Falling Leaves - Using Distress Oxides to Create a "Patterned" Paper

Happy Tuesday!  It's a sketch challenge this week at CAS Colours & Sketches so I could use any colors I wanted!  Well, I really wanted to use some new leaf dies that I have and I knew how I wanted to approach it from a technique perspective.  Using the card sketch allowed me to concentrate on the technique instead of the layout.

Here is the challenge:

I used my Distress Oxide inks and what I call a "splat" technique.  I swipe the ink pad on a plastic mat and spray with water, then I dip my paper into the mess.  I do this with several colors, most of the time using my heat gun to dry between layers.

For these leaves I used mostly autumn colors and some green.  When the paper was nice and dry, I die cut the leaves.  This technique gives a nice randomness to the leaf colors - just like in nature!

After cutting I sponged the leaf edges with both brown and brick to make them more "autumn."  And I added a few dew drops.

My one struggle with this card was the antiquing around the edge of the card itself.  This is a CAS challenge and I did not want to get it too distressed, but a stark white card just didn't fit.  So I VERY lightly and narrowly tipped the edges with the same brown and brick.

Dies used: Cottage Cutz Fall Leaves
Inks:  Distress Oxides Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade, Wild Honey, Fossilized Amber, Peeled paint, Gathered Twigs
Paper: Strathmore Mixed Media, Early Espresso, Copper foil

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