U Rock - Ode to Tim Holtz - ICAD Day 2

Tim Holtz... U Rock! Yes, you really do. And I mean that in a totally good way. One only has to look at the influence and following (worshipping fans) not to mention the product sales that you generate (which I happily contribute to ;)) to know that this is true. You just have that way about you... your sense of style, creative genius, your friendly relatable personality, teaching ability... you inspire and influence people to create.  Thus, I dedicated my Day 2 ICAD (index card-a-day) to you.

Supplies: Tim Holtz Distress inks, Distress Paints, Collage Medium (Ranger), stencil (Stampers Anonymous), Tim Holtz Idea-ology washi tape, grunge board, chipboard alpha tiles, metal crown (Advantus), index card (Staples)

I made this card using Tim Holtz products with both new and old stash. Plus, what a perfect way to try out some more of the techniques from Summer of Creative Chemistry - Creative Chemistry 101 Week 1 - Wrinkle Free Distress Background.Inspired by my main Tim's supplier... Simon Says Stamp... I went for a row plus one more from the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Tic-Tac-Toe Board.

This is what the ICAD started as and then I built layers up from there.

I used blue, a stencil, and grunge board for cardboard plus washi.

TTFN,

Index Card A Day Challenge 2016

I have wanted to do a 100 day challenge for a while now but just needed the right opportunity to start. As summer school break begins this week, what better way than to get it rolling with the ICAD 2016. If you are not familiar with the Index Card a Day Challenge hosted by Yellow Daisy, details can be found on her blog here. While the challenge there is outlined as a 61 day one starting at the beginning of June, I am making it my own for the full summer season.

Supplies: index card (Staples), cardstock (Bazzill), stencils, Nuance powders, sentiment stamp (Magenta), clear gesso (Liquitex), Tim Holtz Rock Candy Distress Stickles, Black Archival ink (Ranger), clear emboss powder (Simon Says Stamp), jewels (Flourish with a Bling), marker (Sharpie), black pen (Uniball), Signo white pen (Mitsubishi Pencil Co.), acrylic paint (Plaid), vellum (Misc.)

For my Day 1 card, I had fun experimenting with my Gelli Arts printing plate and Magenta Nuances. Nuance powder is a water soluble dye and as the Gelli plate care instructions say that dyes will stain the plate, I decided to see if I could use clear gesso (which is acrylic base) as a vehicle to applying it in a similar manner as acrylic paint. It worked wonderfully!

Supplies: Index Card (Staples), stencils and Nuance powders (Magenta), clear gesso (Liquitex)

I added about a teaspoon sized amount of Liquitex Clear Gesso onto my craft mat and then sprinkled the Nuance colour on top. I let it sit a few seconds and then mixed it with a spatula. Once, I was happy with the colour, I transferred it to the middle of the Gelli plate and rolled it out with a brayer. For each layer, I used a variety of Magenta stencils (Chicken Wire, Lines and Circle Pattern & Tulip). I started with Jade and then repeated the process for Turquoise, and Raspberry, cleaning up between each colour change.

It helped to have a bucket with water handy on the floor by my table to rinse the brayer between colours and to drop the used stencils in as gesso dries fairly quickly. It made for a super easy clean up afterwards too!

While it is supposed to be a card-a-day, I couldn't help making more as I didn't want to waste any of the colour goodness. So look for these other ones to be used in upcoming projects too.

As I love to add a little shimmery sparkle to many of my creations, I couldn't resist on this one. I brushed on some Tim Holtz Rock Candy Distress Stickles so I am entering it into Simon Says Stamp Wednesday 'Add Some Shimmer' Challenge.

For the ICAD, I decided to go with the 4x6" index card format. I am thinking the format and index base card will make it easier for me to create freely and worry less about product wastage plus as an added bonus I want to use up some of my copious stash with this challenge. So my goal is to make each completed index card into a greeting card but if not that is okay! It is about building a habit and creative play. I am thinking that as another added bonus, it will also marry well with some challenges that I like to participate in so it will be effective and efficient... my fave way to roll!

