After the Last Long Rain...

 

Hello and welcome back. I want to say a huge thank you to Mr. Linky for drawing my number in last week's Simon Says Stamp challenge and to the folks over at Simon Says Stamp for their generous prize. What a thrill to be the lucky winner! 

I had to chuckle when I saw that this week's Monday challenge at Simon Says Stamp was "Whatever the Weather". I wanted to say "The Weather?...Whatever!" Last week we were having some of the coldest days and nights of the winter, and then with the official arrival of Spring last Sunday, we switched right over to mid-summer with hot temps and high humidity. Every day was overcast or densely cloudy, and the clouds managed to wring out a couple of heavy drops. It made it difficult for me to be inspired by the weather. But today, the sky was blue and clear, and it actually felt a bit cool this morning. So I took a little bit of time away from my garden chores to make a card. I was inspired by Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday's mood board to use my new  Tim Holtz Intertwined 3D Embossing Folder.

As I started to take photos of my card, heavy thunderstorms were piling up, so forgive my less than perfect photos--I was rushing to be sure and beat the possibility of a power outage. As I write this, we are having that promised thunderstorm.

Anyway, since the weather outside my window wasn't very inspiring, I decided to focus on 'weathering', and weathered and aged  my Intertwined background to make it look like a basket that's been left out in the uhhh, weather. I love that deep dimension that Tim's 3D Texture Fades create, and this is my first use of this folder. I inked the flat side of the folder randomly with Gathered Twigs and spritzed with water, before placing a panel of watercolor paper in and embossing in my machine. After drying it with my heat tool, I scraped over areas of the panel with Crackle Paste and allowed it to dry. 

I chose a pair of butterflies and floral sprays from Botanical Layers and blended the edges with Walnut Stain ink.

I chose these Quotation Stickers to report on the weather. (Of course, this is no longer true.)

Rubbing my finger over the crackle with Frayed Burlap and Ground Espresso Distress Crayons highlights those cracks and adds to the wonderful weathered look of the weave.

To mat my panel, I weathered silver Metallic Kraft Stock with sanding and then rubbing with Black Soot Crayon. That's all for me! I hope you enjoy some beautiful clear sun-shiny days this week! Hugs! Sara Emily

Challenge Shares

Simon Says Stamp Monday Whatever the Weather I chose to do some weathering, but the recent change in weather inspired my sentiment, flowers and butterflies.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Spring/Easter Mood Board I was inspired by the basket and the flowers, of course!

Recycling ATCs

Hello! I have two opening photos today, because I was torn between the two.  I just couldn't get the exposure right on the second one, although I liked the composition better than the first. Simon Says Stamp's Monday challenge is to recycle something. Just about everything used here could be considered trash by ordinary people, but we know we are not ordinary. Wink, wink!

First, I show the items I recycled before they were used and then I'll share some closeups of each of the ATCs.

I went through some old backgrounds and chose one to recycle. This one is really old, and I can't remember how it came together, and can't begin to guess what I used. I do think the circles are embossed, but I can't figure out what I used to stamp them.  Wish I could. Even though the panel is quite atrocious, I saw it's potential as a pair of ATCs. I found the Wildflower Stems die cut and another flower die cut, as well as the little flower made from sequins and a pin fastener on my work top and the Radiant portions in my box of assorted die cuts. I altered the sequin flower, but ended up not using it or the pin.

The junk mail envelope was used to cut additional Radiant die cuts with to add subtle contrast to the lighter colored ones. After using the last sheet on a little note pad, I saved the cardboard backing to add some heft to my ATCs. I cut the backs off some old notecards and trimmed them to back each ATC. Cardboard and white card were adhered to the back, but not shown in photos.

 Here's the panel to show the after...I will save those extra bits for another project. 

The background brought to mind a galaxy, and those Radiant die cut pieces sealed the deal. I just needed to add a second smaller Radiant cut from a scrap of silver Metallic Kraft Stock.  I touched the spines with Prima black Matte Wax and brushed on Squeezed Lemonade Oxide Spray straight from the bottle. I also added the oxide to the tips of the white Radiant die cut pieces.

A few old Remnant Rubs were added in opposing corners, and I sanded this one so it blended in. I colored a couple of Mirrored Stars with alcohol ink and splattered the background with more of the Squeezed Lemonade.

A Quote Sticker tells the story. Love those mirrored stars! Now, here's the more 'down to earth' ATC.

Those little circles reminded me of bubbles filled with sunshine, so I used a paintbrush to add Squeezed Lemonade to them and a wash over one corner before adding the die cuts. I love this combination of blue and yellow.

