WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE INK PAD? LET'S HEAR IT FOR GATHERED TWIGS!

Greetings everyone and welcome to my blog!  Whew...that was a quick weekend!

Today I decided to couple our My Favorite Ink Pad Challenge at Simon Says Stamp and Show with my first attempt at a new style of card for me.   Yes, I know ~ a card!  As those of you who follow me know, making cards terrifies me.  haha  But, I'm getting a little more comfortable with each one that I make.  So, here is my card for this challenge. 
 

It is a card with a skewer binding.  I have always been fascinated by books that have a skewer binding and thought I'd start with a card and maybe work my way up to a book.

My favorite ink pad is Tim Holtz' Gathered Twigs.  It is the deepest, most gorgeous brown to work with...especially when doing vintage work.  But, I have to say that I equally love Black Soot used in conjunction with Gathered Twigs to give a more worn and aged appearance.  So, while Gathered Twig is my favorite, I also used a lot Black Soot on this card.

At this point, I have to say that I am so mad!! I took pictures of each step as I was putting this card together but for whatever reason, my memory card in my camera would only let me open the very first picture I took.  So, I apologize that I don't have the step by step photos.  But...I do have several of the finished card to share with you! 

I started with two 5x7 chipboard pieces.  I covered the interiors and the back side of the card with papers from Tim Holtz' Crowded Attic and Lost and Found Paper Stashes.  I sanded all of the edges and distressed them first with Gathered Twigs and then a touch of Black Soot.

I wanted the front cover to be "artsy" and a little dimensional ... not just a piece of card stock slapped onto the chipboard.  So, I brushed Matte Multi Medium over the front of the 5x7 chipboard and covered it with plain white tissue paper that was bunched up for texture.  Then I brushed the Matte Multi Medium over the entire front and I used my Heat It Craft Tool to heat set it. That craft tool is awesome!  It is quiet and it also heats at a little slower rate so as not to "cook" what you're working on...especially embossed things.  Next I added a base coat of Tim Holtz' Weathered Wood Distress Paint.  I love the permanent color it dries to...so soft and chalky looking.  Next I added a thin layer of Paper Artsy's Fresco Crackle Glaze and gently heat set it.  I added a top coat of Antique Linen Distress Paint and almost instantly is started crackling.  Subtle over the already textured cover but I liked it.  Finally, I added some distressing with Gathered Twigs over the raised areas of the front and along the edges. 

Next I stamped my lovely girl image from Tim Holtz' Classics #5 stamp set onto a piece of Specialty Stamping Paper.  I heat set her then colored her with my Faber-Castell Watercolor Pencils.  I cut her out, leaving a slight edge and colored that with my Scattered Straw Distress Marker followed by running my Black Soot Distress Marker just at the edge.  From there, I wasn't sure where the front cover was going from this point, so I set it to the side and worked on the interior. 

I added the cardstock to the interior of the inside cover, leaving an edge of the textured front cover showing.  I created a pocket and lined the top of it with one of the tapes from my favorite tissue tape collection of all time, Tim Holtz' new Elements Tissue Tape.  I use the heck out of that group!  I had some little Dresden style gold foil corners that I added to finish off that page.  

This pocket would be great for possibly a gift card or for enclosing a picture or a special note.

 This photo also shows the skewer binding and how it connects the two covers together. Love it!
 

On the other interior page, I matted a piece of cream colored card stock cut 5 3/4 x 3 3/4 and distressed it with Gathered Twigs.  Then I stamped the sentiment in the center with Jet Black Archival and ran some more tissue tape from the same collection across the top and bottom.  I added a little more Gathered Twigs over it and it just seemed to disappear into the cream card stock background. Love it! Then I matted it onto a piece of 4x6 deep brown card stock and glued it in place.  Now to finish off the front of the card and then get to play with the skewers!

I stamped a long strip of the Artful Tools brushes onto a piece of cream card stock that I had distressed with Gathered Twigs.  I cut the paper to fit on the edge of my card and tore the one edge of the card that would overlap the straight edge on my lady's face.  I glued it into place.  Then I had to do something with the straight edge across the top of her head.  So, I spritzed some Scattered Straw Distress Stain that I have taken out of it's original bottle and put into a 2 oz. Mister Bottle.  (That is a great tip from Tim Holtz and Wendy Vecchi).  After heating it dry, I stamped the measuring tape from Tim's Artful Tools stamp set and cut it apart.  I wanted to make it look like those old wooden jointed rulers that I'd seen as a child.  So I distressed each piece of ruler with Gathered Twigs and edged it with Black Soot.  Then I glued each piece onto a piece of chipboard that was inked with Gathered Twigs.  I left a slight edge on either side of the stamped measuring tape.  I edged the chipboard with Black Soot.  

