Noel Wall Hanging

This is a wall hanging I made for a gift swap I was in yesterday at our SCS Event.  The gift was to be something related to stamping & of course handmade is always the best.  We had so many great gifts & played a cute Christmas left/right game for the swap.

I started with 4X4 pieces of 4 different patterns from Tim Holtz Idea-olgy Yuletide 8x8-paper pack & adhered them to a 4X4 coaster using Tombow Liquid Glue.  Once dry, I rounded the corners of the paper then distressed the edges with frayed burlap ink.

To make the holes, I measured using Tim Holtz ruler (the best thing since sliced bread) & punched with the bigger side on my crop-a-dile.

The capital letters are cut in SU Cherry Cobbler & Forrest Moss using the Cricut Winter Woodlands Cartridge & popped up with 3d foam squares.

I used items from Tim Holtz's idea-ology to embellish - a lot of pieces from a pack of festive ephemera, a typed Christmas token with a hex fastener, a sticker from occasions small talk, a jingle brad, mirrored stars, frozen snowflakes & snowflakes from gilded holidays remnant rubs.

It's finished with olive green ribbon with a bow tied at the top.

This was a fun easy project & I know I'll be making more of them.

Breakfast Strata Recipe Card

I love doing recipe cards so of course I participated in the swap for our Jingle All The Way SCS Event!  I usually make this recipe for breakfast on Christmas morning so it was perfect!

The Judith & Heather images are stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black Ink then colored with Copic markers.  One little trick Judith does is outlining everything with a light gray & I think the shadowing makes the images pop. They were then cut using MFT Oval Wonky Stitched Dies.  After I printed the recipe I die cut it with a MFT Square Wonky Stitched Die.  I wrapped a piece of SU ribbon around the top of the DSP, added a bow then adhered it to the SU Baja Breeze CS.  The panels on the right were adhered down & the oval on the left is popped up using white 3d foam squares.

TFL!!

Christmas Gift Card Holder

Another swap for our Jingle All The Way SCS Event is a Christmas Gift Card Holder.  I found several designs on Pinterest but decided to do one I saw by Tara Bazata using an envelope.  I did make a couple of changes but the basics are the same.

I started with a SU Crumb Cake Envelope, folded it in half & used a bone folder to make a crisp crease. Using a trimmer, I cut half the flap off then adhered the other side down.

I made three panels using SU Mossy Meadow CS cut 2 11/16 X 4 1/4 for the base; two with DSP from SU Home for Christmas & one in SU Crumb Cake cut 2 1/2 X 4.

To add the Real Red Holly Berry Bouquet Button, I measured up 3/4 from the bottom in the middle using my Tim Holtz ruler then punched a small hole.

I cut 11" of jute thread & put it through the button & tied it at the back.  The thread was pulled through the hole in the panel & scotch tape to holds it in place.  I placed 1/2" Scor-tape on the back of the panel.

The front panel has "To" & "From" from SU Old Fashioned Christmas set & a pine bough from SU Christmas Punch set stamped in SU Mossy Meadow on the SU Crumb Cake.  The jute thread was taped down & this panel was adhered over top of the jute using Scor-tape.



The last panel was adhered on the inside over the envelope flap that was adhered down. I make one mistake on the next part. I had stamped the sentiment on the envelope but I didn't like the direction so I cut another panel of Mossy Meadow 2 11/16 X 3 1/2 then added a piece of Crumb Cake cut 2 1/2 X 3 1/4. I then stamped the sentiment from SU Wishing You Cherry in Real Red Ink. This boo boo made the card a little thicker than I wanted it to be but oh well. As you can see the gift card slips into the envelope!

I made a small tag using a stamp from SU Christmas Punch set. It was inked with Mossy Meadow then I wiped the poinsettia leaves off & inked them with a Real Red marker. Once dry, I used a Gold Star Gelly Roll pen on the center & Clear Wink of Stella on the leaves. It was punched out using a SU Medium Scallop Punch. & adhered with mono adhesive. The thread is long enough to wrap around the button to keep it closed.

Maybe it's a little elaborate for a gift card but it sure is pretty!! TFL!





 

Winter Cottage

My friends & I hosted our 2nd SCS event today.  This is my shoebox project which needed to take 5 - 10 minutes to complete.  I made 2 completed cards then 16 kits so each person completed my card during the event.

