Friday, October 29, 2010

Fall Wreath (or centerpiece!) Design Team Project

Hello everybody! We're going down to Branson for a few days, so I thought I'd upload a November Tim Holtz Design Team project early before I go. This was sooooo much fun. The sun was my biggest problem and getting a picture without too many reflections on the leaves.

Two friends commented that it looks like a centerpiece....well why didn't I think of the that...of course it does. Thanks guys!



So, sit back, grab a cup of coffee, or tea for my friends across the pond, and we'll give it a go.



This is clear acrylic packaging from the MANY, MANY, Idea-ology pieces I order from Ranger (just can't throw it away.) I've use it from any number of things, and just cut off the outer edges. Here I used Tim's Alterations Tattered Leaves die to cut about 30-35 leaves.


Then I applied color using the Alcohol Inks Applicator with Felt to the backs. I used various fall colors, Sunshine Yellow, Terra Cotta, Lettuce, Pesto, Rust, and Cranberry to name a few, leaving patches uncovered.


Then use a permanent fine tipped marker to add the leaf veins on the front.


Heat the acrylic (the veins are absent here to show better how this curls) you'll see it start to bend. Take it and mold however you like as it hardens quickly. If you don't like the results....heat it again.


Then I applied Adirondack Metallic Paint Dabbers in Gold and Copper, plus Lettuce and Butterscotch Acrylic Dabbers to the back where the blank spots occur.


Turn them over, and this is what you get. You can use several colors on the same leaf, just keep experimenting until you get the results you like. Then apply some metallics to the front on the edges for some more contrast.

The results are always different!!!

I used a 6" round donut shaped piece of chipboard for the wreath base, and hot glue to adhere the leaves. (I've had this forever..no clue where it's from) Start at the center and build up and out leaving an open spot in the center. I punched holes at 10 and 2 for adding a ribbon to hang the piece.

The center ribbons were looped, tied around the 2 floral picks from Crafts Direct, and then the ends snipped. Use a piece of chipboard to cut a circle slightly larger than the wreath center. Punch a hole in the middle. (Should resemble another smaller donut shape.)

Thread the pick stems through the hole, then glue all this to the back of your wreath. Since the smaller CB is slightly larger than the hole of the big one...glue the edges. I used Ten Seconds Studio Appletini Green metal to cut the strips that were curled around a pen and hot glued into place. Scrunch them.

Whew...any questions...just email me. No worries!

Have a great weekend and Remember to Play - Create ART!

~Linda

152 comments:

Anonymous said...

Holtz as always never disappointed in your beautiful work. TJ

Lynne Forsythe said...

OMW GIRL.....this is BREATHTAKING!!! What a BEAUTIFUL wreath!!

Tammy Tutterow said...

Love, love, love this wreath! Gorgeous!

Charlene E. said...

That is so cool. I don't usually go for home decor, but this I would definately hang up somewhere.

ginnycartersmallenburg said...

Wow, Linda, this is awesome!

Anonymous said...

Uber creative and super cool tricks & such a treat for us to try!Beautiful ;-)
VickiB in OP NY

Kathy Eddy said...

Oh this is so cool! I have been using the clear packaging and making a few flowers and coloring with alcohol inks too. The leaves are a brilliant idea!

2amscrapper said...

Patience and attention to detail resulted in a beautiful creation!

Nancy said...

Oh, my gosh, Linda! This is BEAUTIFUL!!!! I so have to make one! Thank you for the tutorial.

Meme said...

Beautiful job! I love the colors you have achieved, they look amazing! Wonderful display of decor art to hang up for fall. Great job Linda!

Shirley said...

What a gorgeous wreath!

Jennie -The Artistic Stamper said...

Gorgeous piece!!! Have you tried dipping the pieces once alcohol inked into clear UTEE which has been coloured with a smidge of gold or copper. I called the technique "dip and drip"..
Always loving what you create :))
Have a great break
Hugs x

flutterbycrafter said...