Currently I am thinking of a weekly day theme which will go like this:

Monday- Magenta
Tuesday- Tim Holtz
Wednesday- Dina Wakley
Thursday- Thirsty Thursdays (watercolour)
Friday- Freedom Friday/Prima
Saturday- Simple Stories/Heidi Swapp
Sunday- Simon Says Stamp

This way, I will be creating and thus practicing in the variety of media that I like to use as well as using the correlating day's products. We'll see if I stick with that or just go with what moves me each day. Again, I am trying to approach this in a fluid no pressure manner.

Are you participating in the challenge? Let me know so that I can check out your creations and cheer you on. If you aren't already doing the ICAD 2016, check out all the details here. So much artistic inspiration and community support!

TTFN,

Contemplations Bookmark - Prima Watercolour Challenge Meets Patterned Paper

I have a bookmark thing going on! :) Continuing my love of Christine Adolph adhesive rub-ons with Prima foils, I made this monochromatic green bookmark.

How-to-Make:

After deciding which rub-on I wanted to use, I cut out the Prima Garden Fable Blushing Floral B side patterned paper and dampened the edges with a wet paper towel. For a distressed look, I peeled a bit of the edge away and rolled off a slight border area. Next, I coloured the border with the Yellow-Green IOD Water-soluble Oil Pastel Crayon. Then, I rubbed it in and spread out the colour further with my finger. Spraying a little water onto my craft mat, I dipped my finger in it and ran it along the coloured area to activate it; thus, finger painting in order to further enlarge and blend the border. Next, I rubbed the Black pastel crayon onto my craft mat creating a small circle and spritzed some water on it. Using a fan brush, I mixed it up and then finely splattered the background. Once dry, I used a white paint marker to add some white splatters. After a few additional minutes of dry time, I adhered the adhesive rub-on in the centre and using the green foil sheet from the Bora Bora Foil Set, I burnished it onto the rub-on areas and then peeled it away. So easy-peasy but with such stunning results! Lastly, I stamped the Contemplations sentiment from the IOD Nature Stamp Set with Ranger Archival Black ink.


Inspiration for this one came from the Day 1 prompt 'Favourite Watercolour' of the Prima 30 Day Watercolor Challenge and from Simon Says Stamp Monday 'Use Patterned Papers' Challenge. 

Interested in either challenge? Come play along here:

TTFN,

Anything But Paper - Emerald Creek Dare

I am not only excited to be sharing my first project for Emerald Creek as part of the Design Team but also because I am so stoked about the birch bark bookmarks that I made for this dare. More specifically, these beauties will be used as magazine markers. 

The idea for a magazine marker was born out of my love of Flow Magazine for Paper Lovers. If you too are a fan of such a specialty magazine, then you might feel the same way as I do about needing a bookmark as a placeholder versus dog earring a corner of one of these lovelies... it just feels so wrong to do the latter.

The current Emerald Creek Dare is Anything But Paper. I have to say that I really loved the challenge of creating these bookmarks, which are traditionally made from paper, without paper and the experimentation required to figure out what worked with the base medium. 

To begin, I used a piece of birch bark that I had saved from a storm damaged fallen tree. To prep the base, I cut it into a 3 inch width and as it was too thick to lay flat, I peeled it in half (approx. 3 layers) to create two strips. Then, I cut them at two slightly different lengths just for the sake of trying two sizes. I chose to leave the natural tear part at the bottom and make all cuts from the top portion. Next, I used a baby wipe to remove the natural powdery residue from both sides of the birch strips. Lastly, I angle cut the corners and used a regular hand held office supply hole punch to make the hole. Now they were ready for some creative play.

For the first one on the left, I wanted to give stains a try. These are the supplies that I used on it. 

I started by heat emboss stamping with the Kimilese stamp and Vegas Gold Embossing Powder . Next, I sprayed Twisted Citron, Cracked Pistachio, and Broken China Distress Stains on it and then dried and heat set it with a heat gun (being careful not to get too close to the bark with the heat as it can cause the birch to blister). I placed it under a heavy stack of books to cool, dry further, and flatten. Once it was completely dry, I used the MISTI stamping tool to align the Cherry Blossom Branch stamp from the NWD Fallen Blossom stamp set where I wanted it to appear on the bookmark. Then, I inked up the branch portion of the stamp with Ranger Coffee Archival ink removing the ink from unwanted areas with a baby wipe prior to stamping it on the bark. Next, I heat set the ink with the heat gun and then let it air dry a bit longer. 

