October 27, 2017 by Born To Organize

Halloween Cards: Chlorophyll Prints From My Garden (Part 2)

This is part 2 of my recent post about crafting from my garden.

I’m crafting Halloween cards from my garden this year using chlorophyll prints. Before harvesting the last of the pumpkin vines, I made chlorophyll prints from the pumpkin’s leaves.

Pumpkin leaves have a rich, green texture and that color and texture transferred beautifully on white card stock. I used my recently acquired Big Shot tool to make the impressions/prints. You can see the other card style in my post: Halloween Cards: Crafting from my Garden. I blogged about my first attempts with chlorophyll prints in a post: Experimenting with Chlorophyll Prints.

I found inspiration on Dawn’s blog late last year. You can have a look at her beautiful card creations at Petals. Paper. Simple Thymes.

For this set of cards, I used the pumpkin leaf impression on the cover. I added a stamped pumpkin image and a few green leaves along with the stem. Inside the card I used the chlorophyll print from the Nepeta once again, along with a pine-needle imprint for the small pumpkin.

Chlorophyll print card

At an angle you can see the texture of the pumpkins

I’ve had this small stamp for years. It’s perfect for these cards.

Inside image using chlorophyll prints

I used craft envelopes for the smaller cards, adding a spider web detail to the flap. A few years ago, Tim Holtz came out with a stencil called Shatter. It makes the perfect spiderweb, don’t you think?

Craft envelopes front

Craft envelopes back flap stenciled with black ink

Disney Villian postage stamps

Stenciled black envelopes front

Black envelopes back stenciled with blue ink

Blue ink worked well on the black envelopes, whereas silver ink showed better on the craft paper. Our post office is selling Disney Villain postage stamps this time of year. They’re the perfect finishing touch. Disneyland may call itself the “happiest place on earth”, but many of the movies I watched as a child scared me to my core.

But hey, it’s Halloween. Hopefully my cards don’t send a chill down anyone’s spine.

Note: I wrote this post a few weeks ago, but waited to share it in October. Since writing this light-hearted post, if feels like the wheels have come off the proverbial bus. I’m trying to regain some perspective. November is just around the corner. I hope it brings cooler weather and cleansing rains.

Northern California Fire Update:

Sonoma was the hardest hit county in this month’s wildfires with some 6,800 homes lost. Another 569 homes in Napa County were destroyed. The two wine country counties each lost at least 5 percent of their housing stock, according to estimates.

Santa Rosa, Sonoma County’s largest city, lost entire neighborhoods, including the suburb of Coffey Park and mobile home parks. The fires also left a path of destruction in Fountaingrove, a neighborhood known for its expensive homes.

Overall, the Northern California wildfires burned more than 245,000 acres, destroyed an estimated 8,700 structures and killed at least 42 people, according to Cal Fire. As of Wednesday, at least 16 people were still listed as missing in Santa Rosa. – Source CNBC

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October 9, 2017 by Born To Organize

Halloween Cards: Crafting from my Garden

This year I’m crafting Halloween cards from my garden. It’s been a lot of trial and error, but I’m having fun.

My approach to crafting Halloween cards is often catch-as-catch can. I’ll spot a few things here and there in a store, or I’ll pull together items from my stash. No two cards are alike, and I’m fine with that. For me, that’s part of the fun.

Halloween cards from prior years

This year, using my Big Shot die-cutting gadget, I’ve made several chlorophyll prints from the abundant pumpkin leaves trailing across my garden. The leaves transferred beautifully, revealing wonderful detail.

Pumpkin leaf impression

With success on my side, I decided to try making prints using the bright yellow pumpkin flowers. I had to be judicious, because although the pumpkin’s leaves last for weeks, the flowers close and drop within a day or two. I made flower impressions in phases, also enjoying the process.

A: Pumpkin blossom, B: Pressed pumpkin blossom, C: Partially removed, and D: pumpkin flower imprint

Though the flowers transferred well, the color didn’t last. Within a few days the brightness faded to a soft peach. I used the imprints anyway, for a subtle suggestion of color and because they work well with my Halloween theme.

Since I was on a roll, I braved the crazy heat, and gathered a few more items: the drying flowers of the Nepeta (cat mint) and some of the dropped pine needles from a neighboring tree. The dried flowers left a mottled brown impression, perfect for the pumpkin stems, also known as a peduncle.

Nepeta going to seed

Drying Nepeta flowers and leaves on paper before pressing

Nepeta impressions for peduncles and background

The pine needles made a wonderful textured paper. I wanted to suggest the ribbing you would see on a real pumpkin. It’s subtle, but I like the way they turned out.