Wow,this is stunning, breathtaking work. You are so creative and give me so much inspiration, thank you. Ann xx

Daniele said...

your leaves look incredible, so life like. This makes a lovely centre table piece as well
hugs

Anonymous said...

Wow, Linda! How beautiful! I know you call it a wreath and it is meant to be hung on a wall or door, but I kept thinking how wonderful it would be on a Thanksgiving table. Thanks for sharing.
Eileen

kelsey said...

lol.....I too use the clear packaging. It works great through the Cuttlebug with the embossing folders! Love the alcohol inked leaves Linda...very nice!

Helen said...

I love how you made this with leftover packaging (good excuse to shop, lol!) The finished piece is just stunning.

Sharon Margiotta said...

Wow, that is stunning!! I'm a nut over fall leaves .. living in the desert and all. How nice to know that the free packaging works like that!!

SusanK said...

Holy flippin' toledo! This is to die for!!!! Sure wish our leaves could have been 1/2 this pretty! I save a lot of packaging for just such purposes...wonder if I can make a few just to hang on a doorknob???/

Kathyk said...

Simply AWESOME - I am deeply envious of your new fall centrepiece.

Kathyk

Art By Wanda said...

Linda, this is totally awesome!!!!! Have a fab time in Branson!!!

Susan said...

Linda, your wreath is fabulous! And I love that you recycled the clear packaging - too good to throw out!
Susan

Lori said...

Totally awesome! The paint dabber on the back is just brilliant, really adds to the leaves. Love, love, love it!

Barbara said...

This is so gorgeous! Thanks for the tutorial as well. You knew we would want to know how you made this!!!

Deb Smith said...

I absolutely adore your wreath. Have fun in Branson. I'm so glad to be home and out of the car!!

Sugar Lump Studios said...

what a gorgeous and AMAZING wreath! the leaves look so real! beautiful project with awesome results. hope you have a Happy Halloween! :)

Bearcrazyman said...

Amazing job. Thanks for sharing this. I love it,

Tamikko said...

absolutely gorgeous! The leaves are amazing! I love the ink on them. Just fantabulous. I would love to make one to bring out every fall :)

Shirley said...

Your wreath is gorgeous! What wonderful ideas and reusing items. Love all the detail you added to your wreath!
Shirley L.
Roseville, CA

Lisa said...

very creative! TFS

Donna said...

That is one gorgeous wreath Linda, you are so talented!!
Donna

Marijane said...

This is just beautiful, Linda. I may have to get Tim's leaf die now. I had been resisting but I must make this! At first glance I thought you used real treated leaves, but this is even better - it'll last forever!

D's Paper Studio said...

Exceptional

Capescrapper said...

Linda, this is amazingly beautiful!! What a terrific use of Tim's Dies! The heat setting on this created such a realistic leaf!

Susanne said...

Gorgeous.... I LOVE!!!

~* steph :) *~ said...

wow, gorgeous, linda!! thanks for sharing with us! great idea to use packaging. have a great day! *hugs* steph :)

Jen said...

I am now KICKING myself for not getting the tattered leaves die when I had the chance for BOGO at the expo! THAT is gorgeous!!!!!! Totally amazing! (And yeah, I have a whole basket full of that same packaging!! LOL!)

slbt17 said...

wonderful!
Sandra

Christy said...

fabulous. love the use of color and materials.

MichelleB said...

Stunning!! Thank you for sharing this gorgeous project!

Netty said...

Wow I agree with everyone its stunning and love the recycling, thank goodness I throw nothing away....lol Now I can have a go at one of these thanks to you. Thank you for sharing Linda.
Annette x

Lily said...

so pretty and so resourceful. Well done!

Karin said...

Stunning and totally gorgeous.

Blessed Serendipity said...

This is AMAZING! I put a wreath on my blog today that I created. Hope you will come and visit me.

-Danielle

Pam said...

Just beautiful!!

Caro said...

wow !!! it is wonderful !!!!
thanks for sharing

albinopi said...

beautiful! I was surprised to see that it was not real leaves!

Oxana said...

Simply stunning!!!!

cajcaj said...

