Leaf me alone!

Leaf me alone!

Hi there.
Thanks for popping in.
Had to go into work and sign 100 of the new Calendars early this morning.
Had to give a very special book which is going to print today the last look over.
Had to check the New Design Club projects, to make sure they all made sense.
Had to pay some bills, this n that.
You know how it goes….
a usual catch up Monday after almost a week at the NEC.
But then the afternoon was mine, and I retreated to my art room for a little quiet time, down time, alone time. 
Much as I love love loved meeting so many old friends and catching up, it is nice to come home to the quietude of my little room above the garage. 
And look how our ginkgo tree has changed in just a week!!
It was green when we left!

Astounding beauty really.
So I picked a few lovely leaves from the carpet of yellow underneath the tree and cleaned them off gently, with something arty in mind. 

Then Dave got involved, and found some other larger beauties in the garden. I ran this one through an E-bosser to flatten it, 
and was very pleased with the blotted effect. 
Project for another day methinks….

There was a large darker, mottled leaf in the selection, 
and I decided to play with that one….
Work on the back of the leaf, the side with the veins protruding.
Moon mask, blending tool, white acrylic paint.

Great Offer on the Blending Tool set

Looks like a right mess, I know!
This is where you wonder whether you should have just gone for a walk in the leaves, instead of covering one in ink and paint!

Mmm. Pine Forest looking very good.

Shucks. Mask has lifted moon paint. Good to know. 
You can lift paint off!

Redo moon and leave a little moon shadow 
by not painting a solid sphere.

Very light sweep the white paint blending tool over the veins,
to catch them with highlights. Very nice trick.
And remember: 
if you over egg it, cellotape will lift the paint right off once it’s dry.

I think this needs a proper frame. A black frame.
And a little snow. 
Dib dib dib with a Groovi stylus dipped in the white paint.
We do a lovely line in mount frames with backboards, you know.
These are 12″x12″.
Run a glue runner along the veins at the back of the leaf and attach.

I think this will make a lovely feature on a wall.
When you get up close, 
the detail of the leaf is what gives the piece its magic.
Look:

Lots more leaves where that one came from, I can tell you !!!

See the texture?
I love it.

Time to go find Dave, light a log fire and kick back.

Love & Hugs,
Barb
xxx

41 thoughts on “Leaf me alone!

  1. Wow what a great idea Barb ..love it , been to Tonbridge today for lunch with a dear friend , home now catching up in front of the log fire bliss .. ordered calender and plates from weekend shows x

  2. Wonderful Barbara! Who would have thought that a real leaf could look so beautiful, and one of those photos of the Gingko tree with the gorgeous bright blue sky and then the gold of the leaves would look great put into a frame too. Isn't nature just magical. Have a lovely evening with Dave. x

  3. What a great idea to use some of the natural beauty around us to be the star of your creation. I love it. Sadly too late for me this year as most of my leaves are already down and have been cleared by my gardener. I will make a note for next year, though. I am glad you made some time for yourself today. Everyone that I saw coming away from your stand was smiling happily, so you deserve a break today. xxx Maggie

    1. Hi bloggy friends – it's been quite a nice day here. We made the most of it and went for a ride through the beautiful countryside, to an area that we haven't been to for ages. We had a light lunch out and back home now, feeling pleasantly snoozy! Love and hugs, Gilly xxx

  4. Hi Barb,
    Wow, this is fabulous. Never in a thousand years would I have thought of doing this! It is beautiful framed up. Bet you had a great time playing. Love and hugs Alison xxx

    1. Hi bloggy friends,
      Been a lovely day here although everything was white with frost this morning – that was a shock yo the system. Sent Dave out to de-ice the car windows before we headed to the gym. Decided that was man's work! Began colouring in the Groovi cards I traced out yesterday this afternoon, so really enjoyed that. Sending love and hugs to all, Alison xxxx

  5. Gosh I would never have thought of doing that. Fabulous. We are still getting loads of maple leaves in our front garden courtesy of our neighbours tree. Still gives Fred a job to do. Glad you got a break after what must have been a very busy few days. xx

  6. I love to use items from nature in my projects so this is just my cup of tea.I will add it to my long list of crafty fun to try out ! Thank you x

  7. Very frosty here this morning and turned bitterly cold this evening too…winter definitely on the way. Leaf art looks great, fab idea too. Just got the inserts to do for my general Christmas cards then can start on the presents shopping next week. Still trying to decide on Groovi or stamped for the 'specials'….decisions, decisions! Wrap up and stay warm wherever you are xxx

  8. Hi Barbara
    I hope by now you are sat down in front of that lovely warm fire with the lovely Dave. The pictures of the ginkgo tree are beautiful. Now when you got the selection of leaves out I thought you were going to start using the geli plate, (I've done that before, it works a treat). Painting directly on the leaf though, amazing. You do come up with some brilliant ideas don't you. Hope thus week isn't too busy for you and you get the chance to have some down time again.
    Love Diane xxxx

  9. Love the art work today Barbara, next time I am walking through the autumn leaves I will look at them with a different light. Glad I am not the only one who is running behind with the Christmas cards. I had such good intentions this year but someone on the radio yesterday said it was only 7 weeks to go !!!

  10. Wow! That is amazing! Yesterday Hubbie and I swept up most of the leaves in the garden as the garden and food waste bin was being collected this morning. There may be a few left that I could try this with as I love the effect. I think that could be mother in law's birthday present sorted!
    Today I had a lovely morning coffee with my friend; it was good to chat and work through what is happening in life.

  11. I love this idea! My cousin who lives in New Mexico is an artist. I love and miss him so much as I haven't seen him since Samuel was young. I have a box of dried flowers and leaves from my garden to send to him (a tradition, not just me being weird lol 😂.
    I think I will attempt something like this, he would love it! He is a Plein Air artist And loves nature. Thank you my dear friend for inspiring me, yet again xxx

  12. Hello Barb, wow what a lovely arty piece, it is amazing what you create with some leaves and stamps. I think I must give it a go. Hope you don't have writers cramp from signing the calendars. Take care all. Bx

  13. Oh wow this leaf is gorgeous! If I had as much creative genius in my whole body as you have just in your little finger I would be a very happy bunny! About to order the calendar for extra inspiration throughout next year – yay! Xx

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *