Merry Christmas

To all my friends out there who celebrate this holiday, have a very merry Christmas, full of love and many blessings.  Enjoy your family and friends, and do try to make time for some art.

As you most likely know, this past year Tim Holtz decided not to do the 12 Tags of Christmas; instead he did the 12 Tags of 2012.  Although this was enjoyed, many people, myself included, missed the Christmas tags.  The good folks who run ATT (All Things Tim yahoo group) put together a tag contest, challenging us to come up with an original Christmas tag, chock full of Tim's products and/or techiques.

21 members entered tags; all members could vote.  Only one vote per person, and the participants could NOT vote for their own tag.  Oh, and all entries were posted without identifying the creators, so it was really anonymous.  And we weren't allowed to post our work on blogs, photo sharing sites, FB, etc.  No, I did not win anything, and truth be told, I didn't expect to.  After viewing all the tags I found several I honestly liked much better than my own, LOL.  However, I did manage to scare up a few votes, which was nice.  A couple of the tags did not get any votes at all, and that made me feel sad.  Yes, some stood out from the rest, but none were poorly done.  This is why I don't care for contests in general, avoid reality shows (can't stand when people are voted off), and try to compete only with myself.

The voting being over, the results made public, so now I can share my tag, which I named Metallic Christmas.  Not as in heavy metal, but that everything on this tag sparkles and shimmers in some way.

 

 

The single snowflakes, snowflake border, snowman and joy are all Tim Holtz die cuts.  The background was embossed with aTim embossing folder and sprayed with several colors of Perfect Pearls mists.  The snowman was covered with a generous coat of Wendy Vecchi's embossing paste, and then sprinkled with distress stickles clear rock candy dry glitter (say that five times fast).  His hat was painted black, and while still wet covered with some generic gold glitter.  The trim on the bottom, origin unknown, has been lying around in my ribbon stash for ages.  I'm not positive, but I think the tinsel on the top is a Tim product as well.  It was out of its packaging, so I just don't recall. The word JOY was painted silver.  Then I dabbed it in spots with clear embossing ink and sprinkled silver powder in those spots.  I think that gave it a distressed, antique look.

 

Well, as the snowman is saying, may this holiday season, and the year to come bring you much JOY.

 



Spritzin' and Flickin'

Before I explain the title of this post, I just want to say that tomorrow I am leaving the Empire State for the Garden State.....yep, I'm heading to Jersey with my pals Pat and Cheryl for six days at CREATE.  It's the first time being held on the east coast, and I am so excited.  I'm taking six classes with some fabulous instructors, so in a week or so you can expect to hear all about it.  Classes will be held Wednesday through Sunday and it is my understanding that there are still some openings, so if you're interested, click on the link and maybe I'll see you there.

Now, back to spritzing and flicking.  That is the technique for this week's Compendium of Curiosities 2 challenge.  It's an oldie but goodie from Tim, and just the right thing to add to my fishy tag.  My wonderful friend Elena sent me the LaBlanche stamp as a present because she thought it looked like me.  No, not that I look like a fish, but that the stamp looked like my style.  And right she was.  I absolutely love it and had a wonderful time working with it.

I stamped the fish on the tag (it's a smallish tag, to give you an idea of the size of the stamp, the tag is 2 9/16" x 5 1/4") with clear embossing ink and embossed it with fine black powder.  Next step, coloring the fish with distress markers.  Here's a close up, and I hope you can see a bit of sparkle on some of the fish's scales.

This is how I did that:  I reheated the embossing and scattered bits of two different powders on the areas where I wanted a little bling.  I used the tip of a craft stick and very little powder, so I did have some control.  The powders were a blend of Ranger's verdigris from the Antiquities line, and goddess gold from the Ancient Gold line.  Then I reheated again and the newly added powders melted into the image.

The last thing I did was apply the background inks (salty ocean, peacock feathers, and mowed lawn) and do the spritz and flick distress technique (which can be found on page 42 of Compendium of Curiosities, Volume 2).

I enjoyed this process so much, I did a "few" more.  Looks like I have enough to share with some friends.

This week Simon Says Stamp is offering a $25 gift certificate for one randomly selected participant, so there's another good reason (besides the fun of getting inky) for jumping on the CCC train.

Artist's Choice

I'm in a small online group for sharing art, sometimes trading, and just hanging out with like minded people.  Membership is by invitation only, and not to sound snobbish, the point was to gather together some folks who have a good track record for quality work and responsible swapping.  Since we're not affiliated with any person, product, or store we're free to create whatever we want without constraints.  All we've agreed to is to always do our best work.

After a couple of weeks of getting to know one another, we've embarked on our first swap, and made it a simple one.  A tag.  Any theme.  Anything goes.  Artist's choice.  Works for me!