Remnant Rubs, Quote Stickers and a gumdrop colored with Squeezed Lemonade spray oxide and black Matte Wax finish this card off. Each of the cards and all Quote Stickers are edged in Matte Wax to serve as a frame. That's all for me today! I have so many things to recycle; I hope to get to play along another time with some more of my trash stash. I have a few more things out on my work top under consideration. Have a great weekend! Hugs! Sara Emily

Challenge shares:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Recycle

Country View Challenges March 2021 - Silhouettes The one with flowers.

Enjoy Today

Hello! I hope you've had a good week and are getting to enjoy some spring like weather where you are! Simon Says Stamp's Monday and Wednesday challenges are all about the green, so I thought I would harness some of this awesome weather we are having here in a spring all purpose card and play along.

To make the background, I inked one side of the Swirls 3D Texture Fade by Tim Holtz and spritzed lightly with water before embossing. This transferred the ink to the water color panel, leaving the raised portions mostly clean. After drying, I blended with Mustard Seed and Wild Honey inks. I dried and blended the raised portions with Distress Microglaze. Then I blended the panel one more time--this time with Cracked Pistachio. The edges are blended with Walnut Stain Ink. I sewed (yes, I sewed!) two panels of Kraft Stock together to serve as a mat.

I used Botanical and Field Notes Layers/ephemera for my focal and added some leaves die cut from a scrap inked with green inks/oxides with the Brushstroke Flowers #1 Thinlits die set. I stamped a label from Field Notes stamps onto a Circles Stacked Tiles Thinlits die cut to tuck in behind the flowers. An old Chit Chat sticker serves as my sentiment and provides visual balance to the butterfly. 

I hope this card brings a little sunshine into your day! Have a nice weekend! Sara Emily

Challenge shares:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Use Something Green/Add Some Green

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday A Bit O’ Green

ATC's

Hello, and welcome! We are having a new Saturday Showcase at The Funkie Junkie Boutique challenge blog today, and to change things up a bit, all of the Design Team members will be sharing their Anything Goes ATC's with you. I hope you will stop by for lots of inspiration!

I decided to go back to school and finally watched one of Tim Holtz videos. I don't use paint very much in my makes, so I thought it would be fun to watch his Q and A demo video covering Distress paints and challenge myself by trying a few of his techniques.  I don't have much in the way of step by step instructions or photos, but you will learn everything you need to know from the master of Distress if you watch his video. 

The first technique I tried is paint resist on the ATC pictured below. I cut a piece of Distress Mixed Media Heavystock to  the regulation size: 2.5 x 3.5 inches and got to work. I have no step out photos at all for this one, because I just got involved in the process of making.

I didn't have enough Antique Linen paint left and I cannot for the life of me find the new bottle I thought I had purchased (which would have been my first choice), so I used Spun Sugar  paint for the roses, and Rustic Wilderness  paint for the foliage with the Roses  mini stencil. 

These are the Distress inks I used over the painted stencil work: Speckled Egg, Wild Honey, Rustic Wilderness, Vintage Photo, and Broken China. After inking, splashing with water and drying,  I added stamping with more Spun Sugar and part of a Baroque stamp at the bottom. I blended the corner with more Rustic Wilderness ink and added more stamping with an Entomology butterfly and script in a black permanent ink. Tim recommends using Ranger Archival, because it is not resisted by the paint, and sits on top, but both of my Jet Black pads were dry. The ink I used is resisted by the paint which is NOT what I was hoping for, but I proceeded.

I decided it needed a little something to add the depth I was looking for, but lacking in the stamping, so I got out my finest brush and my reading glasses and added Cracked Pistachio paint highlights to the butterfly and foliage. For some texture, I smooshed Crackle Paste through a stencil at the top and bottom corners and set it aside to dry, knowing it would take on the ink colors. Sadly, when it dried, it all flaked off and took some of the ink with it. Having a second try with a larger stencil yielded the same results, and really left a mess in the corners. Ugh! This is not going well...

In the end, I just smeared the paste in the corners with my finger and sprinkled with Rustic Wilderness and Walnut Stain Embossing Glazes. When the paste started to crack, I dried and melted the powder. Lastly, I smeared the paste/glaze corners with Rustic Wilderness and Walnut Stain Crayons to define the cracks. To add a frame, I swiped the edges with Cracked Pistachio paint and my finger and backed with a panel of scuffed copper Metallic Kraft Stock. I chose an appropriate Clippings sticker to finish and inked and heat embossed it with Tattered Rose Glaze and scuffed with steel wool to take the shine off. After a bad start, this turned out to be one of my favorites. But you know it's hard to choose favorites when they're your own.

