Ranger Ink – iGirlZoe, Crafter & Tim Holtz Addict

‘Ranger Ink’ Category

Resting Witch Face & Sisters

11th September, 2020 by iGirlZoe

Hello Witches… There have been so many awesome makes with the new crackling campfire distress colour and I was excited to get to making something myself. If you missed the facebook LIVE, grab your snacks, jump on your broomsticks and fly on over to Tim’s blog to catch up on all the fun.

There’s been some serious story telling going on over at Resting Witch Face & Sisters publishing company! Their witchy typewriters have been clackety clacking away, as they write by the light of the crackling campfire. The full moon seems to make them particularly imaginative and they’ve been cooking up some serious story soup…

Much like speckled egg, crackling campfire is a chameleon of the distress family. It’s not one colour, it’s many and this would be one I would travel with now (if we could), because it’s like those retro pens with 4 colours in one. I’ve had yellow, orange, pink and a red tone all from one distress colour! It will sit alongside rusty hinge as my fave in that colour range …once it’s been released from it’s special quarantine tin of course! 😉

I used the retro type bigz die from this years Sizzix chapter 1 release to die cut grungeboard. Unfortunately, grungeboard is long retired, but I have a small hoarded stash that I’ve decided to use and enjoy! I sanded the die cut and blended in walnut stain distress ink and added a little crackling campfire distress paint to the edges. I used a stamp from school desk CMS057 stamp. Stampers Anonymous don’t retire Tim’s stamps and if you’re having trouble finding a set, especially an older one, they’re always available direct from Stampers Anonymous.

The keys fit pretty well over the typed stamp. I filled them with glossy accents, added brushed pewter distress paint to parts of the typewriter and set aside to dry.

The card background was made by stamping the new background stamp from tapestry stamp set CMS414 in crackling campfire distress ink, spritzed with water. I blended in antique linen and hickory smoke distress inks and edged with walnut stain. Using the new snarky cats halloween stamp set CMS407 to stamp a sentiment in black soot distress archival ink over the top of cardstock, which was covered with the new crackling campfire distress paint. I also stamped the hat from the same set and used the crackling campfire distress ink to watercolor the band. See all the different tones?

You can see the dual colours in the paint on the cardstock too. When the paint was mixed with water it took on a pinkish tone and when I picked up the droplets with less water, they remained really orange. Walnut stain distress ink was the perfect match to tone down the brightness, which was perfect for me. You can see where I didn’t quite wipe the ink away when stamping the snarky sentiment on different lines. I was going to do it again but I liked the imperfection of it, it’s like an actual “typo”…

I used the alphanumeric tiny type upper and lower thinlit die sets from this years Sizzix chapter 1 release to cut my message. Die cut from the new distress cracked leather cardstock and blended crackling campfire distress ink over the top with a blending tool, edging with walnut stain distress ink. I love that it looks burnt like fire. I used distress collage medium (and tweezers) to attach them to the card. I stitched with my sewing machine and mounted onto blackout kraft-stock and sanded the bottom layer but left the middle layer unsanded.

Thanks for flying by and a big thank you to those who left kind comments, and to those who left the other ones, oh well, thanks for taking time to swing by anyway. Fly safe when you leave, there’s a lot of trees out there and karma is a witch. 😉

Zoe

Category Halloween, Ranger Ink, Sizzix, Stampers Anonymous, Tim Holtz | Tags: | 16 Comments | Views: 1,517
Focus On The Good

20th July, 2020 by iGirlZoe

Hello friends

A few months ago I shared a tag on social media that I made using one of my favourite techniques from the incredible 16 weeks of demos Tim Holtz shared. If you missed any of these, you can find them all on Tim’s blog. Hands up who misses the Saturday party at Tim and Mario’s?!

Now more than ever I think it’s so important to focus on the good and I thought it would be nice to share the tag in a little more detail, so here we go.

I followed Tim’s distress crayon and distress embossing glaze technique, which you can see here. I have been a long time fan of distress crayons and used with the new distress embossing glaze, WOW!! This grungy weathered effect is completely up my street and it’s so easy to do.

