Tim Holtz | If The Glue Sticks…Embellish

Silhouette Sketch Cards 2

Posted on July 18, 2013 by debbrooner

This is round 2 of the cards I have made using sketches from the Silhouette Store. I am really getting to like these sketches. They are kind of like having a rubber stamp that can be made into any size. And they don’t take up space in my stamp drawer! I am still using the Amy Chomas pen holders (see this post: https://ifthegluesticks.com/2012/07/25/silhouette-ske…as-pen-holders/) and love them. I will say one thing however, while I ordered both the small holder and the large holder it is the large one that I use all the time. I can’t seem to find pens small enough to fit in the small holder. Something to think about.

This could have made up as a one layer card by stamping a border under the definition and using a bit of yellow stickles on the dandelions.

Dandelion Sketch #32314; Laughter Definition: Stampabilities Definitions

Okay, this card has it all. Sketched flowers, rubber stamping, distress ink, die cut banner, dimensional adhesive, and letterpress using an embossing folder. Gasp. I started out by sketching the floral motif and then used a Hero Arts shadow stamp to highlight the blossoms. It still looked like it needed something so I brayered the concave side of an embossing folder with distress ink and ran the panel through my Cuttlebug. Since I cut out my banner in white cardstock I was able to use the same ink for it that I had used for the background. When I placed the banner on the card I found that the background was showing through the word cutouts so I traced the banner on another piece of cardstock and inked it with the purple ink. That looked much better! I glued the bottom (purple) banner directly to the card and then used dimensionals to add the top banner. Lots of fun.

Flower Motifs: #43709; Banner Words-Life: #37895; Hero Arts Scalloped Solid; Paper Studio: Horizontal Script; Distress Inks; Pumice Stone, Ripe Persimmon, Dusty Concord, Shabby shutters.

I sketched these little guys and then stamped the dots on the blossoms. I like the wonky kind of look I get with this technique. Remember what I said about being able to make these any size? The original file for each flower was a little over eight inches. I scaled them down to an inch and a half.

Flower Sketches: #30091, 30092, 30093, 30094

These cheery dots just screamed “use the word ‘happy'” , so I did. Sketched dots, distress ink and rhinestones made a very fun panel. The nice thing about having the word happy on the outside of the card is that the inside can say “birthday’, “day”, etc. Very handy, especially for me as I never seem to have the right sentiment at the right time.

Polka Dot Sketch: #19374; Sentiment: 38773; Distress Inks: Picked Raspberry, Dusty Concord, Ripe Persimmon, Shabby Shutters

And finally, this card. Am I happy happy happy with the white gel pen that I used to shadow the letters? No, no, no. This copy is for my portfolio so no one will receive a card this messy!

I typed the word “happy” in my Silhouette and then played with spacing of the letters until they touched. Using white cardstock letters and words is really a good idea. Just a bit of ink in the color you need and you have coordinated your card elements.

I used 3 different inks for the flowers and loved how they coordinated with some cardstock I had on hand. I used the middle value of the purple inks to edge the flower panel. It is not obvious but it does help give it a finished look.

Flower Sketches: 44160, 44161; Distress inks: Milled Lavender, Dusty Concord, Seedless Preserves

Kraft Cardstock Mania 4

Posted on April 2, 2013 by debbrooner

This is the last of my Kraft + color posts. Hope you have gotten some ideas to try for yourself.

This is hands-down my favorite of all of the cards. It is fairly flat so it could be sent through the mail without any problem. This was pretty much a Cuttlebug card- the honeycomb background, the sentiment, the poppies, and the embossed dots on the side of the card were all done with my mighty bug. I am not a big fan of a lot of the Tim Holtz stuff but the Papillon stamp set is awesome.

Cuttlebug: Honeycomb; With Love; Friends Forever

This one looks a little wonky because it is. If you tilt your head a little to the right…never mind, it doesn’t help.

I am choosing to leave this one in because of a technique that I have started using a lot. I have been gluing gold Momi , which is a medium weight , gold crumpled paper. It looks like this:

When it is glued to a piece of cardstock and then run through an embossing folder it looks like it has actually become part of the cardstock. It almost looks like the cardstock is gilded.

Inkadinkadoo: Illuminata; Cuttlebug: Paper Lace 2

Now for two completely random pictures-

I love the way this store used chevrons. There is a card idea ready to pop out.

Okay, this is weird, I must admit. Does anyone know what this is? Is there anyone else out there who photographs their trash? This reminds me of a Jeffrey Dever polymer clay piece.

My next series will be dealing with small wall quilts so it won’t be paper related. However the ideas could certainly be used for paper arts. Stay tuned.

Kraft Cardstock Mania 3

Posted on March 13, 2013 by debbrooner

This red card uses the negative space left after cutting out the flower shape. It always looks like this type of design is really hard and took a lot of fussy cutting or gluing, but the fact is it couldn’t be easier. Cut the flower design out of Kraft cardstock, back with your favorite designer paper (or in this case marbled paper), add other embellishments and the card is done. Adding dimensional adhesive to the flower panel gave some extra interest to the card.

