Tim Holtz Seasonal Mica Distress Crayons Release

Did you happen to catch the news yesterday? New Tim Holtz Seasonal Mica Distress Crayons are here! Like the Distress Mica Sprays that came out last month, these new crayons are limited edition colors with an amazing pearl mica finish. There are four sets, for a total of twelve amazing new colors that are perfect for all of your seasonal makes… or for a rainbow of fabulous colors that work all year round. I had lots of fun creating some projects for the surprise mid-week reveal, and I’m excited to share the first of them here with you today. Since Halloween is right around the corner, let’s start with this Halloween gift tag.

If you’re not familiar with Distress Crayons, you’ll definitely want to watch yesterday’s replay on Tim’s blog or YouTube channel where he demos many tips and tricks for working with this medium. The fun thing about the crayons is that they can be used in many different ways, and I tried to show that in this tag make. One way you can use them is to create gorgeous blended backgrounds, like this wicked web pattern here. Best tip for a smoothly blended background is to coat your paper with Distress Collage medium first, and let that thoroughly dry. I stamped the spiderwebs from the Stamper’s Anonymous Tangled Web stamp set over my coated tag using Black Soot Archival Distress ink. Then you can scribble on the Mica Distress Crayons and blend the pigments out with a damp finger. For this tag, I used the Bubbling Cauldron and Jack O’Lantern Mica Crayons to create this two-tone Halloween design.

You can also color directly with the Distress Crayons, and that is what I did on the scalloped border strip and die cut lettering. And as one final touch, I doodled directly onto the die cuts to add some detail to those, too.

Looking for more Distress Crayon ideas?

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The supplies I’ve used are linked and/or listed below:

Sizzix Alphanumeric Handmade Bigz XL

Monster Mash with PhotoPlay Paper

October is here! My favorite month of the year! Time for pumpkins and leaves and all things Halloween. So what better time to share a card that I made for PhotoPlay Paper with their adorable new Halloween collection for the year, Monster Mash.

This card is a very quick and easy design with background patterned paper and a 3×4 journaling card from the cut-apart kit paper. I layered the journaling card onto some contrasting paper, using my old Tim Holtz Stitched Ovals die set to cut negative scalloped borders across the top and bottom of the panel. And then for additional accent, I added one of the removed scallop strips across the center of the card, along with a twine wrap and bow.

And last, but not least, a pair of cardstock sticker characters and sentiment strip finish off the design.
Happy Friday, crafty friends! Thanks so much for stopping by!

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The supplies I’ve used are linked and/or listed below:

Sizzix Tim Holtz Stitched Ovals Thinlits
Purple Twine

Tim Holtz Sizzix Halloween- Pumpkin Patch Colorize

Hello, crafty friends! Now that fall is officially here, it’s time to share all things spooky! And today I have a spooky sweet fabric project to share that I made for the Tim Holtz Sizzix Halloween release… a small pillow tuck made with Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements fabric and felt and the new Pumpkin Patch Colorize die set.

Now Tim has released lots of pumpkin die sets over the years, but this new Colorize set is a true favorite. In this set, you receive two different jack o’lantern images and two different bats, each with multiple layers that you die cut and stack for a real 3D appeal. I love that the dies come with base shapes, and then pieces that you layer to build up the design. You can see that I used yellow felt for the base here, and then stacked three shades of orange felt and two shades of green felt for the stems. And a little tip, if you don’t have enough colors of felt (or even paper, for that matter), you can add Distress ink to the felt to change the shade. For this project, I only had two colors of orange felt, so I inked up the felt with Rusty Hinge Distress ink to make a third, darker shade.

The felt I used is from Benzie Designs, and it really does die cut beautifully. Therm O Web Sprayn’Bond Fusible Adhesive was really helpful for adhering all these pieces together, without the need to sew. I fused the pumpkin and bats to a backing of Abandoned Eclectic Elements fabric and used a row of pom pom trim to create a grassy border. A bit of Distress-dyed seam binding was added in a bow, and vintage rick-rack trim was sewn around the border.

I love this time of year! Happy Fall y’all!

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The supplies I’ve used are linked and/or listed below:

Benzie Felt
Eclectic Elements Abandoned Fabric Collection
Trim

STAMPtember 2021 with Simon Says Stamp & Tim Holtz

Happy Monday, crafty friends! Have you all been following the STAMPtember fun this month at Simon Says Stamp? In case you’re not familiar with the event, throughout the month of September, Simon Says is partnering with some of the industry’s top designers and fan favorites to offer special, exclusive stamping products for us to enjoy! And today is a super exciting day because it’s Tim Holtz day! Yay!

