Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Mixed Media Easter Card

Hello, again! Perhaps you've just seen a completely different Easter card from me, with frills and fluff.  Now here is a one layer card I made for my other sister, and is a style I'm a lot more comfortable with.  This may not look like a traditional Easter card, but I chose colors reminiscent of Easter and there is an Easter sentiment on the inside.


 I started with water color paper and spritzed with a variety of Dylusions sprays, drying between each color.  The spots you see, (and I actually like) were an accident.  My green spray wouldn't spray after pumping it for about 20 times.  I aimed it at the palm of my hand and guess what???  Yep, it worked.  Now, not only do I have a green thumb, I have a green palm--this stuff doesn't wash off easily!  I digress...I spritzed my hand with water and it dripped over my card.  I dried it with my heat tool, but I was impatient, and dabbed the extra liquid off. I love the look of these multi-muted-colored droplets.  I gave it a good sprtizing of the white Dylusions, followed by Perfect Pearl mist.  



I scooched some texutre paste through a TCW stencil, and let that dry.  When dry, I wiped on a variety of metallic rubs on the raised areas, then replaced the stencil . Next I applied Perfect medium with my finger through the stencil on the insects and flowers only, removed the stencil and fluffed on Perfect Pearl powder in Sparkle.  It's so shimmery in person, and just couldn't be captured on my cell phone camera, in spite of taking it outdoors on a bright sunny day.

 I wrapped the most luxurious ribbon around it and topped it with a half pearl.  I colored some tiny pearls with Mermaid alcohol ink and placed them on the insect's heads to draw attention to them. I mounted the completed panel with foam tape to a kraft card blank.

Sorry for the spots on the ribbon; there was a little moisture on the flowers I photographed this with.

I really wish you could see the gorgeous shimmer on this and feel the softness of this ribbon--a lovely French ribbon. I'm so happy you stopped by and I really appreciate your lovely comments!  Hugs!

Sara Emily

I would like to enter this into the following  inspirational challenges:

Inspiration Jouranl "Spring Blooms" My blooms may not be obvious--they are stenciled with texture paste on the background.
Country View Challenges "Anything Goes"
Mixed Media World "Anything Goes"
Sprinkle of Imagination "Anything Goes"
Crafty Boots Challenge "Easter"

Sweet Blessings


 Good afternoon!  Today I made Easter cards for my Mom, sisters, Mother and Father in Law and my sister and brother in law. Totally missed a gorgeous day, but these have got to get in the mail!  Here is the card I made for my sister, whose favorite color is green.


 I was in a bit of rush, as I usually am, and didn't take any photos of the process.  I started with glossy photo printing paper, swiped it through some Distress paints spritzed with water on my mat, and gave it a spritz of rubbing alcohol. It really is the most amazing marble-y spotty background, and I wish I had a shot of it before I covered it up.  I tried to get a few shots of what was peeking out below.  I dried it with my heat tool and smoothed some texture paste through a Prima doily stencil.  When dry I lighty wiped over the textured area with Distress ink



 I chose a Creative Scrap from a Crafty Secrets collage sheet, distressed and inked the edges with Walnut Stain.  I inked a doily with Distress ink, added some Tim Holtz Spring Garden die cuts, inked, spritzed and painted, a few flowers from my stash, some ribbon and twine for embellishments.  My sister is not a big ribbon fan, but the challenge at  Frilly and Funkie calls for ribbon, so I added just a tiny bit, but gave it a little extra touch by pleating it. I inked and painted the flowers with  Tim's Distress products to make them look like cherry blossoms that are popping out all over our neighborhood right now and added some green micro beads to redeem myself for putting so much PINK into this card (Kim's not a pink person, either!)






I hope you liked my card!  It was a blast to make and a personal favorite (pink and green is my favorite spring color combination).  Thank you for stopping by and leaving your very encouraging comments!  I read and appreciate each one and eventually respond to every one--I'm a little behind right now, but I'll hopefully get caught up soon! Hugs and Blessings!

Sara Emily

I would like to enter this into the following inspirational challenges:
Frilly and Funkie "Put a Ribbon On It!"
Country View Challenges "Anything Goes"
Crafty Boots Challenges "Easter"
Inspiration Journal "Spring Blooms"
A Sprinkle of Imagination "Anything Goes"

Monday, March 30, 2015

Easter Basket

I can hardly believe it's Easter already!  I made this basketful of eggs to help celebrate this very special day.


