Watercolour Sketchbook - snowflake collage - Hello Winter

Using Tim Holtz distress inks and watercolor pencils for a distressed watercolour background.

I have been wanting to use my watercolour sketchbook again for a while but a holiday, family weekend, illness and then Christmas and then more medical problems have got in the way. But here we are weeks later enjoying a bit of experimentation time using distress inks and distress watercolor pencils to create this snowflake collage.(Not quite 'welcoming winter' we've had some severe frosts after the new year)

1. Use distress inks to blend colours lightly in the middle, darker round the edges randomly.

2. Use distress watercolor pencils rubbed onto stamp block and spritzed with water to create puddles and stamp it onto the page to create more depth,interest and movement. Spritz water droplets on and pull with some kitchen roll. Blend picket fence DI in top left and centre to try to create a cloudier looking area.

3. Heat emboss snowflakes and splatter blue distress spritz and white paint.

Add some text ....

.... and splatter more blue and white if needed.

Gather together collage elements etc.

Put together.

Supplies

TH - Distress inks - chipped sapphire, tumbled glass, ground espresso, gathered twigs, brushed corduroy, picket fence, stormy sky

TH - Distress Watercolor Pencils - uncharted mariner, mermaid lagoon, gathered twigs, ground espresso

TH - Stamps - Scribble Woodland, Weathered Winter, Letter to Santa (text), 

TH - distress Spritz - Uncharted Mariner

TH - Sizzix dies - Paper Snowflakes Mini

Embossing powders - Ranger - Seafoam White, Ranger Wendy Vecchi - Sky Blue, Cornflower Blue

Miscellaneous - white acrylic paint

Vintage Collage Layers - Tim Holtz

 Using a TH file folder to create a vintage collage

Frostie the snowman 2

 'In the meadow we can build a snowman'

Well that's just what I did with Mr.Frostie from Tim Holtz and Stampers Anonymous. I stamped him, cut his hat off and modified pieces and rebuilt him. He looks a different snowman now with his hat placed jauntily over his right eye and a new body. But it's also a grey, foggy day, the snow is falling fast and I'm sure he must be feeling rather cold.

The background and snowman were made before Christmas and have been hanging round my desk.

But he certainly looks different after his makeover to it being a snowy, grey day.

Doesn't he look cute?

He seems very happy mounted in my Tim Holtz Media Panels Journal.

Materials

Stampers Anonymous - Tim Holtz - Mr Frostie CMS499

Tim Holtz stencil - Crossed TMS 090

TH Distress Watercolor Pencils - aged mahogany, shabby shutters, pumice stone, victorian velvet

Sizzix dies - TH Holiday Greens, a very old set of stamps and dies together Retro Christmas

Distress Inks, walnut stain, hickory smoke, spiced marmalade

Archival ink - potting soil. tree branch, coffee

Miscellaneous -black watercolour pencil

Winter scene 1 for Country View Crafts - Tim Holtz die-cuts

 A Wintry Scene for Country View Crafts

Rachel has chosen Wintry Scenes for the January Challenge at Country View Crafts Challenges on FaceBook. I had great fun with two of the Tim Holtz dies to create the picture and with the distress watercolor pencils and some distress inks and spritz to get the depth and perspective.

Die cut 2 tree lines and glue them onto card stock overlapping a second part beneath the first layer.

Take the paints, using a brush with plenty of clean water, use the paints like watercolours to create a sky. With a small piece of sponge dab the colours over the trees to fill in any gaps on the overlap and to make it look like a cold, misty morning. Dry that and splatter white to create snowfall.

Using white card cut a slope of snow, using a paint brush apply texture paste lightly over it to make it look like snow laying on the ground. Splatter with chipped sapphire DI and adhere to the bottom of the card. 

Cut the birch trees from white card and give them a coat of white paint. 

Play with the DIs, DOs and watercolor pencils to make the birch trees more realistic and cut into them to create 3 individual ones.

Add some watery brown DI to some gaps between the trees, paint some spritz over the tops of the trees too and add more sponged white paint to keep the look of snow. Dry.

 ..... and then glue the birch trees on the panel.

Finish by using a stick to paint in some dried grasses.

One wintry scene complete.

Ink the edges, add a sentiment and make it into a card.

Supplies

Tim Holtz - Sizzix - Tree Line, Branched Birch

Tim Holtz - Ranger - DOs Lost Shadow, Vintage Photo, DIs Walnut Stain, Chipped Sapphire

Tim Holtz - Ranger - Distress Watercolor Pencils - Black Soot, Gathered Twigs, Scorched Timber, Chipped Sapphire, Lost Shadow

Tim Holtz - Ranger - Distress Spritz - Uncharted Mariner

Tim Holtz - Ranger - Distress Texture Paste

PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Paints - Midnight, Snowflake, Beach Hut, Elephant

Distressed, vintage collage.

 In 2025 Take A Risk

Just playing with a small panel to use some of the new stamps I bought well before Christmas that I haven't got to yet. I used new card that didn't allow me to pull the colours out of the distress inks but even so still quite happy with the finished effects,

The panel was just blended, dipped, dripped and dried with the same colours and dried.

I stamped the typewriter and cut it out ....

 ..... as well as the 25 and words ready to put a collage together. 

At this point i decided to add some 49 and Market rub-ns, I just love how they seem to melt into the paper they are so easy to use.

I punched out the white star on the blue background for the tiny hardware head and glued it in and gave it a covering of glossy accents.

I gathered some snippets together and cut a side tab and stamped it as well as second generation stamped onto the panel as well. I then spattered with the white paint.

It then just all came together and is ready to add to my Tim Holtz shabby-vintage panel journal.

Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies

TH DIs Pumice Stone, Hickory Smoke

TH Stamps - Curiosity Shop CMS482, Way With Words CMS165

TH Hardware Heads

TH Frames and Trims

49 ad Market Rub Ons

TH Marker - Faded Jeans

Archival inks - Black, Watering Can

Glossy Accents, Snowflake Fresco Finish Paint,

Card = PaperMill Direct

PaperArtsy Snowflake paint.

Incorporate your own sketches into a collage.

 Pen and Ink sketches on distress ink backgrounds with collage

During the Pandemic I did very little art but as we came out of it I started drawing some flowers and also some pen and ink flower shapes as silhouette sketches. I started to create collages with both and a few have been mounted in black sketchbooks. The dates of these begin at 7th Feb 2020. So as I have a number completed and a number of small silhouettes ready to use I thought it would be a good opportunity to record them here and perhaps share them to social media. 

Here is the first one and the title word gives the background to my motivation completely. There was I wanting to get creating and making particularly with my own drawings and at the time the silhouettes fitted the bill.

I used an old die cut.......

... and some gold foil....

.... and enjoyed putting the collage together.

Thanks for looking.