Retro Sewing Card

Card Positioning Systems is celebrating their 5th Anniversary by releasing a sketch a day for 15 days. 

This card is my interpretation of the day six sketch. 

This card was made with a Vintedge kit by Ruby Rock-It, on a Kraft base.  The kit was fantastic value, 6 different paper designs (2 of each for 12 sheets total), plus stickers and die cuts for $10.  I used the Tim Holtz Sewing Room Alterations die to cut two bobbins and wound embroidery floss around the centre and attached them as accents.  There is also a yellow bobbin inside next to the sentiment which reads:  "May your bobbin always be full".

I'm still not sure if I like this card, retro is not something I have played around with much.  I am sure if I pop in a fat quarter of quilting fabric the recipient won't care what the card looked like ;o)

Shabby Snowman

Technique:  Papercraft

Materials:
corrugated card
acrylic paints
blue mica (or perfect pearls)
glitter
music paper
craft snow
snow sprinkles
crackle medium
glossy accents
Distress Ink
* Faded Denim

Tools:
Tim Holtz Alterations
* Winter Wonderland die
* Tags and Bookplates die
Movers and Shapers die
* JOY
Sizzix Big Shot

The challenge at Simon Says Stamp and Show this week is to Show a Word. 

The tag is made from corrugated card and the top layer is peeled back to shabby it up and show the corrugations underneath. You will notice from the photo below that I have left the part that sits under the snowman's belly intact, to allow for smooth adhesion of the layers that will be applied there.  It's then painted with white acrylic paint, faded denim distress ink, pthlao blue acrylic paint,and blue mica.

Cut three snowmen from corrugated card, cutting JOY into the belly of one and cutting out an oval in the belly of the other, and reserving the last to cut out a hat, a nose and an arm.  Cut an oval out of music paper and glue that down under where the belly will be, then glue the snowman with the oval in his belly over the top of that.

Dry brush the entire piece with craft snow, piling it up in places where it would build up naturally, such as the top of the hat, and make a nice pile of it inside his belly oval, but not that high that you can't glue the top snowman into place.

Paint the snowman's spare parts and paint the snowman with the joyful belly. Apply a coat of crackle medium to the snowman and let that dry completely, then highlight the cracks with faded denim ink, this gives it an icy look. Glue the joyful snowman and all the pieces into place with glossy accents and brush again with craft snow, piling it up again around the spaces in the word JOY. Add a touch of glitter for some sparkle, I also added some snow 'sprinkles' which is essentially a white, non sparkly glitter that looks like snow.

Try as I might I couldn't get the camera to pick up all the details, the crackle on the snowman glitters like ice, the snow drifts inside his belly sparkle, the blue mica shimmers which is a lovely contrast to the matte snow sprinkles.  The whole tag has such lovely texture, I wish it snowed here in South Australia!

Sparkling Snowman Ornament

Technique: Die Cutting/General Crafting

Materials:
1.5mm balsa wood
glitter
pva glue
white acrylic paint
scrap card or grungepaper

Tools:
Sizzix Big Shot die cutter machine
Winter Wonder die
paintbrush

The sizzix machine, and any dies that you use, do require an initial financial outlay, but once you have them you can produce ornaments for very little cost using a vast array of materials that you probably already have or can obtain cheaply.

For this ornament I chose balsa wood for the base once again. It's light weight, it's only $2 for a sheet that will yield half a dozen ornaments, and goes through the die cutting machine easily.

Cut one snowman from the balsa wood, this acts as the base. Give each side a coat of white acrylic and allow to dry. Working on one side at a time, apply a light coat of glue and then glitter.

Cut one snowflake from the same die with grungepaper. As much as I love balsa wood it doesn't cope with the small, intricate dies very well, so grungepaper is a better choice there (or card stock if that is what you have to hand).

Give the snowflake a coat of blue paint or ink if you prefer, and once dry as above, apply a coat of glue then blue glitter.

Attach the snowflake to the snowman with glue, and punch a hole in his hat for a hanger. I found it difficult to capture the sparkle that this ornament has on film, but it really is dazzling.

