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 

Wishes

 Creating a non traditional Christmas card or can be made for any occasion. Using the ever popular stamp from Tim and Stampers Anonymous, the inspector. I knew the moment I got this stamp set, what great inspiration would come from it. 

I made a mini slimline card.

The base

Mixed media heavy stock as the base. "Smooshed" into distress ink pumice stone. Heat setting between layers. 

It's all in the layers

Create a mask by stamping the dial from cms465 the inspector in distress archival black soot onto copy paper and fussy cut. First stamp the dial on the background, then temporarily adhere mask over top, then stamp those funky letters on the top and bottom of background in distress archival ground espresso.

The Inspectors hat is stamped in distress archival dusty concord and ground espresso. His glasses stamped in dusty concord and coloured with distress watercolour pencil crayon in villanous potion. Used an eraser for hi lights. Next fussy cut the hat and glasses and adhere with pop ups to card.

Finishing touches 

For the word "wishes" I used one of Tim's older Sizzix dies holiday words: blocks (retired), using the positive letters on purple kraft stock.

Next I machine stitched on either side of the word "wishes" with cream thread, leaving loose threads at the corners.

Blend distress ink in walnut stain around the edges of card. (this is my go to for blending the edges of my makes) Then I added distress archival in ground espresso, by swiping it around the edges of the tag for added dimension.

This was a really fun card to make. 

I hope you enjoyed the process as much as I did making it. The possibilities are endless.

Christina 

Prancer

 I created this simple card using one of Tim's older dies and Holiday Knit 3D multi level texture fades from his new release.

Using neenah solar card stock for the base, run the 3D multi level texture fades holiday knits to create background.

I was sorting through my stash when I came across a couple packs of grunge board (retired) and decided to use it with the TH/Sizzix Alterations Bigz die Prancing Deer (retired). It cuts like a dream through the Sizzix foldaway.

One of the things I love most about grunge board is the texture and adding colour using distress paints. I used antique linen and gathered twigs. Once paint is dry, add walnut stain distress ink around the edges for definition.

After adhering deer to card base, die cut word "merry" from the TH/Sizzix thinlits Handwritten Holidays (retired) and stamp from cms429 sketch greenery with distress archival in fired brick.

It's always fun to search through your craft supplies, you never know when something special will pop up.

Hope you enjoyed the process 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

JoY

 After watching Tim's Holiday Hoopla, I'm feeling inspired to make Christmas cards. If you missed the Holiday Hoopla you can watch the replays on his blog. There are two parts to the Hoopla, you can find them here. I made two Christmas cards using the new holiday release and a smaller die from last years release.

I love the effect of the green card. In the steps following you will see the process on the red card as well.

The Base -  I used neenah solar card stock in white 110lbs. It's sturdy enough to hold all the layers.

It's all in the layers -  Distress watercolour card stock as a base. Die cut layered stripes using the top layer and base. For the green card I blended rustic wilderness over the stripes. I wanted more of a sharper look so I swiped the ink pad across the stripes. I did the same with the red card using lumberjack plaid.

Big tidings die is perfect for making simple cards. Using watercolour card stock, distress oxide in mowed lawn, I created an ombre effect, leaving white space at the top. Next using multi level texture fades in holiday knit, giving the saying texture, then swipe distress archival ink in rustic wilderness over top. I did the same for the red card using distress oxide in festive berries and distress archival ink in fired brick.

The finishing touch -  I used the snowflake from Twig and Stump, with a pop up square for dimension.

I highly recommend watching Tim's Holiday Hoopla, and hope you feel inspired.

Christina 

Phobia

 arachnophobia ~ noun ~ extreme or irrational fear of spiders 

Ever since I can remember, when I was a child and till this day I have a fear of spiders, or as I like to call them "eight legged freaks". Most spiders do no harm, catch bugs, etc. Don't notice them to much when I'm in the garden. The day my dad took me to see the movie Arachnophbia, his intentions were good, but in that moment I knew my phobia would escalate. Managed to watch the whole movie, mostly out of fear. In the early '90's I was taking night classes in drawing at the University of Art and Design. Received an A- on one of my pieces that incorporated my fears. One in particular, spiders. Was told by one of my instructors to continue putting my fears into my art. That being said, I made a Spider plant using TH/Sizzix dies and Stampers Anonymous stamps. Hope you like it.

Starting with distress watercolour card stock, emboss with 3D texture fades Brickwork. Then apply with watered down distress paints in frayed burlap and hickory smoke. Once dry, smudge in old paper distress crayon. My good friend Zoe Hillman, has an awesome tutorial of this technique on her blog. You can find it here. Next I used the new fracture stencil and distress archival ink in frayed burlap to make cracked bricks. 

Creating depth on the skull using TH/SA cms471 obscure, fussy cutting him 3 times, then using one of my x-acto knives to cut the eyes out. I learned this technique from my friend Juliana Michales. For added dimension used foam squares between the layers of the skulls.

To create more depth on the skulls, I blended distress pencil crayon in frayed burlap and distress crayon in old paper using a water brush.

Making the spider plant with distress watercolour card stock and distress watercolour pencil crayons in antique linen, frayed burlap and peeled paint, distress archival in black soot with fracture stencil. Using colorize graveyard plant leaves and adhering with collage medium to the skull.

Adding a couple final touches to the spider plant. One cannot have a spider plant without a spider (from Big Freights thinlits) and a silver cross from graveyard thinlits with metallic kraft stock, just because.... The background is kraft card stock blackout and 3D multi level arched.

I hope you enjoyed my back story and full tutorial.

Christina

Condemed

 Getting cracked with Tim's/Sizzix new halloween 3D embossing folder, Cracked. Using stamps from TH/SA cms435 rest in peace and cms328 entomology to make a spooky halloween card.

Starting with the distress two tone wood grain in light grey and using a stamp platform arrange words from rest in peace stamp set onto card stock stamping randomly in archival inks.

Stamp the "skelly" twice on light grey wood grain card stock with black archival ink.

Keep one skeleton off to the side. The other one take the 3D embossing folder in cracked and tap or swipe black archival ink on the top side of folder. Run it through machine.

Using a blending tool, blend distress inks starting with walnut stain then overlapping with black soot.

For the focal point I used the moth from one of my favourite stamp sets cms328 entomology and distress archival ink in black soot.

After watching Tim's latest YouTube live in distress halloween. I discovered the magic of watercolouring with mica stains and decided to use this technique on the moth. You can find Tim's technique here. It's at the 1:33/:11 mark. I modified this technique by stamping in archival ink, then using a water brush and mica stains to color the moth.

Next I fussy cut both moths then overlapping them to create dimension. Adhered the moth to skully with pop ups, then using score tape to adhere to two tone halloween wood grain card stock in black. Machine stitched border in cream thread, it's a little bit rusty as it's been awhile since I've sewed on card stock. Wasn't intentional but certainly adds character to this card.

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

Christina