Christmas in July

This is one of those projects that sort of took on a life of its own.  I was thinking, "Hey, I should make a Christmas card for Simon Says Stamp Monday Christmas in July Blog Hop Challenge", and I ended up with a Christmas canvas.   Hmmmmmmmm.  Ever had one of those kinds of projects?

The SSS DT featured Tim Holtz products in their projects.  Of course, that was right down my alley.  I will tell you in advance that there are several pictures.  Some of the pictures were taken outside in the sunshine and some inside my house (due to the fact that the metal parts of my canvas reflected in the sunshine and left me with less-than-desirable outdoor images).  So here is my Christmas in July canvas using Tim Holtz products.

I started with a canvas board.   I gave it a coat of gesso.  Then I grabbed my Ranger Texture Paste.  It was almost dried up.  I had to rehydrate it with some water.  I ended up having to get a new canister anyway to cover the entire board.  I wanted more texture, so I grabbed some Wendy Vecchi Crackle Texture Paste and applied it around the edges.  Once this was all dry, I applied a coat of Antique Linen Distress Paint.  I gave everything a wash of watered-down Frayed Burlap Distress Stain.   I then gave the background a coat of Vintage Distress Collage Medium.  Now I grabbed my Walnut Stain and Frayed Burlap Distress Crayons to get in all those lovely nooks and crannies.  Oh the grungy goodness!

Oh, before I forget, while the Texture Paste was still wet, I used a Tim Holtz Laurel 3D Impresslits die cut to make an impression at the top right corner of the background.  I knew I was going to use some of these Laurel die cuts to embellish this canvas and wanted to see if I could use one in a different way.  Not bad!

Let's talk about embellishments.  I used a Black Soot and Rusty Hinge Distress Ink and blending tool to color a Distress Mixed Media Heavy Cardstock tag.  I used a piece of Tim's Ideaology paper to stamp the wreath and "Merry Christmas" (from Tim's Mini Holiday 5 stamp set).  I used Peeled Paint Distress Ink for the wreath and Aged Mahogany Distress Ink for the Merry Christmas (embossed with clear embossing powder and a gold glitter pen was used to create a drop shadow).  This was edged with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink. I colored a Joyful Christmas Muse Token with Rusty Hinge and Salty Ocean Distress Paint and Latte Alcohol Ink.  I tied it with a bit of grunge twine.  Layered on top of this tag a piece of stripe printed paper (that I stamped with various stamps in brown inks and edged with a bit of lace) and a copy of "Joy to the World" from Tim's paper stash.  This layer was raised a bit with some foam adhesive squares.  A distressed paper doily and an ephemera advertisement from Tim's paper stash peek out from under this layer.

As for the two 3D Laurel die cuts, I cut them out of gold foil cardstock.  I colored them with Latte, Caramel, Ginger and Rust alcohol inks.  Then I used Black Soot, Rusty Hinge and Salty Ocean Distress Paints (spritzed with some water) and dried with a heat tool to create the rusty patina finish on the die cuts.  I used the same treatment on the key hole and keys on the canvas.

I added several Tim Holtz die cuts.  In the pic of the key above you will find holly (from Tim's Holiday Greens Thinlits set) that I adhered to the background, covered with a thin layer of texture paste and Matte Collage Medium, and colored with Walnut Stain and Peeled Paint Distress Crayons.  these lovely leaves were highlighted with a little DecoArt Orange Flicker Metallic Lustre.   In the picture below you will find more holly die cuts (from Tim's Mixed Media Christmas Thinlits set).  This time I colored the leaves with Peeled Paint Distress Paint and Walnut Stain Distress Crayons and sanded the edges.  I then colored the stems with Walnut Stain Distress Crayons.  Just the leaves and stems were given a layer of Matte Collage Medium and splattered with Antique Linen Distress Paint.   The berries were colored with Aged Mahogany Distress Ink and a water brush.  I covered the berries with glossy accents.  Love them!

One of my favorite parts of this canvas are the roses.  I used Tim's pine cone die to make these.  (see a YouTube video on how to use this die to make roses and other flowers) This why I love Tim Holtz products.  They are so versatile! All you have to do is follow the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Christmas in July Blog Hop to see how versatile they are.  A shout out to the amazingly creative DT team there.  They are true artists.  His products really fit my grungy aesthetic. And ... if you follow Tim's demo videos (he has several on his Tim Holtz YouTube channel), his products work as advertised.  Not all crafting products are like that.

Anyway, back to the roses.  I die cut the roses from Distress Mixed Media Heavy Cardstock.  I then used one of Tim's new products, Distress Resist Spray, and spritzed on the die cut and let it dry.  I then applied Aged Mahogany and Walnut Stain Distress Ink on the die cut with a blending tool.  I misted this with a little water to activate the ink.  Next I used dry paper towel and wiped off the excess ink off of the Resist area.  I sanded to "petal edges" and assembled the die cut as directed for a rose nd voila ... it looks like a snow covered rose!

That's it for now.  Thanks for dropping by.  Maybe I'll get into the craft room today and actually make that Christmas card!  Hope you get your hands inky too.

Hugs to you all.

Mary Elizabeth