Snow Topped Carved Ornament

Technique: Die Cutting/General Crafting

Materials:
1.5mm balsa wood
recycled Christmas cards
pva glue
white acrylic paint
craft fake snow

Tools:
Sizzix Big Shot die cutter machine
Carved Ornaments die
paintbrush
painting sponge or stippler

Another very simple but very pretty ornament made using the Sizzix. The machine itself, and any dies that you use, do require an initial financial outlay, but once you have them you can produce ornaments for very little cost.

Cut one ornament from the balsa wood, this acts as the base. Cut two more ornaments from the recycled Christmas cards and glue one image to each side of the balsa shape and allow to dry.

Sponge a little white acrylic paint along the edges of the ornament to soften the edges and give it a 'snow dappled' look. When dry, apply fake snow liberally to the top, using a tooth pick to ensure the hanging hole remains free and clear.

Snowflake Embossed Carved Ornament

Technique:  Die Cutting/Scrapbooking

Materials:
1.5mm balsa wood
adhesive craft metal

Tools
snowflake texture plate or embossing folder
Sizzix Big Shot Die Cutter
Tim Holtz Carved Ornament Die
"JOY" Movers and Shakers Die

What a stunningly simple ornament this turned out to be!

Cover both sides of the balsa wood with the craft metal.  Run it through the die cutter to get the carved ornament shape, then run it through again to emboss with the snowflake pattern.  Punch a hole in the top and hang.  Did I mention I love my Big Shot?

If you have never seen nor used it before, craft metal is very thin metal that has an adhesive backing.  It's around 4 or 5 times thicker than tin foil, but it has a similar appearance.  You could try this using tin foil, in fact I am going to do just that and report my findings, but for this project I used adhesive craft metal.

You can buy embossing folders that are especially designed for use in die cutting machines to emboss a texture into your chosen material.  I am a huge fan of using what you have, or buying products and tools that have multiple applications rather than needing to buy lots of individual items each with their own specific single use.  So, to emboss, I used a Fiskar texture plate that I had purchased years ago for a scrapbooking ornament.

For those who have a Bigshot, the 'sandwich' I used was the adapter plate with no tabs, cutting mat, fiskars texture plate, ornament, then topped off with a cutting pad.

Vintage Bird Cage Ornament

Technique:  Die Cutting/Scrapbooking

Materials:
1.5mm balsa wood
'decor' crackle medium
acrylic paints
antiquing medium
silk flowers and leaves
butterfly embellishment
pva glue
fine grade sandpaper
matte varnish

Tools:
Sizzix Big Shot die cutting machine
Tim Holtz Alterations Caged Bird die

Oh I love my die cutter indeed I do! Just for fun I entered this project into the "Anything Goes" Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge.

Cut 2 bird cages from balsa wood and glue together.  You could use just one thickness, or use chipboard/cardstock if you prefer, but I love working with the balsa.

When dry, apply two coats of base colour, front and back.  I used Jo Sonja Antique Green.

There are different types of crackle mediums and paints available, and they can create different types of aging in your work.  For this project I used Jo Sonja Decor Crackle Medium, which is a 'sandwich' crackle.  This means you apply a base coat, then a coat of crackle medium, then a contrasting top coat, and the crackle medium will cause the top coat to crack as it dries, allowing the base coat to show through.  Apply a coat of crackle medium according to the directions on bottle, and then your top coat.  I chose a plain white for my project because I planned to antique it.  Allow to dry overnight.

Using the sandpaper, distress the cage further.  Go a bit heavier in some spots to let more base coat show through, attack the edges, you don't have to be delicate!  When you have the appearance you are happy with, you can age it further by using an antiquing medium.  Again there are lots of ways you can antique a project.  You can mix a little drying retarder with burnt umber acrylic paint and rub that over your project to age and darken it.  You can buy ready made antiquing liquids that are primarily just a mixture of drying retarder and acrylic paint.  For this project I used a Tim Holtz Distress Ink to add a dark tinge to the edges.  It's subtle but it's there, shame on me for not taking before and after photos to show you.

Once the whole lot is dry, give front and back a coat of matte varnish.  When that is dry, use hot glue to attach your embellishments.  Hang and admire!