Just thought I’d share kind of a “sentiment of the day” type of card. And it may just be the right sentiment for you, if you’re looking for some reflective card decorations this Lent.
Creative notes:
I sprayed my own background with Distress Spray Stain and Distress Oxide Spray, both by Tim holtz.
I matted a coloured card base with the background
I used the Artsy Stems die-set for the flowers, by Tim Holtz for Sizzix
I die-cut the flowers from some design paper
I coloured a chipboard sentiment piece and added it to the card
Design paper die-cuts on a handmade ink-sprayed backgroundThe sentiment of the day
I’d like to add to that a new series of design ideas, this time centered around perfume and how to send someone an actual vile of perfume. This can be a decant from that awesome niche bottle you own yourself, a small test sprayer you bought online or the official samples that brands hand out and are often added for free to your purchase at your local perfume shop.
Keep those little brand samplers around, they make for great card gifts!
These are small enough to send over the mail, but you will have to find original ways to add them to a card design. Fret not! For that is where this new series comes in.
And here’s my first idea: take a brand’s sample booklet and add it to the front of your card. Choose or create a coordinating background. Keep the booklet closed with a swing tab closure. Stamp a nice sentiment, decorate, and done!
I sprayed my own background in the below example, but you could make this card with design paper too.
I diecut the butterfly with a 2-die set from some papers I inked myself, and added some extra Stickles to highlight.
It’s fast. It’s easy. It adds a lovely little extra ‘something something’ to your card.
In 2020 Tim Holtz started his so-called Colorize series of dies with Sizzix. These Colorize dies are meant for you to add layers of color to your diecut image, each layer being its own color.
It was quite the ingenious system, for each set of die parts comes with its own color code. For example, everything with code “1” should be dark brown, each “2” should be blue etc., helping you as a maker to put together the elaborately layered die-cut image designs.
I think the very first one of these was Arthur, the purple owl.
I have thus far crafted one owl-on-a-branch project, and I gave it my own twist of course: instead of using differently colored pieces of cardstock, I sprayed my own backgrounds on mixed media heavy stock and die-cut my pieces from those.
I actually made this project two years ago, in August 2020, but I just now realized I had never actually shared it on my blog! So, here we go, with a step-by-step semi-tutorial on how I made my card with Arthur, the purple marbled pink owl.
1. Made the building blocks: created enough inked/sprayed/painted backgrounds for the project, in the colors I wanted.
2. Embossed a wood pattern on the bark-colored one.
3.Die-cut the branches – which now also had some nice texture, thanks to the embossing.
4. Die-cut the owl pieces from the other papers, and sorted them according to the Sizzix color-coding. Although I made my own colors, the coding still helped me to know which pieces belonged together.
5. Chose some chipboard sentiment pieces and colored them.
6. Made a card background. It started as an abstract piece but then it became a moonlit landscape of sorts.
7. Following Sizzix’ color-coding, I glued each layer of the owl image to the background. Sizzix also has very clear video tutorial shorts on Youtube for each of their Colorize dies btw. I’ll embed the one for Arthur below these pictures.
8. Glued the piece to a black background, added the chipboard sentiment pieces and applied some liquid pearl along the edges.
Done!
I have to say it was a fun project, and the detail these dies provide by way of the ever-smaller layers is very cleverly designed. Look at those tiny claw pieces!
So yeah, I’ll have me some more of these Colorize dies by Tim Holtz for Sizzix and see what fun they’ll bring!
What about you, have you tried any of the Colorize die sets? Leave a comment and let me know!
I tend to compartimentalize my mixed media crafting: one day I do my spraying, inking and/or painting, one day I use my stamps, stencils & texture pastes, and lastly I turn it into a card or tag to send out or give away. This not only keeps it fun and practical, it also saves time when you actually need a quick card or tag.
Stash of art backgrounds
In this post I’m sharing several of these follow-up projects, starting with the finished background, followed by the final project. You can find the making of some of these backgrounds in previous blog posts btw, should you be interested.
1. Birthday tag
Just the art backgroundAll dolled-up
2. Textured birthday tag
3. Alcohol ink on gesso birthday card
4. Black background cards
5. Printed close-up photo of above art project, matted on cardstock
It doesn’t always have to take many long hours of work to create a beautiful card. In this week’s tutorial I’m sharing an idea for a quick & easy card design, for which you only need some pieces of paper, a piece of string and some tools.
You can use colored cardstock, design paper or a mixed media background to be the showstopper piece. I created my backgrounds with Distress inks by Tim Holtz.
A nice detail of this design is the piece of string, which you wrap around your card and tie into a bow on the inside of your card.
All in all I think you may actually create this card in under ten minutes – provided you already made your mixed media backgrounds at some time in the past, and have them at the ready (if you’re not opting for design paper or colored cardstock).