I actually completed my tag long before I knew who I'd be sending it to.  As it turns out, I'm mailing it to one of my cruise pals, Stephanie.  So, Steph, if you need to be surprised, stop now and go away!

I feel like this tag is a good example of my true style.  A little bit of grunge, a little bit of steampunk, a little bit of humor,  and a whole lot of texture and layering.

The background was done with lots of sprays, inks, paints, and stencils.  I'm not sure if it shows up in the photos, but I applied some light modeling paste through the harlequin stencil to raise it up and add some texture.

Hanging out around the clock, (Tim Holtz's weathered clock die) some stenciled people.

Does that little guy hanging onto the clock for dear life look familiar?

Well, he started out in life as a Wendy Vecchi stamp (from the gentlemen art set), about 4" high.  He was just what I wanted, but obviously way too big.  I stamped him, scanned the image and reduced it in size.  He was cut out, then completely covered with black ink, followed by a coat of glossy accents. 

Instead of using the usual clock hands I used two old keys, a rusty washer and a beat up brad.

And, since this week's Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge is 'anything goes,' I guess I have another twofer.







Creative Chemistry 101, Day 9

Embracing the Perfection of Perfect Pearls

Yes, yes, if Tim Holtz has a mantra it's probably "embrace imperfection," and believe me, I have plenty of that to embrace.  But as he says in today's lesson, Perfect Pearls is an aptly named product.  So easy to use, and such an uncomplicated way to add some glitz to a project.  Here are my tags for the three techniques we did today in Creative Chemistry 101:

The techniques are, perfect distress mist, perfect distress, and perfect splatter distress, and honestly, they are best appreciated in person, where you can hold the tags, turn them to hit the light in different areas, and really see the sparkle of Perfect Pearls.

I even have a bonus tag today.  It was created by sopping up the leftovers on my craft sheet after each technique.  Pretty cool, huh?

Remember, you can sign up for this class ANYTIME, and will have access to the content FOREVER!  The only difference between taking the classes now or later on, is that the forums and galleries can't be added to later, although you will be able to read all comments and view all the pictures.  I know I've said it before, but I'm saying it again:  take this class and you will not be disappointed.

My distress markers are supposed to be delivered today, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to play with them just yet.  Busy day today.....taking mom for a haircut, and then getting ready for a weekend getaway with some of my bestest local artsy pals.  We're trying out a new place this year, and I have to gather my supplies for the project I'll be teaching.  Yes, I know I'm lucky.  I have friends I can make art with from all over the world, even my own backyard.





Creative Chemistry And A Simon Says Challenge

It seems like every other person I bump into online is taking and loving Tim Holtz's online class, Creative Chemistry 101.  Me too!  As experienced as I think I am in all things ink and paint, I learn something new every day.  Anyway, I decided to put some of these techniques into practice, and used a few on the tag I did for this week's Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge.  What did Simon say this week?   Show me......a tag! 



I started with the marbled stain technique from day 5 of the class, added some masking and stenciling, and also the flick technique from day 1.  BTW, the stenciling technique is one I learned from Lynne Perrella.  First I dabbed black paint through the sequin waste on the right.  Then I moved the waste ever so slightly and dabbed gold paint.  One more move, and some metallic orange paint was added.  The two layers soften the black and add a lot of texture (which means adding interest).

Although I knew I wanted to use the fish stamps from Wendy Vecchi's Art For Men set, I didn't have a plan for where the tag was headed, but once those images were down (BTW, I did stamp them before adding the stenciling), the tag started to feel asian to me.  I added the Chinese lettering at that point.

Next step, another technique from Tim's class, watercoloring with stains.  I used that on the two fish stamped directly onto the tag.  Looking at the tag, I thought a focal image was missing, so I stamped one of the fish onto watercolor paper with archival black ink, and after heat setting it, colored it with distress stains and cut it out.  I attached it with pop dots, and as a final touch wrapped the poor guy with some twine.  Guess he was caught.

I'm very happy with the way this tag turned out.  I'm in an asian journal group, and I suspect this tag will eventually find its way into someone's book.

Now for some Creative Chemistry tags I haven't posted yet.  Here are my three from day 4:  watercoloring with re-inkers, layered misting, and custom stamp pad.

I cheated on the third tag.  I didn't have any more of the felt pad needed for it, so I just used the custom pad I made during the last 12 Tags of Christmas, so I'd have it for reference.

Today's class was all about embossing powders, everyone's favorite "magical" technique.

The three techniques are:  nostalgic batik, rusted enamel, and distress powder resist.

