With Thanksgiving Card for A Harvest of Gratitude Challenge at Frilly and Funkie

Hello friends! Today I have a simple card for our current challenge at Frilly and Funkie. Our exceptionally creative Kathy is our hostess this time, and she chose a timely theme,  'A Harvest of Gratitude'. Here's how she describes her challenge:

There is always something to be thankful for.  In this gratitude themed challenge, we are asking you to create a vintage or shabby chic project that portrays something that fills your heart with thanksgiving.  Use harvest colors and be sure to tell us how your project reflects your thankful heart.

Please stop by Frilly and Funkie to see what my talented Frilly and Funkie teammates are thankful for portrayed by their beautiful harvestime makes. Hopefully you'll be tempted to play along!  As always, the Design Team will choose their top four favorites, with the winner being invited to join us in a Guest Designer spot at Frilly and Funkie, and the next three will receive Top 3 badges to display on their blogs. Everyone who enters and follows the rules will be entered into the draw to have the chance to win a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

I chose to use muted organic shades for my card. Sadly, I didn't take any step by step photos, but hopefully I can take you through a bit of the process I took to make my background. 

1. Emboss Distress Heavy Stock with Botanical 3D Texture Fade.

2. Smear randomly with Distress Crazing. Let dry overnight.

3. Scribble over surface with Chipped Sapphire Distress Crayon. Smear and blend with slightly dampened finger. Let dry.

4. Smear Raw Sienna DecoArt Media paint over surface with finger and wipe off with a damp cloth. This leaves just a hint of color.

5. Apply crazing to all previously uncrackled parts and allow to dry. This leaves more subtle cracks that you get when applying the medium directly over the 'virgin' Heavystock.

6. Smear with Titan Buff Media paint and wipe off as in step 4.

7. Dab on more Raw Sienna around the edges randomly and you're done!

I managed to remember to take a couple of shots of the crackled background before covering it up. I love the subtle crackle mixed in among the more obvious cracks. Oh! How I love this embossing folder and am thankful to be able to own it! I reach for it time and time again!

I used Stitched Ovals die in layers to give importance to the Bible verse that expresses what I am called to do. I was so excited to find this stamp at a local craft store and knew I would use it for this challenge and on most of my Thanksgiving cards. I am thankful for the  constant presence and love of God, whose mercy is with us at all times.

I die cut two of the larger ovals from the set from Heavystock and blended the edges with Frayed Burlap and Ground Espresso inks. To make the perfectly sized grey mat, I used my knife to cut around the inside of the larger oval used. To save on paper, I cut this from the center of the back mat.

 Using the Stamp Platform, I stamped the image with Wendy Vecchi's Blendable Dye ink in Acorn and then again in Versamark embossing ink and embossed with clear embossing powder.

I wrapped the card with Jute String, a lovely gift from my good friend, Autumn. Thank you, sweetie! Funkie Foliage and Garden Greens die cuts combine to make the tiny cluster at the bottom. One of the ferns was cut from a tiny scrap of paper that lined my spray box. It must be 3 years old, and I was down to the end of the scrap. I realized I wanted two ferns, so I did my best to match the color using Mowed Lawn ink and Distress Bronze Mica spray. I embossed the Garden Greens die cuts with Burnt Copper Leaves embossing powder.

That's all for me today! I can't wait to see what you will make and what YOU are thankful for!

Challenge shares:

Crafty Cardmakers #222 Lots of Layers
Cropstop November Link Party - # 45
Simon Says Stamp Monday Thanks/Thanksgiving
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Thanks/Thanksgiving
Love 2 Create Challenge #14, Anything Creative/Mixed Media Goes
Creative Artiste #44th Challenge Anything Mixed Media Goes
A Inky Mess CHALLENGE 25 Anything mixed media goes
Scrapy Land Challenge #101 Anything Goes I used 3 Sizzix dies.

Hugs and Blessings!

Sara Emily

The following products were used and can be purchased at The Funkie Junkie Boutique:

Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Mixed Media Heavystock 8.5x11 inches - TDA53842	Tim Holtz Idea-ology 8 x 8 Classic Kraft Stock	Sizzix 3-D Texture Fades Embossing Folder - Botanical	Sizzix Thinlits Die Set - Stitched Ovals by Tim Holtz 661188	Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 20pk - Funky Foliage by Tim Holtz 663087
Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 9PK - Garden Greens by Tim Holtz	Tim Holtz Stamp Platform by Tonic Studios	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Jute String TH93139	VersaMark Watermark Ink Stamp Pad	Emerald Creek Alure Powders - Burnt Copper Leaves
Wendy Vecchi Make Art Blendable Dye Ink Pad - Acron	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium Matte TDA47933	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium Crazing TDA47957	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Crayons - 6PC Set #2 TDBK47919	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Mowed Lawn TIM35008
Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Antique Linen TIM19497	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Hickory Smoke TIM43232	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Frayed Burlap TIM21469	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Ground Espresso TIM43270

A Tiny Witching Cauldron

Hello! Do you have all your Halloween decorating complete? I have a little piece of Halloween decor to share with you today. A few years back I altered an old aluminum baking pan and a coffee pot and now that I have three pieces, I can say I have a collection of aluminum witchware.

