Winter Fun

 Winter is here, as I see big fluffy snowflakes falling from the sky. It's a perfect time to make a winter theme tag.

I love the endless possibilities of Tim's + Sizzix dies. They are so versatile. Perfect for the holiday season.

Apply Dina Wakley gesso in white (an even coat) to the small thickboard Ecetera tag. Let air dry or to speed up the process heat set. Once dry add a light wash on top by mixing distress paint in speckled egg + water. Ratio 2 parts water to one part paint. Heat set.

Begin by adding more texture using TH/SA layering stencil dots + texture paste icicle with a palette knife in random places of tag. Let air dry. This gives the illusion of ice crystals with the crackle of the texture paste.

Assembling Gladys:

Tim + Sizzix have a video on YouTube how to assemble Gladys. This makes is easier especially when you have to reverse her. You can find the video here. Next colour the dies with distress heavy stock white and  distress oxides, using a blending brush. Gladys needs ice skates. Tim's die thin ice to the rescue! 

Finding ideas for a freezer, using Sizzix retro oven. It's easy to assemble, with metallic kraft stock in jewel + texture paste in icicle. Let air dry.

Making ice cubes + backing for the freezer. Backing: mixed media heavy stock white with retro oven die, alcohol yupo translucent fit to backing. Rock candy glitter + chunky glitter with glossy accents on idea ology baubles. Tim has an awesome demo how to make these. You can find it here. It's at the 1:30:13 mark. Adding a dimensional dome to the freezer opening, fill with baubles then adhere backing.

Adding a few presents from thinlits die santas helper + distress oxides for colour.

The words and hanger are a combination of thinlits dies vault seasonal sketch (drop shadow of letters with kraft stock cool + overlay with metallic kraft stock) + vault bunny hop (hanger - metallic kraft stock)

Diedember 2022 chilly + freezy dies make great accessories for Gladys. Scarves, toques, ear muffs.... the possibilities are endless.

The wood planks are from my stash using the 3D embossing folder lumber, distress inks, crayon.

Feeling inspired... go through your stash, it's amazing what you can make with it!

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 

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

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

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