create with cheiron

new tim holtz distress color reveal on Saturday, February 26th!

Hi there creative friends! Just a quick note that the newest color of Tim Holtz Distress will be revealed on Saturday, February 26th! Be sure to reserve yours now at Simon Says Stamp! 

simon says stamp monday challenge: food/drink

Hi all and welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. Thank you for playing along with us last week in the Love challenge and we hope you will join us again this week too :) This week our challenge is Food/Drink and since it is Valentine's Day, I thought it would be a perfect way to celebrate Valentine's Day CANDY!!! I combined a bunch of my favorite Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Stamp sets along with the heart stencil and the new Picked Raspberry Embossing Glaze to create this fun card. 

See full supply list at the bottom of this post :)  

The lovely folks over at Simon Says Stamp are generously giving away a FABULOUS $25 voucher to shop at the Simon Says Stamp Store! All you have to do is take out your crafty supplies, make something following this week’s prompt, and add a link in the Inlinkz at the bottom of this post! You can join up to 5 times so you could have 5 chances to win! How AWESOME is that!! All winners are chosen randomly, so everyone has an equal chance to win! Woo Hoo!! Good Luck to everyone! The Design Team is looking forward to seeing your crafty makes and will pop around to visit you ASAP!

You can find links to the supplies I've used below; click on the picture of shop icon (the little Simon dog) to get taken directly to the product. I use affiliate links which means if you use them to make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you :) I truly appreciate your support. 

SUPPLIES:

new tim holtz distress: mini distress archival inks + distress embossing glaze

Were you able to catch the Tim Holtz You Tube live today featuring the new Mini Distress Archival Ink and Distress Embossing Glaze colors? I am so excited as always to add any new colors of Distress to my stash!!! All of these new products are available to order at Simon Says Stamp and are shipping now. 

One of the cards I created with the new Distress Embossing Glaze uses what I call my Distress Embossing Glaze papers...I like to take small pieces of paper that will fit through my Sizzix Sidekick and emboss them each with a different color of glaze. For this card, I used Distress Embossing Glaze on Distress White Heavystock in Picked Raspberry, Wild Honey, Salty Ocean and Wilted Violet. 

You can find links to the supplies I've used below; click on the picture of shop icon (the little Simon dog) to get taken directly to the product. I use affiliate links which means if you use them to make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you :) I truly appreciate your support. 

Then I used the new Sizzix Stacked Tiles Hearts dies to cut a bunch of hearts out from each color of paper. I also used a sentiment from the Bold Text 1 dies on this slimline card. 


To put it all together, I cut the Love You out 3 times and stacked it to add a little dimension. Then I added on the glaze hearts, some right to the card panel and others with some foam tape to make them really pop. I love the texture and shine that these glazes give to die cut shapes. To complete the panel, I inked the edges with Black Soot Distress Ink, then adhered the panel to a card base with foam tape. Perfect for Valentine's Day or to say I love you any time of the year! 

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tim holtz sizzix: bird and egg dies

Hi there creative friends! Today I am sharing a card I made for last Saturday's You Tube Live with Tim featuring his newest Chapter 1 release with Sizzix. This card with the new Colorize Bird and Egg die seemed to be very popular and so many of you loved the painted look...today I am going to share with you some of my favorite tips and tricks for putting this card together, and more importantly, a super easy way to color the bird using Distress Paints. Let me show you how. If you haven't seen it, I posted a little reel of the painting process over on Instagram as well! 

You can find links to the supplies I've used below; click on the picture of shop icon (the little Simon dog) to get taken directly to the product. I use affiliate links which means if you use them to make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you :) I truly appreciate your support. 

I got so many questions about how I put the bird together, so let's create our bird first. To get started, cut the first layer of the bird from the Bird and Egg dies from Blackout Kraft Stock. My easy peasy way to put this bird together is to cut the rest of the bird pieces out of Mixed Media Heavystock. See how all of the dies fit on a half sheet of paper? And let me tell you if you have not tried it yet, the new Big Shot Foldaway cuts these dies like a dream!

If you are not familiar with the colorize dies, they come with engravings on the back of them to let you know how to cut colors and assemble. You can see a video on assembling this die the traditional Colorize way here. 

To begin, I cut the base of the bird out of Blackout Kraftstock. Then I took all the bird pieces (the ones labeled Brown 1-5) from a piece of Distress White Heavy Stock. 

Then I arranged the cut outs in number order and adhered them together with Distress Collage Medium and let it dry. 

Now that the bird is assembled, we are ready to paint! I used Distress Paints in Mustard Seed, Fossilized Amber, Carved Pumpkin, Crackling Campfire (oops forgot to put that one in the photo!), Frayed Burlap, Walnut Stain and Picket Fence.

