Be Your Beautiful Self - Field Notes

It's always good advice to just "Be Your Wonderful Self." I made this card using the new Field Notes and Flower Shop stamps from Tim Holtz and Stampers Anonymous.

The background piece was made by stamping most of the stamps on the Field Notes set onto a piece of Distress Mixed Media Heavystock in Distress Archival Hickory Smoke. When the archival ink was dry, I colored it by spraying the paper with Tattered Rose and Bundled Sage Distress Spray Stain. This is the same go-to technique that I showed on this card.

For the focal point, I stamped the rose from the Flower Shop stamps and I stamped it using Distress Inks in two colors, Tattered Rose and Bundled Sage. Then I the corresponding colors to give it a little shine and a little texture.

Once they were embossed, I used a blending tool and added a little more of each color to any of the areas left white. Then I fussycut the flower out.

I cut a thin piece of vellum to fit down the middle of the card. at the bottom I used one of the Ornate Trims dies and stamped it in clear embossing ink, then embossed it with Tattered Rose Embossing Glaze. I love how light and pretty it turned out. I sewed it onto the top of the card so it could be lifted to reveal the lovely stamped collage underneath. I also popped up the the flower, and sentiment from the Tiny Text stamps on the vellum, and that's it.

Thank you for checking in today. I am always thankful that you take the time to to come by my blog.

Keep being your beautiful self!
Tami

I am an affiliate with Simon Says Stamp and Scrapbook.com so the links below send you to one of those stores depending on which logo you choose.  If you wish to purchase something from either store and use one of my links below, I get a small percentage of your order, at no additional cost to you. This helps me to defray the costs of this blog, the time, the ideas and tutorials I post here. Your help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Home - Sizzix Ch 2

When I made this sample last year, I had no idea how apropos it would be. This small home decor piece uses two of the newest Chapter 2 releases from Tim Holtz and Sizzix. I love the clean, classic look of it.

To begin with, I used a Mini Framed Panel, and painted the frame and side and back of the panel black. Then when it was dry, I rubbed Picket Fence and Pumice Stone Distress Crayon onto the painted areas and spread it around , getting it into the crevices with a damp finger and damp brush when needed. This should really soften the dark paint so it doesn't overwhelm the design.

The first Chapter 2 release I used is the Funky Wreaths die. This set comes with two wreath styles: twigs and greenery. These wreaths are made to work with the other Funky Floral die sets.

I chose to use the greenery wreath and to tuck one of the leaf dies from the Funky Florals 2 set around the wreath to make it a lovely leafy green.

 For my sample piece I colored Distress Heavystock with Distress Spray Stains. But for this tutorial I just used some cardstock scraps in green. The wreath and the four branches come in the set. the light green stems are cut from one of the Funky Floral 2 dies.

 I wanted to give the leaves some dimension so I used this tool kit from Sizzix.

 You roll one of the ball pieces over the leaves and it curls them up.

 Then I matched the branches to the leaves on the wreath and adhered them

 And then attached various branches from Funky Florals thoughout the wreath. Here I only show 3 but I used more on the actual wreath, as you can see below.

You can see the wreath base and the two different Funky Floral 2 leaf types I added from this vantage point.

Behind the wreath I used the new BRICKWORK 3D Texture Fade. Oh my goodness this is a new favorite! I LOVE it and I know you will too.

 I used the watercolor paper and Distress Archival Hickory Smoke with the Brickwork 3D Texture Fade.

 One side has the "raised" mortar  and the other side it is indented. This is what you want to ink.

 I inked all of the raised mortar areas with the Hickory Smoke Archival and then ran a slightly dampened piece of Distress Watercolor paper through my Vagabond 2 three times. This should cause the indented mortar to be a grey color, but leave most of the raised brickwork white.

 It should come out looking like this, which is awesome as it is, but it gets better.

See the areas where the white brick and grey mortar look a bit dirty and aged?

I inked the now indented mortar lines with Distress Ink Pumice Stone.  Put ink on the nonstick pad and spray it with some water until it beads, then pick up the color with a water brush.

