Hello crafters! I hope you are well and that your weekend was good. We went on a bike ride to a lake where there were no other people and we even saw a very cute ermine. This week at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog we have a Not A Card challenge. Lots of options! I hope you will join us. Don't miss the last project by our April guest designer Tracey Sabella, with her blog Garden of Grace. I feel very lucky to live close to nature, in these days particularly, and I really enjoy my long walks. I often take a sketchbook with me and today I made a new nature sketchbook for myself, with a vintage theme. When making these types of books I avoid adding bulky items to the cover, since they might fall off or make it harder to just take the book along in a pocket. This sketchbook goes one step further since all the ephemera on the cover is coated with matte medium, creating something of a decoupage effect. I used one of Tim Holtz Salvaged Baseboards as a base for my book. I love the vintage book look. I also picked a paper from the Field Notes ephemera to give the theme to the book. Tear and ink the edges of the paper. I used only Vintage Photo for this project, which is a nice warm brown. Find additional ephemera pieces from Field Notes and Field Notes Snippets. Sand and ink the edges. Sand the edges of the cover and then glue the ephemera to the cover using Distress Matte Medium. I also added a bunch of Clippings Stickers. Ink the sanded edges of the cover and add more ink to the ephemera if needed. Now comes the fun technique. Scoop out a little matte medium and place in a container. You don't want to repeatedly put the paint brush into the ordinary container, since it might color the medium. The Distress Ink that is already on the cover will react with the matte medium and move around slightly. I also added Vintage Photo Distress Ink with my finger to some areas and rubbed it into the medium. This gives an instant vintage look to the cover in one step. As you can see on the paint brush in the photo, the matte medium is colored by the ink. Cut a piece of mat board for the back cover and cover it with natural sticky-back canvas. You can also use another piece of Salvaged Baseboard. Ink with Vintage Photo. Punch holes with a crop-a-dile and bind with Tim's Mini Book Rings. The best thing with making your own sketchbook is that you can use your favorite paper on the inside. I cut sketchpaper to 3.8 x 5.9 in. All the pieces are now 'baked' into the cover and will not fall off. It also gives a nice, solid feel to the book. Here you can see the effect of the ink that I added with my finger into the medium. It collected especially around the shape of the insect. Be careful to clean your finger so that you don't get medium onto your ink pad. An even better method would be to smear the ink on a craft sheet and pick it up from there. More fun ephemera pieces. I love to sit with the Clippings Stickers and pick out sentiments, and was particularly happy with the ones I found for this book. More sentiments and a beautiful insect. You can decorate the back cover too, but I usually like to keep it plain. Here is my new sketchbook waiting to be filled with nature moments and memories. You can of course make it in other themes too, but just changing the images and text. I hope you will join us this week in our Not A Card Challenge. As always, you have a chance to win a $50 gift voucher to do some fun shopping at Simon Says Stamp. You have until next Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in. As you may know, the Simon Says Stamp Store have longer shipping times for the moment due to the coronavirus. With this in mind we have made the difficult decision to suspend the $50 voucher for this challenge. We know that many people are staying safe at home and we would love it if you would continue to enter the challenges and have fun! We are all in this together! Don't forget to follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram, they post great stuff daily. We also have a new hashtag #SSSUnitedWeCraft Do you use Instagram? If so please add #sssmchallenge so we can see your entries there too. Thank you so much for taking the time to visit my blog today! Take care! Happy crafting! Anna-Karin Supplies: * Please note: the links are affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.

Bold Botanicals Notecard Set by Juliana Michaels featuring Tim Holtz Bold Botanicals, Tiny Prints and The Inspector Stamp Sets

I am just in love with the Tim Holtz Artsy Leaves dies from his new release! I wish I had a fraction of the talent that Tim has to make such magical projects with his products! But we use what talent we are given, right! Here is a fun fall themed thank you card! I made this card by pulling out a piece of watercolor paper and cut it up and useds distress inks and water to made some fun background panels to die cut each leave out. I wanted use fall colos but also wanted to use some non-traditional colors for the leaves. I then die cut the "veins" of the leave out of matte gold cardstock and added them to the leaves with liquid glue. I added foam squares to the backs of the leaves and added them to a panel of white cardstock I ran through the die cut machine using a dot embossing folder for texture. I then die cut a thin frame from more white cardstock and the word thanks from matte gold cardstock and added them all to the card base. I hope you enjoyed that card I have made today and go some inspiration. I have provided affiliate links below to all the supplies I have used for your convenience. Thank you so much for stopping by! Happy crafting!! Supplies:

Happy Mother's Day Card by Juliana Michaels featuring Tim Holtz Floral Trims Stamp Set and Faux Bleach Technique

Designed to encourage true originality and innovation, these shapes can be layered, manipulated and rearranged in countless configurations, to create astonishing and artistic outcomes. Thinlits create dazzling detailed shapes for more creative cardmaking and papercrafting projects. These wafer-thin chemical-etched die sets are designed to cut, emboss or stencil a single sheet of cardstock, paper, metallic foil or vellum. Use them for enhanced intricacy and to add a special touch of inspiration to all your projects. Compatible with the Big Shot, Vagabond and most cutting machines. This set includes a handy storage envelope. For easy identification, trim off the packaging front flap, keep and slip it into the envelope. Curated by Tim Holtz. Includes 43 dies. Die cuts are approximately 0.25 x 3.25 to 0.25 x 0.25 inches.

Hello, A warm welcome and invitation to join us for Just Us Girls Challenge #705 where, as hostess once again, I've selected Thanks or Thanksgiving as our Word Week inspiration. Even though Thanksgiving is long past where I live (Canada), I decided it would be wonderful to join in with our friends who celebrate the tradition in November. For those who would like a more general prompt, Thanks is also as an option. Once again, we're delighted to have Melissa joining us as our November Guest Designer. As you know, I love Tim Holtz's Artsy Leaves and the cards shared here are the first batch I made, using them. I knew I was saving them for this challenge, so they're delighted to finally have their turn on the stage. I've paired them once again with Waffle Flower's Postage Collage Grid die. Papers are from TH as well; so glad I re-discovered them in my stash. Looking forward to seeing how Thanks/Thanksgiving inspire you! Thank you for dropping by!

Crafter & Tim Holtz Addict

Creating a fun beachy background is easier than you think. I'll show you all the steps on how to create this scene in this tutorial.

I fell hard for this Eclectic Elements fabric collection by renowned paper crafter, Tim Holtz. Tim is the Creative Director for Ranger Industries and all you have to do is go down an aisle at a Michael's or JoAnn's and see walls of his wonderful product creations. This is his first fabric collection, and it comprises of 3 design categories: Documentation, Labels, & Melange. In order to retain all the good scrapbook/grunge/steampunk vibe - I used my trusty pattern: Easy Bake from Cluck Cluck Sew. It was not easy to find the entire collection (24 fat quarters total) and I wanted to use every bit of it. After making the bulk of the quilt - I measured the remaining fabric and found that 4" square gave me the most pieces. These squares were put on the front sides and back. My first time making a quilt with a cotton top, traditional batting & a cotton back - (used Warm and Natural batting / pre-washed and dried before quilting). The back is Michael Miller's couture cotton in Nite - which comes in 85 colors - and has a wonderful soft drape - (while it looks rather bright in the pictures, it blends well overall - another option could be the Midnight Blue which is darker). Quilted top and bottom with Aurifil 50 wt. ( light sand #2000 & dark cobalt #2740). Spray basted (and ironed to fuse them even more), I had a few hiccups (and 3 rows to rip out) as the bottom tension went all wonky - but a few turns on the bottom bobbin case screw worked fine. Each time I re-loaded the bobbin - I had to make minor adjustments. April 2014 Size: 60 x 72"

Tim Holtz/Sizzix: Wildflowers Watercolored Card Set - Read more from the {creative chick} | shurkus.com blog & more ideas from our "cards" section.

Recycled mini book with Tim Holtz Theories stamp set

Distress Inks, by Tim Holtz are some of my favorite inks to use. They are water-based dye inks that have incredible color stability. Unlike ...

Materiaal: Off-white en mixed media cardstock. Achtergrond: Idea-ology backdrops Halloween. Cijfer stencil met texture paste en Distress embossing glazes vintage photo, crushed olive en peeled paint. Sizzix thinlits The Count. Gebruikte kleuren zijn van Distress oxide inkt. Gezicht frayed burlap, tattered rose en antique linen. Jasje hickory smoke. Vestje en strik forest moss. Haar en snor lost shadow en black soot. Haar is gemaakt met de spookjes van de Sizzix thinlits Halloween 2021 dieset. Strik is van de Sizzix Tailored dieset. Borden zijn gemaakt van Idea-ology backdrops Halloween. De randen zijn van Idea-ology kraftstock zwart. Happy Birthday! is van de Your next Stamp "tear away tab sentiments" stempelset.

Crafter & Tim Holtz Addict

Here’s my latest needleturn applique project, some sweet little songbirds. The background newsprint fabric is by Tim Holtz, and I think it sets the birds off really nicely; it’s a neutral, but with enough interest that it’s not boring. I’m creating simple patterns from photos. These are very small 4" blocks, so I can’t add too much detail or it gets too intricate to stitch. I’m not sure what project I’ll make with these. I’d love to do enough for a small art quilt, maybe about 24x36". I’m using some funky textured sequins, trimmed to size, for the pupils of the eyes. Have you seen all the amazing sequins that are available these days? Check them out on Cartwright’s Sequins. I’m getting some requests for a pattern for this, but I’m hesitant. I haven’t done patterns in ages! Would you be interested in a pattern for these little birdies?

My new 2022 Chapter 2 release from Sizzix is designed to spark the inner artist with designs that include new brushstroke…

Crafter & Tim Holtz Addict

I fell hard for this Eclectic Elements fabric collection by renowned paper crafter, Tim Holtz. Tim is the Creative Director for Ranger Industries and all you have to do is go down an aisle at a Michael's or JoAnn's and see walls of his wonderful product creations. This is his first fabric collection, and it comprises of 3 design categories: Documentation, Labels, & Melange. In order to retain all the good scrapbook/grunge/steampunk vibe - I used my trusty pattern: Easy Bake from Cluck Cluck Sew. It was not easy to find the entire collection (24 fat quarters total) and I wanted to use every bit of it. After making the bulk of the quilt - I measured the remaining fabric and found that 4" square gave me the most pieces. These squares were put on the front sides and back. My first time making a quilt with a cotton top, traditional batting & a cotton back - (used Warm and Natural batting / pre-washed and dried before quilting). The back is Michael Miller's couture cotton in Nite - which comes in 85 colors - and has a wonderful soft drape - (while it looks rather bright in the pictures, it blends well overall - another option could be the Midnight Blue which is darker). Quilted top and bottom with Aurifil 50 wt. ( light sand #2000 & dark cobalt #2740). Spray basted (and ironed to fuse them even more), I had a few hiccups (and 3 rows to rip out) as the bottom tension went all wonky - but a few turns on the bottom bobbin case screw worked fine. Each time I re-loaded the bobbin - I had to make minor adjustments. April 2014 Size: 60 x 72"

Megan Whisner Quinlan shows you how to let your creativity soar as you make this beautiful journal spread using Dina Wakley Gloss Sprays & Tim Holtz Stamps.

MY NEW 2023 HALLOWEEN RELEASE FROM SIZZIX IS FILLED WITH WICKEDLY WONDERFUL DESIGNS THAT INCLUDE ARTSY LEAVES, BIG FRIGHTS,…

When the Tim Holtz Village Rooftops dies from Sizzix arrived to my own real house, I was so happy because it added so much detail and personality to my little houses. I have used them

