That's Life: It's Christmas Time...

Hello friends...

It's Monday and the start of a new week, means that it's time for the brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and this week we invite you to join us and share your FAVOURITE TECHNIQUE. The DT are also showcasing PaperArtsy products within their projects, but this isn't something you have to do unless you want to!

For my project, I chose to go back to where my crafting journey began and use my favourite technique of stamping and watercoloring. Looking back, I could never have imagined that when I bought my first stamping kit from QVC UK, I would be doing what I'm doing now, and I would never have dreamt in my wildest dreams that I would be a maker for Tim Holtz brands ~ together with being on the SSS DT, this really was a dream come true! So, with stamping in mind, I created a Christmas card using two of my favourite Stampers Anonymous stamp sets from Tim's Christmas 2020 release, and watercoloured the beautiful poinsettia with PaperArtsy Infusions.

...and here's how I created this card.

To begin with I cut a black card blank to measure 12.5 x 20.5cm and matted this with a layer of green card over a layer of kraft card, cut with Tim's brand new Deckle Trimmer by Tonic.

The next step was to stamp and watercolour those poinsettias and for this I inked up the stamp with Versamark Ink Pad and using my stamp platform, I stamped the image onto watercolour card stock. I then sprinkled Gold Embossing Powder over the top and heat embossed the image until molten and glossy. I repeated this to create a second stamped image.

To colour the images, I used a combination of PaperArtsy Infusions ~ Sunset Beach, Are You Cerise? and Black Knight. I started by sprinkling a small amount of the crystals from the bottle onto my glass mat and using a paint brush, I dipped the brush into water, and added this to the infusions. This will create a watercolour paint and the more you dilute it, the colour will become less intense...so you can control how much you use. You'll also notice that there will be a variation of colour in the crystals, which is the nature of the product but this creates a beautiful effect for this technique.

I started by adding the lightest shade, Sunset Beach and then to build up the colour and the intensity, I added Are You Cerise? and in the centre, a tiny amount of Black Knight.

Once the image was dry and I was happy with the colour, I fussy cut around the outline to create my two beautiful poinsettias.

Setting these to one side I moved onto the background, and for this I cut a panel of the brand new White Heavystock Card and believe me when I say this is absolutely amazing cardstock and it takes ink so well. You do need this in your stash....

The panel measures, 10 x 18cm and I inked it by using Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap, Old Paper and Pumice Stone Distress Spray Stains, all blended together with a light mist of water.

After inking the edges with Walnut Stain and flicking a small amount of Black Soot Distress Paint across the panel, I added some random stamping using the script and music stamp from the Poinsettia set and stamped this directly onto the inked panel using Hickory Smoke Archival Ink.

In the top left and bottom right hand corners, I added the swirl ~ stamped in Versamark Ink and then embossed with the gold embossing powder.

I machine stitched a border around the outside and then matted the card panel onto a piece of Black Soot Kraft Stash, which I cut using Tim's brand new Deckle Trimmer from Tonic.

I then matted the layered panel onto gold kraft stash. Before mounting this onto my card front, I dyed a piece Mummy Cloth with Rustic Wilderness and Speckled Egg and then wrapped this around the card, securing it with a small amount of tape on the front and leaving the ends loose on the right hand side. I then tied these into a loose knot and secured it with a Tiny Pin.

Mount the inked panel over the top of the ribbon strip attached to the card front.

After mounting the matted layers onto the front of the black card blank, I cut a further strip of the White Heavystock, 3.5 x 11cm and inked with these same colours as I used on the background.

I used the sentiment, Best Wishes for the Holiday Season from the ChristmasTime 3 stamp set and stamped this onto the strip in black ink, embossed with clear embossing powder. This is my favourite ever font that Tim has used on a stamp set ~ I just think it's perfect in every single way, it reminds me of Disney and many iconic Hollywood movies and TV shows from the 50's.

I also stamped the three little sparkles that are in the set onto the strip, placing them in the right hand corner and then machine stitched a border around the outside.

Matt the sentiment onto more of the gold metallic kraft stash and using foam pads, mount across the centre of the inked panel, before arranging the poinsettias top and bottom of the sentiment strip using foam pads for dimension.

...added some Gold Metallic Droplets to either side of the sentiment and finished the card by painting some Hardware Heads with a touch of candied Apple Distress Paint and adding them above and below the strip.

As the final detail, I took the poinsettia from the Adornments set and coloured this with Alcohol Pearls ~ Deception for the flower head and Envy for the leaves before sprinkling with a light dusting of Rock Candy Distress Glitter. I then attached it to one of the loose ends of the Mummy Cloth and tied the cloth to secure it into place.

Hope you've all loved this card I've made and enjoyed the tutorial that I've shared. As always, if you've been inspired by any of my makes, please let me know and I will pop by to take a look ~ it always means the world that you love my projects and I love seeing your interpretations of them!

Don't forget that every week, one lucky random participant has the chance to win a $25 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp and you can join in up to 5 times, which means you could have 5 chances to win. You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in and good luck....