17turtles Juliana Michaels

Snarky Cats Christmas Tree Card | Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Christmas

The Snarky Cats are in the house and they are ALL on the naughty list! So, this Snarky Cats Christmas Tree Card was one of my favorite cards to create for the recent Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Christmas Release. I was greatly inspired by a card that Nina-Marie Trapani created for Tim's Simon Says Stamptember Release. She had stacked all the cats up to make a super cute slimline card and I just loved the idea of this. After coloring all of the kitty's and fussy cutting them, I tried stacking them up and saw that they kind of made the shape of a Christmas Tree! So from there, I went to work to create my Snarky Cats Christmas Tree Card.

Snarky Cats Christmas Tree Card by Juliana Michaels featuring Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Snarky Cats Christmas

Before we get started, I wanted to share that the finished size of this card is an A6, which measures 4.5 x 6.25 inches.

Now, let me walk you through how this card came together. I began by stamping each of the images using Memento Tuxedo Black Ink onto Neenah Classic Crest Cover Solar White 110lb paper. I then colored the images using Copic Markers. Once the coloring was completed, I fussy cut each image and then played around with stacking them to create the tree. I then used a low tack tape to hold them together and placed them on the card front to determine where to create the tree behind them. The finished size of this card is an A6 which measures 4.5 x 6.25 inches.

To create the tree behind the cats, I used the Christmas Gatherings Layering Stencil. Once I knew how I was going to position the cats, I used a low tack tape to hold them together and placed them on the card front to determine where to create the tree behind them. I used a pencil to make a couple of small marks so I would know where to create the tree.

I inked over the stencil onto Bristol Smooth Paper using Distress Oxide in Twisted Citron. I moved the stencil around to get a triangle so that would look like a tree shape.

I then ink blended the center of the stenciled area so that the stamped images would stand out a bit more from the background.

With the background completed I then adhered the Snarky Cats to the card front. I also added in the cute little bird. He seems to be looking at them like he's not quite sure what to think of them!

I also added one of the sentiments from this set. I stamped it onto black cardstock using embossing ink and then heat embossed it with white embossing powder.

And last, but not least...the star! It looks like a stamp doesn't it?! It's actually the largest star die from the Swirling Stars Thinlits. I die cut it from the same paper that I used for the stamping and colored it with Copic Markers. To make it match the stamp set, I used an alcohol based marker to add the outline and little details to match the style of the stamp art.

And there you have it...A Snarky Cats Christmas Tree! I hope you enjoyed learning how this card came together and I thank you as always for stopping by!

Supplies

You can find a supply list of the products I used to create this project below. This post contains compensated affiliate links to Scrapbook.com or Simon Says Stamp at no cost to you. If you want to learn more about what an affiliate link is, you can see my full affiliate and product disclosure statement here.

Baby It's Cold Outside Christmas Shaker Card | Tim Holtz Sizzix Chapter 4

Baby it's cold outside! As I sit here writing this post, it's not even kind of cold here. We're having some warm days that I'm going to enjoy while I still can. In the meantime, we can dream of snow and colder days and take a closer look at this Baby It's Cold Outside Shaker Card I created for the Tim Holtz Sizzix Chapter 4 Release.

To get started, I die cut a piece of chipboard using the Cathedral Window Bigz Die. I inked it with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and then painted it with Distress Crackle Paint. By inking first the ink color kind of soaks through the crackle paint and helps the cracks show up more. This piece is going to become the shaker frame. I then trimmed a piece of acetate to the size of the window and adhered it to the backside using Collage Medium. Next, I added strips of double sided foam tape to the backside of the acetate. With this step, my shaker box was complete.

For the background inside the shaker, I used the Snowscape Colorize Thinlits. I die cut all of the pieces from watercolor paper and then ink blended them with the following Distress Ink colors: Chipped Sapphire, Tumbled Glass, Stormy Sky and Weathered Wood. For the trees, I used Pine Needles.