Awesome!!! Love this idea - thank you so much for sharing. This project has really inspired me and given me anther idea on how to use that packaging.

Bambi said...

BEAUTIFUL

Jill W. said...

This is amazing, such a wonderful use of the boxes of packaging that I can't seem to throw out either.
Thanks for the wonderful tutorial and inspiration.
~Jill

Tona said...

Amazing project!

Scrap Vamp said...

Wow, that centerpiece is gorgeous! I had to look really close to even guess those leaves weren't real! Just lovely!

KAT said...

This is FANTASTIC! Really love that you added the metallic paint dabbers to it....

Anonymous said...

this is so beautiful, thanks for sharing how to put it together!
Carriep

Hels Sheridan said...

WOW, Linda this is ... TRULY DIVINE!!! How long did that take you to make hun??? So much attention to detail! I am having cwwoffeeee, I cannot stand tea... yuk! I think I am a closet American LOL xx

Jo said...

Wow, this is beyond fabulous!!! thank you so much for sharing this tutorial.

Anonymous said...

This is delightful! Just yesterday I was staring at my bag of empty acrylic packages wondering what to do w/them. Thank you!!!

Debbie C

Anita said...

Amazing!

Jacque said...

Great idea! Beautiful leaves and a good way to use up those packaging pieces.

Dee in N.H. said...

Girl, you are a genius! This is gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

Your wreath is beautiful! Definately coping this one! THANK YOU!!

RMarijaR said...

Who knew toss-away stuff could turn out so beautifully? Thanks for the sharing the technique!

Carol L said...

What a GORGEOUS creation!! I'm glad TH sent me here to see this!!!

Michelle Frae Cummings said...

what a wonderful project! thanks for sharing!

Suzanne Morse said...

Thanks for sharing beaitiful

joanne (spagirl) said...

wow! thanks for sharing this... how unique!

jenn shurkus said...

beautiful!!

Deb Smith said...

So proud of all that you have accomplished. You are so incredibly talented.

Marilyn Nimmo said...

LOVE this!!! I save the packaging too . . .thanks for the inspiration!!!

Janice said...

Oh this is beautiful. I've just this minute ordered TH leaf die so I'll be able to have a go soon. Thankyou for the detailed instructions.

Linda said...

Just amazing!!! It is soooo beautiful - thanks for sharing.

Linda P.

Noreen said...

Beautiful! I love the way the colors look on the acrylic!

Sue Young said...

Genius,as always! This isreally gorgeous!
Sue

Chris Arlington said...

Stunning! glad I saved my packaging to try this.

Donna said...

This is just fantastic, I have been wanting the leaves and now it is a must!! Thank you Linda

laineebugcrafts said...

Awesome results and love your recycling! I love the wonderful fall colors such a beautiful result.

Karen Denson said...

What a beautiful piece of Art. Than you for the wonderful idea. I have saved the plastic packaging forever. Now I know what to do with it.

Teresa Abajo said...

Amazing Linda! What a fun project.

yoursartfully said...

Linda, this is just gorgeous, the colours are fantastic.....clever girl.

Lin x

P.S. I just happen to have a cuppa tea on my desk

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the creative ideas. No more packaging going in the recycle bin. Best part is you can adapt for any holiday! Thanks alot Linda!

Mary said...

This is GORGEOUS!!! Is there anyway you could email me a pic of the back of it? I just want to see what you mean by a doughnut shaped CB piece. I'm bookmarking your site. It's awesome!!

Sandi M said...

Absolutely awesome! To think I just threw some of this away thinking will I ever really use it. Lesson learned!

Holly said...

Wow, absolutely GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!

Yogi said...

what a fabulous project. I know - I can't through away all those clear plastic packages. I usually use them as palettes for painting or to make stencils, but die cutting them to use as decoration - didn't think of that.

rebecca said...

WOW, what a beautiful creation!! The magic created with Tim's products! Good job Linda!!!

Elaine Akers said...

Thanks for sharing this gorgeous wreath project with all of us. I never thought to save and repurpose the packaging before. Beautiful wreath and so life like.

