Wednesday, December 1, 2010

The 12 Tags of Christmas, Day 1

I admit it...I'm a complete dork when it comes to Tim.  I was sound asleep on the couch, the TV watching me, and at 3am on the dot I awoke without an alarm clock or any disturbances outside my door.  Why?  Because that's when Tim would be posting the first tag in his annual 12 Tags of Christmas event.

What can I say?  I love that man's style and techniques, and look forward to this event all year long.
Tim started off with a bang.  He used A LOT of techniques and materials in this tag.  Click HERE to go to his blog to see what he created......fantastic!

I am determined not to just copy Tim this year, even if I have every item he uses.  Well, not a problem today, as I do not own his Rickety House die.  I always thought of it as a Halloween embellishment, and that isn't my favorite holiday.  Boy, was I ever wrong.  Tim shows how he uses it for Christmas, and even for a beachy, summery piece.  The man is a creative superstar!

And I should mention now.....I did not one, but two tags.  Some of the crafty folks at Everything Wendy Vecchi decided that they'd make tags this year using Wendy's stamps and/or in Wendy's style.  I decided I'd try to do tags each day both ways.  Pretty ambitious, but hey, I'm retired, what else is so pressing that I can't devote an entire day to making tags?

Well, I think 5 paragraphs without one picture is more than enough, so here is my Tim-inspired tag:


Tim's focal point was the rickety house, and he put his fence in front of it.  I kind of combined the two, and instead of having the house as the main image, I went with trees.  The houses on the bottom (the Townscape die) take the place of the fence. (And I did manage to find some mica chips in my stash for the windows).

The pine trees were made by running the entire tag (after it was colored with various blue inks) through the Tall Pines embossing folder.  Tim has a die of the bare branch tree (I don't....yet), but I do have the embossing folder.  So I used it on a piece of grungepaper, inked it, and cut it out.  (The die would be MUCH easier).

I did use Tim's technique for creating the snow.  I don't have sparkly fluff, so I just mixed some plain white fluff with glitter.

The very tiny wreath was made from some moss which I shredded and glued on a really tiny circle.  I'm grateful I have the Ranger scrubbie, because my fingers were just a giant mess of ink, paint, and glue.

While that tag was drying, I got to work on my Wendy-inspired one. 


The background on this one is pretty much the same as on the first.  Instead of snowflakes, I stamped some trees.  Here's how I made the houses:   the first one was pieced together from bits of grungeboard and chipboard.  The roof was "shingled" with little rectangles of inked manila paper.  The house itself was run through the Notebook embossing folder, first in one direction, then the other, just for some texture.

The next house is part of a stamp from Wendy's "Homemade Art" set .  It was inked with mustard seed and then overstamped with one of her background stamps.  I added the chipboard piece on top of the roof, and used a marker to ink in a door.

The last house is just pieced together from bits of grungeboard.  A rectangle was embossed with the Bricked folder, then inked with aged mahogony, black soot, and vintage photo.  The roof is a triangle, inked with rusty hinge, then stamped with another of Wendy's background stamps (in black archival ink).

I changed the way I did the snow.  For no particular reason...just to experiment.  I created it with white enamel accents, and while it was still wet, sprinkled it with white glitter.

The little pine cones and berries are left over from the stash of miniatures I bought to make Christmas configurations.  The sentiment is a stamp from "Homemade Art."

I don't know if I'll be able to do two tags each day, but I'm sure gonna try.   Are you following along with Tim this year?



35 comments:

Jana said...

WOW. This is beautiful. I love how you made it your own. Those houses are so warm and inviting. Great tag. And the Wendy one is just gorgeous.

Nancy said...

You are THE woman, Eileen! Both tags are great!! I'd like to think I could make 2 tonight ... then there's reality ... lol Maybe I'll do a Tim one night, a Wendy the next ... who knows? Regardless, you are our shining example!

efs said...

Thanks so much for sharing variations on his tags - and your creative process. Helps me to think creatively -
ellen

Helen said...

Two fab tags - I will have enough problems doing one, but I love the idea of doing them Wendy style. Maybe I'll mix and match.

Vic said...

Fantastic tags! They are both "Eileen-style" and I love them!

