When Hinges Creak...

It's no secret that I love Disneyland and get so much inspiration from the creative details the Imagineers include all throughout the park. So often, when I see a stamp, or die, or Scrapbook paper, my thoughts immediately go to, how can this be used for something Disney? That Disney inspiration is apparent through much of what I make, from Scrapbook Pages to home decor and even my card samples for Tim. I just can't help it!

Today's card has an "aura of foreboding" about it. It features the Ravens CMS310, Monstrous CMS307 and Skulls and Cobwebs CMS306 (with a little bit of Bird Feather CMS180) all combined to represent someplace that  is " delightfully unliveable...where every room has wall-to-wall creeps, and hot and cold running chills!"

I started by coloring a piece of Distress Mixed Media Hardstock with Wilted Violet Distress Oxide. Then I stamped the Skulls damask background stamp onto it in Iced Spruce, spritzed it lightly with water, and dried it thoroughly."

Using the Tim Holtz Stamp Platform, I place one of the Raven stamps in the top left corner and stamped it with Black Soot Distress Oxide a couple of times to get good coverage. Then immediately removed it, sprinkled it with Ranger Frosted Crystal Antiquities embossing powder, and heat embossed it. Don't over heat the embossing powder or it will melt down into the paper and disappear.

Then do the same procedure in the bottom right corner with the nest from the Bird Feather stamps. If you want to see around the outside edge, now would be the time to do so.

For the main bird, I used the stamp platform again and secured a piece of water color paper, rough side up. Then stamped the image several times with Black Soot Distress Oxide to get good coverage. You will have a little white still showing in the depressed areas but don't worry. Remove it and heat emboss like the others. Then for the white areas, just watercolor in with some Black Soot Distress Ink. Cut the bird out, Ink the edges, I use the side of the brush end of the Black Soot Distress Marker and just run it carefully along the edge of the raven. The tip allows me to get into the corners and tight places where the blending tool can't reach. Add some dimensional adhesive and prepare for assembly.

One last step is to color a little piece of Hardstock with some Iced Spruce Distress Oxide. Cut one of the small rectangles from the Stitched Rectangles die set and edge it with Black Soot Distress Oxide. Then stamp the When hinges creak in doorless chambers sentiment in the center with Black Soot Distress Oxide and heat emboss. Add dimensional adhesive.

You want to attach the sentiment high enough that the cut out raven's head doesn't cover any words, but low enough that it does cover part of the bottom edge. Attach both the sentiment and the raven. Attach the background to the card base. Tie some black Crafter's Thread around the left side of the card.

Monstrous Hipster Mash

Tim Holtz and Sizzix paired together to host a fun #hipforsummer contest and there were some absolutely fabulous entires! What fun to see all the ways paper crafters used the Hipster Stampers Anonymous stamps and Sizzix dies to put the Hipster in all kinds of creative scenarios.

I wasn't able to participate in the #hipforsummer fun because it's been a crazy busy summer so far, but I finally got some time to just make something silly this weekend and that turned into this mash-up of the Hipsters CMS288 and the brand spankin new Monstrous CMS307 release. Mixed with a couple of Distress Microglaze/Distress Oxide resist backgrounds using some of the new Stencils, Rosetta THS092, Flames THS091, and Cross THS090, these cards were really simple to put together.

I found that stamping the images separately on pieces of Distress Mixed Media Hardstock then coloring, cutting them out and layering them seemed to work best for me. I tried masking and stamping and that didn't work as well for me.

To make the background, I took a piece of Distress Mixed Media Hardstock and a blending tool with clean foam on it. Get a little Distress Microglaze on the blending foam and then work it into the foam in a circular motion on a craft mat. You don't want a lot of glaze or it builds up against the side of the stencil. Once you have worked the glaze into the foam, lay a stencil over part of the Hardstock and gently move the blending tool over the stencil.  Move the stencil to another area and repeat or get a new stencil and repeat.  For this background I used Rosetta THS092 and Flames THS091. Let it dry briefly then I put a few colors of Distress Oxide onto the craft mat (I honestly don't remember what I used here - maybe Wild Honey, Peeled Paint and Seedless Preserves?) and spritz with water until it beads. Run the paper through Oxides and dry. Then repeat and add water drops or sprinkles as you dry until you get a layered background. The areas you stenciled with the microglaze should act as a resist.

For the ostrich Hipster I cut off her hat and cut her and the mummy out. Then figured about where her eyes were behind the Mummy and roughly cut away a portion so her eyes were peeking through the glasses. I mean roughly too. You kind of want it to look like the wraps were ripped. Then added the hat and glasses on top of the Mummy.

For this background I did the same Distress Microglaze resist background as I described above. This time I used the Cross THS090 stencil and I think Wilted Violet, Broken China and Faded Jeans for the background. 

Dracula was comprised of the bird suit and bird hair. His eyes are close set so you just have to find which pair of glasses fit him and Frankenstein's monster the best. I think it was the monkey glasses that worked the best. I did cut around his chin so his goatee was more prominent. Then I added the crazy bird hair behind his head. The bats in the background were cut using the bat die from the Halloween Mixed Media 661558 die set.

