Friday Focus - Tim Holtz/Ranger Collage Mediums and Texture Pastes

Hi everyone and welcome! It's Zoe here with a brand new Friday Focus. This is our opportunity to share with you ideas, tips and techniques for using a specific product or range currently available at The Funkie Junkie Boutique. And even better news, those products then have an extra 15% discount added through the coming two weeks!

In the spotlight this time are Tim Holtz and Ranger Collage Mediums and Texture Pastes. I have made a couple of tags to go into a travel journal using distress collage medium matte, vintage, crazing and texture paste. Here's how...

Start with a #8 manila tag and gather ephemera and distress collage medium matte.

Layer and overlap the ephemera and adhere to the tag with distress collage medium matte and trim the excess. Add a final layer of distress collage medium matte over the top. The dry time on this is seconds but the surface remains slick enough to blend in distress crayon.

Which brings me nicely to my next step... trace around the ephemera with a distress crayon and blend with your finger. Spritz with water and allow the crayon to wick slightly. As the distress collage medium matte creates a waterproof barrier, the water droplets will sit on the surface of your tag so you will need to dry with a heat tool or pat dry with kitchen paper.

Distress the edges of the tag with a paper distressing tool and run distress crayon around the edge and blend with your finger.

Using a splatter brush, flick picket fence distress paint onto the tag and set aside to dry. Once dry, spread texture paste through a stencil using a palette knife and also set aside to air dry. You can mix a drop of distress reinker or distress paint with texture paste on your craft matt to colour it, however, as my tags were so grungy I left the texture paste white.

Age an adornment charm by rubbing a tiny drop of weathered wood distress paint between your fingers and rub onto the charm. Using a cotton bud add a hint of mushroom alcohol ink. Die cut a hole reinforcer and adhere both with distress collage medium matte. I love that it adheres paper as well as metal embellishments and substrate surfaces.

For the second tag, follow the same steps but this time instead of covering the tag with a final layer of distress collage medium matte, use distress collage medium vintage.

The distress collage medium vintage creates a really gorgeous vintage hue over the tag, whilst still sealing it like the collage medium matte. It also provides a slick surface to blend distress crayon into the edges of the ephemera for definition.

Cover several pieces of ephemera with distress collage medium crazing using your finger, (it does not need to be a thick layer), and set aside to air dry.

 Once dry you will see that cracks have formed. Rub distress crayon onto your craft mat and add a tiny drop of water. Mix with your finger and rub over the ephemera. I really loaded it on and then wiped away the excess with kitchen paper so the crayon just sits in the cracks. Seriously, the crazing medium is ridiculously cool!

I painted an adornment charm with mermaid lagoon and peeled paint distress paint and glued into place with distress collage medium matte, along with a hole reinforcer. I added texture paste as before.

I punched holes into the side of the tags using a page pocket as a guide.

Have you seen these cool idea-ology pocket cards by Tim Holtz?

They fit perfectly in the idea-ology page pockets and make journaling or memory keeping really simple.

I intend to use one of the new idea-ology worn binders for my travel album, but until then, this 2 ring binder keeps it all together while I build my album.

I covered the reverse of the tags with a card from the idea-ology pocket cards using distress collage medium matte.

I will make some more tags to put between the page pockets ready for travel later in the year. This is a such a quick project to make to take when you travel and the page pockets will keep any ephemera you collect along the way. Tim Holtz and Ranger have also just released a small bottle of the distress collage medium matte which would be perfect travel size to take with you and journal on the road, especially if you have a instax or other portable photo printer.

I hope that you've enjoyed this tutorial and that you're inspired to check out more of these products, especially while they are carry that extra 15% discount at The Funkie Junkie Boutique!

Have a great weekend!
Zoe

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium Matte TDAK47933 (February Pre-Order)	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium Crazing TDAK47957 (February Pre-Order)	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium Vintage TDAK47940 (February Pre-Order)	Ranger Texture Paste	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Crayons - 6PC Set #3 TDBK47926 (February Pre-order)
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Ephemera Pack - Thrift Shop	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Ephemera Pack, Emporium	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Vial Labels	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Adornments Souvenir	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Mini Fasteners
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Pocket Cards	Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Mini Layering Stencils - Set 1 THMST001 (February Pre-Order)	Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Layering Stencils - Traveler	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Linen Ribbon	Ranger Inkssentials Surfaces Tags - #8Tags - Manila
Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Picket Fence	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Weathered Wood	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Peeled Paint	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Mermaid Lagoon	Ranger Adirondack Alcohol Ink - Mushroom
Tim Holtz Tonic Studios Paper Distresser	Tim Holtz Distress Spatter Brush	Ranger Palette Knife Set	Tim Holtz Tonic Studios 9.5" Titanium Scissors	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Sprayer

Guest Designer - Sara Emily Barker

Please say hello and welcome to our Guest Designer for our Winter Hues challenge.   Sara Emily Barker of sarascloset was the Design Team's top pick from the Bountiful Harvest challenge.

"Frilly and Funkie was one of the first challenge blogs I stalked, even before I started blogging. It took me a while to gather up the courage to enter the challenges, but I have been inspired by the talented Design Team over the years. I am so honored and totally thrilled to be asked to Guest Design along side this amazing team for this challenge!

