Forest Ferns

Good Morning everyone

Its the first friday of November so time for a new challenge over at Creative Artiste where the theme is anything mixed media goes, using at least 3 different mediums.

I found this lovely fern moulded frame in the charity shop years ago, now the urge came to finally turn it into something else. I decided to go with a forest theme with the ferns, fungi and wood nymphs.  The middle inked panel is like a light emanating from deep in the woods drawing you into the magic within😁

Frame size approx 9x7" (19x23cm) 

See below for how i painted the ferns & frame.  I then printed out some digital fungi at different sizes and adhered among the ferns and to the bottom right of the aperture.  I added to mini tim holtz paper dolls sitting on top of the smaller background toadstools and used a bigger paper doll and added some green holographic acetate wings to him and adhered him to the front of the picture as my little forest nymphs. 

I felt it needed something red/orange in the top left corner to balance it but none of the toadstools worked and i found this orange/red acetate butterfly in my stash which fit perfectly. 

You can just about make out the light hitting the holographic wings here - in real life they really do sparkle

The glass isn't removeable so i covered that first to protect it.  I then coated the whole frame in black gesso.  Then i got layering up various green paints, starting with the darkest ones first and getting lighter with each layer.  

My last green layer was a very bright almost yellow green just added where the light would naturally hit the leaves.  Then i added a light touch of gold cadence dora paint to give a little subtle shimmer and coated the whole frame is glossy mod podge to help seal and protect it. 

I added green and yellow alcohol inks to the back of the glass to give the effect of dappled sunlight through the leaves, keeping it almost free of ink where i wanted my quote to go....here i just used a felt pad to lightly dab the ink.  As you can't remove the glass the only option was to stamp my quote onto white card and add it behind so I didn't want the ink obscuring it too much. 

This is one of my favourite quotes.  Its from Inkylicious and an oldie but goodie. 

And this is how it started out with an old gold finish

Items Used:

Inkilicious stamp 'forest quote'

Toadstool digitals 'Mixed Media Toadstools' from Double Helix Digitals on Etsy

Tim HOltz paper dolls

acetate butterflies

Cadence Dora paint

Folk art matt acrylic paints

Tim Holtz alcohol inks

Mod podge glossy and matt

 Hop over to Creative Artiste to join in, anything mixed media goes - atc's, cards, journal pages, 3d projects, wall art, small or large, everything welcome as long as you mixed your mediums 

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Trust the weather to turn cold with a bitterly wind the week we are having the heating replaced so wrapped up like mummies to keep warm and then we now have a giant hole in the ceiling where the electrician fell through - oh what fun.  It might have been comical if it hadn't been 9.30 at night and I then had to sort him out and the mess....Plus the reason he fell through is because it was all soaking wet from a water leak from the team that installed the system the 2 days before!   My MS is really complaining now sitting in the cold!    So with the mess that has created im so glad i did box everything possible up, far easier to clean a plastic box than all my craft stash and decorative tatt.

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Id love to enter the following:

https://mixitupchallenge.blogspot.com/2026/11/miucb-86-anything-goes-optional.html

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https://paper-rocks-scissors.blogspot.com/2026/11/november-22-challenge.html - used scissors to cut out the toadstools which were printed onto paper

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https://www.simplyellibelle.com/2026/10/i-spy-with-my-little-eye-autumn-in.html

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https://tuesdaytaggers.blogspot.com/2026/10/make-it-magical.html - magical wood nymph

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https://daranddiane.blogspot.com/2026/11/double-d-textures-challenge-2026.html - textures - the moulded ferns are very tactile and deep, along with the glossy shiny finish of the acetate and wings

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https://tolanythingbutacard.blogspot.com/2026/10/the-outlawz-anything-but-card-november.html - anything goes option

 

Autumn Shadow box

Good Morning everyone

First week into November - how scary is that! So with the 1st Friday in this month we have a new challenge over at Creative Artiste Mixed Media where the theme is always anything goes as long as you mix your medias - at least 3 different types please.

Ive made an autumnal shadow box for this month which actually started out life as a pet food box - its amazing what can be done with different mediums to transform something...

Approx size 6x8" See below for how I made & decorated the box.  Once that was done I got creating my little woodland scene.  I die cut a tree die multiple times from brown cardstock and adhered together to make my own chipboard - this making it more study.  I dabbed acrylic paint to the leaves in yellow, orange and red and dry brushed brown onto the trunks to break up the solid brown of the card & sealed with mod podge.  I then adhered these to the back of the box, one flat and 2 with glue gel to give a bit of depth.

