Midnight Ride

Hello and Merry Christmas everyone!  Boy, it has been awhile since I last posted, lol!  I made a couple of things and one of them will be shared the day after Christmas, but mostly I have just been doing other things.  The last few years I have tried to make some kind of mixed media/Tim Holtz inspired Christmas decor piece.  The one I had this year is pretty simple in comparison to some I have made, but I really like how it turned out.  Let's have a look.

When I first saw the Forest Background die from Simon Says Stamp I knew I wanted to use it to make a scene with Santa flying across the sky with his reindeer.    Just a few days ago I finally got it finished.  It wasn't hard to make, but as I stated in my intro I just had other things going on.  I had watercolored some watercolor cardstock using Forest Moss distress ink and used that piece for my forest.  I painted a Tim Holtz distress square box with a dark blue pain and splattered the sides with Simon Says Stamp white splatter medium.  I then cut a piece of dark blue cardstock to fit the front of the box, ink blended on Chipped Sapphire and Black Soot distress inks and let it dry.   The background and the die cut treelines were the splattered with the white splatter medium as well.  I adhered the blue background to the box using multi matte medium and the tree lines using varying heights of foam squares to add some depth.  Santa and reindeer (a Tim Holtz/Sizzix die that was a freebie from SSS a few years ago) was die cut from a dark gray cardstock three time, layered and then splattered with white splatter medium as well.  The crescent moon is included in the Santa die set so I die cut that from silver glitter cardstock.  I adhered the moon and Santa with glue.  The finishing touch was the sentiment sign from the Idea-ology Christmas 2024 baseboards and transparencies set.  I attached the sign using texture paste.  I embedded three little ivory balls into the paste, as well.  When the paste was mostly set up I did add a little bit of Snowfall grit paste for an icy look to the sign.  

Going to add this to the Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge of sparkle and shine.  My moon is sparkly.  And to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of add a sentiment.   I'm also going to add this to the Die Cut Diva's December challenge of Christmas/Winter.  Thank you to my bloggy friend, Linda, for mentioning the challenge!

Thanks for stopping by and have a very, very, very Merry Christmas!

Having Fun With 49 and Market...

 Hey friends!  I'm popping in with two projects that I made with some newly purchased products from 49 and Market.  I will be posting one project to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge (birthday) and the other project will be heading over to the Paper Players (travel) and Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge (tag it).   So, let's get to it!

My first project is a birthday card that I made using laser cuts from the 49 and Market Starlight Dreams collection.  When I purchased the Starlight Dreams laser cuts I didn't think I would need the patterned paper pack, but now I have decided that I do need it, lol!  I'm not really into celestial motifs, but I couldn't resist the gorgeous designs in the laser cut pack.   For this card I used a set of angel wings, a floral piece, some feathers and butterflies.  For the background I used a light blue cardstock that I embossed with a layering die from Birch Press Design.  The sentiment was hot foiled and is also from Birch Press Design.    Pretty quick to put together once I figured out what pieces I wanted to use and the arrangement. 

This next project is a tag that I created for the Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge and the Paper Players using another new line from 49 and Market called Wanderlust Explorer.  What sold me on this collection was the ability to make masculine projects like birthday cards.    I used a few Tim Holtz Idea-ology products with this tag.  Namely, a #8 thick board tag, a thick board scalloped trim, a window frame base board and crackle paste.  I trimmed out some of the patterned paper to fit the tag and adhered it with collage medium.   I covered the scalloped trim and part of the window frame with crackle paste and let it dry.  Once dry I applied paint in a soft teal and orange wiping some of the paint off.  I trimmed down the scalloped piece and then applied collage medium to the trim and window to seal them.  Ground Espresso distress crayon was added to all the pieces I picked out, as well as the tag and then I got to layering everything.   I used glue and thin foam squares to add my pieces.  I finished with the little sentiment that is also from Tim Holtz.   I love how it turned out.  I was, again, inspired by the super talented Emma Williams who is a member of the Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge design team.  

Well, that is it for me!  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

Simon Says Stamp Favorite Things Release!

(To see my Birch Press Design post click here. Thanks!)

Hey friends!  I'm popping in to share two projects I made with the most adorable stamp set from the new Simon Says Stamp Favorite Things release.  Simon was so kind and sent me the Bunny Blessings stamp set to work with!  Let's have a look at what I created.

