The warm rich colors of fall lend themselves so beautifully to these great pieces. What represents fall more then pumpkins!

Surface
03-1167 Stoneware Small Tall Pumpkin
27-2061 9-1/2" Wood Plate

Delta Ceramcoat Acrylics
www.deltacrafts.com

Delta/Rubber Stampede Wood Stamps
Winter Woods A2430F
Small Maple Leaf A2495E
Small wedge sponges

Brushes
Royal and Langnickle
www.royalbrush.com
Aqualon
Series 2585 #1 liner
Series 2550 #8 shader
Series 700 wash/glaze 1"
Series 1460 #5 Stippler for dry brushing

Miscellaneous Supplies
Water container
Tracing paper
Palette paper
Scissors
Stylus
Transparent tape

Preparation for the Plate
* Sand and then use a tack cloth to remove the dust.
* Apply one even coat of All-Purpose Sealer to the entire piece. Allow to dry thoroughly.
* Sand with fine grit sandpaper (250-300 grit). Wipe with the tack cloth again.
* There is no preparation needed on the pumpkin just pick it up and start to paint.

Background Instructions
Plate
* Basecoat the center of the plate in Dark Chocolate using the 1" wash/glaze brush.
* Basecoat the outside rim of the plate in Cayenne using the same brush.
* Basecoat the bead of the plate in a mix of 3 parts Pine Green and 1 part Medium Foliage Green using the #1 liner.

* Tip: To Basecoat is total opaque coverage means solid you can not see through it. Two thin coats are preferable to one heavy coat. A good tip is to load the brush, never more then halfway up the bristles. Start in the center of the area to be painted and push the paint out to the pattern line. This technique will leave no ridges on the edge of your painted area.

Pumpkin
* Basecoat the stem and the leaf on the pumpkin in Medium Foliage Green using the #8 shader.

Stamping Instructions Plate
* Using the flat end of the wedge sponge lightly pat into the Brown Velvet. Pat the excess color off of the sponge in a light patting motion on the palette. Tip: to much color on your sponge will fill in the cuts of the stamp. Pat the color on to the image of the Winter Trees stamp, press the image onto the rim of the plate. Repeat this process placing the trees randomly about five of them around the rim. Using the Small Maple Leaf stamp and Dark Chocolate repeat the process randomly placing the leaves. Tip: Do not rock the stamp, as this will blur the image. Hold the underneath side of the plate with the opposite hand while stamping so the plate does not tip on you.

* Using the flat end of the wedge sponge lightly pat the top half into Straw and the bottom half into Poppy Orange. Pat the excess color off in a light patting motion on the palette. This will also blend the two colors in the center of the sponge giving you a middle value. Pat the color on to the image of the Small Maple leaf stamp; press the image onto the center of the plate. Repeat this process four more times placing the leaves randomly. Stamp the same image five times on a piece of scrap paper, cut out. Tip: Post it notes works really good as the scrap paper for this process, as the adhesive on the edge will hold the leaf in place. Now we will do what is called blocking. Place the paper leaves over the yellow leaves. Pat the sponge into Pine Green on the bottom half and Straw on the top half, pat on the palette as before and then on the maple leaf. Stamp in the center of the plate. Repeat the process placing the leaves randomly. Allow to dry and lift of the paper leaves.

Pumpkin Leaf and Stem
* Using the #5 stippler brush dry-brush the leaf and the stem in a little Poppy Orange and then without washing the brush pick up a little Straw and repeat the process. Tip: to dry-brush load the brush in color, wipe of the excess on paper towel until hardly any color remains. Lightly feather over the surface allowing the color to adhere to the raised areas, forming a nice highlight. May also be used on flat surfaces.

To Finish
* Apply an even coat of Satin Varnish to the pumpkin using the 1" wash/glaze brush. This layer of varnish will keep the antiquing form soaking into the terra cotta. Apply an even coat of Brown Antiquing Gel using the 1" wash/glaze brush to the entire pumpkin and then wipe quickly with a paper towel removing the excess. Repeat this process on the plate.

* Apply as many coats of Satin Varnish as desired after the antiquing as dried using the 1" wash/glaze brush.