That's Life: Distress Oxide Ink

Showing posts with label Distress Oxide Ink. Show all posts

Monday, 4 May 2026

More Than A Woman...

Happy Monday and for all those Star Wars fans out there ~ Happy Star Wars Day and May the 4th be with you!

So, as we begin a brand new week, it's time for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and this week, our theme is called Mother's Day/Feminine and we would love for you to join us and play along. The DT are also showcasing some of the amazing products from our very own Simon Says Stamp...

Now I'm not really a pink girl which is the first thing you might associate with Mother's Day and feminine projects but I do love all things blue...so, for this make, I chose to use soft pastel blues and combined this with yellow, which was perfect for my background that uses a SSS stencil in readiness for the layers of Tim Holtz goodness to be added.

So, let's get started and it's time to share all the details of how I made this week's project!

TAG

To begin with I used a Size 8 Mixed Media Heavystock tag and began by creating my background jusign the Friendly Blossoms Stencil. This stencil is a layering stencil and comes in three parts and for my background, and because I'm using a tag which is slightly smaller in size than the stencil design, I used parts of the stencil.

I began by laying one of the larger blossoms over the top right hand corner. I then inked through the stencil using Speckled Egg and Stormy Sky Oxide Inks.

After flipping the stencil, I repeated the design in the bottom left hand corner using the same inks.

I then added another of the blossoms, one of the smaller sizes to the bottom right hand corner.

I went on to stencil the leaves into the spaces between the blossoms using Bundled Sage and Rustic Wilderness Oxide Inks.

Finally, I added the centres of the blossoms using Wild Honey and Fossilised Amber Oxides and the veins to the leaves were stencilled in Peeled Paint.

With the background complete, I inked the edges of the tag with a combination of Old Paper, Frayed Burlap and Walnut Stain Distress Inks, starting with the lightest colour and blending towards the centre and then reducing the ink each time, and applying the darkest colour to the edges.

I flicked some Walnut Stain Distress Ink across the surface of the tag, heat dried the ink and then flicked some white acrylic paint to add a few splatters and then added some stamped text in Black Soot Archival ink, using the script stamp from Tiny Toadstools.

Across the bottom of the tag, I added a border strip, which I think is from the Halloween Wallpaper pack that I had in my stash but don't quote me on that one, lol!

I added a machine stitched border around the edge and a cello sticker to the bottom right corner before mounting my tag onto a piece of burlap cardstock from my stash.

PHOTO BOOTH

We're now ready to embellish the tag and tell the story...

I chose this Photo Booth image because I thought it worked so well with the background and after trimming the photo down, I then added some rips and tears before colour tinting the image with Distress Crayons.

I added the date from the Specimen Remnant Rub Pack and then machine stitched the photo onto a piece of felt that I cut with pinking shears before placing a small piece of a Cello Sticker to the photo.

I matted the layered image onto some kraft cardstock and then mounted this onto the left hand side of my tag using foam pads,

I attached a ticket ephemera stub to the right of the photo and added the Handle With Care label, a stamp from the Stampers Anonymous Eccentric Stamp Set by Tim. I stamped this using Fired Brick Archival Ink and then fussy cut around the border before adhering to my tag.

I finally added the little roll of fabric. This is a Stitched Scrap that I rolled around a skewer and then secured the ends at the back. I then attached this to my tag with a Mini Pin and clipped a Tiny Clip to the top right of the image.

Finally, I added a small Specimen Remnant Rub No.1411 to just beneath the photo.

FLORALS

The florals are all die cut using a combination of dies. The leaves are from Brushstrokes 2 and the flowers from the Vault Side Order Floristry Die.

Both are cut from card inked with the following Distress Inks:

Leaves: Peeled Paint, Bundled Sage and Rustic Wilderness

Flowers: Fossilised Amber, Wild Honey

With my pieces die cut, I then arranged them onto the tag, placing them on either side of the photograph and shaping the leaves and petals to add some dimension.

FINISHING DETAILS

We're nearly there and all that's left are those all important finishing details....

I added some gold die cut stars that I had on my desk, which were left over from a previous project. I placed 3 of these around the focal point and then added some gold gems in the centres.

Finally, I attached a Clippings Sticker, 'her mother's heart' to the tag, placing it beneath the foliage on the right hand side...