I started out by using Tim Holtz' marbling technique with distress paints on each of the paper mache' eggs. From there I tried different techniques on each one.


Rock Candy Distress glitter

Some stickers and Rock Candy Distress Crackle paint

Tim Holtz Gothic Layering stencil and texture paste with Perfect Pearls powders and Rock Candy Distress glitter

Both of these were embossed using Layering stencil and texture paste.  The blue one also has Tumbled Glass Distress glitter around the embossing.





  I added some ribbon from my very large ribbon hoard to all but one of the eggs. 

 I hope you like them!  I would be grateful if you would let me know which one is your favorite!  Happy Easter!
Sara Emily

I would like to enter my eggs into the following inspirational challenges:

Artful Times Challenge 77 "In the Style of Tim Holtz" Perhaps not in his personal style, but using his products, mostly and he did have glittered eggs posted on his blog recently for which I was extremely surprised, since that was what I was working on!


Robin in Watercolor

Hello! Welcome to all of my latest followers!  I really appreciate you, as well as anyone who stops by my blog!  I think most of you know I love birds, and with all the robins hopping around out there, I was inspired to make this simple card using water color paper and Tim Holtz products.


There's a challenge I would like to join for the first time called Artful Times, and their theme this month is "In the Style of Tim Holtz".  Well let's see here... birds and Tim Holtz...now that's a winning combination! I chose an old Tim stamp from Tim's Urban Grunge set, which to me, looks like a robin. The script image in the background is from the same set. I also used the nest from his newer Bird Feather set, inked it in Archival ink and water colored it using Tim's Distress Markers, Distress inks, and his water brush. I used Distress inks for the background and stamped the images in Archival ink.  I used my favorite Tim technique--Spritz and Flick--to get the wonderful vintage spots on both the nest panel and  the background.  Of course, the edges are inked in Vintage Photo.

I hope you enjoyed my simple Tim inspired card.  Thank you for visiting and leaving all your wonderful comments.  I read and appreciate them all, and eventually respond to each one.  Hugs!

Sara Emily

I would like to enter this into the following inspirational challenges:






Fashionable Stamping challenge #94 "Favorite Go To Stamp" I love birds, but I couldn't pick out my favorite bird stamp, but the Tim Holtz script image from Urban Grunge is a stamp I use so much it's practically falling apart!


Friday, March 27, 2015

Adding Some Sparkle

 Hello, everybody!  I'm here today to share another tag for  Tim Holtz' 12 Tags of 2015 March.  I've been having a real good time trying different color combinations and embellishments with Tim's fabulous techniques this month.  This time I added some sparkle and went with a color palette which includes my new favorite: Shaded Lilac.  I'm not really a pink and purple person, but this shade has really grown on me.


 I followed Tim's easy to follow techniques, but just changed out the colors and the embellishments a bit. You can visit Mr. Holtz' blog to see all the details of his embossing, masking, and enameling techniques for his March tag.

My background colors include Worn Lipstick, Picked Raspberry, and Shaded Lilac, and I used Rangers silver embossing powder and the Flourish Layering stencil (still my favorite)  for the enamel technique. I used Cobalt Archival ink for the Perspective butterfly image. I chose to use less of the enameling, because I wanted to add lots of sparkly embellishments, and felt it would be way too busy. I did make sure that I included some paste over the mask to take advantage of that crucial part of this month's technique. I also found that if I did this in segments, I got a "cleaner" look. It took a bit longer while I waited for each part to dry, but the end result is worth it.




For my embellishments I chose Framed Alpha Parts, a sprocket from Sprocket Gears, Mirrored Stars (these are my all time favorite Idea-ology product, followed closely by Gumdrops), Mini Numerals, Trinket Pin, Fragments charm, Crinkle Ribbon, Paper Twine, and Elements Remnant Rubs.

Oops!  Already fastened the numeral and hadn't thought of adding the Trinket pin when I took this shot of my embellishments ready to be attached to my tag.

I attached the 1/2 Mini Numeral using my Tiny Attacher; this is a fun and useful tool, which I don't use nearly enough. I chose not to embellish the numeral, because I thought it fit right in with my palette in it's original state.