First up is this little decor piece that I made.   How cute is that little bunny and the carrot house?  I stamped the images using VersaFine Clair Nocturne ink on watercolor cardstock, let the images dry and then watercolored them with my Jane Davenport watercolors.   After they were dry I trimmed them out with my scissors.   While the images were drying I worked on the frame.  I painted the frame with some yellow acrylic paint and let it dry.  The yellow was a little too bright for me so I dry brushed on some white acrylic paint to knock the color back a bit.   I then grabbed another piece of watercolor cardstock and did a simple color wash of bright green and bright blue to create the grass and sky.  I placed the piece while it was still wet inside a paper towel and placed something on top so that the piece would dry relatively flat.   When I removed the panel from the paper towel some of the blue in the sky was removed.  I love how it sort of makes it look like there are clouds!  I adhered my background to the backing panel that comes with the frame using collage medium.  Once it was dry I adhered the frame also using collage medium.   I glued the carrot house in place and then added the bunny and eggs using foam square on the eggs and sticky board on the bunny.   I finished with the green bow in the corner.  Still haven't decided if I will put a sentiment on it or just leave it as is.  Going to add this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.

How cute are these little chicks?  I stamped the image in VersaFine Clair Nocturne and watercolored the chicks with Jane Davenport watercolors.  Once everything was dry, I added the simple wash of the bright green and bright blue.   I used the same drying technique on this panel that I used above to remove some of the blue from the sky.  I stamped the sentiment and then die cut down the panel using a Simon Says Stamp rectangle die.  Some yellow gingham paper was die cut with a large rectangle die from the same SSS set and adhered to a cardstock base.  I did add some hints of glitter to the bellies of the chicks and to the eggs.  I attached the panel to the card base using foam tape.  Simple, but I love how this turned out. 

If you want to see the entire Favorite Things release you can click here.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Christmas Makes...

 Merry Christmas to everyone!  I hope everyone had a wonderful day spent with family and/or friends!  As my blog post indicates, I have some Christmas makes to share so lets get started!

First up is a Christmas decor piece that I created using lots and lots of fun Tim Holtz Idea-ology Christmas products.  I was 100% inspired by the amazing Emma Williams.   If you have never seen her blog, check it out now.  She creates incredible works of mixed media art!   I had a lot of fun making this even though the mica flakes I used are alittle messy, lol!

This next piece is something I have wanted to make ever since I got Chilly and Freezy two years ago as a freebie from Simon Says Stamp.   I finally got the time last week after my son had his wisdom teeth out last week.  Again, I had a lot of fun creating this little scene with the snowmen watching Santa fly across the sky with his reindeer!  I cheated a little and used some patterned paper from Simple Stories that already had the snowy scene on it.  I just darkened up the top with some distress oxide ink in Uncharted Mariner and Black Soot.  Adding this to the Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge and Wednesday challenge. 

The Simon Says Stamp December card kit included a decoupage kit from Craft Consortium.  I put these cards together using that kit and Prima patterned paper that also came in the kit.   I gave the cards to my great nephew and great nieces with some "Christmas Cash".    I jazzed them up a bit by adding glossy accents and Rock Candy glitter to some of the snowy areas on the images.  I still have 5 more left and have plans to create some Christmas decor pieces with them. 

These cards were made with patterned paper, laser cuts and ephemera bits from the 49 and Market Evergreen Season collection.  I made these for my mom to give to the big grandkids.  I went with a postal theme and used the Pinkfresh Studio Post Edge dies to die cut the papers.   The sentiments are Memory Box Christmas labels.  So glad I had these products on hand to put together some cards quickly!

And finally a card made with a very old, but one of my most favorite stamp sets from Simon Says Stamp.  I gold embossed the sentiment and the floral sways on Spellbinders Mahagony cardstock.  I fussy cut the swags and die cut the sentiment with a Pinkfresh Studio elegant die.  The gold cardstock was also die cut with PFS die.  Everything was layered on a Mahagony cardstock base and then I finished with tiny gold pearls.

Thanks for making it to end!  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

It's DieCember!

 Happy 1st day of December everyone!  And with it being the first day of December that means over at Simon Says Stamp it is DieCember!   There are tons of new dies and other products available right now at Simon Says Stamp, just click here to see the new products.   I have two projects to share with you today, so let's get started!  (An affiliate linked list of products is at the end of this post.  Using my links allows me to earn a small commission at no cost to you.  Thank you for your support.)

