Autumn Magic: Creating a Mixed Media Fall Tag

 

Hello crafty friends! Ericka from Strangely Creative here, and today I'm getting into the fall spirit with a colorful mixed media tag featuring the beautiful AALL & Create Leafinitely Detailed die and Lindy’s Gang Autumn Leaves Shimmer Magicals.

There’s something about fall that makes me want to pull out all those warm, rich colors and add a little golden sparkle to everything! For this project, I decided to let the beautiful colors of the Magicals create my own autumn-inspired paper before turning it into dimensional leaves. I love projects like this because you get to enjoy the process of creating the background and then watch it transform into something completely different.

Creating Autumn-Inspired Watercolor Paper

I started with a piece of watercolor paper and reached for the Lindy’s Gang Autumn Leaves Shimmer Magicals. This collection is perfect for fall projects, with beautiful autumn-inspired colors and just the right amount of shimmer. I applied the colors to my watercolor paper, sprayed them with water, and let the pigments move and blend naturally.

One of my favorite things about working with Magicals is watching the colors come to life when they meet water. The pigments create beautiful variations, and the shimmer adds another layer of interest as the paper catches the light. Once I was happy with the colors, I set everything aside to dry.

Turning Color into Leaves

After my watercolor paper was completely dry, it was time to transform those beautiful colors into something a little more recognizable.

 

I reached for my Big Shot die-cutting machine and the AALL & Create Leafinitely Detailed die.I cut out the detailed leaves along with their coordinating backing pieces, giving me everything I needed to create layered autumn foliage. I love how the different colors and patterns in the watercolor paper make each leaf unique. Even though they're cut from the same sheet, no two look exactly alike! And those delicate details in the die add so much interest without needing lots of extra embellishments.

Building the Fall Tag

For the base of my project, I used the AALL & Create Tag It Yourself die. Once all my pieces were ready, I began arranging the leaves on the tag, playing with their placement until I found a composition I loved.

 

Layering the detailed leaves over their backing pieces helped create depth and allowed those beautiful autumn colors to shine. I love how quickly a project can come together when you've already created a colorful background. Sometimes the hardest part is deciding which pieces to use!

Adding a Little Golden Sparkle

Of course, I couldn't resist adding a few gold details! The metallic touches complement the warm fall colors and bring out the shimmer in the Magicals. To finish the tag, I added a sentiment from the Lavinia Uplifting Collection. I love using these sentiments because they work beautifully with so many different projects, from handmade cards to tags and art journal pages. With the sentiment in place, my little piece of autumn was complete!

 

Thank you so much for stopping by today! I hope this little autumn tag inspires you to pull out your favorite fall colors, play with your supplies, and create something beautifully unique.

Have a wonderful week and happy creating! 🍂✨

Topflight Stamp Supplies

AALL & Create - 25 - Leafinitely Detailed Shop at: TP	AALL & Create - 27 - Tag It Yourself Shop at: TP	Lavinia - Sentiment Stickers - Uplifting Collection Shop at: TP	Lindy's Gang - Autumn Leaves Shimmer Magicals Shop at: TP

Fall Leaves Card with AALL & Create

Hello, Lisa Hoel here! This week at Topflight Stamps our theme is "Leaves". I used a Gel Press print for the background and the AALL & Create Die Set Leafinitely Detailed to cut out all the leaves from backgrounds colored with Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst Sprays.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out the Topflight Stamps store for a wide selection of different and hard to find stamps, stencils and other paper crafting supplies from all around the world! Also keep an eye here on the Topflight Stamps blog. There is new inspiration posted often!

Topflight Stamps Supplies Used:

AALL & Create Die Set - Leafinitely Detailed

Lindy's Starburst Sprays - Haunted Halloween

Lindy's Starburst Sprays - Autumn Leaves

Lavinia Elements Ink Pad - Paprika

Gel Press print

gold embossing powder

 

Moonlight Mischief

 Greetings! It's Tuesday so you've got Kathi here today to share a card with you! This week's challenge is *Leaves* which is appropriate as it's the first day of autumn. 