I took wooden leaves and painted with acrylic paints and adhered to the back and sides of the box.  I then arranged some toadstools which I had printed and cut out way back in the spring just waiting to be used, they were printed onto 300gsm card but to give them extra stability I added card strips to the back of the stalks which also gave me more area to add glue to, to adhere them into place.

I add the same acrylic paints used for the background to scraps of cardstock and once dry die cut into lots of leaves which I then arranged around the box to make it look like they are falling from the trees onto the forest floor.

I die cut the word Autumn from gold glitter card and brown card, adhering the brown letters as a drop shadow and then added to the top back of the box.  I also die cut the gold glitter into a few leaves and scattered around to help tie it altogether. 

Everything was coated in mod podge to seal and protect.....the best way of dusting these projects is with a very soft large make up brush which is delicate enough to brush off any dust but not damage the rest...I was once asked that😁....Ive found the best way to avoid dusting in general is having craft projects lying around everywhere otherwise the cats are well trained in dusting with their tails😂😂😂

This shows the true colours better.  For the background tree I cut 1 up so that I could make it seem taller and a slightly different shape so that not all 3 trees were uniform, same with the one on the left I trimmed some off the left hand side so it tucked up in the corner more - the offcuts i glued into place behind other branches to help give the effect of different trees.

Technically these toadstools are too big for real life but this is craft land and I wanted them to be seen, not hidden under leaves

The toadstools - to give them more stability and area for me to add glue to, I glued strips of card together and added to the back of the stalks, adding a couple of coats of mod podge also helped give them some extra strength.

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and onto the box

I first cut the cat food box to size - this is a 40 pouch box so I got 2 out of it by cutting down the middle - this then left a side without a wall so I used the lid of the box for that, cut to size and held in place with paper tape before I covered the whole box in brown paper which helps strengthen the box, hold the side panel in place and cover all joins.  I actually used brown paper often used in parcel packaging now - its ideal for this.  Tear it into small pieces and decoupage into place using watered down pva - so my whole shadow box is made from rubbish basically😁   

Once dry cover with gesso which covers the brown paper nicely and gives a good base to work on.  You can easily use tissue paper to cover it but as i save all the brown paper from packaging its ideal for this and good recycling. 

Here in the UK Sheba & Whiskers boxes are the best as they are much studier than Gourmet & Felix - yes my feline bunch are spoilt & old so fussy and all eat something different so I get to try all the boxes out😺 The other boxes I cut up into panels which make great bases for the childrens art creations - more study than normal card but alot cheaper than canvas board etc... 

I then added a layer of teal, brown & navy acrylic paint.  Then once dry stippled on a layer of yellow, orange, maroon and brown paints - the same colours I used for my leaves. I then knocked the colour back with a layer of vintage white dry brushed over.  This helped my images to stand out but also meant the colours in the background give the effect of the autumnal forest behind my scene.  It does seem weird to add colour to then cover over it but its only a light top layer and the original colours do all still show through in the finished result and is more effective than a solid colour.

On the outside of the box I added texture paste through a bamboo stencil and freestyle using my spatula.  Once dry I covered with the same paints used on the inside.  Teal and Navy first and then the browns, yellows catching the raised areas and once completely dry I dry brushed on gold paint to highlight.

You can make out the gold a bit more here, just on the raised areas.  All coated in glossy mod podge and metals corners added on all the corners to help protect and neaten up.  To think this was just a humble cardboard box.....I amaze myself sometimes😀 

I of course have the 2nd box to decorate too.

Items Used:

Toadstool digitals 'Mixed Media Toadstools' from Double Helix Digitals on Etsy

Papermania wooden leaves

Memory box tree die (very old)

Spellbinders leaf dies (very old)

Memory box alpha dies 'Parker'

Bamboo stencil

Texture paste - white

Plaid folkart matt acrylic paints

Pebeo acrylic paints

Decoart Gold acrylic 'splendid gold'

Brass effect metal corners

Crafters companion gold glitter card

Hop over to Creative Artiste to see what the rest of the DT & Guest DT have created and to join in.  The more you mix your mediums and get creative the better.

I hope you all have a good month. Hugs Emmax

Id love to enter the following:

  

The four seasons

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https://thesisterhoodofcrafters.blogspot.com/2025/10/10825-anything-fall.html

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https://theoutlawzchallenges-saturday.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-outlawz-anything-goes-in-card-free_02053675983.html

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https://craftingacutabove.blogspot.com/2025/11/november-challenge-2025.html - dies used 3 different leaf die sets, tree die, alphabet dies

 

WLS October - Autumn

Good Morning everyone and welcome to October.  