While that was happening, I cleaned the stamp with it still adhered to the MISTI using a baby wipe. Next, I inked up the blossoms with emboss ink, re-stamped the image, and heat embossed it with Sweet Valentine Embossing Powder. Once cool, I stamped my craft mat with Picket Fence Distress ink and used a water brush adding the white to the inside of the blossoms. While that was air drying, I coloured the Tim Holtz Crinkle Ribbon with Antique Linen Distress Stain and stamped the Small Butterfly on a cut off piece of birch bark with Peacock Feathers Distress Ink and heat embossed it with the Iridescent Shimmer Embossing Powder. Lastly, I stamped the "Remember to make memories" sentiment also from the NWD Fallen Blossom stamp set with the Coffee Archival ink, adhered the fussy cut butterfly, and tied on the ribbon.


For the second bookmark on the right...




I followed much of the same process with the following alterations:

- I did the initial heat emboss resist technique using the Kimilese stamp with Burnt Copper Leaves Embossing Powder prior to painting it with a combination of Broken China, Peacock Feathers, Cracked Pistachio, and Twisted Citron Distress Paint. After letting the paint "set up" a bit, I carefully lightly buffed parts of the embossed sections with a piece of paper towel to remove some of the paint and reveal the embossed script.

- I heat emboss stamped the Small Butterfly stamp using emboss ink twice on the small piece of leftover birch bark and heat embossed one with Vegas Gold Embossing Powder and the other with Iridescent Shimmer Embossing Powder prior to fussy cutting them both out.

- I heat emboss stamped the "Remember to make memories" sentiment from the NWD Fallen Blossom stamp set with fine white embossing powder.

- I used three pieces of jute twine to tie the top and knotted the ends.

Here is a look at the supplies that I used for this bookmark.

To see my fellow "Dare"mates takes on the challenge and get the challenge details, check out the Emerald Creek blog here. Kim is offering an added bonus prize for further incentive to this Dare so it is a perfect time to grab your imagination, get creative, and come join us.

If you make your own birch bark bookmarks using either method, be sure to share a link with me here on the blog or tag me @scrapsavvy on Instagram. I would love to see your take.
  

TTFN,

Emerald Creek Products used:

Kimilese stamp

NWD Fallen Blossom stamp set

Small Butterfly stamp

Burnt Copper Leaves Embossing Powder

Sweet Valentine Embossing Powder

Vegas Gold Embossing Powder

Iridescent Shimmer Embossing Powder

Other products used and available from the EC shop:

Distress Stains: Twisted Citron, Cracked Pistachio, Broken China, Antique Linen

Distress Paints: Broken China, Peacock Feathers, Cracked Pistachio, Twisted Citron

Distress Ink: Picket Fence, Peacock Feathers

Ranger: Emboss Ink

Magenta Nuance Masterboard ATCs Part 3

These final three ATCs mark the end of my three part series of 9 ATCs over on the Magenta blog.  All the ATCs were made from a watercoloured masterboard using the original three blue Nuance powders.

I used a variety of Magenta stamps, additional Nuance colours, and gold foil to create these one of a kind little beauties. For How-to details on each card, head over to the Magenta blog here.


TTFN,

Creative Chemistry 101 - Distress Ink Watercolour

You have likely already heard or seen the buzz around Tim Holtz's Summer of Creative Chemistry, with the addition of his new course Creative Chemistry 103 at Online Card Classes. I was stoked and signed up as soon as it was announced!

For warm up practice, I am following along with the weekly lessons prescribed from Creative Chemistry 101. The homework for this week... Distress Ink techniques. Oh, how I love me some Distress Inks! 

First up, I choose to do a favourite technique from this category and created a few versions on cards. You can never have too many cards! ;) On all three, I went with a warm summery combo of Distress ink colours using Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, and Festive Berries with the addition of Black Soot for the sentiments.


