WINTER SHADOW BOX CARD

Hi everyone!  Hope all of you have had a great Christmas.  I haven't been online much this Christmas, it's been a very busy one for me.  We recently did a lot of renovations on our lower level of our house and it was a lot of pressure trying to get things back to normal and completed before the holidays. I always do all the painting in our house and for some reason I thought it would be quick and easy....what was I thinking?! Hopefully I won't have to do that for awhile!  Our oldest son(he lives in Australia) came home for Christmas and brought his lovely partner with him, who has never been to Canada, seen snow, or experienced cold weather.  This may be the one and only time she will ever come again for Christmas, it is currently -33C and with the windchill, feels like -38C.  She has never been so cold in her life.  Who am I kidding, I feel like I have never been so cold in my life and I go through this every winter.  We also host the Christmas dinner in my family, so it is a busy holiday here.  It's worth it though, even though I feel like I could sleep for an entire week after.

I made this Christmas Shadow Box Card for my sister, and then forgot to give it to her.  Sorry, Pat, I will get this to you soon!

Love this Holiday Shadow Box die by Katelyn Lizardi!

There are two variations to make with this Thinlits set.  I chose the outdoor scene, which really could be for any winter occasion.  I first die-cut the back of my card using the main card die.

For the front  of my card, I used the tree insert that fits inside the main card die, creating a window for my scene.  I also die-cut two rectangle pieces that make up the base and top of the shadow box.

The snow pieces were die-cut with white cardstock.  I die-cut adhesive sheets, applied these to the snow fronts, and covered with "snow".

Next I die-cut my trees and deer.  The fir trees and deer were die-cut with cardstock that had been inked with Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks.  The bare trees were die-cut with Tim Holtz Woodgrain Cardstock that had been inked.  All of the card pieces and embellishment dies have tabs so your die-cuts fold back for easy adhering.

The snow, trees, and deer pieces were adhered to the card base first.  The front and back pieces were then adhered to the base.  The top piece was adhered last.

Mini snowflake die-cuts were added to the front to finish my card off.  I didn't want to add anything more to the front of my card, so I added my sentiment on the back.

Thanks for stopping by, and a very Happy New Year to all of you!

Jan

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SNOWGLOBE CARD

Hi everyone, today I'm sharing my final piece for the Tim Holtz Holiday Inspiration Series.  I hope you have enjoyed this Inspiration Series as much as I have.  There's so many amazing projects, I would like to try them all!

I've taken one of the more intricate new Tim Holtz die sets, Snowglobe #2 and created a simple card. There are 26 pieces to this set, which might be a bit daunting, but using all the same paper does help.

I cut a 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" square out of Ranger's Mixed Media cardstock.  Die-cut your globe piece, about 1/2" from the top.  You are going to use the negative part for your card.  I die-cut another piece the same but the card size is slightly larger, so there's about 1/8" mat.  (I've used a piece of thin chipboard so you can see the two pieces more clearly).  The two layers create a deeper recess inside the globe.  Cut out another solid square, 5 13/16" x 5 13/16", this is the backing to your globe.  Center and glue all three pieces together.

Die-cut all those wonderful little pieces from Ranger's Mixed Media Cardstock. I die-cut a few extra pieces of snow.  Glue the windows, and house parts to the main house pieces. Tweezers help with holding the smaller pieces.  I've used Distress Collage Matte Medium to adhere my pieces.

The Snowglobe base was embossed with Sizzix's Birch Texture Fade Embossing Folder.

All of the pieces were adhered with Distress Collage Matte Medium.

After everything was glued down,  I applied a thin layer of white gesso to the entire surface. It not only gives a good white base (when painting, your colour goes on cleaner) but also the brush marks give a nice texture.  Plus, if you have any glue showing, the gesso will cover it.

I chose blue/green tones for my card, but any colour scheme would work. I painted my darkest colour first, Chipped Sapphire Distress Paint, with inside the globe a little darker.  I use very little paint, you still want the detail to show.  It doesn't look very good at this stage,  don't worry!

Next came Tumbled Glass, then Evergreen Bough and Brushed Pewter Distress paints.  These were all dry brushed (most of the paint is wiped off the brush, leaving a slight amount left on), one at a time and dried in-between.  You just want to lightly brush a trace amount of colour, it's amazing how little you need and still get colour on your piece.  Sometimes you might want to reapply a darker colour again, just repeat.

When you are happy with your final colour, dry brush Picket Fence Distress paint to highlight. 