Silhouette: Flower Rectangle #33935; Cuttlebug: With Gratitude

Do any of you have a basket full of die cuts or stamped pieces that never quite make it to the front of a card? Well I do, and this card is the result of determination on my part to use several pieces in my basket. The paisley square, the background lace, and the sentiment were all lost pieces looking for a home. I colored the lace with Distress Ink and then layered it over a gold metallic paper so that it pulled the background and the paisley square together. The glittery sentiment matched the green PearlEx paint on the square- yay! I had had the purple ribbon for a very long time and hadn’t used it because the color never seemed to match anythingI was working on. It was really a serendipitous thing that it was exactly the right color as well.

One more week of Kraft Mania left. I would love to see what you have been doing with your Kraft cardstock!

Stampendous: Paisley Texture Cube; Silhouette: Floral Lace Background #3924; Cuttlebug: Friends Forever

Kraft Cardstock Mania 2

Posted on March 8, 2013 by debbrooner

Welcome to the second installment of my Kraft cardstock series.

This pink one could almost be called a one-layer card. I really like the stamped layered effect which gives some depth and interest. I used all of my ink choices on this card: distress, pigment and archival. That way all of my ink pads would not be jealous…The pearly finish of the pink cardstock contrasts nicely with the matte Kraft cardstock.

Text: Tim Holtz French Market; background stamp: Tim Holtz Multimedia; Butterfly: Inkadinkadoo Mindscapes.

For the big butterfly on this card I used my Silhouette and cut a butterfly pattern 3 times, with each cut slightly smaller than the last. I stamped the largest and smallest ones with Tim Holtz’ Papillon stamp then glued them all together on the bodies only. I used the same stamp set for the 3 small butterflies on the bottom.

The Kraft background was embossed with a new folder I just got called “Cindi Loo”. Now I ask you, what could be more fun than using a great folder with a really fun name?

Butterfly Cutout: #12423; Cuttlebug folder

Five more cards to go! See you next week, and may all your butterflies be on your cards not your stomach.

Kraft Cardstock Mania 1

Posted on February 26, 2013 by debbrooner

There is just something wonderful about Kraft cardstock for me. It has just enough color to add interest to a project and is neutral enough to not detract from any other color I wish to add. So here I sit with a dozen sheets of Kraft cardstock and a sense of anticipation. For the next 3 weeks I will be showing you the cards I have made using this awesome media. I hope you like them and that they provide a springboard for your own creative process.

The first card using a Queen Anne’s Lace stamp is crisp enough to add interest without adding any color at all. I cut out the Hello with my Silhouette ( not sure what font I used- sorry) and used Tim Holtz’ distress ink for the ‘thinking of you’ sentiment. I am not very good at adding more than 1 sentiment to a card so this is my first attempt at doing so. Adding several pearls finished it up nicely.

Inkadinkadoo stamp “Meadow”; Hero Arts “Everyday Sayings”One of the things I promised myself that I would do was to go through my stash of die cuts and use a bunch of them up. I used Wild Honey Distress Ink to color the banner and some white flowers that I had cut long ago and used another Distress Ink for the “awesome”. In order to ground the flowers I used an embossing folder border along the bottom of the card. This card was not my most favorite but it was okay and again I used 2 sentiments. Whoot whoot!

Cuttlebug “Just My Type”; Silhouette “Spring Flowers 1” #8179; “spring Flowers 2” #8180; “Embrace Banner #37895; “Awesome” #37880;

25 Christmas Cards Part 3

Posted on December 9, 2011 by debbrooner

Precious Gift Stamped Image

I found this stamp at Michaels recently and really liked the way it dealt with the best gift ever in a slightly different way. What a Christmas gift we all have been given!

I have always intended to try an easel card but somehow was scared by the prospect of finding enough images that would work together. Not that big of a deal, I found out. Love the cheery Christmas colors. Since it doesnt work very well to put dimensional pieces on the flat part of the card (the “noel” part) I cut out the holly and then filled the berry holes with red Stickles. Looks like they are above the surface, but they aren’t. The directions for an easel card can be found at the Splitcoast Stampers site. Look under “resources”.

holly_C00780_19547,basic_folding_easel_card_C01456_17986, Inkadinkadoo Winter Trails, Recollections Noel, Stampendous Precious Gift

This card is not my favorite, but in order to get to 25 cards it has to be counted! I sized the scroll label to fit my stamp and added Stickles Icicle glitter to all of the scrolls. For the background I used Versamark and then brushed red and green PearlEx on the image. A quick swipe with a Swiffer dusting cloth and the excess powder was gone. Swiffers are the best for cleaning up glitter as well.

