‘Christmas’ Category

  1. Scribble Woodland Deer Card

    13th September, 2016 by iGirlZoe

    Hello. I’m back again with another sample card that I made for the Tim Holtz facebook LIVE event on Friday, where he showcased his incredible new Stampers Anonymous holiday stamps and stencils. If you missed the live event, you can still watch it on replay and see the stamps on Tim’s blog.

    iGirlZoe: Scribble Woodland Deer CardYesterday I shared another sample that I made using the gorgeous new Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous stamps and stencils. Here’s how I created this sample…

    iGirlZoe: Scribble Woodland Deer Card
    Die cut an oval. Blend antique linen distress ink into the frame and walnut stain distress ink onto the edges. Colour the snowflake stamp with stormy sky distress marker**, spritz lightly with water and stamp onto the frame. Repeat creating a random pattern, making sure you dry the stamp before adding more distress marker. Once completely dry, blend a VERY LIGHT layer of vintage photo distress ink over the top to give an aged look.

    iGirlZoe: Scribble Woodland Deer Card
    **TIP* you will need to “season” your stamp first. Ink with archival ink and stamp twice onto kitchen paper and set aside to dry. If you don’t do this, distress ink and distress markers will just bead on the stamp and you won’t get a clear image! Go on! You can do this! You can always clean the stamp afterwards… but I would leave it “seasoned” and spend the time crafting instead. 😉

    iGirlZoe: Scribble Woodland Deer Card
    On the reverse side of the birch stencil scribble on pumice stone, iced spruce and stormy sky distress markers and spritz with water. Turn the stencil over onto the smooth side of distress watercolor cardstock. Place a piece of kitchen paper over the top and smooth out with your hands. Carefully lift the stencil off the cardstock and air dry or with a heat tool.

    iGirlZoe: Scribble Woodland Deer Card
    Position the stencil back over the dried cardstock and secure with tape. Scribble pumice stone and stormy sky distress markers directly onto a non stick craft mat and pick up with a waterbrush and brush through the stencil. Carefully remove the stencil and dry the cardstock. Once completely dry, drawer along the outline of the birch trees with the fine tip of a frayed burlap distress marker and then go over with a waterbrush to soften the lines and create shadow. Blend weathered wood distress ink around the edge of a slightly larder piece of distress watercolor cardstock than the frame and edge with walnut stain distress ink. Mount the frame over the stenciled birch background and on top of the edged watercolor cardstock.

    iGirlZoe: Scribble Woodland Deer Card
    Stamp a sentiment onto a strip of distress watercolor cardstock with vintage photo distress archival ink. Blend in weathered wood distress ink and edge with vintage photo distress ink. Mount the strip over the bottom of the oval part of the frame. Leave the top center part unstuck to slip the deer under slightly. Stamp 2 deers onto distress watercolor cardstock and fussy cut. Cover one with vintage photo distress marker and watercolor the other carefully with a variety of brown tone distress markers. Glue the detailed deer head over the other and adhere to the front of the card just tucking slightly under the sentiment strip.

    iGirlZoe: Scribble Woodland Deer Card
    Cover an adornment snowflake with picket fence distress paint and dab away excess with kitchen paper. Attach the snowflake to the sentiment strip with glossy accents.

    Thanks for stopping by. I’ll be back tomorrow to share my take on this week’s challenge over at Frilly & Funkie. If, like me, you adore this deer stamp, be sure to stop by and checkout Bobbi Smith’s stunning card sample created for the Tim Holtz facebook LIVE event over at Vintage Muse Designs.