...and completed the tag with some ribbon that I dyed with Scattered Straw and Antique Linen Distress Spray Stain and then threaded through the hole at the top of the tag.

That's my tag complete and my project for this week finished....

As always, if you make anything, or if you've been inspired by anything that you've seen here on my blog ~ then please, let me know by tagging me on social media or leaving a comment here and I will be right over to take a look!

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 next Monday at 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in and good luck....

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by today...

Love Emma xxx

Recipe for project:

Simon Says Stamp: Friendly Blossoms Stencil

Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous: Eccentric, Tiny Toadstools

Sizzix: Tim Holtz Big Shot Foldaway, Brushstroke Flowers 2, Vault Side Order Floristry

Distress Ink: Walnut Stain, Frayed Burlap, Old Paper

Oxide Ink: Wild Honey, Fossilised Amber, Speckled Egg, Stormy Sky, Bundled Sage, Peeled Paint, Rustic Wilderness

Distress Spray Stain: Scattered Straw, Antique Linen

Distress Crayon: Colours of your choice for the vintage photo

Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Cello Sticker Tape, Specimen Remnant Rub, Photo Booth, Stitched Scraps 2, Clippings Sticker book

Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Foam Pads,

Surfaces: Mixed Media Heavystock Tag

Glass Media Mat

Waterbrush

Heat Gun

Burlap from my own stash

Monday, 21 July 2025

It's a Kind of Magic....

Hello everyone...

As we begin the new week, it's time for a brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge and this week, we are challenging you to MAKE YOUR OWN BACKGROUND!

So, with so many different ways of doing this, and whether you use inks, sprays, pastes or paints, you will be spoilt for choice and we can't wait to see how you will interpret this fun challenge theme.

For my background I chose to use Distress Spray Stains and Oxide Sprays, together with stamps and I just had so much fun building up those layers to create interest and texture ready for the focal point of those beautiful butterflies.

So, let's get started because it's time to share how I created my background...

For this make, I used a combination of Tim Holtz products and chose an idea-ology clipboard, a Size 8 Etcetera Tag and a size 8 Mixed Media Heavystock tag as my substrates.

BACKGROUNDS

The background on the tag and the clipboard are both created using the same colours of sprays, oxide sprays and inks. I chose the following:

DISTRESS SPRAY STAINS: Iced Spruce, Old Paper, Speckled Egg. Gathered Twigs

OXIDE SPRAYS: Old Paper

DISTRESS INKS: Uncharted Mariner, Scorched Timber

I began by cutting a panel of Mixed Media Heavystock card, and also used a size 8 Mixed Media Heavystock tag. I misted each of these surfaces with water and then started to apply my sprays, using the Distress Spray Stains first and only applying a light touch of Gathered Twigs, and then some light flicks of Old Paper Oxide. I applied a little more water to blend the colours and then allowed these to dry. You can also use a heat tool to dry the inks.

Once my surfaces were dry, I inked around the edges with Scorched Timber Distress Ink.

To add some more interest to my background, I used Black Soot Archival Ink to ink up the script stamp from the Stampers Anonymous Tiny Toadstools stamp set and added the script randomly onto my card panel and tag.

Set the panel to one side and taking the tag, I added some more stamping down the right hand side. I used one of the stamps from the SA Faded Type stamp set and inked this with clear ink, before applying gold embossing powder over the top. Tap away the excess and then heat emboss until molten.

Finally, I used Tim's Splatter Brush to add some white paint speckles and machine stitched a border around each piece to complete the backgrounds.

CLIPBOARD

We're now ready to start constructing this piece and to begin with I worked on the clipboard and after unscrewing the clip, I attached the inked card panel to the board using Matte Collage Medium.

I then stamped the Factory No.1896 down the left hand side of the board. This stamp is from the Eccentric stamp set.

Taking the clip, I wanted to this to have a rusty, crusty appearance which is so easy to achieve and you can see a tutorial on how I do this by clicking HERE.

To alter this clip, I used exactly the same process as I used in my earlier post, but I omitted the Salvaged Patina Paint on this particular piece.

Once the clip was ready, I reattached it to my board and then attached the Mini Plaquette, No.79 to the centre of the clip.