Next I jointed some of the measuring tape with a Long Fasteners. I added "Enjoy The Journey" on top of the top ruler piece.  That sentiment is so broad, it can cover about anything you might want to say on a card.  I sat the measuring tape to the side until I'd added my skewers.  They were so much fun!!!!

I colored two wooden skewers with Gathered Twigs and cut them to be 5x7.  Next I created the calligraphy pens out of them by adding Pen Nibs to the top. I colored them first with a Gold Paint Dabber and then added just a touch of Gathered Twigs to the gold paint to dull it down a little.  Then I added a touch of Pitch Paint Dabber to the tips of the nibs to look more like used pens.  I fashioned the pen nibs around the skewers and glued them into place using Glossy Accents.  When dry, I added the wrapped and knotted twine.  They were finished now so I laid them to the side and I began making the card stock hinged for the skewers.  

~ Adding the Hinges ~

The hinges are pieces of contrasting or coordinating cardstock that are cut into 2 1/2" wide strips.  You need 8 total strips.  I made five hinges out of the collaged tickets from one of Tim's paper stashes and 3 hinges out of the collaged measuring tapes from another of Tim's paper stashes.  After cutting the 2 1/2" wide strips, I scored them at 1" and then again at 2" on my Martha Stewart Score Pad.  Then I added 1/4" Scor Tape along the outside edge of the remaining 1/2" strip of card stock.  Next I folded the card stock at the 1" line, removed the Scor Tape backing and folded it over to cover the card stock I had just folded; making a 1" folded strip.  Next I cut those into 3" sections and using my Deco Art Corner Chomper, I punched all of the corners of the strips to give a more decorative look. I edged them with Gathered Twigs and laid them out on my skewers.  Then I added just a touch of Glossy Accents on each edge to glue them shut.  I alternated the card stock and hot glued the hinges onto the skewers.  I attached 5 hinges on the skewer that would be on the left side of the card and 3 hinges on the skewer that would be on the right side...the one that you remove to open the card.  The hinges not only alternate in their color or pattern but they also alternate on the skewers when hot gluing them onto the card front and back. 

I lined up the left side of the card first and glued the fronts of the hinges (with the skewer in place) alternating every other hinge onto the front cover.  I only glued THREE of the five hinges onto the front of the left side. The other two will later be glued onto the back cover.  Then I centered the other two hinges that would be glued onto the front of the card on the opposite side (skewer in place) and hot glued them in place.  Next I stacked the back cover underneath the front cover and lined them up.  I turned the card over and hot glued the remaining hinges in their places on the back cover.  Now the card was completely constructed.  



Here is a picture of the back of the card.  You can see how the hinges line up on both the front and the back of the card from the pictures and why it is so important to be sure that you are alternating all of the hinges.  Pretty cool, huh?

Now, all I needed to do was finish embellishing the front cover.  I added the jointed measuring tape it's place.  Then I decided to add the dimensional butterfly; reminiscent of the "Silence of the Lambs" poster.

I distressed a piece of cream card stock with Broken China Distress Ink and stamped the largest of Tim Holtz' Papillon butterflies onto it.  Next I stamped the same butterfly (using Jet Black Archival Ink) onto a piece of clear transparency and gently heat set it.  I cut both out and stacked them on top of each other using Glossy Accents at the body.  I added the wire antenna for more dimension.  



Next I added the Drawer Pull.  I used two separate words from Tim Holtz' Chitchat to create "Discover You" and glued them into place behind the Drawer Pull.  I also added a piece of distressed cream card stock with a smaller version of Tim's steampunk style gears behind the Draw Pull for more interest in that corner.  On the opposite side of the card, there was an area that seemed blank to me.  So I filled that spot with a faux porcelain Mini Numeral that was distressed Pitch, Gold and Juniper Paint Dabbers.  After those were heat set, I used Distress Embossing Ink and clear UTEE to create the faux porcelain look.  Finally, I had some round metal "doodads" (some of my flea market treasures) that I think added some neat texture and "finish" to the tops of the hinges. 

So, that is my Gathered Twigs (and Black Soot) creation for you...a fancy card with a skewer binding.  I hope you like it and hopefully you learned how to make one for yourself.  Stop by Simon Says Stamp and Show and see the beautiful creations that my Design Teammates have made to share with you.  Then, whatever ink pad is your favorite, make something wonderful with it and enter our challenge.  You could be the lucky winner of our weekly random drawing of 

$50.00!  You might also receive our coveted special recognition for being one of the 

TOP THREE entries for the week.  I can't wait to see your inspiration!

Here are all of the products available at Simon Says Stamp and Show that were used in creating this Tim Holtz style card:

InLinkz.com