G Peplow said...

Simply gorgeous:0) xx

Joanna said...

What a magnificant wreath. I've got to start
saving the plastic - Such a unique idea!
Thanks so much for sharing!

wwilloww said...

That is absolutely gorgeous!!! I will now have to get that die!!!

Simply Sandy said...

Wow this is so neat! So many ideas coming to mind from the leaves. and now I can show my hubby that i am not the only one that saves the packaging for future use :) Thanks so much for sharing! Think my daughter and I will use the idea to make place markers for Thanksgiving :)

Anonymous said...

WOW!!! I love this and I can DO it!!! I have the die and lots of packaging! In fact, this is something my special ed students could do - I'll handle the heat gun! Thanks for this great idea!!!
Deana in No. CA

Tina Nilson said...

I agree with you- hard to throw away things from Tim- even if it´s the left-overs :) Love your idea and just wander HOW you managed to save up as many- or if you cut free leaves out of the ordinary plastic that is around all their packaging...

Would love to see everything you do!!!

Becky said...

wow what an awesome idea!

Shirley said...

This is beautiful! It really does look like a centerpiece. I just purchased the leaves...guess what I will be making

StayC said...

Absolutely Stunning! I adore anything with leaves, and this is just amazingly beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing.

Anonymous said...

this is just beautiful. will have to get that die in the near future.

Gloria Stengel said...

I hopped over here from Tim' blog...and wow. This is a stunning project, and way to go using up "trash"!!!

Anonymous said...

Awesome project... thanks for sharing! :)
Tracy B.

Marianne H said...

What a lovely idea! And SO NICE.
Have a nice day :-D

tracy said...

wow thats lovely,
i allways save what clear packaging i can, i only have distress reinkers so will need to see if i can play with them on clear packaging, probably nothing like your project lol. its beautifull

Thespa McLaughlin said...

I love the fact that you reused that acrylic. I would have never guessed that is what those leaves were made of. Beautiful wreath! LOVE IT!

Karyle said...

How Beautiful.....I'm sure going to try this. I love that you recycled and I would have never guessed that the leaves were acrylic packaging. I LOVE it.

Candy C said...

Very cool technique and results! Love the idea....endless possibilities! Welcome to Branson! You're in my neck of the woods! :) It's supposed to be a lovely weekend!

Diana said...

you are brilliant!!!!!

YaYaLadybug said...

Oh how beautiful . . . can't wait to start creating one as a hostess thank you gift . . . thanks for sharing your techniques with everyone!

ida said...

so beautiful and creative. it is so generous of you to share. thanks

Anonymous said...

A beautiful way to recycle and reuse. Thanks for sharing.

Wendy said...

This is amazing work- I love it!

Sonya said...

Awesome wreath. Thanks so much for the inspiration! It never occured to me to use acrylic packaging this way. Wow.

Unknown said...

ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!
Thank you for sharing

Anonymous said...

That really came out nice.....I love it. I think it would be a nice decoration to hang on your front door for the Thanksgiving.

MJT

jjindp said...

Great project, so pretty!

RuthAnn W said...

Gorgeous, Gorgeous project. Who knew there were so many ways to use product packaging. I'm going through my trash right now to see if there is any of this plastic for the leaves. I have to make this wreath. What talent you have and such an inspiration to all of us crafters! TFS

365 Dresses said...

This is one of the most beautiful decorations I've ever seen. Absolutely gorgeous. And you recycled as well!

Creative Tara said...

beautiful project, I love all the textures here!

Lisa Brown said...

Absolutely Gorgeous!

Conniecrafter said...

Oh my just Gorgeous, what a great way to recycle and look amazing at the same time!!

Anonymous said...

The wreath is beautiful, looks like you spent a lot of time on it...BEAUTIFUL!

Dana B said...

oh wow. great use of the packaging!!! and yes indeed it looks like a centerpiece. I didn't even think wreath when I first saw the pic. excellent!

Angie Hall Haviland said...

I know I told you on FB that this is STUNNING!!! But I'm back and looking again :)Just love it, Linda...wishing I'd had gotten that die now!!