Sadly, I have no before photos or shots, because I really didn't think it was going to amount to anything. Starting with this old aluminum pail (hereby referred to as a cauldron) I picked up at a yard sale, I adhered Tim Holtz Ideaology Halloween Collage paper with Distress Collage Medium Matte. Before adhering, I painted the flower and leaves on the reverse side first with gesso and then with Wilted Violet and Peeled Paint Distress paint. This looks really lovely, but I'm afraid the purple flower was too bright for this project. In the end, I covered most of it up. I sealed it all with Vintage Collage medium. I added some patches of Black Soot Crackle paint and Distress Crazing and let it dry. I especially love how the crackle paint chipped off around the top and inner edges because I didn't apply any collage medium there at first. It looks like the crusted over goo has been accumulating for years and just couldn't be properly cleaned off.  I later sealed it with more Vintage collage medium.

I coaxed Teakwood and Mushroom alcohol inks to drip down the sides with rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle. I continued to add crackle paint until I was happy with the look. Smudging Distress Crayon accentuates the subtle Crazing cracks.

This group of witches seem to be casting an eerie light of purple--Seedless Preserves crayon. The witches are Tim's Ideaology Halloween Paper Dolls, and I layered them with his Halloween Ephemera. (I bought a couple of packs of Paper Dolls to be sure I had plenty of tiny witches for my tiny cauldron.) I used one of the scalloped borders that comes with the Stitched Ovals die set to accentuate the ephemera, smudging it with Hickory Smoke and Antique Linen crayons.

I forged a Halloween Word Band so it would sit flatly on the curve of the cauldron. I highlighted the debossed words with Wilted Violet paint and added crackle paint to the edges. The little knots are Ideaology Trimmings Solid Paper String. I love this stuff. Just wet it, and it is easily moldable to any form you wish. I adhered the word band over a bit of Ideaology Mummy Cloth colored with Hickory Smoke Distress Oxide ink and whatever black ink/crayon that was left on my fingers.

On the back, I adhered some creepy Tangle Twigs die cut from kraft paper and dripped with Black Soot crackle paint. Although this paint has been discontinued, you could substitute with Clear Rock Candy Crackle paint over Black Soot paint. A flash card from the ephemera pack was die cut with Ticket Booth Framelits, colored with Old Paper Oxide ink and Ground Espresso Distress ink and edged with more crackle paint. I splattered the cauldron with Black Soot paint and my Ideaology Splatter Brush, and then I once more sealed the entire cauldron with Vintage Collage medium.

I adorned the handles with a bit of Mummy Cloth, altered Boneyard Bones, a pair of crackled vials and a creepy charm from The Funkie Junkie Boutique. The charm was altered with Picket Fence Distress paint and smudged with Black Soot crayon.

Here's a close up of the bottles before I tied them on. I coated them with collage medium, then with Clear Rock Candy Crackle paint and Black Soot crayon,  making sure each layer dried before adding the next.  On one of the ampuls,  I used an older Halloween Remnant Rub and filled with a poisonous mixture of glycerin and Twisted Citron Distress Spray stain. To make the  magic crystals in the other vial, I colored rock salt with alcohol inks. I stuffed the openings with collage medium and crackle paint and tucked in a piece of homemade creepy cloth from my stash, so the magic potions stayed in the flasks. (Yes, this was done AFTER I dripped the poison potion all over everything, so there's only a few drops left in the bottle. That stuff makes a GHASTLY mess!)

One the bottom, I adhered a circle of black paper embossed with Tim's Lumber 3D Texture Fade and colored with Distress Crayons and Weathered Wood Distress ink. I adhered and sealed with Vintage Collage medium.

Inside the cauldron is a stack of Ideaology Skulls straight from the package and a wisp of Mummy Cloth. They sit on another 'wood' panel die cut with one of Tim's Swirling Stars Thinlits. Underneath a circle of gold Metallic Kraft Stock to show off the stars. Many thanks to Lisa Hoel for her altered coffee mugs--they offered me so much inspiration for how I should fill my cauldron!

Look what happens when the lights go out! I didn't adhere anything inside, so I could remove the skulls and the metallic panel and turn on the tealights. I love how the stars glow on the aluminum sides!

I'll leave you with these close- ups! I hope you're having fun with YOUR Halloween crafting! Happy Halloween!

Sara Emily

The following Tim Holtz products were used on my project and can be purchased at The Funkie Junkie Boutique:

Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 9pk - Swirling Stars by Tim Holtz 663095	Sizzix Thinlits Die Set - Stitched Ovals by Tim Holtz 661188	Sizzix Thinlits Die Set - Tangled Twigs by Tim Holtz 663086	Sizzix Framelits Die Set - Ticket Booth by Tim Holtz	Tim Holtz ideaology Metallic Kraft Stock TH93586
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Collage Paper, Halloween	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Remnant Rubs Halloween	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Halloween Ephemera Pack	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Paper Dolls Ancestors	Tim Holtz Idea-olog Mummy Cloth
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Boneyard	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Skulls	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Halloween Word Bands	Sizzix 3-D Texture Fades Embossing Folder - Lumber	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium Vintage TDA47940
Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium Matte TDA47933	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium Crazing TDA47957	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Crayons - 6PC Set #3 TDBK47926	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Crayons - 6PC Set #2 TDBK47919	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Black Soot TDF52937
Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Peeled Paint TDF53156	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Paint - Wilted Violet TDF50612	Ranger Tim Holtz Twisted Citron Distress Spray Stain TSS44185	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Weathered Wood TIM20257	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Pad - Old Paper
Ranger Adirondack Alcohol Ink - Mushroom	Ranger Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink - Citrus	Ranger Adirondack Alcohol Ink - Sunshine Yellow	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Picket Fence TDF53170	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Pad - Hickory Smoke
Tim Holtz Distress Splatter Brush