I always create on my Glass Media Mat , so it was easiest to put a little bit of each paint color there and pick up with a paintbrush. I sprayed my paints a bit with a Distress Sprayer before I started painting. 


I painted the first layer of the bird with Carved Pumpkin and Crackling Campfire. Then I dried the bird with my Ranger Heat Tool. 


Then using a smaller (Round #2 size) brush, I painted in small strokes with Mustard Seed and Fossilized Amber and began to add in the white (don't forget to add a little dot for the catchlight in his eye!) 

Dry the paint between each layer with your heat tool and then keep building the layers. You can see my brushstrokes are very visible and I love the look of that, but do it in whatever style works for you! 

Now that the bird is done, let's go on to the rest of the card. I cut a panel of backdrops and gave it a wash of Picket Fence Distress Paint so some of the text would show through. I assembled the eggs in the same style as the bird gluing together the layers, then painting them.





For the nest, I cut a few panels of Brown Kraft Stocks and then cut them with Simple Plaid die. I cut one of them into a 'nest like' shape and then ripped the others and added them to build the nest. Finally, I cut the world Hello out using the Bold Text 1 dies and some paper from the Warm Kraft Stock Stack and Backed it with a piece of Metallic Cardstock. I stitched some wonky stitching around the outside of the panel and added to a card base. I added Black Soot Distress Paint and Tarnished Brass Splatter over the entire panel to complete the Mixed Media look.

The finished card size is 5 x 7. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and if you tried painting some birds for yourself, please tag me @cheiron on Instagram if you share! 

SUPPLIES: 

simon says stamp: And Back Again Instagram Hop

Hi there creative friends! I am participating in an Instagram Hop over on Simon Says Stamp today to celebrate their newest release, And Back Again along with a ton of amazing card makers! I hope you will stop by and visit me on Instagram.




While you are there, be sure to leave a comment and be sure to hop to the other stops on the hop becasue there is a GIVEAWAY: Leave a comment at each stop for a chance to win a $25 gift card for the Simon Says Stamp store. Winners will be chosen randomly from the comments left on each hopper’s post. All winners will be announced on Simon’s Instagram feed on Monday, January 31.

You can find links to the supplies I've used below; click on the picture of shop icon to get taken directly to the product. I use affiliate links which means if you use them to make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you :) I truly appreciate your support. 

SUPPLIES:

my favorite tim holtz alcohol ink projects

Hi there creative friends...I have a very photo heavy post for you today! With the release of the new Alcohol Pearls and Alloy, I have been getting some messages and questions about Alcohol Inks, Pearls and Alloys. Many of you wanted to know how to get started (or have expressed your fears about diving in - just go for it is what I say!), what supplies you need and what colors to you use not to make mud...if that is not your thing. I create with Alcohol Inks regularly, so if you are not following be sure to sign up for my newsletter or follow me on Instagram. If you try any of these techniques, I would love if you tagged me on Instagram (@cheiron) 

I have compiled a post today with what basic supplies you will need to get started with Alcohol Inks for making cards (along with some nice to haves too) and linked to a TON of inspiration for you on some projects that I have made with Alcohol Inks, Alcohol Pearls and Alloys including a fun tutorial that I did for Ranger on how to make 8 cards from one large sheet of Yupo just using a few supplies. Most of these posts have colors and combos listed as well! 

Let's get started with the basics. What do you need to get started? Not much really. You can experiment and play and make some beautiful card backgrounds with just a few supplies. I know the Yupo paper is a bit expensive, so when I am experimenting, I sometimes cut the sheets in half. These are the basics that I use:

• Tim Holtz Alcohol Inks 
• Yupo Paper 
• Alcohol Blending Solution 
• Alcohol Ink Air Blower 

If you have these and want to add a few other things consider adding: 

• Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink Alloys 
• Tim Holtz Alcohol Pearls 
• Snow Cap Alcohol Ink (works great on dark papers)
• Alcohol Lift Ink Pad
• Alcohol Lift Ink Re-Inker 
• Alcohol Ink Splatter Brush 
• Black Alcohol Ink Cardstock 
• Silver Sparkle Alcohol Ink Cardstock 
• Brushed Alcohol Ink Cardstock 
• Alcohol Ink Tool Set (contains brushes and a sprayer - DO NOT USE SPRAYER TO SPRAY BLENDING SOLUTION) 
• Felt Blending Tools (for applying Alcohol Ink) 
• Foam Blending Tools (I use this to work with the Alcohol Lift Ink and stencils) 
• Alcohol Ink Palette (for painting techniques) 

Let's get to the projects! My most popular Alcohol Ink project by far has to be this set of heart cards using Alcohol Inks and Alloy. There is a step by step tutorial on the Ranger Blog on how to create these Alcohol Ink Hearts Cards...and they would be perfect for Valentine's Day! 