Simon was so kind and sent me the new Fir Sprig die.  I just love this delicate little sprig!  I needed to make some cards for my mom to give to her grandchildren and great grandchildren for Christmas and birthdays.  This card is for my niece, Una, who has a birthday at the beginning of December (just two days after mine!).  I die cut the Fir Sprig from silver and green glitter cardstocks and then adhered them together.  I used a Simon Says Stamp embossing folder from last year called Faceted Snowflakes to emboss a piece of white cardstock cut to fit a mini slimline card.  I adhered the panel and the fir sprigs to the card base and then added the white twine bow.  The sentiment is from the Simon Says Stamp Hexagon Greetings stamp set.  I stamped it on vellum using watermark ink and heat embossed using silver embossing powder.    The sentiment was die cut with the hexagon die and popped up on the card using rolled up glue dots placed behind the words.   Going to add this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.

I have really been into creating projects using different Tim Holtz products and when I saw the Fir Sprig die I knew I had to make one of those kinds of projects to share.  I knew I wanted the sprigs to be sturdy, so I started by spraying sheets of watercolor paper with Rustic Wilderness distress spray stain and distress mica sprays in Tree Lot (from the 2021 Tim Holtz Holiday collection), Frosted Juniper and Fresh Balsam (both from the 2022 Tim Holtz Holiday collection).  I never thought I would be such a fan of the distress spray stains and the mica sprays, but I AM!  Can't wait to see what Tim comes out with next year!   I sprayed up all the pieces and then set then on my crafting desk to dry.  I thought they would be fine there, but they weren't.  Our Doberman, Sparky, is a funny guy.  He often sneaks into the craft room and steals pieces of cardstock or paper from my scrap bin.   On this particular night he snuck in and stole two of the pieces I had created!  I was a little upset with him when I discovered his misdeed in the morning!   I had to spray a few more pieces before I could get started!  Now I know to put them out of his reach!  After die cuttting all the sprigs I added some multi medium matte to the sprigs and poured on Rock Candy glitter.  So pretty in real life!   I let them dry and got started on the base for my wreath.  I covered a square vignette box with paper from the Idea-ology Christmas Worn Wallpaper pack.  Then I got to the fun part of distress up the box.  I added some crackle paste and let it do its job.  Once all the crackles appeared I rubbed on distress crayon in Ground Espresso.  I also added some Walnut Stain ink and then I added some mica sprays in the colors I used for the sprigs, as well as the Rustic Wilderness spray stain.   

Once the box was fully dry, I started arranging all the sprigs in my wreath.   I adhered the sprigs using distress collage medium.  Once the wreath was dry, I added the little baubles that I made by adding them to a dish and coloring them with alcohol ink in current.  I adhered them with the distress collage medium, as well.  I finished with the little candy cane/velvet bow center piece.  I aged the candy canes with some walnut stain before adhering them together and adding the bow.   I let the piece dry completely and then finished things off with lots of Snowfall grit paste.  I added the paste to the tops of the candy canes, as well as the baubles and to the corners of the piece.  

Affiliate linked supply list:

Simon Says Stamp Fir Sprig die

Simon Says Stamp DieCember release

Spellbinders Platinum 6

Simon Says Stamp Faceted Snowflakes EF

Simon Says Stamp Hexagon Greetings Stamp/Die bundle

Rustic Wilderness Distress Spray Stain

Mica Sprays Set 3 - Holiday 2022

Mica Sprays Set 4 - Holiday 2022

Ranger Silver Embossing powder

VersaMark Watermark Ink

Snowfall Grit Paste

Distress Texture Paste, Crackle 

Rock Candy Glitter

Distress Collage Medium

Multi Medium Matte

Idea-ology Confections Candy Canes

Idea-ology Worn Wallpaper Christmas

Idea-ology Baubles Findings

Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink - Current

Distress Crayon - Ground Espresso

I hope you enjoyed my projects.  Don't forget to head over to the Simon Says Stamp website to check out the new release.  Have a wonderful day!

Letters to Santa

 Hello!  Spellbinder's August release is just around the corner, but I have one more project to share using products from the July release.   This project features the new Parcel & Post collection.    The main Parcel & Post die set includes all the dies to create a mailbox along with dies to create floral elements.  I did not use the floral element dies for today's project.  Instead I used the Parcel & Post Christmas Decorations along with a sentiment from the Christmas Mailbox Greetings Glimmer hot foil plates set to create a wintry Christmas scene.  (A list of affiliate linked products is at the end of this post.  Using my links allows me to earn a small commission at no cost to you.   Thank you for your support should you decide to use my links.)  Let's take a look at my project.