If you don’t have a die-cutting machine, you could also stamp a sentiment, or adhere a chipboard piece like in the picture below. In case you don’t own an embossing machine, you can easily skip the embossed layer entirely, also like the card below (shown in more detail in the video).
Enjoy the video tutorial! – which is, like this card design, short & sweet 🙂
Recently I decided to put some paints onto some shirts, because why not. Plus, let’s face it, plain shirts look boring in their original state.
I can highly recommend the Tim Holtz Distress Paints to customize any fashion items you have, since they were designed with fabrics in mind. If you know of other brands that are suitable for both papercrafting/mixed media and fabric painting, then please let me know in the comments!
I also played around with my green screen, and it all went a little overboard, so apologies for the ridiculousness of it all – but I had great fun trying 😁
Recently I bought two of the Sydney Grace x Temptalia eyeshadow palettes, and found the packaging so lovely that I couldn’t bring myself to simply get rid of those wondrous sleeves, never to be seen again.
So, I turned them into a tea gift booklet, that I sent out to my friend. And let me tell you, that re-purposing was far more satisfying than simply throwing them out. 🙂
I didn’t use any design paper this time, just the two sleeves. For the inside and the two tiny booklets, I made my own mixed media background, using Tim Holtz’s spray and oxide inks.
In the below video I’m sharing this tea gift project, and the steps to create it. Enjoy!
The eyeshadow palettes of which I used the packaging: Sydney Grace x Temptalia
Here’s a fun idea for a New Home (or Welcome Home) card: send them a cute little home decor piece, by way of a 3D house which also functions as a tea light holder! 🙂
I’m sharing a video tutorial below, but first a photo tutorial with the steps to create this project. I used a die from AliExpress, but you could of course also imitate this by drawing a row of four houses yourself and fussy-cutting them.
Make a mixed media background (or take a piece of design paper, or cardstock)Add some texture (like a brick pattern) with transparant texture paste and a stencilDie-cut four houses in a row (or draw four little houses yourself and fussy-cut)Fold, and glue together. Done!
There are of course hundreds (probably thousands even) of different design paper collections on the market. Still, sometimes you feel you’re in need of another sheet of a particular color scheme to really perfect your project. You could of course purchase (or shop your stash) for a sheet from another collection but: you did you realize you can also create your own? And I don’t mean by becoming a graphic designer yourself and printing some cool computer-generated design you came up with.
No, I mean by applying some very easy mixed media techniques. Here’s how.
Ink, paint or spray a piece of white paper that is suitable for mixed media (so no printer or copy paper please; you can use actual mixed media paper, or paper meant for water painting). Spread several colors randomly; make sure the colors coordinate with the design paper collection you’re using for your project. A stencil can add some fun patterns to the mix.
2. If you want, you can even print an image – or in my case a graffiti-style initial – on your colored paper. Wait until everything is dry though, before you run it through your printer.
3. Add some stamping. You can choose actual images, or just some random patterns. Use an oil-based ink like Archival ink, to make sure your stamping ink does not react to the other mediums you’ve used so far.
4. Add some texture with texture paste. I used Tim Holtz’s Distress Grit paste because that is translucent (so the inking underneath will show through) plus it’s heat-stable so you can emboss it. Which is exactly what I did after I added the paste: I sprinkled it with different colors of Embossing Glaze (which is a translucent embossing powder), let the texture paste dry, and then embossed it.
5. I (of course) forgot that I needed more than one mat, so I had to repeat steps 1-4 to create a second mat. It would have been easier had I just taken a larger piece of paper, did the mixed media techniques, and only then cut it to size. Oh well.
6. Mat your mini album page! As you can see in the pictures below I made sure to choose colors that would coordinate with the rest of the design paper I used.
Same page, with left-page flap opened. The smaller mixed media strip has turned into a mat for the top pocket.
Want to see the entire album? Check the video in this blog post!
Wooden alphabet letters are always great embellishments for gifts. Add the letters of the first and/or last names of your friend, co-worker or loved one to any card or mini album page, and the result will be instant success 🙂
For the front cover of my most recent paper bag mini album I altered such a wooden initial.
I first added two colors of Distress Oxide ink to color its base. I also chose several Distress Crayons to decorate later, after the second step.
Once the letter had a base color, I added a texture paste and let it dry. I chose Distress Grit Paste by Tim Holtz, but you can use any paste as long as you choose one that can be colored (some pastes act as a resist, avoid those for this type of project).
I added the paste in random spots, to give the letter a dimensional texture. Distress Grit Paste is semi-translucent, which is why I colored the letter first.
Then I used the Crayons to color the paste. (Crayons work best to color Distress Grit Paste,)
Lastly, when everything had dried, I added it to the album cover as an embellishment.
