The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge #25; Lovely Leaves... Thanksgiving Thoughts

  I'm typing this as we wait on noontime to get here so we can head out to Iowa for the first leg of our trip up to Red Wing, to visit the younger set of kids and meet our new Grandbaby, James Elliot! I'm all packed and burned the midnight oil just to get this tag done and out before the deadline on Tuesday. So if you've nothing else to do until then... head over to The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog for the guidelines and some awesome makes for inspiration! 
    I hope everyone had a safe and happy Thanksgiving Day, and that we all found at least one thing to be thankful for. We are definitely blessed that when we woke up this morning; it was as if we were given a 2nd chance- AGAIN. Pass along a smile or a kind word, and allow that to help heal the divisions among us. Let's at least agree that we can disagree on our views of the world around us, but make room in our hearts to care about the PEOPLE around us! And that's where my "Lovely Leaves" came in... those thoughts of true thankfulness come when we can be content- no matter what our circumstances. I believe there is a full world of folks out there who are still searching for 'happiness' without realizing it's not a SOMETHING to be had. Happiness is a destination. We find ourselves finally getting there long after we stopped looking for it. It's what we DO along the way - putting others first- that brings us closer to any kind of 'happy' in this worldly life. It's the simple things that become big in our life: the sweetness of a small child's hug... the giggles from an almost-8-month old baby girl... the tender moments of being able to view shared photos of a sweet sleeping newborn... knowing your kids are all making their way in this world, and they're doing a pretty darned good job of it, too! Encouraging others, and being encouraged; there's no matching that kind of 'happiness'!
          I set out to make a simple tag that showed what was left off the last Tag; a bit of color. But, without the 'grunge' effect I usually favor. This time, I wanted to go more toward grey and blue than my usual browns and tans. Instead of shading in the colors with darker lines, I decided to opt for 'white wash'... without the washing. Some sanding did the trick.
              
                                So here's a bit on how I did this Tag- without all the usual photos.

Starting with the same choice of papers used on the last project 

(Click Here if you missed it.)

And I gathered up some of the leaves that are fallen from our next door neighbor's 

Sycamore Tree. The Sycamore is Indiana's State Tree and the leaves are extremely huge.

I first set them on the 'air intake’ side of the de-humidifier.

It helped to dry the leaves out really fast during the recent wet weather.

From there, the idea of bottling these crumbled leaves as a momento from

the Summer green leaves of 2019 that changed with the season, and finally came down.

(The Leaf War was a hard fought Win-Lose-Win-and finally-LOST situation in the last weeks.)

Let's just get the snow on them and be done with it, already.

Here's what resulted:

FRONT

The worded/typographied background was made from collaging some 

TH Layered Collection ephemera cards 

(After sanding the edges and inking with Distress Oxide Iced Spruce.)

Using a few popdots helped add a bit of dimension.

The TH Baseboard Frame was edged in TH Crayon Picket Fence.

BACKSIDE

The greyish-blue textured cardstock (The Paper Studio) embossed with the TH Lumber Impresslits Folder,

sanded down and spot-hit-&-miss with a bit of Regular Distress Ink in Pumice Stone made a great-looking weathered wood.

Some Distress Crayon in Pumice Stone helped out as well.

A perspective change of view shows the layering...

... while labeling the bottle with the year...like a good wine saved for later opening and enjoying.

The thankfulness of the 3 Grandbabies added to our family within the last 

2 & 1/2 years is shown inside the TH IdeaOlogy Charm. 

I took those photos at our own lake, after using my Cricut to put the names on the pumpkins.

These were my early Christmas shopping items!!!

I had fun getting to use the new TH Alterations Planks Die here.

I hope you enjoyed this read, and 

here's a huge shoutout of 

THANKS!!

to all those who are checking in to see my latest makes!!

Thanks!!! goes out also to 

The Funkie Junkie Boutique

for picking out my last Tag for their Top 3 Picks!!!

TFJB SPONSORS a random drawing prize for a Gift Certificate

for every Challenge! So...what're YOU waiting for?!

Until next time...

Please;

Be Safe &

HAPPY BLOGGING!!