Experimenting with Distress Ink

Disclaimer: Yes, I know it's another pet page. I made it for LOAD. Today's prompt was to scrap about a conflict. So I scrapped about whether I was a cat or a dog person. I do love both. Lately though, the difficulties of caring for a VERY senior dog have left me loving the ease of caring for a cat. Both types of animals are great, but for a long time, I thought I would never have a cat. I had been told I was allergic. I am, in truth, slightly allergic to them. However, I REALLY like having cats. A few years ago, we rescued some kittens which I hand raised. Sweetpea is one of those pictured in the page below. We thought at first we would care for them and then give them to good homes. Happily, caring for those little fur babies allowed me to realize my allergies were not all that intense. Now our home is populated with 2 cats and 1 dog.

  This page was quite the experiment for me. I have a few of the Tim Holtz distress inks but really had not delved into using them. I saw a video over at Scrapbook News and Review magazines forum which inspired me to try using them with stamps and misted water. I also decided to pull out a stamp which I had hand carved about a month or so ago. My original intent was to stamp just a little. I ended up covering the whole page. I confess. I was having quite a fun time with the stamps and inks.

Which leads to me the page itself ( Pardon the photo.It's late here). It kind of reminds me of those times you go to the hairdresser wanting something different. It takes you a while to get used to your new haircut.Well, I'm still getting used to this page. I based my design on Paula Gilarde's Ad Inspiration challenge. I liked the grid design that challenge #49 provided. Grids are often  difficult for me since I can rarely measure anything straight( despite quite a lot of tools designed for that purpose). I felt that adding the artsy water color stamp effect might be a nice way for me to keep crooked lines a little less noticeable. Initially, I used a brown marker to make the grid lines. It was too bright, so I diffused it with some white acrylic paint.

Cardstock and alphas: Colorbok; background stamp: hand carved by me;
pet stamps: Basic Grey; ink: ranger; Jewel: Making memories;
 brads: Basic grey and Karen Foster; other: acrylic paint, google eyes

The stamped background added a bit of difficulty in finding the right embellishments for the page. I solved the problem by stamping a cat and dog directly onto the layout. I then used pen to outline the images and added small embellishments like brads, jewels and google eyes. Now my flat stamps had a little more character. I stamped a subtle border of circles with white acrylic paint. I then added some small punched circles to the border. The punched circles are simply made with  ink on photo paper scraps.
   Experimenting like this is not just for fun. It's a way for me to try out something that may become part of my regular arsenal of techniques. I am more likely to use a technique again in the future if I try it out on a page or tag. I don't recommend trying something new out a page with special photos. New techniques, at least for me, are done on pages which, though wonderful to have and part of my story, are not as important as say, wedding photos.
   I am off to submit my page to the Second floor challenge. I've been wanting to try one of these for weeks now. It's a wonderful challenge to try to inspire you to do something new. Check it out at Balzer Designs. If you need a little more inspiration, pop over to Scrapbook News and Review Magazine. Inspiration is posted on the blog weekly.

Metal Enamel embellies

  In December, I participated in Tim Holtz' twelve tags of Christmas.While I did make many of the projects, I really never got around to sharing all of them. One of my favourite projects were these little metal tags he made using sheets of craft metal. I don't have any craft metal. What I did have were some soda cans. So, since march is about green things over at Scrap Our Stash, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to finally share how I recycled the cans to make some very cool metal embellishments. How do soda cans relate to green things? Well, I am being green by recycling.See how one can twist a challenge around!!!
 Anyway...you are going to need an old pair of kitchen shears. I keep a pair around just for the purpose of cutting thick cardboard and metal. Soda cans are your next item. Be sure to wash them out. I recommend letting them dry a bit too, or you may spill water all over your work space. Take a dry can and carefully cut a slit into it.

Now for the next part, you need to be VERY careful. The edge is a bit jagged you don't want to cut yourself. Also, as you cut, try to make slow, even cuts. This way, you reduce the chance of having metal shavings fall off.  Insert your scissors into the slit and carefully cut the top off the can. You can use one hand to depress part of the can as you go, allowing the scissors to fit in the slit and cut more evenly.

Now that the top is off, cut a slit down one side toward the bottom. This will allow you to more easily cut and remove the bottom of the can.

You will then have a somewhat curled sheet of metal.If one side it jagged, you may wish to trim the ends to leave a nice even cut. If it's damp, dry it a bit with a cloth.  You can now die cut it or emboss it as desired. I chose to use my scissors and I hand cut a few tag shapes.

