Twelve Tags of Christmas - Thursday December 8th - Day 4

Art ‘n Soul’s annual Twelve Tags of Christmas event to support the Thurston County Food Bank began Monday, December 5^th.  The fourth tag in this series will be available on Thursday, December 8^th.  It was created by Pam and she’ll be in the store to help you create this lovely tag.  We’ll have a new tag for you every day (including the weekend) through Friday, December 16^th.

This tag features the Poppy Stamps Main Street Stitched Tag set (#1268), the new Magenta “Stars” stencil (TM180), the Penny Black “Manger” die  (#51-254) and a sentiment from Impression Obsession (B13487.

The largest die of the Main Street Tag set was used to cut the tag from Neenah Solar White, 110# cardstock.  Use the powder tool on the bottom section of the tag, then stamp the sentiment using VersaMark ink.  (We’ll be using the MISTI in the store but an acrylic block also works for this step.)  Remove the tag from the MISTI and pour Judikins Gold Detail embossing powder over the sentiment; tap off the excess powder and heat emboss with a heat gun.

Cut a small mask from a stick-it pad the size of the sentiment and place it on the tag, covering the stamped sentiment.  Place the Magenta Stars stencil over the tag and use a large dauber to apply VersaMark ink through the stars, onto the tag.  Move the stencil around to get the coverage of stars that you want.  Next, apply dry Perfect Pearls (Pearl or Confetti White) over the stars with a soft brush.

The Manger image was cut twice – once from Neenah 110# card stock and once from gold Mirricard paper.  Layer the gold diecut over the white one and adhere together.  Adhere this piece to the tag.  Punch a hole in the tag and add gold twine.

The Art ‘n Soul staff will provide all the materials you need to make each day’s tag.  The cost to you is a donation of non-perishable food or $1 (or more if you would like) for each tag you make.  All donations go directly to the Thurston County Food Bank.  We really appreciate your support to this great community program.  We look forward to seeing you in the store this month to thank you in person.

Twelve Tags of Christmas - Wednesday, December 7th - Day 3

Art 'n Soul's annual Twelve Tags of Christmas event to support the Thurston County Food Bank began Monday, December 5th. The third tag, available Wednesday, December 7th, was created by Dianne, and she will be in the store on Wednesday to walk you through the steps of creating this tag. We'll have a new tag for you every day (including the weekend) through Friday, December 16th.

To create Wednesday's tag, the Merry Christmas Tag die (1645) from Poppy Stamps was cut twice from Curious Metallics Super Gold cardstock. For one of the die cuts, the sentiment "Merry Christmas" was carefully cut out using a craft knife and a ruler. 

A vellum tag was also cut from 40# translucent vellum, using the Stitched Main Street Tags die (1268) from Poppy Stamps. Distress ink in Festive Berries and Mowed Lawn was rubbed onto the vellum and the excess wiped off with a rag.

The tag was assembled by gluing the 3 pieces together, first the Merry Christmas tag, then the vellum tag, and last in the stack, the Merry Christmas tag with the sentiment cut out. Sequins were added, and a red ribbon at the top. The effect that this tag gives when held up is that of stained glass, since the vellum is translucent.

The Art ‘n Soul staff will provide all the materials you need to make each day's tag.  The cost to you is a donation of non-perishable food or $1 (or more if you wish) which will go to the Food Bank.  We really appreciate your support to this great community program.  We look forward to seeing you in the store this month to thank you in person! 

Twelve Tags of Christmas - Tuesday, December 6th - Day 2

Art 'n Soul's annual Twelve Tags of Christmas event to support the Thurston County Food Bank began Monday, December 5th. The second tag, available Tuesday, December 6th, was created by Dianne, and she will be in the store on Tuesday to walk you through the steps of creating this tag. We'll have a new tag for you every day (including the weekend) through Friday, December 16th.

Tuesday's tag was created by die-cutting watercolor paper with Sizzix 38-0946 Super Scallop tag die. After using a powder tool on the tag, two Magenta images were stamped with Versamark ink: Zen Peace Dove 44.023.M, and the John Lennon Peace Quote 07.956.F. The images were embossed with JudiKins White Diamond embossing powder. The tag was then covered with Nuance powder in Royal Blue, Cerulean Blue, Turquoise, Jade Green, and Raspberry and sprayed with pearly water (water mixed with Perfect Pearls powder). A piece of white sparkly ribbon was added at the top. The shine and sparkle in this tag is really pretty in real life.