I stitched the edges of my tag with my Singer heavyduty sewing machine. Practice makes perfect with stitching and mine is definitely getting better! Tip, if you miss a stitch, (which happens to me all the time), draw it on after with a marker. The background stamp is from the professor 2 CMS395 stamp set.

I had to add a hat, I think dapper CMS267 and distinguished CMS371 stamp sets will always have my heart, it doesn’t matter how stuck I get creatively, I break out these sets and it inspires me. Stampers Anonymous never retire Tim’s stamps so you can pick up them up from set 001 to set 406! I added a bug from the entomology CMS328 stamp set, the matching thinlits dies makes it really easy and they fit in the Sizzix sidekick.

I used part of the weathered clock (664173) bigz die cut with texture paste and distress crayon added to weather.

Using the same technique as linked to above, I altered this quote chip. I always remove several layers of the cardboard to make the quote lower profile. The layers separate really easily, you can do it with your finger nail. They are now longer so you can add hardware to the end. I used idea-ology hardware heads with distress crayon and a waterbrush to add a little rust effect.

Hope you have a creative week and focus on the good.

Zoe x

Category Mixed Media, Ranger Ink, Sizzix, Stampers Anonymous, Tags, Tim Holtz | Tags: | 10 Comments | Views: 2,163
Gears Up

26th April, 2020 by iGirlZoe

Hello everyone and happy Sunday. Like many people I am still spinning after yesterdays epic 3 hour facebook LIVE demo with Tim Holtz. Saturday has become my favourite day of the week, getting together with everyone and watching the professor work his magic inspiring us all to create. And Mario Rossi totally upped his sound effect game yesterday! I’m still laughing…

The card that I’m sharing today uses techniques from the previous Saturday’s demo. Tim revisited an old technique that I learned from his 12 tags years ago and I simply love. I hadn’t tried the technique with the idea-ology metallic kraft-stock before and wanted to see how it looked! You can see the technique on Tim Holtz Blog.

I stamped the gear stamp from the dapper (CMS267) stamp set and watercolored with oxides as per Tim’s demo. I used the new Tim Holtz Tonic craft knife to cut away 2 sections of the stamped image and mounted over a small piece of metallic kraft-stock, embossed with the 3D mechanic folder and following Tim’s demo again.

I have been asked a few times what the difference is between Tim’s craft knives. The new retractable craft knife comes with 3 blades. The blades are bigger and more heavy duty for a more precision cut. I’m really impressed with the new craft knife. You can see from the photo that the blade on the older knife is tiny (how tiny) 😉

The foil technique is so easy and works perfectly on the metallic kraft-stock and cutting the hole with the new craft knife was really easy. It cut away the piece first time. The blade is sharp, so please be careful.

I took pieces of the leftover foil embossed background and added over the top of the card and underneath the blackout kraft-stock which I use on almost every card I make. Love having an entire pad of black!

This is what the back of the top layer of my card looks like. I only used a small piece of embossed metallic kraft-stock behind the cut out sections and secured with tape.

I used another of the awesome techniques Tim shared during the demo. This was a new one, using impresslits, distress embossing glaze and distress crayons. Check out Tim Holtz blog for details. I used the star trim impresslit folder and created a frame layer for my card. I added my favourite idea-ology hardware heads with some rusty hinge distress crayon to create a simple rust effect.

I shared this photo on my instagram-stories and thought I would share here too. This is my work in progress shot.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you’re having a relaxing Sunday crafting. I want to say a great big thank you to Tim and Mario for all the work they put in to bringing us these weekly demos, it’s created a new normal for me and a sense of comfort in the familiar during this time. I am very thankful for them both.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

Zoe

Category Ranger Ink, Sizzix, Stampers Anonymous, Tim Holtz | Tags: | 13 Comments | Views: 1,869
Distress Embossing Glaze Spinner

8th April, 2020 by iGirlZoe

Hello everyone. Happy whatever day it is… 😉

I know I’m not alone in my obsession with the new Tim Holtz distress embossing glazes. The only problem is trying to decide which colour to use. I created a swatch spinner, because it’s nice to have some of life’s difficult decisions made for you! 😉

Tim demoed a distress crayon and distress embossing glaze technique a few Saturdays ago and it blew my socks off. If you missed it, you can see it on Tim Holtz blog. This was the initial inspiration for my swatch spinner.

