Travel Tag

February is such a short and wonderfully busy month.  I hope everyone enjoyed Valentines day, but since it has passed, I chose to do a tag theme about something else I love - travel.  Except for the supplies used as listed below, the techniques and application are the same as Tim's timholtz.com  

"Travel Love"

Supplies:

Surfaces: #8 manila tag, 12x12 paper stash - Collage (the small prints in back of the pad), ephemera - Expedition, flashcards - Elementary, tissue wrap - Postale
Dies: Frameworks - Lattice
Distress Paint - Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy
Distress Ink Marker's - Black Soot, Picket Fence
Distress Spray Stain - Peeled Paint
Medium's - Glue n' Seal/matte, Glossy Accents
Embellishments: adornment - Arrows, word band, star fasteners, film strip, Shield charm, paper string - Air Mail, pre-printed reinforcement, industrious stickers - Frames & Trims, crinkle ribbon
Misc: felt
Tools: craft sheet, sanding grip, distress marker spritzer, scissors, die pick

Here is photo of paper surfaces positioned and glued on tag:

After glued papers have dried, trim to tag size:

Continue to follow Tim's instructions to further enhance and embellish - notable changes I made include using paper string to hold the charm on arrow; die cut felt with a frameworks pattern then stray stain; using the NEW star fasteners on the word band; using a NEW industrious sticker frame; tissue wrap piece from new Postale rather than tissue tape.  The outside edges of my tag were enhanced with Brush Corduroy Distress Paint and spritzing was done with Picket Fence Distress Ink Marker. 

I hope you have enjoyed, I welcome your comments, subscriptions and look forward to seeing you all again in March - K

Butterfly Garden Box - Dimensional Cutting Pad

Hello all, what an interesting and fun challenge this was - apparently many of us had the Sizzix Dimensional Cutting Pad in our tool box but had not yet used or experimented with.  A special thanks to Linda Ledbetter for hosting these challenges along with her inspiration team, Tim, Mario and The Funkie Junkie Boutique - if you have not taken the time to visit them, please do, they are wonderful to deal with! So on we go, my idea to use the cutting pad centered around a ..............

"Butterfly Garden"

I started with a ready made craft paper box or you could build your own from chipboard:

I used two of Tim's Mover & Shapers dies, the mini butterflies and tattered floral sets:

I positioned the dies and dimensional cutting pad - one at a time - on craft paper 

sized to fit the box top, then die cut per Tim's instructions in CC3C:

I cut sticky back notes to position behind the die cut sections and ran the craft sheet 

through a Xyron machine to secure and adhere to box top later:

Remove the sticky back note sheets and using acrylic paints with a small sponge, pat on acrylic paint colors as shown (the die cut sheet remains on the Xyron backing paper for now).

To create shadows and extra dimension on the box top, sponge on brown acrylic paint 

where the die cuts will be positioned:

 

When the background paint is dry, use Tim's NEW Wildflower Layering Stencil with Frayed Burlap and Brushed Corduroy Distress Inks to create background garden foliage - heat set:

If you have used the Xyron technique, gently peel away the backing sheet from the die cut craft design piece and apply to project - here you can clearly see where the sticky back notes protected the raised areas from the Xyron adhesive:

Otherwise - adhere your project design sheet with whatever adhesive you prefer - dry.

Next I diecut Sizzlits Flower Garden, Spring Greenery & Butterflies out of Wallflower paper stash and Wallflower vellum. Stack and glue the flowers & greenery in and around the green box area; the butterflies on the blue box area.  NOTE - the petals and leaves have been gently bent over a wood skewer stick to create dimension and not be flat.  The two largest butterflies are vellum, embossed with the NEW Bigz Butterfly Duo texture fade then glued on the edge so the vellum will stand up separately from the paper diecut background.  Smaller vellum butterflies are diecut, bent in the center, glue applied to the center only, then placed on the project to dry. The wire butterfly antenna is made using a fine gauge jewelry wire - cut - bend ends to curve, then glue in place with Glossy Accents - dry.

I applied Tim's Butterfly Tissue Tape to the top outside edge, secured with matt multi medium - dry - then Distress Inked all edges and corners with Frayed Burlap and spritz on Bundled Sage and Vintage Photo Distress Ink Markers:

Finish the piece by applying copper brad heads to the flower centers - snip off their "feet" 

and glue on flat using Glossy Accents - dry.          

