Valentine Delivery

This is the 2nd month of The Craft Shack's ATC Club & it was my turn to design the February ATC. The club will run for 12 months so at the end everyone will be able to display them in a 7 Gypsies Artist Printers Tray.  I like to take a technique you'd normally do with a card & reduce it to ATC size so I decided on a shaker ATC.

As you can see in the photo above, the basic card is simple...SU Cherry Cobbler cut 3 1/2 X 2 1/2 for the base.  The next layer is white card stock cut to 3 3/8 X 2 3/8 then stamped with Hero Arts Old French Writing Stamp in Tim Holtz Fired Brick Ink & the edges are distressed with ink.

Cupid was cut from Tim Holtz Gold Deco Sheet using Tim Holtz Mini Love Struck Movers & Shapers Set in the Movers & Shapers Magnetic Tray. By the time the heart shaker was put on Cupid was going to be to wide so I (literally) clipped his wings & tucked them behind his back just enough so he'd fit on the card.

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To make the shaker heart, I punched a small heart using the EK Heart Punch then positioned the next to the smallest die from the LittleB Heart Die Set around the negative of the punched heart. From the same die I to cut the back of the shaker from white card stock & a piece of acetate.  The 2nd heart is done by placing the smallest die, which only embosses, inside the open die to cut a solid piece. "Be Mine" was printed on white card stock punched out.

To finish the shaker, the acetate heart was wiped with a dryer sheet to remove any static then adhered to the back of the open heart using Glossy Accents. Be very careful not to use too much or it will squish out & smear on the acetate.  Then I cut 3 slivers of foam mounting tape, starting at the top on one side, placed it slightly in from the edge on the acetate, shaping it around the heart. I then did the other side, starting at the top & finished with the piece at the bottom (shaped into a V).   Make sure there aren't any gaps s0 the beads don't spill out. Using a spoon I placed a small amount of Red Pop Micro Beads in the cavity...you don't want to over fill or it won't shake. Next remove the strip from the foam tape & add the white heart, making sure it's lined up.  "Be Mine" was adhered to the solid heart so the embossing shows.



Cupid & the hearts are adhered to the base using Tombow Mono Adhesive. To give Cupid's just a little dimension, his arm is popped up to hold the shaker heart & "Be Mine" is tucked behind the shaker.  The 3 white pearls were the finishing touch.


Hope you enjoyed my card and try making one.
TFL!

Birthday Flowers

A group of my good friends get together once a month to catch up & celebrate birthdays for the month. I made these cards for Diane & Shirley who are having their birthdays in February.

I was looking through the tutorials on Splitcoaststamper & found one called Tapestry by Beate.  I think these cards are very pretty!

For this technique I quickly applied distress ink to white card stock. I immediately stamped the images in white pigment ink then covered the entire card front with clear embossing powder & hit it with a heat tool. There were a few areas that didn't emboss because the ink dried so I went over the spot by apply embossing ink directly to the card front, sprinkled the embossing powder over it & heat it again.

The rest of the card is easy but I did use clear Wink of Stella on the sentiment for a little sparkle which probably isn't visible.

TFL!!

SUPPLIES
Left card: Ink - Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Seedless Preserves, Peeled Paint & Spun Sugar; Cardstock - SU Blackberry Bliss; Ribbon - SU Blackberry Bliss 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon;

Right card: Ink - Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Spun Sugar, Bundled Sage, Shaded Lilac, Ranger; Cardstock - SU Old Olive; Ribbon - SU Old Olive 3/8" Satin Ribbon;

Both cards: Ink - Ranger Embossing Ink, Colorbox White Frost Pigment Ink; Cardstock - SU Whisper White; Stamps - SU Birthday Greetings, Bloom with Hope, Organic Grace; Die - MTF Die-namics Wonky Stitched Oval Stax; Misc - WOW Clear Embossing Powder, Ranger Ink Blending Tool, Marvy Embossing Heat Tool, Scor-pal 1/4" scor-tape, Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Brush.

True Love - Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2016 Technique Remix - February

Time for Tim's 12 tags of 2016 technique remix for February! This month's techniques are MONOPRINT from June 2014 & EMBOSSED TEXTURE PASTE from March 2015.  These are 2 more techniques I've never done so I'm excited to be learning so much from following Tim's tags.

This tag will be very special to me because I used a photo of my Mom & Dad instead of one from Found Relatives Occasions or Photobooth! 

For the MONOPRINT Technique Tim used Antique Linen Stain over the entire tag. I only had Old Paper Stain & it was too green so I decided to use an Antique Linen ink pad on a Inkssentials #10 Craft Tags.  I started out applying it with a blending tool but to get it dark enough I had to blend so much it just looked to smooth & perfect.  So I applied it directly from the ink pad to the tag, then sprayed it with water & dried it with a heat tool. I was happy how it turned out.

The next step of the MONOPRINT technique was inking the back of a stencil & applying it to the tag.  It was a little difficult (at least for me) & Tim recommended practicing. I did this step 3 or 4 times before I was happy.  I didn't have the Lace Stencil so I tried using the Doily Stencil but it didn't have enough open space so I ended up with a muddy mess.  I finally decided to use Tim's Latticework Stencil & it worked much better.
  