Its time for a new challenge over at We Love Stamping  and the theme this month just had to be 

ANYTHING AUTUMN

but if thats really not for you we always have the anything goes option as long as you use stamps.  I love autumn just as much as spring.

A5 Ivory card blank.  I stamped the toadstool image twice onto ivory card with dark brown ink.  One I watercoloured with inktense pencils and cut out and the 2nd one i cut into a rectangle panel...to this one i added a die cut frame from a textured gold satin, I then decoupaged the toadstools on top with glue gel.  

As im still attempting to use up 6x6 paper pads I raided the drawer for papers in colours that matched.  I took a dark brown printed paper and matted onto gold satin...as its a 6x6 paper on an A5 card I cut it in half and covered the middle section with a different paper - thus extending its length.

I decided i wanted some of the green used in the topper to break up the background colours and lift it so found a green paper than matched, cut into strips and added on a wonk.  I then added the topper with foam tape for a little dimension.

Computer printed sentiment die cut into an oval to finish. 

Difficult to show the gold satin, but when the light hits it, it really shines, it has a slight embossed pattern in it too - another one thats been in the drawer for 10+ years! 

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Version 2

Topper made the same way, just different papers with leafy patterns

 

I made 8 versions in all so a good dent on autumnal papers - which are all years old.

Items Used:

aall&create stamp #1078 'Mycelium potions'

spellbinders foliage frame die #S6-006 'branching out'  (very old set)

oval stitched dies

derwent inktense pencils

various patterned papers

CraftUK ltd cream linen 300gsm cardstock

Gold satin card

We have an amazing prize of Lavinia stamps this month 

So hop over We Love Stamping to join in with your Autumn stamped projects to be in with a chance of winning. Just get creative with your stamping - you can use physical or digital stamps.

I hope you all have a good week ahead.  Emmax

Id love to enter the following:

https://lovethoseprettypapers.blogspot.com/2025/10/love-those-pretty-papers-october.html

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https://craftrocketchallenges.blogspot.com/2025/10/challenge-130-autumnhalloween.html

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Thistlehogs among the toadstools

Good Morning everyone

Its like buses, i rarely have the honour of being a guest design and now 2 days in a row😂

Today Im honoured to be a guest designer at The fairy & the Unicorn challenge

  with an anything magical goes.   I decided to dig out my lovely thistlehog stamps and teamed them up with lots of toadstools and autumnal leaves so very seasonable.

I first made my cardbase from white cardstock and nesting dies and then cut a frame for the front and added with foam tape.  From the panel that came inside the frame i stencilled a soft background with oxide inks.  I then stencilled along the bottom with glossy glaze through a mushroom stencil, once dry i adhered the panel into the frame.

I stamped the little thistlehogs and watercoloured with distress inks and cut them out, i added shape to their bodies and adhered with glue gel.  I built up a little scene around them with transparency toadstools and die cut leaves. The little mushroom people came from another pink ink stamp set.  

Tim Holtz chat stickers that read

'those that don't believe in magic will never find it'

'dream' 'imagine' 'believe' 

Stickles glitter glue added to their little wings to finish with a touch of sparkle

Now these little thistlehogs are super tiny and super fast so we don't seem them so much but they are busy every night going about their magical work

I used distress inks - evergreen bough, tumbled glass, peacock feathers, wild honey, dried marigold and ripe persimmon to colour the them and for stencilling in the background

Im loving these PET/transparency/acetate toadstools, they are lovely to use and look so realistic.  All my leaves were cut using various scraps of ink coloured cardstock

I adhered the transparency mushrooms both flat and with glue gel so that that light can shine through some of them.  

Those who follow me know I have a garden full of full size hedgehogs & lots that visit nightly.  Just last week we've had 3 late babies out feeding in the day time so we will hopefully get them fattened up nicely for hibernation.  My old cat is very protective of them when they come out in the daytime.  

Items Used:

Pink Ink designs stamps 'thistlehogs'& 'shitake happens'

Lavinia stencil 'pods'

Paperartsy stencil 'PS179'

Distress inks & oxides

Toadstool transparancy/acetate

Cosmic shimmer glossy glaze 'daydream yellow'

Stitched nesting dies 

leaf dies

Thank you all for stopping by, please do hop over to thefairyandtheunicorn to join in the fun.  I hope you have a good week. Hugs Emmaxx

Id also love to enter this card in the following:

https://bastel-traum.blogspot.com/2023/09/126-herbststimmung-autumn-mood.html

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https://mixitupchallenge.blogspot.com/2023/11/miucb-68-anything-goes-optional.html

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https://cutitupchallenges.blogspot.com/2023/11/cut-it-challenge-290-layer-it-up.html