Autumn Treasures! by Jen McMurtrey

Autumn Treasures! by Jen McMurtrey

There is no shame in my game when it comes to my love of all things fall. While most are enjoying the summer with its sunshine and heat, I am counting down the days until I can bust out my sweaters and boots and drink hot tea or coffee while reading a good book. Despite it being over 100 degrees where I live, I am fully embracing the new Simple Stories Simple Vintage Country Harvest Collection to document my favorite autumn memories.

               

                  

For this project, I chose to recreate a fall wreath using the Bits & Pieces and Harvest Bits die cuts. There are so many beautiful embellishments to choose from and I wanted to showcase them on the layout.

                 

                    

To begin, I paired the Harvest Leaves Stencil with molding paste that I colored with gold and magenta pigment powders. After coloring the molding paste, I used a palette knife to spread it over the stencil blending the colors as I went. Once done, I set them aside to dry (in this case, overnight).

I fussy cut the largest of the leaf shapes thinking that would be all I’d use. However, I ended up cutting more of the smaller leaves to add variety to the wreath. Also, I had time while I was waiting on the plumber to fix some things in the kitchen. Win-win!

                 

              

For the base of the project, I cut ¼-inch strips from each side of a piece of Color Vibe – Warm White paper before adhering it to a plaid patterned paper. To add texture, I distressed and folded up the edges of the paper. I backed my photo with more patterned paper with distressed edges and placed it on the background.

               

                   

To create the wreath, I began by selecting several of my favorite floral and leaf die cuts. To keep the wreath in a circle, I traced around a plate with pencil to create a guide. Next, I placed die cuts around the hand-drawn circle making adjustments until I was happy with how they looked. Once satisfied, I adhered each of the pieces with foam squares.

After placing the die cuts, I then added the leaves I created with the stencil and molding paste. I really love how these turned out, and they complement the florals perfectly.

                      

                   

For the journaling, I typed and printed a quote along with the place where I took the photo and the date. After cutting each line into strips, I adhered them using an ATG gun. The area around the journaling felt too plain, so I added a few die cut hearts to add some color.

                        

                  

The title was next, which I created using sentiments pulled from the foam stickers. To complete the project, I added several enamel dots and decorative brads on and around the wreath. 

Here’s one more look at the finished project.

                     

                       

I don’t know about you, but the Simple Vintage Country Harvest Collection has me super excited for the arrival of fall, and I can’t wait to document more of my autumn memories.

Thank you so much for stopping by today!

Jen

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1 comment

  • Maggie MilleR: August 05, 2021

    Great layouts. I love the paper and how you showcased it!

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