A Little Note

 I was never a huge fan of the colour yellow. But when it’s mixed with other colours the subtle vibe it brings is beautiful. 

Creating a light background using distress ink + oxide scattered straw + distress spray oxide antique linen. Misting with distress sprayer and heating between layers. Keeping with the colour yellow theme adding one of Tim’s idea ology collage strips. Adhere with collage medium, trimming to fit card base.

Stampers Anonymous field notes stamp set makes it easy to collage a background. Choosing a couple of contrasting colours for inking makes for a nice background. Applying crackle paste translucent through SA mixed media stamp + stencil set (mesh) with a palette knife creates a nice subtle texture. Let it air dry to reveal all the cracks from the paste.

I love birds and nature. I have a ‘bird family’ in the backyard. They come to the bird feeder every now and then and sometimes eat the fallen seeds around the tree. I have yet to see a chickadee. Simon Says Stamp has a beautiful die layered chickadee that is perfect for this make. Choosing colours with a hint of yellow on the birds belly captures it perfectly. Adding pointy pine sprigs from SSS diecember release (sold out) with some greens.

 Machine stitched border in cream thread then stitching a messy circle with loose ends. SA mixed media stamps + stencil (note quotes) stamp circle in fossilized amber oxide. Stamp the words a little note in embossing ink then Ranger embossing powder white onto Kraft stock blackout (retired) heat set with Ranger Handle IT tool to avoid burning fingers lol.

Finishing touches. Adding depth to the pine sprigs with a deeper shade of green and my new favourite cello tape. It comes in different sizes and great for your makes. A piece of wooden plank from my stash for the chickadee to perch on.

Adhere to pale yellow card stock makes for a nice warm card.

Even when it’s your least favourite colour it can turn into something beautiful.

Thnx for looking 

Christina

Focus on the Good

A mixed media card using Simon Says Stamp dies flourish bird + classic leaf ring from the Diecember release and flourish heart trio from the heart to heart release. 

Distress watercolour card stock is perfect for wet and dry techniques. This is my go to for card bases. Smoosh distress ink + oxide in lost shadow on card bases. Spritz with water and heat set between layers. Add a bit of distress spray stain in lost shadow on top. Heat set.

Sayings from cms343 natures wonder stamped with distress oxides in hickory smoke + black soot in random sections of card bases.

Die cut the sss flourish heart trio and save the negative die. Use this as a stencil with texture paste translucent and a palette knife in random sections of tag. Let air dry. Next choose an ombré of your favourite oxides to blend on the flourish hearts.

The flourish bird is so adorable! Take your favourite coordinating oxides and create a soft blend on the bird. Choosing what to use for the twigs came easy as the classic leaf ring die comes with a full die and a mini sprig of leaves die, perfect for tucking underneath the bird. Use a combo of light browns to make the twigs look natural.

Machine stitched border in light blue thread. Next making a messy circle by running card stock through machine like a race car then leaving loose threads at ends. Stamping the circle from Stampers Anonymous mixed media stencil and stamps in distress oxide tumbled glass overlapping the messy circle. focus on the good saying stamped in distress embossing ink, Ranger embossing powder white on Kraft stock blackout (retired). Trim to fit a square and adhere to surface.

Tim’s cello tape adds a nice finishing touch to mixed media projects. Just peel + stick.

The flourish bird needs a perch/branch to sit on, a wooden plank from my stash to the rescue! Adhere card base to Kraft stock classic.

With a few steps you can make layers into magic at your fingertips. 

Thnx for looking 

Christina

Let it Snow

 Winter is here. ❄️ The snow is falling effortlessly. So happy to be inside crafting lol. Made a winter themed card using dies from Simon Says Stamp releases, Diecember and Heart to Heart. 

Distress watercolour card stock and SSS falling snow die, run through die cut machine. I used the new Sizzix big shot. Any machine will do. 

I love the soft blend from Tim + Rangers distress oxides. They have a chalk like finish when dry, then the magic happens once you spray it with water and heat set. Tim + Ranger collaborated on these cool distress labels. They make things a lot easier to find your inks/oxides.

Die cutting the flourish bear S1078 from SSS Diecember release with distress heavy stock white and his nose + eye from Kraft stock black. Tim’s tiny ink blending tools are the best for intricate details. Using a small amount of distress oxide in tumbled glass on the bear gives the right amount of shadow. 