Brush it through all of the mortar lines and on top of a few of the depressed bricks. Below you can see the areas where I have done this step vs just the portion with the Hickory Smoke Archival.

Don't worry if it is watery, it is coloring it more than you think it is.

Se how it gives the white brick a very subtly aged look?

The sentiment HOME is cut using the Alphanumeric Classic uppercase alpha released in 2019 Ch 4. I cut several home letters from heavy black cardstock and stacked them and then the last set was to color some Distress Woodgrain Cardstock with Distress Inks and then add it as the top layer of the letters. This will give dimension to the sentiment. I place the letters where I though they should go but didn't adhere them until after the wreath was secured.

When I attached the wreath to the top of the frame, I placed it where I wanted, then adhered the bottom of the wreath in place. Before securing the top, I ran a piece of ribbon under and over it so that it looked as if it was hanging from the ribbon. I secured this to the top back of the frame and then adhered the top of the wreath into place. Once the wreath was in place, I went ahead and adhered the letters.

This piece is a reminder for me to focus on the simple, classic, beautiful moments and opportunities that being at home right now offers, and there are so many things to be grateful for. <3 p="">
And you taking the time to visit and support me and my blog is also something I incredibly grateful for, so thank you. It is much appreciated!
Tami

I am an affiliate with Simon Says Stamp and Scrapbook.com so the links below send you to one of those stores depending on which logo you choose.  If you wish to purchase something from either store and use one of my links below, I get a small percentage of your order, at no additional cost to you. This helps me to defray the costs of this blog, the time, the ideas and tutorials I post here. Your help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

See the World - Inventor 9

It may be a bit like pouring lemon on a cut to post his card right now, but I don't feel that way. I love planning a trip. Granted, my husband and I don't go anywhere really except to Disneyland, BUT that doesn't stop me from planning! LOL! I have had pinterest boards for dream trips to all kinds of places, including Walt Disney World (a place we have never been, can you believe it?) for over a decade. It's a blast! So I say, if you are like many of us who have lots of extra time on your hands right now, start planning a trip you would want to take when this is all over.

So in that spirit, let's talk about this travel card that uses more Distress Embossing Glazes and the Inventor 9 stamps from Tim Holtz and Stampers Anonymous. This was such a fun card to make and it's really easy!

I started with a #8 Heavystock tag and using a blending tool and embossing ink. I put embossing ink on the clean tag through the Halftone Stencil. Then I sprinkled several different colors of Distress Embossing Glaze (Rusty Hinge, Cracked Pistachio, and Fossilized Amber) over the tag. Once embossed, I applied some Distress Ink in Walnut Stain to the tag and spritzed it with water.

I sewed around the outside edge of the tag and added a bit of string through the loop. Then I cut it so that it would fit on the front of a 4.25x5.5 card.

Then I stamped the trunks and the globe from the Inventor 9 stamps onto some Distress Heavystock and then embossed them with the Walnut Stain Distress Embossing Glaze. I fussy cut them all out and then watercolored them with Distress Inks.

There are two versions of the trunks on the Inventor 9. One is slightly open and one is mostly closed. I colored them with the theme I was going for.
Also, I stamped three adventure sayings from the Tiny Text stamp set onto plain Heavystock with Distress Embossing Ink. Then I embossed them with three different Embossing Glazes (Cracked Pistachio, Fired Brick, Fossilized Amber.) Once they were embossed, I colored each strip with Walnut Stain Distress Stain to make the wording stand out.

The background of the card is a piece of Distress Heavystock.

Using my hand as a stamping block, I stamped the globe images from Inventor 9 kind of haphazardly across the paper in Hickory Smoke Distress Archival Ink. Be sure you dry the Archival Ink.
On a side note: In the picture above, can you see that my Glass Media Mat is scratched? It doesn't affect how if works at all. It is scratched because I use it constantly and consider those scratches proof that it has been a loved and well used tool in my papercrafting journey. <3 i="">

 Then I sprayed it with water and Distress Inks.

