Sunday 25 August 2013

Of soup, shoes and autumn leaves....

Hi everybody!
Today is a grey and rainy day, I think the gardens and fields all need rain badly, and for me a nice excuse to stay home, cook and play....

I painted two sheets of scrap paper recently with some left over colours, and decided to use the paper to make some autumn leaves. I cut them with my old sizzix die, which makes a gorgeous selection of  leaves.
Then I folded along where the veins should/could be and distressed the edges with chocolate brown and aged mahogany.


Detail, showing on the left my thumb and finger, distressed to match....
 

Then they got a quick coat of paper varnish - I got this stuff in a sale some months back for next to nothing, and it is good, and dries very quickly.

By the time the last one has been varnished, the first one is dry and ready for a brushed on coat of crackle accents.

While the crackle varnish was drying, I chopped celery root, potatoes, apples and onions to make a delicious celery and apple soup, which simmered in the pot while I finished off the leaves, by distressing them again to make the cracks show up. The two coats of varnish make the leaves feel rather leathery, and they are good to work with, and keep their form.



 Here you can see a sneak-peek of some of the leaves in action....


And this is a bowl made of glass with an iridescent glaze, which is called 'carnival glass'. In this piece, the moulded leaves and berries are on the back of the bowl....
 

And I have put my leaves into it till I use them.
 

And look who flew through the open window to stick her long nose into my bowl - autumn and Halloween are coming nearer!
 

And this is the soup, which was really delicious, and has given me a full belly while I sit here and type.


And last but not least, the shoes. Aren't they pretty? I was in 'town' this week at the thrift shop, and saw these shoes. They were new, never been used, and still in their box. And MY SIZE! So I asked the lady what they would cost. She said 5€. And then the other lady there told her that I had given a lot of good stuff to the shop, and that I could have them for 1€. So I took them and galloped hobbled off home as quickly as I could. They are really soft and comfortable, made of SILK, no less, and look great with my jeans, a nice contrast! And I am sure there will not be many people walking round with shoes like this. Okay, probably there aren't many people who would want to, but I love them.



That's all for today, take care, have fun and thanks a lot for coming by!

30 comments:

  1. Hallo liebe Valerie, Deine herbstliche Kreation mit den Crackle-Blättern sieht super aus! Gefällt mir sehr gut.
    Ich wünsche Dir noch einen schönen Sonntag.

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  2. What a wonderful post Val, showing your never ending creative ideas, your cooking - which I know from personal experience to be world-class, and those fantastic, new shoes - wish you well to wear them! Hugs, Sarah

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  3. Is it rude for me to start with the shoes?!!!!! If they ever need to beb re-homed and are size 4-5 then they have my name on them lol. Gorgeous and for so little money, wow. I need to go shopping with you.
    You fooled me with those leaves as I was sure you had gathered them during a walk. Beautiful richness.
    Wishes
    Lynne

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  4. Love love love the leaves, I may have to steal/borrow that idea =) they are beautiful. Great bowl to put them in.
    Great find at the thrift store =)
    xx Monique

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  5. Stunning leaves Valerie and love the crackle touch. The soup looks delicious too, I'm a big fan of homemade soup and always making it as well.
    Love the shoes, very pretty and an absolute bargain!
    Hugs, Fliss xx
    PS: I now have green fingers but you won't see why until tomorrow!

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    1. I assume it will not be from gardening? My thumbs are now vivid red....

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  6. Love the shoes--I think they will attract a lot of attention:)

    The soup looks delicious, you always make good stuff to eat.

    Now to the leaves which are stunning and the ideas you used to make them are terrific and sound quite easy so I will have to have a go at those.

    Hope you have had a good day

    Love Chrissie xx

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  7. If your had not said in the beginning that the leaves were made of paper, by the last photo, I would have thought they were real! You did an excellent job! Who would not want to wear those gorgeous embroidered & beaded shoes!