Just like with the little decor piece I made using the Winter Welcome Sled die set I had an idea to create a wintry Christmas scene with the Parcel & Post die collection.  Once I had assembled all the materials needed I got to work.   The frame was painted with dark green craft paint.  Once dry I added a some brown paint using a dry brush.  Some of the paint was also wiped off with a cloth.  I then added Gilded Foundry wax to parts of the frame and heat set it.  The back panel was covered with papers from the same collection I used to create my small decor piece.  Once the papers were secured and dry I added some Icicle crackle paste to the panel and let it dry.   I also added little dashes of the Gilded Foundry was to the panel and heat set them.  The mailbox was die cut from red cardstock as well as a thin chipboard.  I die cut three or four (I can't remember) mailboxes from the thin chipboard and then glued them together.   The side panel on the mailbox was die cut and adhered, along with door (I guess that is what you call it) that opens to put the mail inside the box.  Everything was then inked with Walnut Stain distress ink.  

The trees are from a Glimmer hot foil plate and die set that was released in July of 2021.   The dies allow you to cut out the top layer with all the openings and a solid bottom layer.  I applied Multi Medium Matte to the bottom layers and added Rock Candy glitter.  Once dry the top layer was adhered.  I die cut the candy canes and peppermint candies from red and white cardstock the glittered them up with more Rock Candy glitter.   Once dry everything was adhered together and the candy canes were attached to the mailbox along with the bow.  I also created five "letters to Santa".  Two of the trees were trimmed on one side so they would be flush with the frame that I glued in place.  Once the frame was secure I began adding all my elements.  I placed the "letters to Santa" at the top of the mailbox opening to make it look like the mailbox was stuffed and those were coming out.  I finished up with the sentiment that I hot foiled in matte gold and the little holly cluster in the one corner.  Then came the fun part... adding all the "snow" using Snowfall grit paste.  I love the Snowfall grit paste and I'm almost out.  I really hope Tim Holtz decides to bring it back this year so I can get some more!

Affiliate linked supply list:

Spellbinders Platinum 6

Spellbinders Glimmer hot foil system

Parcel & Post bundle

Parcel & Post Mailbox dies

Parcel & Post Christmas Decor dies

Parcel & Post Christmas Mailbox Greetings hot foil plates

Matte Gold foil

Shining Christmas Tree Glimmer/Die set

Ideaology Framed Panel

Bearly Art Glue

Distress Collage Medium

Multi Medium Matte

Rock Candy Glitter

Gilded Foundry Wax

Walnut Stain distress ink

I hope you enjoyed my little wintry scene.  Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

belive in the magic...

 Hello!  I'm back with another project using new items from the Spellbinders July release.  This one is my favorite so far!  I used the new Winter Welcome Sled die and some fun products from Tim Holtz to create my little scene.  (A list of affiliate linked supplies is listed at the end of this blog post.  Using my links allows me to earn a small commission at no cost to you.  Thank you for your support.)  

I had the idea of this rolling around in my head for the last several weeks.  I finally put down another thing I was doing and got my little wintry scene completed.  I started by covering two Tim Holtz vignette boxes that I had with paper from the Tim Holtz Christmas Worn Wallpaper scraps.  I used Distress Collage medium to adhere the papers.  I did use some Christmas washi tape on the corners of the large box, but you can't see it in the photos.  Once the boxes were dry I adhered the large box on top of the small one using hot glue.   Then I got to work creating the sled, skates and my floral pieces.  Once everything was die cut I used Vintage Photo distress ink to give them an aged look.  Then I adhered all those little pieces together.  I added some Tim Holtz Snowfall grit paste to the top right corner and then pressed my sled into the paste.  I added a bit of hot glue to the sled runner on the bottom right to hold it in place.  Once the hot glue was dry I added more grit paste around the sled and to the left bottom corner.   I then added the skates to the top left corner along with the poinsettia and pine branches.  The poinsettia, pine branches and bow were all covered with Multi Matte Medium and dunked in Rock Candy glitter.    I then added more grit paste to the bottom left corner and then pressed in some glass pearls (also from Tim Holtz).  A bit more grit paste was added to the top of the sled and since the paste up in that corner was still wet I pressed two more pearls into that although you can't really see them.   Here is a close up of my little scene:

I finished things off by adding a bit of twine tied in a bow to the skates, as well as adding the twine to the sled to look like the rope to pull the sled behind you.  The sentiment is one that I hot foiled in July of last year using the Mini Christmas Sentiments set and green foil.  I added some Vintage Photo to the sentiment, adhered it to the base and then added a little grit paste around it.   I just love how my little scene turned out!  I'm going to add this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes. 

Affliate linked list of supplies:

Spellbinders Platinum 6

Winter Welcome Sled

Mini Christmas Sentiments Glimmer plates

Green Foil

Tim Holtz Vignette Boxes

Rock Candy Glitter

Distress Collage Medium 

Multi Medium Matte

Bearly Art Glue

Vintage Photo distress ink

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day.