Simon Says - Sunflower Garden

Hi my friends, I can't believe it's the last day of August already, the year is flying by and before you know Summer will be gone. There are already signs that Autumn and the short Winter days are on the way in my little corner of the planet so I thought I would make a bright sunny cheerful card using the gorgeous Simon Says Sunflower Garden 6" x 8" stamp set from the September Card Kit. It is bright, very bright so sun specs at the ready.

If you're a regular visitor to the cubbyhole, you'll know that water-colouring is not one of my talents so I resorted to my old faithful loosey goosey style using Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stains and a small scrap of acetate. I began by trimming Distress Watercolor card to create a 3" x 6" slimline panel, inked the large image from Sunflower Garden with Vintage Photo Distress Archival ink and stamped only a small section of the stamp on to the panel.

I spritzed Mustard Seed, Wild Honey and Carved Pumpkin (which I didn't use) Distress Spray Stains on to the craft mat on my Glass Media Mat, picked up Mustard Seed on a small square of acetate and laid on to the panel, pressing lightly with my fingers to spread the ink and repeated until I was happy with the first layer. I dried the panel and repeated this process with another layer of Mustard Seed and then Wild Honey, always drying between layers to avoid ending up with a muddy mess.

I repeated this process with a small amount of Ground Espresso Distress Spray Stain, tapping it on to the panel with my finger and again I dried the colour between layers. I added splatters of Ground Espresso and Flickering Candle Distress Mica Stain.

I matted the panel on to a 4.1/4" x 6.1/4" card blank covered with brown card from Sizzix Neutrals pack, inked the sentiment from the stamp set with Simon Says Embossing ink, sprinkled with Simon Says White Fine Detail Embossing Powder and heat set. I trimmed the sentiment to create a tag, fixed in place with Foam Adhesive and added a yellow thread bow. 

The last day of August means that tomorrow is the start of the month long STAMPtember party over at Simon Says Stamp, buckle up my friends, it's going to be fun.

Happy Crafting

Hugs Kath xxx

Simon Says - Glimmer and Sparkle

 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...

GLIMMER AND SPARKLE

I was intriqued by the new technique Tim Holtz has been trying out using Frosted Crystal Embossing Powder and Distress Inks, decided to give it a go and I have to say, I was rather pleased with the results.

I began by stamping my favourite snowflakes from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Mini Weathered Winter, inked with Salvaged Patina Distress Oxide ink, on to an A2 panel of Distress Watercolor Card. I sprinkled Frosted Crystal Embossing Powder over the images and heat set. Frosted Crystal takes no time at all to melt and should look matte and feel slightly rough, if it's shiny, you have definitely over-cooked your goose. 

I spritzed Iced Spruce and Brushed Corduroy Distress Spray Stains on to the mat on my glass Media Mat, spritzed with water and laid the panel into the inks. I spritzed very lightly with water to blend the colours and dried. I repeated the process several times, using water minimally and drying between each layer until I was happy with the background.

I flicked on splatters of Bubbling Cauldron and Crooked Broomstick Distress Mica Stains.

The perfect image for this vintage snow scene was my favourite snowman ever from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Winterscape, inked with Black Soot Distress Archival.

I painted the snowman with Picket Fence, Candied Apple and Spiced Marmalade Distress Paints and if I had left the stamp on the lid of my stamping platform, could have re-stamped once the paint was dry. BUT I didn't, so I stamped the image again on to Idea-ology Plain Collage Paper.

I painted around the image with water and used my fingernail to tease the excess away.

I fixed the snowman in place with Distress Collage Medium and added Distress Mica Flakes which I coloured with Gilded Alloy Alcohol Ink.

I sprinkled Stampendous Frantage Chunky White Embossing Enamel over the background and heat set from the back side of the panel. I matted the panel on to Idea-ology Metallic KraftStock and added to a 5" x 6.1/4" card blank, covered with Idea-ology BlackOut KraftStock, sanded at the edges to reveal the kraft core. I inked the sentiment from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Sketched Greenery with Distress Embossing ink, stamped on to a scrap of Idea-ology BlackOut KraftStock, sprinkled with Ranger White Superfine Embossing Powder and heat set. To finish I matted the sentiment on to Idea-ology Metallic KraftStock and trimmed to leave a small border.

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...2pm CET to join in with the chance to win a $25 voucher to spend online at Simon Says Stamp

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

Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous - Rest in Peace

Hi my friends, I'm sharing an Art Journal page I created in my Dylusions Large Creative Journal using Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Rest In Peace, Bold Frights and the amazing Moon Mask Stencils from the 2021 Halloween release along with the Distress Mica Stains from Tim's Halloween products release with Ranger.

I began by fixing the three sizes of Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Moon Mask Stencils in place on my page and spritzed with Iced Spruce Distress Spray Stain. I removed the masks and replaced the detail masks over the top and spritzed the masks and the background with Jack O Lantern Distress Mica Stain. I removed the masks and spritzed everything lightly with water, let the water do it's own thing and dried. I inked the skulls from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Rest In Peace and sentiment from Bold Frights with Black Soot Distress Archival Ink and holding the stamps in my hand, stamped on the background. It is hard to get a good image on the uneven surface of a journal so this stage is just for placement. I stamped the casket image from Rest In Peace, inked with Crackling Campfire, randomly over the background.

