Layering Stencil Tags

I hope everyone has participated and enjoyed some portion of National Craft Month - here is my offering(s) for the Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2015 March edition - hope you enjoy my mix of layering stencils:

Spring Butterflies 

following Tim's instructions, this first tag has a background of newsprint, butterfly and script tissue tapes; painted with Milled Lavender, Dusty Concord, Adirondack Purple Twilight and Lettuce - after the tag is colored, sop up (a southern term used with biscuits & gravy) the extra paint with crinkle ribbon and a piece of paper string); black embossed butterflies from the new Framelit with stamps set; Speckles layering stencil/texture paste with gold embossing powder over; word band and keyhole with acrylic paint accents; word band tied on to tag with painted paper string. Distress ink edges in Seedless Grape.

  Faces with Flourish

I wanted to try a tag with silver embossing powder - the background has newsprint, French and butterfly tissue tapes; acrylic colors are Distress Broken China, Tumbled Glass, Weathered Wood and Adirondack Pool, Lake Mist; black embossed stamps - Classics #5 faces; Flourish layering stencil; Distress ink edges in Black Soot; add loop pin and metal embellishments. 

Gothic Damask

The third tag was an experiment in die cutting a sheet of tissue wrap for the background rather than using tissue tapes, using the new Thinlits; use mat multi medium to secure the die cuts - dry - Distress Paint with Barn Door, Rusty Hinge and Spun Sugar; stamp/emboss - Distress Damask; texture paste with layering stencil Gothic and gold powder; add word band and brass loop pin with embellishments of choice.

Remnant Rub Resist Tags

What a fun challenge to bring in Spring - yes its finally here!  Butterflies seem to be the "creature of the year" so I went with it and hope you like this tag which could accent an upcoming Easter basket or gift for family or friends.  Many thanks to Linda Ledbetter and the Crew at Studio L3 for all their hard work throughout the year, to Linda at The Funkie Junkie Boutique who I depend on for supplies and of course to Tim and Mario for all of the great ideas we can build upon.  Please join us at any time for these challenges to continue the creativity!

Butterfly and Rub Resist

Following Tim's directions on Page 51 of Compendium of Curiosities III, I rubbed on a large white tag, the Botanical version of his Remnant Rubs using his NEW applicator - you're gonna love this better than a craft stick!

 Marbleize the surface using Distress Paints - broken china, mustard seed and chipped sapphire - dry - spritz with broken china Distress Marker - heat set to dry:

Stamp on the flourish design using Ranger - Wendy Vecchi Cornflower Blue archival ink - heat set.  To accentuate the overall design, I border punched the bottom then distress inked the edges of the white tag with broken china.  I added a "mat" cut from matching cardstock to "frame" (remember to re-punch the top hole), then distress inked the edges of the mat with black soot:

Stamp the butterfly image from the Framelits set with, StazOn black ink, onto a piece of "report cover" clear sheet.  NOTE - archival OR distress ink will not stick to the plastic.  Also do not use a overhead transparency sheet as it is "foggy" on one side and mutes the colors.  To colorize the butterfly, use alcohol inks with blending solution on the BACK of the stamped image - so as not to pull up any of the stamping - here it is shown on a white piece of paper to emphasize placement:

 Once the alcohol inks have dried, use the matching Framelit to diecut the butterfly image:

Use your fingers or tweezers to bend the clear butterfly in the center and attach in the middle only with glossy accents (it will dry clear) to secure. Die cut, fold and secure several of the smaller butterflies to accent.  Colorize crinkle ribbon with distress inks - dry - attach as a bow.

I personally LOVE the way you can see through the butterfly to the background,

 it looks as though it is really flying off the tag.  

Supplies used:
Surfaces: 4" x 8" white tag, Tim Holtz Core'dinations cardstock - broken china, Remnant Rubs - Botanical; clear "report cover" sheet
Dies: Sizzix - Framelit #660189 Butterfly, decorative strip - Butterfly Frenzy
Stamps: Stampers Anonymous - Fabulous Flourishes
Inks: Distress - broken china, black soot, shabby shutters; Wendy Vecchi - cornflower blue; StazOn - black; Alcohol - sunshine yellow, sunset orange, pool, meadow + blending solution
Ink Marker: Distress - broken china
Paint: Distress - broken china, mustard seed, chipped sapphire
Mediums: glossy accents
Embellishments: crinkle ribbon, word band + two brads,
Tools: idea-ology spritzer, border punch, synthetic brushes (for alcohol inks)

Thanks for stopping by and please share this site with like minded friends.  Hope to see you all for the next one, in the meantime - have fun and enjoy!