The Art ‘n Soul staff will provide all the materials you need to make each day's tag.  The cost to you is a donation of non-perishable food or $1 (or more if you wish) which will go to the Food Bank.  We really appreciate your support to this great community program.  We look forward to seeing you in the store this month to thank you in person!

Twelve Tags of Christmas - Monday December 5th

Art ‘n Soul’s annual Twelve Tags of Christmas event to support the Thurston County Food Bank begins Monday, December 5th at 10:00 a.m.  The first tag was created by Pam and she’ll be in the store on Monday to walk you through the steps of creating this fun tag.  We'll have a new tag for you every day (including the weekend) through Friday, December 16th.

This tag was created with Poppy Stamps Mainstreet Stitched Tags (#1268).  I love this set because it contains eight dies in graduated sizes.  I used the second and third largest dies for this tag - the smaller tag was cut from watercolor paper and the larger tag was cut from white metallic paper.

I used the MISTI to stamp this tag but you can easily use an acrylic block, too.  Since the image is embossed on the paper, use the powder tool on the watercolor tag first, then stamp the Magenta ”Blessings Tree”, 07.961.L, with VersaMark ink.  Cover the image with Judikins White Diamond embossing powder and heat set with the heat gun.

Sprinkle Magenta Nuance Berry (MNU023) on the watercolor tag.  Spritz with water mixed with Perfect Pearls.  Blot gently with a paper towel around the embossed image to remove any color from the white embossing.  Gently dry with a heat gun.  Adhere to the white metallic tag, punch a hole in the top and add ribbon.

The Art ‘n Soul staff will provide all the materials you need to make the tags.  The cost to you is a donation of food or $1 which will go to the Food Bank.  We really appreciate your support to this great community program.  We look forward to seeing you in the store this month to thank you in person!

Technique of the Week: Adding Glitter to Die-Cuts by Pam Nelson

This week's technique by Pam Nelson is a re-run from last November. It's still as wonderful now as it was then! We have Elizabeth Craft glitter in stock, including the beautiful translucent glitters in Warm Diamond and Cool Diamond. These would be perfect for this technique! We think we saw this snowflake die coming through in Recycled Rubber!

This week’s technique comes as a result of a question from a customer this week about using the new Tim Holtz Platinum Glitter Dust.  It also builds on Marj’s technique of die cutting your Nuance panels from last week’s newsletter.

Before I get started on the directions, do you have a question about a technique that you’d like to see here?  If so, just email us, call us at the store, or comment on this blog post and we’ll start making a list for future columns.

It is very simple to add glitter to the negative space of your die cut and then use that as an accent or the focal point of your card.  You will need a prepared piece of cardstock.  In the examples here, “Joy” was die cut into a piece of watercolor paper that had been colored with Distress Twisted Citron and then stencil stamped with a Magenta Poinsettia stencil.  The glitter is Tim Holtz's new Distress Platinum Glitter Dust.    The “Merry Christmas” was cut into a piece of watercolor paper that will then be cut down and added to another card.  The Glitter is Elizabeth Craft Red.  The snowflake was cut into a piece of cardstock that had been colored with Distress Blueprint Sketch and Wilted Violet, then lightly dusted with Perfect Pearls.   The glitter is Elizabeth Craft Warm Diamond.

Die cut your image for your prepared cardstock.  As in Marj’s technique it is also important to save the negative pieces such as the centers of the letters.  If you look closely at the word “Joy” you will see that each letter has a negative piece – the bottom of the “j”, two pieces in the “o” and the bottom of the “y.”  After die cutting your image, apply Stick-it or Scor-Tape paper on the back over the opening.  Turn to the front side and carefully place those negative pieces where they belong in each word.  Tweezers or an X-acto knife work great for this.  Next, put your piece on a sheet of wax paper and pour glitter all over the open area onto the sticky tape.  Burnish it well using your finger or a piece of wax paper.  The more you push the glitter into the sticky surface, the shinier it becomes.  Pour the excess glitter back into the jar.  You can clean the excess glitter from your cardstock with a Swiffer cloth.

Dies like the snowflake work very well for this technique because they cut into the paper, leaving the snowflake design.  You don’t have to attach any of the negative spaces, just put Scor Tape on the back and add glitter.  The positive die cut of "Joy" and "Merry Christmas" can be used on another card too.

I’ll have a few samples in the store so you can see that this technique is quick and easy.

