Forever Autumn: An Art Journal Page

The challenge over on the That's crafty Challenge Blog this month is 'Forever Autumn'.  I decided to play with layers of stamping and also wanted to see how heat embossing over Distress Oxides would look.

I started by stamping into my Strathmore Visual Journal using different stamps from the Stamper's Anonymous Leaf Prints set, in different colours of Distress Oxides.  Sometimes I spritzed the colours and dried them between layers and sometimes I stamped directly over the top of the previous layers.

Barn Door Oxide

Wild Honey Oxide

Aged Mahogany Oxide

Tea Dye Oxide

Spiced Marmalade Oxide

Having misted the stamping with water and dried thoroughly, I stamped one of the large silhouette stamps from the Into the Woods set by Visible Image along the bottom.  I used Sepia Versafine ink and heat embossed in clear embossing powder.

I didn't feel that the stamping stood out enough, so repeated the process using Onyx Black Versafine ink, deliberately offsetting the image.

Next I added some of the word boxes from the same stamp set, again using Onyx Black and heat embossing in clear EP, to create two phrases.

I used a water brush to blend out the Distress Oxide backgrounds within each text box to help the words stand out.

I also decided to use a black Posca pen to emphasize the black stamping at the bottom of the page.

Two of the sentiments from the Small Talk Occasions sticker book (Tim Holtz idea-ology) completed the page.

I think the four phrases work well together.  What do you think?