    Zoe


    Save

    Save

    Save


  2. Scribble Woodland Christmas Card

    12th September, 2016 by iGirlZoe

    I am delighted to share a card sample that I made for the Tim Holtz facebook LIVE event on Friday, where he showcased his incredible new Stampers Anonymous holiday stamps and stencils. If you missed the live event, you can still watch it on replay and see the stamps on Tim’s blog.

    iGirlZoe: Scribble Woodland Christmas Card
    I absolutely LOVE the new stamps and stencils and I can’t wait to create this years Christmas cards and holiday home decor with them. Here’s how I used some of them to create this sample…

    iGirlZoe: Scribble Woodland Christmas Card
    Step 1: Cut an oval using the sizzix stiched ovals thinlits dies from distress watercolor cardstock.

    iGirlZoe: Scribble Woodland Christmas Card
    Step 2: Lightly blend weathered wood distress ink through the birch stencil from mini stencils set 21 using a mini blending tool.

    iGirlZoe: Scribble Woodland Christmas Card
    Step 3: Draw lightly along the outline of the birch trees with the fine tip end of a frayed burlap distress marker. TIP* you could trace the outline using the stencil, but the imperfections of freehand make it look more natural and less “stenciled”

    iGirlZoe: Scribble Woodland Christmas Card
    Step 4: Edge the card and oval with walnut stain distress ink using a mini blending tool.

    iGirlZoe: Scribble Woodland Christmas Card
    Step 5: Go over the frayed burlap marker lines with a water brush to soften the lines and create shadow.

    iGirlZoe: Scribble Woodland Christmas Card
    Step 6: Colour the back of this stamp from the scribbled woodlands CMS282 stamp set with gathererd twiggs, peeled paint and stormy sky distress markers. Spritz with water and stamp onto distress watercolor cardstock.

    iGirlZoe: Scribble Woodland Christmas Card
    Step 7: Once dry, ink up the stamp with black soot distress archival ink and overstamp the watercolor image.

    iGirlZoe: Scribble Woodland Christmas Card
    Step 8: Scribble frayed burlap, pumice stone and stormy sky distress markers onto a non stick craft sheet. Pick up the scribbled marker with a waterbrush and create a background wash onto the distress watercolor cardstock around the stamped image.

    iGirlZoe: Scribble Woodland Christmas Card
    Step 9: Take a mini blending tool and VERY LIGHTLY blend vintage photo distress ink over the stamped background and birch stencilled frame to give a vintage hue. TIP* if your vintage photo distress ink pad is “juicy” blend away some of the excess onto scrap paper before blending over the top of the background and frame.

    iGirlZoe: Scribble Woodland Christmas Card
    Step 10: Lay the polka dot stencil from mini stencil set 20 over the card. Spread texture paste through the stencil with a palette knife and once completely dry, adhere the frame over the background. TIP* To get a more natural looking snowfall (card below), use the stencil vertically or horizontally, NOT at an angle (card above).

    iGirlZoe: Scribble Woodland Christmas Card
    Thanks for stopping by, I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial. I’ll be back tomorrow with a tutorial for another card sample that I made for Tim’s facebook LIVE post.

    Zoe

     


    Save

    Save


  3. Frilly & Funkie Holiday Card Tutorial

    12th December, 2015 by iGirlZoe

    Hello everyone, hope your weekend is off to a good start. Today I have a SATURDAY STEP BY STEP over at Frilly & Funkie with a card inspired by Starbucks red holiday cups.

    iGirlZoe: Tis The Season

    iGirlZoe: Tis The Season
    If you would like to see the step by step in full, please pop over to Frilly & Funkie.

    I hope you have a great weekend.

    Zoe

     



  4. Frilly & Funkie ‘Tis The Season

    9th December, 2015 by iGirlZoe

    It’s Wednesday and time for another challenge over at Frilly and Funkie Challenge Blog! We will be taking a little break, but the Frilly team will be back with you on December 30th and the Funkie team on January 6th.

    This challenge is hosted by Nancy (Tattered Treasures), who has chosen the theme ‘TIS THE SEASON …Nancy says, “I’m keeping it super simple. You may create any type of vintage or shabby chic holiday themed project – whatever winter holiday you celebrate!”

    iGirlZoe: Tis The Season

    I will be back over at the Frilly & Funkie blog with a step-by-step tutorial for this card and a coordinating gift tag on Saturday.