Supplies

Surfaces: craft paper box by Die Cuts With a View; Ranger Craft Cardstock

Dies: Sizzix - Bigz Butterfly Duo (Texture Fade), Movers & Shapers - Mini Butterflies Set, Mini Tattered Floral Set, Sizzlits - Tattered Flower Garden, Spring Greenery, Butterflies

Ink: Distress Ink - Frayed Burlap, Brushed Corduroy

Ink Markers:Bundled Sage, Vintage Photo

Paint: Distress Paint - Broken China, Ranger Adirondack - Aqua, Juniper, Willow, Lettuce, Espresso

Stencil: Stamper's Anonymous - Wildflower

Medium: Ranger - Matte Multi Medium, Glossy Accents

Embellishments: Tim Holtz idea-ology - Butterfly tissue tape, copper brads, black fine gauge flex wire

Tools: Distress Marker Spritzer, 1/2" synthetic art brush (for applying matte medium), small sea sponge, wood skewer stick, jewelry pliers, ink blending tools + sponges + craft mat

I hope you have enjoyed this project, please feel free to comment and share with you friends - thanks for coming by!   Kay

New Orleans Necklace

In the midst of Madi Gras season, I am happy to share a necklace published in Belle Armoire Jewelry's latest edition, available on newsstands March 1st.  The original had a large crystal, changed out to a rhinestone encrusted fleur-de-lis and several other charms I collected on trips to New Orleans, one of my favorite cities.  The "gold drusey" piece is glass glitter mixed with Ranger Glossy Accents and packed into a frame charm to dry. This true conversation piece was worn to a Bayou Bash Gala to benefit the University of Florida Center for the Performing Arts, of which I am an Advisory Board member - enjoy!

                

  

I hope everyone is staying warm, happy and busy "crafting" during these long winter months - Spring is just around the corner - thanks for stopping by - K

Anna Griffin and the NEW Cricut Air

Hello everyone - just a quick reminder for you to tune into HSN (Home Shopping Network) today to see Anna launch the NEW Cricut Air Machine with remote Bluetooth capability - you can design anywhere now without being an IT expert!  She will be showing lots of samples and demonstrations on air again at 11am, 5pm and 10pm-Midnight.  Anna's beautiful new image content files MATCH her Cuttlebug die cuts and embossing folders PLUS you can size them from 1" to 11 1/2" to cut paper, fabrics, vinyl and a dozen or more surfaces for home decoration and paper crafting just at the turn of a dial.  Here are a few of the paper samples - enjoy!

Using the new Monogram program which can also "intertwine" multiple letters:

Using the new Flourish program:

 Using the new Lace program:

Valentine Easel Card

Valentines Day is just around the corner and here is a suggestion using the latest challenge materials - Rock Candy Distress Glitter and Sticky Embossing Powder, following Tim's instructions on page 55 of Compendium of Curiosities - Volume 3:

Valentine Easel Card

I began on a 8" x 6" piece of heavy chipboard covered in pink cardstock.  Make the "glitter stamp" with Tim's Stamper's Anonymous Classics #8 Valentine image.  I also stamped the saying from this collection HOWEVER I would wait to do that until after the background colors have dried or it can fade away even when heat set:

When the glittered stamp has cooled, spritz, splash and blot with Spray Stains and water mister to randomly create a mottled background - heat set - add spritzed marker colors - heat set or allow to dry, then stamp saying of choice:

 

The cupid and arrow are die cut from bright red cardstock then dry embossed with the small Fabulous Flourishes Texture Fade.  To "glitterize" the same as the background heart, gently swipe a clear embossing pad over the raised embossed lines, add sticky embossing powder then the rock candy glitter:

When the cupid cools, add foam squares to the back to secure and elevate on the card front:

Small post cards are cut from Tim's Seasonal paper stash then edged in Barn Door Distress Ink. All but the one on the bottom left have been glued flat to the background, the last one is secured with foam squares.  The lacy border is made using regular printer paper, border punched (punch the paper first then cut the strip to 1" width), edge in Tattered Rose Distress Ink then use a glue stick on the back of the strips to secure  - while they are still damp, miter trim the corners and wrap the remaining paper to the back of the chipboard, trimming where necessary at corners (shown below).

  

Finishing touches include using Fired Brick Distress Ink around the outside edges of the board/punched lace border, then patting on with your finger a bit of Crystal Stickle for additional bling.

