I am positively tickled to be part of the TOP SECRET collaboration from Tim Holtz and Simon Says Stamp for STAMPtember 2020! This Tim Holtz STAMPtember 2020 Exclusive features Christmas-themed Snarky Cats that had me chuckling in the craft room and my cat looking at me strangely!!! LOL
Aren't they adorable and sassy? I was inspired to do two projects: one for those who enjoy some COPIC coloring; and the other, a cute set of simple, easy and snarky cards. I've linked the products used for your convenience at the bottom of this post.
Project 1: Naughty or Nice Smooshing and Coloring
Both of these projects are packed with color, but here I have doubled down with a bright "ink-smooshing" background and a very festively colored Snarky Cat!
With Distress Ink, it's super hard to pick favorites, but Cracked Pistashio is definitely in my top ten! Ink smooshing happens when you apply ink to a non-porous surface like a craft mat, spritz with water and then dab your watercolor color or mixed media paper into your colorful mess. I'll be doing a video devoted to Ink Smooshing soon.
With that done, it's time to create a scene. Not the kind that happens when someone cuts the line in front of me (LOL), but one with your stamps and some masking paper and sticky notes!
Stamp your Snarky Cat onto Masking Paper or a 3" x 3" sticky note. Fussy-cut around the tail and up the back of your cat until you get to the scarf. I am lazy and this is the part of the cat that will be "leaning" against the gift, so this is all that you need to cut. Unless you enjoy that sort of thing... and if you do, I am definitely judging you! LOL
Stamp your cat again on A2 110lb Neenah Classic Crest Solar White Cardstock or other friendly marker paper. Remember to leave room for the presents that will be behind/to the right of your cat.
Place your fussy-cut cat on top of your other stamped cat and position your first gift horizontally to overlap with the cat's tail and back as shown below. Stamp the gift image.
Now, it's time for some lazy masking. Use a 1.5" x 2" sticky note to cover up the right edge of your gift and stamp your second gift to lean against the right edge of the first gift. Take a peek at the finished card above for a clear reminder of how this should be positioned.
Grab your sticky notes again and cover your two gifts as shown below:
Position your stamp vertically as shown below and stamp your gift one last time.
With your masking complete, your scene should look like this:
I was going for obnoxious color, so I grabbed the following COPIC markers and settled in for a soothing coloring session:
Cat Fur - N0, N1, W2, T2
Cat Cheeks - R30
Cat Scarf - YG05, YG07, YG09
Cat Hat - RV04, RV06, N0
Pink Present - RV04, RV06, RV09
Blue Present - BG02, BG07, BG09
Green Present - YG05, YG07, YG09
Yellow Ribbon - Y13, Y15
Now fussy-cut the cat and gifts together as one piece to create your "scene". Temporarily position the scene on the dried Cracked Pistashio ink-smooshed background to determine where the chosen sentiment should go and then stamp it.
Now it's time to permanently adhere the scene to the background with foam tape to "pop it up" and then adhere everything to a white A2 card base with your adhesive of choice. I used more foam tape for dimension and added some silver Tim Holtz Metallic Droplets to finish.
Project 2: Snarky Cat Watercolor Puddle Rainbow Card Set
These easy cards have no secrets. What you see is what you get! Messy watercolor puddles, stamped cats and details in crisp black ink and 3D embossed backgrounds.
These are easy cards, but I again recommend doing your watercolor backgrounds first and letting them air-dry. I have a habit of roasting my watercolor pigments if I don't heat-set them carefully.
I used my Mijello Mission Gold Watercolor 36 set to create these backgrounds, but you can use Distress Inks in the following combinations to create similar effect:
Wilted Violet
Blueprint Sketch
Evergreen Bough
Twisted Citron
Spiced Marmalade
Picked Raspberry
Squeezed Lemonade
Rusty Hinge
If using Distress Inks, apply the color to the craft mat (keeping colors separate) using either the pad or re-inker and be ready to pick it up with a wet paint brush. Do not dilute colors too much or mix the colors on the mat.
Whether using watercolor paint or Distress Ink, spritz A2-sized Distress Watercolor Paper with 2 sprays of water using the Distress Sprayer. Just before adding the color, put some water on the watercolor paper with your paintbrush and "swish" it around on the middle of the paper to create a wet (not too wet) area in which color will flow and mix together.
Tip: Only make puddles where you want the color to go.
Add the lightest color first to this wet area and then the darker color, encouraging them to blend with the paint brush. Once satisfied with the puddle, I set aside to dry.
While my backgrounds were drying, I choose which cats, sentiments and other details would work well together and laid them out on my table to ensure that I was happy with each selection.
Originally, I intended to use a different Tim Holtz 3D Embossing Folder for each card, but ended up deciding to use the little snowflake and star details from that fabulous Tim Holtz STAMPtember 2020 Stamp Set to create borders for 2 of the cards.
For the remaining two backgrounds, I embossed 2 A2-sized 110 lb cardstock layers using the Tim Holtz Botanical and Kaleidoscope 3D embossing folders.
With that done, it was time for sassiness by stamping my chosen snarky cat image and sentiment onto each watercolor background in black ink. I chose to also emboss with clear embossing powder for an extra pop before assembling all the layers.
Stocking and Stamped Snowflakes
Tree Lights and Botanical Embossing
What Cookies and Stamped Stars
Naughty Cat and Kaleidoscope Embossing
Yes, they are all rather cheeky, but that's what makes them adorable!
I hope that you had fun with me today, leave me a comment to let me know what you liked and Happy Shopping!
SUPPLIES:
I listed the products that I have used below. Please note that these are compensated affiliate links used at no cost to you. I really appreciate your support. All products were personally purchased, except for the stamp set, which was sent to me by Tim Holtz and Simon Says Stamp. I was not paid to do this post and love the products that I share. Click on the dog below each product picture to shop with Simon Says Stamp.