The “let it snow.” Stamp from STAMPTEMBER 2023 I just love. The font is perfect for this make. Heat embossed with distress embossing ink, Ranger embossing powder white on blackout Kraft stock. With Ranger Handle IT tool to the rescue while heat setting. Tim’s recoiling scissors to separate the words, then adhere to card with distress collage medium.

Machine stitched border in cream thread and pop ups for flourish bear makes for a nice finish.

Hope you enjoyed my how to and it leaves you feeling inspired.

Christina 

Sweater Weather

 It's beginning to look a lot like sweater weather. Staying inside with a warm cup of cocoa is pure bliss.

The sweater from Tim's STAMPtember 2023 stamp set gave me inspiration for this Christmas card.

Choosing the background came to me easily, as one of my favourite stamp sets was close by. TH/SA cms475 ticking and grain. With distress oxides in rustic wilderness + bundled sage to create a nice subtle background. Adding texture using Sizzic 3D embossing folder in woven and my go to distress ink for blending edges, walnut stain.

Giving the cozy sweater more definition with two toned wood grain grey and 3D texture fades in sparkle. Then swiping over sweater with distress archival ink ground espresso. These stamps come with coordinating dies. No need to worry about fussy cutting. It's easy and fun.

Bringing the trees to life using cms465 bottlebrush trees with coordinating dies, distress oxides, embossing ink, Ranger embossing powder (sticky) + dry glitter (clear rock candy). Tim has an awesome demo applying this technique. You can find it here. It's at the 52:10 mark. 

The sayings from Tim's STAMPtember 2023 are fun + snarky lol. I chose the snarky one. Inked with distress archival in black soot.

For a more cozy look, I carefully machine stitched the outline of the sweater, making sure to leave some loose, messy threads at the top. Added a metal hanger from my stash, for the sweater to hang onto. Wooden planks made with 3D embossing folder tree rings and distress inks. Cut into strips makes a great backdrop for the sweater. 

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

Christina

Immortal Beauty

 Even though it's summer, in my craft space Halloween/Fall is creeping around the corner. Just imagine stepping outside, taking it all in with the cool crisp air, falling leaves, and chopped wood for evening fires. I made a mini slimline card to depict one of my favourite holiday seasons.

The Base:

Kraft heavy stock for the base, distress ink walnut stain + mini ink blending tool, start blending around the edges of heavy stock, blending out towards the centre. Distress archival ink in vintage photo, stamp 'her immortal beauty' from TH/SA cms409 tiny text halloween in random sections of background. This stamp set is perfect as a background or as a simple saying.

Making wood is an all time favourite for me. There's a lot of various tools you can use to create dimension. The 3D texture fade cracked is perfect for this card. Distress archival black soot + ground espresso go into the cracks very nicely. Tim has a really cool demo on this technique. You can find it here. It's at the 1:24:02 mark. To give the background more depth, using a mini ink blending tool, apply distress ink in scorched timber around edges softening as you go.

It's all in the Layers:

I never thought I'd have a blast collaging with Tim's idea ology halloween ephemera until I took his Christmas in July class with Heidi from Simon Says Stamp. Now I'm addicted to collaging! LOL 

It's easy peasy! If you'd like to learn more about collaging with awesome tips, you can find the class here.

It's at the 1:53:46 mark. However, I highly recommend watching it from the beginning. A lot of great education, inspiration. For the base I used a #8 tag from SSS, halloween ephemera and a few pieces of ephemera from expedition to make the collage.

This next step is a turning point for me. I wanted to create the illusion of crackle for the leaves as if they were laid to rest on the ground. Tim's/Sizzix leaf fragments is the perfect die.

Giving the leaves a spooky creepy vibe, I chose a little paper doll (I call her 'little gypsy girl') and die cut her in the same shape as the base leaf. Bringing the leaves to life using 3D texture fade crackle. I started out with distress archival vintage photo, found that it was too dark, to make the veins of the leaf more authentic, I swiped distress oxide antique linen over top with a mini ink blending tool.

Back to the collaged tag..... I decided to crop it and add cello tape in random areas. 

Deciding the right saying and style for this card..... Halloween tiny text to the rescue! LOL I chose 'her immortal beauty' on black kraft stock, distress embossing ink + ranger embossing powder white. And of course my all time favourite Ranger handle IT tool. Definitely my go to for embossing. My goal was to have the saying slightly faded but somewhat legible. After a few attempts, I finally mastered imperfection. LOL Skipidy bits for the win.

