Leaf Print Card

The leaves are falling and now is the time to collect some leaves for crafting purposes. I decided to experiment with leaves after all they are free. First I attached leaves to an acrylic block and tried stamping using an ink pad. Didn't really work out. (Later I'll try paint) Then I decided to tap the ink pad on the leaves and then placing the leaf ink side down and running a rubber brayer on the leaf. I tried with different types of ink pads and decided that I liked the dye ink the best with Stazon Rusty Brown ink running a close second.

Here is the card I made using my practice leaf print. It isn't perfect but I like it. (Click to enlarge)

I used Tim Holtz tea dye distress ink. Because there was other inks on the leaf from play it picked up the color of some of those. One advantage of using dye inks is it dries fast so you don't have to worry about the ink smearing if you decide to rub blending chalks over your image like I did here. The side pieces are made using a wax food handler square which I painted with metallic watercolor straight from the tube.

Another idea for using leaves is to arrange them on your scanner and scan them for a digital image. If you have a cutter that allows you to do print and cut this would be a great way to get the look of leaves without using the actual leaf.

You can arrange leaves on your card stock. Stick them down with masking tape made into a loop. Spray with glimmer mist or a color spray. You will end up with a wonderful outline of your leaves.

I can't wait to try my metallic watercolor paint with leaves as well as acrylic paint to make prints. I also want to play with using leaves with embossing enamel to make prints and some other things.

How do you use leaves in your crafting? I would love to know.

Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again.