Saturday Step by Step - Golden Hearts

Hello! Suzz here with my first Saturday Step by Step! I created a journal page while playing around with embossing and inspired by the current "Love is in the Air" challenge!

As a few of you might know over time the little dabber paints did tend to get a bit dried out and you can revitalize them with a touch of water and mix it back in. I had this older paint dabber I wanted to use with my stencil as a resist.

It actually worked even better because of the thickness it went on like a colored embossing paste.

I used a foam brush and painted on the paint over the stencil on my card stock. I was creating my step by steps and didn't realize until I finished that I had picked up the other stencil. I went back and did it again with the Valentine's stencil.

You can see how thick the paint is in this photo which gave a nice texture as well as a resist. Here is the finished product.

Next I used gray ink and stamped a fine script over the surface.

I decided to pair the golden tones  with a soft lavender spray but was running out of my spray. It worked perfect for this as I wanted to pour it on and let it run over the surface by tilting the paper different directions. If you don't like the effect you can add more and you can spray it on.

Next up was to add my hearts over the background.

I die cut hearts form a scrap of paper to use as my template for my hearts in the background. I pulled out my watercolor pencil and traced hearts on the background. 

I used a waterbrush to soften the heart effect. The left side has been painted with water. I then added another layer of color with a gray watercolor pencil to add more shadows.

After the hearts were added to the background I moved onto my metallic hearts.

I started with a sheet of foil. I backed my foil with card stock by taping it to the back before I started to do all the steps. Adding the card stock makes it easier for the foil to hold the embossing effect. I embossed it with the typewriter letters. I then painted it with a coat of white acrylic paint.

I took the remaining lavender spray and painted it on over the dry surface of the white paint.

I cut a series of hearts from the painted foil and then smeared a layer of gold paint over the surface of each heart. 

I showed you the effect of the foil with and without the gold paint.

To finish it off I painted the cupid stamp with the gold paint and stamped him on white card stock. I cut him out and pop dotted him to the page. I then stamped the verse in gold ink on the background and added a sprinkling of glitter across the page.

Wishing you all an early Happy Valentine's Day!

Suzz

Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Stain Spray - Milled Lavender	Ranger Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabber - Metallic Gold	Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Layering Stencils - Valentine	Ranger Wendy Vecchi Archival Ink - Watering Can	Prima Water Brush Pens - 3 Pack 585891 (March Pre-Order)
Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps - Love Stuck	Ranger Surfaces Silver Foil Cardstock: 8.5" x 11", Pack of 3	Ranger Inkssentials Foil Tape Sheets 4.25x5.5"	Sizzix® Texture Fades™ Embossing Folders 2PK - Typewriter & Keyboard Set by Tim Holtz®	Ranger Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabber - Snow Cap White
Tim Holtz Distress Glitter Pumice Stone

Friday Focus (Part 2) Distress

Hi everyone. It's Buttons, back with a special extra edition of Friday Focus to celebrate a week of massive discounts on all individual Distress products over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique. In case you haven't heard, Linda has applied an extra 15% discount on top of the normal 20% off Ranger items at the Boutique.

Many of us follow Tim Holtz's tag projects each month and marvel at the way he weaves his magic with the Distress range. I took inspiration from his June tag and came up with my own extra twist. So here goes...

Begin by taking a piece of white cardstock (about A6 size) and emboss it with a folder of your choice.

Now squeeze out some Distress Paint onto your craft mat (in this case Picket Fence but I also use the Metallic Paints and other pale shades). Use a brayer to roll the paint across the raised areas of the card. You may need to roll in several directions to get an even coverage. Let this layer dry fully before adding more ink.

Now we are back to the Tim Holtz method - add some Distress Paint, Distress Ink and Distress Stain to your clean craft mat and spritz with a little water. Now drag your embossed card through it.

After the first swipe add a little water to the surface to allow the colours to bleed into each other, then dry. You can then re-drag your card through the remaining colour until the surface is completely covered, drying at each stage. The effect will become more mottled as you go.

When inking up this sample I found it necessary to go over some slightly patchy areas with a little extra ink. You will see that the ink/stain/paint reacts with the previously painted areas, adding extra pattern to the card. Even when you use paint over paint, the embossed areas still seem to resist. This is true when you use the Metallic paints as well as the paler colours.

At this point you can chop up/die cut your card to the size required. This is really useful for allowing you to choose the 'best' part of the card - don't discard the rest though. It can be die cut and have extra ink added to it especially as it already coordinates with your background piece. Now use Archival ink on a patterned background stamp of your choice and cover the main piece of card, then blend the edges with dark ink.

Tim has done a fabulous job of explaining how to paint your image with Distress Inks HERE, so I won't reinvent the wheel. I used another die on some watercolour paper and painted my pear with Distress Inks and Distress Stain with added water. They blend so beautifully. Remember to blend the edges with dark ink again once this is finished as it gives a great border to your focal point. Now you are ready to build your card up using your background, main image and any other elements you want.

Using the same Distress Paints/Inks/Stains means that your background piece and the picture coordinate beautifully together. Here are some close ups.

The flowers were created from the off cut of card having had some extra ink applied.

As this card is intended for a male member of the family it was good to add metal embellishments and some of Linda's fabulous rusted tin mesh which is very easy to cut as required.

Rather usefully I discovered that 'rusted' bees can be created by applying a layer of copper embossing powder to card, followed by a layer of Distress Walnut Stain embossing powder. It combines so well.

So that's it for today. I hope you feel inspired to grab your Distress products and create your own backgrounds. And don't forget, now is DEFINITELY the time to add to your collection with a shopping spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique whilst your money can go so much further.

Take care of yourselves, hugs Jenny x

Tim Holtz Sizzix Texture Fades - Damask and Regal Flourishes Set	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Picket Fence	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Mustard Seed	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Crushed Olive	Tim Holtz Ranger Metallic Distress Stain - Tarnished Brass	Ranger Archival Ink - Coffee
Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Walnut Stain	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Peeled Paint	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Bundled Sage	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Vintage Photo	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Stain - Antique Linen	Rusty Tin Wire Net
Venise Lace Trim - 1/2 inch wide	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Mini Fasteners	Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps - Simple Sayings	Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps - Classics 1	Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps - Papillon	Rayon Seam Binding