You and Your Friends can Help us Support the Thurston County Food Bank

We are so thankful that through our generous customers, Art ‘n Soul supports the Thurston County Food Bank throughout the year.  During the holiday season we really try to step it up a notch to raise extra food and money for the Food Bank through our 12 Tags of Christmas event.

We recently had another idea for collecting donations for the Food Bank.  Do you have a group of friends you meet with periodically to make cards?  If so, what about collecting food or a small cash donation the next time you meet?  Bring your donations to the store and e-mail a picture of your group to us so we can feature your event in our newsletter and on our blog.

Recently a few of Pam’s neighbors met at her house to make Christmas cards.  Linda, Joan, Shelley, Veta and Ilona generously donated food and money to the Food Bank and also had a fun afternoon of card making.

We hope that you will consider this idea.  We know how busy this season can be and that there are many worthy charities that need support.  Thank you for your continued help in supporting this very worthy community program.

Technique of the Week: The Joy of Dylusions

This technique features Dylusions paint, the fabulous fluid acrylic paint by Dyan Reaveley. Dylusions paints are available in 24 vibrant colors. The Dylusions paints were formulated by Dyan Reaveley for Ranger, to be especially ideal for use in Journals. The colors are amazing, and they dry quickly. Conveniently, this also makes them ideal for card making.

Dyan Reaveley has a number of videos online where she demos her products, including this paint, so if you have not already seen her videos, be sure to check them out. She has a number of products in her Dylusions line, and you can see many of her videos here including the ones using her paints.

Also featured on this card are a stamp and a stencil from Magenta's newest fall and winter collection. I used the new Magenta stencil, Graphic Poinsettia TM195, and a new Magenta stamp, Joy to the World 07.958.H. I also used Dylusions paint colors Cherry Pie and White Linen.

One of my favorite techniques that Dyan does with her paints is that she often uses a baby wipe to apply it, and I used that technique here.

For this card, I cut a panel to 3.75" x 5" out of heavy weight Strathmore Bristol paper. If you don't have Bristol, you can also use heavy weight white Neenah Solar White cardstock, or watercolor cardstock. The Bristol is nice because it's very smooth and accepts the paint well. To cut my panel, I used the largest die in the Lawn Fawn Small Stitched Rectangle Stackables set LF768.

I started with Dylusions Cherry Pie paint and using a baby wipe I applied color all over the panel. One tip is that before you open the paint, tip it upside down. This puts paint on the inside of the lid, and you can dip your baby wipe in the lid instead of dipping it into the jar of paint. Also, so that my baby wipe would not be too wet, before dipping into the paint, I squeezed it out over a paper towel to get some of the moisture out. This paint dries very quickly, but once I had applied color to the entire panel, I hit it with a heat gun for a short time to be sure.

After sticking the panel down to my craft mat, I laid the stencil onto it and arranged it so that there would be room for a sentiment. I taped the stencil down with painter's tape.

At this point I switched to a small blending tool that has a foam pad, and opened the White Linen paint. I dipped the blending tool into the paint in the lid, and rubbed it into a circle on my craft mat to work the paint into the sponge. I applied the paint through the stencil openings with the blending tool.

Once I was satisfied with the coverage, I removed the stencil and really liked the result. One tip I have is that the second color needs to be enough of a contrast to show up.

I stamped the Magenta Joy to the World stamp in Versamark ink and embossed with White Diamond embossing powder. White dots were added to the center of the Poinsettia using Imagine Crafts Pico embellisher in Wedding Dress. I also went over all of the Poinsettia petals with a clear Wink of Stella pen to add a little sparkle, and scattered some sequins, gluing them down with Ranger Multi Medium Matte.

To put the card together, I adhered a piece of green cardstock (4" x 5.25") to a white base card (4.25" x 5.5" Neenah Solar White 110# cardstock). I decided to pop the red panel up off of the green mat, so I cut a piece of white fun foam just a little smaller than the red panel. Since I didn't want the white foam to show from the sides, I took a dark green Copic marker, and colored the sides of the foam before gluing it down. I adhered the foam to the red panel, and then adhered it to the green mat and base card using scor tape. It's very hard to see anything under the red panel with the edges of the foam painted so dark.

I love how this card turned out, and hope you will give this technique a try. There are 26 lovely colors of Dylusions paints, and you can use them to make a quick and easy card for almost any occasion. For more photos of the entire process, please visit my Backporch blog here.