Distress Ink Leaves (AKA Pre-Election Therapy)

{here}

So there are two issues looming large in my brain:
#1     It is 4:10 p.m. and already getting dark
#2     Full-on pre-election panic.   I do not want to move to Canada where it's even colder and darker. But as Texas Daughter reminds me, we would be a shoo-in given The Captain's genealogy research.   Our people in Quebec should welcome us with open arms, right?

What to do in the meantime but make something.    I saw these fall leaves done by Tim Holtz .   I'm not great at following directions, so I made a few changes.

He made a custom ink pad out of fall Distress Ink colors - too much for my frazzled brain, so I just swiped ink onto a craft mat, then spritzed with water.  I used these colors:

Then I laid a piece of white yardstick down onto the inked craft mat.   Don't swipe the paper through the ink or you'll get mud - just lay the paper down and then lift it off with no smearing.  I gave the papers a quick blast with the heat gun to dry the ink.

I did follow Tim's technique of splattering with some diluted gold Distress paint.   I love the fan brush for this technique - better paint dispersal learned the hard way, so now I wear an apron when using it!

Added some more interest by stamping an old script alphabet stamp randomly over the paper before cutting out the leaves.

I cut out leaf shapes with this Sizzix die.

Some areas didn't get enough color, so I used the same ink colors and blended on some more with the blending tool.

I have a plan for these lovelies, but right now am just basking in their colors and forgetting for a moment the craziness swirling around us.