The cardstock used was SU Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler & 2 layers of Whisper White.  I used a very pretty stamp by Altenew called Winter Cottage with my Mini Misti so there would be no guessing where to stamp the image.  For a reference point, I lightly stamped the image on the 1st piece of white CS before die cutting with the next to largest snowflake die from SU's Festive Flurry Thinlit Set.  Once it was cut, I used the Sizzix Snowflake EF to embossed the snowflakes.  To stamp the 2nd piece of CS, I inked the entire image with a SU Crumb Cake ink pad.  Since the image is small I didn't try to wipe off the trees before inking them with the SU Mossy Meadow marker.  Once the image was stamped, I re-inked the stamp with markers to touch up the image where it didn't stamp well.  To pop up the snowflake layer, I used a lot of white 3d foam squares around the outside edges & cut edge of the snowflake.  "Joy" from SU's Wonderful Wreath Thinlit set was added using a glue pen.  I brushed Clear Wink of Stella over the snowy roof & ground for a little sparkle.   Really a pretty easy card with a classic look!  TFL!!

Monster's Mask - Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2016 Technique Remix - October

Time for Tim's tag & I got together with a group of friends at The Craft Shack to make our versions! His October remix consisted of Patchwork Collage from February 2015 & Dimensional Monsters from October 2015.  I don't own the monster dies so I made my own monster,..well it's more like a monster's mask!

I also didn't have the new Halloween ephemera so I used snippets from his new materialize 8x8 paper-pack & some from an old paper pack my friend, Lisa had in her stash.  I found a page with words so I used "costume".  I love how the smudged crayons look over the the crazing medium.  I think I went a little crazy with the tiny attacher but the look is so cool.  I distressed the edges then blended them with black soot ink,  Instead of spattering the tag, I sprayed it with hickory smoke spray stain to finish the 1st part of the tag.

In place of the monster die, I decided to make a spooky mask by cuting 2 leaves from Tim's Big Z Tattered Leaves Die.  I should have used foil tape sheets over a piece of cardstock but goofed up & cut them from a mirrored sheet.  The mirrored sheet is thicker so when I tried to punch a 1/2" hole for the eyes, I only got an impression.  I finished cutting them out using scissors & decided to slant the eyes.   Then I embossed them using the diamond plate texture fade & did the faux metal look with black soot paint. I shaped it a little by bending them & added feathers I had in my stash.  I only had 1 green eye so I put the wicked adornment spider on a wire & place it in the other eye.  I added hex fasteners on each side then adhered it to my tag using black 3d foam squares.  I'm pretty proud of my "masked monster"!   

To finish it off I added "curiosities" from Tim's incantation word bands with wire & stapled it on.  The film strip ribbon was stapled on showing a hand.  The final touch was black string at the top.

Since there are so many stapes I decided to put a back on using paper from the materialize paper pack.  It wasn't long enough so I added a strip of materialize design tape at the bottom.   

I have to say this tag is one of my favorites!!  Hmmm, I think I've said that before...LOL!  TFL!

Fright Night Birthday Wishes

I was honored to be asked by Georgia Lydic to demo a technique for Distressed Ink Techniques on Facebook!  I decided to try stamping in embossing paste on a tag for my friend, Mary Ann.   She's one of the Giggler's who has an October birthday & loves Halloween.  I watched a video but it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be.  I tried several different thickness of embossing paste & several different stamps. First I tried using a stamp with an image of a skull but I just couldn't get the image to appear.  When I removed the stamp it just formed peaks.  The good news is I had time to smooth it out & try again.  I found that using an image of dots or lines worked best and believe it or not words. I do love this technique & it just took a little practice.  I also made this tag interactive so there's a spider that can scurry up it's web!

First I blended the background with twisted citron, wilted violet & carved pumpkin.  I then placed Tim's cobweb stencil in the corner & blended with fired brick.  I love how the color shows through the cobweb.

I really didn't have a plan so I spread a light coat of embossing paste in the center of the tag.  I pressed a stamp from Tim Holtz's Mixed Media Set into the paste.  I wasn't happy with my first attempt so I smoothed it out, pressed the stamp into the paste & gently peeled the stamp off.  This time it worked & I think turned out really cool!  You need to clean the stamps right away so the paste doesn't dry on them.  I used warm water & an old toothbrush to get it out of the crevices.

I also decided to try coloring the embossing paste.  I placed a small amount on my craft sheet & added a drop of ink from a black soot re-inker.  I mixed it up with my palette knife & it was perfect. So many options using the re-inkers!