So you see how you can add a very personal touch to any of your gift projects without it taking a million steps! 🙂
Did you know that you can use Tim Holtz’s Distress Paint as a resist? To create a mixed media tag, I used this specific technique. I also used clear embossing powder to add a glossy accent – and here are all of the steps to do it!
Step by step
1. STAMP with Distress Paint and/or use a stencil, to add an image or some random patterns. I did both. Use a light color of paint, like white, cream or a very soft pink. Let the paint dry.
Btw, be careful and immediately clean your stamp, for this paint dries quickly and once it dries you won’t be able to get it off your stamp anymore…
2. Color your tag (or any other piece of mixed media cardstock) by blending with different colors of ink. I used both Distress Inks (translucent) and Distress Oxides (opaque). Simply blend right over your patterns – for the paint will act as a resist!
3. Optional: add some extra, subtle background effects by blending through a different stencil.
4. Spray some kind of metal spray to add some sparkle. I used Distress Mica Spray in the color Tarnished Brass.
5. Once everything has properly dried, add a different layer: time for some stamping. Choose one or more images and/or patterns and stamp on top of all the previous layers. First I used a background color of Distress Oxide to add still more interest to the background, this was a script stamp. You can see it on the right side of the tag, on the upper half.
I then stamped the main image in black Archival Ink. This is an oil-based ink, which therefore does not react with or bleed into all of the water-based inks underneath.
6. Pick one or more pieces of your main image that you want to highlight. Cover those fragments with embossing ink – ideally, if you can, use an embossing pen, which gives you maximum control of where you place the embossing ink.
Then take a clear embossing powder and emboss your accent of choice.
Glossy highlight
7. Take some chipboard sentiment pieces and use the same inks to colorize them. Then stick them to your tag.
8. Die-cut a decorative element from metallic paper and add it to the tag. I used Metallic Confections paper by Tim Holtz, but any metallic (or holographic!) paper would do.
Done! Now all that’s left is to tie a piece of string to your tag 🙂
Hope this little step-by-step was helpful! Now go, experiment to your heart’s desire and play with all of the stuff in your stash 🙂 Let me know in the comments if you’re going to try some of the techniques I used here!
If you want still more inspiration, here’s an earlier post where I also used Distress Paint as a resist.
Sometimes, when I order some of my card designs printed, the printing company adds one or two blanks. These are sturdy, completely white cards; they are also coated, for it is a form of photo paper. So it won’t react to mixed media like your usual assortment of craft papers.
I have created a card with such a blank before, using it as an easy base for design paper. You can check out my step-by-step video on that here.
This time however I decided to try out some mixed media techniques to create a card from one of these coated blank photo paper cards. Here’s what I did, and how it worked out.
1. Stamp and color an image
I chose StazOn ink for this, because that is suited especially for smooth, non-porous surfaces – like photo paper. I also colored the stamped image, using Tim Holtz Distress Markers.
In hindsight, that turned out not to be the best combination, for the StazOn ink reacted a little bit to the Distress Markers. So, my tip here is: IF you want to use water-based markers to color your image, then do NOT use an alcohol-based ink to stamp, but an oil-based ink like Archival Ink.
Stamp an image that speaks to you
2. Seal your image
If you’re going to spray a background, you’ll need to seal your colored image first, otherwise it will either run and wick, or it will be covered up by your sprays (depending on the mediums you choose).
I wanted to use Distress Spray Stains, which are water-based, and since I already used Distress Markers to color the image, I knew exactly how to seal it: with Distress Micro Glaze.
Simply dab your finger lightly in the jar, and rub it all over the colored image.
Side note: of course there are several other products on the market to seal your image. For instance, transparent gesso, or mod podge, to name a few. I’m simply mentioning the one I used. #nonspon
3. Spray your inks
Spray your entire card to your heart’s desire. Then remove all of the sprayed inks from your stamped image with a paper towel. Thanks to the Micro Glaze, none of the sprays will stick and will come off easily, without messing up the colors of your image.
Also, because my paper was coated, it didn’t really absorb the inks too well; there were several spots where the ink didn’t take, causing a great bonus effect!
The materials I used
4. Add special effects
I added some transparent medium to create a bit of a glass effect for the glasses: I used Nuvo Crystal Drops for this, but you could use several alternatives, like Glossy Accents, Paper Glaze or any other dimensional transparent medium.
5. Add a sentiment
Last but not least, I stamped a sentiment – this time with Archival Ink (having learned my lesson from step 1).
Alternatively, you could also go dimensional and use wooden or chipboard sentiment pieces.
And done!
Have you ever crafted with coated paper like this? Feel free to ask any questions, or to let me know what you think, below in the comment section!