Once the Snowscape was assembled, I laid the shaker box on top to determine which area of the die cut I wanted to show through the window. After figuring this out, I adhered the Snowscape to a piece of patterned paper from a Christmas Paper Stash and then trimmed this piece to the size of the Cathedral Window. Before adhering this to the shaker box, I poured some Distress Mica Flakes onto the scene and placed the shaker box on top. I never have good luck lining things up if I fill the shaker box and try to line up the back piece. So I've found this method works best for me.

With the shaker box completed, I then added the Darling Deer die cuts which were colored using Walnut Stain and Gathered Twigs Distress Ink. For the swag at the top of the window, I used a mix of Festive Trims Colorize and Holiday Greens Thinlits. These pieces where inked with the following Distress Inks: Barn Door, Candied Apple, Peeled Paint, Mowed Lawn, and Pine Needles. I inked the edges with just a touch of Walnut Stain before adhering them to the card.

I finished off the card by adding a Christmas Quote Chip, some machine stitching and layered patterned paper.

Supplies

Making Spirits Bright Christmas Tag | Tim Holtz Sizzix Chapter 4

Today I'm switching gears and will be starting to share some of the Christmas makes I created for the Tim Holtz Sizzix Chapter 4 Release. This Making Spirits Bright Christmas Tag is one of my recent favorite makes with it's nod to Winnie the Pooh. I couldn't resist dressing Gertrude up with a Santa hat so that she was ready to start handing out presents to all those who are on the nice list this year!

Making Spirits Bright Christmas Tag by Juliana Michaels featuring Tim Holtz Sizzix Gertrude and Toyland Thinlits

The base of this project is a Tim Holtz Etcetera Mini Tag Thickboard. I first took a piece of Bristol Smooth Paper and trimmed it to the size of the tag. I then stamped it with the word stamp from the Stripes and Holiday Stamp Set using embossing ink and heat embossed it with white embossing powder. If you look closely you will see that I only stamped parts of the stamp toward the corners of the paper. After the embossing was completed, I ink blended over the entire piece of paper using Tumbled Glass. This piece was then adhered to the tag using Distress Collage Medium. I then inked the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. To distress the edges of the tag, I applied Distress Crackle Paste with my finger. By inking the edges before applying the Crackle Paste, the color will soak through the paste and add a grungy color to the paste. While I had the Crackle Paste out, I also applied it to a couple of the Etcetera Scallop Trims. These were also inked beforehand with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

While the Crackle Paste was crackling and well actually over several days, I took my time assembling the Gertrude and Toyland Colorize Thinlits. With each die set, I cut all of the pieces from watercolor paper and used my trick for coloring each of the pieces. After die cutting, I adhere Purple Tape (any low tack tape will work) to the back side of the paper and place the die cuts back into place. I then ink blend each piece with the desired ink colors. For a list of the Distress Ink color I used for the die cuts see below.

Gertrude: Walnut Stain, Vintage Photo, Tea Dye, Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge, Gathered Twigs, Antique Linen, Black Soot, and Worn Lipstick. Once assembled the edges were inked with Vintage Photo.

Toyland: Walnut Stain, Vintage Photo, Gathered Twigs, Black Soot, Mustard Seed, Fossilized Amber, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss, Festive Berries, Aged Mahogany, and Barn Door. Once assembled the edges were inked with Vintage Photo.

Winter Wardrobe (Santa Hat and Holly): Peeled Paint, Forest Moss, Festive Berries, Aged Mahogany, and Barn Door. Once assembled the edges were inked with Vintage Photo.

Mini Holiday Greens: Forest Moss, Peeled Paint and Barn Door.

Of course, Gertrude had to be wearing a Santa hat since she was going to be giving out presents. I used the Winter Wardrobe Thinlits which Tim so cleverly sized to fit the animal characters. I did a little bit of surgery to make the hat fit properly by trimming off a bit on the ends.