Here's a Halloween card and extra leaves created with the 

Moonlight Mischief Clear Stamp Set 1295 by Janet Klein and the Woodsy Vibes Die Set 93 — both by AALL and Create. I also used the Hills Acetate Stencil/Mask Set by Lavinia Stamps, three colors of Elements Premium Dye Inks by Lavinia Stamps, Medieval Blue VersaFine Clair Ink by Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko, Clear Gloss Embossing Powder by Wow!, and Sparkle Clear Overlay Brush Pens by Spectrum Noir,

Use the branches and leaves frame die and the leaves dies from the Woodsy Vibes Die Set 93 by AALL and Create to cut Bristol Paper. Retain the center cut out from the frame die to use for the background of the card.

Color the branches and leaves frame die-cut as well as all of the leaves with alcohol markes. Color both sides of the frames to make sure that there are no nasty white edges. Alcohol marker bleed-through will just add to the overall look of the leaves. Set the branches and leaves frame and leaves die-cuts aside.

Use Tuxedo Black Memento Ink by Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko to stamp the witch, the witch kitten, and the moon from the Moonlight Mischief Clear Stamp Set 1295 by Janet Klein for AALL and Create onto alcohol-ink friendly cardstock. Fussy-cut all images and color with alcohol markers. Use a black marker or multiliner to edge the die-cuts. Use a white paint pen to add highlights to the witch's and cat's eyes. Use the Sparkle Clear Overlay Brush Pens by Spectrum Noir to add sparkle to the colored fussy-cut moon. Set the moon, the cat, and the witch aside.

Add low-tack tape to the reverse of the retained Woodsy Vibes center die-cut, then place it onto a magnetic craft surface. Place the flattest of the Hills Acetate Stencil/Mask Set by Lavinia Stamps across the bottom part of the Woodsy Vibes center die-cut so that it's secured by the low-tack tape. You can add magnets to be certain that the die-cut won't move. Brush Dark Denim Elements Premium Dye Ink by Lavinia Stamps over the mask and around the edges of the top part of the die-cut. Brush  Blue Lagoon Elements Premium Dye Ink over the darker blue, blending as you go. 

Add white acrylic paint or bleed-proof white paint to a small container. Use a pipette to add Pearlescent Glitz Spray from the Glitz Spritz Spray Set by Lindy's Stamp Gang to the white paint. Mix well. Dip the bristles of a toothbrush into the paint and run a finger across the toothbrush's bristles to splatter white onto the blue background to create a starry sky. 

Remove (and clean) the Hills Mask and brush Pine Elements Premium Dye Ink onto the bottom part of the die-cut. Heat set the die-cut.

Pounce an anti-static pouch onto the die-cut, then place it onto the base of a stamping platform. Place the "Moonlight Mischief" sentiment stamp facedown onto the lower right hand corner of the die-cut. Ink the sentiment stamp with Medieval Blue VersaFine Clair Ink by Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko and stamp. Remove the die-cut from the stamping platform, pour Clear Gloss Embossing Powder by Wow! onto the wet ink, dump the excess back into its container, and heat set the powder.

Adhere the colored branches and leaves frame die-cut to a white speckled blue card that is slightly larger than the frame die-cut. Adhere the inked and stamped Woodsy Vibes center die-cut back into the aperture of the frame. Adhere the colored fussy-cut witch, the witch cat, and the moon as shown to finish the card.

Please pop over to my blog, Kat's Tales of Stamping, for step-by-step instructions and complete supply lists.

Topflight Stamps Products Used:

Moonlight Mischief Clear Stamp Set 1295 by Janet Klein for AALL and Create

Woodsy Vibes Die Set 93 by AALL and Create

Dark Denim, Blue Lagoon, and Pine Elements Premium Dye Inks by Lavinia Stamps

Hills Acetate Stencil/Mask Set by Lavinia Stamps

Glitz Spritz Spray Set by Lindy's Stamp Gang

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink by Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko

Medieval Blue VersaFine Clair Ink by Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko

Clear Gloss Embossing Powder by Wow!

Sparkle Clear Overlay Brush Pens by Spectrum Noir

Thanks for visiting today!

Leave it AALL with Walter

Happy Monday, friends!  It's Walter on the blog with you today and this week's theme at Topflight Stamps is leaves, which is appropriate since the first day of Autumn is this week.  There are so many wonderful choices to use for such a broad theme.  I wanted to be a little quirky in my design and my mind automatically turned to AALL & CREATE!  I pulled the Falling for Fall Stamp Set and Autumny Falls Stencil from my stash and got to work.

I began by choosing my color palette for my cardstock.  Since I'm going for a funky vibe, I decided to create a tan & orange checkboard pattern for my background.  I simply chose a muted shade of orange that pairs perfectly with the tan.  I cut the tan cardstock into strips and then into squares; adhered the squares to the orange panel to create the checkerboard.