I painted the Framed with Brushed Pewter and Shaded Lilac, wiping some away of each after it dried a little (I didn't trust myself with the heat gun today!). I like the look of Tim's  in his Compendium of Curiosities but I preferred mine to be in a matte finish with this tag, to juxtapose all the shiny.


 I colored some Crinkle Ribbon with a variety of Distress ink, stains and paints in Shaded Lilac, Brushed Pewter and Chipped Sapphire, then added a spritz or two of Ranger Perfect Pearls mists.  I used some to "hold" the Framed sentiment, using my Tiny Attacher, and the rest twisted up into a sweet bow.


Taking a shot at this odd angle helped to capture the beauty and shimmer of the Crinkle Ribbon.

I added some Remnant Rub stars to a Fragments Charm, wiped on some Spun Sugar Distress paint on the back to give it a translucent appearance, so the stars would show better, but allow a hint of the background to show through.  I colored two Mirrored stars with Ranger alcohol inks in Sailboat Blue and Twilight Purple, and glued one on the charm with Glossy Accents.  The other was set atop a painted sprocket (Chipped Sapphire).



I colored some white paper twine with chipped Sapphire stain, spritzed with water, tied it onto the charm, and twisted it up into spiral curls. I painted a Trinket Pin "Fragile" with Brushed Pewter and Chipped Sapphire Distress paint, and used it to attach the charm to the bow.



That's it for today!  I had a blast making this tag, and the many others that didn't make the cut.


Thank you for taking the time to visit and leave your lovely comments!  I read and appreciate every single one, and eventually I respond to them all, too! Hugs!

Sara Emily

I would like to enter this tag into the following inspirational challenges:


A Vintage Journey "Anything Tim" Happy 1st Birthday AVJ!

Mixed Media World "Anything Goes" Happy first challenge!


Country View Challenges "Anything Goes" Happy 2nd Blogaversary!





Altered Eclectics "March Already-Anything Goes" I'm going to go out on a limb here--All my embellishments are altered (except the Mini Numeral). I'm not sure if you take tags.


Thursday, March 26, 2015

Curiously Rubbed Butterfly Canvas

Good evening, everyone!  I've been having some fun with Tim Holtz' Remnant Rubs.  The "new" challenge at Linda Ledbetter's Studio L3 Compendium of Curiosities Challenge #24 is now almost the "old" one as I finish my project just under the deadline.  Some of my favorite work is done under pressure of deadlines.

Challenge 24, "Remnant Rub Resist" is a product-specific one which requires the use of Tim's Holtz' Remnant Rubs from Idea-ology.  They come in all sorts of designs, and I really would like to get my hands on the Botanicals, which would be great for my theme.  But I only have Numbers, Words, Elements and Life Quotes and not a Botanical in sight!  I went ahead with my plan anyway, and tried to redeem myself with coming up with something I haven't seen yet--using them on my focal image instead of the background.  I hope I'm compliant with the technique, which can be found on page 51 of Tim's book--A Compendium of Curiosities Vol. 3, which you can purchase here, signed by the creative genius himself!  You must have your own copy of the book to enter the CC3 challenges, so why not get yours now!

The Funkie Junkie Boutique is back to sponsor this challenge and the always-wonderful and generous owner Linda Coughlin has a fabulous $25 shopping spree for one lucky CC3Cer.  If that's not enough, Tim and Mario have generously donated a ton of Tim's goodies for the Curiosity Crews Choice winner.  You gotta be in it to win it!  So visit Linda's blog and be sure to visit each of the Crew's blogs, too, to see how they make the most amazing Tim influenced designs!

A Vintage Journey is celebrating their first birthday, and the theme is "Anything Tim"--I think this fits the bill with lots of techniques from his Compendium of Curiosities Vol. 1 and 3, at least.

Well, lets get to the canvas...It seems Tim's tags would be the best way to approach this project--the surface is perfect for this technique, but I'm one to always look for the hard way to do things! I started to cut up 2 tags--one for each wing, but I only had one left (I've been making way too many March 12 Tags of 2015!) I ended up using a manila file folder.  I will tell you there is no substitute for the REAL TAG-these rubs will stick to anything, but the technique doesn't work the best on a file folder. I can't tell you Tim's technique out of respect to him, but I can tell you the colors and other products I've used.




