Tim Tag March 2014

I haven't been doing the Tim Holtz monthly tags, but the one this month has an interesting technique called "smudge stamping", in which you deliberately smudge a detailed stamp.  I thought I would give it a try.

The bird he uses on his tag reminded me to the birds in the all for love stamp set from AMuse Studio, so I gave them a try.  I didn't like it at first, but the more I look at it, the more it is growing on me.

Layered Goosebumps ATC

I was excited to see the Technique Junkies ATC swap brought back to life by Shelly Schmidt, one of the most talented stampers I've had the pleasure to swap with.  I struggled to pick a technique to start with, until I noticed the Layered Goosebumps technique in the listings.  I had purchased a bottle of Goosebumps spray a while back, but had not had the opportunity to use it.

The mica powder in the goosebumps spray is scanning as grey splotches, but in real life, these are very textured and shimmery.  The apha punches are another thing I don't use as often as I should, but I have to admit that it is often difficult to glue them and place them in a straight line.  I also have to admit that in my basement, that backing cardstock that I also used for the letters looked black.  Sometimes things don't come out the way you plan...

The rose stamps is from a springtime day set from AMuse Studio.  It's one of the few flowers I have that isn't a solid stamp but looks fine just stamped in black.  Sometimes that is all you want.

Challenges:

• Fantasy Stampers - Rose Garden
• Creative Corner - texture
• Stempelsonne - Spring

Bouquet in a Box

I wanted to make something really special for my sister's birthday, so when I saw the directions for this card on Extreme Cards and Papercrafts, I knew I had to give it a try:

I used all kinds of flower and leaf punches and dies, and the sentiment is from amuse studio.  The card folds flat and fits in a 6x6 envelope.

Challenges:

• SweetStamps blog - spring flowers
• Quirky Crafts - secret garden
• Sunflowerfield - birthdays/flowers
• Challenges and Candies - flowers
• Inky Impressions - 3-d