    I hope you will join the challenge and pop over to Frilly and Funkie challenge blog to see the rest of the DT’s projects. All the products I used are available from The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

     



  5. Ranger Ink Gilded Holiday Trio

    30th November, 2015 by iGirlZoe

    I have a guest tutorial over at Ranger Ink today with a step-by-step gilded holiday themed burlap panel, card and hanging decoration.

    iGirlZoe: Gilded Holiday Trio

    I hope you will stop by Ranger Ink’s blog and take a look. There are lots of tutorials by other guest artists in the Ranger Ink Project Library.


  6. Frilly & Funkie An Altered State

    25th November, 2015 by iGirlZoe

    It’s Wednesday and time for another challenge over at Frilly and Funkie Challenge Blog!

    This challenge is hosted by Cec (CW Card Creations), who has chosen the theme AN ALTERED STATE …Cec Says,“It is time to transform something you have sitting around or can pick up for a song and make it one of your works of art. It could be a frame, a bottle, an old cigar box, a discarded CD – the list is endless. Just make sure your final transformation is vintage or shabby chic.

    iGirlZoe: An Altered State
    This is such a busy time of year for many of us, so I decided to make a gift box that I could use to wrap a Christmas gift.

    iGirlZoe: An Altered State
    I had kept this box because it was such a great size, but the corners of the lid were broken. I fixed this using idea-ology box corners, (see further down).

    iGirlZoe: An Altered State
    I covered the box with 2 generous layers of gesso. This prepares the surface for the glue n seal and distress paint, and stops the cardboard from getting soggy.

    iGirlZoe: An Altered State
    Brush glue n seal over the box, working quickly as it dries fast! Cover with tissue wrap and scrunch. Once dry, rub distress paint on with your fingers and spritz with water. You can see the step-by-step technique on Tim Holtz’s Blog.

    iGirlZoe: An Altered State
    I brushed with a final coat of glue n seal. From a distance it looks like scrunched up shot silk fabric.

    iGirlZoe: An Altered State
    Line the inside of the box with paper. I used paper from the new Tim Holtz yuletide paper stash.

    iGirlZoe: An Altered State
    Line the inside of the box lid with the same paper.

    iGirlZoe: An Altered State
    I coloured idea-ology box corners with gold alcohol ink and attached to the corners of the box lid with hot glue, (this fixed the broken corners). I cut Merry Christmas with the Tim Holtz handwritten holidays die from gold metallic kraft core. The words got lost with the gold tones of the box, so I applied black alcohol ink with an alcohol ink blending pen. Using the pen it gives a lighter coverage and it turned the gold kraft core metallic brown.

    iGirlZoe: An Altered State
    I cut holly from metallic kraft core cardstock with the Tim Holtz holiday greens thinlits die. I LOVE these dies, you can emboss detail onto the leaves! So cool! I covered these cute miniature pincones with picket fence distress paint and the even cuter miniature bells with fired brick distress paint, (both I bought from The Funkie Junkie Boutique). I attached them with hot glue. The bells give a lovely jingle when you pick up the box.

    iGirlZoe: An Altered State
    Thanks for stopping by. I hope you will find time to join in the challenge and pop over to Frilly and Funkie challenge blog to see the rest of the DT’s projects. All the products I used are available from The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

     



  7. Frilly & Funkie Let There Be Light

    11th November, 2015 by iGirlZoe

    It’s Wednesday and time for another challenge over at Frilly and Funkie Challenge Blog!

