Card Art Kit Challenge: Magnolia Tilda vs. Tim Holtz Grunge

My latest project includes new items for me. A Magnolia Tilda image, grunge card art materials, and X-Press It blending card.

First of all, the Scrappers Cove now carries Magnolia stamps. YAY!!! I’ve been admiring these wonderful images from Sweden for years and I’m thrilled to actually touch these stamps. With 28 designs to choose from, I eventually walked away with just 7 of them. The first one I picked up was playful little Tilda enjoying herself among a pile of autumn leaves. (That’s what I want to do when I grow up – just play in a pile of leaves. LOL!!!)

The Cove also had their October card art challenge kit ready so I picked that up too. Uh oh. Take a look at what I have to work with this time. LOL!!! 2 sheets of Tim Holtz Idea-ology double-sided patterned paper with a sheet of Bazzill. A strip of a green hemp braid. 5 pieces of Tattered Angels glimmer chips. One of T!m’s token charms. A bottle of Fired Brick Distress Stickles. Hmmm. It’s all so dark and grungy.

I really want to use one of my Magnolia images. I can’t wait to ink one and see what I can do with it. Can I use Tilda in the Autumn Leaves? Dare I “grunge” her up? I envisioned my first Magnolia surrounded by frilly lace and glittering flowers with jewels and other lovely girly things. What to do? What to do? Another Copic dilemma.

The Scrappers Cove has recently received an order of the X-Press It blending card and kindly gave me a bit to try. I went ahead and stamped Tilda using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. Wow! What a nice, very fine lined image - the first time! If all Magnolias stamp so smoothly, I think I’m gonna love using them.

I referenced my handy-dandy Copic color chart to find coordinating markers for the T!m paper. The more I looked at Tilda, the more I thought that she needed to be inside the shape of a circle. I can give her a little bit of lace by using the Spellbinders Lacey Circle dies. I used a QuicKutz 3 ½” circle and cut beyond the edge of her hand and some of the leaves. (Find other samples of die cutting beyond the edge here and here.)

I began to fill my Tilda image by isolating sections and coloring them one at a time. The entire piece will come together as a cohesive whole. This is a good method to practice no matter which image you’re working on. It allows you to keep enough juice in your paper when you need that moisture to allow the colors to blend properly.

I can’t tell you that I noticed the X-Press It paper working differently than the Bazzill Smooth or Neenah, while I applied my colors. I did slip with my darkest blue and added color outside of the line of the image, where I didn’t want it to be. When I used the colorless blender to try to push it back inside of the line of the image, the X-Press It did NOT clean up as easily for me. I was a little disappointed. I “slip” often enough that it’s very important for me to be able to easily push unwanted color back inside of my image. I’ll have to give this paper another test, another time.

I stippled into the open areas of the pile of leaves to continue the color pattern of the more shapely leaves.  A touch of distress stickles lines some leaves.

When Tilda and the leaves were completed, I masked Tilda, placed her back into the circle die and began airbrushing: a little Y13 directly surrounding her, a very light B91 for sky around the die’s edge. I used the brush tip to airbrush speckles of YG95, E29, E09 and Y28 into and around the pile of leaves with more of the YG95 to represent autumn grass color at the bottom of the circle’s edge. I’ll tell ya’, when I removed that die and mask, I fell in love with my first Magnolia Tilda. She’s perfect to me. I had a little tear in my eye.

I feel like she’s got the right autumn colors and I know she coordinates with the T!m “grunge” papers. I think she can hold her own. Yet, I still feel the need to protect her from T!m’s DIRT. LOL!!! She is, after all, my first Magnolia . . . even if she’s rolling on the ground, in leaves. LOL!!!

The lacey circle die spices up the T!m “grunge” just enough to keep Tilda sweet. I have to use the T!m metal token but if I hang it from the playful word ticket then Tilda is still ok. I’ve added an autumn colored grunge paper rose that shimmers with rock candy stickles. Hemp is a little rough but makes a nice border. I’m not sure what to do with this piece of glimmer chip so I’ll give the rose a base. Whew! The strong opposition between T!m’s grunge-look and my wish for a delicate-looking Tilda is exhausting!

I’ve formed all of this into a pop-up card because they’re just so much fun.

Here’s the card front . . .

Here’s the inside . . .

Now, don’t get me wrong. I do LOVE T!m’s grunge, for some things. His products are exceptional, his work is extraordinary and he is a magnificent artist and person. I will continue to support his artistic adventures by purchasing his products. I simply didn’t expect to introduce my first Magnolia to his products so quickly. LOL!!!

Does anybody else think that maybe, just maybe, I've taken this challenge a little too seriously? LOL!!!

Copics used:
Jeans: B91, B95, B97, 0
Shirt: YG91, YG93, YG95
Skin: E000, E00, YR00, R20
Hair: E25, E27, E29, 0
Socks: B00, 0
Leaves: E13, E15, E17; E04, E07, E09; Y13, Y26, Y28