Finally Fall

Yes it is finally fall.  The time of year I usually look forward to here in Northern California so that we get a break from the intense heat.  The funny thing is that we are just now starting to feel summer.  This summer was unseasonably cool, although we had a few scorchers it was nothing like we are used to.  So now that fall is officially here and has brought the 100 degree weather with it, it is time for a little inspiration to cool you down.  This week at Inktegrity we are being challenged to use our favorite fall colors.  I used this fun Tire Swing image and turned it into a tree with changing colors.  I think fall is the perfect time for swinging.  The sketch was from Tuesday Morning Sketches, but I flipped it around.  I paper pieced for the first time and added lots of inking and some pop dots for dimension.  I printed the base on the blue and then as you can see I cut the leaf bunches where the dotted line is in the original stamp so that some of the green would show around the edges.  I also added some distressed Stickles for the rope and Crackle Accents for the Tire and a border from my Martha Stewart loop punch for the grass.  I love printing stamps on a colored background so I don't have to color it all in!

Here is a side view so you can see how the tree pops up

By the way all the paper is from a pack of recollections Autumn something or other paper that I got on clearance at Michael's last year when I was still working there.  The solid paper is American Crafts and the bling is from the Michael's dollar spots.