I rubbed yellow ink on the textured paper, then stamped two more layers of the stamp set with orange and russet ink. After stamping two different pumpkin shapes, I cut the small pumpkin images using my Big Shot. I made the stems using the Nepeta paper print.

Dried pine needles taped to card stock

Removing the pine needles after passing it through the Big Shot

Textured paper

Textured paper, rubbed with yellow ink

Close up of colored, textured paper

Beautiful texture for pumpkins

Two more layered pumpkin stamps

Die cut pumpkins

Pumpkins on the face of the card

Here’s the design:

I used a clever die to create the black card-stock base of the card. I used the pumpkin leaf imprint on one side and the flower imprint on the other. In the center I cut two small pumpkins from the pine needle paper using a clever die and stamp set that allows layering for a more realistic effect. I cut the stems, known as a peduncle, from the mottled Nepeta print for a natural look.

On the left, pumpkin flower imprint, on the right, a pumpkin leaf imprint

Z-shaped card with window

Z-shaped card laying flat

Card in the open position

I’ve had this small rubber stamp for years.

This particular style is labor-intensive, so I only managed to make eight cards. That said, I did a lot of experimenting along with using new tools. Next year I’ll be able to apply what I learned. I punched squared out of all the different materials I used and mounted them on a piece of card stock. This will help me remember the different techniques for next year.

I used the remaining chlorophyll prints to make traditional fold-over cards. They were equally fun. I’ll blog about them later this week.

Are you trying something new and interesting?

Note:

To my friends out of the area, please know that we are safe. There is an active series of fires, 100 miles north of San Jose. Though we are sheltering from the heavy smoke as best we can, we are not in danger. My friends in Santa Rosa are safe. You can read more at the link below.

http://m.sfgate.com/news/article/2-big-wildfires-prompt-evacuations-in-Napa-County-12262945.php

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August 17, 2017 by Born To Organize

Experimenting with Chlorophyll Prints

Transferring the image of a leaf to paper has been around for years. It’s only recently though, that I learned of a technique using a Big Shot, one of those crafting tools I’ve put off buying for years.

Sizzix Big Shot

Dawn, who blogs at Petals. Paper. Simple Thymes created these beautiful cards using the technique. Dawn’s post and her stunning cards were the impetus I needed. I bought a Big Shot so I could give the technique a try. I’m sharing the Big Shot tool with my sister, Sharon, who makes all of her own cards. We bought some fun dies for her to use for her holiday cards this year.

As Dawn says, this is a wonderful opportunity to combine two loves: gardening and paper crafts.

According to Wiki:

Chlorophyll (also chlorophyl) is any of several closely related green pigments found in cyanobacteria and the chloroplasts of algae and plants.^[1] Its name is derived from the Greek words chloros (“green”) and phyllon, (“leaf”).^[2] Chlorophyll is essential in photosynthesis, allowing plants to absorb energy from light. – Wikipedia

The technique is simple. You sandwich a leaf or petal between a folded piece of paper, run it through the Big Shot, and the green pigment created by the chlorophyll transfers to the paper. As Pauline King would say, I’m at the messy stage of this process. I’ve yet to make a single card, but not from lack of trying.

I gathered several scraps of paper from my stash to get started, including an old file folder, card stock, old-fashioned typewriter paper and vellum.

Paper: File Folder * Verdict: so-so

Paper: Watercolor * Verdict: Nice most of the time but not for all plant material

Paper: Velum * Verdict: It looks like a Rorschach Test

I quickly learned that all paper is not created equal. In the end it was a scrap of watercolor paper that worked the best. It absorbed some of the natural moisture and showed off the texture of the plant material to good effect.

My collection of leaves were a mixed bag as well. Some were so wet and juicy, that they produced images that were half leaf imprint, half splat. My prints are definitely not ready for prime time, but I am having fun.

I’m still trying to get a good imprint from my coleus leaves. They’re a beautiful mix of red and green and sometimes purple. They’re also heart-shaped. If I can manage to get the impressions just right without the extra moisture they’ll look terrific on a card.

My favorite imprints so far are the fern and the Nepeta.

This imprint is from my lacy fern, a plant I’ve carted around with me for nearly thirty years. It went from a small, seventy-nine cent plant on my nightstand, to owning a corner of our garden. I love it.

Chlorophyll transfer of fern and sweet pea petal to watercolor paper

The Nepeta or cat nip also transferred well, and comically, retained some of its potency. Mouse the Cat hopped up on the desk and enjoyed the scent.

Mouse Approved

Nepeta (cat mint) transfer

I’ll keep experimenting and hope to eventually have some bona fide cards to share. I tossed the small samples, but gathered the rest of them into a sample booklet, held together with baker’s twine and a few strips of Washi tape.