I’m at Create and Craft TV this Friday with some of my favourite Tim Holtz dies. I obviously love the floral dies, as florals are always my faves, but the bold sentiments are so great to work with them – or for quick cards with a nice bold sentiment, I just love them.
I made this lovely framed piece recently for a Facebook live, so thought I’d share some instructions on making it.
I used the largest frame die from the Shadow Box #2 set for the frame, and cut it four times to make a square.
This frame measures 15.5cm x 15.5cm, so I cut a piece of kraft card that size for the backing, then added some pale aqua card to the front.
I then used a Tim Holtz stencil (THS004) to add some uneven stripes with Sizzix Texture paste. I then added some Prima Sparks acrylic paint on top, in a rainbow. For the rest of the background I did a little bit of stamping in brown ink (Tim Holtz Papillon and Studio Light Jenine’s Mindful Art Collection). Once the ink had dried I dry-brushed some gesso on the background.
To create a little ledge for the houses, I cut two strips of mat board and stuck them back to back, then covered with a piece of frayed burlap. I cut the houses from kraft card and backed them with some patterned paper and an old book page. I added them with foam pads to give a bit of dimension.
I then dry-brushed some gesso on the frame, on the front and sides, then added some Tim Holtz Crackle Texture paste with a spatula and set aside to dry.
Thanks for popping by today, I’ll list below the main products used.
I’m on Create and Craft TV today with this amazing collection of dies, so wanted to do a blog post so I can put all the relevant information here for those getting the dies.
So first things first. There are a lot of dies in the set (87!), so before you start making your village you will want to get these into some sort of order.
Zoe Hillman (who is one of the Makers on Tim Holtz’ team), came up with a great solution. Here is a link to her blog post with photos of her solution. She used some thick card covered with magnetic sheet for hers, I had some of the Sizzix magnetic storage sheets which are already really thick, I’ll put a link at the end of this post to the Sizzix solution in case you want a ready-made solution.
I’d suggest following Zoe’s format for how to group the dies because it’s really logical. Here are a few of my sheets:
I used a white Posca pen to add the names (as suggested by Zoe). All the dies are etched on the reverse with the names (except for the tiny ones), so it’s quite easy to work out where to put them.
So now you have your dies in a logical order, it’s time to start creating, and I have a few hints and tips to share. Firstly, the type of card to use. I used 270gsm kraft card for my houses, and I found that worked pretty well, as well as being a good base colour. A very helpful tip that I gleaned from Tim’s live – link here, is to use a small acrylic block with a straight edge to fold your crease lines against. I found that, especially with the kraft card which is quite fibrous, my crease lines didn’t crease straight without doing this, so it’s a very useful tip.
For die cutting, the Sizzix sticky grids will make your life so much easier so I’d highly recommend getting some. You can use masking tape to hold your dies in the same position but that’s not always guaranteed to hold them, and also the grid lines on the sticky grid really help make sure you have your window and doors straight.
The key thing here is to LEAVE your dies on the grid once you cut out your house. Then you can go back and cut again and know the windows will line up – so if say, you cut your house from kraft card, then want to add cladding to the house from embossed watercolour card (more on the embossing folders in a bit), then you can cut another die cut from watercolour card, snip off the tabs, then emboss, colour, then add to the house. As you can see, I actually used two cutting pads covered with grid so I could keep both houses on them.
In terms of best adhesives to use, I’d recommend a combination. I used red line tape for the tabs on the house itself, because those are quite easy to assemble. However, over time, any type of tape adhesive might come unstuck, and of course, if you are building a village, it’s likely to be something you plan to keep for a good few years, so where it’s easy to do so, I’d run a line of hot glue over the join (on the inside). Of course where you are adding layers of mediums or more card you will be strengthening the structure even more so there’s no reason why these shouldn’t hold up pretty well.
For window frames, cladding etc. I used a PVA glue, and for things like the chimney stacks where it was a little fiddly, I used hot glue. You definitely want a hot glue gun with a fine nozzle (like the Sizzix one), because you don’t want lumpy glue showing.
There are also 3 embossing folders designed to work well with this collection, and they are miniature versions of previous embossing folders – Brickwork, Lumber and Cobblestone.
The realistic look you get with these is just mind blowing. If you are embossing panels for your house, make sure you die cut the house first, then cut off the tabs, then emboss (if you emboss then cut out the house shape you will squash your embossing a bit).
There are a lot of different colour options you can use on them to get different looks. Zoe has a good tutorial on her blog for the brickwork that’s worth looking at here.
I should also mention that there is a ton of inspiration and help on the Sizzix blog – Josh and Pete have a downloadable ebook showing how they make all their amazing projects, plus the video from Tim is there along with a video by Josh showing all the projects in the ebook.
Here’s the link to the Sizzix inspiration page for the Village Collection
I’ve got links below to all the products in case you missed the shows or didn’t get the dies then.