Frankenstein's monster needs to be stamped and colored so there is space below his neck. Stamp the monkey's outfit then color and cut out the clothes for the monster. Find out which glasses fit the best (again I believe it was the monkey glasses for Frankie as well.) The background on this one was put on DMMH using a blending tool with three different Distress Oxides, then I wet it by misting it with water. Then I stamped the splat from the Ravens CMS310 set right in the middle in Twisted Citron Distress Oxide. You can see it behind him.  I added a couple of the bats leftover from Dracula's background.

That was about it.  Just a fun, silly mash-up of stamped images with some crazy, experimental backgrounds.

I'd be glad to answer any questions you may have.

The Mummy

This stamp from the Monstrous CMS307 set made me think of archeology, Indiana Jones and of course, The Mummy movie and ride at Universal. With all those things for inspiration I had to go with this dry, dusty, ancient looking color scheme, and you know where there are mummies, there have to be spiders, right?

 

The first step is to make a background for behind the square window and for the edge reveal.  Using a piece of Distress Mixed Media Heavystock, color a background with Frayed Burlap, Iced Spruce and Antique Linen Distress Oxide. Trim it a 1/4" smaller on one side and the top than the card base you are using. Go around the edges with grey or brown Distress Ink. Attach it to a card base.

Make a second background piece (1/4" smaller than the first) with mostly Antique Linen and a tiny bit of Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide.  Then stamp the Cobweb background from Skulls and Cobwebs CMS306 in Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide. The spiders are from the Halloween Mini 5 CMS275 stamp set.

Cut a square out of the top 2/3 of the cobweb piece using the Stitched Squares Framelits. Then ink around the outside  edge and the inside of the square with Frayed Burlap Oxide.  You can wrap it several times with some Eclectic Elements cream colored craft thread with a little Antique Linen Distress Ink on it.
Attach dimensional adhesive to the back at this point (I just used left over bits of chipboard that I had and cut it down to fit.) the affix it to the first background piece already on the card base. 

 

 Stamp the Mummy on a small piece of Heavystock with Black Soot or Ground Espresso Archival Ink.  Water color it in with Distress Markers in various colors like Antique Linen, Crushed Olive and Pumice Stone. Cut out the mummy, then ink the edges.  For small pieces like this I used the brush edge of either the Black Soot, Ground Espresso or Hickory Smoke Distress Marker and carefully run it along the edges. It is much easier to get into the tiny spaces and tight corners with the marker. Put dimensional adhesive on the back and adhere it to the middle of the square window.

Color a small piece of Heavystock with Iced Spruce and Antique Linen Distress Oxides. Stamp a sentiment from the set onto the background, then cut around it freehand with scissors so it looks a stone tablet of some sort. Ink the edges. add dimensional adhesive and then attach it to the card over the Craft Thread and under the window.

Although this color scheme for a Halloween card is a bit unexpected, I think this shows that these stamps can be used for so many other things year-round. I'm going to use it for a layout of some pictures we have of the Mummy ride at Universal. It would be great for an archeology or Indy themed party, or even if you had an old Hollywood horror themed party.

Frankenstein Spooky Halloween

The Monstrous CMS307 stamp set from Tim Holtz's Stampers Anonymous Halloween release is just chock full of classic Hollywood horror. I love it. Not only is it perfect for Halloween cards, but can't you see it used on Halloween layouts, gift items, decor pieces, party favors, and even some theme park layouts?

This Frankenstein's monster just felt like he needed to be in a rusty old metal clad room with boarded up windows.

The card started with stamping the image on some Distress Mixed Media Heavystock. Then watercolor it with Distress Markers and a Water Brush. Cut him out with scissors. Color a piece of the Heavystock with Distress Oxides, and stamp the Spooky Halloween sentiment on it.

For the background emboss a piece of Heavystock with the Rivited Metal Texture Fade.  Then color it with Iced Spruce, Black Soot and a tiny bit of Vintage Photo Distress Oxides. Touch up the raised areas and the rusted areas with Distress Inks in the same colors.

To make the window for the sentiment, measure the stamped image, draw a rectangle on the back of the metal background, and then cut it out by hand. Make sure to ink around all the edges on the front side, adding some Rusty Hinge to add a little rustiness.

At this point you can add dimension with pop dots, foam dots, or I use left over bits of chipboard and cut it to fit. Attach the sentiment so it fits in the window. Add four Hex Fasteners (distressed with a little Hickory Smoke paint) in each corner and then attach to the card base.

Now, color a piece of Distress Woodgrain Cardstock with Distress Stain and Distress Inks to make it look like wood. Cut along the grain into 1/2" strips. Trim in pieces 2-4 inches, rough up the ends with the edge of your scissors, then Ink the edges. Final touch is to poke two holes in each end of each plank and color the hole in with the pointy brush end of the Black Soot Distress Marker.

Attach the plank pieces so they look like they were hastily nailed over a window. Add dimensional adhesive or pieces of chipboard to the back of the monster. Then adhere him to the middle of the planks.