    This challenge is hosted by Sue (Stamping Sue Style), who has chosen the theme LET THERE BE LIGHT …Sue Says,“One of the things I don’t like at this time of year is the lack of light to craft by in the evenings. So, for this challenge I’d like you to include something in your project that makes reference to light, this could be a lamp, lantern, rays of light or even gradients of colour that get lighter!”

    iGirlZoe: Let There Be LightIt’s no secret that I’m a big fan of this season! It really is the most wonderful time of the year and one of my favourite parts is the Christmas tree. The twinkling lights and glittering decorations compensate for the dark days we get in Europe over the winter. I decided to try my hand at altering an assemblage clock with this theme.

    iGirlZoe: Let There Be Light
    If you follow me on instagram you may have seen my post about taking the clock apart whilst watching Homeland! I was left with a pile of nuts, bolts, washers and no clue what went where!

    iGirlZoe: Let There Be Light
    I covered the exterior parts of the clock with ground espresso distress paint and set aside to dry. Then rubbed evergreen bough distress paint over the top with my finger and set aside to dry. I tapped an embossing ink pad over the top and sprinkled over clear rock candy distress glitter and set aside to harden before assembling.

    iGirlZoe: Let There Be Light
    Fortunately I managed to assemble the clock with only one washer leftover! 😉

    iGirlZoe: Let There Be Light
    For the interior of the clock, I followed the digital download instructions that I bought from Tim Holtz Etsy shop.

    iGirlZoe: Let There Be Light
    Initially I had a bit of an epic fail with the trophy antlers! I dripped alcohol ink over the stag’s head which reacted with the resin and turned it salmon pink! YUK! I decided the best way to cover it was with dark distress paint. As I was using the ground espresso distress paint to cover the clock, I covered the trophy antler too and set aside to dry. It was so dark that you couldn’t see the lovely details of the stag so I rubbed a little evergreen bough distress paint over the top with my finger. This highlighted the detail and gave a cool faux patina effect.

    iGirlZoe: Let There Be Light
    I rubbed glossy accents over some boxwood twine and sprinkled over clear rock candy distress glitter. It gives a really nice frosted effect. I attached the boxwood twine, trophy antlers, natural pinecone and some mini dollhouse Christmas lights to the top of the clock with hot glue.

    iGirlZoe: Let There Be Light
    I used icicles from the limited edition seasonal frozen alpha parts, (covered in distress glitter of course), on the front of the insert mount. I wrapped a Christmas tree banner from the festive ephemera pack around one of the woodland trees.

    Thanks for stopping by. I hope you will find time to join in the challenge and pop over to Frilly and Funkie challenge blog to see the rest of the DT’s projects. All the products I used are available from The Funkie Junkie Boutique and the assemblage clock digital download instructions are available to buy from Tim Holtz Etsy shop.



  8. Oh Christmas Tree!

    17th October, 2015 by iGirlZoe

    I’m delighted to share my second project for the Tim Holtz holiday inspiration series using the new seasonal products. Check Tim’s blog to see all the other designers fabulous festive projects.

    iGIrlZoe: Oh Christmas Tree
    I LOVE Christmas, to me it really is the most wonderful time of the year and one of my favourite holiday traditions is “tree day!” We go and get our Christmas tree and my DH straps it to the car roof and we drive back up the mountain and decorate it while listening to Christmas music.

    I wanted to make a home decor piece to celebrate this Christmas tradition. It’s a really simple project to decorate your home or make as a gift. Here’s the step-by-step…

    iGIrlZoe: Oh Christmas Tree
    Take a burlap panel, turn it over and trim any burlap that overlaps the edges of the frame. Paint the inside edges of the frame with picket fence distress paint and set aside to dry. Paint a thin layer of glossy accents to the inside edges of the frame and cover with clear rock candy distress glitter. Tap off excess over paper and return to the pot.

    iGIrlZoe: Oh Christmas Tree
    Select a sheet of paper from the new yuletide paper stash and cut to fit inside the burlap panel. Distress the edges with a paper distressing tool and adhere to the frame with multi medium. Cut 4 pieces of ribbon from the new metallic trimmings to cover the staples. Using double sided adhesive tape stick down.

    iGIrlZoe: Oh Christmas Tree
    Snip small and large icicles from the AMAZING new frozen alpha parts… (when I pulled these from my box of goodies I went a bit crazy). Cover with a modest layer of glossy accents and sprinkle over clear rock candy distress glitter! Tap off excess and set aside to dry. To attach the icicles, run a layer of glossy accents along the trimming where you want to place the icicle and allow to dry without sticking down. This strip of DRIED glossy accents will act as “tooth” for the alpha part.