Here is why this project was one of my faves! While I was thinking about what colors to use to color each of the images I thought of my Winnie the Pooh toy from my childhood. I immediately knew I had to make the teddy bear look like Winnie the Pooh. This toy was one of my favorites as a child and I still have it, so I definitely felt like I was adding childhood Christmas memories to this project.

As I progressed with creating this tag, I felt like it needed something more to balance the design. I came up with using various die cuts from the Mini Holiday Greens Thinlits to create a cluster in the upper right hand corner. I then added an Idea-ology Christmas Token and brad.

Distress Ink Colors Mini Holiday Greens: Forest Moss, Peeled Paint and Barn Door.

To finish off the project I added a Quote Chip to the bottom trim pieces. I sanded the edges and inked it with Vintage Photo Distress Ink before I adhered it using Distress Collage Medium.

I hope you enjoyed this stroll down memory lane with me and seeing how this Making Spirits Bright Christmas Tag came to life!

Supplies

Skelly's Apothecary | Tim Holtz Halloween

Hey friends! Skelly's Apothecary is now open and ready for business! Today I'm sharing this Halloween themed project I made using a mix of Tim Holtz Sizzix dies from this past year. I'll warn you now though, this is a long one as I take you through each step of creating the main elements of Skelly's Apothecary. So sit back, grab your favorite snack or a cup of coffee and enjoy!

Skelly Apothecary Halloween Frame by Juliana Michaels featuring Tim Holtz Sizzix

Before I get into all the fun details, here is the scoop for the background and frame. The background paper was creating with Distress Spray Stain in Black Soot and Pumice Stone. I sprayed it onto watercolor paper and spritzed it with my Distress Sprayer. I then trimmed it to size to fit the Idea-ology Framed Panel. The framed panel was painted with Distress Paint in Black Soot. I used my finger to paint the top edge to keep the paint from getting down into all the cracks and to give the frame a more distressed look.

The spider webs are die cut from watercolor paper using the Spider Web Thinlits. The paper was lightly misted with Hickory Smoke Distress Spray Stain and then die cut. The spiders are from the Spider Web Thinlits as well, and are cut from black cardstock. I trimmed off the web part and gave each one a covering of Glossy Accents to help them stand out a bit more before I adhered them with some double sided foam adhesive.

SKELLY COLORIZE®

Now on to the main feature...Skelly! This is one of the Colorize® Thinlits and I have to say these are fast becoming a favorite of mine. Yes, they take a little time to assemble, but the end result is SO worth it!

To get started, I sprayed and inked a piece of watercolor paper using Distress Spray Stain in Antique Linen, Old Paper and Pumice Stone. I also added a little smoosh and spritz with Distress Ink in Pumice Stone and Antique Linen. For the smoosh and spritz you simply smoosh the ink pad onto your silicone craft mat, spritz it with a little water using your Distress Sprayer and then smooth your paper into the droplets. You then use your heat tool to dry the ink and then repeat as desired.

Once the paper was inked and sprayed to my liking, I placed all of the Skelly Colorize dies onto the paper and die cut them. I then went about assembling Skelly with all of the pieces. You will notice that several pieces look black...the openings of the eyes and the cracks. I added this color once he was fully assembled using a water brush and Distress Ink in Black Soot to darken those areas/pieces.

For those of you new to Colorize did you know that Sizzix provides videos on their YouTube Channel that take you step-by-step through the process of assembling each of the Colorize Dies? They have one for each Colorize, including Skelly.

POTION BOOKS

Now let's take a look at the potion books. These were created by cutting strips of chipboard to size and then wrapping them with Distress Cracked Leather Paper.

I glued several pieces of chipboard to together using Collage Medium to get the thickness I wanted. I then glued them to a piece of the cracked leather paper and wrapped it around them.