If you’d like to make one, they are super easy and take no time at all, so gather your supplies and let’s begin…

Die cut 3 picture wheels using the bigz picture wheel die. Cut one from distress mixed media heavystock, one from copier paper – this will be a disposable stencil and needs to be thin, and one from chipboard – this will be the base so you want it to be sturdy.

Taking the heavystock picture wheel die cut, stamp a background image in distress archival ink and once dry, use the distress crayon and distress embossing glaze technique shown by Tim. You will need to choose a glaze, but this will be the last time you’ll have to make this difficult decision. 😉

Take a piece of heavystock and trace around the outer edge of the picture wheel. Lay the stencil (thin paper picture wheel) over the top of the heavystock and using a distress embossing dabber, dab embossing ink through the first picture wheel square. Remove the picture wheel stencil and set it aside, add a little more embossing ink to the square to make sure you have good glaze coverage under each square. Next sprinkle the embossing inked area with distress embossing glaze and heat set. Place the template back over the top and repeat for all 12 squares, making sure to heat set one at a time so the glazes don’t mix. Using the new tonic craft knife, I cut away the tiny rectangles that wouldn’t be glazed and cut around the outline.

Once you have completed your base, mount the stamped picture wheel over the top and secure using distress collage medium. Next mount both on to the thick picture wheel to make it nice and sturdy. Poke a hole in the middle ready to add the spinner.

I added a couple of gears from the Tim Holtz Assemblage range. They give height to the game spinner, allowing it to spin freely. Add iced spruce distress paint to the gears and once dry add rusty hinge and walnut stain distress crayons with a little water and a paintbrush. Once dry, add to the center of the wheel with distress collage medium.

Finally, add an the idea-ology game spinner with a fastener, (I used a hex fastener).

Check out that grungy goodness the distress crayon and distress embossing glaze technique creates. It’s just so yummy. I love this technique so much. Thanks Tim!

I hope you’ll make one of these swatch spinners for yourself. You could make one for your other favourite distress products or with your kids to decide on indoor activities or snacks. I could definitely use one to decide which Easter candy to eat next! I need an Easter candy intervention!! 😉

Thanks for stopping by and please take care and stay well.

Zoe

Category Ranger Ink, Tim Holtz | Tags: | 7 Comments | Views: 4,012
Creativation 2020 Artist Spotlight

6th March, 2020 by iGirlZoe

Hello everyone. I can’t believe it’s March already, for me it’s a great thing that the year is whizzing by and one month closer to my favourite pumpkin season! It’s really never too early for pumpkins! Back to the winter season and I was really surprised and honoured to be asked by Tim Holtz to make a piece for this years Ranger Ink Artist Spotlight. In previous years this was the Ranger Designer Challenge. This year Ranger switched things up and asked each of their signature designers to create a piece and invite five makers to also create a piece of artwork using the designers respective lines to be displayed on the Ranger ink booth at Creativation, in this case, Distress products.

You may know that I’m big fan of distress, all things grungy and all things brown, so this is what I based my piece on.

I also have a big love for the professor and the professor 2 stamp (cms395) is bigger and better. I covered an etcetera tag in a layer of distress crackle texture paste and set aside to dry. I added a layer of distress vintage collage medium and a piece of torn typeset collage paper.

I added a piece of the typeset collage paper over the etcetera tag hole reinforcer. This covered a gear die cut from distress watercolor cardstock which was covered in distress grit-paste and distress crayon. idea-ology hardware heads were added using the new distress collage medium in a bottle which makes the application of these small pieces so simple.

I added this vintage ruler and pocket watch that Tim kindly let me pull out of his box of vintage found things.

Along with this awesome US Customs plaque that I really love, again from Tim’s collection. Something about this just spoke to me… 😉

This awesome metal clock face was also from Tim’s collection, look at how the authentic cracked vintage clock face is so alike the texture paste on the tag. Love the authentic look of the distress crackle texture paste covered with distress vintage collage medium.