The next ATC uses paint over ink with stencils. I've never done this technique before, and it took me several tries to get a half respectable ATC out of it. I started with a favorite panel of mop up inks/oxides/sprays I've been hoarding in my stash. The original panel was a fairly decent size, so after trashing my first attempt, I was able to salvage another ATC out of it and start anew.

You can learn all about this technique in the video, but the idea is to use Distress Resist Spray over the inky background, so you can apply paint over top of it and then remove some of the paint with a stencil and a slightly damp baby wipe. Tim says use a paper towel, because wipes are too wet, but I personally had better results with a wipe. But...again with the supplies...my second bottle of resist spray wouldn't spray. Yes, I know you need to flush it after use (learned after my first bottle clogged), but I guess I didn't do a good housekeeping job. So I removed the cap and spread it with an old paintbrush. I was happy to see the inks didn't move around like they would if you tried to use collage medium as a barrier. Perhaps that's because the inking wasn't fresh, or maybe it's the secret of Resist Spray???

 My first paint color is Chipped Sapphire, and I used a Flourish mini stencil for the technique. 

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 Then I used Seedless Preserves and mini Roses.

I used a soft brayer to apply Picket Fence paint to the butterfly stamp and made an impression. After drying, I stamped the butterfly again, this time in the same permanent black ink used on the prior ATC, purposefully offsetting from the painted one. I also stamped another portion of a Baroque stamp along the side.

The highlights on the butterfly were done with Cracked Pistachio, Kitsch Flamingo and Picket Fence paints. I masked the stamping and used my splatter brush and Cracked Pistachio paint for some delicate splatters. The sentiment is an old Remnant Rub, and I added Hydrangea Liquid Pearls for texture and balance. Finally, I backed with handmade paper (not by my hands) and another panel of heavy watercolor paper for added stability and heft.

OK, so now we move into my grungy comfort zone, and these next two ATC's came together quite quickly. I thought that I could use some more practice with the paint over ink technique and wanted try my hand at using the crackle paste through a stencil again. This time I had more of an idea in mind, and it involved a stencil with more open area.

Again, I started with a mop up panel from my stash and painted my chosen section of it with Resist Spray. I cut an ATC using an old Bigz die and use the waste as a template to help me choose the right area, pictured below. I used Black Soot and Speckled Egg paint colors along with Stone and Mosaic mini stencils . I also used those same colors and sponged them through mini Halftone stencil on the left side and Speckled Egg and Digits mini stencil at the bottom. Using a Blending Brush allowed me to get a crisper image. I later added  shadows with a Micron pen to help the digits stand out more.

I used the Slate mini stencil, crackle paste and Walnut Stain and Weathered Wood Glazes in opposing corners smudged later with Hickory Smoke Crayon, and this time it worked according to plan.

I die cut a butterfly with Entomology Thinlits dies, reinserted the die cut back into the water color paper from which it was cut and stamped with Distress Black Soot Archival ink. This holds the butterfly in place allowing more accurate stamping in the Stamp Platform. The photo above shows Ground Espresso for the butterfly (used on the next ATC) and Black Soot for the ant (not used). The butterfly is blended with Walnut Stain ink and embossed using a Distress Embossing Pen and Speckled Egg and Walnut Stain glazes. (Process photo shown further below for next ATC.) Scuff the embossed butterfly with steel wool to remove the shine.

I don't know if you can see it in the photo above, but when drying the glaze powder, some of the clear bits hardens to the paint and adds even more texture. Delightful! A ticket (Tim Holtz Ticketbooth: stamps, Thinlits dies) leftover on my worktop, torn and inked, gives contrast to the off the edge butterfly and completes the message I wanted to convey by my Remnant Rub and Clipping stickers words. The Clippings sticker is inked and heat embossed with Antique Linen Glaze. To finish this ATC off, I layered it on a panel of scuffed metallic kraft stock.

While I have done the Eroded Metal technique a LONG time ago (back before I had some of these wonderful background paint colors), I thought I need to brush up. Here's my ATC using this (favorite) Distress paint technique. Fortunately, my first attempt turned out respectably. 

 I used Heavy Stock as my base, and the paints used on the background are shown in the photo.  

Dry and paint with one good coat of metallic paint over the entire panel. Spray with water while still the paint is still wet, dry partially with a heat tool. Immediately lay an absorbent paper towel over the mostly wet paint, smooth with your hand and immediately pull it off, leaving that great eroded surface. 

