Be Thankful

 One of the best ways to clear the mind and make way for creativity is being outdoors. A couple weeks ago I was pruning the landscaping and came across a few dead twigs, leaves and a couple pine cones. Inspiration had kicked in and laid them off to the side. The beauty of dead twigs is that they have character.

Once the inspiration was brewing, I knew there was no stopping, so I gathered dies from Tim's vault 2024 series plus a few older dies and this is what I came up with.

The Base:

Distress watercolour card stock is my go to for smooshing inks, oxides, and with the distress sprayer and my trusty craft heat tool, the possibilities are endless.

Stampers Anonymous cms344 craze and planks, I chose the craze background, is perfect if you want something subtle and gives the illusion of texture.

It's all in the layers:

Tim's/Sizzix 2024 vault series dies and a few older ones are perfect for the twigs/leaves and pinecones.

To achieve a more saturated look with a little depth, the distress reinkers came to the rescue. I love to colour and it's easy to control.

I love the many textures of woodgrain and the variety of colouring that is added for depth and character. I used one of my favourites, 3D lumber embossing folder and blended a few distress inks on top.

To give the woodgrain more dimension, I scribbled a little bit of the distress crayon in frayed burlap on my mixed media glass mat, spritz a little water on top, then with my fingers rubbing the crayon over the crevasses till achieving the desired effect. Kind of reminds me of a five year old, finger painting. It's so fun! 

The finishing touches:

The bow from the thinlits die vintage sled adds the perfect touch to the bouqet of twigs.

Next I grabbed an inked up doily from the vault boutique die set. This was in my stash, and tucked it under the woodgrain plank. I love how elegant the font is from the thinlit set celebration words script. Fits perfectly on the card front.

Next I placed one of the chit chat idea-ology stickers "you" underneath the word "thank" and for the final touch including patience, I machine stitched a border around the card front, taking it slow and trying not to speed like a race car lol. It's hard but doable. Practice makes perfect. 

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial and it leaves you feeling inspired.

Christina

 

Best Day Ever

 One of the best things in life is taking some time to create. Today I'm going to show you how easy and simple it is to make a fun birthday card.

The Base:

Starting with distress watercolour card stock as a base, smoosh distress oxides of your choice on to craft sheet. Spritz with water and heat set between layers, till you achieve the desired background.

It's all in the layers:

Using mixed media heavy stock, place the Sizzix bold text #1 die on top and tape the edges, (I use painters tape because it's easier to peel off) then run or crank it through your machine. Adhere the negative part of the words and save the letters for another project.

The finishing touch:

One of my favourite tools to use while I emboss stuff is the Ranger Handle It tool. It's easy and clips onto the paper your embossing and you won't burn your fingers. lol 

I love Tim's stamp set Noteworthy, it has a really awesome font and the sayings are perfect for any occasion. I chose the saying 'Best Day Ever', trimmed it to size using Tim's new Tonic mini recoil snips. These scissors are amazing. Being left handed, just got better. 

Next adhere the saying to the front of the card at an angle. The contrast of the white on black ads a nice crisp finish.

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial and it leaves you feeling inspired.

Christina 

Be Awesome Today

 With Mother's day fast approaching, I made a detailed ATC (artist trading card) for my mom. I chose it for the size 2-1/2 x 3-1/2. It's perfect for layering elements especially if it's something new you want to try and less intimidating. 

The base:  Starting with mixed media heavy stock for the base, ink up cms348 ornate & lace stamp set, I used the ornate stamp, with distress ink/oxide in tattered rose. Ink edges of card stock starting with antique linen, pumice stone, then finishing with walnut stain.

It's all the layers:  Aging the doily from Tim's vault boutique die with distress inks in old paper and walnut stain with a ink blending tool.

Next I cut the paper down to the size of an ATC. Adhered the doily to one side of the ATC then trimming off the excess. Made a frame from the vault picture show dies set. Then I inserted an old photo of my mom using a mini printer.

When I saw Tim's and Stampers Anonymous new stamps from forgotten garden, I new they would be well used. I also purchased the co-ordinating dies from SSS which makes a huge difference if you're not a huge fan of fussy cutting. Next colour with distress watercolour pencils, they blend well and are easy to control.

The finishing touch:    Tim Holtz/idea ology small talk stickers are great for adding little sayings to your makes and add the perfect touch. I used pop ups for dimension.

I hope you enjoyed the process of my make and it leaves you feeling inspired.

Christina

Date Nite

 Have you seen Tim's second Vault Series? All the dies are incredible. So much detail in all of them. One of my favourites is the Vault Picture Show. I used the film strip to make a 'date nite' card. 

The Base: 

Starting with distress watercolour card stock, place THS095 layering stencil in peppermint on top, and blend with distress oxides, barn door and antique linen. This gives a nice soft look. Distress ink walnut stain is my go to for giving definition around edges of backgrounds. 

It's all in the layers: 

I love TH/Stampers Anonymous blueprint stamps. They are easy to colour and fun to play with. I used cms195 treats blueprint (popcorn) stamped with archival ink and coloured with distress watercolour pencils.

Have you ever gone through your stash and found something that you haven't used in years, forgot you had it? Luck made it's way to me when I found Tim's idea ology film strip ribbon. I knew this would make a great underlay because of it's transparency, then using my tiny attacher to secure it in place. Next I layered the film strip from Vault Picture show in kraft stock, red, overlapping slightly to create dimension. 