Once your metal piece has been embossed, you can begin to paint it. I used acrylic craft paint. Some paints cover better than others. Experiment with different types to find the look you wish to achieve. I did find that some of the paint began to peel. This is ok. It will add to the grunge look you are going for. You also need not worry if your paint job is perfect. As you can see, mine is not totally even.

Your next step is to sand down the tag. This will reveal some of the metal beneath it while leaving other areas covered. I used a nail file.

Now, carefully wipe any dust off, then stamp over the metal tag with a distress ink pad. Then cover with clear embossing powder and heat. The result is a wonderful metal enamel embellishment. The clear embossing powder seals the paint in and prevents it from any further peeling.

You can then choose to add additional embellishments to the tag.

Don't forget...if you have something green to share, pop over to Scrap Our Stash.

Twelve Tags of Christmas- Day 4

 As much as I liked the tag from Day 3, I decided to skip it...at least for now. The interesting techniques for the day 4 tag were beckoning. As usual, I lacked many of the supplies Tim used for his tag. What I did have was an embossing folder with the snowman. So I pulled out a thin piece of chipboard...the kind you can get from the top of a scrapbook paper pad. It was just the right thickness to emboss while at the same time thin enough so that I could cut out parts of the center. After embossing the chipboard, I cut the snowman out and carefully extracted the snowflakes with an exacto knife.

Once the cutting was complete, I applied a thin coat of white acrylic paint.After the paint dried, I added the rock candy crackle glaze.

While I waited for the glaze to dry and crack to perfection, I made the background sheet. I used a plain sheet of kraft paper as my base. Since I do not have all of the inks Tim used, I chose to stamp my blue ink pad onto wax paper. I stamped a square about the same size as the base paper. I then added a little bit of my homemade white mist. The white mist consists of watered down acrylic paint with a bit of perfect pearls powder.

Swirling the cardstock around on the wax paper created a wonderful sort of mottled effect. I set it aside to allow it time to dry. Now it was time to move back to the snowman. Once again, I did not have the inks Tim used. This time, I substituted glimmer mist. I opend the bottle and dabbed the dropper onto various sections of the snowman. I was pleased at how the mist seeped into the cracks. I applied the heat tool as Tim suggested and saw the white of the base coat become more apparent while the cracks kept the colour I had infused them with. I later noticed some of the glaze falling off.I am not sure why. Maybe it was the materials I used. To combat this, I applied a thin coat of glossy accents over the whole snowman.

Tim Holtz Embossing folder, Gauze from a first aide kit.glossy accents,
Ranger rock candy crackle glaze, Martha Stewart snowflake punch
clear packaging, Basic Grey Flourish stamp,
Technique Tuesday snowflake stamps
Colorbox ink in white and Blue Lagoon
Glimmer mist in electric blue, frost and spring violet

I raided the first aid kit for some gauze which I cut down and tied into a scarf. Thin clear packaging was punched into snowflake shapes. I am very pleased with the results. Most of all though, I am pleased with the new technique I learned for creating a unique background.

Becoming Mr. And Mrs.

    Every once in a while, it's good to follow the step by step instructions in the making of a layout. Why? It introduces you to a new technique without the stress and guesswork of what to do with the rest of the page. During November, I took a free class at Miss Arts Paper Crafting School. The class led me through a series of steps to add texture and dimension to my page. It was an enjoyable experience and led to the creation of a page that, while not my usual style, is truly wonderful.
   I did not have all of the materials suggested to complete the Layered Layouts class. Rather than purchase the supplies, I made a kit, attempting to match the supply list as much as I could from my stash. By doing so, the page became unique to me, despite the fact that I was following a series of step by step instructions.

Gesso
Pink Paislee glitter alphas
Glimmer mist in frost
Basic Grey paper clip
Tim Holtz metal tags
I-rock jewels
Basic Grey Wisteria paper
Making Memories shimmer flourishes-blue
My Mind's eye papers
Maya Road lace trim
Carboard
gauze from my first aide kit
Jenni Bowlin stick pins
Webster's Pages button sparkler
Maya Mist in Latte Metallic

 Though I may not use everything I learned in the making of this page, I will take parts of the process to incorporate into future pages.
  By completing the step by step instructions, I was able to learn the how and the why behind the page's design.I also learned that I love altering pre-made embellishments to meet my needs. I have always loved metal embellishments, for example, but never really liked the way they looked on many of my pages.They seemed to dominate aspects of the page. By altering them, I was able to give them a one-of-a-kind look and better able to blend them into my page's overall design.