TAG

Moving onto the tag, and to begin with I stamped the butterflies from the Papillon stamp set down the left hand side of the tag. This stamp set now has co-ordinating dies from Simon Says Stamp, so no more fussy cutting when we move onto the next step.

BUTTERFLIES

To create the butterflies, I re-stamped the image onto watercolour card using the brand new Mini Oxide Ink Pads and my stamp platform.

I inked the stamps directly with various colours from this release, including Crackling Campfire, Barn Door, Peacock Feathers, Bundled Sage, Scorched Timber, and Gathered Twigs. I personally find it easier to do one butterfly at time. I then lightly misted water over the inked stamps before stamping them onto the card.

If you feel you need more colour, then re-position your card on the platform and just go in with the ink pad.

Once I was happy with my butterflies, I used the Simon Says Stamp co-ordinating die set to die cut each one from the card.

I inked the edges of the die cuts with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink and then attached them to the tag, lifting the wings and not attaching these. I placed each image over the top of the previously stamped image on my tag, and this ensures I get the correct placement and also you can see the text from the stamp.

Before I attached my tag to the Etcetera Tag, I stitched the bodies of the butterflies to the tag.

With my tag complete, I attached it to the clipboard using Matte Collage Medium.

To complete the tag, I added a Curator Ephemera piece in the top right hand corner.

I also added a Quote Chip, 'A Little Magic Can Take You A Long Way", and once again, I placed a Cello Sticker tape over the chip.

Finally I added an Adornment Star and two hardware heads, all of which I painted with gold acrylic paint.

DETAILS

It's now time for all those tiny finishing details and I began by adding a Numbers Snippet to the right hand side of the clipboard, tucking it underneath the tag, and once again, I added a Cello Sticker Tape.

Finally, I attached a Swivel Clasp to the clip and from the chain, I hung an idea-ology Thought Token which I painted with Candied Apple Distress Paint. Once dry, I then scribbled Phantom Mist Distress Crayon over the token and wiped away the excess to reveal the wording.

So, that's my make complete and I hope you've loved the piece I've created and feel inspired by the techniques.

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by today!

Love Emma xxx

Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous: Papillon Trims Die and Stamp Set, Etcetera Tag, Faded Type, Tiny Toadstools, Eccentric

Sizzix: Tim Holtz Big Shot Foldaway

Distress Spray Stain: Old Paper, Gathered Twigs, Speckled Egg, Uncharted Mariner

Oxide Sprays: Old Paper

Phantom Mist Distress Crayon

Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Cello Sticker Tape, Screw Heads, Star Adornment, Quote Chip Labels, Number Strips, Curator Ephemera, Clipboard, Thought Token, Swivel Clasp, Mini Plaquette

Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Black Soot Archival, Black Opaque Paste, Gold Embossing Powder, Clear Embossing Ink

Surfaces: Heavystock Mixed Media Card, Size 8 Mixed Media Tag, Watercolor Card

Glass Media Mat

Waterbrush

Heat Gun

Friday, 25 April 2025

Simon Says Stamp You Are My Favorite Blog Hop Day 1

Hello everyone and welcome to Day 1 of the You Are My Favorite Blog Hop!

I'm so excited to be joining this hop, and you might have arrived here from Emily Midgett’s blog, but if not, and you want to catch up with everyone who is participating in this hop, then don't worry because you can head back to the beginning, by clicking HERE and if you would like to see the entire product release , then pop on over to HERE.

For my card and gift tag make, I was inspired by the colours of Spring and made my projects using the products that I was sent from the release, which included the Receding Squares Stencil for the background, Inside Greetings 1 stamp set and the Squovals die set. I combined these with an older die set, Swing Blossoms as I wanted a focal point for this card set.

So let's get started and here's how I created my projects for this fun blog hop...

To begin with I made the card bases from Tim Holtz Heavystock Kraft Card using the Squovals die set. For the card is used the largest die in the set and for the tag, I used the die to cut a card base measuring, 9.5 x 6.5cm. Each card needs two separate die cuts to form 1 card blank.

Taking the two larger die cuts, I scored a horizontal line, 2cm from the top edge and folded along the scoreline. After placing red line tape onto the 2cm fold, I then attached the second die cut shape to form my card. Repeat this to make the smaller tag.