I inked the back of the stencil with Frayed Burlap, wiped the ink off the wide edge (to avoid having a line) then sprayed it with water.  After I laid the stencil over the tag horizionaly, I used a paper towel to rub over it to apply the ink & to blot the excess water off.  I repeated this step 2 more times making sure I matched the pattern.  Using a blending tool, I distressed the edges with Walnut Stain Ink.


Next I randomly inked the Heart Stencil at the top & bottom of the tag in Candied Apple.  I love this color & it's perfect for February!

The 2nd technique was EMBOSSED TEXTURE PASTE. I only had one stencil with words & it was Tim's Christmas Word Stencil.  It had 1 word that fit the occasion perfectly & it was "wonderful". I spread the modeling paste over the stencil then carefully lifted it off. Then sprinkled gold embossing powder over the wet modeling paste & let the paste dry before heating it.  The embossing is raised & looks so neat.


For the embellishments I added 2 hearts but wanted them a little darker red so I sponged Fired Brick onto white cardstock then die cut them from Scribbles & Splat Thinlet Die Set. I added a little sparkle with a Gold Wink of Stella Glitter Brush. So glad the red still showed through.  The Adage Ticket, "Love" was perfect & inked it with Walnut Stain then crumbled it up.  Mom's heart locket & my Dad's tie was inked with Fired Brick using a nib...kinda wish I would have used gold...well the red really pops. The photo is adhered using 1/4" Scor-tape.  The Philosophy Token "Cherish" was inked with Picket Fence Paint & hung with heavy thread wrapped around the Antique Nickel Arrow. I placed the arrow through the 2nd heart & adhered both to the tag using glue dots.  To finish it off, I added 2 phrases from Occasions Small Talk at the bottom & placed crinkle ribbon dyed with Fired Brick ink at the top.

Although my tag is very close to Tim's, I hope you enjoyed the challenges I worked through as well as the little changes I made!

TFL!!

Victorian Garden ATC

I've probably said it before but ATCs are one of my favorites.  I know people have asked what do you do with them & I have to say I just collect them.  I have a binder with sleeves that I put them in by swaps.  Occasionally I pull the binder out & look at all the amazing works of art.  This one was for a swap at a stamping event & was inspired by a card I found on Pinterest, which was designed by Gabrielle Pollacco.  I love the colors & the vintage look.

There are several layers on this ATC so I had to be careful & leave a very small reveal between them. Because of this the SU Perfect Plum Cardstock base, which is 3 1/2 X 2 1/2,, is difficult to see & it's such a pretty color.

The next layer is a beautiful Victorian looking DSP in a collection by Maja Design called "Let's Have Coffee" & is cut just 1/8:"smaller than the base.  The stitching around the edges are from the Bo Bunny Stitches Set &  inked with Tim Holtz Distressed Frayed Burlap.  I  used a Tim Holtz Paper Distresser on the edges & sponged them with Frayed Burlap then adhered it to the base.

On the last layer, I die cut a small oval using the Spellbinders Ovals Die Set so the paper would show from the 2nd layer.  It was also stamped with stitching, distressed & inked around the edges.  Before attaching to the other layers, I used Glossy Accents to place a small piece of gauze on the back then popped the layer up with thin foam squares.

The final step was the embellishments.  The Memory Box fence was trimmed before adhering using a Tombow Glue Pen.  Next I added a little strip of DSP which is the reverse of the Maja Design  "Let's Have Coffee" stamped with stitching & over top of that is a metal embellishments attached using micro glue dots.  The Cheery Lynn Flourish was die cut from SU Old Olive then cut in half & used on each side.  I attached 2 Kaisercraft Mini Paper Blooms which were pressed down & a sprig of pearls is tucked behind the flourish.

It ended up being a little...well a lot bulky but I have to say I was very pleased with it!!

TFL!!

She's a Cheesy Chick

I love making recipe cards so it was a pleasure to design this one for The Craft Shack's February Recipe Card Club. I ran across the recipe on Facebook awhile ago  so I'm not sure where it originated. I did change it up a little & it's one of my favorites!

The basic card is 6X6 SU Whisper White Card Stock & Peeblesink BBQ Utensils card stock cut 5 3/4 X 5 3/4. The recipe was printed on white CC & matted with SU Brown Sugar. Wraphia ribbon was wrapped around the red card stock before adhering it to the white card stock.

How cute is Mother Hen from Stamps by Judith & Heather (available at The Craft Shack in-store only)?  She's stamped on SU Whisper White in Memento Tuxedo Black Ink then colored with Copics R35, R37, YR01, YR04, E31. Although it looks like I shaded it with gray, I didn't, must be the lighting.   It was die cut with MFT Die-namics Wonky Stitched Oval Stax die.  I just love the stitching on this die!!  I stamped a second image then cut out the wings & popped them up with dimensionals. She's holding her fork which is a brad from Eyelet Outlet.  To place the brad, I alway mark where I want the hole with a pencil then I used a very small hand punch to punch it.  Once everything was in place I popped it up over the ribbon with dimensionals. 

TFL!!