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  8. Also mit den Schuhen hast DU echt nen Fang gemacht.. die sehen fantastisch aus!
    Deine Suppe würde ich gerne mit Dir essen und die Blätter in der schönen Schale werden wohl nicht allzu lang unbenutzt sein, wie ich Dich kenne!
    schöne Fotos hast Du gemacht und super erklärt wie man diesen natürlichen Look der Blätter werkeln kann!

    Ich wünsche Dir schon mal einen guten Wochenstart für morgen..
    bei uns regnet es seit heute morgen ununterbrochen....
    soll erst kommenden FREITAG wieder besser werden...
    nun gut..mir auch recht!

    Basteln basteln basteln!

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    Replies
    1. Schlechtes Wetter hier auch, Dauerregen, Blitz und Donner den ganzen Tag!

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  9. You have a feast for us today Valerie. Your autumn leaves are so realistic and your bejewelled slippers are fabulous, I'm sure you'll be skipping along the street like a real twinkle toes when you're wearing them! Xx

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    1. Oooh, I just love the thought of me as Twinkletoes!

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  10. Since I have been following you - this post seems to have a different feel to it. Perhaps more here and now personal. Valerie the leaves look so realistic. The carnival bowl is wonderful and makes a perfect home for your Autumn leaves. A witch has come to visit a little early - you must be well liked in the bevy of witches and warlocks. I do love Halloween. And look at your wonderful slippers. They must indeed belong to you - your exact size and only a dollar? They appeared as if by magic? Your slippers remind me of Donna's Turkish slippers. Your soup not only looks good but sounds wonderful. A new week is upon us and Fall is in air.
    See you again soon,
    sandy

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  11. Those leaves have touched my heart! I LOVE them! So colorful. So BEAUTIFUL!

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  12. I LOVE your leaves and fantastic deal on those pretty shoes, what luck!

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  13. and your soup looks delicious!

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  14. Valerie, the crackle effect on the leaves makes them appear for realistic. What a fun project for fall and they look gorgeous in the pretty bowl with the witch standing guard.

    Hugs,
    C

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  15. Wow die Blätter sehen so echt aus- genial!!!!
    Die Schuhe sind fraumhaft schön - man muss auch mal Glück haben :-) Hier istes sonnig und noch schoen warm aber ich mag trotzdem sehr gern Suppe und Kürbissuppe ist eine meiner liebsten um diese Zeit.

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    Replies
    1. Oh ja, Kürbissuppe ist auf meiner Liste auch!

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  16. Those leaves look wonderful. You're right Halloween will be here before you know it.. And what a deal you made on those shoes, I love them.. Happy Monday my friend.

    Hugs~

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  17. Fabulous leaves, they look so real and are perfect in the beautiful fall dish too! Gorgeous shoes and what a deal indeed! You really struck a fabulous bargain on them! Now you should go out on the town dancing in them! And you know you are teasing me with that soup, it looks soooooo delicious, I can almost smell it! ~Diane

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  18. Love your leaves Valerie, they look fab on display. What a bargain for your shoes! x

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  19. Good Grief! You had a busy and productive day. The leaves are absolutely exquisite and look so lovely in the bowl. I'm coming over for some soup - and if those shoes were my size, they would disappear from your flat in a flash! How gorgeous can you get and what a buy! Enjoy - they will look beautiful where ever you wear them. I'll bet you can't stop looking at them. hugs, Donna

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  20. Gorgeous leaves and so is the carnival glass bowl. The shoes are very pretty too! Shirleyx

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  21. I'm not sure which is the most delicious the leaves the shoes or the soup :)
    Von ♥

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  22. I love your leaves Valerie, especially with the varnish on, and the soup looks delicious - what a multi tasker you are! Fab shoes, and silk too you posh paws :-) xx

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  23. Very impressive. I see on this post the closeup photos of the result of using the crackle stuff. I think I still have some. Thanks for the great preview and ideas.

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  24. Gorgeous leaves! And woohoo on the shoes - what a find!

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