Add a bit of snow by splattering white paint with a Tim Holtz Splatter brush.  I die-cut the globe on a piece of scrap paper and laid the negative paper on top so the splatters just reached the inside of the globe.  A bit of Rock Candy Clear Glitter was added to the tree tops and roof tops.  To finish my card, I die-cut pieces from the Festive Greens Thinlits Die set out of white cardstock.  These pieces were highlighted with Clear Rock Candy Glitter and Glossy Accents.  Silver Stickles were applied in little dots to the berry die-cut.  The thin silver trim on my card, is Silver Deco Sheets (TH93219) that I cut.  These Deco sheets are like Tim's Glitter Design Tape, very thin but with a backing, so they can be cut into any shape or trimmed into strips like I did and apply like a sticker.  A bow from Idea-ology Metallic Trimmings(TH93646) and a painted Christmas Typed Token Finding (TH93629) complete my embellishments.  My finished card front was adhered to a white cardstock card base.

Here's another look at my finished card:

There's still some holiday inspiration to come, and in case you've missed any of the previous weeks, don't forget to check Tim's blog for the weekly recap, or his Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for more inspiration!

I just want to thank all of you for visiting and the wonderful comments throughout this Inspiration Series.  It means a lot to me and I hope I have inspired you to create your own Christmas keepsakes.

A big THANK YOU to Tim, Mario and Paula for letting me be a part of this creative journey!  I feel very honoured to be a part of your team!

Until next time,

Jan
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CHRISTMAS PLACE CARDS

Hello friends!  I'm sharing this Christmas Place Card project today:

Sizzix's Designer Lynda Kanase has a new collection called "Picture This" for all your Instax or Fujifilm photos. There are different themes in each set that let you display your mini photos in style.  But when I saw the Photo Stand Set, I immediately thought of Place Cards for my Christmas Table.  Here's a little tutorial to show how I created my place cards.

With the Sizzix Seasonal Photo Stand set, I die-cut my base using Tim Holtz Woodgrain Cardstock.  

After die-cutting, fold along the crease lines.  I then sprayed the stand with Distress Linen Spray Stain, let dry, and highlighted the grain with Distress Photo ink.  I usually run the stamp pad across for a more vivid contrast.  Fold the sides in, along the crease lines and adhere them closed.  You will end up with a slit through the middle of the stand for your photo.

Next I used this cute Photo Shaker Box set for my shadow box.  There are different little words that interchange in the box. I use a bit of masking tape to hold everything in place before die-cutting. Lots of little stamps and extras in this set too.

This is what my die-cut frame looks like.

Fold your photo box on the crease lines, except for the bottom one. Because I'm not building a shaker box, I left this one flat, but just folded in the side tabs.  This will go in the slit on the photo stand.  Next I die-cut my inside name plate with the rectangle frame.  I printed my names on the computer.  These could be stamped too.

The name card was adhered to the back of the frame with 3-d foam tabs.  Place the frame in the slit.  Time to decorate your place card.

There are lots of little embellishment dies in all these sets, I chose to use the snowflake confetti, holly leaf and berry.  I just received one of the new Tim Holtz Sidekick Starter Sets, and am already loving the convenience of this little machine when having to die-cut those little tiny dies.  I need to die-cut a lot of these leaves and confetti pieces, so it goes a lot faster to use this machine.  Just sandwich your die and paper between the two cutting plates and run it through your machine.  For my holly leaf, I used silver metallic cardstock coloured with various colours of green alcohol ink.

I adhered the holly leaf and berry in the corner.  For my snow, I applied Tim Holtz Grit Paste (TDA53422) to my stand, pushed my tree into the snow, and sprinkled Distress Clear Rock Candy Glitter while my "snow" is wet. My Grit Paste is fluffed up a bit to look more like snow. The snowflake and star confetti is adhered to my place cards and Stickle Glitter Glue was applied to highlight them.

Here's another cute idea for place cards.

Instead of names, use photos of everyone (even baby photos to keep everyone guessing!) and add fun embellishments to the photos.

This Sizzix set, Photo Frame with Seasonal Props is a cute set with different props and stamps to add to your frame.  It even has it's own frame with this set.  I stamped my images, coloured, then die-cut.

Here's another look at my finished Christmas Place Cards.
Once you have figured out what you are going to create, it's pretty fast to create multiplies of these place cards.  I've got 4 done, just 17 more to go!

Thanks for stopping by!  Happy creating!

Until next time,

Jan

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CARVED CHRISTMAS CARDS

Hi everyone!  I'm back today with another project for Tim Holtz Holiday Inspiration 2017.  