Here is another fun tutorial I did for the Simon Says Stamp Blog using the simplest of Alcohol Ink Cut Out Leaves Cards for a super vivid effect...

A mixed media panel created for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge using Alcohol Inks as a background for my piece....


Easy cards using Alcohol Ink Backgrounds from my stash from a post back in 2018...


Some more backgrounds like this to make a bulk stash of holiday cards, but you could do this for any occasion! This post has a step-by-step tutorial and used Alcohol Inks and Alcohol Pearls and the color combos are listed in the step outs...

A rainbow inked panel covered with a simple die cut. This is a great idea for all those panels that you think may not have come out "perfect"...

Alcohol Ink on Silver Sparkle Cardstock...I love this look, it is so beautiful in person! 


Another background with Alcohol Ink and a flower embossed on vellum and lots of gems :) ...

Using Alcohol Lift Ink through a stencil...I layered multiple stencils for this one...


And lastly, one of my favorite backgrounds of all time, to me it looks just like candy...I am not sure I could recreate it if I tried! 


I hope you enjoyed this recap of some of my favorite Alcohol Ink pieces and will try some of these for yourself! I hope you will dive in, experiment, play and just have fun! 

You can find links to the supplies I've used below; click on the picture of shop icon to get taken directly to the product. I use affiliate links which means if you use them to make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you :) I truly appreciate your support. 

SUPPLIES:

 

simon says stamp monday challenge: furry friends

Hi all and welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. Thank you to all who played along last week in our Birds/Insects challenge and we hope you will join us again this week. This week our challenge is Furry Friends...and I went for the super furry variety, using the Tim Holtz Harrison die. 

For this card, I used a piece of Distress Watercolor Cardstock and inked it up with Distress Inks in Fossilized Amber and Salvaged Patina Distress Inks. I built up the layers, drying in between with a heat tool. I added some stenciling using the Mini Stencil Set 48. Then I inked the edges of my panel with Black Soot Distress Ink I assembled the Harrison die using different colors of Kraft Stock and sanded the edges before adhering them together. 

FInally, I adhered Harrison to the card base using foam tape and added an Idea-ology sentiments label to finish the card. 

See full supply list at the bottom of this post :)  

The lovely folks over at Simon Says Stamp are generously giving away a FABULOUS $25 voucher to shop at the Simon Says Stamp Store! All you have to do is take out your crafty supplies, make something following this week’s prompt, and add a link in the Inlinkz at the bottom of this post! You can join up to 5 times so you could have 5 chances to win! How AWESOME is that!! All winners are chosen randomly, so everyone has an equal chance to win! Woo Hoo!! Good Luck to everyone! The Design Team is looking forward to seeing your crafty makes and will pop around to visit you ASAP!

You can find links to the supplies I've used below; click on the picture of shop icon to get taken directly to the product. I use affiliate links which means if you use them to make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you :) I truly appreciate your support. 

SUPPLIES:

tim holtz: new alcohol pearls & alloy

Hi there crafty friends! It's always a great day when new colors of anything show up from Ranger and today it is 2 new sets of Alcohol Pearls and the new Rose Alloy. I have used each set to make a card These mini slimline cards were created using 3 1/4  x 6 panels of yupo paper. For the warm colored card, I combined Intense, Scorch and Radiant Pearls along with Rose Alloy. To create the panel, I cut my Yupo paper to 3 1/4 x 6. I added some Alcohol Blending Solution to the panel and then added the Alcohol Pearls. I moved the Pearls around with an Alcohol Ink Air Blower, then added small drops of the Rose Alloy, more blending solution and then moved that around with the Air Blower as well. To finish the background, I splattered a little blending solution over the panel using a Splatter Brush, then dried the panel with a Heat Tool to stop the ink from moving too much. 

For the florals on this card, I cut out three of the flowers from the Funky Florals Large out of Distress Watercolor Cardstock, and I cut the inside pieces of the florals from the Rose Gold Kraft Stock in the Metallic Kraft Paper Pad. I used the Tim Holtz Sizzix Shaping Kit tool to help give my fIowers some more dimension.  cut the leaves from both papers using the Garden Greens dies and then finished the card with an Idea-ology Quotations Metallic Sticker. I used foam tape to adhere the finished panel to a 3 1/2 x 6 card. 

For the cool colored card, I cut the Yupo panel the same size as the card above (3 1/4 x 6). I added some Alcohol Blending Solution to the panel and then added the Alcohol Pearls this time in Elixir, Devine and Opulent. I moved the Pearls around with an Alcohol Ink Air Blower, then added small drops of the Rose Alloy, more blending solution and then moved that around with the Air Blower as well. To finish the background, I splattered a little blending solution over the panel using a Splatter Brush, then dried the panel with a Heat Tool to stop the ink from moving too much. 

