Imitating Fall Splendor

For the month of November the Art Glitter Design Team is working with Tombow products and I wanted to share a project I created with both these products. I was fortunate to receive a set of Tombow markers with my favorite color range - earth tones! The theme I chose to create my project around is Fall. It's been so beautiful here in Michigan this year. The colors are so bright and vibrant - they just pop and really make you take notice, especially when the sun shines. I just wanted to imitate those colors and bring that fresh, colorful feeling into my home. I started with a 10-inch-by-10-inch primed canvas. To add a background color I scribbled Tombow Markers no. 969, 837, N57 and N35 onto the canvas then spritzed with plain water. I held the canvas up and twisted and turned it to control where the colors ran and how. Then I spritzed it with a homemade mix of Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls and water to add a golden Fall shimmer.
The Tombow markers are water base so they'll react nicely with the water. When you achieve the look you like turn a heat gun on the canvas to stop the reacting.
I needed Fall leaves so die cut them in a variety of colors, dry embossed, inked the edges and coated them in Clear Rock Candy Crackle Paint and left them to dry for several hours. They crinkle and curl and actually look like a bunch of fallen leaves when done!
I wanted to use a tag on the canvas so I used the same Tombow markers to color a Fred Mullet leaf stamp. Then I spritzed the stamp with plain water till I could see little color beads on the rubber then stamped onto the tag. I love the look this makes. It's creates a watercolor effect and the colors are very vibrant. I heat set the tag then spritzed it lightly with the homemade shimmer mix to add a touch of shimmer to the tag. I distressed the edges of the tag and ran the Tombow markers around the edges, mixing the colors and making sure to set some color in the cracks and tears. Then I held the tag over the non-stick craft sheet and spritzed just the edges with water. This makes the colors run and absorb into the tag edges to create a wonderful distressed look.
I wanted to add some glitter to the tag as well but didn't want a straight solid line. After checking my tools I decided to try a stipple brush. I squeezed some Tombow MONO Liquid Glue onto my craft sheet using its Broad Tip, dipped my stipple brush into it then stippled the craft sheet till I was left with just a light coating of the glue on my stipple brush. Then, I stippled around the edges of the tag, sprinkled on the glitter and used a clean brush to brush most of it off. It turned out great - just a thin coating of the glitter was left on the tag.I added a brad charm to the top, some Filmstrip Ribbon with staples and tied some pretty ribbons around the tag and added some decorative pins to the knot.
For the title I used die-cut chipboard letters and coated them in the same glitter used throughout the project, Art Glitter Gingerbread No. 243. It's the perfect color for Fall, with its mix of golds and reds. It blended it perfectly with the Tombow markers used for this project. After coating the chipboard letter in glitter I glued them in place on the canvas using the Tombow MONO Liquid Glue. This glue has duo tips, which came in handy. I used the Pen Tip to glue the letters to the canvas so I wouldn't get too much glue on the letters. This prevents it from squishing out from under and making a mess. I also used the Pen Tip on the glue to adhere all the leaves and acorns to the canvas. I put just a tad bit of glue on the high point of the leaf, spread it a bit with the glue tip and pressed the leaves and acorns in place, one at a time. By adding the glue only to the high points it allows the curled leaves to remain curled and add dimension to the project.
I also added a few leaves and an acorn to the corner of the tag and a metal corner tip to one corner of the canvas.
The tag is glued on last and I used just a squiggle of the Tombow glue down the center back of the tag and pressed it in place. By using the glue only in the center the edges retain their slightly curled dimension. A variety of the techniques I used on this project are ones I've done before, but, the stippling of the glue to add a light, random coat of glitter was a new one for me. Have you stippled glue before to add glitter?

Thanks for letting me share!
Linda