Monday, September 14, 2015

Apples






Hi, Friends.....

What to do......what to do.  I had three challenges I wanted to combine:

Then I hit on an idea.....  

Each year a local farm family, who are also honey producers, host an apple cider pressing party for the community in their honey house.  Everyone brings plastic jugs and whatever apples they have from their own trees or from the "wild" ones that grow around here.  We, ladies, primarily wash and trim and the guys mostly man the cider press. By the end of the day, each family has a few gallons of fresh-pressed cider to take home.  Oh, YUM!!!  

Hey, I could make a masculine apple-themed card to thank this family after the party in October!  [Please don't tell your folks, Christy!  :)]


For masculine cards, I like to use lots of texture.  Burlap and dry embossing are good ways to add some yumminess without a lot of frou frou.  One of my favorite things to do with dry embossing is to wipe an inked dauber over the raised portions to give them more definition.  For this card, I dry embossed some DCWV scraps with the Checkered and the Interlock Circles Folders from Darice.  Then I inked over them with Distress Ink in Rusty Hinge and Walnut Stain.  The burlap is a scrap from my DCWV Burlap Paper Stack.

Do you like my apple????  It started as a very large punched circle of this scrap of DCWV apple paper for the sketch.  Then I got the bright idea.....could I (who is utterly challenged at doing anything free-hand!) cut this circle into a shape that would be recognizable by anyone as an apple????  I gave it my best shot....and am quite pleased (even amazed!) with the result. (The stem and leaf help....)   I think myself extremely clever using an apple for the circle in the sketch!!!  Ha.  

I wanted to make my apple stand out without too much fanciness, so I applied some Glossy Accents to a few of the little apples in the patterned paper.  The leaf is from K&Co. scraps cut with my
Sizzix Originals - Build a Lilac Die set.  The stem is some twine that I dyed with Distress Ink in Crushed Olive and Walnut Stain.


I contoured the apple with dimensional foam squares (two on top of each other for double the height) down the center of the apple and then glued down the outer edges.  You might be able to see a bit of the "puffiness" in the photo above.

I used some Colorbok Alpha Letters to spell out APPLES.  The green color of the letters and leaf did not match the apples in the patterned paper too well, so I sponged Crushed Olive DI over the die cuts.  I like this much better.  Ink covers a multitude of shade differences!!  :)


I mounted it all on a kraft card base.  Kraft is also a great thing to use for masculine cards, as are any of the earthy tones.

That's all for tonight.  Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers.  Also, thank you for all your wonderful comments.

<3
Janis 

Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1.  Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #125 

2.  The Male Room Challenge #18 - Fruit
3.  Unstampabelles Challenge #50 - Boyz Will Be Boyz
4.  HIMCR #216 Super Scraps Saturday
5.  Pixie's Snippets Playground Week #194 - Use Snippets
6.  Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Love this Technique (Inking over dry embossing.)

7.  The Kraft Journal Challenge #241 - Take Your Pick (I chose patterned paper, embossing, and die cut.)

15 comments:

  1. Loving this textural and snippety card!

    Hugs, Sarn xxx

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  2. Oooer, this is fab Janis - and I love the story behind why you made it, what fun. Stunner of an apple you made!

    Hugs

    Di xx

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  3. Love it! Great texture and distressing... thanks for playing along at Atlantic Hearts!

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  4. Great card, wonderful textures. Thank you for joining us this week at HIMCR.

    Sue - HIMCR DT
    http://suek86401.blogspot.com/

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  5. I agree - texture is good for male cards too. Love this one - your apple really sings in its garden. Thanks for sharing with us at Unstampabelles again for our current challenge.

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  6. What a wonderful card! Thank you for playing along at the Kraft Journal challenge. I just love the Take Your Pick Challenges because we get such a wide variety of styles and uses. Thanks for sharing your creativity!

    Babette
    Kraft Outlet

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  7. HA! Very clever indeed miss creative!! You rocked that apple!! I love all the textures you achieved too! Wonderful card!
    We have a similar thing at our local apple orchard. Fresh cider is delish!!
    xxDaniella

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  8. Very cute! Love the glossy accents on the apples, great job Janis!
    I will continue to pray for your health to improve! {{{HUGS}}}

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  9. I think this is great. Love all the texture, the papers - super take on the challenge. Thanks so much for playing along with our Fruit challenge at The Male Room, sorry to be so late commenting!!

    Hope your cider is good xx

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  10. Janis, that hand-cut apple is so darn realistic that I almost broke a tooth trying to bite into it through my computer monitor! The leaf and twine stem are the perfect additions, adding color AND texture. The mix of burlap and two different embossed designs really work well together and hooray for you for inking the alphas to coordinate with your patterned paper.

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  11. Beautiful card!! The hand cut apple is perfect!! The glossy accents on the small apples is very nice!! Thanks for sharing with us at the Unstampabelles! Hope to see you again.
    -Berina
    Moxie Craftie
    Unstampabelles DT

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  12. Great job! Thank you for joining us at Atlantic Hearts Sketch this week!!!! It's so awesome you were able to blend a couple of challenges together. I love the fall theme!!!,

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  13. I love the apple - and it fits perfectly with the theme, as does the burlap. Thanks for sharing your story and your project with us at Atlantic Hearts!

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  14. Super cute card, I love the burlap, adds great texture! Thanks for playing along with AHSC!

    Brandi R.
    AHSC Design Team
    crzy4scrapbooking.blogspot.ca

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  15. Fun card! Love the textures and glossy accents! Thanks for playing along with AHSC!

    Linda N
    AHSC Design Team
    www.scrappytherapy.com

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THANK YOU so much for taking the time to leave a comment. Your kind words encourage me so very much!!!

Have a lovely day!
<3
Janis