Through the frosty window

Hi Brenda here and my turn to share a project with you today. I have been using some Tim Holtz dies and a canvas to create my frosty window and who do you think is inside?

Well lets start at the beginning.

I die cut Tim's window die out of greyboard and gave it a couple of coats of picket fence distress paint .....

... and when it was dry I added crackle glaze, another coat of paint and watched the fine crackles appear.

I cut a frsme from white card to go over the back of the canvas ......

.... and tore strips of tissue paper, scrumpled them up and using a wet glue a adhered them to the back and sides as shown.

I made a background for the shadowbox part of the canvas .....

... and created a 3D mount from a very small canvas which is to be used inside it.

Look you can see someone peeking out, I bet you have guessed who it is? Do you like the frosty windows, this is such a cool technique. I adhered some plastic packaging to the back of the window and then smeared a little matte multi medium in the corners of the four panes of 'glass' and when dry I painted rock candy crackle paint over them. Don't you think it gives a great effect?

I painted the frame I made black after I had glued it on and then added some grunge paste through a brick mask to create the walls.

When it was dry I used some decoart paints to create the brick colours and when that was dry I again used the matte medium to glue on some distress  rock candy dry glitter to give the walls a frosty look.

The window is closed and we still can't see who it is peeking out!!

The greenery was made using coredinations papers in different greens, run through the festive greenery strip die then sanded down and inked with walnut stain.

I also used some left over 'frosty' berries from last years decorations in with the holly and greenery.

And here he is sat peeking out, it's good old Santa Claus just waiting for the 24th so he can load up the sleigh and be off delivering all his presents. Not long to go now.

Have fun with all your preparations and don't forget Santa needs to know you have been good.

hugs {brenda} x0x

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Giving Thanks by Amanda

Product Focus: Sizzix Inkable Embossing Plates, DCWV Papers, Distress Inks

Before I discovered scrapbooking, the number of birthday and Christmas cards I needed was nowhere near enough to satisfy my crafting addiction, so I became very polite, sending thank you cards for everything!  It’s a type of crafting I still love to do, as you have so much freedom about design and, as thank you cards are no longer really expected, they’re always such a lovely surprise to receive.  Unlike other cards, thank you notes are made after the event though, so I try to keep them simple, or it takes me so long to get them made that nobody can remember what they’re for! 

If you have some special people to thank, why not give these quick designs a go?  I’ve used some gorgeous Sizzix Ink-Its Letterpress Plates to create some quick textured cards that you can use for any occasion.  These plates are especially good if you like the look of stamped images, but are not a confident stamper, as they give a similar finish, but with the added special detail of light debossing.  I’ve teamed these with some beautiful DCWV papers that need little or no embellishment.

 For this card I’ve used coordinating papers from DCWV’s Nana’s Nursery mat stack for the background and main image.  For the middle layer, I’ve embossed with the Craft Concepts Hexagon Illusion embossing folder (hexagons are so trendy at the moment!) and then rubbed over with Dusty Concord Distress Ink to really highlight the texture (and to add purpleness of course J).  For the main image, I’ve used the Ink-Its Flower Vine Letterpress Plate, inked up with Broken China Distress Ink, and then painted in with a damp paintbrush dabbed onto the Dusty Concord pad.

 My next two cards use the beautiful Sizzix Ink-Its Rustic Elegant Flowers Letterpress Plate.  I really love this design, and it’s so flexible, as you have the bird detail and the main image, which can be cut down too.

 For the square card I’ve inked up the plate with two colours of Distress Inks (Peeled Paint and Tea Dye) before embossing on white card and trimming round.  The background is two coordinating papers from the DCWV La Crème 12x12 stack.

 For the A6 card, I used the DCWV Garden Party 12x12 stack and again inked up in two colours of Distress Ink (Peeled Paint and Worn Lipstick) before trimming round and cropping.  I’ve then distressed it and highlighted the texture by dabbing Vintage Photo and Worn Lipstick Distress Inks onto a craft sheet, misting with water to mix them, and blending onto the card with a piece of Cut n Dry stamp pad foam.  I’ve finished the card with a butterfly cut from one of the Garden Party papers.

 I’ve used the Letterpress plates with my Big Shot: you’ll need all the layers of the Multipurpose Platform (Tab 2), but only one cutting pad from a pair. I hope you enjoy playing with them!