I am often inspired in my crafting by the local scenery here in Nova Scotia. At this time of year it is the amazing autumn colour palette that has me stopping the car, or jumping up from my desk. When the light is just right everything seems to glow. Sadly though, today may be one of my last opportunities to admire autumn at it’s finest as we are due some bad weather which will likely strip the remaining leaves from the trees.

So here’s a gift tag inspired by a trip out yesterday…

A NEW IDEA FOR AUTUMN LEAVES

In the past when I’ve created autumn leaves I’ve tended to use ink and sponges on regular card. Today though I decided to try something completely new (for me at least).

I began with some Gold Foil Sheet and cut out three small maple leaves using a die from the Seasonal Layers Dies. Then I simply coloured the leaves using the brush tip on an assortment of Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers. The colours I chose were; light Old Olive, light Cajun Craze, dark Soft Suede, dark Mossy Meadow and light Cherry Cobbler.

I began with the lightest colours and then added progressively darker ones. As I expected, the later layers of colour reacted with and affected the earlier ones creating a mottled effect. Once the colour had completely dried I noticed it also seemed to have dulled some of the shine in places too.

TIP – It’s possible for some of the ink from the foil sheet to transfer back onto the tip of subsequent alcohol markers. So as soon as you have finished colouring, scribble onto some scrap paper to remove any stray ink.

With the leaves done, I then decided to prepare the twine for the gift tag.

To do this I took some Grapefruit Grove twine from the Nature’s Twine Pack and the same five Stampin’ Blends markers. Then using the brush tip I randomly coloured sections of the twine so it matched the colours of the scenery too.

FOR YOU, WITH LOVE

Although this is an autumn gift tag I found my sentiment in the Toile Christmas Stamp Set.

I began by wiping a strip of Mossy Meadow Card with an Embossing Buddy to remove any oils and static. Then I stamped the sentiment using VersaMark ink and sprinkled it with Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder. Next I removed a few stray specks before melting the rest with my Heat Tool set on 2 (high).

Now the sentiment was done I used Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) to attach it to a strip of Merry Merlot Card. Then I shaped the top of the layered strips using the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch. The leaves came next, one attached with liquid glue and the other two with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

On the back of the tag I glued a piece of Very Vanilla Card where the name could be written.

That just left the twine to be completed. But before attaching it to the tag I decided to add a little extra touch. I pressed the cut ends of the twine onto my VersaMark ink pad then dipped them in the gold embossing powder. I tapped off the excess and then melted the remaining powder with my Heat Tool set on 2 (high).

Finally I threaded the twine through the slot in the tag and tied it in a simple knot.

I’m really pleased with how this autumn-themed gift tag turned out. My experiment with the foil sheet and Stampin’ Blends really captured the mood.

INSPIRING SCENERY

So back to the scenery that inspired me. Here’s the photo I took yesterday on my way back from visiting a customer. It was rather overcast and many of the leaves have already fallen, but you get the idea.

For more gift tag inspiration, check out these earlier blog posts:

• No pout from this trout
• Super Saran Wrap technique
• Mosaic DSP inspires a tag

PRODUCT LIST

UPDATE 2020: Sadly the following products have retired and are no longer available from Stampin’ Up!

• Nature’s Twine
• Seasonal Layers Dies
• Embossing Buddy