I used the “kissiing technique” for the background of this card. Check out Jennifer McGuire’s blog to get more info. I started with white glossy card and Distress Inks by Ranger. I first inked up a damask background stamp using Peeled Paint ink. I then used Pine Bough ink on a Tim Holtz Reflections stamp and stamped it onto the damask stamp (notice- nothing stamped on paper yet). THEN I stamped the damask stamp on the glossy card. Since the reflections stamps have the words backwards the final result is a stamped image with the words the right direction. Fancy that.

lace_border_0856, Stampendous Precious Gift, Hero Arts Classic Fabric Design, Tim Holtz Seasonal Reflections

The embossing folder I used for this card is a Sizzix one called Triad Leaves. You will see it again several more times. The border is so easy with the Silhouette. I just cut out the green top layer and then ungrouped the image, got rid of the dots and teardrop shapes, and cut out a white piece that fit perfectly behind the green one. I have to admit that originally I started with a border that I had punched out with a Martha Stewart punch. I wanted the border to have white behind it so I glued the green piece to some white paper and pondered the prospect of doing some really fiddly cutting. Fortunately about that time a voice boomed out, “drop those scissors, dummy, use your Silhouette”. Duh.

6_labels_C01078_20509, scalloped_flower_border_C20090810003018_19210, Stampendous Precious Gift, Sizzix Triad Leaves

Next up: “wise men” and kraft cards.

More Cards Using My Silhouette Part 2

Posted on July 1, 2011 by debbrooner

I love double-sided cardstock (especially K&Co) . I used green cardstock to make the card and leaf and then used both sides of the decorative card for the inside and front as well as the flower.

double_pinking_scallop_card_C00707_19547, leaves_set_C00257_21585, Tim Holtz Tattered Florals Die

My favorite new toy at the moment is the McGill flower shaping set which I used for the flowers above. Each stylus in the set has two different sizes of tips so you always have the right size for your project. Shaping flowers is easy: you just lay your flower on a mouse pad and press with the stylus, making small circles until the paper cups up . I believe there are videos on You Tube that show the process.

Flowers aren’t the only embellishments on which you can use the shapers. I used a stylus to give some depth to the flourish on this berry colored card. I glued decorative paper to the front and inside of the card and stamped the sentiment (Hero Arts) on an artisan tag. For the large label I used the artisan shape with chrysanthemum and deleted everything but the outside edge and then embossed it with the “textile” CB folder.

card_scallop_rays_C00466_19547; echo_park_flourish_C00149_48353; artisan_shape_with_chrysanthemum_C01083_19210; artisan_label_set_C00106_41853

And finally, a super easy,quick, and cheery card.

butterfly_cutout_card_C00673_21585

More cards using my Silhouette

Posted on June 17, 2011 by debbrooner

I had a great time this week playing with cards and embellishments using my Silhouette.

I had not been all that excited about the Print and Cut images until I saw this adorable mouse. He just screamed “baby card”! I cut a border in half for the lace and printed a sentiment. I stamped the background (Judikins) with Versamark ink and embossed the gray piece with my Swiss Dots cuttlebug folder. That folder gets used more than any other I have.

mouse_C00230_31857; 3_borders_C00363_20509

I had cut out and colored the floral silhouette for this card and attached it to the debossed side of a white piece of cardstock run through the “Victoria” CB folder, but then I got stuck. I played with it for a while but finally got frustrated and went on to other things. Several weeks later I was rereading Judy Kauffman’s book Creative Cards, Postcards, Envelopes and More and turned to the page she called “clothesline layout” , and there was my answer! Instead of trying to find a place inside my design to place my sentiment (Stampendous) I could “hang” it from the top. Yay! Judy’s book is a great reference to have. She has a chapter on foolproof compositions, easy techniques, using different types of materials, collaging… the list goes on and on.

framed_flower_silhouette_C00808_23067

This card is pretty plain but I like it that way. The card image comes with the card itself and the overlay (which I did in peach). The fun part about this card is the bits left over after cutting. I now have 16 purple and orange crosses just begging to be wrapped with fiber and used on another card. This is an easy card.

mosaic_grid_cutout_card_C00670_21585

More cards coming next week.

Desert Beauty

Posted on June 24, 2010 by debbrooner

This will be a short post since I was in Tucson for several days attending a Handbell Festival and have been trying to catch up on things since then.

The first thing that struck me when I arrived in Tucson was the heat, of course, but then as I was driving to the hotel I kept seeing these vivid red-orange flowers that were a real contrast to the brown/olive background around them.

When I got to the hotel these flowers were growing right outside my balcony, so I got an opportunity to get a closer look. I was blown away by how much they looked like orchids- very lacy and delicate. They were truly stunning.

I have no idea what they are called but I am hoping someone out there will comment and let me know! I would hate to keep calling them “red-orange flowers” when I am sure they have a much lovelier name.

As I was out looking for a letterbox the next morning my first reaction to the scenery was that it was lacking in color so therefore not very interesting. But as I continued to walk I saw that while there wasn’t a whole lot of color there was a lot of texture. The variety of textures in the cacti alone was mind-boggling!

This card, a sketch from this week’s Clean And Simple Stamping Blog reminds me of my trip. I used a great handmade silk paper for the flower (one of the Tim Holtz Tattered Flowers with some alteration), and my butterfly antenna technique (adding small dots of paper to the ends of the stiffened embroidery floss) as well. My Tim Holtz embossing folder used with a sand colored cardstock seemed to make a fitting background and I used a sewing machine stitch that looked quite prickly. Even the red mottled cardstock I chose for the card itself added some texture.

I hope you enjoyed this tribute to Tucson, AZ!