I hope you were able to catch Tim’s LIVE reveal of his exclusive STAMPtember stamp and stencil set today (but if not, you can catch the replay on his blog or YouTube channel). In it, you would have seen the beautiful holiday stamp set and mini moon stencil set that he created exclusively for Simon Says Stamp‘s STAMPtember event. These products are available ONLY at Simon Says, and only while supplies last. So as always, if you see something you like, hurry on over before they are gone for good.

I absolutely love everything about this set, and was so happy to be able to create some projects with it for the LIVE reveal. I put together a matching card and tag using my favorite image from the set… Santa in his sleigh. It’s such a perfect companion to the mini moon stencil set, don’t you think? I used the stencil and lots of moody blue and black Distress Oxide inks to create a night sky scene for both designs. Santa and his reindeer and the sentiment were stamped directly onto the panel, without masking, and the image was colored with Oxide inks and Picket Fence Distress Paint for the areas of white.

For the card, I also added in a touch of holiday sparkle with some Tarnished Brass Distress Spray Stain. The stain is easy to apply with a paintbrush, just the same as you add ink or oxide. Here I used it on the reindeer’s harnesses and the star dust swirl behind the sleigh, as well as all around the edges of the card.

I used the same basic design on the matching tag, once again using the darker blue Distress Oxide inks to create the night time sky. This time, I used yellow on the background layer of the moon, whereas the card used only shades of grey. Santa was again stamped directly over the moon, without masking, and once again was colored with Oxides and paint. I also added in the tree line at the bottom of the tag, with the sentiment stamped right above.

I used a paintbrush to apply Picket Fence paint to the trees, and splattered more paint over the entire tag for the look of gently falling snow.

Isn’t this stamp set beautiful? And I love the smaller size of the mini moon stencil, too. So perfect for cards and tags, both. Did you know that this is Simon Says Stamp’s 12th STAMPtember anniversary? Huge congratulations to Simon Says on another amazing event, and a huge thank you to Heidi and Tim for letting me be a part of the celebrations!

Happy Stamping!

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The supplies I’ve used are linked and/or listed below:

Simon Says Stamp/Tim Holtz STAMPtember 2021 stamp and stencil set

Seam Binding

Tim Holtz Frosted Crystal and Distress Crayons

A couple of weeks ago, Tim Holtz shared an awesome Live demo featuring the new larger sized Frosted Crystal and the latest set of Distress Crayons (if you missed that demo, you can catch the replay on Tim’s blog or YouTube channel). After the Live, I shared a collage tag that I had made, and today I’m back with another project using the same products and techniques. This time, a fabric-based sewing-inspired ATC.

So this set of Distress Crayons features the three newest colors to join the Distress family, Salvaged Patina, Kitsch Flamingo, and Prize Ribbon. And what I didn’t realize at the time of their arrival is how wonderfully these three colors work together. I used all three in combination on this collage-style card, and I really love how it turned out.

One of the tricks that Tim shared on his Live demo was how to use the Frosted Crystal embossing powder to give “tooth” to paper surfaces for the Distress Crayons to stick to. So I used that technique to coat several Idea-ology die cut embellishments for this project, including simple black and white images like this dress form, as well as colored die cuts like the butterfly and floral sprays. Of course starting with a clean slate, I could completely color the dress form with the crayons, creating a color combo of my choosing. And for the accents that were already colored, I was able to add a bit of extra detail to the images with the crayons. If you look closely, you’ll see I added pink to the edges of the butterfly’s wings. And the flower branches got extra highlights of both pink and green.

The rest of the elements are just Idea-ology ephemera pieces, layered and stitched down onto bottom batting. I added an Idea-ology pin and stacked some of the images up on foam dots to add depth and dimension. I think it turned out so cute, and can’t wait to display this sew-sweet little card in my sewing room.

Have you tried out the new crayons and Frosted Crystal powder yet?