I painted the skulls with Antique Linen Distress Paints and stamped the images again on to Idea-ology Plain Collage Paper, inked with Black Soot Distress Archival. I painted around the edges of each image with a wet paintbrush and and used my finger to tease them apart. I fixed the collage paper images over the original stamped images using Distress Collage Medium. I applied the yummy Distress Crypt Grit Paste through the Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Deco Arch Layering Stencil and set aside to dry. 

I added the flower images from Idea-ology Halloween Collage Paper which is an oldie and may not be readily available but as an alternative you could stamp the flower image from Dearly Departed (linked below) on to plain collage paper for the same effect. To fill in the gaps, I stamped more of the word images from Rest In Peace inked with Black Soot Distress Archival, Crackling Campfire and Wilted Violet Distress Oxide inks. I painted over the section stamped with Bold Frights, lightly with Antique Linen Distress Pain, to make it stand out from the background, stamped on to plain Collage Paper, fixed over the original stamping and outlined with a Sakura Black Gel Pen. I die-cut the crosses from Distress Watercolor card using Tim Holtz/Sizzix Media Marks Thinlits, fixed randomly over the background, held in place with a dot of  Distress Collage Medium.

Have fun with whatever you are making

Hugs Kath xxx

Tim Holtz Distress Crayons and Frosted Crystal

Hi my friends, if you tuned in to the Tim Holtz YouTube Live today, you'll know that the last 3 colours to join the Distress Family, Salvaged Patina, Kitsch Flamingo and Prize Ribbon are now available as a set of Distress Crayons and the amazing Frosted Crystal Embossing Powder has been released in a bigger pot, woohoo, happy days and a big thank you to Tim. Mario, Paula and Ranger for sending them to me to play with. If you missed the Live, you can catch up over on Tim's YouTube Channel HERE - buckle up for some amazing demos from our adorable Professor.

The perfect surface to road test the Distress Crayons was a No 8 Mixed Media HeavyStock Tag

I began by fixing layers of Idea-ology Ephemera to the tag using Distress Collage Medium Matte. I applied Ranger Transparent Matte Texture Paste through Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Mini Splotches Layering Stencil and left to dry. I brushed Distress Collage Medium Matte over the tag, scribbled on the 3 colours of Distress Crayons and wiped the colour off the Texture Paste splotches using a slightly damp cloth.

I added Idea-ology Remnant Rubs

I added shading around the edges of the tag and pieces of Ephemera using a Walnut Stain Distress Crayon, fading the colour out with a Distress Detailer Brush

I tapped a Distress Embossing ink pad over the butterfly and sentiment strip from Tim Holtz Idea-ology Layers Engraving, sprinkled with the Distress Frosted Crystal Embossing Powder and heat set. This gave the slick surface tooth and allowed me to colour the pieces using the Prize Ribbon, Kitsch Flamingo and Walnut Stain Distress Crayons and a Distress Detailer Brush. I fixed the pieces in place with Distress Collage Medium, sprinkled Ranger White UTEE over the tag and heat set from underneath.

To finish I added an Idea-ology Sentiments Label Sticker to the Layers Engraving Banner and a Crinkle Ribbon bow to the top of the tag

Happy Crafting

Hugs Kath xxx

Tim Holtz/Sizzix - Pumpkinhead Colorize

Hi my friends, I'm sharing the Mini Etcetera Tag I made for the Tim Holtz/Sizzix YouTube Live launch of the Halloween release using Pumpkinhead Colorize and Alphanumeric Varsity Thinlits from Chapter 3 to create the saying that we hear our adorable Professor say all the time. If you missed the Live, you can catch up with all the new Halloween goodies and the amazing amazing inspirational projects from the makers over on Tim's Blog HERE.

I began by trimming Distress Watercolor card to be slightly larger than a Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Mini Etcetera Tag, spritzed with water, sprayed with Antique Linen Distress Spray Stain and Distress Oxide Spray to create a light neutral background.I fixed the Distress Watercolor card to the Etcetera Tag with Distress Collage Medium and sanded to neaten the edges. I inked the Lined background stamp from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Composition and Lined with Crackling Campfire Distress Oxide ink, stamped horizontally across the tag, inked again with Peeled Paint Distress Oxide ink and stamped vertically. I inked the Composition background with Ground Espresso Distress Archival ink and holding the stamp in my hands. stamped randomly around the edges.I used Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Splotches Mini Layering Stencil with Wilted Violet Distress Oxide ink to add some extra colour to the background.

I applied Sizzix Adhesive Sheets to Distress Watercolor card, Sizzix Neutral and Eclectic Cardstock and die-cut Pumpkinhead and 5 pumpkins, assembled following the guidelines that the die imprints on the die-cut pieces. 

I die-cut the spectacles and hat using Tim Holtz/Sizzix Crazy Things Thinlits and the umbrella from The Park Thinlits to add some fun embellishments to this dapper character and used a black Fine Liner pen to give his trousers a plaid look. I added splatters of Black Soot Distress Paint to the background and fixed Pumpkinhead and the pumpkins in place with foam adhesive to create dimension.  I painted a thin coat of Distress Collage Medium over the hat, his coat tail and shoes and sprinkled with the absolutely gorgeous Distress Nightfall Glitter from Tim's Ranger Halloween release, believe me when I tell you this is seriously sparkly glitter magic in a tub.

I die-cut the title from Distress Watercolor and Sizzix cardstock, fixed in place and added Nightfall Glitter to the black letters.

I added white dots to the pumpkin eyes using a Sakura White Gelly Roll Pen, Small Talk Stickers and a Mummy Cloth bow spritzed with Peeled Paint Distress Spray Stain.

Have fun with whatever you are creating.

Hugs Kath xxx