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Aug 11, 2018

Tim Holtz Farmhouse Card with DIY Cotton Stems


Farmhouse style is all the rage right now and I've been wanting to design some cards along that theme/color palette for some time.  I was experimenting with the new Tim Holtz 3D Lumber Texture Fade and achieved that perfectly chipped paint look, so I built built a little "farmhouse style" card around it, complete with a DIY cotton stem!  :)


For the background, first I embossed a piece of watercolor paper.  I spritzed my paper lightly to help it mold in the embossing folder.  I scraped DecoArt Crackle Paste all over the embossed panel and let it air dry.  Then I went back over the panel with Distress Crayons in Gathered Twigs and Iced Spruce.  I wasn't very pleased with the result, so I scraped off some of the crackle and then gave it a wash of Distress Ink in Vintage Photo.


I spent some time coloring a few images from Tim's Illustrated Garden stamp set and left the flowers of this one white and colored the background with Frayed Burlap.  I used Vintage Photo and Peeled Paint all with a Water Brush.  I sponged a couple of sprigs from the Funky Florals 3 die set.


Again with the Shadow Script #3 set, this time three layers!  :)


Now onto those tiny little cotton stems!  I'm bursting with joy over them!  I die cut small flowers from the FF#3 set using kraft paper.  I inked the kraft paper with a bath of Walnut Stain Distress Ink, then scrunched the petals up while they were still wet.  I had purchased a package of small cotton balls from the Dollar Tree.  I pulled away a tiny section of cotton and balled it up, then glued in each of the stems.  I was inspired by THIS pin, but wanted to make tiny stems that would work well with cards.  If you'd like to see more of my Dollar Store craft ideas, please click HERE.




This card is very special to me, because it reminds me of my Grandmother.  She was one of 13 children and grew up picking cotton.  She was the most amazing woman and lived through many trials, including the Great Depression.  She worked hard all of her life to provide for our family and instilled so many wonderful ethics in her children and grandchildren.  Most of all, she was passionate about her faith in Christ and reminded me all of my life that I had been given to God as a child and belonged to Him, what a comfort!


I hope you're inspired by this sweet idea and will give it a try on your own.  Have a blessed day, Autumn

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36 comments:

  1. Adorable and lovely card. Love the total effect of crackle, the cotton bursting out, vintage colours..... perfect farm style. I just love it. I always admire your works and you have a very unique style. Love the way you bring out even the simple elements together. I follow your works in your blog and you do great job. Keep inspiring!!!

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  2. What an amazing card Autumn - love the wonderful texture on both the background and the cotton stem. What a wonderful heritage your grandmother gave you. I recognise the song those words come from :)
    Blessings
    Maxine

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  3. Oh Autumn, I LOVE this beautiful farmhouse style card complete with diy cotton bolls! I've made a wreath for my bedroom with homemade cotton stems, but never thought to use them on a card! You're a genius! You know I'm going to have to CASE this idea soon...

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  4. What a wonderful background...It looks justice a chippy painted surface!

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  5. This is wonderful Autumn .. all of your ideas come to life so well ... love the DIY cotton, it's alway fun to make your own epherma ... this having such a sweet memory with it makes it so much better

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  6. Really wonderful card Autumn. Those cotton stems are brilliant!! Fab background and triple script too. Enjoy your weekend. Nicola x

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  7. WOW, Autumn, I love the effect you achieved - can't wait to get this embossing folder!!

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  8. This is gorgeous Autumn, I love the background, and the cotton stems are perfect! Have a wonderful weekend, Sue xx

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  9. WOW!!! Autum, this is amazing! I love love love that wood texture. Look so real.

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  10. Oh my goodness, amazing!! I don't know which is my favorite - the background or the cotton!! I absolutely love them both!! I have that texture fade and I can't wait to try this technique out!! And now I'll be on the lookout for small cotton balls, too!! This is spectacular, my friend!! Wow!! Have a great weekend!! Big hugs :)

    Lisa
    A Mermaid's Crafts

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  11. Autumn your card is amazing! I love all the textures on your card and you are so very clever to have come up with the idea of making the cotton balls!! Love your card!!

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  12. Scraping off the crackle was such a clever idea, it worked beautifully, you really achieved a fantastic result! And those cotton balls, oh my, they are incredible Autumn, you are so clever creating them!! Hugs, Anne xx

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  13. An inspirational card in the farmhouse style. It really appeals to me with it's rustic charm achieved by the weather beaten boards and the hessian. Fabulous work achieving the little cotton buds and a wonderful tribute to your Grandmother.

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  14. This is simply amazing Autumn! Loving the crackle background, such a fun effect! Thank you for the wonderful inspiration!

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  15. I adore that background - it's so realistic! And the little cotton buds are genius!