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The supplies I’ve used are linked and/or listed below:

 

 

Tim Holtz Sizzix Christmas- Cozy Winter

Hello, crafty friends! It’s the most wonderful time of the year… time for holiday festivity and fun with the release of the new 2021 Tim Holtz Sizzix Christmas/winter collection! I hope you all had a chance to catch the LIVE reveal on Tim’s YouTube channel this past Saturday. If not, never fear… you can always watch the replay at timholtz.com. You won’t want to miss all the amazingly inspiring project makes!

I was so very fortunate to get to create projects for the Live reveal, and today I’m excited to share the first of them here with you. This is the adorable new Cozy Winter set and the equally fabulous new Tall Pines paired together on a snowy winter holiday shaker card.

The background and framework for this shaker card were crafted from Distress Watercolor cardstock that was inked and splattered to create a snowy scene. I used a combination of Mermaid Lagoon and Iced Spruce Distress Oxide Spray on the background “sky”, which of course was splashed with water droplets followed by flicks of Picket Fence Distress Paint. The pine trees were die cut once from Kraft Stock cardstock and once from Watercolor cardstock, and inlaid together to give the look of a snowy forest. More dots of paint add a touch of snow to the tree branches.

The bear was also die cut from Distress Watercolor cardstock that was inked in a variety of pink, brown, and black Distress inks. And because I love fabric as much as I love paper, I decided to die cut the scarf and cups from felt to add a touch of fuzzy warmth to the design.

Do you have a favorite from the new release? To me it’s hard to choose just one!

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The supplies I’ve used are linked and/or listed below:

 

Benzie Designs Felt
Hero Arts Printer’s Type Lower Alphabet

If Friends Were Flowers with CardMaps

Before a new set of card-making sketches makes its appearance in October, it’s time to share one last card that I created for PageMaps using a CardMap sketch from the July release!

Here is the fun sketch that I used, and my take on it featuring a mix of goodies from Pink Fresh Studio Some Days and Simple Stories Bunnies & Blooms.

I do love the garden theme to this one, and I always appreciate a little pun in my sentiment. It’s been ages since I’ve added a button to my card, but once upon a time that was one of my top favorite embellishments. And it felt good to pull out my old and seldom-used notebook paper die from PaperTrey ink, which was the perfect die to match this sketch design.

The background papers are a combination of both collections, and I really like how the pop of black ties everything together. I layered several garden-y ephemera pieces and grounded them with a bit of grass border. The button, twine tie, and ticket stub finish the design.

The weather has started to turn here, and we are beginning to feel a little crisp in the air. My favorite season is almost here! Thanks so much for stopping by, friends! Wishing you all a very wonderful day!

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The supplies I’ve used are linked and/or listed below:

PaperTrey Ink: Notebook Die
Stampin’Up Twine
Button

Tim Holtz Sizzix Halloween- Costume Party

Happy Saturday, crafty friends, and thanks so much for stopping by! It’s now September, and those of you have been following me for awhile probably already know what that means…. this is the time of year when my brain turns to all things fall and my favorite holiday of all, Halloween. Today I wanted to share one of the projects that I made for the Tim Holtz LIVE Sizzix Halloween reveal. This spooky sweet 5×7 desk frame features new dies and new limited edition grit paste and glitter from Tim’s Halloween release.

Can you even resist these cute little characters? This trio is from the Costume Party Thinlits die set, and it is the latest in the Colorize line. If you’re not familiar with Colorize, it’s basically layers of dies that you build up following the color code stamped on the back of each die. I used a combination of Kraft Stock cardstock and Distress-inked watercolor cardstock to build my trick-or-treaters, and I love how the mix of surfaces adds contrasting visual texture to the finished design. And for even more fun, I used the special limited edition Nightfall Glitter from the Distress Sparkle Set for some sparkly accents on eyebrows, eyes, and hair.

The background of the frame is Distress watercolor cardstock that has been inked with Victorian Velvet, Stormy Sky, and Chipped Sapphire Distress Oxide. I masked the moon from an older set, Gate Keeper, and inked around the mask with Fossilized Amber Oxide to add the warm glow of the moon. I watercolored more oxide over the scene using a thin paintbrush, and that created the windy swirls that you see. Then splatters of Picket Fence paint create the look of stars.

The little die cut bats are also from the Gate Keeper die set, and I added in stamped tombstones from the old Village Graveyard set. I believe the graveyard set has been discontinued, but there are tombstones in the new Halloween Vault set that could be substituted. I cut the ground freehand from kraft stock cardstock, and swiped it with a bit of Distress paint to add color contrast and depth. The frame itself was painted with a combination of Picket Fence and Black Soot Distress paint, which was then sanded to remove some of the paint before adding the fabulous Crypt Distress Grit Paste from the limited edition Halloween Texture Set. The Grit Paste was sanded, too, and the whole finished result gives that fabulous aged, time worn appearance I truly love at Halloween.