    iGIrlZoe: Oh Christmas Tree
    Apply a layer of glossy accents to the back of the icicle and stick in place. Press down for a few moments and then set aside until the glossy accents have dried.

    iGIrlZoe: Oh Christmas Tree
    Cover letterpress blocks in distress paint and allow to dry completely. Using a sanding grip, sand the letter to give a distressed look. Mount onto the burlap panel with glossy accents. Die cut “Christmas” from the new Sizzix thinlits handwritten holidays set from metallic kraft core and adhere.

    iGIrlZoe: Oh Christmas Tree
    My lovely Mum gave me these vintage light bulbs which were perfect for this project. I used a distress paint cap and filled it with glossy accents. Dip the end of the bulb into glossy accents and then sprinkle clear rock candy distress glitter over the top and tap off the excess. Attach to the inside top of the burlap panel with a dab of hot glue.

    iGIrlZoe: Oh Christmas Tree
    Decorate a new adornment wreath with gold alcohol ink using a pin. Dip the pin in the alcohol ink and then lightly touch the pin to the berries on the wreath. I dipped a bulb in gold alcohol ink to use as an extra embellishment.

    iGIrlZoe: Oh Christmas Tree
    Attach the bulb and wreath to the letterpress with a dab of hot glue.

    iGIrlZoe: Oh Christmas Tree
    Create an embellishment using the new Sizzix evergreen bigz die and the holiday word block 2 thinlit dies. Die cut a tree from metallic kraft core and sand with the sanding grip. Die cut “Tinsel” into the tree and then mount a different colour metallic kraft core sheet underneath. To reinforce, mount onto a second tree die cut from chipboard.

    iGIrlZoe: Oh Christmas Tree

    iGIrlZoe: Oh Christmas Tree
    I also made a card with the same products that I used for the burlap panel, as well as the new GOLD gilded holidays remnant rubs! YES GOLD! OH MY!

    iGIrlZoe: Oh Christmas Tree
    Attach the tree at a slight angle to the inside base of the panel with glossy accents and cover the base with a little clear rock candy distress glitter. Attach the trophy antlers inside the adornment wreath with a dab of hot glue.

    iGIrlZoe: Oh Christmas Tree
    For a final flourish cut a strip of the new boxwood twine. Cover with glossy accents using your fingers and then sprinkle over clear rock candy distress glitter. Attach to the top of the burlap panel with a dab of hot glue at each end of the twine.

    iGIrlZoe: Oh Christmas TreeThanks for stopping by, I hope this has given you a little holiday inspiration. I have had so much fun playing with all the new products and really appreciate all the kind and encouraging comments you have left here and on social media. A big thank you to Tim, Paula and Mario for inviting me to create samples, it’s been such a great pleasure.

    I’ll be back next week with more Halloween projects, but for now, I hope you have a great weekend.

     



  9. Winter Woodland

    8th October, 2015 by iGirlZoe

    With only 77 days until Christmas, I’m delighted to share my first project for the
    Tim Holtz Holiday Inspiration series using his fantastic new holiday products.

    iGirlZoe: Winter Woodland
    My focus for this card was the new thinlits birch trees die and the tree line stamp set, with a healthy sprinkle of distress glitter, (of course).

    iGirlZoe: Winter Woodland
    Cut distress watercolor cardstock with the thinlits birch tree die and blend with a little pumice stone and ground espresso distress ink. Once dry, add glossy accents to parts of the birch trees and sprinkle clear rock candy distress glitter over the top.

    iGirlZoe: Winter Woodland
    Lightly spritz distress watercolor cardstock with water and spray stormy sky distress stain spray over the top. Let the colour wick across the card and dry with a heat tool.