For the florals on this card, I cut out the flowers from the Brushstroke Flowers 1 Thinlits dies out of Distress Watercolor Cardstock, and I cut the inside pieces of the florals from the Rose Gold Kraft Stock in the Metallic Kraft Paper Pad. I used the Tim Holtz Sizzix Shaping Kit tool to help give my fIowers a little extra dimension. I finished the card with an Idea-ology Quotations Metallic Sticker. I used foam tape to adhere the finished panel to a 3 1/2 x 6 card. 

You can find links to the supplies I've used below; click on the picture of shop icon to get taken directly to the product. I use affiliate links which means if you use them to make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you :) I truly appreciate your support!

SUPPLIES: 

simon says stamp: insects/or birds

Hi all and welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.  Thank you to all who played along with us in our Transport It challenge last week. This week our challenge is Insects/Birds and I have used one of my favorite Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous stamp sets, Specimen. 

I created this card by painting a rainbow of Distress Paints (Kitsch Flamingo, Carved Pumpkin, Fossilized Amber, Bundled Sage, Broken China, Dusty Concord) over a piece of paper from the Idea-ology Backdrops pack. I love the papers with writing on them to help create easy backgrounds. I left a few areas of the paper unpainted so the writing would show through. Once the paint was on, I dried the piece with my heat tool. 

I added tons of color to my panel by stamping over it with the Media Marks 1 and Media Marks 2 (my favorites) using Distress Archival Inks from the Mini Kit 1 and Mini Kit 2 sets. Then I added another layer of texture by using some Matte Texture Paste and the Stars stencil from the Mini Stencil Kit 11 and sprinkled some Fossilized Amber Distress Embossing Glaze over the top. Once it was dry, I embossed the paste for some shiny texture. Once it was completely dry, I added some Black Soot and Picket Fence DIstress Paint Spatter and dried it with the heat tool. I stitched around the edge. To finish the card, I added a rainbow colored butterfly from the Specimen stamp set and some small talkstickers. 

See full supply list at the bottom of this post :)  

The lovely folks over at Simon Says Stamp are generously giving away a FABULOUS $25 voucher to shop at the Simon Says Stamp Store! All you have to do is take out your crafty supplies, make something following this week’s prompt, and add a link in the Inlinkz at the bottom of this post! You can join up to 5 times so you could have 5 chances to win! How AWESOME is that!! All winners are chosen randomly, so everyone has an equal chance to win! Woo Hoo!! Good Luck to everyone! The Design Team is looking forward to seeing your crafty makes and will pop around to visit you ASAP!

You can find links to the supplies I've used below; click on the picture of shop icon to get taken directly to the product. I use affiliate links which means if you use them to make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you :) I truly appreciate your support. 

SUPPLIES:

simon says stamp monday challenge: cold as ice

Hi all and welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. Thank you for joining us for last week for our Santa Challenge and we hope you join us again this week! This week our challenge is Cold As Ice, so get out that snow, snowman, snowflakes etc or follow my lead and create and ice cold cocktail! 

For my card today, I kept it simple. I stamped the word background from the Stripes and Holiday stamp set onto a piece of Distress Watercolor Cardstock using Black Soot Archival Ink, then stamped the cocktail from the Cocktails Blueprints set over it (don't worry about how it looks we are going to paper piece one on top!). Once the ink was dry, I ink blended Peacock Feathers, Evergreen Bough, Mermaid Lagoon and Black Soot inks over my panel. 

I stamped another cocktail onto Distress Watercolor Cardstock then colored it in using Festive Berries and Rustic WIlderness Distress Inks using a Detailer Water Brush. I cut it out and layered it over the previously stamped cocktail using foam tape. To finish the card, I added an Idea-ology Christmas Label sticker and a couple of Studio Katia Lipstick Red Gems. That's it! Super simple to make :) 

See full supply list at the bottom of this post :)  

The lovely folks over at Simon Says Stamp are generously giving away a FABULOUS $25 voucher to shop at the Simon Says Stamp Store! All you have to do is take out your crafty supplies, make something following this week’s prompt, and add a link in the Inlinkz at the bottom of this post! You can join up to 5 times so

so you could have 5 chances to win! How AWESOME is that!! All winners are chosen randomly, so everyone has an equal chance to win! Woo Hoo!! Good Luck to everyone! The Design Team is looking forward to seeing your crafty makes and will pop around to visit you ASAP!

You can find links to the supplies I've used below; click on the picture of shop icon to get taken directly to the product. I use affiliate links which means if you use them to make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you :) I truly appreciate your support. 

SUPPLIES: