Sympathy Card

I am finally back to show you what I have been up to and there will be a few posts over the next while because I have been busy despite seeming to be MIA.

Elizabeth Robinson, a wonderful friend of mine has added a new talent to her long list of many - creator of digital papers. Elizabeth is selling a number of lovely collection in her Etsy shop called A Printer's Daughter.

To showcase these papers I offered to create some samples for her and this is the first one I have done.

This sympathy card was made for a friend who recently lost her husband and was created with paper from the Blooming Butterflies collection. I made a 5" x 7" card base and added a layer of one of the patterned papers as a background. The edges of this paper (and every other paper element) were inked with Tim Holtz Gathered Twigs Distress Ink.

Next I fussy cut the floral corner from a different paper and added it. I printed a second sheet of the same paper and fussy cut three of the blooms. They were shapped and then mounted with foam dimensionals over the identical image on the corner to pop them up. Finally I printed the sentiment and die cut it with an oval die from Spellbinders.

This is a simple card but the pretty florals in this collection make it a special card.

I encourage you to check out Elizabeth's Etsy shop and purchase one or more of her gorgeous collections for your papercrafting or journal making.

Christmas Card in July

It is time for a new challenge at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog and this time I am the hostess.  I am calling this one Christmas Cards in July and here is how I describe it:

If you are like me, you are anxious for 2020 to be over and done with. To speed things up let's pretend Christmas is around the corner even though it is only July and get a start on creating shabby chic or vintage inspired cards. This challenge is all about cards so please save other Christmas creations for later.

When I chose this theme I didn't realize that it would be appropriate for another reason. Where I live is is freaking hot right now and expected to be so until at least July 20th. When I say hot it is running about 93F - 95F every day with a humidex that is higher. Thinking Christmas helps to makes it feel a wee bit cooler - or maybe it is the air conditioning. 😄

This very shabby card was super easy to make and here is how I went about it:

I first found a freebie vintage image online and printed it.

Next I found a variety of papers I thought would compliment the photo.  For this card I used papers from the Flower Alphabet and Alchemy collections (Stamperia).  Don't be afraid to check out all your paper collections for papers that might work and not just Christmas themed papers.

Each panel of paper was heavily distressed on the edges and then I rubbed the edges with Old White Matte Wax (Prima).  Once that was dry I used a palette knife to spread some Distress Texture Paste Crackle (Tim Holtz) thickly in random spots on the edges.  This was done to each panel.

The next step was to grab some scraps of white card stock and cut a number of poinsettias and greens from the Holiday Greens and Festive Greens die sets (Tim Holtz).  Note:  I will link a substitute for the Festive Greens since I couldn't find that one in the store anymore.

Using a stencil brush I held the brush vertically and very lightly pounced some of the Distress Texture Paste onto all the poinsettia and greens pieces.  Because I did it so lightly, it didn't show a lot of cracking but gave it the desired texture.  If you click on the photo of the focal image to bring up a larger size, you should see the crackle on the bits I added to the edges.

The final step was to assemble the card.  I added the panels of paper first using some dimensional foam between the two large panels and also under the focal image.  Next I layered two of the poinsettia petals to make each flower and added them along with the greens.

I hope you will join us for the challenge.  It runs until 11:55 pm EDT on Tuesday, July 21st so you have lots of time to create.  One randomly chosen winner will receive a gift certificate to shop at The Funkie Junkie Boutique.  The Design Team will choose their top picks with the overall winner receiving an opportunity to be a Guest Designer at a future date.

Supplies list with links to The Funkie Junkie Boutique:

Stamperia - Flower Alphabet 12x12 Paper Pack SBBL30
Stamperia - Alchemy 12x12 Paper Pack SBBL34
Prima Finnabair Art Alchemy Wax Paste - Old White 967857
Tim Holtz Distress Texture Paste 3oz Crackle TDA71303
Sizzix Alternations Tim Holtz Thinlits Dies - Holiday Greens 658759
Sizzix Tim Holtz Thinlits Die Set - Funky Festive Florals 66422
Scor Tape
Tim Holtz Tonic Studios Paper Distresser 370E
TIM HOLTZ 5 INCH/ 12.3CM TITANIUM BLACK SNIP 816E