Christmas Cards the VlVS! way...

 

 

Today is Christmas Card Blog hop day!!,  with my wonderful friends at Viva Las VegaStamps!

 

 

 

 Here is my card that I'd love to share with you, and hopefully leave you with a little inspiration..

 

( look out for a fun little giveaway at the bottom of this post )

 

 

 

 

I have used a #10 Ranger Kraft tag as the base of my card. these are great to fold in half and use as a  card base!

 

I started off with probably my favourite VLVS! Santa image, stamped onto some white card. I have used archival ink for Santa, and some red distress ink for his hat. I've also added some colour to his face using a distress marker.

 

 I then distressed a 4.5 inch x 4.5 inch square of card stock using a bit more distress ink in two different colours ( vintage photo and walnut stain )  and stamped it with the Jingles Bells music Pine Branch  stamps. I also added in a little stitching around the edges of the card.

 

 

 I then stamped Merry Christmas onto another piece of card and added in a little distress ink around the edges.

 

 

I then layered them up onto my card base, and added in a few embellishments and I was done..

 

 Stamps:

Santa's Face

Merry Christmas

Jingle Bells

Pine Branch

 

A few more great places you might want to hop along too :

 

 

 Viva Las VegaStamps!

 DeeDee

 Glenda

 Hermine

Karen -  (You are here,Yay!!)

 Nataliya

 Tera

 

 

 As always we can't have a fun blog hop without a little something for those of you who stop by and leave some love for us all.. There will be a prize of a lb o' rubber and a Christmas grab bag for one person who comments along the way.

 

 Thank you so much for  stopping by and enjoy your Hopping!!

Collaged Christmas..

By now it should be no secret I love to Collage!

There is nothing better than sitting and ripping bit and bobs up, adding in some ink and paint..

ahh bliss!!

 

 With that in mind I have to share with you my first Christmas tag for the year. A little bit of Vintage collaged Christmas.

 

 

 I started off by colouring my woodlands tree - I've used a combo of Iced Spruce Distress Stain Spray and Lettuce colour wash.

   I then cut the back branches out of my tree so that it would sit flat on my tag.. and sprinkled with some Rock Candy Distress glitter, using glossy accents to stick it to my tree.

 

 

 

Then I worked on my collage tag base.. I've used some of my paper from the Holiday's Past paper stash, and of course some of the Christmas ephemera. The Ephemera pack are so good for using when you are collaging!

 

A little bit of distress marker and paint around the edges.. and I have to admit I was nearly tempted to leave it just like this.

 

 

 

But instead I added in my coloured woodlands tree, some wire , remnant rubs and a few embellishments... Christmas tag number 1 done!

 

 

 

 I love the vintage, grungy collaged look to this tag, and cant wait to do some more!

 

 

The Details:

 

Base: #8 Tag

 

Paper:  Tim Holtz : Holiday's Past.

 

Embellishments:

 

Tim  Holtz -

Woodlands Tree

Ephemera Pack - Christmas

Jump Rings

Christmas Muse Token

Bauble

Metal Corner

 

 Ink/Paint:

Distress Marker: Black Soot, Festive Berries, Peeled Paint

Distress Crackle Paint : Picket Fence, Black Soot.

 

Thank you so much for stopping by, I hope you have a wonderful day, and hope to see you again soon..

 

Happy Creating,

Karen xxx

 

 

 

Worn Christmas Journal.

It's November, and you know what that means.. the Countdown to Christmas is on.

Christmas is my very favourite time of the year. There is just something truly magical about Christmas.  Even though for me,  Christmas is normally spent at the beach, I would one day love to have a cold Christmas, or even better a White Christmas. Until then I will just have to make do with the gorgeous Christmas lines that are available..

 

Today I've got just the outside of my Christmas Journal to share with you. I am actually organised this year and have it finished before December.! ( well the cover anyway!)

 

As you can probably guess it is made with of course, some  my very favourite Tim Holtz Christmas goodies..

 

 

 I started off with a Christmas Worn cover, Now these are just gorgeous on their own, but I've decided to cover the front of mine. I've used some paper form the Holidaý's Past Paper Stash. I loved this paper when it came out, and was a little sad to see it retired..

 

 

 

  

I then layered some pieces from the Christmas Ephemera Pack which I've inked with Distress Ink around the edges, using of course you guesses it Gathered Twigs and some Idea-ology embellishments onto my background paper. Added in some die cut elements , painted with Distress Crackle paint -  Love the Vintage Lace die! , Some  trim, machine stitching and my ring binder and I was done..

 

 

 

I just love the Mirrored Stars and the Reindeer.

 

You can't  have a bow without something dangling from it.. and what could be better than a Bauble, Christmas Muse Token and Ice Skate!

 

 

Now all that is left to do is fill it full of even more Christmas Goodness!

 

 

The Details:

 

Base:  Tim Holtz:  Worn Cover - Christmas Wishes

 

Paper:  Tim Holtz : Holiday's Past.