This grouping of Christmas cards feature one of my favourite Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Christmas releases this year, the Carved Christmas #1 Set.

Such a fun set, perfect for cards!

I stamped each image twice.  The image was stamped in red or black ink, then embossed with clear embossing powder.  Using a Distress Marker, I applied my colour to my craft mat, diluted it with a water brush, and then applied this light colour to the lettering.  This image was then cut out.  The other was stamped with a gray(or black) ink on white cardstock big enough for the background.

Each Stamped image has been framed with a red or black cardstock die-cut frame.  These are die-cut from Tim Holtz Sizzix Stitched Circles, Stitched Squares, Stitched Ovals, and Stitched Rectangles framelits.

I have matted my framed images with different plaids from Tim Holtz Christmas Paperie Mini stash (TH93625).  Two more mats underneath, gold Metallic Kraft Stock (TH93586), cardstock, and then my card base.

For the embellishments on all my cards, I used Tim Holtz Mini Holiday Greens Thinlits set die-cut from cardstock that had been covered with gold and silver Tim Holtz Deco Sheets(TH93219).  The little bows are die-cut using Sizzix Fold-Up Bows from Christmas Deco Sheets(TH93644) and Kraft Christmas Paper Stash(TH93626). Tim Holtz Tiny Bells Findings (TH93658), and Christmas Typed Tokens (TH93629), tied with Tim Holtz Eclectic Craft Thread, (015274) complete each card.

Here's another look!  Hope I have inspired you to use your stamps when making your Christmas Cards! Don't forget to check Tim's Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter daily for new projects from his Inspiration Team!

Until next time,

Jan

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DIY SIZZIX SKATES VIGNETTE

Hello crafting friends!  I have a tutorial up on the Sizzix blog today, featuring Tim Holtz dies used on this project:

I enjoyed making a Halloween vignette on a book for the Tim Holtz Halloween Inspiration Series this year, had to make another for Christmas!

Thanks for visiting me there!

Jan

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CHRISTMAS ETCETERA TAG

Hello everyone!  We're already at Week 4 of the Tim Holtz Holiday Inspiration Series and I hope you are all enjoying the amazing creations from his designers as much as I am.  Today I am sharing my third project, this Christmas Etcetera Tag.

My base, the Tim Holtz Etcetera Tag, is the largest one, measuring 8 1/4" x 14 1/2".  These sturdy tags are laser cut from thickboard and can be collaged, painted, altered and embellished.  There's lots of room on this one for those wonderful Tim Holtz embellishments!  Are you ready to find out how I created my Christmas tag?

I painted my board with white gesso, as I wasn't quite sure if I was going to cover the entire board with paper. My patterned paper from the 8 x 8 Christmas Paper Stash (TH93625) wasn't large enough to cover the entire board, but I pieced two together and trimmed the top to match the tag. I also left 1/4" all around the paper and tag base.  When piecing paper together like this, I like to have an idea where I'm going to place things so I can cover my seams.  I knew I was going to use the wood boxes, so I made sure my seam was covered mostly by them.  Christmas Design Tape (TH93628) was added around the edge.  Before adhering my paper with Tim Holtz Collage Medium, I machine stitched around the edge of the paper. Glue the paper onto the board with Distress Collage Medium.

Now, onto the Vignette Boxes.  For the larger one, I made my own background, using Stencil StarryTHS093, and Ranger's Texture paste in the corner before painting with layers of various Distress paints that coordinate with my Vignette box. I start with a darker colour and dry brush additional layers, usually the lighter ones last.

The Vignette Box Top Structures (TH93663) fit right over the Vignette Wood Boxes. I chose this National Garlands one (3 7/8 x 5 1/2") which is the largest.  After cutting my background down to size,  I adhered my chosen Christmas Paper Doll (TH93665).  Check your placement with the lid on, so it is visible within the opening.  I used thick pieces of foam  (about 1/2" thick cut from the foam pieces that I had saved from the old texture fade packaging) to build up the paper doll, so it's more visible.  Add in some Christmas Clippings Stickers (TH93651), and Christmas Remnant Rubs (TH93636).  Adhere this to the inside of your Vignette box, then adhere the Top Structure.

Here's a look at the finished box which I lightly sanded to give it a distressed look.

The smaller Paramount box is 2 7/8 x 4".  The music note paper is a piece from the 

Christmas Ephemera Pack (TH93627). The inside has a small Woodland Tree (TH93638) lightly coloured with Bundled Sage Distress Stain Spray, accented with Glossy Accents and Rock Candy Clear Glitter.  Christmas Paper dolls (tinted and lightly sanded) were adhered at different depths(foam dots) and the Mirrored Stars (TH93083) were lightly tinted with Latte Alcohol Ink.

