Festive Collage

 Hi!  I am sharing some inspiration for The Funkie Junkie Boutique Inspiration Avenue!  We are focusing on Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous stamps.  I love stamps and they always inspire me!  I used the Festive Collage stamps and played around with them using a variety of inks and ideas. 

This actually was my last card created and I loved how it turned out.  I started with stamping a background using a lovely green ink and various stamps at different angles.  I added a touch of inky distressing around the edges of the card and some splotchy ink spots. 

I then stamped Mr. St. Nick and colored him to put on the front.  I needed a little background to show off his fine attire so I stamped a tag using a lovely mix of gold and brown inks. 

The star was a piece of white cardstock that a star had been cut out from.  I just used my paper cutter to cut around the star shape and created a star frame.  The star frame got a coat of shimmery gold and brown dye ink.  I finished with a fun little sentiment and some embellishments. 

Next up is a cute little treat bag.  I purchased these muslin bags at the craft store.

I knew stamping directly onto the fabric would not give me the best effect.  I decided to stamp on tissue paper and then apply the tissue paper to the bag.

I stamped on the tissue paper multiple times.  It is really important to use an archival ink to get an image that won't be lost when applying the medium to adhere it to the fabric.  Also too much ink and too much pressing on the tissue paper will allow it to bleed and lose the sharpness of the image.  This was a rejected image because it bled a little too much on the leaves. 

Next I applied the decoupage medium to adhere it to the fabric.  I like to use a decoupage medium and find that if I put it on the surface first and then lay the tissue paper onto the wet surface and then apply another coat over the tissue paper I get the best results.  Also make sure you go over the edges with the medium. 

I also made sure to put a non stick surface inside my bag to keep the bag from sticking to itself. :) It made a cute little gift bag and I can stamp coordinating tissue paper to put inside with the gift! 

Next I decided to pull out my white ink and try it on a few different surfaces.

First I stamped on the kraft cardstock.  I used watercolor pencils to add a hint of color to the image. I then sponged the entire surface with versamark watermark ink.  I then embossed with clear embossing powder.  It added a lovely depth to the color of the cardstock and highlighted the coloring and the image. 

The next card was stamped on kraft as well but I used a neutral color and highlighted and shadowed with coloring pencils and white gel pen.

The image was stamped with a brown archival ink.  I then added color with watercolor pencils and a waterbrush.  I finished with a white gel pen to make areas pop on the card. 

After the soft effect of the white ink on the kraft card I decided to try to really pop the ink on a black background.

The image was stamped with white ink on a black background.  Then colored using the watercolor pencils.  A very simple effect but very eye catching!

Finally my favorite way which is to just stamp the beautiful image using a neutral color and then color the image with watercolor pencils. 

I stamped with a soft brown ink and then colored it with watercolor pencils and a brush.  I left it plain to have the image shine. 

I hope this has you inspired to try out the festive collage stamps!

Suzz

Products: 

• Stampers Anonymous Festive Collage
• Stampers Anonymous Darling Christmas
• Ranger Archival Ink - Pebble Beach
  
• Ranger Archival Ink - Mini Collection (Green)
  
• Distress Watercolor Pencil
• Tim Holtz Fine Detail Water brush
• Ranger Archival Ink - Jet Black
• Idea-Ology - Metallic Droplets
• Versamark Watermark Ink
  
• Ranger Clear Embossing Powder
  
• Black Cardstock
• Tim Holtz Kraft Cardstock
• Tim Holtz Kraft Green Cardstock