Lots of Leaves

The new challenge begins today at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog.  Jenny, our hostess for this one calls it Lovely Leaves and here is what she has to say about it:

At this time of year leaves take over from flowers as the stars of Nature's display - the deciduous ones take on beautiful Autumnal hues before falling to the ground, whilst the evergreen ones keep our gardens from looking bare as we wait for new flowers to appear in the Spring. For this challenge make sure to add leaves (or even Pine Needles if you like) to your vintage or shabby chic projects.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the colourful leaves here are long gone and what is left was buried under 10" of snow last week.  I decided though that leaves are a perfect image to use on note cards that can be used for all sorts of occasions so I made a little box and 4 cards to fit inside.  I think this will be a great gift for someone.

I started by making the cards so I had an idea what size the box needed to be.  I made 4 cards that are 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" from kraft card stock and each one is different.

The first one was simply made by cutting three leaves from the Tattered Leaves die (Tim Holtz) using papers found in the St. Nicholas and Voyage Beneath the Sea paper pads (Graphic 45).  The edges of the leaves were inked with Vintage Photo Distress Ink (Tim Holtz).

To finish the card I inked the edges of a strip of paper from the Amber Moon paper (Prima) and added it to the front of the card blank and then topped it with the leaves and a loopy twine bow.

For this card I used the Fall Foliage die (Tim Holtz) to cut a bunch of small leaves from gel printed papers in my stash and adhered them to the card blank on top of an oval cut from the Old Lace paper (Stamperia).  The oval and all the leaves were inked with Vintage Photo DI.

I started with the background for this card by dragging a piece of card stock through puddles of Frayed Burlap, Gathered Twigs and Walnut Stain Distress Ink as well as Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide (Tim Holtz).

To make the leaves I coated a piece of waxed paper with some watered down PVA glue and when it was dry I coloured it with a variety of alcohol inks - Sunshine Yellow, Cranberry, Sunset Orange, Poppyfield, Ginger and Willow (Tim Holtz).  Next I crumpled it up a bit, cut leaves from the Tattered Leaves die (Tim Holtz) and added them to the background panel.

The last card has more layers but again was simple to make.

I cut a square of Copper Metallic Kraft Stock (Tim Holtz), embossed it with a flourish embossing folder, rounded the corners and then proceeded to cover the metallic look with a mixture of Mushroom, Espresso, Rust and Snow Cap Mixative Alcohol Inks (Tim Holtz).

I used the Tattered Leaves die to cut the leaf from a scrap of mat board and then inked it with a blend of Wild Honey, Peeled Paint and Aged Mahogany DI (Tim Holtz).

To finish the card I layered a strip of paper from the Voyage Beneath the Sea pad, a strip of burlap and another strip of paper from the St. Nicholas pad.  I rounded the corners of another piece of paper from Voyage Beneath the Sea, added my embossed panel and finally added the leaf.

Before I made the box I stacked the cards to determine how much space I needed inside the box to accommodate the cards.  The box opens with the flap that you see with the leaves and the cards fit inside from the top.

The front, bottom and back of the box are one piece 5 3/4" wide and 10" long - scored on the long side at 4 1/2" and 5 1/2".

The flap, top and a small piece to attach at the back are another piece 5 3/4" wide and 4" long - scored on the short side at 2 1/2" and 3 1/2".  The remaining 1/2" strip was attached at the back on the outside before the patterned paper was added.  I cut the outer edges of this strip on a slight angle, which makes it almost invisible when it is covered.

The sides are two separate pieces 2" wide and 4 3/4" long - scored on the short side at 1/2" and 1 1/2" and score on the long side at 1/2".  This leaves a 1/2" piece on each side and one on the bottom to attach the side panels to the inside of the box.

A magnetic closure was added inside the flap to close it to the front.  After the magnetic closure was added all the outside pieces as well as the inside of the flap were covered with paper from the Amber Moon pad that were inked with Vintage Photo DI.

To decorate the flap I used the fall foliage die to cut a bunch of tiny leaves and inked them with a mixture of Peeled Paint, Wild Honey, Aged Mahogany and Vintage Photo DI.  I also added a teeny butterfly punched from some Copper Metallic Kraft Stock.

Now I have a sweet little box with a selection of note cards - all with lovely leaves.

I hope you will join us for this challenge, which runs through 11:55 pm EST on Tuesday, December 3rd.  One randomly chosen entrant will receive a gift certificate to shop at The Funkie Junkie Boutique and the Design Team will select their top picks with the overall winner receiving the opportunity to be a Guest Designer at a future date.

Supplies list with links to The Funkie Junkie Boutique:

Tim Holtz Distress Inks
Tim Holtz Distress Oxides
Ranger Adirondack Alcohol Inks
Stamperia - Old Lace 12x12 Paper Pack SBBL32
Tim Holtz Idea-ology 8 x 8 Metallic 2 Kraft Stock - Rose Gold & Copper TH93780
Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 14PK - Fall Foliage by Tim Holtz 660955
White Jute Mesh (Burlap)
Scor-Pal Scor Tapes
Sizzix Big-Z Die - Tattered Leaves by Tim Holtz
Graphic 45 Voyage Beneath the Sea Paper
Graphic 45 St. Nicholas Paper
Prima Autumn Moon Paper Pad
Spellbinders Petite Ovals Large Die
X-Cut Corner Rounder Punch
Basic Grey Magnetic Closures
Cuttlebug Victoria Embossing Folder
Recollections Kraft Card Stock