This time I spread a thicker layer of embossing paste above the white.  I had a wooden stamp I'd never used that said "Fright Night" so I pressed it into the black paste.  I was so surprised that the colors showed through the stamping so well especially the twisted citron through the black soot!!  I let it dry for a few hour then blended twisted citron over the white embossing paste.

I used the skull from Tim Holtz's Mini Halloween 3 Stamp Set & stamped the image with distress embossing ink then embossed it using WOW embossing powder.  I blended a little pumice stone over the image which made the skull show up better.  I think the skull has a cool grungy look & the twisted citron shows through...he almost glows.  

The trick or treaters are stamped in black soot at the bottom of the tag.  The bottom of the image ended up a little crooked (that's why I'm called Crooked Stamper) so I covered it up with Tim Holtz's materialize design tape.  Remember mistakes are just an opportunity to embellish

Next I began adding details & embellishments...to cover up the straight edge of the stenciled cobweb, I stamped "Happy" from a stamp that says "Happy Halloween" in black soot & added a line of black lace from Tim's Gothic remnant rubs.  Below "Happy" I placed "October" from  Tim's seasonal chitchat stickers & distressed it with twisted citron & carved pumpkin ink.  Next to that is "26" from Tim's materialize 8x8 paper pack which is Mary Ann's birth date.  So her birthday greeting is "Happy October 26 Fright Night"! To the right & left of the trick or treaters I stamped part of a small script stamped in fired brick.  The "witching hour" is from Tim's occasions small talk stickers.  At the top is an "advertisement" cut from the same paper pack, inked & distressed by crumpling it up.  The "26" & "advertisement" were added using Tim's tiny attacher.  Below that is another rub, "orders attended to day or night" which describes Mary Ann to a T.  There were some small blank spaces so Tim's splatters stencil was perfect to fill them in using several colors of ink.  It's hard to see but I also sprayed the entire tag with brushed pewter mica spray.

The spider from wicked adornments is interactive & can climb it's web!  But first I added a back to the tag from the paper pack to cover the inky mess.  The spider is tied to the middle of a piece of floss.  Then the floss is threaded through a small hole punched in the web & the hole at the top of the tag. It's tied in a knot at the back of the tag by the top hole.  There's a little video at the end showing how the spider works but remember I'm not a videographer!

I applied wilted violet paint to the beware Halloween typed tokens, rubbed it around with my fingers & let it dry.

The black jute string was wound around my hand five times then tied to the tag with another piece.  I added the token with a loop pins.

Here's a short video showing how the spider works.

Hope you try stamping in embossing paste, I know I'll be using this technique gain!  TFL!

Autumn Vines Birthday

Time to make cards for the Giggler's October birthday's!. This month there are 2 birthdays & I decided to make Tina's birthday card first.  Tina had shown me a few cards she made from sketches she found on pinterest so I decided to check them out.  I found this card sketch by Yolande (I think) & fell in love with all the layers.








The top two layers were cut in SU DSP Autumn Vines & SU Really Rust using one of my favorite dies, Spellbinders Pierced Rectangles. There are 6 dies in the set. I used 4 of the largest dies, nesting 2 together the outside die will cut & the inside die will pierce. They don't fit tight together so there is a small gap. Once they were in position I held them in place using Masquerade Art Masking Tape. I love this tape because it's low tack & doesn't leave any residue.  Once those 2 layers were adhered together I added a 4" paper doily & trimmed it at the edge.  I then added the 2 1/2 X 1 1/2 banner which was cut from the same DSP.

The IO open scroll leaf die is cut from SU Sage Shadow & adhered using a glue pen.   For a little bling, I added peel off silver glitter stickers to the leafy scroll.











Instead of a ribbon, I cut the Elizabeth Craft Jewels Die Set from SU Sage Shadow. There are 3 dies in this set & they are so cool.  This one has a small curve & I cut it in half so it doesn't go all the way under the tag.  It needed a little more bling so more peel off silver glitter stickers were just the ticket!

The tag was cut 2 X 1 1/4 in SU Whisper White then I used a SU corner punch to form the tag.  The sentiment is from SU Happiest Birthday Wishes set & stamped in Coffee Archival Ink.  I also added a brad then used dimensionals to pop the tag up. A small key added a finishing touch!  Then the card front was added to the SU Chocolate Chip base which is a standard A2 card.

Hope you enjoyed my project & I'm sure Tina will too!

TFL!!