Thanksgiving at Frilly and Funkie

Hi everyone. Thanks for joining me here. Today sees the start of the second week of a 'Thanksgiving' themed challenge over at Frilly and Funkie. Rebecca, our host, wants us to create a card or project that reflects the abundance of the harvest season and the gratitude we express during the beautiful holiday of Thanksgiving.

I had a ball creating this, starting with a piece of woodgrain card from the Maja Design Vintage Summer collection (so that it looked like it was hanging up on something) and gave it some tooth with a light wash of gesso.

The branching leaves from my current favourite Wendy Vecchi 'From the Garden' stencil were the basis of the wreath, with sprigs in both white and translucent embossing paste layered in the basic shape. Using both is great because they have a totally different reaction to inks/paints.

Once dry I splattered them with various brown inks (rather than misting them) and misted these inks with water to get them to react and let them run into the paste. I find I have more control using this method rather than just spraying the card/paste.

The white paste absorbed the ink whilst the translucent paste resisted it, so to add colour to these leaves I rubbed them with some Distress Paint. It is never perfect but I'm learning to 'embrace imperfection' and actually liked the distressed feel.

At this point I layered over my seasonal die cuts to look at the finished effect and it looked too washed out. Out came a couple of Distress Inks from the opposite end of the colour wheel to provide some much needed contrast. And of course some spritzing/flicking of water was deployed to continue the weathered feel.

Now for those die cuts; you've seen the acorns before HERE, and they were joined by a combination of alcohol inked kraft glassine maple leaves, painted heads of corn, and twigs cut from Coredinations textured card. Finally the wreath was trimmed with a seam binding and twine double bow (which took almost as long as the wreath to put together!

At this point the base was a simple square, but again it needed more (sometimes all that planning goes out the window when it doesn't look right). So out came some more dies, firstly to cut the base layer into a shape (I drew round it and cut it out manually). Secondly I used some Coredinations Black Magic card to cut the intricate layers underneath and the ribbon banner for the sentiment. These were sanded to reveal the colour and had gilding wax applied to bring it all together.

Hopefully this has inspired you to create your own seasonal projects for the Thanksgiving season. I know we don't really celebrate this much in Europe but, like mine, it could be something used to let someone know how thankful you are for their friendship. Please do hop over to the Frilly and Funkie challenge post to see what my fellow team mates have been up to.

Take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx

Maja Design 6x6" Scrapbook Paper Pad - Vintage Summer Basics	Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi Stencil - From the Garden	Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi Embossing Paste - White	Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi Embossing Paste - Translucent	NEW Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Gathered Twigs	PRE-ORDER Tim Holtz Ranger Metallic Distress Paint - Antique Bronze	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Antique Linen
Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Stain - Antique Linen	Ranger Tim Holtz Seasonal Distress Ink Pad - Seedless Preserves	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Dusty Concord	Sizzix Alterations Decorative Strip Tim Holtz Autumn Gatherings Die	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Kraft Glassine Paper Stash	Ranger Adirondack Alcohol Ink - Red Pepper	Ranger Archival Ink - Sepia
Ranger Archival Ink - Jet Black	Tim Holtz Distress Glitter Clear Rock Candy	Ranger Inkssentials Glossy Accents	NEW Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Scattered Straw	Ranger Tim Holtz Seasonal Distress Ink Pad - Gathered Twigs	Rayon Seam Binding	Burlap String - 12 Colors
Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Rusty Hinge	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Spiced Marmalade	Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps - Simple Sayings