Choose to Shine

 Receiving Simon Says Stamp card of the month kit for February ~ distress vintage notes ~ I knew the possibilities would be endless. With coordinating dies makes it easier to cut, no fuss and easy. I adore the flower stamp and music notes, and thought they would be perfect on a card. This is what I came up with.

Starting with distress watercolour card stock, distress oxides in tattered rose, saltwater taffy and old paper creates a nice soft background with TH/SA cms293 brushstrokes stamp set.

Giving the brushstrokes more definition lightly stamp the musical notes with coordinating distress inks.

The flower stamp from sss vintage love notes is the perfect size for this card. Stamped with distress archival ink makes it easier to use with distress watercolour pencil crayons. The beauty of these pencil crayons is they blend like butter. No water needed. I wanted to keep the colour family by using tattered rose, saltwater taffy and old paper. Using the same colours in different distress gives the card dimension. sss vintage love notes comes with coordinating dies. Perfect for the flower 

TH/SA cms394 tiny text has a type set font that is the perfect size for this make. 

I picked up a tip from one of my crafty friends, Kath Stewart, by creating a soft blend just around the edges of white card stock with distress oxide in tattered rose. 

Creating the border, machine stitched with cream thread creating an elegant yet messy look by leaving loose ends at the corners.

Hope you enjoyed my tutorial and it leaves you feeling inspired.

Christina

Christmas Magic

 Winter has arrived. The snow is beautiful especially as it weighs on the trees. Looks peaceful. I made a Christmas card inspired by the weather change.

The Base:

Starting with watercolour card stock as a base, emboss with 3D texture fades in wood grain. Then lightly blend distress ink in pumice stone around the edges.

It's all in the Layers:

I love the new Tim Holtz + Stampers Anonymous mini layering stencil, sparkle fade. It's perfect for Christmas. Apply texture paste sparkle through the stencil and let air dry. It adds the perfect subtle bling to your make.

The skates from the vault winter wishes set are the perfect size for this card. Die cut the skates from light chipboard then paint a generous layer of Dina Wakley Gesso on top. This gives a good primer before applying the paint. Distress paints picket fence (skate), scorched timber (heel), once dry sand the heel to give it a worn look. Foundry wax in sterling (blade). Add a little bit of distress ink walnut stain to the back of the skate for a hint of shading.

Finishing touches:

Tim's Mr. Frostie stamp set is so versatile and one of my favourites. The font of the sayings is so elegant. I chose  'christmas magic' with distress embossing ink, Ranger embossing powder, white on black kraft stock, using the Ranger Handle IT tool. This tool is perfect for embossing, it prevents burning fingers lol. 

I'm a huge fan of greenery. Funky festive + holiday green mini + vault holiday classic thinits are my go to's. I love the pop of colour from Tim's kraft stock Cool tones.

For an elegant touch, machine stitch the border with cream thread. I'm slowly getting better at sewing, just have to remember that I'm not in a race car lol and to keep it slow and steady. 

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 

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 

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