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

Rustic Winter

 Creating a simple Christmas card, using  Tim's/Stampers Anonymous Christmas stamp sets cms476 Winter Woodlands and Stamptember 2023. What I love about these stamps so much is how easy they are to mix and match. This is the card I came up with.

The Base

I like to use neenah solar card stock 110 lbs. It's sturdy enough to hold layers of card stock and embellishments on any card. Using it as a full base for any card.

Using distress watercolour card stock as a base, smoosh distress ink and oxide in pumice stone on craft mat, spritzing with water and heat setting between layers, till desired effect. 

It's all in the layers

cms476 Winter Woodland background stamp is perfect for this card base. Stamped using distress archival in ground espresso, letting it fade onto the base as the first layer. Next stamp the tree off to the side and overlapping the background with distress archival in forest moss and peeled paint. The bottom of the tree in ground espresso.

Finishing touches

Next I chose a saying from this years Stamptember2023 set. let it snow. let it snow. let it snow. and the snowflakes in distress archival ground espresso. Then for an additional final touch I popped up a square from the background stamp, using the 3D texture fades wood grain and distress archival inks in vintage photo and ground espresso to make the image stand out. 

I just love how easy it is to mix and match Tim's stamps, the possibilities are endless.

Hope this leaves you feeling inspired.

Christina

Ugly Sweater

 It's ugly sweater season and what better way to celebrate than with an ugly sweater Christmas card. 

The base 

Using mixed media heavy stock as the base, stamp with cms475 ticking and grain, with distress inks in peeled paint and forest moss, by spraying the stamp first to achieve a watercolour effect.

It's all in the layers

Emboss background with 3D texture fades in woven, then machine stitch to create border.

Making the ugly sweater, using Stamptember2023 coordinating dies (sweater) apply distress oxide in aged mahogany and emboss sweater with 3D multi level in holiday knit, next swipe distress archival in vintage photo over top of sweater.

Using THS030 layering stencil in Christmas, blend with distress inks in aged mahogany and fired brick, then emboss with 3D woodgrain, swiping folder first with distress archival vintage photo and after with ground espresso.

The sayings from Stamptember2023 are so fun! I chose one that fits this card perfectly. Stamping directly to the card with distress archival in ground espresso.

The finishing touch 

An ugly sweater cannot be complete without it's clothes hanger. Just tuck it in behind your ugly sweater. The metal hanger is from my stash. Next take a baby or alcohol wipe, and dab away some of the Christmas words you want to fade away.

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

Christina