Sunday, December 11, 2011

The 12 Tags of Christmas -- Day 11

I was trying to keep up with Mario's tweets last night, and did manage to see the photo of the melting pot in Tim's studio.   Well, I can take a hint, so before I conked out for the night I was very brave, and pulled mine out of the closet, fearing an avalanche of art supplies.  I escaped with said pot and no injuries.

Later on, after reading Tim's blog a couple of times and watching his video on shrink plastic and UTEE, I felt ready to begin.  This is a technique I've wanted to try for a very long time.  Well, you know that warning, "be careful what you wish for......"    I'm just sayin'.

To be fair, clearly Tim was NOT trying this for the first time last night.  There is a definite learning curve, but if you follow the directions in the video you'll eventually get something.  If you don't have a melting pot or UTEE, you can use shrink plastic the usual way and you'll get a chunky embellishment, but it won't have that smooth, glassy look that the UTEE gives.


I used the two little snowflakes and the ornaments on my tag, but believe me I did lots more than that.  In fact, I used up an entire sheet of shrink plastic.  Some of the results are destined for the land fill.  One thing I noticed....Tim had no trouble releasing the still hot pieces from the metal tweezers he used to lift them out of the pot.  Me......my UTEE piece and tweezers were united for all eternity, and I had to re-melt them again and again just to release them, which resulted in.....pieces you will not be seeing on this blog.  But I will  say that once color was added a lot of the flaws seemed to disappear, and I was left with only noticing how nice and glossy the pieces were.

Tim used a retro Santa for the stamped portion of the tag,  and I much prefer vintage, so I went that way.  I thought he needed a little bling, so I added some stickles and crystals.  And you can see how shiny the ornaments are.





The mini snowflakes actually came out the best, but then again, they were the last ones I tried.


Here are two that were fairly successful, but just didn't work on this tag:



And to leave you with a laugh, what follows is a perfect example of what happens when you ignore Tim's warning NOT to try to trim the cooled off and hardened piece with scissors. 


Bad photography aside, this poor little reindeer lost all four legs and a tail.  He actually looks better blurry.

Only one tag to go, and then what am I supposed to do at 3:00am???  And no, I'm not taking suggestions on that.




25 comments:

Helen said...

Love your finished tag - I have some bits o UTEE'd shrink looking like that too....

patzee2000 said...

Love your colors and adventure of melting shrink plastic in UTEE.

Sherry Goodloe said...

I just love you Eileen! You always put a smile on my face or make me laugh out loud. You did a great job on your tag ;)

Anonymous said...

Your tag is awesome.
.. the technique sounds very interesting.....will have to watch his video....sounds really cool......

Michael said...

Eileen, love your post! So Funny! Your final pieces came out great, but that little tree kinda looks like a booger! LOL!!! Anyway, you did a great job and I always love your work and sense of humor!

Linda Ledbetter said...

Awesome tag, Eileen, and as always, your clever writing made me smile! Have a wonderful day and keep that brilliant creativity churning!

Nancy Lynn said...

I love what you did with the ornaments... I haven't tried this technique but you sure did a good job the first time around. I had a good laugh at your reindeer...at that point I would have had a glass of wine.

Kathy Eddy said...

You are so funny with your descriptions of this! When IO first saw the tag, I thought, oh good, a quick and easy one as I am days behind. Guess I will not skip ahead to this one until I do the others after hearing of your troubles. LOL Your finished piece turned out great though!C
ongrats on your win also!

Linda said...

OH LOL Eileen! I laughed so much thinking about the tweezers and plastic joined together for all eternity! But your tag came out beautifully! Love the ornaments.
thank you for visiting my blog and your nice comment!

Anonymous said...

I love yout tag! Your Santa is wonderful! Your shrinkies turned out cool!

Unknown said...

I feel your pain! Every time I use that $*^&$# melting pot, I want to throw it out the window! lmao Anyway, I read your post before reading T!m's blog, and now I dread looking at his blog! I love the way your tag looks tho! And, you always make me laugh! Oh, and congrats on your big win! I hope you get lots of goodies from T!m & Mario!

linda loe said...

You made a nice story of this tag but i turned out beautiful

Alicia B said...

Eileen, I have tears in my eyes from laughing at your post today- it SO sounds like something I would and have done, LOL Your finished product turned out quite lovely in spite of your mishaps along the way! *Hugs*

LaStamper said...

I was laughing so hard at your UTEE experiences that I'm afraid to try it myself. I know I am Melting Pot challenged so this one may have to wait awhile. Congrats on your win and the gift certificate is just perfect for you!

Sue Young said...

He he he !!!!! Glad to see that even YOU can be rattled by Tims techniques sometimes! Hilarious!
And can you believe that Miss Elena won a drawing to? This is rigged!!!!!!!

linda said...

your tag turned out really nice. The ornaments are very colorful!

Hetty said...

Your tag is a beautiful variation of Tim's tag and as bright and jolly as his is. Well done!

Tammy D said...

LOL poor little reindeer! That tag is awesome!

Elaine Akers said...

Eileen...for all your pull your hair out moments using the UTEE, your tag came out great. I have had some bad experiences using the melting pot and shrink plastic. I have found anything that is really odd shaped or has legs always causes a problem for me. And, to think this days tag looked like it would be an easy one..jokes on us.
Thanks for the laughs. Elaine

Anonymous said...

I think your tag is great. I especially enjoyed and appreciate your commentary on the technique. Knowing that someone as talented as you did not get it right on the first try makes me feel better.

Maria said...

Looks wonderful!! You did a beautiful job with the ornaments!

Sue said...

Poor reindeer!

Your tag is fabulous. I rather prefer your Santa to t!m's as well.

Diann said...

Oh what a work of ART...your hard work paid off for sure...just an awesome tag! I like your vintage Santa too and the bit of sparkle you added...Tim watch out! Merry Christmas, my friend! Diann

Bearcrazyman said...

Your ornaments look great. Sorry I didnt get to play along...NOT! LOL

Lori said...

Thanks for sharing this lovely tag and the humorous results of your UTEE experience. When I watched the video, I knew he made it look easy. I've worked with UTEE quite a bit, but not with shrink plastic yet, so it will definitely be a learning experience. Good thing I have more than one sheet. lol. Any hoo, thanks for sharing, and congrats on the win!