Metallic Distress Stains

11/07/2012

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For those that have been wondering about Tim Holtz's metallic distress stains, we found a fantastic video to share with all of you. 
Come check them out at the shop! We've got some in stock, but hurry before they're gone.

...and as always, happy creating!
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.Festive card share.

08/14/2012

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Hello! Mary here with a quick card share. I made this fall card just to have on hand for the upcoming season.

I took a plain white card base (5.5"x4.25") and stamped out my pumpkins (I used one Hero Arts pumpkin, center, and three other pumpkin stamps I have had for many years - not sure of brands). I masked off each pumpkin in order to create the layering effects. 


Once they were all stamped, I colored each pumpkin using Copic Markers. The ground is also colored with Copics, and I went over the solid color with another Copic, leaving dots to create more of a pebbled look to the ground. (I used a few of the YR colors - 02, 04, 07, 14, 16 and G 03 and 05 for the leaves). 
I then carefully went in with a blending tool and added Tumbled Glass Distress Ink to the background to create the sky. I went over the sky several times to get the darker blue tone for the sky.

Lastly, I added Glossy Accents to the large center pumpkin and several of the pumpkin leaves. It created a glossy finish to the shapes, and added in a little dimension so the card didn't feel completely flat.

And that's it! The hardest part was masking off the pumpkins to get the layering correct. I think I might make a similar card, but cut out one of the pumpkins and layer it on the card using foam dots.

Hope you enjoyed this quick card share and are inspired to create something today!

...and as always, happy creating!
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.fun with distress inks.

04/10/2012

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Hello! This is Mary, dropping in with another card share. Today I'll show you how to use those Distress Inks to create a vivid sunset card.

You will need some supplies to get started:

*Distress Inks (Scattered Straw, Mustard Seed, Wild Honey and Ban Door - or any combination you like to create a variegated scene + Vintage Photo for the paper edges)
*Foam applicator tool & foam pieces
*White cardstock base (cut to 4.25" x 11" and then scored and folded in half o form a card 4.25" x 5.5")
*White cardstock (smooth paper) piece cut to 3.25" x 4.5"
*Stamp (I used a bare tree stamp from Inkadinkado)
*Black embossing powder ( I like Zing! by American Crafts)
*Heating tool
*Tsukineko Versamark watermark ink (or embossing ink of choice)
*patterned paper to match your Distress Inks
*button
*Dry adhesive
*Glossy Accents or other quick dry wet glue
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First, take your stamp and stamp on the small white cardstock piece using the Versamark ink. Cover the stamped image with your black embossing powder. Shake off excess powder (and pour it back into your jar).


Melt the embossing powder with your heat tool - it should have a glossy shine once it is melted. Let it sit for a few seconds to cool - if you touch it right after heating it will burn you.

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Take your foam applicator tool and press it into the first ink (scattered straw) to pick up some color. Starting off of your paper (I use a craft sheet to protect my table) move in a circular motion and pull the ink color onto the paper. This may take a bit of practice. If you use the circular motion, you will end up with smooth color coverage on your project. Cover the entire paper with the Scattered Straw Distress Ink.
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Take your second color (Mustard Seed - and a clean foam piece) and add a line about halfway down the paper with the Mustard Seed ink. You still want to work in a circular motion and start off the edge of the page. Continue adding your color in a band until it is as wide as you like and as dark. You can go back in to the top section with the Scattered Straw color and blend the two colors a little bit to make the layers look more continuous.

Repeat this step with the remaining two colors (Wild Honey and Barn Door) with bands underneath the Mustard Seed. After each color, you can go back in with the previous color to blend the lines. The Barn Door (red color) should only show at the very base of the tree stamp and then continue down the rest of the card.
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Cut your patterned papers to the following dimensions:Yellow: 3.5" x 4.75"
Orange: 3.75" x 5"
Red: 4" x 5.25"
Take your Vintage Photo Distress Ink and apply to the edges of all three of your papers. You can also distress the edges of your stamped image, but that is your choice.
Adhere the stamped image to the yellow paper, the yellow paper to the orange paper and the orange paper to the red paper.This will be the front of your card.
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Take your button and run a piece of the twine through the holes. Tie a bow on the front, leaving a tail on either side of the button. Run a thin line of dry adhesive on the back of the red paper, and fold the twine around the back of the card to stick on the adhesive. Repeat on the other side of the card. I also added a dot of glossy accents underneath the button to hold it in place and a dot on top of the bow to hold that together.

Adhere your matted stack to the front of your card and you are finished! I think this would look fabulous with a palm tree silhouette stamp for a beautiful tropical card. 

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial.

...and as always, happy creating! 
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