 

Embellishments:

 

Tim  Holtz -

Adornments: Christmas

Adornments: Ice-skates

Muse Tokens - Christmas

Baubles

Ephemera Pack - Christmas

Mirrored Stars

Trimmings: Red/Cream

Jump Rings

Swivel Claps

Ring Binder

 

Ink/Paint:

Distress Ink : Gathered Twigs, Walnut Stain

Distress Crackle Paint : Picket Fence

 

Dies:

Tim Holtz - Strip die - Vintage Lace

 

Thank you so much for stopping by, I hope you have a wonderful day, and hope to see you again soon..

 

Happy Creating,

Karen xxx

 

 

 

 

 

Challenging..

Happy Thursday!

 Hope you are all having a wonderfully arty week.. I have a tag to share with you again today, I loved creating this one... lots of grungy, painty, glue covered hands from this one.. sigh is there anything better?

The idea for this tag came as a bit of a collaboration between a wonderful friend and I... We both chose two elements that had to be incorporated into the finished piece.. I chose Book pages and sprays/mists, and she chose a quote and crackle paint.. the rest was up to us..

 

This is what I finished with..

 

  my base is made from

from collaged book paper, distress and crackle paints... sigh is there anything better!

 

 

a few remnant rubs to make a quote.. well sort of.. how about a list of phrases .. giggle

 

 

 an image transfer and found relative..

 

The Details:

 

Tag Base: # 8 tag

 

Embellishments: Book Pages, Tim Holtz: Found Relative, Remnant Rubs

 

Paints/Sprays: Tim Holtz: Distress Stain Spray - Tea Dye

Distress Paint: Forest Moss, Peacock Feathers, Broken China

Distress Crackle paint: Picket Fence, Black Soot

Prima Colour Bloom - Precious Stone

 

Thank you so much for stopping by.. Hope to see you again soon!

Happy Creating

Karen xx



Distress Paint Love..

Happy Wednesday! Hope you are all having a wonderfully creative week..

 

I want to say a huge Hi to my new followers! and say a thank you to you all, both old and new for being here,  I appreciate you all so much.

 

I also awoke to an amazing surprise.. The ever so sweet Paula has featured my Halloween tags on her blog today, along with 9 other amazing projects by some truly inspiring creative people... make sure you pop on by have a look and say Hi!

 

Today I have a Tim Holtz Worn Cover to share with you.. I did a little experimenting and ended up altering the entire cover..  let's just say it looks nothing now like how it started out.. giggle..

 

I started of with  a little pile of goodies like this...

 

I then collaged the entire cover with torn pieces of old book pages and tissue wrap using matte medium, and added in a little picket fence crackle paint when it was all dry..

 

 

Next came the fun part, adding in some colour with Distress paint.. I started off with  Frayed burlap, and randomly swiped some paint over the worn cover.

 

 

 It works out better if you use your fingers, you can smudge it , and get it into all the places you want better.

 

 I then repeated with my other colours - Walnut Stain and Iced Spruce.  Because I used my fingers and only a small amount of paint it didn't take long to dry between each colour.

 

Next, it was time to get out my trusty Black Soot Distress marker and swipe and smudge it around the edges of the cover.. don't forget the back cover and spine! I ended up doing this several times at different stages before I was done. Add in a little torn tissue tape, and add in a pop of colour using the Broken China Distress marker.

 

 

You could also add in a few more random smudges of paint here if you think it needs it, and allow to dry. Add in some randomly placed remnant rubs

 

 

 and some more  swipes of picket fence crackle paint..  This will pick up little bits of colour from the  distress marker as well...  Add some more smudged Black Soot Distress marker to your edges and by now it should look a little like this..

 

 

Add  in some  embellishments for the front cover.. a butterfly from the Thrift Shop Ephemera pack and an ornate plate. I adhered them again with multi medium and allowed them to dry.

 

 

Apply and smudge some more Black Soot Distress Marker around the edges of the ornate plate and a thin layer of MicroGlaze to the whole cover, and buff with a soft cloth.. Lastly add in some metal corners and some sort of binding.. I used a Tim Holtz Ring Binder fastened with hitch fasteners, but ribbon would work just as well.. add in some tag pockets  and we're done!

 

 

I have to say I love how it turned out..

 

 

and of course a couple of close ups..

 

I love the look of the hitch fasteners used to hold the ring binder in place.. and they are useful for hanging things off :)

 

 

The Details:

 

Base - Tim Holtz Worn Cover - Diary

 

Paints and Markers: Distress Paint - Frayed Burlap, Walnut Stain, Iced Spruce.

Distress Markers - Broken China, Black Soot

 

Embellishments - Old book paper, Tim Holtz - Tissue Wrap - Composer, Ornate Plate, Mini  Metal Corners, Thrift Shop Ephemera, Tissue Tape - Sketchbook,

 

Thank you so much for stopping by,

 I hope you enjoyed your visit, and hope to see you again soon :)

 

Happy Creating..

Karen xx

 

 

 

 

 

 

Countdown to ...