The gears on my tag were made by die cutting distress watercolor cardstock with the gearhead thinlits die set covered in a layer of distress vintage collage medium, distress crayon, distress grit-paste for texture and then more distress crayon on top once the grit-paste dried.

I love how the distress grit-paste creates a great rust effect and it’s so easy to do. The outer circle was stamped from the original professor stamp set (cms373) with distress archival ink and covered with distress vintage collage medium and distress crayon added to the edges.

I wanted to share this photo of me putting this together just days before the show! Truthfully, I was terrified of this project, so I procraftinated and put it off. Just putting it out there for anyone that ever struggles with creative mojo or feels pressure when creating anything, I get you. A big shout out to the friends who talked me down off the paper ripping ledge Kaz Hall and Juli Riedel and to Tim Holtz who splattered paint for me because I had “the fear” and Mario Rossi who helped me with construction, that ruler would never have been straight otherwise… 😉 (I think Vicki Evans aka Thelma was still loading her tags into the freezer to see “what if” at that point). Plus any excuse to share one more photo from “that day” is good one!

I loved the projects by the other makers, Paula Cheney, Stacy Hutchinson, Emma Williams, Jennifer McGuire and of course Tim Holtz pieces were awesome. I’m a bit head over heels for Tim’s alcohol ink piece. It’s BEW-TIFUL!

To see the other signature designers displays and more photographs and links, go to the Ranger ink blog.

Thanks for stopping by and hope you have a great weekend.

Zoe

Category Creativation 2020, Creativation Show, Distress, Mixed Media, Ranger Ink, Tim Holtz | Tags: | 9 Comments | Views: 908
Blackout Banner 2019

7th November, 2019 by iGirlZoe

Hello friends! Hope you had a hauntingly happy halloween and you’re still enjoying your candy hauls. I love this time of year so much, the cool crisp weather, cosy candlelight, pumpkins as far as the eye can see, (and not just in my apartment)! It’s also time for my annual Halloween banner, which is a little late this year, but this witch had to stitch…

You may have heard (me screaming) about the newly released BLACKOUT kraft-stock. I’ve burned through so many pads of classic kraft-stock taking the black sheets out and this year I had none left, so I am eternally grateful for this little pad of black only!

This years banner celebrates the blackout kraft-stock and gave me chance to use the halloween dies one more time. Of course the banner would be incomplete without a hat and I had to mix it with the bat crazy dies, which were my favourite of 2 sets this year, frightful things being the other, those ghosts are just epic! I am going to use them every year, I know it. I highly recommend investing in a few of your favourite dies from the seasonal collections because they will serve you year after year and I had a lot of fun mixing and matching from older years too.

To start off I cut the banner panels, see my 2017 banner post for the measurements. I sprayed mixed media heavystock with black soot distress spray and antique linen oxide spray. I love this combination of inks and I’m on my second bottle of antique linen oxide spray! Thanks to Stacy Hutchinson for the colour combo inspiration.

Prepare the other banner layers using the blackout kraft-stock. Sand and fray the edges and blend in distress ink, I used frayed burlap.

This years banner started with a creepy eye. I love these eyes and I really hope they return next year, but I stocked up just to be on the safe side. I love the cobweb die, it appeared on my 2017 banner but this time I made it more dimensional by only adhering at the edges. It’s cool to look back at the different techniques you use with the same products over time. Another reason I enjoy making something annually.

This is the first time I’ve used one of the dimensional domes and I’m hooked. I added some mushroom alcohol ink and distress rock candy crackle paint to make it grungy. I placed it over some creepy eyes and added the woodland branches die cut over the top, another die from last year and one that I just keep using.

The next piece I had in my head from the moment I saw the creepy eyes. Really simple and one of the easiest pieces to make. I added black soot distress crayon to the eyes. The iris pops out with a pin to make it easy to alter and then a dot of collage medium to secure back into place.

