Tim Holtz 3D Embossed Crackle Funky Floral Card

Hi everyone and welcome. I'm back to share a new floral card with you using lots of Tim Holtz goodies and have put together a tutorial for the embossed crackle panel in the centre. Before we get into that here's the finished card filled with die cut flowers in warm summer colours;

You'll see the embossed crackle panel forms the main focal layer on this card, providing lots of texture in soft muted colours that allow the flowers to pop in the foreground. Let's see how that effect was achieved.

3D Embossed Crackle Effect Tutorial

Begin with a piece of Tim Holtz Mixed Media Heavystock and cover it in a layer of Opaque Crackle Texture Paste. I love this paste as it remains flexible when dry and doesn't rip up your ink blending sponges when applying colour over the top.

When dry add a thin layer of Matte Distress Collage Medium; you want to provide a coat that you can work over whilst allowing the cracks to remain in place and visible.

The reason for applying that coat of Distress Collage Medium is that it makes blending Distress Crayon colour much easier to do. For this project I rubbed the Tattered Rose Distress Crayon over the surface and worked it into all the cracks and dips with my finger. If you apply too much colour the Collage Medium also allows for the removal of that excess with a wet cloth.

Once coloured, emboss the crackle covered card with the 'Botanical' 3D Texture Fades Embossing Folder. You'll see from the photo below that the crackle surface remains perfectly intact, a testament to the flexibility of the Opaque Crackle Texture Paste, particularly when combined with the Distress Collage Medium. Finally to add more depth of colour rub the Tattered Rose Distress Oxide Ink pad over the embossed surface. It remains 'wet' for a while so you could even heat emboss it with clear embossing powder at this point.

When it came to completing the card you'll see from the photo below that I ripped the embossed piece in half and blended Walnut Stain Distress Ink onto it. This was layered onto a paint altered piece of Tim Holtz 'Wallflower' Paper Stash with Design Tape and stitching.

I also added a floral image from Tim's Ideaology Layers, Botanical pack and in the past may have been tempted to leave it at that. However, this time it occurred to me that the flowers looked like some of those in the Funky Floral sets. Sure enough, those die cuts once painted with Distress Paint gave the image a totally different dimension and provided the perfect accompaniment to the Quote Token.

The Close Ups

Let's take a closer look at the details of the completed card to finish. You'll notice I created a border by adding Design Tape to a slightly larger piece of card layered underneath the painted background, a clever idea I picked up from the amazing Zoe Hillman;

That's it for today's project. I hope you give this technique a go and look forward to seeing the results. In the meantime I've added a list of ingredients for my card below.

Have a great weekend and get creative!
Jenny xxx

(MAY PRE-ORDER) Sizzix 3-D Texture Fades Embossing Folder - Botanical	(February Pre-order) Tim Holtz Idea-ology Botanical Layers	TIm Holtz Distress Mixed Media Heavystock TDA53835	(February Pre-order) RANGER CRACKLE TEXTURE PASTE	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium Matte TDAK47933 (February Pre-Order)	(February Pre-order) Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Crayons - 6PC Set #8	(FEBRUARY PRE-ORDER) Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Pad - Tattered Rose	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Walnut Stain
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Paper Stash Wildflower	Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - White, 1oz Bottle (February Pre-Order)	(FEBRUARY PRE-ORDER) Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Buff 1oz	(February Pre-order) Tim Holtz Idea-ology Vintage Design Tape	(FEBRUARY PRE-ORDER) Tim Holtz Idea-ology Design Tape Remnants	(February Pre-order) Tim Holtz Idea-ology 8 x 8 Classic Kraft Stock	(FEBRUARY PRE-ORDER) Sizzix Thinlits Set - Funky Floral #1 by Tim Holtz	(APRIL PRE-ORDER) Sizzix Thinlits Set - Funky Floral #3 by Tim Holtz
(FEBRUARY PRE-ORDER) Tim Holtz Idea-ology Quote Tokens	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Crayon - Picket Fence TDB49692	NEW Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Scattered Straw	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Mustard Seed	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Bundled Sage	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Tattered Rose	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Worn Lipstick	Ranger Tim Holtz Hickory Smoke Distress Paint