My canvas started as this cheap stapled -on-the-edges canvas I probably picked up NIP from a yard sale.  I gave it some color at the edges with Distress paint in Antique Linen and Walnut Stain.  Then I took some jute that was tying up some bamboo poles I got at the hardware store and glued it around the edges to cover those not so lovely staples. I think it fit's the natural theme here.

I chose the background paper from Tim's Wallflower paper stash.  I inked it here and there and gave it just a little spritz and flick and crackle paste through Tim's Flourish Layering stencil. When the paste was dry, I took a little ink on my water brush and painted over the raised areas.  I fussy cut some of the flowers from the same sheet, painted them with Spiced Marmalade Distress marker and a water pen to suit my color scheme, and adhered them so my butterfly would have somewhere to land. I distressed a little and inked the edges with Walnut Stain ink to give that grungy time worn look I love.

Oh, how I love the spritz and flick technique! I used Walnut Stain, Vintage Photo, Rusty Hinge, Peeled Paint, and Gathered Twigs  inks on the background.

Peeled paint and Forest Moss


Butterfly inked in Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Rusty Hinge and Vintage Photo.   

I used the Remnant rub technique on Tim's Layered Butterfly, and colored him with Distress inks, stamped with some of Tim's script (Urban Grunge) and a few butterflies (Flights of Fancy), using Coffee and Jet Black Archival inks. I used all of my sets of rubs mentioned above and used them exactly as the instructions are outlined on page 51. I chose to use many smaller areas, because I was going for a monarch look. Wish now I had used several of the smaller butterfly stamped images instead of one of each large and small...oh, well, 20/20 hindsight and all of that! I toned down the starkness of the black and white rubs by wiping just a teensy bit of Antique Linen Distress paint over the entire thing before stamping. After stamping, I dabbed a tiny bit of the same on the stamped butterflies. I inked the edges of the butterfly with Vintage Photo and edged randomly with Picket Fence Crackle paint . When dry, I rubbed some ink in the cracks. I cut a second butterfly out of black paper and cut it to use as a shadow.

You can see some of the pffts here under the wing.

I filled one of Tim's vials with sand to use as the body. I painted the cork with Black Soot Distress paint, and gave the vial the Faux Cracked Glass technique found on page 54 of our books. I won't give the technicals on this. I used some Butterscotch alcohol ink to color it.  The cracks are hard to see in the photo, but FCG is not this challenge's theme, so please just take my word for it--it looks really cool in real life.  I curled up some copper wire for antennae and stuck them in the cork. I added some microbeads because real butterflies have microbeads on their thorax.

After attaching the butterfly, I added some microbeads to the background and used the Marker Spritzer and Walnut Stain Distress Marker to make pffts here and there. Does anyone know the proper word for the little marks you make with this fabulous fun tool? I purposely kept my embellishments to a minimum due to the busy nature of both the background and the butterfly.


Well, that's it for today!  I'm so happy you stopped in, and I love to read your lovely comments!  I appreciate them all and respond to each eventually! Hugs and Blessings!

Sara Emily

I would like to enter this into the following inspirational challenges:









Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Mixed Media Butterfly Card

Hello, everybody!  Here's a short post on a quick 10 minute mixed media one layer card I made this morning from all the junk supplies I had lying on my worktable from the last project. Not quite my usual thing, but I needed it fast! Thanks to Tim Holtz for his wonderful inspiration!


I started with a manila folder, laid on some Tissue and washi tapes, even some scraps I had left over.  I spritzed some Distress paints (Broken China, Mustard Seed, Peeled Paint, Rusty Hinge) with water and dragged my card through the puddle.  Heat dried and inked with various Distress inks through a TCW stencil.


I inked up my butterfly stamp (Personal Stamp Exchange) with Library Green Archival ink and heat embossed the image with clear embossing powder. I layered on black paper and then onto a card blank. Done in less than 10 minutes!


I hope you like this quick, simple card!  Thank you for stopping by and having a look! Hugs and Blessings!
Sara Emily

I would like to enter this into the following inspirational challenges:

The Mixed Media Card Challenge #9 "Hints of Spring"

                                                           

Crafty Boots Challenges "Spring" Thank you, Pamellia, for inspiring me to link up for the first time!

Craft Stamper Take It Make It March challenge "Anything Goes"

Mixed Media World "Anything Goes"

A Sprinkle of Imagination "Anything Goes" I didn't see any rules, so I hope it's ok to enter multiple times!