These ghosts are one of my favourite halloween die pieces from all the sets. I just love how they look like they’re howling. I love them in every project I’ve seen them used in. Super cool!! I decided to die cut mine from blackout kraft-stock and sanded back a little to give some dimension. I mounted the mouths over creepy eyes and added a cobweb from the same die set with the iris of a creepy eye in the center. Love love love these dies!!

Of course there had to be a hat from my favourite stamp set Distinguished (CMS371). I paired it with the very awesome bat crazy thinlits die set! I die cut from blackout kraft-stock and blended in vintage photo distress ink to match the pop of rusty hinge distress ink added to the hat and coat. I curled the bat wings and adhered by the body only to give some dimension. I added the iris from the creepy eyes to the center. Those eyes really are super creepy!

If creepy eyes grew on creepy trees how frightful would that be… I used a leftover bat from the bat crazy die and the tree from the ghost town die, along with a sentiment from the vintage spirits thinlits die set, all cut from blackout kraft-stock.

I told you that this witch had to stitch and I did with orange thread which popped against the awesome blackout kraft-stock and abandaoned paper pad, my favourite paper pads of all time! I use a Singer heavy duty sewing machine.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have enjoyed this years banner and it has inspired you to make your own. There are more details on 2017 and 2018 banners if you’re interested.
Zoe

Category Banner, Halloween, Ideaology, Ranger Ink, Sizzix, Stampers Anonymous, Tim Holtz | Tags: | 14 Comments | Views: 2,380
Voltage

11th September, 2019 by iGirlZoe

Hello friends! Yesterday I posted The Lab and today I’m back to share how I made the voltage die cut from that project.

This was hands down my favourite die from the Tim Holtz chapter 1 release.
Here’s how I made it…

Die cut distress watercolor cardstock with the voltage bigz die. Cut a second screen piece (above pic: bottom right) out of acetate to create a cracked screen later.

To create the bolts, cover the die cuts and idea-ology hardware heads with a layer of brushed pewter distress paint and set aside to dry. Glue into place with distress collage medium and pounce black soot distress ink over the top with a blending tool. I swiped a layer of distress collage medium over the top with my finger to give them an oiled machinery look.

The other die pieces I dragged through a black soot and pumice stone distress ink wash. I blended in antique linen distress ink to brighten the edges a little. The large background piece I covered with a layer of distress collage medium and then sprayed peeled paint and vintage photo distress oxide sprays in targeted sprays.

Using a stamp from the professor (CMS373) stamp set, I created the dial (above pic: bottom right). Pretty cool right?! Just when we thought we couldn’t love the professor stamp set more!

I assembled the die using distress collage medium and adding the hardware head bolts from earlier. The circle die cut I mounted with foam to raise slightly. I added distress grit-paste randomly with my finger and set aside to dry.

Once the grit-paste was dry I blended in distress crayons with my finger and then wiped a little distress collage medium over the top to give that oiled machine look again.

Finally I added the meter needle which I covered with fired brick distress ink and added a hardware head to. The extra acetate piece was cut in half with a zig zag to look like broken glass. I adhered the acetate with a tiny dot of distress collage medium.

This die is one of the easier to assemble and you could easily make this in under an hour, including drying time for the distress grit-paste.

Thanks for stopping by, let me know if you have any questions.

Zoe

Category Ranger Ink, Sizzix, Stampers Anonymous, Tim Holtz | Tags: | 9 Comments | Views: 2,636
The Lab

10th September, 2019 by iGirlZoe

Hello friends! Today I am sharing a sample that I made for the Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Halloween facebook LIVE. Step inside The Lab if you dare…

When I first saw the weird science (CMS379) stamps, I immediately thought of Dr Frankenstein and imagined what a chalk board in his lab would look like…

I altered an idea-ology collage frame some months ago but wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with it and had set it aside. It was perfect for this project, here’s how I altered it… Sand the edges of an idea-ology collage frame, cover in vintage distress collage medium and once dry, rub distress crayons over the surface and then cover in another layer of vintage collage medium and set aside to dry. Stamp with black soot distress archival ink using the inventor 7 (CMS374) stamps. I got really brave and added stitching using my Singer heavy duty sewing machine!

