signs of autumn

hi there, folks!  i'm back today to share a home decor project that i made for the Crate Paper Creative Weekly series.  this month the focus was on signs and we were encouraged to take an autumn route with them.  my project is based on the signs that you see, say in a busy town or city square, where you can go in all kinds of directions and there are points of interest all around you.

{custom city sign by ShorelyChic}

  

instead of points of interest, however, i took a quote about autumn and broke it down to look like a city sign.  "autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower."  pretty, isn't it?  and so true.  autumn leaves are gorgeous and a true sign of fall.  

i wanted an aged look for my picture so i distressed the edges and crumpled them a little.  i kept my sewing thread ends visible and then took a nail file and sanded down the front of the paper.  you can see some white spots that came through from doing that.

i used Acorn Avenue for this project since it's CP's fall collection.  the colors and embellishments worked perfectly for this.  i love those chipboard leaves!

the paper i used is Cashew Shop and the pattern of the oak chipboard leaf is actually the backside pattern of that.  i added a few vintage buttons, some lace, and all that hand-stitching for some finishing touches.  i've seen so many people lately machine stitching over chipboard so i thought i would give it a try, too.  i'm not sure if it would be easier to machine stitch it--i'm sure that presents problems of it's own--but i was nervous to try this because i didn't think my piercing tool could handle it.  it was slow-going but it did work and i'm glad i gave it a shot!

lastly, i wasn't sure when i started whether this would be a card or what--i just knew i wanted it to be bigger than the typical size card i make which is 4.25" x 5.5."  this piece was just over 5" x 7" and if i made it into a card, i wasn't too sure who to give it to.  in the end, i tried it out on--yes, ON, not IN--some different frames and liked the way it looked with this wooden one.  i adhered it to the front of the frame, over the opening because it's slightly bigger than the opening.  i ended up keeping it like this and set it out for display.  it just may be a piece i save and take out every autumn. 

thanks for sharing my fall decor project with me!  have a great weekend!