I live in Wilmington, NC, which is on the South Atlantic coast of USA. The weather here is temperate in the winters, and we pretty much have the three remaining seasons of hot summer weather. Great for me, because I love being active outdoors, and my first love is gardening. I draw a good deal of my inspiration from nature, and I consider myself to be a curious crafter. I love to look at something and try to figure out how it came to be and love to see how different products react with one another. So much of my creativity comes out of experimenting with products I already own and just playing. I feel most comfortable with vintage grunge, but I love trying new styles."

"Suzz's ' Winter Hues' challenge theme was perfect for me, because I love to work in blues, and with our recent cold snap here in the south, I was inspired to make a winter scene on canvas, complete with a raging snow storm and a warm cabin in the woods. My tiny canvas measures just three and one half by five inches and is covered with Tim Holtz Melange Tissue Wrap, colored with Distress paints in blues, and stamped with Tim Holtz images.

On top of all that is Distress Crazing Medium, crayons, Remnant rubs, glitter and embossing powder to get this snowy scene.

This is a little different than what I usually make, so I hope you like it! I would like to thank Suzz for her inspiring challenge theme and the entire Frilly and Funkie team for having me here today as their Guest Designer!"

* * *
Head over to Sara Emily's blog to get all the details on her wintery little canvas and then come on back and share your Winter Hues project with us. The challenge can be found here and is open until January 31st at 11:55 pm EST.

Saturday Step by Step: Wildflowers in Winter

Hello, friends! It's Nancy here, and I'm excited to share a new flower tutorial for our Saturday Step by Step. Just because we're in the midst of winter doesn't mean we can't be surrounded by lovely blooms, right?   

I love handcrafting my own flowers. It goes a long way in achieving a perfectly coordinated look. These blossoms are actually quite large, measuring in at around 3.25 inches, and are sure to make an elegant statement on your projects. They're super easy as well! 

Maja Design Papers are the perfect weight and durability for creating flowers. The colors in the different collections work together so well. You'll find it's easy to mix and match from what you have on hand. I'm using Vintage Autumn Basics and a little bit of Vintage Summer Basics today.    

Select your papers and cut four each of the two largest petal styles using the Tim Holtz Bigz Tattered Florals Die. This die is extremely versatile. It can be used for almost any flower you can dream up. 

Mist your petals with water using a Tim Holtz Mini Mister. You'll want to get them fairly moist (but not drowning in water) before you go to the next step. 

Now it's time to twist, scrunch, and roll. That sounds a little bit like a dance or an exercise routine, but you're prepping for the shape of your petals here. 

Once you've scrunched up every petal put them on a baking sheet in a 250 degree oven until dry, checking often. It takes me about 5-10 minutes depending on how moist the petals are. 

While your petals bake you may begin gathering what my mom called 'bits and bobs'. Here I have burlap, twine, lace, buttons, and cheesecloth.  

Once your petals are finished in the oven you will carefully unfurl them. Don't be concerned if a couple of the more delicate pieces fall off. It happens. You can adhere them back in when you assemble your flowers. 

Below are stacks of my unfurled petals. The larger petals form the base. The smaller, more delicate petals form the center. They'll be all twisty. This is exactly what you want.    

Adhere each stack of petals together being certain to stagger each one for a more full appearance. 

Below demonstrates just one way to embellish your flower. I'm adhering burlap and twine to the base of this one. A button is adhered to the center of the flower.  

Join both stacks to form a completed flower. 

I'm adding in a few burlap strands. It didn't look quite finished the other way. 

Below are additional embellished flowers. You'll find a full supply list (with links) at the end of the post. Everything you need to make these can be purchased in Linda's shop.  

The flowers below are embellished with lace and cheesecloth.  

The final flower is in a completely neutral tone. You can never have too many of those. 

Thank you so much for being here with me today! I send wishes your way for a wonderful weekend. Hopefully you'll be able to spend some cozy time in your craft area! 

Hugs,  

Ranger Inkssentials Non-Stick Craft Sheet	Tim Holtz Tonic Studios 9.5" Titanium Scissors	Ranger Inkssentials Glossy Accents	Tim Holtz Tonic Studios Kushgrip Snip w/Non-Stick Blade & Cap	Ranger Inkssentials Wonder Tape - 1/2"
Little Birdie Printed Florence Petals Grey	Prima Memory Hardware Pearls	CutterPiller Pro Precision Paper Trimmer- 12"	Sizzix® Accessory - Cutting Pads, Standard, 1 Pair	Sizzix® Accessory - Precision Base Plate for Wafer-Thin Dies
Embroidered Sheer Lace - 1/2 Inch Wide	May Arts Crocheted Lace - 5/8" Natural	Natural Jute Twine	Natural Jute Mesh (Burlap)	Carved Coconut Shell Buttons - 1/2"
Carved Coconut Shell Buttons - 5/8"	Sizzix Alterations Tim Holtz Tattered Florals Die	Maja Design Scrapbook Paper - Vintage Autumn Basics	Maja Design 6x6" Scrapbook Paper Pad - Vintage Autumn Basics	Maja Design Paper - Vintage Summer Basics (Full 30 sheet set)
Maja Design 6x6" Scrapbook Paper Pad - Vintage Summer Basics	Ranger Inkssentials Mini Mister	Prima Soft Matte Gel