Hugs and Kisses

Hello Everyone!

Today my card is just for fun! I really wanted to do something with with my new Tim Holtz paints, sprays and stains that just arrived from The Funkie Junkie Boutique and some of my favourite Tim Holtz techniques, so this is what I put together. I realize my card doesn't look very Tim Holtz-ish, but his ink products can be used to create any style of card, it's all in how you use them!

For the background layer, I used Tim's paint marbling technique (page 43-vol 3). I used Picket Fence and Antique Linen distress paints and then I used a Crafter's Workshop Woodgrain stencil with some home made texture paste (coloured with DecoArt Tan acrylic paint) to add the pattern. After the paste dried, I lightly swiped it with some Gathered Twigs ink using my blending tool.

The flourish die behind the hearts is Honeysuckle vine from Memory Box which I coloured with Gathered Twigs distress stain. The sentiment is from Heartfelt Creations - stamped with Ranger Archival ink Coffee. The corner piece was made with crafter's clay and a silicone mold and coloured with Gathered Twigs stain and DecoArt Crafter's Acrylic White paint.

In keeping with my New Year's resolution, I have pulled out a Spellbinders border die called A2 Curved Borders to cut the shaped panel behind the hearts. I painted it white and then streaked it with my brand new Tim Holtz Spun Sugar and Victorian Velvet distress stains. I used Crafter's Workshop Damask Flourish stencil with some beige home-made texture paste and then covered it with some Rock Candy distress glitter while it was wet.

The hearts were cut using a Go Kreate set. The bottom heart was painted white, streaked with Spun Sugar and Victorian Velvet stains, spritzed it with Picket Fence spray and then stamped with a Rubbernecker Damask Flourish stamp using Coffee ink. The top heart has two layers, the bottom I created a woodgrain effect using a combination of distress inks, sprays and paints. The top heart was made using a variation of Tim's paint resist technique (page 47-vol 3).

I'm ashamed to say that the flowers are NOT hand made, I did dye them myself though. I used Tim Holtz Fired Brick and Aged Mahogany sprays to get the desired rich red I wanted, I just dipped a small brush directly into the bottle for the perfect application (OK, almost perfect, I did get a little on the stamens. lol). The leaves are from Spellbinders Foliage set.

The tags were cut with Tim Holtz Tiny Tabs and Tag. One was stamped using a Kaisercraft Birdcage stamp and the other was stamped with Spun Sugar and the Rubbernecker Damask stamp and spritzed with some Worn Lipstick spray for contrast. Both tags were edged using Gathered Twigs. The teeny tiny hearts were cut out using a punch and popped up on pop dots.

After the card was finished, I took some Antique Linen and Gathered Twigs distress sprays and flicked a little bit here and there with my brush to get some drops and drips.

I am entering my Hugs and Kisses card into the following wonderful challenges:

- City Crafter Challenge Blog - Week #248 - You Matter
- Stamplorations - February Challenge - Stamps and Hearts
- Inspiration Journal - February Challenge - Love is in the Air

- The Artistic Stamper - February Challenge - Love
- That's Crafty! - Be My Valentine

That's it for today. Thank you for stopping in and for all the amazing comments. I read and appreciate every single one! If you have any questions, please let me know.