Eileen Hull Snowman and Mitten Cards

This blog is not only dusty, it's completely neglected. So sorry everyone. This pandemic has made me blog derelict.  Hello to each and every one of you, and I pray that life has been treating you kind. So with a kick in the crafty hind end to participate in a blog hop, I have a set of inky mixed media wintry cards for you using Eileen Hull's new Sizzix dies, the Snowman and Mitten Large ScoreBoard Box Dies. By the way, Eileen just posted a lovely write up about each of her Educators and our favorite project we've made using her dies. Hope on over if you haven't seen it, and you can revisit my Steampunk Baby Shoes here as well.

I love playing cards, and tried to give this that sort of feel. I think these would be great for a winter birthday or all occasion card, and not just for Christmas.

I pressed five colors of Wendy Vecchi Archival Ink directly onto the Tim Holtz Glass Media Mat, sprayed them with rubbing alcohol, and ran sheets of Specialty Stamping Paper from Ranger through it, picking up the colors. This created a cool marbled swirly background. I let this dry naturally which happens fast.

Using a stamping platform, I stamped the Mini Swirly Snowflakes from Tim and Stamper's Anonymous onto the backgrounds using Forget Me Not Archival.

Then I stamped some more using the Urban Chic and Mini Media Marks sets using more Archival. I cut the backgrounds in half to create four card backgrounds.  I added a strip of heart Washi Tape and stamped a striped border along the bottom. Then I inked the edges of each card and rounded the corners by hand.

I stamped the letters onto the upper left side of the cards, and mounted the cards onto black cardstock. Using the heart pieces cut from the Mittens Box Die using Mat Board, I inked over them in Red Geranium Archival, and adhered them under the letters for each card. I used a white pen to color in the circles in the background of each card as well.

I wanted a more 3D Snowman so I used two pieces of each scarf and hat, and trimmed sections off and layered them on top of each other. I inked over all the pieces with Archival.

I added stamped portions over the snowman and snow using the scribbly circle stamp and lightly stamped in Sky Blue Archival. Then I adhered all the pieces of the snowmen together.

To have the mittens fit the card size a little better, I trimmed off a portion of the cuff and adhered it on top of the remainder of cuff for a more 3D look. I inked the sides, trim, and cuff in Forget Me Not.

I lightly stamped over the mittens using Wendy's Ticking Background Stamp and Sky Blue to make them look knitted. Then I stamped the snowflake image in the middle, and stripes onto the cuffs. I colored in the snowflakes with Pitt Pens from Faber-Castell. I added more hearts onto the mittens and snowmen.

I added the snowmen and mittens to each card front, and highlighted a few areas with Stickles. Then to finish the cards I added the words with Label Letters from Tim Holtz Idea-ology.

 

 

Supplies: 

(Stamp Platform, Paper Trimmer, 91% Rubbing Alcohol, Stamping Block, Ink Blending Tool, Skor Tape, Foam Tape, Scissors)

-Ranger Surfaces: Specialty Stamping Paper, Black Cardstock

-Ranger Wendy Vecchi Archival Ink: Red Geranium, Sky Blue, Forget Me Not, Bluebird, Cornflower Blue, Watering Can, Tiger Lily, Orange Blossom, Potting Soil, Jet Black

-Stamper's Anonymous Tim Holtz Stamp Set: Mini Swirly Snowflakes, Urban Chic, Mini Media Marks, Blockprint

-Ranger Wendy Vecchi Washi Tape

-Sakura Gelly Roll Pen: White, Black

-Sizzix Eileen Hull Scoreboards Large Box Die: Snowman, Mitten

-Sizzix Little Sizzlers Mat Board: White

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium: Matte

-Stamper's Anonymous Wendy Vecchi Background Stamp: Ticking

-Faber Castell Pitt Pens: Cobalt Turquoise, Indian Red

-Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Label Letters
-Ranger Stickles: Diamond, Black Diamond
 

Eileen Hull Snowman and Mitten Blog Hop Participants:

Jennie Atkinson

Sue Eldred

Madeline Arendt

Sarah Lizzie

Debbie Bankston

Nicole Wright

Cheryl Bodkin Waters

Annette Green 
Julia Aston
Karen Bearse

Susie Bentz

Pam Bray

Anna-Karin Evaldsson

Lisa Hoel
Jenny Marples

Elizabeth Robinson

Tonya Trantham

Mitsyana Wright

Don't forget to visit all the fabulous designers in this hop to see their gorgeous makes. I am going to try to be back soonish. Thank you truly for stopping by today and making my day!!! Stay safe and healthy everyone!

I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!

An 80th Birthday Card

Hello All! Just a quick post today. I have been busy planning a special birthday party for my FIL's 80th birthday! He's a special guy and deserves a special day. Here is the card I made for him, using lots of Tim Holtz goodies. 

