Mega Fail or a Happy Mistake

Good Morning my friends, I'm sharing a card I made last Friday, a disaster of a day if ever there was one but all will be revealed later, using Tim Holtz/Sizzix Poinsettia 3D Texture Fade, intended for a DT project but it didn't float my boat and was tossed into the "lame duck/a bit of a disaster/might use someday" box. But, on looking at it the next day with fresh eyes, it gradually began to grow on me and I rather liked the chalky washed out look on the poinsettia which I hasten to add was not intentional but rather down to me being too lazy to walk around my desk and get my Distress Ink re-inkers and the fact my brain failed to register that, if you are going to attempt watercoloring with Distress Oxide inks, the more water you add, the more they are going to oxidise. So, with my adorable Professor's wise words - "don't freak your freak/embrace your imperfections/get over yourself and What If ? ringing in my ears, it was time to attempt a little resurrection and you know what, I rather like it now.

I trimmed Distress Watercolor card to be slightly smaller than an A2 card blank and spritzed back and front with water. I smooshed a Black Soot Distress ink pad over the debossed side of Tim Holtz/Sizzix Poinsettia 3D Texture Fade, spritzed lightly with water, added the card and ran through my Big Shot 3 times.

So far so good.

I coloured the Poinsettia with Spiced Marmalade and Barn Door and the leaves with Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint and Pine Needles Distress Distress Oxide inks using a Distress Detailer Brush, drying between the layers of colour and this was the stage where it was destined for the bin. The more colour and water I added, the chalkier it got.

But after spending so much time on the colouring, I wasn't going to give up on it and the rescue attempt began. I inked the script stamp from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Dearly Departed with Distress Embossing ink, stamped randomly on the background and heat set with Ranger Superfine White Embossing Powder.

I wasn't out of the woods yet and decided it needed a real pop of something to make those flowers come to life so I sprinkled the flower centres and the background randomly with Stampendous Frantage Aged Black Embossing Enamel which is a mix of chunky black, brown and gold granules and heat set from underneath.

To finish I added word stickers from the Idea-ology Christmas Sticker Book, outlined with a fine black liner pen.

Not my favourite card ever but not worthy of going in the bin either so all's well that ends well.

But back to the saga of my disastrous Friday. Do you ever have days when you're up and about and feel that your brain has missed the morning alarm call and when it does join the party, doesn't seem to be on your wave length at all. Old age doesn't come by itself and if truth be told, my body reminds me of that saying everyday but up to now, the old brain didn't seem to be ready to join that club, or so I thought. For some reason, on that particular Friday morning, I got it into my head it was Saturday and posted on Facebook not only wishing everyone a Happy Saturday and a great weekend but shouting from the rooftops about joining Tim and Mario that evening for the reveal of the STAMPtember release. Luckily a kind friend pointed out that I seemed to have gained a day and I quickly edited my post, crikey there's nothing worse than folks turning up for a party 24 hours too soon. Then an e-mail from Royal Mail popped into my Inbox to say they would be delivering a parcel between 7.46 and 11.46 on Saturday so although I had already been reminded it was only Friday, why was I constantly waiting for the doorbell to ring and bad mouthing our postal service when it failed to turn up. Happily,  my brain and I seem to be singing from the same hymn sheet again and I'm confident it was just a temporary short circuit because if it's a sign of things to come, I need to book in for a reboot now. Will I be using the same technique to watercolor again - probably NOT but it just goes to show that what you think is a mega fail, can sometimes turn into a happy mistake so keep on believing, my friends and I'll be sharing a far easier, less traumatic version of this card next week.

Hugs Kath xxx

Where available I use compensated affiliate links which means if you make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. You can find my affiliate and product disclosure HERE

Simon Says - Add A Photo

 Hi Everyone...welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. Thank you for joining us for last week's challenge and we hope you can join us this week too because

and the theme for this week is...

ADD A PHOTO

I created a birthday card for a neighbour who is a keen photographer following a recent conversation we had about the good old days of Kodak Brownie and Polaroid cameras, black and white or sepia photographs, long before the invention of colour film, digital/phone cameras and selfies. I used Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Inventor 8, Tapestry and the script image from Dearly Departed, Idea-ology Found Relatives, Film Strip Ribbon and Label Tape.

I began with a 5" x 7" panel of Distress Watercolor card, smooshed Antique Linen and Hickory Smoke Distress Oxide inks on to the craft mat on my Glass Media Mat and spritzed with water. I laid the panel into the ink, dried and then tapped back repeatedly into the remaining droplets of ink, drying between layers until I was happy with the background.