Cracked Pistachio

Weathered Wood

 Antique Linen

More Water. You want to keep it light so it is important to make sure you spray it with water. This also somehow lets the Archival Ink kind of soak in a bit of the color.

 Once it is dry, you will start to see how the Hickory Smoke still shows but how it is starting to take on the hue of the Distress Ink as well.

 I added a little bit of color with blending tools.

 This continues to build the color with the Hickory Smoke Archival.

 Again, spray with water so the Distress Ink will react and soak in when you dry it.

 The water again softens the color and reacts with the Archival.

 In these photos you can see how the Hickory Smoke grabs onto the small amount of Distress Ink and how it slightly changes.

 I accidentally discovered this a couple of years ago when I was watercoloring a card background with a bunch of stamps on it.

It has since become one of my go-to techniques for backgrounds. You get to see the stamps, but they remain subtle enough that they don't overpower the focal point of the card. I love it and use it quite a lot.

Thank you so much for stopping by. I always appreciate it so much!
Keep on planning and dreaming!
Tami

I am an affiliate with Simon Says Stamp and Scrapbook.com so the links below send you to one of those stores depending on which logo you choose.  If you wish to purchase something from either store and use one of my links below, I get a small percentage of your order, at no additional cost to you. This helps me to defray the costs of this blog, the time, the ideas and tutorials I post here. Your help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Winifred - Sizzix Ch. 2

Hooray for more Colorize dies in the Chapter 2 release from Tim Holtz and Sizzix. This adorable zebra is named Winifred and she is really pretty easy to put together, so don't let all those stripes scare you! But before we get to her, let's talk about the background.

Another one of the Chapter 2 releases is the Stacked Circles. These are terrific for card making and scrapbooking, but they also make great backgrounds in a snap. As you can see above, you get several of each circle size so that you can cut multiples. LOVE that!! I paired a few different sizes together so that when cut, they would make a thin circle area between the background and the center of the circle.

I placed them randomly across a piece of background Distress Mixed Media Heavystock that I had colored with Distress Oxide Sprays. Once I liked the spacing on my circles, I held them in place with a low tack tape for cutting.

After I ran the piece through my vagabond to cut the circles, I pulled the circles and the thin circle outlines away, but I was careful to note where they fit. Then I adhered the background onto a larger piece of Heavystock colored with a brighter oxide. I'm sorry I don't remember the colors I used. Once the background was in place, I put the inner circles back into the spaces where they had been originally but without the thin outer circles. Adhere them in place so that the bright mat color shows through evenly where the circle outlines were, as you see above.

I did the same thing to the pieces that were to go on all four sides. I cut all of the background pieces to fit BEFORE I cut them.  I laid the Stacked circle dies on each strip of paper just as I did the large background, That way they fit perfectly. No trimming needed.

I added this background paper technique to the front and all four sides of a burlap panel, but remember I cut the front and each side separately using the same technique.

That brings us back to the lovely Winifred. As with the other colorize dies, cut the dies from the suggested colors to begin and then try branching out with colors.

You can see Winifred's face is still detailed, but it goes together fairly quickly.

 Most of the stripes are attached along her back, so you just lay the striped piece over the white and add just the few single stripes afterward. I popped her up on top of the background and then tied a Quote Chip around the top of the piece.

Once you get started on this one you will be surprised how easily it will come together, which is great, because how fun would it be to have a set of all four of the Colorize animals from Chapters 1 and 2 this year for your wall?

Thank you so much for stopping by. Please contact me via the form in the right column if you have any questions and I'll do my best to help.

I'm always so grateful you stopped by!
 Tami

I am an affiliate with Simon Says Stamp and Scrapbook.com so the links below send you to one of those stores depending on which logo you choose.  If you wish to purchase something from either store and use one of my links below, I get a small percentage of your order, at no additional cost to you. This helps me to defray the costs of this blog, the time, the ideas and tutorials I post here. Your help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!