To embellish the spine, I stamped some flourishes from the Urban Elements Stamp Set with embossing ink and heat embossed them with Distress Embossing Glaze in Vintage Photo. The word Potions was created by die cutting Metallic Kraftstock using the Tiny Type Upper Thinlits.

Once the spine was completed, I colored the books. I used Distress Spray Stain in Black Soot for the Potions Book and Walnut Stain for the other book. I then added a bit more distress using a Walnut Stain Distress Crayon.

POISON BOTTLES

Now we are onto the final piece which ended up being my favorite part of the entire project...the poison bottles!

To create these I used the Bottled Up Bigz Die and cut the bottles from watercolor paper. To give them a more dimensional look, I spritzed the paper with water and then gently rounded the paper over a bottle and let them dry. This took very little time, and gave them a more realistic bottle shape. Next, I inked the paper using an embossing ink pad and heat embossed the it with Distress Embossing Glaze in Vintage Photo. I repeated this embossing process 3-4 times on each bottle to build up the thickness and to achieve the look of glass. Each layer gets more smooth and less transparent in color so the color of the glaze really stands out. As you can see the glaze flows toward the edges because they are rounded and added even more interest to the bottles.

For the labels, I dug through my stash of Halloween ephemera and found three labels that I distressed with Old Paper and Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I then adhered them using collage medium.

So what about the cracked look on the bottles you ask? Once all the other steps were completed, I masked off the labels using Purple Tape (washi tape or any other low tack tape will work) and coated each bottle with Distress Crackle Paint Clear Rock Candy and let it dry. The cracked goodness slowly appeared as it dried. To add a bit more distress, I worked some Walnut Stain Distress Crayon into the cracks.

To finish off each bottle I cut a stopper from a piece of cork paper, inked it up and then wrapped a bit of jute around the top of the bottle. The small tag on the one bottle is from a Halloween Remnant Rub.

There you have it! Skelly's Apothecary is looking forward to your business! I sure hope you enjoyed seeing how this project came to life and that it inspires you one your next project.

Supplies

Stamping & Die Cutting With Sticker Paper

Hi friends! Today I'm sharing a new to me product...Scrapbook.com Exclusive Sticker Paper. I'll admit when I first learned about it, I wasn't sure how I was going to use it. All I knew was that you could print on it with your inkjet printer and make your own stickers. Well, you might find this hard to believe, but I don't own an inkjet printer. Not having the ability to print, got my mind to wondering how else I could use this sticker paper. My first thoughts was to try it with one of my favorite products...stamps and coordinating dies. To my surprise it worked wonderfully!

Thank You Card by Juliana Michaels. Created using stamps and dies with Scrapbook.com's Exclusive Sticker Paper

For this card, I stamped the beautiful floral image onto the Sticker Paper using Scrapbook.com Premium Hybrid Black Ink. I then colored the image using Sponge Daubers and Distress Oxide Inks. Of course, I had to test to see how it would hold up to a little distressing, so I lightly spritzed the inked image with my Distress Sprayer and then dabbed it dry with a paper towel. The sticker paper held up great with this technique so I then added a few ink splatters as well to give the image a little more distress.

After I finished all the inking and distressing, I die cut the image using the coordinating die. I now had a ginormous sticker to adhere to the front of my card! I peeled off the adhesive liner, but instead of just sticking it down onto the background, I decided to make it a little less sticky. I'm sure you're wondering why I would want to make it less sticky. The reason is simple. I like having a little depth and dimension on my cards and to place the sticker flat onto the card just didn't fit my style. To reduce the stickiness, I rubbed over the back side of the sticker on the outer edge. By removing the stickiness the sticker no longer lays completely flat and I now have a little dimension without adding any bulk to my card.

Some final details on this card: The background was created using the Confetti Stencil. I inked through it using an Ink Blending Tool. The sentiment was created using the Scrapbook.com Thank You Sentiments Decorative Die Set.