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  16. Scrapping away at the crackle really has given a fabulous effect, it's so realistic Autumn. I love your Farmhouse style card, the layering of the wording looks so tactile.
    Those cotton stems are a work of genius, I can imagine your Grandmother being in your thoughts whilst sculpting each one.
    Beautiful card art, Thank you so much for sharing.
    Sunday Hugs & Blessings Tracey xx

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  17. This is gorgeous Autumn!! Love the earthy tones and texture .. the crackle looks amazing!! And those cute little cotton balls are incredible .. so clever!! This is spectacular!! Have a great day!! xx

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  18. My friend, I don't know what I love best about this card because I love everything! Your crackling is so realistic and beautiful. I love the 3 layers for your shadow words, especially the burlap! Those cotton balls are about the cutest thing I've seen, oh my gosh! I love your flowers and bow as well, of course! This card is amazing, Autumn!! Hugs :-)

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  19. Scraping some of the crackle off took this to the next level! Oh and your cotton buds, LOVE!!!! Gorgeous card Autumn! xo xo

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  20. Just WOW stunning Farmhouse style card love the distressed peeled paint effect and the little cotton buds brilliant
    carol x

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  21. So AWESOME, Autumn!!!!! Love that chippy background and the cotton is amazing! What a beauty! ♥️

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  22. Autumn, this card is beautiful! I love how you’ve made the cotton flowers and that clapboard background is amazing! Love everything about it!!!

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  23. Jaw dropping techniques from top to bottom on this fabulous card, Autumn! That chippie paint is incredible and I'll just throw this in: #2greatminds. Was playing with the same look on my Impresslits this weekend using those same products! Ha! Ha!

    Your watercolor florals are amazingly lovely. When I first opened your blog, they caught my eye, and I thought how in the world did she get that bright white on them? Duh!

    Those cotton balls are so freaking realistic--you NAILED them! How terribly sweet this entire card is, and it really speaks to me! Big hugs!

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  24. Wonderful inspiration Autumn. I have so enjoyed reading your post and learnt lots. The peeled paint and cracked paint effect looks fabulous and great you kept going and made it look so real. The cotton balls are adorable and what great memories for you x. Love the way you did the layering of the sentiment too. One special card...Thank you x

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  25. Gorgeous card and love that crackle

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  26. Hi Autumn, lovely card. Gorgeous texture and loving the detail too. Happy creative week, Angela xXx

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  27. This is amazing Autumn! My daughter recently remodeled her downstairs in farmhouse decor and this would make a great decor piece. Thanks for sharing this with us. Love everything about it.

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  28. Love the aged background you have created here Autumn x Smiply stunning and the embellishments really add to the details x Thank you for sharing

    Huge hugs Annie x

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  29. This is awesome Autumn!! I love the background, it looks like chipped paint. ❤️❤️❤️

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  30. How wonderful to be recognized for your incredible chippie background tutorial on Jan Hobbins blog! Hugs!

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  31. Autumn this is so awesome ( visiting you from Jan's blog) ; you girls are amazing!! Thank you for the inspiration :)

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  32. hi, i am simply loving your chippy look and was wondering, what is the base substrate? you mentioned putting down distress crackle paste and using distress crayons which then were scraped off. but no mention of the original brownish colour on which everything else is built.

    i have a village dwelling i am working on, only my second, and have gotten to the point of waiting on the distress crackle stuff! my building is embossed TH kraft glassine adhered to a more sturdy base.

    you cotton bolls are fabulous!

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    1. The base is simply kraft card. Best of luck!

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  33. just regular ol' kraft card? i wonder if the back side of tim holtz's kraft core would work.

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  34. well now i am more confused than ever! i am a total newbie at crafting so i am finding it a steep learning curve.

    above in your explanation you said you started with watercolor paper.

    then you scraped deco crackle paste on the embossed paper.

    yes?

    well right off the bat i see i made a mistake. i bought deco art one-step crackle stuff. LOL!

    i've spread it on some test pages i inked and then did some paint stuff on top of that.

    so i am thinking i need to start completely over.

    practice makes perfect, right?

    so buy kraft paper like 110lb or use my heavyweight watercolour paper.

    then brush the paste right on that after it is embossed?

    then "a wash of Distress Ink in Vintage Photo."

    what does that mean?

    i hope i am not being too big of a pain. i spent the past 40 years as a pro photographer and decided i wanted to try something new, like mixed media.

    so here i am, trying to learn by reading such excellent blogs as yours.

    thanks for any help you can provide!

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    1. I am sorry for the confusion. Usually I do use kraft card, yes just heavy weight kraft paper cardstock. But I’m this case I reread and did use watercolor paper. The crackle is a paste like icing for a cake and it cracks as it dries. When it was dry I gave it a wash of watered brown ink. That set into the open spaces (making me think it was kraft paper). I hope that helps and wish you luck with your mixed media journey!

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