Hello crafting friends! This is the first of my Tim Holtz Idea-ology Halloween 2021 projects that I’m sharing today. I'll just say, this project had a mind of its own and became a lot more than I was intending. I had no idea what I was going to create, and I was pressed for time, I think I had five days to get all my makes done. My shipment of product never arrived, it's somewhere out there, along with a couple of my previous projects, so Mario managed somehow, to resend me everything. One of the other makers, Stacy, also had her projects go missing, maybe they are together! lol! Anyways, I like to think of this as the old witch who lived in a coffin, the dark side of the old woman who lived in a shoe! There's a lot going on here, I did try and take photos as I went along, but there might be a few times that I was creating late at night, so there might be a few things with no photos, I will try and explain as best as I can. I started out with a Vignette Coffin (TH94177) and covered the outside with Distress Kraft HeavyStock(TDA76384). First, this was embossed with the 3D Lumber Texture Fade and coloured with Distress Oxide Sprays and Distress Sprays. The line across the coffin where I embossed the paper from opposite ends, will be covered with an extra piece of embossed paper. There are two extra embossed and coloured pieces that go across. But before adhering the paper, first I am cutting a hole through the coffin for the window. I've used two round windows in the Window Frames Baseboard pkg. (TH94154), one is slightly larger than the other (I've used the larger one on the outside). I've used a piece of the web transparency (Halloween Transparencies TH94167) cut to fit behind the larger frame and a piece of Mica (broken in the corner) for the inside window frame. I've sanded very lightly in the corner of the spiderweb transparency, so that a spider can be spotted from the inside. Before adhering the window on the inside, I've covered the inside of the coffin with Halloween Worn Wallpaper(TH94147). The edges are inked before adhering. Here, you can see my bad attempt at cutting the hole. I just traced the inside of the window frame, and drilled holes all the way around, then punched out the inside piece, sanding everything flat. I'm sure if I waited for my husband to get home, he would have had the proper tool, but I needed to get on with it! The frames cover it anyways. Before gluing on the embossed paper, I adhered black pieces where I've cut out part of the embossed wood paper. I've glued a creepy eye(TH94178) on top of the one piece of black cardstock. Cut out the piece for the window and glue in the embossed heavystock. I've glued in a small bone(Boneyard TH94168) in the other slot. Next glue on the two extra boards and window frame. I've added some Ranger Ink Halloween Crypt Grit Paste around the edge of the window frame. I then decided to put the coffin on a wood base, using a vignette box TH93279 (3 1/2" x 4 3/4"). This was covered with paper from the Halloween Backdrops Pkg. TH94146. I've drilled two holes in this for Halloween green Tiny Lights(TH94157). One is for the cauldron( about 5/8" from the front and 1" from the side) and the other will be under the coffin( about 1 3/4" from the side and 3/4" in) These measurements are just to give you an idea, and they were taken from the inside. It must have been a late night when working on the cauldron(TH94171), no photos! For my cauldron, I drilled a hole through the bottom for my tiny lights. If you are unable to do this, just plan where you are bringing the lights up the outside and into the inside, this can be camoflouged later with bubbles, sticks, or moss etc. I've added Crypt Grit Paste randomly on my pot. The green bubbles are alcohol inked Halloween Bubbles(TH94180). These have been glued into the cauldron with Distress Collage Medium, just one or two at a time, letting them dry in-between (yes, I know this will take awhile, but you won't have them falling apart while drying). I have kept the bottom and centre hollow, so there is room for the tiny lights. I can't remember but I might have put the lights( I used two or three) in while gluing the bubbles, taking care not to glue in the lights, just so I have that space empty. I also cut a bone in half and glued in the ends with the bubbles. On my base, I broke up small pieces of sticks and hot glued them in a small circle, leaving the center open for the lights to thread through. There is some Crypt Grit paste in-between the sticks at the bottom. You can also leave a bit of space in-between the sticks so the light shines through. The tiny lights(you don't need that many) go in the cauldron and back out underneath, and then over to the other hole. You can always use two sets of lights if you want. In front of the cauldron, bent down the side, there's a tiny piece of embossed 3DCobblestone 665375 Black Alcohol Ink Cardstock. The stones are highlighted with Pearl Alcohol ink. At this point, I wasn't sure what I was doing in front of the Coffin, so that is why I drilled a hole through the bottom of the coffin to match up with the one in the base. I placed my coffin where I wanted it on the base and stuck a toothpick with a bit of paint on the end, through the hole, and marked the bottom of the coffin so I knew where to drill. You can always just thread the tiny lights in front of the coffin and cover it up, you wouldn't really see it. Here's where I drilled the holes in the coffin for my tiny lights. I created a hollow post with three coffee stir sticks and covered them with these thin strips of Worn Wallpaper pieces. If you want lights to shine through in places, just carve out a few spots up the side with a craft knife. You can also add Distress Crackle Texture Paste(TDA71303) to the front edges of the coffin and also randomly on the top and sides at this point. After this has air-dried, colour with Distress brown crayons. The post also acted as base for my curtain to be adhered, so it was away from the back, giving it more dimension. I also have a little girl Halloween paper doll (TH94149) peeking behind the curtain. I used some wood slices for steps, so it looks like there's a hidden staircase behind the curtain. I did add These are old ones, but there are new ones that are part of the Christmas release(TH94209). The Edgar Allen Poe round picture is a Halloween Mini Flair Button (TH94158), that's