A diecut easel back was added to stand on a desk, nightstand or wherever you desire - here you can also see how the paper was wrapped to the back and the edges were Distress Inked:

Supplies:
Surfaces: heavy chipboard; pink cardstock; Tim Holtz Seasonal paper stash; white printer stock
Dies: Sizzix - Love Struck, Small Easel
Stamps: Stamper's Anonymous Tim Holtz - Classics #8 Valentine images
Distress Inks: Tattered Rose, Barn Door, Fired Brick
Distress Sprays: Tattered Rose, Picket Fence, Fired Brick
Distress Markers: Barn Door, Picket Fence, Worn Lipstick
Mediums: Ranger Glue Stick, Rock Candy Distress Glitter
Embossing Powder: Ranger Sticky Embossing
Embellishments: Tim Holtz Texture Fade - small Fabulous Flourish; Stickles - Crystal, Foam Squares
Tools: Die Cutting & Embossing machine; Spritzer; Border Punch; Mister, Heat Tool

Thanks again to our CC3C hostess - Linda Ledbetter at Studio LL3 lindaledbetter.com and her team of designers for inspiration as well as Tim Holtz, Mario and sponsors The Funkie Junkie Boutique and Inspiration Emporium.
Have a Happy Valentines Day everyone and a wonderful weekend - see you again soon - K

Cupid Card

Well hopefully you and Cupid will not be as the name implies - distressed - rather happy and joyful this coming Valentines Day. Using Tim Holtz "distress" products, I hope you enjoy making this special card.

Cupid in Love

Supplies:

Surfaces: Cabinet Card Frame

Papers: Seasonal paper stash; 3" white doily; light & dark pink cardstock

Dies: Sizzix Bigz - Love Struck; Sizzix Mover & Shapers - Mini Love Struck

Texture Fade (Embossing Folder): Sizzix - French Connection

Distress Inks - Fired Brick

Distress Paint - Barn Door

Medium: Ranger Glossy Accents

Embellishments: Alpha Parts - Signmaker; Paper String - red stripe; 9" red ribbon

Tools: 1/8" hand held hole punch

To assemble - cut seasonal paper stash to fit and insert into the 4" x 6" cabinet card.  

Distress Ink the outside edges of doily and glue to paper in card.

Glue the top edges of the card together to secure OR make a separate tag of choice and insert behind the cupid arrangement.  

Die cut the cupid and heart, emboss both with texture fade - distress ink to accent then glue on top of doily as shown.  

Distress paint the tops of the sticker-back alpha letters - dry - attach to the card as is or use a bit of Glossy Accents to secure.

Cut paper arrow in half to glue behind sides of heart, punch two holes in middle of heart to thread through paper string and tie in a bow - a bit of glue or Glossy Accents can be used in the center back of the knot to secure - dry.  Wrap another piece of red and white paper string around the bottom of the card - knot to secure and add red ribbon to accent - glue the heart and arrow over this piece.

Pop-Up Valentine Card

I have the privilege of being part of the Anna Griffin Design Team and working with her new products before launch - always striving to come up with new and different ideas to beautify our lives.  Part of the "after launch" fun begins for me in combining new products, pulling a bit from my "card kits" and paper collections stash and presenting you with a new way to wow your family and friends.  Order Anna's beautiful products directly from HSN and don't forget to watch her upcoming show on February 18th.  I also have a direct connection to her blog annagriffin.com - thanks so much and enjoy!     K

Pretty Pop-Up Valentine Card

Supplies - all Anna Griffin:

Pretty Pop-Up Card Making kit - card, inside pop-up base, oval mat and sentiment

Glitter Paper - Pink

Metallic Card Layers - Dark Pink

Collectors Dies

Sentiment - Juliet Paper Collection

Roses - from my "card kit" stash

General supplies - scoring board + tool, adhesive, scissors, foam squares, paper glue

From the pop-up card kit, use the pink frame card front and inside "pink lace" pop-up base pictured below:

Two of the Collectors dies were used in this project, the first to cut Pink Glitter Paper for the front then secure with foam squares.  Add sentiment of choice to center of glitter die with paper or hot glue -TIP - my experience has been that the double-face adhesives do not hold well on a glitter paper base.

                                      
Secure the pop-up base to the inside of the card - TIP - I use adhesive on the "fold" of each 3D strip as well as around the edges - this holds the pop-up strips firmly in place to the card to decorate.

The second Collectors Die is used to diecut Dark Pink Metallic Card Layers for the inside - SAVE the largest inside scrap pieces - they are the "floating hearts" on the top and bottom of the card. Trim away the bottom section of the inside die cut - as shown below - so it can fit nicely onto the back pop-up card section.  REMEMBER to place (with a bit of adhesive) your pop-up elements onto the base, close the card to be sure they fit inside, then open and secure them permanently in place. 

  SAVE the trimmed diecut part to place on the inside front section of the pop-up:

When you have positioned your 3D roses, you can gently score any areas that need to float to the bottom of the card, then secure in place:

Add your mat and sentiment to the middle pop-up base strip and the small "scrap hearts" from the inside diecut to the top back with foam squares and adhere flat to the bottom front of the card - voila - you are done and have a place to write, sign, seal and deliver to your favorite Valentine.

Thanks so much for coming by, please leave comments and subscribe (on right side) to be sure you don't miss my future Anna Griffin projects.  I hope you enjoy this Valentine card and will share it with your friends.    K