Halloween! and all things spooky.. Even though we don't really celebrate Halloween here in Australia, ( though I wish we did!) I absolutely love the chance to get a little spooky!

 

I have two tags to share with you today, both have the same papers used for the base, but one is from this year and the other is my Halloween tag from last year. I only just realised that I didn't actually share it.. oops ..

 

This is my newest tag..

 

 

I started off with a base made from the Halloween  Kraft Resist and some strips of the Halloween papers  in the Seasonal paper stash, and a little distress inking through one of my favourite layering stencils - Splatters.

 

 

I then chose and cut out one of the vintage photos from the laboratorie paper stash put it inside a industrious stickers frame and stamped and inked my Happy Halloween sentiment.

I love the old photos that are in this paper pad.. perfect for something a little spooky!!

 

 

Next came the embellishing .. I  love the Corked Vials, so I've decided to use two here. I first coated it with a thin layer of multi medium and allowed it to dry, so that the crackle paint has something to grab onto. Once it was dry I added my layer of rock Candy distress crackle paint.. I love the vintage cracked effect you get and filled with a little alcohol ink coloured Rock Candy Distress glitter is even better!! 

 

 

A label pull and chitchat sticker  teamed with a  clipboard clip at the top add a perfect little touch.  

 

 

 

 And this is my Halloween tag from last year..

 

 As you can see I've used the same papers, just in a bit of a different way,  a bit of stamping, a glassine tattered floral scrunched flower- sigh.. these make me smile.

 

 

 I hope I've inspired you to get a little spooky,

 Happy Creating

Karen xx

 

The Details:

 

  Halloween 2014 

 

Base:

Tim Holtz Paper Stash : Kraft Resist - Halloween, Laboratorie, Seasonal.

 

Embellishments:

Tim Holtz Idea- ology:  Corked Vials, Baubles, Label pulls, Chitchat Stickers - Seasonal, Industrious Stickers - Framed, Clipboard clip, Vial Labels Rock candy Distress Glitter, Rock Candy Distress Crackle paint,

 

 Dies:  Candlelight Fright.

 

Stamps:

Tim Holtz : CMS140 Mini Halloween 3

           CMS120 Little Labels

 

Ink: Black Soot Distress Ink, Jet Black Archival.

 

Machine Stitching and wire.

 

Halloween 2013

 

 

Base:

Tim Holtz Paper Stash : Kraft Resist - Halloween, Seasonal.

 

Embellishments:

Tim Holtz Idea- ology: Wishbones, metal corners, time piece, facets, ornate plate, game spinners, washers, Kraft Core- Shattered ( bats) , Glassine,

 

Dies:  Movers and Shapers -  Mini Bat and Skull, Tattered Floral

 

Stamps:

Tim Holtz : CMS140 Mini Halloween 3

       

 Ink: Black Soot Distress Ink, Jet Black Archival. Clear Embossing powder.

 

Machine Stitching .

 

 

 

 

 

Wallflower Assemblage clock.

Happy Friday..

Ok I will admit it, yes I have an obsession with the Tim Holtz Wallflower Paper stash..

 I just cant get enough of it!! so that got me thinking... hmm how about a wallflower inspired assemblage clock.. sure, why not!!

 

 I started off by altering my clock base with distress paint.... sigh  I just love the colour and patina it gives with the shiny metallic base of the clock..

 

 

Then came the  hard part, choosing what to put on the background of my clock.... which papers to use..do you know how hard this was, once I decided to add in the cute little bird, I was right, and it all sort of fell into place. I then added in some remnant rubs, a distress ink reinker coloured woodlands tree with a sprinkle of rock candy distress glitter.( these just make me smile!!)   and a couple of fussy cut butterflies to finished of my background. I cut some of the bristles off the back of the woodlands tree to flatten it  and kept these aside to add in later.  

 

 

Now came the fun part... filling the inside with all sort of goodies and bits and pieces.. I die cut some glassine paper and a piece of the wallflower paper with the Tim Holtz Tattered floral die ( using the two smallest flowers)  and made some flowers to add into my clock. Then came the cute little fussy cut bird, he just makes me smile as well! I also added in some of the pieces I had cut off the back of my woodlands tree. I then refitted the back, and I was done with the inside of my clock.

 

 

The final touches consisted of a bit of crinkle ribbon coloured with pumice stone and antique linen distress re inker.. along with some trinkets and baubles.. and I was done!

 

 

 

 

The Details:

 

Base: Tim Holtz Assemblage Clock.

 

Background & Embellishments:

Tim Holtz:  Wallflower Paper Stash, Woodlands Tree,

Baubles , swivel clasp, crinkle ribbon, glassine paper, remanent rubs.

 

Die: Tattered Floral

 

Inks and Paints: Antique Linen Distress Paint

Forrest Moss, Antique Linen, Pumice Stone Distress Re Inker

Walnut Stain Distress Ink

 

Rock Candy Distress Glitter

 

Thank you so much for stopping by, until next time,

 Happy creating

Karenxx