The metal tags  have so much more character. I even think it's easier to read them now.
  This page will become the title page of my wedding album. Though it might not be my usual style, it's very special to me, both because of the amount of work I put into it and because of the end result.

Now it's your turn! Scrap Our Stash is celebrating it's birthday! Share a page or project you've made to help celebrate two wonderful years of using your stash in new ways!

The Twelve Tags of Christmas-Day 2

The tag for day two was simpler than day one. I think it's a good thing as it took me two days to make the first tag! LOL Once again, I did not have many of the materials, so I improvised.

Materials: Tim Holtz metal charm
Colorbox gold ink and Chestnut roan ink,
making memories snaps
Pink Paislee trim, twine, Bazzil cardstock
Holly  from K and Co. paper
diamond stickler

I used a printed kraft paper from the Paper Studio. To get the same effect as having the resist paper, I stamped the word Christmas with rusty pickle alphas and clear embossing powder. After I heat set the powder, I rubbed white acrylic paint across the paper. I quickly wiped it down to reveal the word. The holly was fussy cut from the k and co.paper. I hand cut the border on the bottom from chipboard. Inking it in cold achieved a nice, metal like appearance.
    I really liked how Tim had the indentations in his brads. I chose to use snaps. I did not attach them to the chipboard right away.Instead, I crimped the back of the snaps in my crop-o-dile. to do this, place the snap in the crop-o-dile without any paper. Then punch down. The result is a somewhat flattened back to the snap.

I then flipped the snap over and used the bump in the crop-o-dile to add the dent. Once I had five done, I used glossy accents to adhere them to the page. It's so much easier than trying to set the snap directly into the paper.
  I drew the dear by hand, then carefully cut it out. I inked the edges with the chestnut roan, then carefully edged it with Diamond stickles. My son says he likes it better than the day one tag! No kidding! LOL and this one was so much less work for me! Sometimes, simple really is best I guess!

The Twelve Tags of Christmas-day 1

   Last year, I was introduced to the Twelve Tags of Christmas event on Tim Holtz' Blog. While I did not participate, I did learn a thing or two. This year, I decided to try some of the tags myself. I must admit, that while I do like a lot of Tim Holtz' products, I do not own very many of them. Perhaps, at some point in the future, I will be able to acquire more.Meanwhile, I made due with the stash I had on hand.I decided to share some of what I did here along with my version of the tag...which is a bit more like a title block.
  First of all let me say that I do not have the same tag Tim used. Indeed, I do not even know the size measurements of said tag. I chose to use a piece of cardstock 4 1/4 inches x 4 inches. There is no special reason the tag is this size other than that, I decided to draw the title by hand to mimic the" Noel" used on Tim's tag. In doing so, My not so awesome skills of drawing meant the title was a certain size. So I had to make the cardstock base in an appropriate size to match the title and hold all of the elements. So yes, if you just did a double take, I did say that I hand drew the title. I pulled out a piece of grungeboard and did my very best to make my "Noel" look like Tim's.It need not be awesome or perfect for it will be covered with glitter. Glitter and paint can hide a lot of mess from erasing.

After drawing the title, I carefully cut it out using an exacto knife. Try to do it in small stretches, cutting small bits out at a time. Also, don't stress if you accidentally rip bits off, which happened to me. Remember, Paint and glitter can hide a lot of things.

Look carefully and you will see that the top of the N is missing part of what I drew. Also, the flourish under the L lost some of it's tip. Just to review, after I cut this, I then decided on the size Cardstock that I would use as a base.
  The first thing to really catch my eye were the paper pine cones. I wanted to make one so badly! Not having the die, I mulled over a few ideas.The following is what worked best for me.

materials for paper pinecone: scallop border, toothpick, adhesive like hot glue or glossy accents
White paint, brush and stickles( I used icicle.)

I took the guard off of my corner rounder and punched a scallop border. Small scallops seem to work best for this, since I wanted a small pine cone. You could even draw your own border, for the scallops need not be perfect. I initially cut a 12 inch long border. For the small pine cones on this project, I found that I only needed half of it to make one. Once the Scallop border was punched, I rolled and bent the edges a bit. You will do a bit more of this later when the pine cone is completely made,but doing this a little now is a huge help for later.

Next, I adhered a toothpick to the edge of the border. Note that I cut off the pointy end. That way, it does not show on the finished pine cone. After the glue is dry, cut slits at the intersection of each "v" in the border.