This one uses the basic technique. 

Supplies: watercolour paper and Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Ranger), Tim Holtz stamps (Stampers Anonymous), cardstock (CTMH), sequins (Simon Says Stamp)

This one is the second generation stamping from the first on the smooth side with the addition of water brush strokes.

Supplies: watercolour paper and Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Ranger), Tim Holtz stamps (Stampers Anonymous), cardstock (Bazzill)

Lastly, this one is a combination of the two previous... first generation stamping with the addition of a water brush. Plus, I added Gelly Roll pen outlining for a touch of glimmer.

Supplies: watercolour paper and Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Ranger), Tim Holtz stamps (Stampers Anonymous), Stardust Gelly Roll pen (Sakura)

If you haven't already checked out the Summer of Creative Chemistry, you can do so here. Hope you come and join in the fun!

TTFN,

Magenta Nuances Masterboard ATCs Part 2

Last Friday, over on the Magenta blog, I shared the first three ATCs in a three part series all made from a masterboard created using the three original Nuance blues.  If you missed out on last week's first edition post, you can find it here.

To recap, I took a masterboard created on a 9 x 12 piece of 90lb watercolour paper using Nuance blue colours (Turquoise, Cerulean Blue, and Royal Blue).  I cut it into nine - 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" pieces and created a bunch of ATCs using stencils and stamps from the Summer 2016 collection with the added touch of gold foil. Each background piece was unique and the background colour helped determine what additional colours and/or designs would best suit it.

For the background, I used the cute Doily mask and created three circular sections with it by colouring them Grass Green Nuance. Once dry, I repositioned the mask back to where it was used and I used a white pen to add floral details. Next, I positioned the Flower Silhouette stencil and filled it in with a glue stick before adding the gold foil to it. I let it sit for 5 minutes prior to removing the foil sheet to ensure that the glue had set up. I ran the glue stick along the edges of the card and added gold foil there too. Lastly, I heat emboss stamped the Wonderful World sentiment.

For this ATC, I went with a wet on wet watercolour technique and dried the paper between colour addition layers. First, I heat embossed the Wild Rose flower image in black. After water colouring with Hot Pink and Grass Green Nuance, I heat embossed the "magic all around" parts of the sentiment stamp that I wanted in white and added some grey marker shadowing to make it pop. Lastly, I masked off the image with its' stamp backing and glue stamped the background with my favourite Script and Postmark stamp and added the gold foil.

This one required a little creative colour mixing as I intentionally wanted to create "mud" or rather, hues of brown. After heat emboss stamping the Doodle Feather in black, I started with a bit of Yellow and Purple Nuance powders and a few spritzes of water on my craft mat. Then, I mixed in some Golden Yellow and filled in the whole feather and adding some to the background. Then, I added some Orange Nuance to deepen the colour and added it to sections of the feather. I used the stamp's backing as a mask and splatter a bit of watered down gesso for some background interest. Once the card was completely dry, I stamped the Carpe Diem sentiment in two parts using VersaMark and Ranger Sticky embossing powder. Next, I added the gold foil. Lastly, I inked the edges of the card with Distress ink and then added a few splatters of glue and a touch of gold foil to finish it off. 

If you are interested in receiving one of my ATCs from last week's post, check out the Part 1 Nuance Masterboard ATC post on our Instagram account (@magentastyle) for a chance to win one for yourself and a friend.

Look for Part 3 of my three part Nuance Masterboard ATCs series next Friday.

TTFN,

Carpe Diem with some Simple Stories

You just can't help but smile at pieces of Simple Stories Carpe Diem collection. Besides some 12 by 12 sheets, I purchased the journaling cards to use on scrap layouts and cards.

I scrapped this layout for fun after seeing this photo of my daughter and her friends on her phone.

Supplies: patterned paper, cardstock die cut ephemera, cardstock stickers, snap pack, photo stickers (Simple Stories), cardstock and pen (CTMH), watercolour paint (Artist Loft), embroidery Floss (Iris), StazOn ink (Tsukineko)

I used this Struck?! Sketches sketch from April as I thought it would go well with the journaling cards. I am pleased with how they worked out.

TTFN,