Tim Holtz Villainous Potion Distress Ink

Hey crafty friends! If you haven't already heard, Tim Holtz just added another new color to the Distress family and it's called Villainous Potion! The color truly lives up to its name and it's definitely put a spell on me! I'm finally getting around to playing with the new color and it's giving me all the Halloween vibes right now. Of course, purple isn't just for Halloween. It's a gorgeous color that can be used all year long, so I'm sure it will be making an appearance in an upcoming Christmas project or two just for starters!

Villainous Potion Distress Ink Card by Juliana Michaels featuring Tim Holtz Villainous Potion Distress Ink

Here I used the Villainous Potion Distress Ink Spray and Distress Oxide Spray to create my background. I began by applying Ranger Distress Crackle Paste through the Decayed Stencil using a palette knife onto a piece of Distress Watercolor. Once it was dry, I sprayed the paper with Villainous Potion Distress Ink Spray, heat dried it, then added a bit of Villainous Potion Distress Oxide Spray, dried it again and then added a bit of Bubbling Cauldron Distress Mica Stain.


The butterfly was created by die cutting a piece of silver metallic kraftstock using the Tattered Butterfly Bigz Die. I then inked the paper with embossing ink, sprinkled it with Villainous Potion Distress Embossing Glaze and heat embossed it. Once the heat embossing was completed, I crinkled the wings of the butterfly and added some Black Soot Distress Crayon to give it a more distressed look.
The next layer of the butterfly was created by melting one of the butterfly transparencies in the Halloween Transparencies using my embossing gun. Please do this in a well ventilated area or even outside since you are melting plastic. I then finished off the butterfly by adding a Halloween Mini Flair Button. I thought the eye was fitting to help draw your eye to the center of the design! 


The other embellishments include some Halloween stickers and ephemera. I also layered in some die cuts from black cardstock using the Skeleton Leaves Thinlits and Funky Wreath Thinlits. 


Thanks so much for stopping by today to check out this card I created using the Villainous Potion Distress Ink. If you are looking for more inspiration, make sure you check out Tim's blog and watch the YouTube Live replay!

Supplies

You can find the products I used to create these projects along with compensated affiliate links to  Scrapbook.com. These links are at absolutely no extra 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.

 

Trick or Treat Halloween Gift Bags & Cards

Yes, I know Halloween is almost here, but I'm still crafting away and looking for any excuse I can find to create with some Halloween themed products that I haven't had time to play with just yet. Today I'm sharing this set of Trick or Treat Halloween Gift Bags and Cards that I made for my husband to take to his coworkers. A great excuse right?!

Trick or Treat Halloween Gift Bags and Cards by Juliana Michaels featuring Scrapbook.com Spider Web Slimline Stamp, Rainbow Glitter Paper Pad and Tim Holtz Monster's Reunion Stamp Set

I began making the set of cards by stamping each of the monsters from the Monster's Reunion Stamp Set onto Distress Watercolor paper using Black Soot Archival Ink, making sure not to apply ink to the sentiment that is a part of each of these stamps. I then colored each image by smooshing some Distress Ink onto my craft mat and then using a waterbrush to apply the color to each area. To create the distressed background, I smooshed the edges into Hickory Smoke Distress Ink that I had smooshed onto my craft mat and added a bit of water to from the waterbrush so that the droplets of ink were small.


Once dry, I die cut the image using the Scrapbook.com Nested A2 Rectangle Dies. This was then adhered to another rectangle die cut from a glitter paper found in the Rainbow Glitter Paper Pad.  The final layer for the card was created by stamping the spider web from the Spider Web Slimline Stamp onto black cardstock using an embossing ink. I sprinkled it with white embossing powder and heat embossed it. This process was repeated for each image to create a total of 6 cards. 


I picked up the treat bags from the gift wrap section of my local dollar store. They are a silver metallic paper with a slightly funky embossed pattern on them, but I knew I was going to cover them with paper so that didn't really bother me.