I inked one of the background stamps from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Tapestry with Hickory Smoke Distress Archival and the script stamp from Dearly Departed with Black Soot and stamped randomly on the background holding the stamps in my hands.

I stamped the camera image from Inventor 7 inked with Black Soot Distress Archival and the wording at the top of the stamp inked with Ground Espresso.

I applied Vintage Distress Collage Medium Matte to Idea-ology Film Strip Ribbon and a Found Relative to create a sepia vintage look.

I applied some colour behind where the photo will be and in the centre of the camera image using Vintage Photo Distress Ink and a Mini Round Blending Tool.

I fixed the photo and film strip ribbon in place with Distress Collage Medium Matte and added Idea-ology Label Tape.

I die-cut the word "SMILE" 4 times from scraps of Distress Watercolor card using Tim Holtz/Sizzix Alphanumeric Classic Lower Thinlits and layered to create dimension

I die-cut stars from Distress Watercolor card using Tim Holtz/Sizzix Swirling Stars Thinlits.

I inked the script stamp from Dearly Departed with Vintage Photo Distress Archival ink and stamped across the dimensional letters.

To finish, I inked the sentiment stamps from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Simple Sayings with Distress Embossing Ink, stamped on to scraps of Idea-ology BlackOut KraftStock, sprinkled with Ranger Superfine White Embossing Powder, heat set and trimmed.

I matted the panel on to Idea-ology BlackOut KraftStock, sanded to reveal the kraft core and fixed to a 5.1/2" x 7.1/2" white card blank.

You can find all the products I used over at Simon Says Stamp, just click on the links below

Why don't you pop over to the Monday Challenge Blog and check out the amazing creations from my very talented Design Team mates and as always you have until Monday 8am Ohio time...1pm UK time...2 pm CET to join in with the chance to win a $25 voucher to spend at Simon Says Stamp Online Store

You can also follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram

and if you use Instagram...

please add #sssmchallenge to your entry uploads so we can see them on there too

I look forward to seeing what you create this week...

Have Fun and Happy Crafting

Hugs Kath xxx

 

Where available I use compensated affiliate links which means if you make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. You can find my affiliate and product disclosure HERE

Simon Says - Steam Punk

 Hi Everyone...welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. Thank you for joining us for last week's challenge and we hope you can join us this week too because

and the theme for this week is...

STEAMPUNK

I created a page for my art journal using using Distress Crackling Campfire and Speckled Egg Distress Spray and Distress Oxide Sprays with Tim Holtz /Stampers Anonymous Gears Layering Stencil and Specimen stamp set, ephemera from the Idea-logy Curiosities Sticker Book, Specimen Remnant Rubs and Hardware Heads. Steampunk is a bit out of my comfort zone but hey, that's why they call this a challenge, so I put my best foot forward and gave it a shot. To be honest, the whole of last week was a CHALLENGE, trying to come to terms with the new blogger interface, certainly not the "easier to use" improvement promised but hey ho, I'm hanging in there with you all and hopefully they will iron out the bugs and we'll be back to blogging with our eyes closed again. But the biggest challenge of all was setting up my new IPhone, let's just say Apple and I are not best friends at the minute. Having been used to an easy peasy Android Phone, enter a few details and bing bang bosh, you're ready to go versus much tearing my hair out moments and many bad words. The politest thing I have to say about my new gadget is that it was a bloody nightmare and an utter faff but I'm getting there and will not be beaten by an all singing, all dancing little package of technology.

I began with Distress Watercolor card trimmed to 5" x 7", applied Distress Micro Glaze through the Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Gears Layering Stencil which creates a resist to any medium applied. I then spritzed the panel with Crackling Campfire Distress Spray Stain and Antique Linen and Speckled Egg Distress Oxide Sprays. Once the panel was dry, I sprayed Crackling Campfire Distress Spray on the back of the stencil, spritzed with water and used as a monoprint on the panel. To complete the background, I applied Walnut Stain Distress Oxide ink through the stencil using a mini round blending tool, stamped the script image from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Dearly Departed, inked with Walnut Stain and heat embossed with Walnut Stain Distress Embossing Glaze. I arranged a collage of ephemera from the Idea-ology Curiosities Sticker Book, stamped the moth image from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Speciment inked with Black Soot Distress Archival on to plain Idea-ology Collage Paper and fixed both to the panel using Distress Collage Medium Matte.