The Lab lettering was cut from metallic kraft stock using the new handmade alphabet bigz xl die. I sanded and added a little vintage photo distress archival ink to dirty it up.

To simulate a chalk board I used black cardstock with the cool scientific stamp from the weird science (CMS379) set. Stamped in picket fence distress ink and embossed with white embossing powder from Ranger Ink.

The rib cage from weird science (CMS379) set was stamped onto distress heavystock and fussy cut, using the Tim Holtz Tonic craft blade for the bits I couldn’t reach with scissors. I added some gears, a clock key (retired) and some copper wire.

I added the voltage die cut, idea-ology hardware heads and a faucet knob, which were grunged up using distress grit-paste.

This cool spine stamp from the weird science (CMS379) set fit perfectly in line with the inventor 7 (CMS374) set that I had stamped onto the collage frame! It’s always so cool when old and new stamps just fit together like magic…

Thanks for stopping by and let me know if you have any questions.

Zoe

Category Ideaology, Mixed Media, Ranger Ink, Sizzix, Stampers Anonymous, Tim Holtz | Tags: | 5 Comments | Views: 1,459
4285

9th September, 2019 by iGirlZoe

Hello friends! Hope you had a nice weekend and managed to set aside some creative time for yourself. I have a tag to share that I made using new Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous stamps.

The tiny toadstools (CMS377) are one of my favourite sets from the halloween release. I love love love them and they made me tap into my softer side, there was even a little blue… I know right?!

I stamped toadstools from the tiny toadstools (CMS377) stamp set and masked while I blended the background with ink. I added a little ground espresso ink which I heavily diluted with water and added with a paint brush.

The #8 thickboard etcetera tag made a perfect base. I covered with distress watercolor cardstock and blended in frayed burlap, iced spruce and weathered wood distress inks. Stamped with the background stamp from the tiny toadstools set in ground espresso distress archival ink. I blended ground espresso distress ink through the hocus pocus (THS131) stencil and sanded the edges. I wrapped twine through the hole of the tag and secured at the back with a little collage medium.

I added some items from the idea-ology range, including numbers from the typography set, ruler pieces, hardware heads, paper doll, curiosities sticker and a clock key (retired).

Thanks for stopping by.

Zoe

Category Ranger Ink, Stampers Anonymous, Tim Holtz | Tags: | 3 Comments | Views: 980
Stargazer

6th September, 2019 by iGirlZoe

Hello friends and happy friyay! I’m so looking forward to the weekend, I have a date with some new distress oxide sprays. But first I want to share a card that I made using the new Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous stamps.

Mixing old and new stamp sets is my favourite thing to do. With so many stamps packed onto a sheet, sometimes you don’t get to use them all the first round. I definitely have favourites though and the inventor 2 (CMS41) is one of them. I LOVE that the inventor 2 traveler helmet perfectly fits the cadaverous (CMS378) stamp set and it wasn’t even an on purpose!! It was written in the stars…

To create my galactic background, I sprayed distress watercolor cardstock with vintage distress spray stain, spiced marmalade and broken china distress oxide spray.

Using a palette knife, I spread opaque crackle texture paste through the new hocus pocus (THS131) stencil. Once dry, I rubbed distress crayon into the cracks.

The traveler from the inventor 2 (CMS341) stamp set, stamped with black soot distress archival ink and watercoloured with distress inks.

Fussy cutting is something else I love to do, I find it so relaxing. I fussy cut the helmet with glasses and adhered over the body from the cadaverous (CMS378) stamp set.

I added idea-ology gears covered in distress grit-paste and distress crayons. The idea-ology gears are one of my favourites in the line and I love that the different sets have different sizes. I often add some of the gears from the assemblage line too as they’re smaller. Stacked and adhered with distress collage medium.

I had the theories (CMS329) stamp set out from making my ‘lost in the darkness’ card and used this sentiment, which I love and was perfect for this card. I added idea-ology hardware heads, covered in distress crayon.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you make some time to make…

Zoe

Category Card, Halloween, Ideaology, Ranger Ink, Stampers Anonymous, Tim Holtz | Tags: | 10 Comments | Views: 744

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