You're done!

Not exactly a simple card but the details on this card are really what make it, so if you're going to make this one, I encourage you to really go for it!

Something Wicked This Way Comes

This Stampers Anonymous Haunted House CMS308 stamp set by Tim Holtz intrigued me when I first saw it...I immediately thought of Ray Bradbury and his Halloween Tree story. And knowing the title of one of his novels was on the Tim Holtz  Monstrous CMS307 set, I was determined to pair them for a card.

I tried a couple of techniques with these stamps, and a few color schemes but wasn't happy with any of them. Then during a biographical presentation I was watching, the speaker posted a sepia lithograph of the subject's home. That immediately inspired me and I decided this set should look like an old lithograph. 

I stamped all the images onto a piece of Distress Mixed Media Heavystock that had been aged with Antique Linen Distress Ink and then sprinkled with water drops and dried thoroughly,
The images were stamped on the Tim Holtz Stamp Platform using Ground Espresso Archival Ink.  It's my new favorite Archival ink color. I used it a lot with the Halloween stamps this year. In order to use it on some large stamps like these, I purchased a DIY Custom Blend Distress Ink pad and loaded it with the Ground Espresso Archival Ink Reinker. Then I could use an individual ink pad to make sure these images were completely covered in ink before stamping.

Happy Owloween

One of the really fun Halloween die cut sets I had the privilege of making samples for was Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations Mini Halloween Things. It's an adorable, fun, child friendly set. Perfect for putting on Tim's Gift Tags die set. But you don't need to feel limited to just tags. These dies pair well together on cards, Scrapbook Pages, planners, or even bookmarks or place cards. *Stay tuned for a future blog post featuring one or more of these ideas!*

This first card used the mini owl die and some paper scraps from various Ideaology paper lines.

The moon was made by stamping Distress Oxide onto the background paper and then layering a few bats from the Halloween Mixed Media die.

I had the owls roosting on the Bird Branch die. This die can be used for many things, but for this card I needed to cut the little song bird off the branch.

For the title I cut the Halloween Script word Halloween out and cut off the Hal. Then using the Alphanumeric dies I cut OWL and attached it to the remaining script letters loween.

That's it! A very simple card using scraps of paper and new and old dies I had in my library.

Eye Love You

This is a sample card for Tim Holtz's Halloween 2017 release through Stampers Anonymous. 

To make this card I stenciled the background using the mini Crossed THS090 stencil and Distress Oxides. 

The eyeball jars, sentiment, and skull and bones are all from the Scared Silly CMS311 set. I stamped the jars and bones several times, watercolored, and then cut them out by hand with my Tim Holtz Snips. The cutting was fast and easy!

This stamp set is a collection of really fun, silly Halloween images and sentiments perfect for pairing up for a card or using individually on little gift tags.

MonsTEArous Brew

Tim Holtz has done it again! He created the cutest little silly monster dies for his Sizzix Alterations line of die cuts.  The Silly Monsters are part of Tim's seasonal Halloween/Christmas release through Sizzix.

These little guys make me smile! And being a Disney scrapper at heart, I immediately thought about using them to scrap some Monster's Inc and Monster's U pages.  That also may have played a part in my choice of colors for these cards, but more on that later. Let's get to the cards Tim showed today in the reveal.

I made two cards using the Silly Monsters, one with Ideaology paper and one with paper I made using Distress Oxides.  Let's start with the Oxide card.

First I made the background by rubbing the Old Paper Distress Ink pad across the surface of a piece of Distress Mixed Media Heavystock. Then I stamped the same color onto the background just on parts of the background by using the Wallpaper CMS126 stamp and my hand and not a stamping block. I wanted it to have a worn wallpaper look. I edged it lightly with some Vintage Photo Oxide and then spritzed it to make it look even more worn. Then I ran it through the Ink Splats Texture Fade and water-colored with Peeled Paint Oxide on the raised areas.

Then I made a bunch of backgrounds for the Silly Monsters, Tea Time, and the Drip Edge Border die.

First I colored a piece of Distress Mixed Media Heavy Stock with a Blending Tool and the Oxide color of my choice. I spritzed it with water lightly and then dryed it.

Most of the backgrounds were stamped with a background stamp using the same color of Oxide as the background color.  But I wanted to make one look a little like Sully from Monster's Inc, so I chose a different color for stamping. The Mixed Media CMS125 stamp set worked perfectly for many of the monsters, and just repeated them across the piece of paper.

The Oxides really make delightful background papers. Once it was dry I cut one of the Silly Monsters out of this paper.

Then it was just a matter of adding a little paper behind the eyes and mouth.  This step doesn't need to be done. You can leave them open, but I like the way the white made the eyes stand out.

This card was made as an invitation to a Halloween Tea, so stay tuned because I have some place cards and bookmarks for the tablescape to show you in another post.

Before I go, I thought I would show you the second card I made with the Silly Monsters die. This card uses no techniques, I just cute all of the pieces from Ideaology Paper Stash Destinations and Ideaology Paper Stash Lost and Found.