Scrap Shotz Forum Card Swap: Love is in the Air

If you did not already know, Scrap Shotz has a lovely active forum.  One of the activities we regularly participate in is card swaps. It is an excellent way to build your card stash with a variety of stunning cards. Look below at the cards swapped for Valentines!

By Connie V.

By Tammy L.

By Virginia W.

I hope you will join us on the forum and participate in the many swaps!

Fabulous Find: Tim Holtz Distress Paints and Inks

As you know, I have resisted the lure of Tim Holtz products for a while now...but no more!!! I am in serious love with the distress inks...and now his distress paints. Truly I never knew the sheer fabulousness of his products but now I have uncovered the secrets!

Below is a card I made using Tim's fabulous products and Taylored Expressions Birch Tree Cutting Plate as well as the Taylored Expressions Birch Tree Accessories Die.

First I created the background using Tim Holtz distress inks leaving the outer edges darker - I was hoping for a glowing moon effect :-) Then I heat set the distress inks. It is very important to dry your distress inks before you spritz with a mist or use other liquid product on top of the distress inks as the "water" reacts with the distress inks.

To make the "starry" background, I flicked some Hero Arts white mist (this can be ordered direct through Sandy in the store) and then for some added dimension and shine, I flicked some Tsukineko Irresistible Pico Embellisher too. Let this dry fully.

In the meantime, I applied distress inks in varying degrees of darkness onto the birch tree cutting plate image. Take the time to liberally cover the back of the birch tree die cut with pop dots as it makes the sky pop in the background.

For the deer, I dabbed a bit of Time Holtz distress paint onto my craft mat. There was a stamp on my desk from the Faber Castell gelato kit which I promptly stamped into the paint and applied to the deer. The paint was dried with my heat gun. Then using the Ranger mini tool blender I applied a heavy coat of the brown grouping of distress inks. The magic I saw was that the distress paints resisted the distress inks. I found the resist effect stunning and something I am going to use going forward. Distress inks with a generous coating of Ranger Glossy Accents was applied to the bird house.

Inside I stamped a sentiment from the fabulous Avery Elle stamp set. (Sorry I do not have a picture of the inside of the card.) Check out this very versatile stamp - it can be used for babies, birthdays, graduations and so much more.

Do you love your Tim Holtz distress inks and paints? 

Fabulous Find: Wendy Vecchi Crackle Paste

One of my new favorite products is Wendy Vecchi's Crackle Paste. The paste is magic to apply, absolute magic. All you need is a stencil, a palette knife and crackle paste.

Below is a card I made to showcase this beautiful crackle look.

Supplies:  Bazzill (cardstock); Wendy Vecchi Crackle Paste; Teresa Collins (damask stencil); Prima (flowers); Tim Holtz (distress inks); May Arts (glitter ribbon); Close to my Heart (organza ribbon); 

A close-up shots of the crackle. The pattern is stunning and can be easily accentuated with the distress inks. It can be as subtle or overt as you like. You can use the crackle pattern in a variety of other stencil such as a brick wall, autumn falling leaves, tree trunk, wood grain...I think I'm in love with crackle!

I'd love to hear how you use crackle paste!

Welcome to 2015!!! Fabulous Find: Viva Ferro Paste

From Scrap Shotz, we would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year and hope 2015 is filled with much joy...and lots of opportunities to capture your exceptional memories!

So let's start the new year with a "happy" post...

I'd like to share 2 cards which highlight the luscious vibrant and unique look of the Viva Ferro Paste. The background of both cards were created by applying Viva Ferro Paste with a palette knife through a stencil.  Let dry. You can speed up the drying process with a heat gun but take note the paste can bubble if it is too warm. That bubbling is a unique look and one that is a must try!

Supplies:  Bazzill (cardstock); Viva Ferro Paste; Studio Calico (mistable stars); Ranger (glossy accents); Tattered Angels (glimmer mist); W9Plus (Happy die)

Supplies: Bazzill (cardstock); Viva Ferro Paste; Tim Holtz Layered Butterfly die; Ranger Foil Tape Sheets; Studio Calico (mistables); Tattered Angels (glimmer mist); W9Plus (Happy die); Prima Art Ingredients (beads)

What do you think of the Viva Ferro Paste? I'd love to hear from you!

Merry Christmas!

From all of us at Scrap Shotz,we wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

Here is an easy Christmas tag for a hostess gift!

To make the tag, cut 4 window die cuts with the Taylored Expressions window die. This tag can be made with any window die and there is a fine selection in the store.  Adhere the window die cuts to one another to strength the cardstock but also to add depth to the window.

At this point, I applied Tim Holtz distress inks and a quick spray of Tsukineko irRESISTible spray to the window die cut but if you are in a hurry, you can bypass this step. Then back the window with a piece of pattern paper; add a ribbon and accent accordingly.

What is fantastic about this tag is that it can easily be adapted to any occasion by changing the pattern paper beneath the window. For a birthday, add a fun sweet print.

The sentiment is handwritten with the Tsukineko Pico Embellisher.

The sentiment on this tag is written with the Tsukineko Pico Embellisher through the Tim Holtz Layering Stencil of phrases.

Merry Christmas!

Fabulous Find: Tim Holtz Layering Stencil Festive and Wendy Vecchi Crackle Paste

Want to create a beautiful and unique card to adorn your Christmas present? Consider the card below.

For the background, I used the Tim Holtz Layering Stencil - Festive along with the Wendy Vecchi crackle paste. Apply the crackle paste through the stencil - allow to dry thoroughly. Yes, you can speed up the drying process with your heat gun! As the paste begins to dry, you will see the gorgeous cracks form.

Once the paste is dry, you can apply Tim Holtz distress inks with an applicator directly onto the crackle paste or you can reposition the stencil and apply the distress inks through the stencil. I like both looks. For those tighter, smaller areas, apply the distress inks using the Tsukineko Fantastix colouring tool.

I found with a heavier application of ink, the crackles became more pronounced. Personally I find the crackle look gorgeous and unique. Once I was happy colouring the paste, I added colour to the edges of the stencilled card front.

For the sentiment, I used the Tim Holtz Shadow Press embossing folders. After I embossed the paper, I applied various distress inks to the front and around the embossing. Then I adhered it to the card front.

To create a colour coordinated ribbon, stamp the colours of the distress inks you used. Spray with Rangers Perfect Pearls onto the distress inks. Dip your ribbon into the pearlized ink water and let the ribbon absorb the colours. Let ribbon dry and tie onto the card.

Hope to see your cards too!

Fabulous Find: Taylored Expressions Jingle all the Way

Taylored Expressions makes beautiful dies. With each release, I am amazed at their continued creativity and of course their great quality.

The Jingle all the Way cutting plate is smaller than their other cutting plates. The die cut image is beautifully bordered by the card base. Additionally the elegance of the script made me initially worried about how easy it would be to cut from paper, stiffened fabric or light foil. Let me share that I was pleasantly surprised as the image was easily cut from a variety of materials.

This card background was created with Tim Holtz Distress Inks. Once the inks dried, I sprayed some Tsukineko irRESISTIBLE spray on the background. The heat gun helped speed up the drying process. Then I added more distress inks to the background. As you can see, the irRESISTIBLE spray easily resisted the additional distress inks. Once the background was dried I adhered the Jingle all the Way die cut. This was a fast and easy card to create - plus its unique and gorgeous too!

Supplies:  Bazzill (cardstock); Taylored Expressions (Jingle all the Way cutting plate); Tim Holtz distress inks, Tsukineko irRESISTIBLE spray

A close up of the irRESISTIBLE spray ...

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the die and spray!