Christmas card - Tim Holtz snowflake

It's definitely Christmas prepping time with all the new seasonal products being released and I have a new set of @sizzix dies called Vault Winter Wishes from @tim_holtz. These are my two cards using the beautiful snowflake. One was covered with rock candy glitter and sparkles beautifully in the light, the other was dipped into mica flakes and looks as though it is covered in cracked pieces of ice.

Materials

DI - Tumbled Glass, Weathered Wood, Broken China.  DO Speckled Hen

Stamps - Scribbled Woodland CMS282, Festive Sounds CMS048

Dies - Vault Winter Wishes, Holiday Blocks, Festive Gatherings.

Embossing powder - Winter White, Denim

Rock Candy glitter, Distress Mica Flakes

Shabby vintage Christmas card - Tim Holtz skates

 My first Christmas card for 2024 showcasing the vault winter wishes die set by @tim_holtz and from @countryviewcrafts. I’ve used other Tim dies, papers, paper dolls, rock candy glitter, stamps, embossing folder, word chip, snippets and had great fun putting this together.

Using lace and buttons - Country View Crafts challenge August 24

Lace and Buttons on a greeting card was the theme over at Country View Challenges for August, but I'm a bit late posting this. It was my first contribution to the design team inspirations.

A piece of corrugated cardboard box was used to mount the focal image and embellishments and give it some height.

I found three buttons in my button box and added 2 layers of lace, one bought lace and the other a diecut from TH Crochet Thinlits.

I distressed the real lace a little with distress ink and added some threads around the buttons.

I really rather like this shabby vintage card, I'm sure it will come in useful.

xxx

Materials

3D textured impressions embossing folder - LACE - Eileen Hull

Layer Frames - MONTAGE - Tim Holtz

Sizzix Thinlits - GARDEN GREENS and CROCHET - Tim Holtz

Paper Dolls - POSES - Tim Holtz

Distress inks (Victorian Velvet, Worn Lipstick, Dried Marigold, Walnut Stain)and Distress Spritz (Barn Door) - Tim Holtz

Rock Candy Glitter

Lace, threads, buttons - etc my own stash

Using stencils 2 for Country View Crafts

 Stencils and distress watercolor pencils go well together.

I used a simple method with dry DWPs on a dry stencil, then spritzed it with water ready to monoprint. It's a fabulous technique and you can get a different effect each time depending on how much colour you rub onto the stencil, how much water you spritz and how long you hold the stencil on the paper. A GREAT TIP here is to place a piece of kitchen paper over the stencil once you have laid it down, rub gently over it and it will soak up any of the watery paint that seeps out.

I added the new Tim Holtz collage strips to the base card to start me off.

Gathered bits of ephemera, snippets and a photo booth pic which I encased in a specimen slide cut from TH specimen dies. After some playing and moving around the collage came together with the stencil panel in full show.

xxx

Products

 Stencil

distress watercolor pencils

water Spritzer

collage strips

ephemera

snippets

specimen slide die-cut

small talk stickers

Vintage Shabby Collage Journal - Stamping with Tim Holtz Flowers

 Using scraps from projects and snippets to create little collages.

I have a double spread today using materials from a variety of companies but the important ones are listed below.

The background stamping was done by using hickory smoke oxide, this leaves a fabulous impression of light on dark.

Here is the train driver who is carrying a cargo of flowers to the airport where it all will be sent to florists in Paris and New York. The boxes are carrying fragile freight and he does not want his cargo to get crushed. It is a great responsibility to get all the boxes delivered on time and safely, but he is experienced and wise and ready to do a good job.

Claude, this dedicated driver carefully carried all the packages for miles, stopping at stations to pick up and drop of passengers, many of them regularly taking this route and train knowing that Claude always did a good job at keeping the train to time. As he pulled into his platform at Charles de Gaulle Airport he was thinking of all the arrangements that had been made to transfer the cargo to the plane travelling to New York and to shops in Paris. He watched the handlers remove the boxes from their carriage and gave a sigh of relief knowing he had got them safely to the terminal and they were now off to their final destinations.

Claude was happy and satisfied that his task had been accomplished and he was ready to head off hme to his family.

• “Just living is not enough ... one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.” – Hans Christian Andersen

xxx

Materials

Stamps - Tim Holtz Flower Jar CMS297, Perspectives CMS213, Ledger Script CMS241

Distress inks - scorched timber

Distress Oxide - hickory smoke, walnut stain

TH Snippets - Urban Layers

TH Collage Strips - large

TH Words - Small Talk

The Graphics Fairy - Fleur Tab

TH Cello Sticker Tape

TH Clipping Stickers

TH - papers

Sakura Micron brown pen

Scrap Collage Journal

 Using scraps from projects to create little collages.

Having spent a fair few days on creating six panels for my next workshop, using Alison Bomber's newest release of stamps, I needed a bit of a break. I have loved creating the panels and I'm really pleased with them but I felt I needed to design and create something small and more personal, just for me. Sitting right in view were a number of bits left over from my creative process, so I set about sorting some of the pieces I could use and also raided my collage tub to add to it and ......

...... Eh voila!

An inky scrap of card from the workshop collection of scraps plus the pressed foliage stamp that had been fussy cut, one of Alison's words snippet, an ephemera stamp in the right hand corner and a part of a delivered envelope I had saved in my collage pieces tub.

It was so satisfying getting something created in just over an hour rather than the days it takes me for much bigger projects. It's left me ready to do more ......

xxx

Using Stencils with Distress Watercolor Pencils - Deco Feather stencil and flower design

It's my turn to post over at the Country View Craft Challenge on FaceBook and I have chosen the theme of 'Stencils'. There are just so many ways they can be utilised and in my latest workshops at CVC Headquarters I was teaching about the Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Pencils and I focussed quite a lot on monoprinting.

On my card the larger panel background was made using the Nordic stencil and the wet pencils on the dry stencil technique - spritz lightly with water and monoprint onto the substrate - in this case mixed media paper.  

The small panel using mini deco leaf stencil in various greens was again using wet to dry ie wet DWP paint to dry stencil. 

The die-cut flowers were washed with clean water and dribbles of DWP puddles added in with a small brush. 

To put the panel together I added some snippets....

....some inked mummy cloth and a Tim stamped sentiment.

xxx

Materials

Distress Watercolor Pencils - Rustic Wilderness, Fossilized Amber, Bundled Sage, Forest Moss, Peeled Paint, Shaded Lilac, Wilted Violet, Peacock Feathers

Distress Ink - Ground Espresso

Stencils - Nordic, Mini Deco Leaf

Dies - Wildflower 1 and 2

Stamps - TH Nature's Wonder

TH Snippets - Curator, Field Notes and Number Strips

Pressed Botanicals Collage - Pressed grasses and pressed umbels stamps by Alison Bomber

 Vintage Dreaming Collage

A vintage collage created directly in my Collage Panels journal, especially for using with Tim Holtz Found Relatives and Photobooth Pictures.

The Umbels silhouette stamp was inked up and directly added to the central panel .....

.... whilst the silhouette grasses were stamped onto spare card and fussy cut.

Some of Alison's words were added to bring a story to the overall project ....

.... this particular young lady is looking thoughtful and reflective with eyes looking upwards to the foliage and wondering about a walk in the forest where she can lose herself in her dreams and find some peace and quiet.

That is me sometimes, looking forward to a walk on our Ranges where the paths roam past the canal, out into fresh, bright openings and then back into some dense wooded areas which climb high and provide some beautiful views through the trees.

xxx