To cover each bag, I once again used the Scrapbook.com A2 Nested Rectangle Dies and cut a piece of glitter paper and then a piece of the black cardstock that I stamped and heat embossed using the Spider Web Slimline Stamp. To finish off each bag, I stamped the Trick or Treat sentiment and ink smooshed it with a bit of Hickory Smoke Distress Ink. To adhere all of the layers of paper together I have found Scrapbook.com Double Sided Adhesive to be the perfect adhesive for adhering other papers to glitter paper. 


Well, there you have it...a set of Trick or Treat Halloween Gift Bags and Cards ready to use. It was so fun to be able to use a couple more Halloween stamps that I hadn't had a change to play with just yet to create this set.

Supplies

You can find the products I used to create these projects along with compensated affiliate links to  Scrapbook.com. These links are at absolutely no extra 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.

Haunted Halloween Manor | Tim Holtz Sizzix Village Collection

If you haven't heard, Tim Holtz just released his Village Collection with Sizzix. This set of dies was inspired by his original Village Die Series (that has long been retired) and includes all of the pieces you need to create a wide variety of village buildings.  Along with the die set, he also created 3 new mini texture fades that are perfect for adding textural details.

Today I want to share with you the first project I've created using the Village Collection. From regions beyond I present to you my Haunted Halloween Manor! This is also my very first time playing with any of Tim's Village dies and I learned a ton, but it was definitely a fun crafty adventure. Today I'm going to share tons of tips and tricks so you can learn from my mistakes, the products I used to create my haunted manor and background, along with some organization and storage tips.

During the live, Tim mentioned that this is one of those makes that you really have to enjoy the process of making. You can't be ready for it to be over with before you get started. This is a time to play and enjoy the process. Also, as you go through the process you have to think in steps and phases. After going through this process for the first time, I agree with each and every word he said. Take your time and enjoy the process. If that isn't your thing, then this type of project might not be for you and that's ok!

(P.S Consider yourself warned. This is a long post full of tons of details. So take your time reading through it and I hope you enjoy all the tips and tricks I've shared.)

Haunted Halloween Manor by Juliana Michaels featuring Tim Holtz Sizzix Village Collection Thinlines

LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES

Here are some of the mistakes I made along the way and the suggestions I have for you when you make your first village piece:

I should have planned out where to cut the windows and run the window dies through with the main house dies. Instead I added the windows after the fact, which is why I totally forgot about adding windows to the sides of my manor. I didn't realize this until I was nearly finished with the entire piece, so there was no going back and adding them.

I would also recommend adding the shingles and roofing details before you attach the house to the roof. 
Another thing to keep in mind is if you are planning to add shingles and you want a window, die cut the window after you add the shingles. I cut a window, then added shingles then had to cut the window again and it was a total pain to try to line up the die with the already cut window.

If you want to add any texture to the pieces using the embossing folders or a medium such as texture paste or even ink, make sure to do this before you assemble the piece.

Now that I've shared my mistakes and organizing tips with you, let me share some details on the products and techniques I used to create the manor along with how I created the base and background for it.


BUILD YOUR HAUNTED HALLOWEEN MANOR

Now onto the Haunted Halloween Manor itself! For the paper, I used grey and black papers from the Scrapbook.com 6x8 Christmas Paper Pad. These papers are thinner than standard cardstock or heavystock, so to give the pieces more structure, I cut the main building pieces twice. I didn't glue these layers together until after I had completely assembled them. So once the piece was glued together, I then slid the second one inside it and added a bit of glue to hold them together. You don't need to fully adhere them to get the necessary support.


To add some texture to the main structure, I used the Mini 3D Lumber Embossing Folder and then inked it lightly with Black Soot Distress Ink.

For the shingles I used black glitter paper from the Scrapbook.com Mixed Metals Paper Pad. Each piece is double layered with plain black paper from the Christmas Paper Pad to give them a little more structure. I used Distress Collage Medium to glue them together after I die cut them. I had better luck gluing the layers together after die cutting than when I attempted to glue and then die cut. Once I had all the piece die cut,  I  used my finger to wrinkle and bend the edges just a bit. For an extra touch of shimmer, I dabbed Sizzix Silver Luster Wax along the edges.


