Tim Holtz Sizzix Autumn/Halloween 2024 - Autumn Brooches

It's already August and Autumn will be here before you know it, so I love that Tim Holtz releases products early enough to be in hand before the season. Today was the Live for the Sizzix Autumn/Halloween Dies. If you missed it, watch the replay, or just watch it again and again because the makes were crazy outstanding and inspiring from the Makers! I'm always in awe and my head explodes with ideas after every Live. I'd like to give you a little personal side note as to why I made Brooches for not only Autumn but also for Halloween (Don't be surprised if you see some for Christmas!) with the new Dies, and YES they are made with paper.  My Mother and I shared a love for vintage jewelry and especially brooches. We gifted each other many over the years. She passed away in January of this year, and I was entrusted to clean out her house. When I came to large collection of jewelry, so many pieces were brooches of course. Memories flooded back, and I found so much joy in them. I researched every single piece and discovered some valuable pieces as well as learned so much. My love for them was renewed, and I decided to start making my own, but I had no idea where to start and didn't know how I was going to shape real metal. Then Tim sent the dies, and I decided to try making one brooch with the dies and PAPER. I started with several layers of metallic paper, and it proved sturdy but not quite as I would have liked, so I thought I'd coat it in resin, and WOW it worked! It was not only sturdy, but I think it will last years. Next thing I knew, the one brooch turned into many and I just couldn't stop making them. Each one brought joy and strangely enough a closeness with my Mother. It was absolute therapy. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did making them.  

Add two sided tape to the back of Silver, Light Gold, Dark Gold, and Copper Metallic Kraftstock, and then start die cutting the parts that you want from the Vault Foliage Wreath Thinlits as well as the two pumpkin parts from the Vault Wicked Thinlits.  You will also need to die cut the same pieces again for about three layers to add to the thickness of the piece but don’t adhere them yet, and then die cut the same again BUT from the backside of the Kraftstock with the two sided tape side up to be able to back your pieces so that the backside of the brooch looks nice and finished, MINUS the detail pieces like the centers of flowers and leaves as you don’t really need to have those on the back.  Do not add the backs on the pieces yet though. Start playing with the pieces to figure out the layout and size of the brooch you want keeping in mind the closeness of the parts so that your pin won’t show through from the front, so keep a pin handy to help guide you, as well as when to add another layer so the depth makes sense for a 3D look. You will want to layer the pieces and keep them close together to add to the sturdiness of the brooch as well. Add a bit of Collage Medium to the detail parts to make sure they stay in place. This is the hardest part of making the brooches as it takes some thinking and planning. 

Once you figure out the depth and closeness of the pieces and have added all the layers, then you can add the backing so that all the pieces are covered with metallic paper on the back and Kraft is not showing. For the pieces that won’t be showing on the back, you don’t need to add a backing of course. 

Here are all the pieces with all the layers adhered on up a little closer. I should have taken a picture of the backs as well, sorry. But they are just solid metallic paper with no detail parts. The pin will not be adhered until the very end, so don’t worry about those now.

Since the edges of the pieces are brown from the Kraft, I used metallic leafing paint pens to color the edges. I used a tiny craft Qtip with the paint from the pens to get into the tiny open areas. Doing this also allowed me to see all the edges were adhered down well, so when they were not I added a bit of Collage Medium to fully secure them. 

Some of the Droplets were not the color I needed so I dyed them with Alcohol Ink. If I had to do a lot I used a cup with several drops of the ink, if only a little I just colored them directly with a Qtip. I did the same with plain clear rhinestones as well. Then I adhered all the bling with Glossy Accents.

Another picture of using Alcohol Ink to color the bling.

Same as 5 and 6. Alcohol Ink is so versatile.

I mixed 1 ounce of Ice Resin and poured it over the pieces on a baking cooling rack I have designated for Art, with a piece of wax paper underneath. I tried to do as heavy as a coating as I could and I kept these on the rack over night, moving them around every hour using a craft pick so they didn’t get stuck in place. By morning they were dry and not stuck in place. The bottle says they totally cure after 48 hours. 

While the resin hardened I made glassine sacks to house the brooches using the Vault Pillow Box Thinlits, making a window with the pumpkin die, and adding clear packaging material under the pumpkin opening. I had to use the Premium Crease Pad for the sack die with the thin glassine so the folding creases didn’t get cut all the way through.

I used pliers to bend the hook of pin in a little more so that there wasn’t more tension when it gets secured in the closure, hopefully alleviating people from pulling on the pin too much to latch it. Fingers crossed. I added the pins to the back of each brooch so they wouldn’t be seen using lots of Glossy Accents. I also used tiny letter metal stamping punches and a Craft Hammer for my initials onto Metallic Kraftstock, and added those to the back of each piece for my maker marks, and then I coated the whole back with more Glossy Accents for added strength again, and let them dry.

Using the same Vault Pillow Box Thinlits, there is a card to die cut that fits into the sack. I die cut 6 of these, one for each as a holding card for the brooches. I measured and marked where both ends of the back of the pin would be and punch holes for them, and then used scissors to cut a line between the holes. The back of the pin is just pushed through the cut line into the holes and it stays in place perfectly. Then the card with the brooch fits into the sack. 

Supplies:

(Paper Trimmer, Two Sided Tape, Die Cut Machine, Die Pick, Scissors, Standard Premium Crease Pad)

-Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Metallic Kraftstock, Metallic Droplets, Christmas Droplets, Halloween Droplets, Mirrored Hearts, Kraft Glassine

-Sizzix Tim Holtz Thinlits (Autumn Halloween Vault Series 2024): Vault Foliage Wreath, Vault Wicked

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium: Matte

-Ranger Glossy Accents

-Ranger Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink: Sandal, Latte, Dijon, Ginger, Teakwood, Sunshine Yellow, Valencia, Botanical, Gold Mixative

-Ranger Ice Resin

-Sizzix Tim Holtz Thinlits: Vault Pillow Box & Bag

-1 Inch Brooch Pins, Gold, Silver, Copper Metallic Pens, Microfiber Cloth, Various Sizes Flat Rhinestones and Pearl Halves, Containers to Dye In and for Ice Resin, Metal Letter Stamps and Hammer if Desired, Clear Packaging

Thank you truly for all the comments on the Live and social media. I totally appreciate all of you! I'll be back again next week with the Halloween Brooches. Until then, I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!