Funky Fungi

Hi everyone and welcome to my first blog post of September.

As you can see I have been playing with colour to make this fun tag style mini journal. As Autumn is definitely showing it's colours early this year it was prefect for me to begin creating Autumnal themed artwork. 

It is my favourite season and I usually leave it too late to fit everything in as Christmas crafts, cooking and baking take over. 

This year I promised to get everything out a little earlier to have a good play with my craft supplies. 

As you can see I have used some of my fabulous fun and quirky Kate Crane supplies as the focal images for this make.

 I didn't want all the "tag" elements to be the same sizes and shapes so I threw in some spare card I  had and used the Kate Crane ATC size stamps but I punched the holes in the corner so they hung differently. 

Lets talk supplies

I really have been missing my sprays so I used Distress spray stains for the first layers of my tags as they give a nice clean clear colour. 

Above are the colours I chose in my walking  boot box that has become my spray box, I pop kitchen towel in two layers in the bottom to help prevent it from bleeding through the bottom. Sometimes I get lovely coloured kitchen towel to play with as a bonus!

Nothing difficult here just wet the card and spray I spray through my stencils as well as flipping them over to use what is left on the other side.

Most of my tags were Distress heavy mixed media cardstock but not all, some were very cheap cardboard that was quite shiny on one side and matt on the other. I knew this would make a difference to the outcomes. I was prepared for longer drying times for the shiny card as the spray would sit on top as well as  the spray to absorb very quickly and with little  movement on the matt side. 

The scrap piece of card was pink frog so I knew this would hold a lot of water and give nice movement too. Your results will really depend on the type of card you use. It affects movement of the sprays, mottling and drying times. So have a play.

Usually I would add stiches with black thread but as these would be viewed on both sides I thought one side would look messy, I wanted to add the black for contrast so I opted for coloured texture paste instead which would give the texture that I would be missing too. I wanted a smaller design so I didn't completely cover up the layer I had before and the patterns from my Kate Crane stencils. 

  

 The above are the stamp sets that I chose to use for this quirky whimsical project, of course you can use whatever you like, change out colours of sprays and texture paste if you like. Use paper elements, collage, anything goes really.  Whatever appeals to you. Now my mushrooms and toadstools were created by stamping on gel prints, I wanted the texture and colour variation. I also have been on a mission to try to use things up this year, I have a drawer of backgrounds, coffee dyed papers and gel prints I want to get them used so I can have fun making more! 

Composition well again I can't tell you why I put things where I do just it feels right to me. I don't over think it though. 

 I pulled out off cuts of die cuts, left over bits from other projects ( those with a keen eye that follow my artwork will notice the same background from the fish ticket book journal in some of those die cuts I try not to waste anything). 

 

A close up of some of the details

The ATC style tags

Other bits and pieces that I added to my collage were mummy cloth, sisal fibres, paint remnants from inside the caps. I added the focal images with double sided foam tape i tried to get a good angle so you can just about see it. 

I finished off with splatter I wanted plenty of white, I used bleed proof white ink and then gold paint. The focal images had a coat of sparkle with stickles. 

The sentiments are from a sticker book that I have had for ages from Lavinia stamps. 

Use what you have.

There are cute little details like this one above that opens to the side to reveal another tiny shroom. 

Side opening tab created from Dura-Lar. Sari ribbon added with tiny staples.

A few close ups

You can see how it flips over and both sides can be seen. I really hope you enjoy this project I would love to hear your thoughts. I know that it may not be your cup of tea as it is a bright one! But remember you can use whatever colours appeal to you, this project certainly made me very happy. i created it after a short break due to a flare up. It was nice to make a whimsical project to get me going again. 

If you feel inspired to create or if you have a go at something similar I would love to hear from you. Please tag me in and share your make. 

Everything in this project was bought by myself I am not sponsored in any way. 

Are you inspired by Mother nature? What is your style? I really enjoy hearing your thoughts. 

Don't forget I am on Instagram  Butterflywings_beautifulthings and Pinterest too. 

Thank you so much for joining me here I really appreciate it.