365 Dresses said...

Perfect! This community of Timmers is very inspiring.

Linda said...

Great tags Eileen! Love both versions!

slbt17 said...

love them both! Great job.
Sandra

france papillon said...

love how you went for your alternatives! they really work well! lovely tags

Renee said...

Love both of the tags...

Becky T. said...

You did exceptional, Eileen! I love them both!! :-)

2amscrapper said...

YOU ROCK!!!!!!!!

Art By Wanda said...

Eileen, both of your tags are amazing!!! I don't have the rickety house either and am just going to have to get it now, lol.

Kerry said...

Eileen - I love the Tim (YOUR) tag - absolutely beautiful. I'm going to try and follow along and I know I'll do my own, I don't have all the stuff. Absolutely love it.

Elena said...

Eileen! They are both fantastic!! And yeah.... gotta tell you.... you are a Tim dork!!! Love ya!

Jo said...

both tags are great-wow

( A.T.T. member)

Lori said...

Stellar work, as always, gf! Love both versions, and how you improvised. I knew that you, being an overachiever as many of us in the EWV group, would be up to the challenge of making two tags. lol. I'll do my best too, but no guarantees, just like you said. lol Great work, love them both!

Diann said...

Both tags are wonderful and I love that you made them "your" tags in your own version of both...yeah, we knew you were a Tim dork but I'm glad to see all you do with his guidance yet your own creativity always shines through.
I'll be following you as much as Tim! Diann

Michelle N said...

Very nice work! I love your color scheme and that you made the tags your own. Yes, I'm going to follow along this year. Off to make my first tag..:)

Dorothy said...

Those are soooo cool!!

grannypoppy said...

Beautiful work, as always, Eileen! I'm thinking ... Tim, Wendy, Eileen! Need to get my fix and watch ALL 3 for their Tags!

Thanks for sharing ... and inspiring!

Mazz's Scrap O'Clock said...

your tags really do ROCK and INSPIRE {hugz}

Bearcrazyman said...

Fantastic as always.

Anonymous said...

Love your tags Eileen, especially the first one!

SusanK said...

Kudos on a job well done on both tags! Thanks for taking the Wendy challenge. Now to get busy on my own!

Angie Hall Haviland said...

OH WOW, FABULOUS Eileen!! Love them both but I ADORE the second tag it is STUNNING and PRECIOUS!!

Vicki B in OP NY said...

Holy mackerel are you ever ambitious - 2 styles in one day?! You did a fab job on both of these babies. Can't wait until tomorrow. Until 3 am EST, sleep well!

Lynn Stevens said...

look at you go! Two tags!! Wow and both so awesome! that row of houses is to stinkin cute!
See you for the next challenge!

Kathy2eggs said...

Just fabulous Eileen...I knew you had it in you....I'm just happy to copy Tim's technique....but your little houses are too cute...I am going to have to try one..
Hugs, Kathy

Patzee said...

I love your interpretation of Tim's tag--it's brilliant. Very cool use of the houses die I was afraid to buy. Thanks for being a totally Tim dork! And your tag for the Wendy group is fabulous, too!

Unknown said...

Absolutely great job! Love how you can come up with your own versions! I'm trying to do both also, and so far, they're both looking the same! lol Gotta get back to work on finishing them, then on to Tag #2!

inge said...

hello Eileen,

nice to see the difference between a Tim inspired and a Wendy inspired tag !

I really like your first tag. The little houses look like a little town where it's warm in the houses and you can see the light of the fires inside.
Your embossed trees look like they have been painted and i think it's great how you cut out the embossed tree.
I like the overall look of the tag.

Second tag is not immediately my style, a bit too cute, but I like how you assembled the houses from different embossed pieces. This gives them great interest.

Keep on creating and showing !
greetings from belgium
Inge

Gerrie Johnnic said...

Oh wowza, how super, and you built houses too! I luv how it looks like lights behind your first tag, and then the 2nd tag is just to die for! whoohoo

Cheryl said...

Great tags Eileen. I like that Wendy one.

KAT said...

Bravo Eileen on your two version of the Tim inspired tags! I'm loving them! Sigh - to find the time to create at this time of year....