October Design Challenge

The design challenge at Scrapbook Generation this month consisted of the Lemon Grass Collection by Crate Paper.  Included with the collection was some tan-colored tulle, ecru floss, and some bare chipboard leaves.  Later when I was flipping through a binder of collected poems I found a poem called Autumn -- and so the project began.

The collection included 2-sided papers (1 side print, the other solid), but I mostly used the solid-color sides for this project.  I loved the colors I had to work with and felt like they would be perfect with some rubber stamps I wanted to work with.     

For the cover I used Sizzix dies for the flower and leaves, Tim Holtz stamp for the calendar, Wendy Vecchi stamp for polka dot background, and Tim Holtz metal embellishments.  You probably can't see it in the photo, but I also placed some tulle flowers (cut from the same die) between each layer of the paper flower.  It looked really good! Vintage Photo was the ink I used.

The poem reads . . . .

"I will come to autumn

with the silver in my hair,

and maybe have the children

stop to look at me and stare;"

The stamps are by Tim Holtz and Wendy Vecchi.  I made the rosette from the Tim Holtz Rosette die by Sizzix, and the metal embellishment are also by Tim Holtz.  Distress ink used was Vintage Photo.  I hand stitched around all the tags from the floss that was provided with the kit. 

The next part of the poem said . . .

"I'd like to reach October

free from blemish or from taint,

as splendid as a maple tree

which artists love to paint."

I used a leaf template from Crafter's Workshop to do the masking.  The chipboard leaf was from the kit.  I inked it in fall colors and Vintage photo then stamped it with a text stamp.  I made a pocket out of the tulle to hold the leaf. 

"I'd like to come to autumn,

with my life work fully done

and look a little like a tree

that's gleaming like the sun;"

The fence is from a Sizzix die.  After painting it white, I used Tim's white crackle paint on it.   The dragon fly is from Making Memories.  I cut the leaf on grunge paper from a Cuttlebug die, inked it with Spiced Marmalade, then "spot" embossed it with Vintage Photo to give it a dried leaf look.  The background stamp is by Tim.

"I'd like to think that I at last

could come through care and tears,

and be as fair to look upon

as every elm appears."

The flower is from Tim's Tattered Flower die.  The pocket is from an Accucut die and the metal corner is one of Tim's. 

"But when I reach October,

full contented I shall be 

if those with whom I've walked thru life

shall still have faith in me;"

 I loved how this tag turned out.  It was so much fun doing the leaves.  Just like a real leaf, they each turned out so different.  They were cut in grunge paper, inked, and embossed--so easy to bend and look like a real leaf. 

"Nor shall I dread the winter's frost,

when brain and body tire,

If I have made my life

a thing which others can admire."

--author unknown

I decided to use snow flakes to tie in with the last paragraph of the poem.  I cut them with a Paper Shaper punch, and used Stickles to finish off.  The background stamp is by Tim.