Ideas for Using the Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations Planks Die

It's no secret that one of my favorite new die releases from Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations is the Planks die.  I can't wait to see what everyone does with this die. It's just so much fun!

 I made a short video discussing the die and various media you can cut with it.  Then below the video are some still shots of some of the things I discussed.  I hope you find this to be informative and helpful as you work with this delightful steel rule die.

 

 Use texture fades and cardstock to make a raised woodgrain. Add interest by sanding the raised portions, then inking it to make it look like the paint has worn away from the raised woodgrain.

This is a faux woodgrain technique using paint and ink on Mixed Media Heavystock. This is a technique I learned from one of Tim's demos a few years ago.

 

First swipe Distress Paint across the surface in one direction to make a faux wood grain pattern.  The once the paint is dry you either blend in Distress Ink or cover it with Distress Stain. Wipe away the ink/stain with a slightly damp cloth to remove the ink/stain on the Distress Paint.

 

You can also use any of the various Woodgrain stamps available. Here are two sets I used with three different woodgrains from Tim Holtz and Stampers Anonymous. I used Wallpaper and Wood CMS126 and Birch and Pine CMS280.

For a fun technique that was inspired by a few pieces I found on Pinterest here -

To get the worn floral wall paper on wood plank look, I colored some Distress Woodgrain Cardstock with a medium Distress Oxide color.  I believe this one was Vintage Photo.

 

Then I collaged some of the yellow roses from the Floral Collage Paper using Distress Collage Medium. 

Once it was dry, I used a sanding block to distress it by sanding the whole piece in a circular motion, wearing away the collage paper and revealing the wood grain in places. I love the way the sanding lightened and distressed the color on the collage paper.

I cut the piece into strips a little wider than 1/2" and cut them all on the one long thin plank.  Be sure to keep them in order when you cut them and then when you die cut them or it is tough to piece them back together.

Here is another close-up to show the distressed look with the sanding.

 

This is the end result in a simple card.

 

As I showed in the video, here are some samples I had previously done just with plain half inch strips of Woodgrain cardstock, but I reworked them with the Planks die cut pieces and they just add so much more character! 

The photo on the left is the old version, and the reworked card with the planks is on the right.

 

See how much more character is added when using the Planks die instead?

The original card, the one on top, I used 1/2" strips of woodgrain to piece together to make a table.  On the reworked card below it, I used the thin plank die and cut several into pieces and then put them together to form a table with delightful gaps and chunks missing.

 

This distressed Plank die table is so much more interesting than the plain strips I used before.

 

Below are some of the cards I made for Creativation 2018 using the planks die with a link to each blog post where I explain how I made them. 

 

Aloha

 

Wander

Time to Explore

 

Hello

I hope that you love the new planks die as much as I do and I can't wait to see all the creative things you all make with it!

Aloha

I had a blast making this card and thinking about all the fun times I’ve had with family and friends in Disneyland’s Enchanted Tiki Room. I can hear Fritz the parrot in my head as he starts the whole tiki room off by making all the guests say “alooooha!”

The different papers used were from the Correspondence Paper Stash, corrugated piece is from the Textured Surfaces pack, Distress Woodgrain Cardstock and Distress Mixed Media Heavystock. 

The base of corrugated paper was cut using the largest Stacked Deckle Die.

I cut all of the flowers from Distress Mixed Media Heavystock and then watercolored them with Disress Ink. The pieces of the Tiki were cut from Distress Woodgrain Cardstock and then colored with Distress Oxides. The title is the Cut Out Lowercase alphabet on one of the planks from the Planks die.

The tiki and most flowers were cut from an older die set that is still available called Tropical, and a few of the Funky Florals 2.