I hope you enjoyed learning more about Scrapbook.com's Exclusive Sticker Paper. For more fabulous ideas check out the project ideas for Scrapbook.com Sticker Paper. You will find ideas from using it to create labels to organize your ink pads to using it in your planner.

Supplies

You can find a supply list of the products I used to create this project below. This post contains compensated affiliate links to Scrapbook.com at no cost to you. If you want to learn more about what an affiliate link is, you can see my full affiliate and product disclosure statement here.

Hello Shaker Card | Scrapbook.com Adhesives

Hello friends! How's it shaking? Today I'm sharing a Hello Shaker Card created using some of my favorite adhesives from Scrapbook.com. If you've never created a shaker card before, don't worry. I'm going to take you through it step by step and show you just how easy they are to make.

Hello Shaker Card by Juliana Michaels featuring Scrapbook.com Exclusive Adhesives

Every shaker card is made up of what I like to refer to as a Shaker Window and a Shaker Frame. The shaker window is what you look through to see all the shakedy bits on the inside. To create the shaker window all you have to do is cut a shape into a piece of paper. You want to use a shape that is large enough that you can see the shakedy bits behind the cut shape. Here I used the Bold Basic Alphabet dies to create the window. I used Mint Tape to hold the dies in place on the paper as I ran it through my die cutting machine. Once I had cut out all of the letters, I trimmed the strip to size.

Next, you want to cover the back side of the window with a piece of acetate. You can purchase acetate sheets or recycle plastic packaging. Trim the acetate to just slightly larger than the window, then adhere it using Scrapbook.com Double Sided Clear Adhesive Roll.

Now it's time to create the Shaker Frame. This is what holds the shakedy bits in place. To create the frame, cut pieces of Scrapbook.com Double Sided Foam Adhesives strips and adhere them around the outside of the shaker window opening. Make sure the edges of the tape are touching so that none of the shakedy bits can fall out between the cracks.

Once you have the shaker window and frame completed, it is now time to fill the shaker. Select your background paper and pour the shakedy bits you want to use onto the paper in the area where you want to place the shaker. You can use anything from sequins, to seed beads, to mica flakes or even confetti. After you have them poured in place, peel off the adhesive liner and adhere your shaker over the shakedy bits.

And there you have it! I told you it was super easy to create a shaker card. Now it's your turn to create your own and I hope this project has inspired you to do just that!

Additional details on how this card was created: The background was created using the Distress Ink Smooshing Technique using Distress Ink in Wild Honey, Worn Lipstick, Abandoned Coral and Crackling Campfire. The butterflies are from the Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Flutter Stamp Set and are stamped with Distress Oxide Ink in Wild Honey, Worn Lipstick and Crackling Campfire. The edges were inked with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. The lace looking border was created using the Tim Holtz Sizzix Crochet Thinlits and it was ink smooshed with Worn Lipstick Distress Ink. For the shakedy bits, I used Tim Holtz Distress Mica Flakes.

Supplies

Day of the Dead Shrine | Tim Holtz Sizzix Chapter 4

Hello friends! This Day of the Dead Shrine was a bit of a journey from start to finish, but I knew I wanted to create something like this from the first moment I laid my eyes on the Day of the Dead Colorize.

I've always had a "thing" for this Mexican Holiday where you take time to remember and celebrate the lives of those who have passed on from this world. With this in mind I wanted to create a mini version of a Day of the Dead altar using an Idea-ology Shrine and other fun Tim Holtz products.

Day of the Dead Shrine by Juliana Michaels featuring Tim Holtz Sizzix Chapter 4 Colorize

I began by painting the Shrine with Black Soot Distress Paint both inside and outside. I also painted a small Vignette Box black and placed that on the bottom of the shrine to create the altar.

The tablecloth on the altar is a piece of Bristol Paper trimmed to size and inked with Salty Ocean Distress Ink. I then adorned it by using the Fanciful Impresslit which was cut and embossed from a piece of Bristol Paper and them very lightly inked with Salty Ocean Distress Ink.