French Collection Folio

I have made several of these folios both in the large and small sizes, taught classes with them, and continue to enjoy each one as a "mini scrapbook" or remembrance of a special occasion.  These also make great gifts!  This is one of my favorites using the Tim Holtz French Industrial paper stash in both sizes of 12" x 12" and 8" x 8", plus the quarter cuts in the back of a 12" x 12 pad. There is only one small part of it not from Tim's collections - the tab punch I used to help turn the pages.  Most of the photos speak for themselves, I have added technique notes and hope you enjoy making one of your own.

Large French Collection Folio

On the cover, grungeboard die cuts are embossed with matching texture fade, then painted Espresso Brown - dry - rub across a black archival ink pad then clear embossing powder - heat to reveal black shiny details on the embossed image.  Flourish & swirl diecuts are painted silver - dry - use a cotton swab to rub on archival black ink shadows.  Alpha part letters are painted with Frayed Burlap - dry - coat tops with glossy accents - dry.  Cabinet card has clear "report cover" film with remnant rub, stamped pen nib and Industrious Sticker frame.  Closure elastic has been threaded with a word band.

   

Inside view of different page lengths & widths, pocket on left hand side for tags that have been embossed with texture fades and cut with on the edge dies.  This also shows stencils, remnant rubs, stamps and inside die cut of Fleur de lis.  Add lots of ephemera as you build.

Next page has die cut gears, found relatives on the left and a fold out page on the right:

Next page has a heavyweight plastic piece and remnant rubs - cut from the Mini Cabinet Card die.

Next page has a found relative card on left  with silver painted mini clipboard diecut and glassine pocket containing two tags on right.  I used Kraft cardstock to mat some of the photos:

Next page used the trellis die (with scattered "inside cuts" from trellis) and paper scraps on the spine areas:

 I add a page to the "back" of the folio even if the inside back has been covered.  NOTE - I use inked paper reinforcements to strengthen holes around elastic band:

Supplies:

Surfaces: Tim Holtz Large Collection Folio, Grungeboard, French Industrial 12x12 paper stash, Collage 8x8 paper stash

Dies: Sizzix - Bigz Flourish & Swirl, Fleur de Lis & Eiffel Tower; On The Edge - Steampunk; Movers & Shapers - Mini Clipboard, Mini Cabinet Card; Framework - Trellis; Framelit - French Flight

Stamp Collections: I See Paris, Mini Classics, Steampunk, Paris Memoir

Ink: Distress - Brushed Corduroy, Frayed Burlap, Vintage Photo; Archival Black

Stencil: Clockworks

Texture Fades: Artful Muse, Distressed Frame & Postal, Eiffel Tower & French Script, French Connection

Paint: Distress - Frayed Burlap; Adirondack - Silver, Espresso Brown

Mediums: Ranger Matte Multi Medium, Glue n' Seal Matte

Embellishments: Idea-ology - French Industrial salvage stickers, Frames *& Trims industrious stickers, glassine pocket, Signmaker alpha parts, large Cabinet Card Frame, Expedition Ephemera Pack, Found Relative Cards - original & occasions, word band, Elements remnant rubs; crochet cotton for tag strings, tags, clear report film, paper reinforcements

Tools: corner rounder, scoring board + tool, tab punch, heat tool, 1/2" synthetic brush for medium

Thank you for stopping by and your wonderful words of encouragement - wishing all of you the best - happy paper crafting!   K

Anna Griffin on HSN - Tuesday March 24th

Calling all "Griffinites" and lovers of beautiful things to mark your calendars for Tuesday, March 24th - Anna will be on HSN's 24 hour craft event celebrating National Craft Month - 11 am, 4 pm and 8 pm Eastern time. Anna has previewed some of the new goodies blog.annagriffin.com and you can pre-order many of our other favorite products on HSN.com/AnnaGriffin  Below are a few samples using "Glitter Papers" and the "Best in Show" collection - enjoy!

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.