I stamped the moth again on to a scrap of Distress Watercolor card, heat embossed with Ranger Superfine Clear Embossing Powder, coloured with Crackling Campfire and Speckled Egg Distress Reinkers using a Distress Detailer Brush and fussy cut.

I fixed the image in place over the collaged image using Distress Collage Medium leaving the wing on the left free, bending it upwards to create dimension. I sanded the edges of the Quote Chip, dabbed on Speckled Egg Distress Paint with my finger and heat embossed with Speckled Egg Distress Embossing Glaze. I die-cut the gears using Tim Holtz/Sizzix Gearhead Thinlits, finger painted with Crackling Campfire Distress Paint, added a little Distress Grit Paste and sprinkled with Speckled Egg Distress Embossing Glaze. I heat set while the Grit Paste was still wet which creates a bubbly gnarly look. I fixed the gears in place, added Specimen Remnant Rubs and Hardware Heads finger painted with Crackling Campfire Distress Paint.

To finish, I matted the panel on to kraft card and Idea-ology BlackOut KraftStock and added to my Dina Wakley Media Journal. I'm running out of wall space to display projects so this is an ideal storage solution.

You can find all the products I used over at Simon Says Stamp, just click on the links below

Why don't you pop over to the Monday Challenge Blog and check out the amazing creations from my very talented Design Team mates and as always you have until Monday 8am Ohio time...1pm UK time...2 pm CET to join in with the chance to win a $25 voucher to spend at Simon Says Stamp Online Store

You can also follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram

and if you use Instagram...

please add #sssmchallenge to your entry uploads so we can see them on there too

I look forward to seeing what you create this week...

Have Fun and Happy Crafting

Hugs Kath xxx

Where available I use compensated affiliate links which means if you make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. You can find my affiliate and product disclosure HERE

Simon Says - Frame It

Hi Everyone...welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. Thank you for joining us for last week's challenge and we hope you can join us this week too because

and the theme for this week is...

FRAME IT

I created a page for my Art Journal to tell the strange story of Amelia Hardy using Tim Holtz Idea-ology Vellum Haunts and the floral image from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Dearly Departed, coloured with Crackling Campfire Distress Re-inker, to create a frame.

I trimmed Distress Watercolor card to 5" x 7" and decided to work on the textures side. I smooshed a Custom Blend ink pad created with Iced Spruce DO, Hickory Smoke DI, Weathered Wood DO and Old Paper DI on to the craft mat on my Glass Media Mat and spritzed with water. I laid the card into the ink, dried and tapped back into the remaining droplets of ink.

I stamped one of the background images from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Tapestry inked with Hickory Smoke Distress Oxide ink on to the panel.

I stamped the floral image from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Dearly Departed several times on to Distress Watercolor card, inked with Black Soot Distress Archival ink and fussy cut.

I trimmed down the Tim Holtz Idea-ology Vellum Haunt and fixed to Tim Holtz/Sizzix Adhesive Sheet.

I fixed the Vellum Haunt to the panel, inked the sentiment stamp from Dearly Departed with Crackling Campfire Distress Ink and heat embossed with Crackling Campfire Distress Embossing Glaze.

I arranged the flowers to create a frame, fixed in place along with the Wholesale Florists image and coloured with Crackling Campfire and Peeled Paint Distress Re-inkers using a Distress Detailer Brush.

I fixed the panel to Light Green cardstock from my stash and white card measuring 6" x 8" and added small strips of Idea-ology Botanical Paper around the edges. I added "Amelia Hardy" a sticker from the Idea-ology Curiosities Sticker Book.

I inked the sentiments from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Tiny Text Halloween with Versamark ink, stamped on to a scrap of Idea-ology BlackOut KraftStock, heat embossed with Ranger Superfine White Embossing Powder and trimmed.

You can find all the products I used over at Simon Says Stamp, just click on the links below

Why don't you pop over to the Monday Challenge Blog and check out the amazing creations from my very talented Design Team mates and as always you have until Monday 8am Ohio time...1pm UK time...2 pm CET to join in with a chance to win a $25 Voucher to spend at Simon Says Stamp Online Store.

You can also follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram

and if you use Instagram...

please add #sssmchallenge to your entry uploads so we can see them on there too

I look forward to seeing what you create this week...

Have Fun and Happy Crafting

Hugs Kath xxx

 

Where available I use compensated affiliate links which means if you make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. You can find my affiliate and product disclosure HERE