The banner was created using the smallest square die from the Stacked Square Thinlits. I first inked small pieces of cardstock with Picked Raspberry, Salty Ocean, Mustard Seed, Mowed Lawn and Spiced Marmalade. I then die cut each several squares from each color. Next, I layered on a small skull from the Trick or Treaters Thinlits, which was lightly inked with the same color. Each banner was then adhered to a length of white craft thread to create the banner and then attached to the shrine and across the front of the altar.

The background inside the shrine is Bristol paper cut and trimmed to size. I stamped the paper with Mustard Seed Distress Oxide using the Tapestry Stamp Set. After stamping the image, I lightly wiped over it to smudge and blend the ink. I then adhered it to the back and sides of the shrine using Collage Medium. Once the inside was completed, I added the black zig zag edged Halloween Trim Tape to the edge of the shrine to the give edges a more finished look.

In the center of the back of the shrine I framed a Found Relative, trimmed to size, with an Idea-ology Deco Frame.

For the pieces on the altar, I created a mix of sugar skulls, baubles and chrysanthemums to mimic some of the items you would find on a traditional Day of the Dead altar. The baubles were colored with Alcohol Ink in Fiesta, Sailboat Blue and Citrus. The sugar skulls were created using the same technique Tami Bastiaans used in creating her Halloween Candy Shoppe. I quickly brushed the skull with Collage Medium and cover it with colored Distress Rock Candy Glitter. I used the same Alcohol Ink colors on the skulls as I did on the the baubles.

The chrysanthemums were created using a couple of flower dies from the Funky Florals 1 Thinlits. I inked Bristol paper with Spiced Marmalade and the die cut a million flowers from the paper. At least it seemed like a million! I only used the large flower shape and not the centers to create these flowers. After die cutting the flowers, I spritzed the lightly with my Distress Sprayer and the crinkled and folded them so as to bring the petals up from the center of the flower and to create a 3D flower shape. Once all of the flowers were dry, I then hot glued a flower into the center of a second flower to make it even more 3D. For this step, I choose the faster drying of a hot glue gun just to speed the process along for creating so many flowers. Once all of the flowers were completed, I also added in some flowers from the Idea-ology Bouquet to mix up the size and texture just slightly. To adhere all of the flowers, I once again used a hot glue gun due to the faster drying time.

Now to the main feature...the Day of the Dead Colorize! These two characters were so fun to put together and added the perfect touch to my Day of the Dead Shrine.

I have found that I prefer to cut all of the pieces from white Bristol Paper and then ink it the color I want it as I'm assembling the pieces. When working with really small thin pieces, I adhere a piece of Purple Tape (any low tack tape will work) to the back side of the paper that the die cut was cut from. I then put the die cut back in place and the tape keeps it secure while I ink it using a foam blending brush. For the Day of the Dead I used the following Distress Ink colors: Picked Raspberry, Candied Apple, Salty Ocean, Mustard Seed, Mowed Lawn and Spiced Marmalade. The black pieces were actually cut from black cardstock and the guitar was inked with Ground Espresso, Tea Dye and Vintage Photo.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you enjoyed learning how my Day of the Dead Shrine featuring the Tim Holtz Sizzix Day of the Dead Colorize Thinlits came together. I also hope it inspired you in some way to make your own version of a Day of the Dead Shrine.

Supplies

You can find a supply list of the products I used to create this project below. This post contains compensated affiliate links to Scrapbook.com and Simon Says Stamp at no cost to you. If you want to learn more about what an affiliate link is, you can see my full affiliate and product disclosure statement here.

Snarky Cats Christmas Tree Card | Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Christmas

Supplies

Baby It's Cold Outside Christmas Shaker Card | Tim Holtz Sizzix Chapter 4

Supplies

Making Spirits Bright Christmas Tag | Tim Holtz Sizzix Chapter 4

Supplies