The chimneys were embossed with the 3D Cobblestone Embossing Folder and I added a bit of Distress Grave Texture Paste to them.


You might have noticed that the windows look slightly frosted. To achieve this look, I actually cut up a plastic storage envelope and adhered it to the inside. I love how this diffuses the Tiny Lights that I placed inside to light up my Haunted Halloween Manor.


The final touch was the addition of some floral moss from my local craft store. Sometimes you can find this at your dollar store, so check there as well.


CREATE YOUR BACKGROUND AND BASE

The background piece for my Haunted Halloween Manor was made from a Stampers Anonymous Mini Thickboard Tag. I painted the entire piece with white gesso. I then adhered torn pieces of paper from an old book using Distress Collage Medium. I let this dry and then added another layer of Distress Collage Medium over the entire surface. Once this was dry, I dry brushed Chipped Saphire Distress Paint over the entire surface and used a dry paper towel to wipe some of the paint off of the paper so you could still see the print.


With the paint dry, the next step was to add some texture by applying Distress Crackle Paste with a palette knife over the Scrapbook.com Stars Stencil. After I applied the paste, I carefully removed the stencil and immediately washed the stencil to prevent the paste from drying on the stencil.


Once the paste was dried and all the crackly goodness could be seen, I applied some color and shine using the new Distress Mica Crayons in Flickering Candle and Empty Tomb. I applied the color to a specific area and used my finger to rub it in.


With the main background completed, I took the Thickboard Web and Bats Trim Set and pulled out several sizes of the web trims. I painted them with white gesso and once that was dry, I applied some Distress Crackle Paste and set them to the side to dry.



I really recommend applying the gesso to the Thickboard because it helps the Crackle Paste adhere better. If you skip this step, the Crackle Paste tends to flake off quite a bit. At least more than I care for. Once these were dry, I adhered them to the edges of the tag. To grunge them up a bit, I rubbed some Crooked Broomstick Distress Mica Crayon into the cracks. Even though it's shiny, Crooked Broomstick has a wonderful grungy color to it!


As you may or may not have noticed, I adhered the tag upside down to an upside down Vignette Box. Before I adhered the tag to the box, I applied more torn book pages to the box using Distress Collage Medium and the applied a layer to the entire box. Next, I dry brushed Black Soot Distress Paint onto the box and wiped away some of the excess using a paper towel. I then added another Web Trim to the front of the box and finished it off with a spider die cut from black cardstock.


ORGANIZE YOUR VILLAGE COLLECTION DIES

Another bit I want to share with you is how I'm organizing my dies.  Zoe Hillman shared a great method for sorting and organizing her Village Collection dies. I took this concept and used what I had on hand to create my own version, and after using it to create this project it felt like the best way for me to keep things sorted and organized for all of my future makes.


I began by sorting the dies into groups following how Zoe had organized them per magnet sheet. I then took magnet sheets and stamp and die storage pockets that I had in my stash. I labeled each magnet sheet using a permanent marker. I also slid the packaging sheet into a pocket as well. In total I ended up using 9 pockets. To keep them all together a bit more, I then grabbed 2 Scrapbook.com Medium Storage Envelopes. I was able to fit 4-5 pockets/sheets per envelope. I really love that all of the dies are held together like this. Now I just have to grab the 2 envelopes instead of a 9 of them.


Another helpful thing to keep in mind is that all of the dies are labeled on the back side, with the exception of some of the teeny tiny dies that are used for windows. But you can easily tell that is what these are, so it's really not a big deal. This is helpful in returning the dies back to their proper place on their magnet sheet after you have used them.


I sure hope you enjoyed this post on my Haunted Halloween Manor using the Tim Holtz Sizzix Village Collection. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies

You can find the products I used to create these projects along with compensated affiliate links to  Scrapbook.com. These links are at absolutely no extra 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.

Ghost Town 2 Tag Book | Tim Holtz Sizzix Halloween

Hello friends! It's finally here...my Ghost Town 2 Tag Book that I made for the Tim Holtz Sizzix Halloween YouTube Live! I know many of you have been waiting for me to share this project. It's a bit of a long post, so grab a cup of your favorite beverage and sit back and enjoy.

