Treehouse(s)

This idea got stuck in my head after I made tiny houses as ornaments for in the Christmas tree. See my post here.

I made the tree from three different sizes tubes. They fit into each other so they go from wide to small.

I covered the tubes with aluminium foil and taped it together with masking tape. 

The branches were made with wire, also covered with foil and tape. I taped the branches to the tree with the masking tape.

I fixed the tree to a base made from two wooden boxes. These boxes are the packaging for wooden embellishments. I removed some of the dividing pieces, so I could hide the battery pack from the light string in it.  

Then I covered the tree with pieces of a white t-shirt, that I soaked in a textile hardener. When this was dry I painted the tree brown. I did not like the texture from the t-shirt, so I covered the tree with a sand paste. 

Then I painted it brown again and used moss effect paste to make it even more look like a tree.

The houses were made with the Tim Holtz die Paper Village. I used white cardstock and corrugated paper. For the doors and window frames I cut out the inside pieces and fussy cut around it.

To fasten the houses to the branches I made platforms from wooden sticks. I glued the sticks together and colored them with Distress Spray Gathered Twigs.

After it dried I glued the platforms to the branches using Distress Collage Medium.

I made stairs from a small piece of cardstock, I folded it and colored it with Distress Ink Gathered Twigs. I glued the pieces of stairs to the platforms and the tree with Collage Medium.

I put a light string under the stairs and through a hole in the platforms so the tree could light up. I glued the lights to the tree with a hot glue gun.

Then I glued the houses to platforms.

The leaves were made with watercolor paper and colored with my favorite Green Distress ink: Rustic Wilderness. 
To give the tree a bit of color I made tiny flowers using the Sizzix/Tim Holtz die Funky Floral #2. I glued them to the leaves.

I made mini rectangle flowerpots, put some moss in it and glued some tiny flowers in the moss.

Then I made some toadstools from clay, and painted them with distress paint and acrylic paint.

To finish the project I glued some moss around the bottom of the tree.

Products used:
Watercolor paper, kraft paper, corrugated paper
Ranger Distress Ink: Rustic Wilderness, Aged Mahogany, Walnut Stain, Scattered Straw, Abandoned Coral
Ranger Distress Spray Stain: Gathered Twigs
Ranger: Distress Collage Medium Crazing
Sizzix dies Bigz: Garden Greens
Sizzix dies thinlits: Garden Greens, Funky Floral #2, Paper Village
DecoArt media Texture Sand Paste
Cadence Moss Effect Paste dark green and light green
Acrylic paint
Cardboard tubes
Aluminium foil
Masking tape
Cloth (old t-shirt)
Textile hardener
Wire
Wooden sticks
Light string

Brushstroke Flowers Birthday card

This card was made with the beautiful Brushstroke Flowers die from Sizzix  / Tim Holtz.

The flowers were cut first and then colored with distress ink and a waterbrush. I did not take the die-cuts out of the paper to do this. It’s much easier to color them this way.

For the background I smooshed Distress ink on the black glass side of my glassmat.
And dragged the paper through the ink.

Products used:
Ranger Watercolor paper
Ranger Distress Ink: Abandoned  oral, Scattered Straw, Gathered Twigs, Ground Espresso, Forest moss, Peeled Paint, Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness, Tumbled Glass, Speckled Egg, Old Paper, Shabby Shutters.
Ranger Distress Crackle paste
Sizzix dies: Holiday Brushstroke, Brushstroke flowers 1
Stampers Anonymous: stamp Glorious Bouquet CMS325

Steampunk Easter(egg)

 
In a youtube-live Tim Holtz showed us how to make a steampunk heart
For Valentine.  Check it out right here. I also put Tiny Lights behind the egg.

I made the egg the same way Tim made the heart. It’s a styropor egg covered with foil tape.

The gears are made from chipboard. I cut them all twice to make them a little thicker. I painted them with Distress Paint Brushed Pewter, but did not like the way they looked. So I covered them with Stampendous Fran-tage aged silver embossing enamel. This gave them a more aged look.

I did not have the Vignette frames, so I made my own. I used the Sizzix die Decor frames and some chipboard. I tried it with some copy paper first because the frames from this die are a lot smaller then the vignette box.

I cut out four and cut them up into two pieces. I could make a frame with the four bigger pieces that fit exactly on the vignette box. The four smaller pieces I put on top of the lager frame to give it some texture. 

To add even more texture I put crackle paste on it. After it dried I colored the frame with Distress Spray Stain Gathered Twigs.

The foot was also made with gears cut out of chipboard.

The flowers, feather and egg were left over from the Spring Birthday Card (previous post).

I also added a little bit of moss as the finishing touch.

Products used:
Ranger Watercolor paper
Ranger Distress Ink: Speckled Egg, Gathered Twigs, Forest Moss, Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness, Peeled Paint, Walnut Stain, Scattered Straw, Wild Honey
Ranger Distress Crayon: Gathered Twigs
Ranger Distress Spray Stain: Gathered Twigs
Ranger Alcohol Ink: Mushroom
Ranger Alcohol Ink Foil Tape
Ranger: Distress Crackle paste, Distress Collage Medium
Sizzix dies: Gadget Gears #2, Mechanical, Industrial, Steampunk Parts, Funky Nature, Decor Frames
Sizzix 3D Texture Fades: Foundry
Idea-ology: Vignette boxes, Paperstash Wallflower, Tiny Lights, Game Spinners, Quote Chips Theories
Styropor egg
Chipboard 

Spring Birthday Card

For this card I used an old die from Sizzix / Tim Holtz and a new one, Small Tattered Florals and Funky Nature.

The small flowers were cut first and then colored with distress ink and a waterbrush.
The bottom flowers were colored by smooshing Distress ink on the craftsheet and dipping some watercolor paper in the ink.

For the background I smooshed Distress Oxide ink on the glass side of my glassmat.
And dragged the paper through the ink. I added some texture by using crackle paste and a stencil.

Products used:
Ranger Watercolor paper
Ranger Distress Ink: Speckled Egg, Gathered Twigs, Forest Moss, Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness, Peeled Paint, Walnut Stain, Wild Honey, Crackling Campfire
Ranger Distress Oxide: Speckled Egg, Antique Linen
Ranger Distress Crackle paste
Sizzix dies: Small Tattered Florals, Funky Nature
Stampers Anonymous: stencil Flourish THS032, stamp Glorious Bouquet CMS325

CHEERS!

I wanted to make a cheerful birthday card with a summer vibe, so 
I choose the sizzix Tim Holtz die Happy Hour. A fun die with cocktails.

The glasses were made with vellum. The content of the glasses were made with mixed media paper and different colors of Distress ink. I glued the content down on the vellum glasses and covered it with Embossing ink and clear embossing powder to make it look more like glass. I did this several times to get a thick layer on top.

The fruit slices and umbrellas were also made with mixed media paper. I covered the back with double sided tape, to make it easier to stick the tiny parts down. The ice cubes are also made with vellum.

Then I made a bright blue background with some watercolor paper.
I used the Sizzix die Alphanumeric Bold to make the sentiment.

I cut it out and colored the letters blue and put them back in the negative.


Products used:
Ranger Watercolor paper
Ranger Distress Ink: Pine Needles, Cracked Pistachio, Squeezed Lemonade, Scattered Straw, Crackling Campfire, Twisted Citron, Kitsch Flamingo, Aged Mahogany, Dusty Concord, Rustic Wilderness, Wild Honey, Peeled Paint, Broken China, Salty Ocean, Faded Jeans
Sizzix dies: Alphanumeric Bold, Happy Hour