Monday, March 23, 2015

March Tag #2 and #3

Hello!  I told you I had so much fun with Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2015 March tag, I would probably try it again.  So here are two more tags that I played with in a completely different mood than my last.



This is the one I am entering; I just did the other one while the goodies were out. Second tag at end of post.

That word band only LOOKS crooked!  I think it must have been my angle taking the photo, because I checked it with a level.


I've pretty much followed all of Tim's instructions, so stop by Tim's blog for all the details on how the master of Distress, color and texture has put his together. I  stepped off the path just a teeny bit, making a few adjustments in the background, the colors, and my choice of embellishments, but including all the techniques he used on his tag.

 .marchtag




Background: Symphony Tissue Tape and a bit of butterfly washi tape from my stash laid down first.  My choice of Distress paint in  Mowed Lawn, Mustard Seed and Iced Spruce on the first tag and added some Salty Ocean on the second one.  I also inked over a honeycomb stencil (TCW) with Evergreen Bough Distress ink.

I make my masks using red Staz On ink so I can see it better when I put it over my stamped image.

Stamped image:  I used Archival ink in Library Green and Cobalt with the butterfly from the Perspective set. Love this image, and I have been using it so much with my spring projects! I was the lucky winner of this stamp set on Tim's blog after CHA--thank you Tim and Mario! I was so excited to see it on this month's tag!

Texture: I chose the Flourish Layering Stencil and  Cloisonne High Gloss Crystals--my second time using them; I think they give a nice high enameled look that I've not been able to achieve with any of my other gold embossing  powders. The granules tend to migrate as you heat them, like a slow moving lava flow, so the more intricate areas didn't turn out as well as the embossing powders would have. These were given to me by a friend years ago without instructions, so this was purely an experiment. I rather like the look they give!


 I tried mixing  it up on my second tag here using three different colors of the granules, but was not happy with the lighter color.  I laid the stencil back over the embossed tag and using Ranger's Embossing  Dabber, I  laid down some gold Cloisonne over the lighter areas. Ehhh, not the best results, but I embraced imperfection, and it ended up all good in the end.

This is the second tag.


Embellishments: For my first tag, I used alcohol ink and a Remnant Rub on an Enameled Tag, fastened it with a Trinket pin to the Crinkle Ribbon which I colored with Distress paint and stain. I love the enameled tags--they remind me of my old sink in my laundry room, and they can be decorated to suit any project. The Alpha Parts (Ransom Note) "2" colored with Distress paint and copper fabric paint--I don't have the Antiqued Bronze DP yet--just ordered it.(UPDATE: My box of Distress Paints just arrived--I am seeing more March tags! Thank you, Linda!).  The Idea-ology arrow and Observations Word Band were treated the same.  To get the sparkly effect in the letters, I added some Perfect Pearls powder in the recesses while the paint was still wet. I dabbed on a tiny bit of Black Soot and tied the band on with Paper Twine.  A gear and a cog painted with Black Soot and two flowers from the Foliage set painted with Distress paint, wiped off here and there and filled in with alcohol ink add some more interest.  The flower centers are a Recollections bubble that I cut apart.




I used some numerals colored with Distress paint and Ranger alcohol inks on my second tag. I edged the numbers in Black Soot, so they would show against the background.  The word band and the Moments token both were painted with Distress paint and wiped to leave the paint in the recesses. Some copper fabric paint was also added.  I tied the word band on with Paper Twine. I added a Chit Chat sticker edged in Vintage Photo and fastened the token with a  Swivel Clasp Fastener.  I gifted this tag to a friend who was celebrating her 40th birthday this weekend.

second tag
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second tag

second tag

That's it for this tag!  I thank you for taking your time to visit and to leave your lovely comments.  I read and appreciate each one, and eventually end up responding to them all. Hugs!

Sara Emily
All products are Tim Holtz except where noted.
I would like to enter this into the following inspirational challenges:



Country View Challenges "Anything Goes" This is their 2nd Blogaversary! Congrats!

A Vintage Journey "Anything Tim" Happy 1st Birthday, AVJ!


Mixed Media World "Anything Goes"this is their first challenge!  Congrats!

Craft Hoarders Anonymous March Challenge "Go Green!" this is their last challenge--so sad!