 

I have several old Inventory Tags in my stash and have never used a one, so it was time. I also had an embossed stars card that I don't know how I came about it, so I thought I would use it too. I began by inking over both with Distress Oxides from Tim and Ranger. Then I misted them with water to oxidize the look. I rubbed over the stars until they were white again. Super cosmic look I think!

I stamped over the card with Tim's new Faded Type Stamp Set from Stamper's Anonymous using the same Oxide Inks. I LOVE this set! I rubbed over the stars again to make them white.

Using Tim's Merchant set, I stamped '80' down the side of the card using Jet Black Archival for a border look. I am digging that, and will definitely keep that in mind again for another make. I also stamped the largest of the numbers on the Inventory tag. 

I had to blow off the dust from my red Royal Typewriter, as I think it's been over a year since I used it...yikes. I typed in the date of my FIL's birth and a sentiment onto the tag.

I used gel pens to outline the card and the main '80'. Distress Oxide has a fabulous layer quality to it, and when you add a thin coating of Distress Micro Glaze over it you can really see the layers and bring out the colors even more....a trick I learned from Tim. I foam taped the tag to the card, and tied a string to it. Such a simple card and so fast to make.

    

 

Supplies: 

(Craft Sheet, Paper Trimmer, Stamp Platform, Typewriter, Scissors)

-Inventory Tag, Card with Embossed Stars

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink: Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean, Rusty Hinge

-Ranger Mini Ink Blending Tool

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Sprayer

-Ranger Water Brush

-Stamper's Anonymous Tim Holtz Stamp Set: Faded Type, Merchant

-Ranger Archival Ink: Jet Black

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Micro Glaze

-Ranger Foam Tape: Black
-White and Black Gel Pens

Thank you so much for stopping by! I'll be back again soon with a few more posts this month, until then....
I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!

Snarky Cat Valentine Cards

There sure is a whole lot of dust on this blog. I have been busier than ever since Creativation in January...just swamped. I had to make time to get my Valentines finished though, or I would have been  in deep you know what with a lot of people, especially the Hubs who is a Valentine baby. Tim Holtz's Snarky Cats from Stamper's Anonymous, made a slew of these so easy to make, and SO SUPER FUN, especially with his Snarky Big Talk Stickers ! I am in love with these fat little critters, and each has a unique personality that just makes me chuckle! So here they are (pics are a little fuzzy, sorry), and in a very short post as per my usual. Enjoy!

Using the Stamp Platform, I stamped the cats in Jet Black Archival from Ranger, and heat embossed with Clear Embossing Powder. I stamped the sentiment in Picket Fence Distress Ink and heat embossed with white powder.

I used Wendy's Stay-tion to hold Tim's Heartstruck Layering Stencil in place while I inked over it using Aged Mahogany (My absolute favorite color!) Distress Ink. I trimmed these into two pieces and used them for a border on the cards.

I free hand cut hearts, and used a craft knife to cut slits around the paws of the cats and slipped the hearts in with a little Distress Collage Medium.

I added the stenciled paper and a strip of black cardstock to the cards and stitched around the other end. I colored in portions of the cats with Pitt Pens and a white gel pen, and then added the Snarky Big Talk Stickers, the sentiment, and another sentiment I made on the computer. Then I attached the card fronts to a layered card base. These were so so simple and easy to make.

Supplies: 

(Craft Sheet, Embossing Heat Tool, Paper Trimmer, Stamp Platform, Stay-tion, Scissors, Craft Knife, Self Healing Mat)

-Ranger Surfaces- Kraft Cardstock, Black Cardstock

-Burgundy Cardstock

-Stamper's Anonymous Tim Holtz Stamp Set: Snarky Cat, Crazy Talk

-Ranger Archival Ink: Jet Black

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink: Picket Fence, Aged Mahogany, Brushed Corduroy

-Ranger Embossing Powder: Clear, White

-Sakura Gelly Roll: White

-Stamper's Anonymous Tim Holtz Layering Stencil: Heartstruck

-Ranger Mini Ink Blending Tool

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium: Matte

-Two-Sided Tape

-Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Big Talk Snarky

-Computer Generated Sentiment

-Faber-Castell Pitt Pens

Thanks for stopping by everyone, and I truly hope you have a loved filled day Friday! Until next time...
I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!

Velvet Poinsettia Pieces Christmas Cards

Happy Winter...and it's my Anniversary too, so I'm making this one short! Here is my last Christmas card for the year, and it was easy, yet hard...lol...to make.  I'll explain below. I love poinsettias though, and was so happy to have Tim's new Poinsettia Pieces from Sizzix. I was very happy with how this card turned out, and hope you like it as well.