Affiliate links are used at no cost to you
Sizzix Big Shot Switch Plus Electric die cutting machine white Shop at: SSS | SZ | AZ | CS | SBC
Sizzix Big Shot Die Cutting machine Shop at: SSS | SZ | AZ | CS | SBC
Sizzix Big Shot Switch Plus Electric die cutting machine Tim Holtz Black Shop at: SSS | SZ | AZ | CS | SBC
Sizzix Big Shot Switch Plus Electric die cutting machine cherry blossom Shop at: SBC
I’m back at Create and Craft TV on Tuesday 22nd Feb with some of the new Tim Holtz Chapter One dies. Also on the shows, is the new Black Tim Holtz Foldaway machine.
This is the Bird & Egg Colorize set, and I have to say, it’s probably my favourite. I love the layered look you get on the bird, and how many options that gives you to add colour and shading.
Next is the Bunny Games set, not just for Easter, as these bunnies have a lovely quirky look to them so would work all year round.
Next up is this cute Papercut Chicks- love the way you have two facing in different directions so you can put together different scenes. Also, the grassy hill dies would work with so many other die sets.
Next is the fabulous new Colorize set Woodgrain – you can create 2 different wood planks with a very layered, realistic look. For this card I used one of them, together with the Funky Nature set and Intertwine embossing folder.
Just one more to share – you’ll have to watch to shows for the rest!
Affiliate links are used at no cost to you
Sizzix Big Shot Switch Plus Electric die cutting machine white Shop at: SSS | SZ | AZ | CS | SBC
Sizzix Big Shot Foldaway Tim Holtz Shop at: SSS | SZ | AZ | CS | SBC
I thought I’d have a scroll through my photos and pick out a few of my favourite projects from the past year. It’s been another fabulous year for me working for Sizzix, and I’ve been lucky enough to work with so many gorgeous products. The designers are Sizzix really are a talented bunch, and when I looked back through my photos it was hard to pick just nine photos.
The shows I did in the summer with the crepe paper flowers were a real highlight – having never made crepe paper flowers before this, I was amazed at how much fun it was.
Another highlight from the year was the Botanicals collection from Lisa Jones. Florals are always inspiring to me, and this collection features all my favourite colours. The whole range is beautiful, so this was another show I really enjoyed doing.
2021 was another fabulous year of releases from Eileen Hull. Her journals are some of my most-used dies, and she came out with two fabulous journals – the Folio Journal and the Full Size Journal, as well as some very clever dies to create extra elements such as a waterfall.
Happy New Year, and thank you for following me this year on all the various platforms. 2022 is going to be an exciting year for me. I am giving up my PA job to concentrate full-time on my crafting, so you will be seeing lots more of me – as well as doing more work with Sizzix, I’m planning to do lots more on my YouTube channel, I have so many ideas, and I can’t wait to have the time to put them into action!
I’ve listed below most of the products used on these projects in case you want to find them.
Affiliate links are used at no cost to you
Stampers Anonymous Papillon stamp set Shop at: SSS | AZ | CS | SBC
Sizzix Eileen Hull Full Size Journal Bigz Plus die Shop at: SSS | CS | SBC | CC
I’ve put together a new video to run through the new Eileen Hull journal, showing how to put it together and running through all the different extras you might need, along with how to add notebooks or your own signatures.
Affiliate links are used at no cost to you
Sizzix Big Shot Plus Die Cutting machine Shop at: SSS | SZ | AZ | CS | SBC | CC
Sizzix Surfaces Texture Roll Gold Shop at: SZ | CS | SBC | CC
Sizzix Surfaces Texture Roll Gray Shop at: SZ | CS | SBC | CC
Sizzix Surfaces Texture Roll Rose Gold Shop at: SZ | CS | SBC
Sizzix Surfaces Texture Roll Silver Shop at: SZ | CS | SBC | CC
Sizzix Surfaces Texture Roll Tan Shop at: SZ | CS | SBC | CC
Sizzix Surfaces Texture Roll White Shop at: SZ | CS | SBC | CC
Sizzix Eileen Hull Full Size Journal Bigz Plus die Shop at: SSS | SZ | CS | SBC | CC
Sizzix Eileen Hull Sweater 3D embossing folder Shop at: SSS | SZ | CS | SBC | CC
At first glance, this photo is a little deceiving because you imagine this to be a fairly small piece, like an average tag. However, I’ve used one of the Stampers Anonymous Etcetera Thickboard tags. This is the medium size and it’s about 12 x 6.5 inches.
I’ll apologise now for the length of this post – I’m going to take you through the steps to create this, and being a piece with lots of texture and layers, there’s a lot to tell you!
I started with the blank MDF tag, and gave it a coat of white gesso (I used the Sizzix gesso as this is nice and thick and I only needed one coat, but any gesso will do). After that, I added some of the Ideaology collage paper. I put a piece along the bottom, and then another torn piece towards the top left of the tag. I used collage medium to stick it down, then added a little more on top to seal it. After that I started layering some colour. I used various Oxide sprays as well as the standard Distress sprays, colours used were – Speckled Egg, Antique Linen, Salvaged Patina, Hickory Smoke, and Gathered Twigs. I added several layers of colour, spritzing with water and drying in between to stop the colours mixing too much.