Ghost Town 2 Tag Book by Juliana Michaels featuring Tim Holtz Sizzix Ghost Town 2 and Ghost Town 1 Thinlits

To get started I began by selecting a mix of patterned papers from an older Halloween paper pad. If you don't have these papers, please don't freak your freak as Tim would say! Just grab what you have and start mixing and matching. I selected 10 different patterns to create the front and back of 5 tags and die cut them using a tag die. You will see how all these tags play out later on.


Next I picked the five tags that would be the front side and using a mix of stencils, I applied Grave Distress Texture Paste in random spots on each stencil. The stencils I used are listed below in my supply list if you are interested. I then set these to the side to dry.


While they were drying, I die cut all of the Ghost Town 1 and Ghost Town 2 houses from black cardstock. I stamped each house with white pigment ink using a mix of stamps. This created a kind of ghostly look to each house. The stamps I used are listed below in my supply list if you are interested.


I also stamped and fussy cut out a mix of labels to layer with the houses. These are stamped onto Distress Watercolor paper with Black Soot Archival Ink and then ink smooshed into a bit of Old Paper Distress Ink and inked around the edges with some Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

In the photo below the second and fourth tag were my first run when I was making this tag book. Originally, I was going to do different backgrounds on each tag. These actually have Distress Crackle Paste on them and the one was colored over with the Distress Crayon. I didn't like how it looked, so I ended up redoing them to all have a similar look.


To give each house the look of ghostly lights shining through the windows, I backed them with gold metallic kraftstock. There are various ways you could do this, but I die cut the house from the gold paper, and while it was still in the die, I applied adhesive tape (you could also use washi tape) to the backside to hold the small pieces in place. I then adhered this to the backside of the black die cuts. To grunge them up a bit, I rubbed some Black Soot Distress Crayon around the window openings. 


Another layer of interest I added were some die cut Decor Frames. After I die cut them, I used the 3D Lumber Texture Fade embossing folder to emboss them. These are cut from Distress Watercolor paper and inked with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.


Once again, I grunged them up with a bit of Black Soot Distress Crayon.


A final addition to the tags was a few black die cut florals that were then layered into the frames. Now that each tag was completed, I was ready to start assembling the tag book.


I placed the tags next to each other and used Tim Holtz Fabric Tape to hold the tags together. Make sure to leave a very slight (like the thickness of the tag) between each tag so that when you fold the book each page folds nice and flat.


Because I didn't want the backside to be "ugly", I adhered those extra tags I cut out in the beginning to the backside of each tag.


To create the closure for the tag book, I used seam binding that was dyed with Black Soot Distress Spray. I cut a length long enough to wrap around the book once it was closed and create a nice bow when tied. The only spot I attached the ribbon to was the first tag, so that it stayed with the book when it was opened.

One last final detail is the machine stitching that I added to each tag. I did this at the very end once the entire book was assembled.


Now that you know how I created this tag book, here are some more detailed images of each page for your inspiration and enjoyment.


This is a look at the cover.


Here is a look at the second and third pages on the inside.

Ghost Town 2 Tag Book by Juliana Michaels featuring Tim Holtz Sizzix Ghost Town 2 and Ghost Town 1 Thinlits




These are the fourth and fifth pages.

Ghost Town 2 Tag Book by Juliana Michaels featuring Tim Holtz Sizzix Ghost Town 2 and Ghost Town 1 Thinlits





A look at the entire tag book when it is open.

Ghost Town 2 Tag Book by Juliana Michaels featuring Tim Holtz Sizzix Ghost Town 2 and Ghost Town 1 Thinlits

This is what the backside looks like.


I hope you enjoyed this long detailed blog post about my Ghost Town 2 Tag Book and that it inspires you to create your own version of this. For more tag book inspiration you can check out my Field Notes Tag Book.

Supplies

You can find the products I used to create these projects along with compensated affiliate links to  Scrapbook.com and Sizzix. These links are at absolutely no extra 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.

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