Birthday card with The Count by Tim Holtz

Let me show you my birthday card that I made for a friend. That's the first time that I use The Count not only on a Halloween card but for a completely different occasion. Actually, the inspiration to use the count for other things came mainly from Emma Williams, but you can also find ideas from other crafters on Instagram and Pinterest where the count is on the beach or in the mountains for example.

For the background, I took a 300 gsm watercolour paper and I started to blend Cracked Pistachio and Pine Needle to the surface. The Cracked Pistachio to the middle and the Pine Needle to the edges mainly.

Then I added a little Ground Espresso and Black Soot to the very edges. I protected my inked surface tapping matt varnish with a sponge.

The suitcase was painted with Prize Ribbon paint.

The decorative elements of the suitcase and the handle were cut from kraft paper. For the darker parts, I just added brown Distress ink. 

And here is the tutorial for the count with step by step pictures.

I cut out the count from 300 gsm watercolour paper and coloured the head part first with Antique Linen, then with Brushed Corduroy ink.

Then all the other layers of the head were coloured with the same inks but my goal was to get lighter and lighter layers. So the top layer was just coloured with Antique Linen.

Under the head, I coloured The Count's body with Black Soot ink. But I also cut out the whole Count from black paper. I cut off the head part and I glued to the main layer.

Then I started to assemble The Count.

The Count's hat and lorgnette were cut out with the dies of The Gent Thinlits set. I got the umbrella from The Park set and the bow tie from Tailored die set.

What I used:

Sizzix Thinlits die, The Count (665557)

Sizzix Thinlits die, Tailored (666289)

Sizzix Thinlits die, The Park (665204)

Sizzix Thinlits die, The Gent (665202)

Sizzix Bigz die, Baggage Claim (664439)

My Favorite Things, Bitty Birthday Wishes

Ranger Distress inks (Cracked Pistachio, Pine Needle, Ground Espresso, Brushed Corduroy, Antique Linen, Black Soot)

Ranger Distress paint (Prize Ribbon)

etc.