I love tiny metal findings and these fluted stars(TH93660) add that perfect vintage touch to your projects. I was just going to glue them to the corners of this Christmas Baseboard(TH93652), but decided to hammer them into the board with these nails from the Vignette Hardware Findings set(TH93668).  I think this is my favourite Baseboard, I could have a whole package of old looking ads or signs, just in the vintage black & white, couldn't you?  If you're not up to putting a hole into the fluted star, there are the Fluted Fasteners(TH93273) that have a hole in the center and include a brad, but they are smaller and not as dimensional.

I had a scrap piece of wood to hammer the hole through my star.  I turned the star over to hammer so it wouldn't flatten out and I also used a stronger regular nail instead of the decorative one (didn't want to bend it).  I love my little Tim Holtz hammer, they're not available anymore unfortunately.  My husband kept stealing it, he liked to use it when the regular hammer was too big, so I had to hide it on him!  I've tried to buy him his own or one similar but the closest I could come to it was a short handled hammer, so it's still hidden. Once I had the hole hammered in, I painted the star with black paint and after it dried, lightly sanded off some of the paint.

You can add a bit of paint to the nail after it's nailed into the board.

When nailed to the board, the nails poke through slightly from the back, but I just nailed them flat.  It will be covered with paper later. The bottom right hand corner one ended up be removed because  my small Vignette box ended up being on top of it.  I just hammered it again through the small box as you will see in a later photo.

I die-cut lots of various foliage from the Sizzix Mini Holiday Greens Thinlits set(661597) and Kraft-Core cardstock.

Once my small Vignette box was adhered to my tag, I adhered my Holiday Greens die-cuts, Red Alpha Dice Findings spelling out the word "JOY"(TH93654) with the edges lightly sanded. Also a Wood Slice (TH93662) frosted with Glossy Accents and Distress Rock Candy Glitter, and finally a ribbon bow(TH93646 Metallic Trimmings) with two Tiny Bells also frosted up(TH93658).  The metallic ribbon was lightly tinted with Distress Stain which I think was either Lucky Clover or Cracked Pistachio, I think.  Usually when I'm taking photos of my steps, I include the product in the photo so I don't forget what I used.  For some reason I didn't on these photos and it's been awhile since I've finished this project.   So sorry, if some of you want to know the exact colours I used!

I highlighted my Salvaged Santa(TH93661) with Gold Mixative Alcohol ink, removing some of it so it just stayed in the crevices.  Vintage Platinum Glitter Dust was added to the Santa and a small Decorative Deer Finding(TH93640).

These were adhered to the top of the large Vignette Box, along with my coloured trees, Holiday Greens and a few Bead Berries Findings (TH93666).  The trees and paper die-cuts were all highlighted with Distress Clear Rock Candy Glitter and a bit of Picket Fence Distress Paint.

The bottom corner was filled with a couple of Quote Chips (TH93655), a Holiday Flash Card (TH93645) with a few Christmas Clippings Stickers(TH93651)added to the corner later, a small calendar from Christmas Ephemera Pack (TH93627) and a Wood Slice(TH93662) slightly stained and stamped with Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz set, Holiday Postmarks (CMS323 Love this set!).  There are quite a few of these small round postmarks in this set that fit perfectly on the wood slices.  Glitter was added to the top also.  You can also see my little Star Finding hammered into the back of the Paramount box.

I added in the ring that comes with the Etcetera Tag, covering it with Christmas Kraft Paper Stash (TH93626) and sanding the edge.  A Tim Holtz metal Wreath Adornment (TH93634) fit perfectly on the ring, so I painted it with Picket Fence paint, and glittered that too. My Christmas Typed Token Finding (TH93629) was also painted; first in red, then lightly green on the edges, sanding just a bit.  My Crinkle ribbon (TH93020) was coloured with Distress Stains (a combination of reds) on one and greens on the other. A bit of Metallic ribbon that had also been lightly tinted was tied here too.  I love the fact that I can dye my ribbons to exactly the colour I need to match my papers, don't you?

Here's a look from a side angle of my finished tag.

Here's a few from the front again!  I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and hopefully it has sparked some creative ideas of your own to create an Etcetera Tag for yourself or a Christmas gift. Don't forget to check Tim's Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter daily for new projects from his Inspiration Team!

See you soon!  I have another Tim Holtz project coming up this week on the Sizzix blog.

Thanks for visiting, and your comments are all so appreciated!

Jan

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