumnal feel. Then oh, how to attach the two layers? So first a quick layer of Glue n Seal (which helped to brighten the ink even further) then some TH mini fastener 'berries', including some which have fallen on the floor. It always pleases me to die the seam binding to match each project, but it needed more. In each of the parcels I have received from Linda Coughlin's Funkie Junkie Boutique she has included extra goodies, including this card disk with a heart cut out. Several layers of embossing powder later, ta dah!

Linda's twine and lace (dyed to match) and a Sam Poole sentiment (again stamped in a colour so as to be deliberately unobtrusive to the main 'image') finished the tag off.

To finish I am entering this into the following challenges;

Artful Times Challenge - A Tree As The Main Focus

Frilly & Funkie Challenge - Fall Into Fall

Dragons Dream Tag It On - Misty Autumn Glaze

Simon Says Stamp Challenge - Emboss It

OK, time to disappear again. If you have any questions or need more deets please let me know. Thanks again to Neil and so many others who continue to inspire me on a daily basis. Hugs, Buttons x