Have you started on Halloween crafting? Have a favorite from the Tim Holtz release? I’d love to hear!

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The supplies I’ve used are linked and/or listed below:

Tim Holtz Sizzix Village Graveyard Thinlits Die Set
Distress Sparkle Set: Nightfall Glitter
Hero Arts Printer’s Type Lower Stamp Set

Tim Holtz Extra- New Distress & Frosted Crystal

Hi crafty friends! Today is a fun day for Tim Holtz fans with the announcement of a surprise YouTube Live featuring the latest new additions to the lineup of Distress. Today sees the release of three new Distress colors in crayon formulation, Kitsch Flamingo, Salvaged Patina, and the latest color, Prize Ribbon. But not only are there new crayons today, another favorite product in the Distress family is now available in a larger size…. Frosted Crystal embossing powder. And Tim is sharing a fun demo using all these new products on his YouTube channel today. And don’t worry if you’ve missed the LIVE, as you can always catch the replay! Just head to Tim’s blog for more information on that!

I had such fun playing with the new colors, and challenged myself to combine all three of them on this tag. Prize Ribbon is really the perfect blue for the paper dolls that I tinted. The little boy looks like a vintage version of a Boy Scout, and makes me nostalgic for those younger scout days I shared with my son. And she looks quite good in blue, too. I went much lighter with her coloration, but used Prize Ribbon for the main color on both images… and I really like the gradations of color you can achieve from just one crayon.

If you’ve not played with Frosted Crystal embossing powder before, it will most likely feel very different from products you’ve used before. This powder, like it’s name implies, leaves a frosted, textured, matte finish, unlike most embossing powders that melt to a shiny smooth, glass-like consistency. If you zoom in on these Paper Dolls, you can see what I mean about the texture. Once coated with the powder, these ephemera pieces are very easy to watercolor with the Distress crayons. So if you’ve struggled coloring the slick surface of Paper Dolls in the past, you may want to give this technique a try. Tim gave a great demo on this during his Live on Distress Crayons and Glaze, which you can find on his YouTube channel.

This tag was a great way to experiment with the new colors, and use up some of my older pieces of Idea-ology die cuts. All the bits were adhered to the tag with Distress Collage Medium, and then the top of the tag was brushed with Collage Medium, too. I then went in with the crayons adding color and smearing it out with my finger. I used a pair of Tim Holtz stencils and a wet paper towel to remove some of the color to make those cool patterns on the background. And don’t think that the crayons only work on paper, because you can add the pigment to many things, like the corrugated paper, twine, and lace trim I used here. It’s fun to just experiment and see where your imagination can go!

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The supplies I’ve used are linked and/or listed below:

 

Frosted Crystal

Another Year… with CardMaps

Happy Thursday, crafty friends! At the beginning of July, a new set of CardMaps designs were released over at PageMaps, and I had the great pleasure of creating some projects with the new sketches for the reveal. Today I’m sharing one of those cards here featuring the adorable Some Days collection by PinkFresh Studio.

I am always in need of birthday cards for my stash, and thought this bright happy paper with it’s typography print was perfect for the occasion. I used the 6×6 paper pad for this, along with the coordinating enamel dots and die cuts… and went back to one of my favorite old-school techniques which is sewing on paper. Love the pop of green that zigzag stitching brings.

But probably my favorite part of this card was also the scariest to achieve, and that is the splotchy, messy paint stain behind the flowers. There’s something intimidating about pouring paint onto something you’ve spent time creating, but it’s also fun to take more of a mixed-media approach to papercrafting at times. My best advice is to go slow and easy on the paint, and dab it quickly with a bit of paper towel. You can always add more…. it’s just the take-away that is difficult.

The patterned papers had more of a creamy background tone to them, so I used Bristol Smooth cardstock here instead of white. I pulled out more green from the design with the stamped sentiment strip, and finished off with the old corner rounder and a trio of enamel dots.

You can find the sketch for this card, along with many other great designs, over on the CardMaps page.
And thanks so much for stopping by!

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Ranger Distress Paint: Milled Lavender