I chose a set of leaves from the Autumny Falls stencil that would fit nicely and allow me to ink blend several around the edges.  I wanted the leaves to be a little on the lighter side and didn't want to use a heavy pigment ink to blend them.  I used a yellow ink, orange ink, and a little bit of red ink to create them.  I then ink blended a little Antique Linen around the edges of the panel to add some age to it.

An oval die was used to cut a piece from the center and turn this into a frame, which I adhered onto a cream cardstock panel.  I could now do my stamping!  I selected the delightfully adorable flower-eyed girl from Falling for Fall, as well as three leaves and a sentiment.  I arranged them in the inside of the oval and stamped them with Versafine Clair Fallen Leaves ink.

I colored the stamped images with alcohol markers and stayed with all colors from the Autumn color palette.  I think all of them work so well together and definitely give off a funky Fall vibe!  The last two steps were to use some Wink of Stella on the leaves to give them a little shimmer and then add some Glossy Accents around her eyes.  It's these little details that really make the design pop!

And, just like that, my card was complete.  I think it's a really fun design that definitely makes me fall for cozy!  Thanks for spending this time on the blog with me today.  I'll see you again next week.  Until then . . . be well!

Topflight Stamps Products Used:

AALL & Create - A7 - Clear Stamps - 1282 - Janet Klein - Falling of Fall

AALL & Create - Stencil - 6x6 - 177 - Janet Klein - Autumny Falls

Tsukineko - Versafine Clair Ink Pad - Fallen Leaves

 

A Little Bird & Lots of Texture: A Mixed Media Gel Print Card

 

Hello friends! Ericka from Strangely Creative here, and today I'm sharing a colorful mixed media card that started with a little gel press experimentation and an unexpected supply, crumpled glassine paper!

If you've followed me for a while, you know how much I love playing with my gel plate and discovering new ways to create texture. Sometimes all it takes is looking at something ordinary and wondering, "What would happen if I tried this?"

Well, that's exactly how today's project started, and I may have gotten a little carried away making backgrounds!

Creating Texture with Glassine Paper

I started by crumpling up a piece of glassine paper and pressing it onto my gel plate. The wrinkles and folds created the most interesting random texture in the paint, leaving behind a beautiful pattern that would be difficult to recreate with a traditional stencil. I love how unpredictable this technique is. Every time you crumple the paper or press it onto the plate, you get something a little different.

And once I saw the results, I couldn't stop! Before I knew it, I had a collection of colorful gel prints ready for future projects. That's one of my favorite things about gel printing—sometimes the background-making process becomes just as much fun as creating the finished project.

Creating the Focal Point

Once I chose my favorite background, I reached for the Tracy Evans Tweet stencil. Using black acrylic paint, I stenciled the bird directly onto my gel print.

I love the contrast between the bold black silhouette and the loose, colorful texture of the background. The bird creates a strong focal point while still allowing all those interesting marks from the glassine paper to show through. Sometimes a simple silhouette is all you need when your background already has so much personality.

Adding Playful Marks

Of course, I couldn't resist adding just a little more mixed media fun! I pulled out some acrylic paints in small squeeze bottles and added random marks around the bird.

 

These little details brought another layer of color, movement, and texture to the card. One of the things I love about mixed media is that the marks don't have to be perfect or carefully planned. Sometimes those playful, unexpected details are exactly what a project needs.

Finishing Touches

To complete the card, I added a few pieces of AALL & Create Man Ray washi tape and a sentiment from the Lavinia Uplifting Collection. The washi adds another interesting layer without overwhelming the background, while the sentiment gives the finished card a little extra meaning.

 

I love how everything came together, from the random wrinkles in the glassine paper to the bold bird silhouette and playful painted details.

 

Thank you so much for stopping by today! I hope this card inspires you to pull out your gel plate, experiment with unexpected materials, and enjoy the process of creating something beautifully unique. Have a wonderful week and happy creating!

