Sugar and Spice

 When Simon Says Stamp released their Sugar & Soice line, I knew then I had to have the bird dies. Beautiful Cardinal + Perched Bird paired with Charming Berry Branch + modern loop embossing folder is a match made in heaven. I made two Christmas cards. One with traditional colours and the other has a wintery vibe.

Starting with mixed media heavy stock white for the card base, SF541 modern loop embossing folder to add texture.

Swipe distress oxide in antique linen on embossing folder, place card stock in folder and run through machine. I used my Sizzix foldaway. It has great pressure for embossed backgrounds. Tho any machine will do. I repeated the process with distress oxide pumice stone for the wintery card. Adding more dimension with TH/SA cms324 sparkles and Christmas stamp set. Using the Christmas background stamp and distress ink, to randomly stamp on background.

Playing with leaves is always fun! Especially with the Charming berry branch die. Inked with traditional and wintery colours.

I love birds. They are natures wonder. Bringing the beautiful cardinal and perched bird dies to life using a blend of distress inks.

Captions are everything. They give a nice final touch to your makes and sometimes tell the beginning of a story. The sayings from cms429 sketch greenery have the perfect font to go with the beautiful cardinal. White on black makes a nice focal point. Tim Holtz sticker book Christmas 2024 is great for sayings. So much to choose from. Different fonts, sizes and colours to fit any make. I chose a Christmas Dream for the wintery perched bird. 

A machine stitched border adds the perfect touch to any make. I especially love it on Christmas cards. Leaving loose threads adds character. 

Which one is your favourite? I hope you enjoyed my tutorial and it leaves you feeling inspired.

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