been grunged up a bit. Right below that is an Idea-ology Urn(TH94174) with some Distress Spray dyed Blossoms(TH93569). A bit of Crypt Grit paste was added to the urn also. Under the flowers is some Mummy Cloth(94155) shredded up. For the top shelf (the attic) I've placed one tiny light behind the candlewick and then the rest along the back of the shelf. The Drippy Candle (TH94172) is grunged up with a Distress Crayon and glued on top of a Candle Stand (TH94166). On my craft mat, I applied Glossy Accents shaped like a tear drop and a drop of orange alcohol ink added and let dry. This was adhered to the candle wick to look like a flame. A tiny light was bent behind it. I've added a Spider Adornment TH94161(a bit of green alcohol ink added) in the cracked opening of the mica in the window frame. The book is made from a book cover ephemera piece in the new Halloween pkg.TH94151, pieces of old book paper cut up and the words are from the Halloween Sticker book TH94148. There's quite a few of these book covers in the package but I think we need a whole package of these, they are addicting to make. The '31' is also from the Ephemera package. All the tiny labels are from the Halloween Snippets Ephemera pack TH94152, which is all labels! The rolled up papers are scrap pieces of backdrops paper or ephemera pieces with the word clippings from the sticker book down the fronts. There's a small vial grunged up with Rock Candy Crackle paint (TDC31888) and Ranger's Halloween Midnight Mica Flakes mixed in Rock Candy and hardened to look like it's spilling out of the bottle. I made little boxes for a couple of my Halloween makes, using the skinny house from the Paper Village Thinlits set 664741. I cut two per box, glued together like I was building a house. Except I bent the pointy ends in to look like a flap and clipped the other end along the fold, just enough so they would fold closed also. If you want a shorter box, just cut off a bit from the one end. Perfect size for vignettes and the labels! Good way to use small scraps of paper. I decided to place my Paper Doll in front of the bottom base for she's right at the front. I traced the doll shape onto a piece of Ranger's Black Matte Alcohol Ink Cardstock TAC65487 and instead of her skirt curved on the bottom, I added a touch so that it was straight. The paper doll was tinted with Distress Crayon and glued to the cardstock. I did this so she was very sturdy, as I just adhered the bottom of her to the box. This alcohol ink cardstock is a really nice dark matte black, is non-porous and very sturdy. I wanted to turn my paper doll into a mysterious witch, so I coloured Mummy cloth with Distress sprays and Oxide Sprays, cut them in short strips, except for one which was 2-3 times longer. The short pieces were hand stitched together at the top and tied around the witches neck. The longer piece was loosely draped around her head and shoulders. I've added some smoke or mist, can't quite decide what it is, behind the witch. This is just cotton batting used for stuffing in pillows, etc. that I coloured with Distress sprays. I also used Empty Tomb and Hocus-Pocus Mica Sprays in there to give it a bit of glimmer. I sprayed the bit of batting, and with a paper towel, patted it dry. You don't need a lot to tint it. I used a small bit of hot glue to the back of the doll and stuck a small bit of the batting to her. It's not really stuck on a lot, it's so light, it just kind of sits there. A small piece of Ball Chain (TH92675) was tinted with green alcohol ink and one end was put through a small hole in the witch's hand. The other end was attached to the Halloween Birdcage (TH94165) which was also tinted with a bit of green. There's a crow ephemera piece, covered with black glitter inside. Moss and Crypt Grit paste were added to the cage. This cage was attached through the bars to the front of the vignette box with wire poked through the box, so it's on there good! Now for my favourite part, the creepy toadstools(TH94082)! I took the Creepy Eyes(TH94178), glued one on a larger toadstool, that I coloured a bit with Distress Crayons. For the smaller toadstool, I took out the pupil from an eye and just used that. Hot Glue some moss around the eyes, to make it look like the eye is part of the toadstool. For the Skull toadstool, I broke off the stem right under the top, glued a Skeleton head (TH94169) under the top and then glued the stem under the skeleton. Glue your moss to cover up all your connecting parts. These creepy toadstools were hot glued around the base at the back of the coffin. I added moss a a twig all around and also where I have the little openings in the coffin boards. I've also added another spider, strung on some invisible thread so it can slide back and through. Here's the skeleton toadstool at the side. I didn't have photos of the finished sides, but I added in some book clippings phrases from the Sticker book(TH94148), lots to choose from! I also added one of those tiny masks to my little creepy paper doll behind the curtain. There's my spider handing from the invisible thread and moss was also added. I also added a metal Halloween Word Plaque (TH94164) to the back of the base. Halloween Grave Texture Paste was added to the recessed area. Here's a look at the Vignette with the tiny lights turned on. Here's from the back of the coffin with the lights on. Here's another look at the finished vignette. I know this is a project that has a lot going on, but hopefully I've inspired you to find one or two ideas to use for your own Halloween projects. I have two more projects to share, hopefully before Halloween, I'm trying! Unfortunately, here the weather is turning cold and I've been trying to clean up the yard and prepare everything for winter. We've had a few nights already below zero, so it's coming! I'm not ready yet, I really don't want snow, which we could get next week. Yuck! Thanks so much for visiting! Until next time, Jan

Materiaal: Off-white, zwarte en naturel cardstock. Embossing folder van Stampin' cut & emboss painted texture. Sizzix thinlits die Artsy l...

Crafter & Tim Holtz Addict

Tim Holtz - ABANDONED 1 - Spark Pack  Spark your creativity with our new Spark Packs featuring Abandoned by @Tim_Holtz Eclectic Elements and patterns by @VillaRosaDesigns!  The quilts included in the Spark Packs are the Brickwork Quilt, Geneva Quilt, Busy Bee Quilt and the Nantucket Quilt.