I had one sheet of this velvet paper left in my stash, and I've looked for more for years to no avail, so I decided to finally use it up. I cut it in half to make two cards, and added Sizzix Adhesive Sheet to the back, and mounted them on Heavystock base cards. I also had some vintage gold looking paper that was super thin and perfect for Thinlits, even though it had this strange waxy coating. Because of the intricacies of the die and liquid adhesive hard to use...not to mention bad on velvet...I added adhesive on the back to make it easy to add to the velvet once die cut, and it really did not get thicker with the adhesive on. I laid out all three pieces of the poinsettia die as well as the smaller 'Merry Christmas' from the Christmas Ribbon Thinlit set, and since it all fit so well together, I thought it would be so easy to die cut in one pass. I also added a layer of wax paper between the dies and paper, again because of the intricacy and I didn't want any paper to stick in the die cuts. I really had my thinking cap on...I thought. So I ran it through, and just to be sure, ran it through three times. I figured the dies would just fall loose, but nope. I had to use a stylus and craft pick to loosen the pieces. I guess I did make it a little too thick, but I persevered. They came out after me being super gentle, but it just wasn't as easy as I was hoping for and took some time, but I loved the end result.

I also wanted another leaf, so I ran it through again. Then I thought it needed some berry action, so I used a few hole punches to add the circles around the flower parts. I  peeled off the adhesive protection sheet from the back and added the gold die cut paper to the velvet. It stuck okay, but had some gaps, and I felt like it would come off easily. I knew what it needed...heat. So I sandwiched it between some sheets of paper and gave the card a good ironing. The heat made the adhesive even stickier and perfect for the velvet. I learned this in high school making t-shirts with iron-ons. Now the cards were completely solid and perfect in my opinion. See what I mean now about easy yet hard?!!

And of course I thought it needed a little more. Why not? It's Christmas! So I added Tidings Stickles from Ranger around things. Finally finished!

 

 

Supplies: 

(Craft Sheet, Die Cut Machine, Kraft Pick, Stylus, Paper Trimmer, Wax Paper, Iron, Crop-o-dile, Hole Punch)

-Sizzix Adhesive Sheets

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Heavystock

-Velvet Paper, Gold Paper

-Sizzix Tim Holtz Thinlits: Poinsettia Pieces, Christmas Ribbon

-Ranger Stickles: Tidings

So I'm going to try and work on my big project this afternoon and hopefully blog it before Christmas, but in case I don't make it I wish each and every one of you a blessed Christmas or Hanukkah, and healthy and happy New Year! I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!

Merry Misfits Personalized Christmas Tags

Happy Friday everyone! Here are my last Christmas name tags...I hope...for presents for some little ones in my life..and the usual three who wish they were still little!!! I have totally fallen in love with these Merry Misfits from Tim Holtz and Stamper's Anonymous! Each one has this crazy personality that I just adore, and they are a little snarky. Oh my gosh they are SO FUN! And the Creepy Eyes are perfect for them I think, so hypnotic too. The camera even loved the eyes so much that I couldn't get pictures that focused on the whole tag, ugh! Enjoy!

I stamped the Misfits onto the black tags with Picket Fence Distress Ink from Tim and Ranger so I could see the image, and I also stamped them on sticky notes for masking a little later. I left the images in the stamping platform so they would be in the same position for stamping again later on...yes, I have a few stamping platforms...yikes!

I knew I wanted to paint these in, and the only way I could think to make the paint really pop was having a white base to them, so I roughly painted them in with White Picket Fence Distress Paint.

I stamped the images again and this time heat embossed them with White Embossing Powder.

I masked the Misfits off, as well as the center area for the names, and them stamped and heat embossed the Circles Background with more White Powder. The tag was a little longer than the stamp, so I used an embossing pen and free handed the circles to cover the tag and embossed again...so easy to do it that way than to line up the stamp again I think. I made a frame around the name area using a Big Pitt Pen in White.

I used Distress paint to paint in the images, which goes on and dries so perfect on this surface. I also added a border with the Pitt Pen, and added little snowflakes in the center of the circles with a white gel pen.

Then I stamped the names and again heat embossed with White. I added the eyes, nose, and twine. This one is for my Great Nephew who is three, but I had to mail it before I remembered about taking pics...oh well.

Supplies: 

(Craft Sheet, Stamp Platform, Scissors, Sticky Notes, Heat Tool, Paint Brush)

-Ranger Surfaces: #8 Black Tag

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink: Picket Fence

-Stamper's Anonymous Tim Holtz Stamp Set: Merry Misfits, Dots and Circles, Tall Text

-Ranger Embossing Powder: White

-Ranger Archival Ink: Jet Black

-Ranger Embossing Pen

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Paint: Picket Fence, Festive Berries, Mowed Lawn, Hickory Smoke, Black Soot, Gathered Twigs, Brushed Corduroy, Tattered Rose

-Faber-Castell Pitt Pen: White

-White Gel Pen

-Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Creepy Eyes

-Twine, Red Pom Poms, Tiny Black Buttons 

I still have one more Christmas Card to show you, and a huge project I've been working on since last Christmas that I hope to finish, but I am running out of time, and I don't know if I'll have time to finish the big one  before Christmas, but I'll try. Anyway, I hope you all have found some inspiration in these makes this week, and I thank you for all the blog and social media love! I'll be back tomorrow...until next time...I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!