 The next step is to apply ink directly to the dried surface with the ink pad and then blend with your blending tool. I gave it a little splash of water drops to reveal some lighter areas. Again, you can find all the details of this technique on Tim's video. Using my template, I'm able to find the perfect portion to cut for my ATC.

 The gears die cuts are old Tim Holtz (Gearhead) and were in my stash already colored. To make them work for my project, I painted them with Ground Espresso, then tapped with Rusty Hinge paint and sprinkled with Rusty Hinge glaze powder. I heated to melt, scuffed with steel wool, then added highlights of Cracked Pistachio paint.

I stamped a portion of a Glitch 1 stamp in permanent black ink. The other portion of the ticket from the last ATC, a glazed butterfly and Clippings sticker and old Remnant Rub finish the ATC. This time I used a mixture of Speckled Egg and Cracked Pistachio glazes on the butterfly's wings. I backed the ATC with a metallic kraft stock panel which was sanded and painted with watery Black Soot paint.

As a recap, here are my ATC's gathered together for one last look. 

I hope you found some inspiration from today's post. Remember to visit The Funkie Junkie Challenge blog for even more ATC inspiration from my very talented teammates. Enjoy your weekend! Sara Emily

Challenge Shares

Sandee and Amelie's Steampunk Challenges: March/April 2021 Just my steampunk ATC's.

 These products were used on my ATC's and can be purchased at The Funkie Junkie Boutique:

Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps - Entomology

Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Stamp Set - Baroque

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Mixed Media Heavystock

Tim Holtz Idea-ology 8 x 8 Metallic Jewels Kraft Stock

Tim Holtz Idea-ology 8 x 8 Metallic 2 Kraft Stock - Rose Gold & Copper

Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Mini Stencils - Sets # 10, #25,#28, #48

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Paint  - Spun Sugar, Cracked Pistachio, Rustic Wilderness, Picket Fence, Black Soot, Speckled Egg, Ground Expresso, Rusty Hinge, chipped sapphire, seedless preserves, Mermaid Lagoon, Evergreen Bough, Fossilized Amber, antiqued Bronze, Kitsch Flamingo

Tim Holtz Distress Crayons - Hickory Smoke, Rustic Wilderness, Walnut Stain 

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads - Speckled Egg, Wild Honey, Rustic Wilderness, Vintage Photo, Broken China, Frayed Burlap, Walnut Stain

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Archival Mini Ink Pads - Black Soot, Ground Espresso

Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Glaze - Antique Linen, Walnut Stain, Cracked Pistachio, Rustic Wilderness, Speckled Egg, Rusty Hinge, Weathered Wood, Tattered Rose

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Remnant Rubs

Tim Holtz Resist Spray

Ranger Opaque Crackle Texture Paste

Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium Matte

Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Pen 2pk

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Brayer

A Little Frilly, A Little Funkie With Tim Holtz Swirls 3D Embossing

Hello, friends and visitors! It's time for a new challenge at The Funkie Junkie Boutique challenge blog. We are going with an ''Anything Goes" theme for the following two weeks and are looking forward to seeing your vintage/shabby chic projects.

The Design Team will choose their four top picks, and the overall winner will receive the $25 gift certificate to go on a spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique. All four top picks will receive badges to display on their blogs in recognition of their outstanding contributions. Be sure to stop over to the blog to see all the details of the challenge. While you're there be sure to check out the wonderful creations my talented teammates made to inspire you!

I just cracked open my new Tim Holtz Swirls 3D Embossing Folder and had a little play with it. I tried it out on a variety of papers, and ended up completing two cards totally different from each other. Here's my first which I would say is a little on the funkie side. You might remember The Funkie Junkie Boutique challenge blog used to be called Frilly and Funkie, and we had a frilly team and a funkie team. I was a part of the funkie side, but I always like to get a little frilly from time to time.

I'll just share some close ups today, as I got immersed in the making and forgot to take step by step photos. It should be easy enough to share what I did in the text.

First, I made this deeply embossed background using Tim Holtz Metallic Jewels Kraft Stock . I placed a panel cut to size in the embossing folder with the color side down and spritzed it with water, then ran it through my die cut machine 3 times. I ran my Rustic Wilderness Distress ink pad directly over the raised panel and dried it. Next, I sanded the panel and blended with Wild Honey ink and dried. I love how the areas that are sanded back to the kraft add for even more dimension as the inks soaks in. In my next step, I painted the panel very lightly with my finger and Wild Honey Distress paint. I mostly dried the paint with my heat tool, and watched it pull away from the raised edges revealing the green metallic paper. Very cool and unexpected! Lastly, I blended with Vintage Photo ink.

