RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR WITH FRAYED FABRIC

HAPPY NEW YEAR ~ 2015!!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and you're now looking forward to a happily creative New Year filled with love, personal peace and joy.

We're kicking off the new year at the Compendium of Curiosities III Challenge using Tim Holtz' Frayed Fabric technique on page 66 in his book.  So turn to page 66 and check it out!!

Since Tim's birthday is fast approaching (the 7th of this month), I decided to take this opportunity to make a handmade frayed fabric birthday card for him.  I used some of Tim's Eclectic Elements Fabric as my background.

I have to apologize for the lack of photographs during the creative process of this card.  I had actually taken step by steps using my Iphone for a change.  But, before I had a chance to write up this blog post, my Iphone's battery died ... yep, DEAD AS A DOORNAIL ! I am NOT happy about that but thankfully my much anticipated NEW Iphone arrived before I go to CHA next week.  So, a happy ending.  But, I was not able to retrieve my step by step photos, so I'll just "wing it" with photographs I took of all of the elements for the card before I glued them in place.  I will share what I did to create each piece.

Word to the wise, if you have not backed up the information on your Iphone in a while, you might want to do that.  You never know when the ol' battery could go kaput!

So, here are the photos I managed to take and let's get started!!!

 

First of all ... HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TIM!!!  

This is the finished card.  It measures approximately 7 1/2" x  6".  The background for the cover is from Tim's Eclectic Elements material pad.  There are some really cool patterned swatches of fabric in these pads.  If you love his vintage papers from his paper stashes, then you will LOVE these fabrics! The piece I chose to use is a collage of all sorts of numbers ... something I thought appropriate for a birthday card.  

I softened the number images and the colors by white washing the material with several light coats of Picket Fence and then tinting the material with some lightly watered down Broken China Distress Paint that I smeared on to the fabric using my fingers.  When dry, I clipped around the background with pinking sheers and after adding some machine stitching for more interest, I frayed the edges.

I heat embossed (using Ranger's Embossing Ink and Fine Detail Black Embossing Powder) Tim's Blueprint Birthday Cupcake stamped onto a piece of muslin using Jet Black Archival Ink.  I layered a piece of thin batting between two layers of the muslin and using black thread, I machine stitched around the cupcake.  I then cut out around it and frayed the edges.  Check out Tim's frayed fabric technique to see exactly how I frayed the fabric...I can't give that away!

Then I colored the cupcake with Broken China, Festive Berries and Mustard Seed Distress Inks and a Water Brush.  Once set, I lightly added some Pink Bubblegum, Blue Raspberry and Sunflower Sparkle Perfect Pearls and a bit of water on a Water Brush to highlight colored areas of the cupcake. 

** When you pick up some dry Perfect Pearls Powders onto the end of a water brush, you create a shimmery sort of semi opaque paint. It's wonderful for create little subtle highlights!

Next it was time to make "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" to add to the card.  I used black cardstock and Tim's Alphanumeric thin die cuts to create the festive banners.  I simply laid the letters onto my Vagabond platform, added the black cardstock over them, carefully covered them with the plastic top and ran them through.  Then I glued pieces of muslin onto a couple of pieces of cardstock, cut out around them, leaving a bit of a border so I could fray the material and then glued the cut out banners on top of each piece of cardstock backed muslin.  I then machine stitched around the black banners and frayed the edges. Fun!!!

Next I created the large metal numeral "2" and the Alpha Parts "U" to finish out the phrase "HAPPY BIRTHDAY 2 U" for the front of the card.

I used Tim's chipped enamel technique on the "2" and I love how it turned out.  I began by coating the metal number with black gesso and letting it dry.  Once dry, I added a coat of White Crackle Paste on top of it (using my finger). Once that was dry, I lightly added some Black Soot Distress Ink to the edges of the "2".  I coated the "2" with Embossing Ink, sprinkled it with Clear UTEE and heat set it to create that chipped enamel effect.

The "U" was sanded to give it some "tooth" and then I added a light coat of Black Gesso.  When dry, I added a light coat of White Crackle Paste (using my finger).  When dry, I added a light coat of watered down Tarnished Brass Distress Paint, heat set it and added a tint of Broken China Distress Ink with my finger.  I sprayed the "U" with a sealer to keep the crackle from possibly flaking off.

The original Philosophy Tag to the left is a copper color.  I altered the tag using a Gold Paint Dabber.  When dry, I smeared Pitch Black Paint into the letters and numbers and wiped off the excess.  ( I had also darkened the letters and numbers earlier to the tag on the left to give them greater definition).  Then I added little touches of a Pool Paint Dabber (using my finger) to give the tag and also the Game Spinner and Long Fastener head a patina look. This photograph does not do justice to the real patina look that the tag has.  I assembled the Ideaology pieces and hot glued them together.

I used Tim's Chevron Stencil and Jet Black Archival Ink to add some random chevron patterns to the upper right of the background.  

Next I laid all of my finished elements onto the background and figured out my spacing.  I glued the "HAPPY" and "BIRTHDAY" banners in place and added the small Mirrored Star above the "I" in "BIRTHDAY".  Using Tim's Tonic Craft Pick, I punched holes and added Long Fasteners into the "2" to hold it in place.  Then I used Tim's Hammer to distress the heads of the Long Fasteners.  I hot glued the birthday cupcake in place followed by the "U". 

There seemed to be a blank space on the cover to the right of the cupcake that bothered me so I decided to add one more element ... a combination Tag Label and Heart Charm wired around the candle. I added "here and now" Remnant Rubons from Tim's Life Quotes Set onto the Tag Label.  



Again, I pierced a hole using Tim's Craft Pick on either side of the candle and wired the Tag Label and Heart Charm, joined together by a small Jump Ring, in place.  They are free to dangle and the heart charm does that.  But, the Tag Label is pretty much held in place by the wire. 

I then added the card front onto a card base cut from a 7 1/2" x 6" piece of kraft cardstock.  To hold the card front in place, I added several strips of 1/2" Scor Tape to the surface of the kraft cardstock.  A little Black Soot Distress Ink was also added to the edges and the center fold line of the card for a more distressed look.

Open the card and I have added "ENJOY YOUR SPECIAL DAY".  These letters are also cut from Tim's Alphanumeric thin die cuts.  Don't they look really different when using them like this instead of using them to create a cardstock banner?  I glued the letters in place using Glossy Accents and then added a coat of Glossy Accents to the tops of each letter to give them a shiny, more dimensional look.

Happy Birthday, Tim!  I hope you have the most special birthday yet.  And I hope that all of you enjoyed reading about the process in bringing this card together.

Now it's YOUR turn to start the New Year off right and join us at Compendium of Curiosities III Challenge.  Create something really fun using Tim's frayed fabric technique and enter our challenge.  If you are chosen as one of our two lucky winners, you could win a fabulous ....

     

$50.00 gift certificate from the generous folks at Inspiration Emporium! A huge thank you to them for their continued support of our challenge!

Or ... you might be our lucky winner of an amazingly generous prize package donated by Tim and Mario especially for our challenges! Take a look at THIS ....

All this goodness from those wonderful guys .. Tim and Mario!  So come join us and get in on the fun and the camaraderie of artists who love sharing Tim's techniques, his products and their own individual ideas on some absolutely gorgeous entries.

Good luck!!!