The making of the 'popcorn' inspired by Zoe Hillman.

Die cut two small tattered florals with distress watercolour card stock. Colour/scribble with distress watercolour pencil crayons and blend with a water brush. Shape florals with fingers to create 'popcorn' adhere with collage medium. It's easy peasy.

I just love the font from the Vault World Travel die set. The letters really pop out when you add a drop shadow. Choosing to add a number for fun. 'DA8' It's date nite.

The finishing touch: 

My other go to for a deeper, softer blend around the edges is Scorched Timber. It blends like butter and gives the slightest hint of definition.

I hope you enjoyed the process of my make and it leaves you feeling inspired.

Christina 

Hip Hop ... Pity

 I was inspired by Tim's demo from his Easter + Spring Ideas 2024 live to make a fun Easter card.

I started with distress mixed media heavy stock as the base. Smooshed distress inks on my craft sheet, spritz with water, dabbed card base in inks and heat setting between layers.

Next I placed the stencil from TH/SA mixed media stamps and stencil set, THMM183, (circles) onto inked background and coloured with distress watercolour pencils, then lifting the stencil to out line them. This is a really cool technique. You can find this in Tim's demo. It's at the 1:36:31 mark. 

The TH/Sizzix bigz die butterfly duo with texture fades is perfect for this card, just the right size and the details are awesome. Distress oxides for the base and distress ink in scorched timber swiped over the raised embossed area. I love the look that scorched timber gives, it's almost a black brown depending on how you apply it. 

Switching the butterfly up by adding bunny ears from TH/Sizzix thinlits bunny hop vault die for the antennas, coloured with distress inks, to give dimension to the ears.

The fonts of the stamp set Crazy Talk are so fun. I used the quirky hand written saying 'hippity hoppity' inked in distress embossing ink and embossed with Ranger embossing powder - white, on blackout kraft stock. Then cut the words in sections to create my own words.

Pop ups for the butterfly, rabbit ears and sookwang adhesive for the words.

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial and it leaves you feeling inspired.

Christina 

Beauty in Nature

 Inspiration is only a neighbour's backyard away. There is a lot of beauty in nature, and this is how I came up with an idea for a card.

The base: 

I smooshed distress inks and oxide on craft sheet and embossed with one of my many favourite texture fades falling snow. It seems appropriate as we still have a bit of snow especially on the Rockie Mountains. You can find this easy technique on my previous blog post here. 

It's all in the layers:

Inspiration for the greenery/twig pot came from my neighbours backyard. They have a few planters that bloom, usually late spring to early summer. For the pot I used TH/Sizzix bigz die potted, embossed with 3D lumber, blended with distress inks and distress crayon for definition. The silver bans around the pot were made with kraft metallic card stock, sanding them down to create texture and using a distress crayon for hi lights.

The twigs, eggs and greenery are from the thinlit dies, wildflower stems #1 and funky nature. Feathered friends is one of my favourite dies, the small bird fits perfectly on top of the greenery and branches. I gave this little birdie a nice soft blend of distress inks.

The fonts from the TH/SA crazy talk set are so fun to play with. I chose the hand written saying 'a little birdie told me' and inked it with distress archival ink. 

I wanted something for the bird to perch on and the branch from mini tattered florals die did the trick. Grabbed  scraps from the 3D lumber which I used to make the pot for added texture. One of the signs of Spring is pussy willows. Modern floristry dies came to the rescue for the willows. Those tiny dots are perfect.

The finishing touches: 

Walnut stain distress ink is my go to for blending edges on card stock. It gives a nice soft blend with the right amount of definition. Mastering the art of sewing can be very challenging. I'm not a seamstress by any means, but I do like to sew borders on my makes. I was hoping for a more tattered messy look, but having more patience  and slowly lightening the weight on the petal, gave me a more crisp stitch vibe. Though I did leave some loose threads at the top for some added flair.

I hope you enjoyed the back story of inspiration and the process of my make.

Christina 

Hello Spring

 It's beginning of March, and I can't wait for Spring to come. It's still Winter where we live, with lots of snow, but that doesn't stop the birds from feeding. I saw a bird the other day, and felt inspired to make a card.

The Base:

Using distress watercolour card stock as a base, smoosh distress inks in weathered wood, tumbled glass and speckled egg on base. Heat set between layers, then dab into distress oxide speckled egg and heat set. Next emboss background with TH/Sizzix alterations texture fades snowfall.

It's all in the layers:

My go to for greenery is TH/Sizzix thinlits mini holiday greens and garden greens. They are so versatile and create awesome layering for wreaths and swags. For more definition, swipe or blend distress ink in walnut stain around edges of greenery. For the Spring bird, I used thinlits feathered friends and blended distress inks in scorched timber, walnut stain, rusty hinge, and speckled egg. The little branch that the bird is perched on, is a texture wood plank that I had on hand in my stash. I rolled the plank up to create a stick. The making of the planks is a lot of fun. My go to dies are 3D texture fades lumber and bigz die planks.

The finishing touches:

Next I machine stitched a border with cream thread, leaving the ends hanging loosely. Then to complete the card, I added a TH/idea ology word token and hi lighted the word 'hello' with distress crayon in picket fence. Then slid the token through one of the branches and adhered with collage medium.

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial and it leaves you feeling inspired.

Christina