    iGirlZoe: Winter Woodland
    Ink up the new tree line stamp (CMS244) with forest moss distress ink and lightly spritz with water. Stamp along the bottom of the distress watercolor cardstock and then lightly spritz once with water to allow the trees to wick slightly to give colour contrast. Dry with a heat tool. Dab picket fence paint onto a non stick craft sheet and spritz with water. Load up a distress splatter brush and flick onto the background and set aside to air dry.

    iGirlZoe: Winter Woodland
    Cut a cameo frame from grungeboard and emboss with the new sparkle texture fade folder. Cover with a layer of iced spruce distress paint and once dry, repeat with a layer of picket fence distress paint and again dry. Using a sanding grip, lightly sand the raised embossed areas and edges. Blend a little ground espresso distress ink over the sanded areas.

    iGirlZoe: Winter Woodland
    Using glossy accents, layer the birch tree die over the tree line stamped background and place the cameo frame over the top and trim.

    iGirlZoe: Winter Woodland
    Cut 3 poinsettias from distress watercolor cardstock using the mini poinsettia mover and shapers die. Blend each poinsettia with antique linen distress ink and edge with ground espresso distress ink. Shape the leaves, layer up and make a hole using a pokey tool. Push one of the new idea-ology jingle brads through all 3 poinsettias and fasten at the back.

    iGirlZoe: Winter Woodland
    Adhere to the card with a dab of glossy accents.

    iGirlZoe: Winter Woodland
    Die cut grungeboard with the vintage noel bigz die and cover with ground espresso distress ink. Cover with a layer of glossy accents and sprinkle vintage photo distress glitter over the top. Tap off excess and set aside to air dry.

    iGirlZoe: Winter Woodland
    Once dry, adhere to the bottom of the cameo frame with glossy accents.

    iGirlZoe: Winter Woodland
    For a matching gift card, make an additional background, birch tree die cut layer and poinsettia. For the smaller cameo frame, cover cardstock with paper from the new yuletide paper stash and cut using the smaller mover and shapers oval die.

    iGirlZoe: Winter Woodland
    This gift hanger can adorn a gift and later be hung on a tree. Make an additional distress covered grungeboard noel die cut, poke 2 holes in the top and attach o rings. Cut a piece of the new boxwood twine and make a loop each end to hang the o rings from. Wrap jingle brads around the boxwood twine and trim the brad stems with wire cutters.

    iGirlZoe: Winter Woodland
    Thanks for stopping by and I hope this has given you a little holiday inspiration. I’ve had such fun using these new products, a big thank you to Paula, Tim and Mario for asking me. Check out Tim’s blog daily to see the fabulous festive creations by the other designers in the holiday inspiration series.

     



  10. 12 Tags of 2014 – December

    31st December, 2014 by iGirlZoe

    I was so busy loving every moment of December that I almost missed out on completing a full set of this years 12 tags of 2014. I spent the final day of the year getting inky in order to complete it.

    Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2014 December
    I used the vintage globe die as I think a about my friends and family overseas at this time of year.

    Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2014 December
    I have really enjoyed making these tags. A big THANK YOU to Tim for taking time to creatively inspire us each month and thanks for taking a look at my take on December’s tag. You can see this months tag and techniques on Tim’s blog and you can see the post in French on Scrapdeco’s blog.

    Happy New Year, I hope 2015 is everything you could wish for.

    ~

    supplies: tim holtz; surfaces (manilla tag/grungeboard/shrink plastic/core-dinations kraft core)/distress ink (stormy sky, tumbled glass, salty ocean, vintage photo, peeled paint, walnut stain)/distress stain spray (tumbled glass, stormy sky, brushed pewter)/distress paint (picket fence)/idea-ology (crinkle ribbon)/dies (holiday words: script, holiday words: block, tag & bookplates, vintage globe, tapered fringe, festive greenery)/stamps (#207 Christmas Nostalgia)/tools (water mister, sanding grip, blending tool, paper distresser)
    other: archival ink (jet black)/glossy accents/glue n seal/heat tool