Once that was dry, I added a little bit of texture with a stencil and some texture paste (Prima Icing Paste in White Gold). I used a Stampers Anonymous stencil that looks like splatters. I also added some brown texture paste through a Prima script stencil.
Once the paste was dry I added a little more Distress spray. Once that was dry I added some stamping here and there, and die cut some honeycomb elements from the Sizzix Mixed Media die set from kraft card. I sponged some black paint on these before adding to the tag. Next I added some gold Sizzix Luster wax around the edges of the tag and on the reinforcer. Then I added some embossing ink (using WOW Mixed Media Embossing brush), and heat embossed with some of the Stampendous embossing enamel – I used Aged Teal and Aged Bronze. This gives a lovely melted metal look.
Now it’s time to add the elements. I die cut the Perspective Moth three times from black card and layered them up so the wings could be shaped. I added glossy accents to the body and sprinkled on some of the new Tim Holtz black glitter. I spritzed the wings with various colours of Izink sprays which have a lovely sparkle. I decided I wanted a darker colour though, so went over this in places with some of the Prima Sparks Acrylic paints. I then glued the moth to the tag.
I gathered together a few different elements to provide an area to put some text. I cut a piece of lace ribbon and coloured it with Gathered Twigs Oxide spray. I die cut the Sizzix Seal die from kraft card then painted with Sizzix Gold acrylic paint. I tucked this under the ribbon, then added some buttons and a metal flower. I took one of the Tim Holtz quote chips and covered it with Distress enamel in Speckled Egg and added some gold acrylic paint around the edges. For a final touch, I took a metal number (again from a Tim Holtz set), but the silver colour didn’t go with all the gold tones, so I added some alcohol inks in green and copper, then added some DecoArt Texture Sand paste mixed with the Stampendous Aged Teal Enamel and heated it to give a distressed, rusty patina kind of look.
Then, the final touch was just to add some splatters of black paint all over.
This is the first time I’ve used one of these large tags, and I have to say, I really like the size and thickness for mixed media projects. I’ve listed most of the products I’ve used below.
Affiliate links are used at no cost to you
Sizzix Big Shot Die Cutting machine Shop at: SSS | SZ | AZ | CS | SBC | CC
I was inspired after watching the Tim Holtz Chapter 3 live on Saturday, and I realised that I had the butterfly Impresslits die, so decided to make a butterfly card!
If you aren’t familiar with Impresslits, they are embossing folders, that have a thin metal die embedded in the folder, so that as well as embossing the image, they cut them out at the same time. Very clever. This one is a 3D folder too, so the detail you get is absolutely stunning.
I cut the butterfly from watercolour card, then gave it a first coat of colour with some Antique Linen Distress Oxide spray – I put some on my glass mat and used it with a wet brush. I dried this off, then added some Vintage Photo Oxide spray to the body part of the butterfly. I then added various colours to the wings, drying in between and occasionally spritzing with water to move the colour around until I was happy with it. I used Scattered Straw and Crackling Campfire towards the bottom, and Bundled Sage and Speckled Egg on top, then added little splatters of Salvaged Patina. Once dry, I then went in with some Sizzix Luster Wax in Gold, as well as little bit of Sizzix Acrylic Paint in Gold and Rose Gold. Last detail was a splatter of Vintage Photo with a small brush to add some little splatters of dark colour.
For the background, I covered a card blank with some cream card (from the Sizzix Botanicals card stock pack). Then I die cut the Sizzix Tim Holtz Flowery Die from black card. I used a brayer to add some colour with the Sizzix Acrylic paint in Rose Gold and Gold, and touches of Salvaged Patina Distress paint.
Because this background is quite busy, I didn’t want the butterfly to get lost, so I added a torn strip of the same cream card across the front, then added a little gold wax to tie it in with the background. I added the butterfly with foam pads – just sticking in the centre so the wings can be shaped upwards a little, then added a little sentiment sticker.
Affiliate links are used at no cost to you
Sizzix Big Shot Die Cutting machine Shop at: SSS | SZ | AZ | CS | SBC | CC
I’m back at Create and Craft next Tuesday for two shows with a lovely selection of dies. This cake die set is a Bigz die, so can be used with lots of different materials, however, for this card I’ve used some Opulent Gold card as well as some of the new Mystical Opulent collection – it’s hard to tell from the photo but I used the ombre holographic card for the cake and it’s a lovely sparkly, graduation of colour from a dusky pink to white. The background was created by using the Drifting Hearts die as a stencil with some gold texture paste.
Talking of the Drifting Hearts die, I used it here together with some silver Texture Roll, backed with some more of the Mystical Opulent card – this one is the glitter ombre.
More of the Mystical card here, together with the Birthday Candles die.
I really like the Birthday Candles die – you can pop card behind it, or paper piece it as I’ve done here. You can also just use the candles separately.
A very modern feel to this one – using the Geo Stitched Frames and Bold Alpha die sets.
That’s it for today – I’ll be back tomorrow with more (which include some lovely spring florals)
Affiliate links are used at no cost to you
Sizzix Big Shot Die Cutting machine * Shop at: SSS | SZ | AZ | CS | SBC | CC
Sharon Curtis 