Artist's Trading Cards- Christmas Style!

I LOVE Tim Holtz! There I've said it! I love his inky, grungey art and his products that make it so easy to achieve the same effects. He's a brilliant teacher and his blog is a MUST for anyone wanting to get inky!

When I saw his November Technique post on his blog using his masks I knew I wanted to play! 

So using the same techniques I decided to apply them to some Christmas Artist's Trading Cards I am making for a swap.

You will need:-

2 or 3 Distress Ink Pads (they are reactive with water and work best)

Small water sprayer

Worksheet (or plastic sheet to work on)

Lumiere Paints (anything with a pearlescent or sparkly finish)

White cardstock

Tim Holtz Masks

Cut 'n' Dry Foam 

Embellishments (such as die cuts, glitter etc.)

Firstly squidge your ink pads onto your worksheet to create patches of colour. I added some blobs of  Lumiere paint for some added sparkle.

Spray the inks with a fine mist of water.

Next take your cardstock or blank ATC and flop it down onto the ink mixture- twist it slightly then lift. If there are missed places dips those back onto the ink until they are covered,

Now dry the ATC with your heat gun or leave to dry completely. 

Now take a Mask and apply it to your inked ATC. If you don't have any masks make your own from pieces of lace, doillie or die cut a shape, use Hermafix to apply your mask temporarily to your ATC.

When the mask is in place apply a darker shade of ink over and around the edges of the mask.

Leaving the Mask in place use a stamp to enhance the background of your ATC.

Carefully remove the mask and allow the ink to dry thoroughly.

Now you can add the embellishments.

 I die cut a star (Sizzix) and covered it with some 'text' paper. I used some Lumiere paint and dabbed a bit around the edges of the star. I also applied some purple around the edges of the ATC to create a frame.

I also added some double sided tape to my ATC and pressed glitter onto it ( did I mention that I like glitter?!!) For the holly I used die cut holly leaves (Quickutz) and the berries are blobs of Distress Stickles. Add a Dymo Tape message and you're done!

So there you have it a technique from one of my favourite crafters, Tim Holtz applied small scale to ATC's. It's a great way to produce several ATC's all in one go yet each one is different from the next!

Have fun getting inky!

Katie x

Comments

[Charlotte]

Katie this is absolutely gorgeous, thanks for all the step by step photies, they are fab! x

[Barb (aka Craft Junkie)]

It's beautiful and thanks so much for sharing your "how-to"...great stuff to use in lot's of my other artwork. So a big thanks!!!
Peace & Love,
~Barb~

[Tracey]

Cool techniques - I love Tim too lol TFS XXX