We're now ready to make the individual pieces.

CARD

When complete this card fits into the A2 Paper Bag envelopes.

LAYERS AND BACKGROUND

Using the dies in descending order, I took the next size down in the die set and cut a panel of Mixed Media Heavystock card and after inking the edges with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink, I machine stitched a border around the outside of the panel.

I then took the next size down to cut a panel of green Kraft stash card. I sanded the edges of the Kraft card, to reveal the core and then adhered this to my larger stitched panel. Finally, I used the next size of down of the dies, to cut a second panel of the Mixed Media Heavystock card.

To create the background, I chose to use the Receding Squares Stencil. This stencil is designed to create the look of *clue in the title*, Receding Squares but for my project, I used the stencil to create a slightly different design to my panel, I wanted more white space on my background ~ so, I created straight lines, instead of the Receding Squares.

I inked the design through the stencil using Blending Brushes to apply, Salvaged Patina and Twisted Citron oxide inks. Once I was happy, I removed the stencil and then flipped it over, lined it up with the previous line of stencilling and then proceeded to ink through the design to create a continuous, horizontal pattern. After removing the stencil, I inked around the edges of panel with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink, added a few splatters of ink and then machine stitched a border.

I then laid the stencil back over the inked design and using a black fine line pen, I outlined each of the tiny squares through the stencil. Flip the stencil over again and then repeat.

I matted this inked panel onto the green Kraft card and then layered this over the larger panels of card. Mount the layers onto the front of the die cut Squoval card blank using foam pads.

The base is now ready for the sentiment and decoration.

DIE CUT SENTIMENT

For the sentiment, I used the 6.8 x 3.8cm die to cut a piece of the green Kraft stash card, followed by another piece of the Mixed Media Heavystock.

I used exactly the same technique of inking through the stencil to create the background on the smaller die cut piece that I will use for the sentiment but this time I didn't add the black lines around the inking.

Instead, I inked one of the sentiments in the Inside Greetings 1 stamp set, "You Are The Best" using Black Soot Archival Ink, and stamped the sentiment onto the inked panel before matting this onto the green card. I mounted the sentiment onto the card front using foam pads to add dimension.

We're nearly there and all that's left is to make the flowers inspired by cherry blossom and attach these to the card front, together with some tiny details.

FLOWERS

I used the Blossom Swing die set to make these beautiful tiny die cut flowers.

I cut multiple pieces of Mixed Media Heavystock card using the die and then inked the stems using Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters and Bundled Sage Oxide Inks, applied with Blending Brushes.

I then inked the flower heads using Spun Sugar, and added darker centreswith Picked Raspberry and a touch of Spiced Marmalade.

I shaped and attached each of the flower heads onto the main stems using Simon's Precision Glue and then attached them to my card front. To create the arrangement, I snipped into the die cut to create tiny pieces that can fill in.

DETAILS

For the finishing touches, I added a No 4725 rub on from a Tim Holtz Remnant Rub pack that I have in my stash, but you can also use numbers from the Specimen Remnant Rub set...

...and to complete the card, I added tiny pearls to the centres of each of the flowers and then attached a Mini Clip to the top left hand corner.

GIFT TAG

The gift tag is created in exactly the same way as the card, I just used smaller dies from the Squoval set and a different sentiment from the Inside Greetings 1 stamp set.

I then attached the flowers to the top left hand corner to complete the tag...

...before using Black Soot Archival Ink to stamp another sentiment, "thanks for everything' inside.

Simon Says Stamp is giving away a $25 coupon to every stop on the blog hop from the blog comment section! So, this means you can leave a comment here and on every stop along the way to increase your chances. Winners will be notified and they will be posted on the Simon Says Stamp blog on Wednesday, 30th April and all winners will need to contact/email Simon Says Stamp to claim their prize.

Also, don't forget that you have until the 27th April at 11:59 EDT or whilst stocks last, to grab yourselves the exclusive Sunny Fern Emboss and Cut Folder which will be automatically added to your card it if contains $30 or more of You Are My Favorite release products.

Thank you so much for stopping by today and don't forget to go and check out Day 2 of the hop tomorrow!!!

See you soon, love Emma x

HOP ORDER

Simon Says Stamp Blog