Finishing touches:

Before assembling the card, I machine stitched a little zigzag motion in opposite corners of the collaged card. Used pop ups for my gypsy girl, saying and collaged card.

Introducing.......

'HER IMMORTAL BEAUTY'

With Brave Wings she Flies

 Have you ever looked through your stamp collection and realized one of your favourite stamp sets was at your fingertips? Tim + SA cms213 perspective. I use the butterfly a lot, always wanted to try out the numbers background stamp. There’s a first time for everything.

The Base:

Starting with a piece of watercolour card stock for the base, smoosh distress ink lost shadow and distress oxide pumice stone onto craft sheet, mist with water, then tap card base. Dry between layers.

It’s all in the layers:

Using the background number stamp from the stamp set perspective and distress oxide in pumice stone, ink portions of stamp to go on background in random sections.

Apply texture paste sparkle through your favourite stencil, I used dot fade. This stencil has been loved a lot lol. Let air dry.

One of my favourite stamps and most loved from this set is the butterfly. Distress watercolour card stock is my go to for mixed media and especially watercoloring. First ink the stamp. I used Simon Says Stamp VersaFine Clair in Nocturnr. Any permanent ink will do. Using my all time favourite distress watercolour pencils to colour the butterfly. The beauty of these pencils is they blend like butter. With or without a water brush. 

Normally I don’t have the patience for fussy cutting, however I discovered an easy way to persevere through it. Draw an outline of the butterfly, using Tim’s recoiling scissors carefully cut around outline. They have a really good grip and easier control to cut.

TH/SA cms394 tiny text is so versatile. You can use it as a background or choose different sayings to put on cards. I chose ‘with brave wings she flies’ distress embossing ink on black Kraft stock and heat embossed with Ranger embossing powder in white. Making sure I have my Ranger Handle It tool. Less likely to burn my fingers lol.

Finishing touches:

Next I machine stitched part way in the upper right hand corner and lower left hand corner to give balance. Then added a mini action wobbler to create the illusion of the wings fluttering away.

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

Christina

Berry Wishes

 Winter is here. We had our first snowfall warning for the season, up to 25cm for this weekend. There is a mountain ash tree out front (it has always been a late bloomer) and looks so beautiful especially with all the snow on top of the berries.

I was inspired to make a Winter + Christmas card with all the warm + cozy vintage feels.

The Base:

Distress watercolour card stock is my go to for card bases. Smoosh distress ink lost shadow, distress oxide in pumice stone, distress sprayer for movement, heat set between layers. Spray distress spritz in weather wood in random areas of card base, then heat set.

It's all in the layers:

Creating depth on the card base using texture fades birch trees and falling snow. Distress ink pumice stone for definition.

Adding more layers for depth. Branch birch die + 3D texture fades lumber. Using the poking tool from my sidekick to get all the negative shapes out of the branch birch die. 

Giving the trees a little more character by adding a blend of distress inks frayed burlap + lost shadow. Ending with an even blend on top of lost shadow. This gives a soft wintery effect.

I love the size of birds from the vault series lovebirds. They are perfect for this make. Die cut the bird twice, blend distress inks pumice stone, old paper, distress oxide antique linen to the body and feet of the bird. Distress inks lost shadow + scorched timber for the wings (cut out wing from second bird) and head. Use pop up dots to adhere wing on top of bird. Make sure to leave an opening white on the face of the bird. 

Giving the illusion of snow on the birds wing, using a splatter brush + distress paint picket fence.

Making twigs for the winter bird to perch on with wood planks from my stash + vault wildflowers.

Tim's + Stampers Anonymous new stamp set Florist Floor is definitely another favourite. I love the scale of these stamps. I chose the twig of berries. Stamped in archival ink + coloured with distress watercolour pencil crayons, on the branches and berries. 

Tim's new recoil scissors makes fussy cutting a lot easier. The comfort grip gives you more control when cutting the details of a stamp. Fussy cut the berries from florist floor, then apply texture paste sparkle. Let it air dry. The results are amazing. Gives the right amount of sparkle and give an elegant look of snow + frost on the berries.

The Finishing touches:

Adhere the winter bird with pop up dots, twigs + berries for the bird to perch on with collage medium. Tim's idea ology label stickers 'wishes' 

The final touch that ties everything together, a machine stitched border, leaving a few loose threads at the corners. 

I hope you enjoyed all the warm + cozy vintage feels of this make and it leaves you feeling inspired.

Christina