Topflight Stamp Supplies

Tracy Evans - Tweet SS1 Shop at: TP	Lavinia - Sentiment Stickers - Uplifting Collection Shop at: TP	AALL & Create - Washi Tape Man Ray Shop at: TP	Gel Press - Reusable Gel Printing Plate Shop at: TP	Speedball - 2" Brayer Shop at: TP

Hocus Pocus

 Greetings! You've got Kathi here to share my weekly project created for Topflight Stamps, albeit a bit late. This week's theme is 'Anything Goes' and since it's the most wonderful time of the year, I've made another Halloween card, this time with products by Lavinia Stamps. I used the Arwen, Penelope, and Prue Clear Polymer Stamps. I also used one of stencils from the Autumn Mist Collection of Four Stencils and eight colors of Elements Premium Dye Inks.

Cut a piece of Mixed Media paper to 6" x 7" and secure it to a magnetic platform with magnets and/or low-tack tape to start the image panel. Secure the cave-like stencil from the Autumn Mist Collection of Four Stencils by Lavinia Stamps about 1" from the bottom of the panel. 

Brush Soft Cygnet Elements Premium Dye Ink by Lavinia Stamps over the stencil onto the image panel. Brush Graphite Elements Premium Dye Ink over the stencil onto the image panel.

Slide a 6" piece of acetate under the stencil so that it sits horizontally at the base of the center circle of the stencil and extends to the edges. Secure the acetate with magnets and/or low-tack tape.

Brush Dark Denim Elements Premium Dye Ink over the acetate and the Autumn Mist Stencil around the edges of the panel. Brush Blue Lagoon Elements Premium Dye Ink over the acetate and the Autumn Mist Stencil, blending as you go. Repeat with both blue inks until you're happy with the color and blending. Use a water-filled Fine Spray Mister by Spectrum Noir to mist the background. Remove the stencil and the acetate and heat set the image panel.

Clean the acetate and place it horizontally across the image panel so it's covering the top part. Lightly brush Pine Elements Premium Dye Ink over the acetate to cover the bottom part of the image panel.

Use a small brush to apply Blue Lagoon Elements Premium Dye Ink around the inside of the circle "cave" opening. Use asmall brush to apply Merlot Elements Premium Dye Ink next to the Blue Lagoon Ink. Brush Marmalady Elements Premium Dye Ink vertically in the center of the circle "cave". Brush Anna Banana Elements Premium Dye Ink on either side of the orange ink. Touch up the "cave" circle as needed.

Thoroughly heat set the image panel. Place the image panel onto a stamping platform. Position the Arwen, Penelope, and Prue Clear Polymer Stamps facedown on the image panel. Ink the stamps with Nocturne VersaFine Clair Ink by Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko and stamp. Re-ink and stamp again if needed to attain good impressions. 

Remove the image panel from the stamping platform and thoroughly heat set the stamped images.

Brush Merlot Elements Premium Dye Ink under Penelope's feet and between the gaps in the base of the circle "cave". Lightly brush Graphite Elements Ink over the Merlot Elements Premium Dye Ink to deepen the color and ground Penelope.

Brush Merlot Elements Premium Dye Ink under Arwen, Penelope. and the base of the Autumn Mist to create shadows under them. Also brush the Merlot Ink onto some of the larger white splotches on the "sky" background.

Dip a small paint brush into water and apply the water to the inside of Arwen's lantern, the globe of Prue's staff, and to add a line and three dots above the globe. Dab a piece of paper towel onto the water to remove the ink. Use yellow and orange watercolor pens to color the lantern, globe, the "flame" and some sparks.

Punch a 1" hole in a piece of acetate. Position the acetate onto the top center of the image panel. Sponge white ink onto the aperture to create a moon. Heat set the wet ink. Replace the acetate so the circle is enclosing the inked moon. Brush pearlescent white powder on the moon to make it shiny.

Trim the image panel to 5.75" square. Adhere the sentiment stickers as shown. Use Nocturne VersaFine Clair Ink to edge the image panel, then adhere it to a 6" square black card.

Please pop over to my blog, Kat's Tales of Stamping, for step-by-step instructions and complete supply lists.

Topflight Stamps Products Used:

Arwen Clear Polymer Stamp by Lavinia Stamps

Penelope Clear Polymer Stamp Set by Lavinia Stamps

Prue Clear Polymer Stamp by Lavinia Stamps

Autumn Mist Collection of Four Stencils by by Lavinia Stamps

Blue Lagoon, Dark Denim, Soft Cygnet, Graphite, Merlot, Marmalady, Anna Banana, and Pine Elements Premium Dye Inks by by Lavinia Stamps

Fine Spray Misters by Spectrum Noir

Nocturne VersaFine Clair Ink by Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko

Thank you for visiting today!