Karen in Canton, MI said...

What a gorgeious wreath! The leaves are so realistic, and I love that they are recycled packaging. I've been checking your blog since you became a member of Tim's design team, and I love your style!

Joanne said...

How ingenious. What a beautiful effect. Thanks for the tips, I shall be trying this out today.
Luv Joanne xx

Helen said...

so amazing!! the result is fabulous!!!!

Steph Ackerman said...

Wow this is lovely.

Dominike said...

c'est tout simplement magnifique ! That's simply Wonderfull !

Lynn Stevens said...

Holy macaroni!!! Those leaves are FABULOUS!!!!!

Ger said...

Beautiful technique. These leaves are gorgeous, going to have a go today! Kept the packaging from Tattered Florals which arrived a few days ago, now I know why I kept it LOL!!

Ger x.

Unknown said...

This looks like so much fun to make! I was going to work on Christmas cards today, but I may play with making one of these instead! I knew that saving all that Cuttlebug & Ideology packaging was going to come in handy!

Ger said...

I'm back to say, I've had a go and it was such fun, even if I was rushing for a challenge deadline! Thanks again, and thankyou for the lovely comments on my blog.

Ger .

Unknown said...

~Wow!~ this is gorgeous x Leigh x

Sandy said...

This is one of the most beautiful hand created home decoration that I have had the pleasure to view.
You are truly talented.
Thanks so much for sharing.
Sandy

Tumble Fish Studio said...

I don't know that I've ever seen 133 comments on one blog post before so that should tell you that this is STUNNING! See? I am so appropriate in saying that you a Goddess and my idol! STUNNING!

Dawn said...

Linda-
I want to say that I was so inspired by this centerpiece that I went shopping & crafting! I spent a Sunday with my 9-year-old-Tim-Holtz-fan and we created leaves, made memories, oh yeah, and this most awesome banner!. take a look for yourself, and thanks so much for the inspiration!
You Rock!
http://www.craft-zoo.blogspot.com/

sandysewin said...

I love this and really, really want to try it. Great idea!

Diana said...

i had taken this idea from you and applied it to a beautiful butterfly i am making for one of my current projects. thank you very much for sharing your talent with us!

PATRICIA said...

WONDERFUL ... NO WORDS

Art By Wanda said...

I do love this piece!!!!! Exciting to see it featured again on Tim's blog along with his dt farewell :-(

Chelsea Johnson said...

This is genius!!! I couldn't wait to give it a try right after you posted. I don't have Tim's leaf die (on my wish list!!) so I tried it with a smaller leaf die I had. Then I forgot to mark the veins. Ugh! But even with that, the leaves I tried came out super. Thank you again and again for sharing this inspiration.

Juut said...

Those colors are so beautiful!

Scrapbookdoll said...

very beautiful colors....
marie-anne

slbt17 said...

Love it!
Sandra

Mickie said...

No one can love fall leaves more than I do. Gonna have to try this project!

Shirley Fread said...

You've done an excellent job on Tim Holtz's Design Team! Wish you lots of luck in the future with whatever you do!

Teepee said...

Linda - thank you for the step-by-step approach to your wreath. It is beautiful and I want to try to make one for myself. (If it turns out ok, I will then make one for my sister-in-law who loves wreaths.

Johanna said...

that is soooooo coooool. i love it. how big is the hole think?
johanna

jan metcalf said...

Stunning use of the leaves!! Love your ideas and appreciate you sharing with us bloggers!

LOLena said...

Love your blog header...gorgeous and your leaves are perfect for this time of year. Thanks for sharing your crafty talents with us Tim Holtz fans. Now I know what to do with all the packaging I've been saving! Happy Holidays.

Mimi2six said...

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! I love this piece of art, you are so creative. I am in the process of undoing my packages and making leaves, thanks for the idea. Great piece!

Gretz said...

WOW this is gorgeous!

Hanni said...

I just discovered your blog and I have to say it is fantastic.

Karen said...

This simply gorgeous!!! Just found your blog and love your creations!