I die cut an old stamped panel and brown card I had in my stash using an older Tim Holtz Stitched Ovals. I peeled away the outer edge of the stamped oval and adhered it over the brown one. The Tim Holtz Scribbly Butterflies were cut from more brown card and also watercolor paper. After removing the antennae, I dipped the white one into a puddle of watery Wild Honey ink, dried, and layered it over the brown butterfly die cut.

The Wildflower Stems #3 die cut  (now available for March restock pre-order in the shop!) is cut from scraps of water color paper colored with Mustard Seed ink and more of the green Metallic stock and layered. The vintage button is from my stash, and I adhered a green gemstone in it's center (included in Linda's thank you gift from my last order from the shop) using Distress Collage Medium Matte. The ribbon is from my stash and the sentiment is a Ideaology Metallic Quotations sticker matted on a scrap.

The panel was adhered to trimmed white card colored with Wild Honey ink over an old Tim Holtz paper stash inked with Ground Espresso ink, and that, to a card blank, also blended with Ground Espresso. I assembled everything after wadding up some gold thread under the butterfly and making a floppy bow with what was left of my ribbon .

And here is my CAS, frilly version. Slim line cards are making a resurgence, so I thought I would try making one.

I started with white card cut to size. I embossed one end, following suggested protocol, then flipped the card around and stuck just the un-embossed end into the folder before running it through my die cut machine. You can hardly see the line, but it's shown in  the close up below; the die cuts hide it nicely.

For my focal floral arrangement, I used these delicate little die cuts from Sizzix Floral Layers #2 by Jen Long. The foliage from this versatile set made it's debut on my Vignette Tray I made for the last Saturday Showcase. I was a little worried about putting together those tiny flowers at first, because of my poor eyesight, but it's really rather simple with the embossed lines on the die cuts to guide you. I find it's easier to cut the little extra bits and leave them in the card you cut them from, poking each one out as you need it. 

I simply sprayed two pieces of water color paper with water, then Oxide sprays: one Spun Sugar and one Kitsch Flamingo and dried them. Then I cut a set of the roses and the little bits out of each prepared card. I cut the background long stem and the foliage from plain water color paper and used a water brush to color them with green inks. To get a bit more color dimension, I used Worn Lipstick ink and a water brush to add deeper tones to the pink flowers after they were assembled.  You might notice I left part of the larger roses free to give a little extra dimension. I'm looking forward to making some of these flowers using flower shaping tools, but for now I wanted my card to be simple and flat for ease in mailing.

I inked a Crochet die cut with Black Soot Distress and Archival inks. The butterfly was in my stash from a LONG time ago. Sadly, I don't think I have that stamp any longer. Sniff, sniff. I had stamped and heat embossed on cheap purple card stock and fussy cut. I believe I used a Q-tip with bleach on it to remove the color from parts of the wing and brushed it with Perfect Pearls powder. I just added a smudge of Prima Patina Green Matte Wax on making this card to update him a bit.

 

For my sentiment, I cut Joy from black card and Tim Holtz Alphanumeric Shadow Upper dies using just the inside portion of the letters, saving the outer parts for another day. I added a portion of a Halloween sticker  ("You're my favorite monster") to complete the sentiment. The black half pearls were toned down with Prima White Matte Wax. I thinly matted on black card then mounted on a white card blank and assembled.

I was able to show off the simmer of the butterfly and subtle dimension of this simple card in this photo.

That's all for me today, but I hope you will pop over to the blog and see what my incredibly talented teammates made to start you off. And then, I hope you'll join us in our Anything Goes challenge. I can't wait to see what you create! Happy crafting! Sara Emily

The following products were used on my cards and can be purchased at The Funkie Junkie Boutique:

Sizzix Chapter 1 Tim Holtz Texture Fades Embossing Folder - Swirls

Sizzix Tim Holtz Thinlits Dies - Scribbly Butterflies

Sizzix Chapter 1 Thinlits Die Set - Floral Layers #2 by Jen Long

Sizzix Chapter 1 Tim Holtz Thinlits Die Set - Wildflower Stems #3

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Quotations Metallic Stickers

Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium Matte

Tim Holtz Idea-ology 8 x 8 Metallic Jewels Kraft Stock

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads -  Rustic Wilderness, Wild Honey, Mustard Seed, Ground Espresso, Vintage Photo, Mowed Lawn, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint,  Worn Lipstick, Black Soot 

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Archival Mini Ink Pad - Black Soot 

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Paint-  Wild Honey

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Sprays - Spun Sugar, Kitsch Flamingo