Be very careful not to cut all the way through the border strip. Cutting the slits helped me bend and shape the pine cone since the card stock I used was a heavy weight.Now, roll the border onto the toothpick in the same fashion that Tim demonstrated. When you come to the end, adhere the tip of the border. Once dry, begin shaping your pine cone. I found that my paper piercer helped me pull open the pine cone. Just be gentle so you do not tear it. Once that's done, dry brush some white paint on the tips of the pine cone. Then add smear some stickles on with your finger. Repeat to make the second pine cone.

   Honestly, I wasn't really liking my pine cone a whole lot at first. Adding the paint and the stickles is really what gave it that pine cone look.
  For the greenery, I hand drew various leaves in an attempt to match what Tim had cut with his dies. I used a lot of inking to make them look better. I did not have the distress embossing powder. So I chose Coredinations whitewashed cardstock with a blue core as my base. I did have Tim's snowflake embossing folder. I used it to emboss the card, then sanded it and inked it with a variety of colorbox inks in browns and greens.I chose to rub the ink on with my fingers so that I could apply it randomly, but with purpose, to the tops of the snowflakes. My distressing tool was my scissors.I rubbed the blade along the edge of the cardstock at intervals.

Materials: kaisercraft music paper, Colorbox chestnut roan ink, Colorbox ink in olive green
and moss green, paper scraps, Tim Holtx embossing folder. Coredinations whitewash cardstock,
hat pins, glass beads, silver acrylic paint, silver glitter, white acrylic paint, icicle stickles

Since I wanted to use this as a title block, I substituted handmade pins for the jewels and ribbon. As you can see, no one will notice the bits missing from the title. I painted the edges of the "noel" with silver acrylic paint and then added the glitter to the top...effectively hiding the parts that ripped off when I was cutting the title.
  So now, after a lot of work( that I did enjoy), I am off to tackle tag # 2. Here's hoping I am as happy with it as I am with Tag 1!

Someday

   As part of a recent writing assignment, my son was asked to illustrate and write about places he would like to visit. One of those places was France...or more specifically, Paris. I was struck by how passionate my son became as he talked about what he thought Paris was like. I felt like this would be a great moment to capture...one of my son's dreams. I think someday it will be neat to reflect back upon this page...especially if we ever get to visit Paris.

Sketches 4 All January Gallery girl Scraplift

  To capture the romance of Paris, I chose this older, cream colored paper from my stash. I don't know who makes it, but I do love the look of the white on cream words and phrases printed on it. For a Masculine vibe, I chose to go with a black, green and blue color palette. The Making Memories and crate paper patterned papers were a perfect fit. I mixed in some Crate Paper die cuts with Restoration border stickers, along with pink paislee chipboard, making memories flowers, and some office supplies. I must admit, that when I received the package of Pink paislee chipboard, I never thought I would find a use for the Eiffel Tower!

Scrapfit,workout#36
Scrap Whispers challenge #86
Frosted designs 1-25-11 Sketch

 The journaling was done on a Maya Road sheer ticket. A Tim Holtz compass mask with black magic glimmer mist adds to the travel theme. A fun set of pages, and a fond memory...and maybe Someday, there will be some photos of us in France.

The Best Gift of All

Holidays and birthdays are often about the giving and receiving of gifts. For me, the best gift of all( and the true meaning of each celebration) is the warm, happy feeling I get from giving the gift. My son's birthday is no exception to that.

This is actually the title page for the layout I did recently in the Pagerize challenge. I used the rest of the My Mind's eye complete boy patterned paper sheet here as well as more of the Making Memories Just Chillin' Boys die cuts and trims. I used My Tim Holtz embossing folder, but instead of the whole sheet, I cut a star and a crown from it. They make nice accents at the top. I hand stitched around the star to make it pop out a bit more. I cut the K and Co. border into strips, using 3-d adhesive on sections of it for more dimension. You may be wondering about the little frame on the photo. Well, I just had to highlight my husband sitting there smiling.

You see, he also enjoys giving gifts to our son. You'll have to pardon the photo. One of my New year's resolutions is to learn to be a better photographer and to improve my photo editing. When I originally shot these photos, I was focusing on my son and not what was going on in the background. When I later saw my husband sitting there smiling, I knew this was one of those instances in which the background was really important to the story. I edited the photo as best I could, but as you can see, the lighting still hides my husband a bit. I chose the frame to draw more attention to him.



I hope you'll share your birthday celebration layouts with us at Scrap Our Stash. I know I can certainly use some heartwarming cheer during these cold days of December!