If you heard a shout of happiness coming from the east coast this morning, that might have been me.  Patti from Absolutely Everything wrote to let me know that my distress markers are going out today.  And that means I'll soon be able to try out the techniques from day 6.  Color me thrilled.





Creative Chemistry (And A Few Observations)

I completed all three tags for Lesson 5 in Tim Holtz's wonderful online class, Creative Chemistry, on Friday, but honestly, I wasn't too thrilled with any of them.  I had time this morning for a do over, and I have a few observations that might help anyone else who has been less than happy with their results.

OBSERVATION #1

ALL MANILA TAGS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL

I have LOTS of tags.  Some are from Ranger, some from the office supply store, and many are from unknown sources.  There IS a difference.  The two tags I did Friday I now see were done on lighter weight manila, and I really don't like the way they reacted with the inks and stains.  The paper seemed to "pill," and I wasn't happy with the blending either.  Here's an example.  My original tag is on the left, and the new and (I think) improved one, done on Ranger's tag, is on the right:

I don't know how much it shows up, but the first attempt seems blotchy to me, and you can see how much more the first one curls up.  The one done on the higher quality manila has remained pretty flat even with all the liquid layered upon it.  Oh, and by the way, this was the marbled stains technique.  Note:  I do not work for Ranger and I'm not looking to make anyone spend more money than they want to.  I just think that for techniques that involve a lot of liquid, the higher the quality of the tag, the better. 

OBSERVATIONS #2 and #3

I REALLY DIDN'T KNOW THE CORRECT WAY TO RE-INK A PAD

and

IT REALLY IS IMPORTANT TO COMPLETELY DRY YOUR WORK BETWEEN APPLICATIONS OF WET MEDIA

I thought I did, but not until I watched Tim's video earlier in the week, did I find out otherwise.  I had actually re-inked my black archival pad a week ago (but not the right way), and I wasn't getting good impressions when I stamped.  This morning I followed Tim's instructions and you can see the difference in the two tags below:

The other thing I didn't like about my first tag for the stamping with stains technique is that the background stamp, stamped with white, barely shows up.  I believe I didn't dry the tag enough when I stamped.  I made sure the second tag was totally dry, and you can certainly see the white background now.

OBSERVATIONS #4 and #5

NOT EVERY PAPER IS RIGHT FOR A TECHNIQUE

and

NOT EVERY STAMP IS THE BEST CHOICE FOR A TECHNIQUE

For the stained kraft resist technique I chose a piece of Tim's kraft resist paper that didn't have a whole lot of open space, and I corrected that with my second tag.  I also think the stamp I chose had too much open space.  Add to that, it was done before I correctly reinked the archival ink pad.  I chose another piece of kraft paper, a better stamp for the technique, and worked with a properly re-inked pad, and am waaaay happier with the end result.

I actually don't dislike the first tag; I think it's kind of interesting, but not the greatest example of the technique.

I'm all wound up for tomorrow and the start of week 2 of Creative Chemistry.  Have you joined in the fun yet?  















So Many Challenges, So Little Time

I'm back from a blissful week cruising the Caribbean; I feel invigorated, but still haven't figured out how to squeeze an extra hour or two into the day.  So, when I get the opportunity to create something that can be used for more than one of my favorite challenges, I do jump at the chance.

Here's the rundown:    Grungy Monday 37 calls for wearable art
                                     Simon Says Stamp and Show.....idea-ology
                                     Tim's March edition of the 12 Tags of 2012 features a beautiful mosaic
                                          technique

Tim used his butterfly movers and shapers to create the mosaic; I went for the tattered florals.  He used Ranger's cement embossing powder from the Antiquities line; I used their ancient gold.  And I have a surprise.....the flowers on my tag are actually a pin that can be removed and worn.  My flowers are embellished with some idea-ology that has been colored with distress embossing powder (I used scattered straw, shabby shutters and worn lipstick), so I'm covered for all three challenges.  Wearable art, check.  Idea-ology, check.  Mosaic technique, check. 

Without further blah blah blah, here is my tag:

My background is a gorgeous Hero Arts stamp, lightly inked with tea dye distress ink.  Some antique linen was sponged on afterwards, followed by a spritz of pewter perfect pearls mist.  I wanted a very subtle background so that my pin would pop.

The sentiment is a Wendy Vecchi stamp and the stick pins are from Maya Road.  And here is a closer look at the pin.

Tip:  if you're trying the mosaic technique on very small shapes (like the smallest of the flowers), and therefore using very small bits of paper, you might find it a little difficult to precisely place the glossy accents on the paper only, and not the heat set embossing powder.  I just squeezed a blob of it on my craft sheet and used a small brush.  I didn't exactly brush it on; it was more like a gentle dabbing, but it got the glossy accents exactly where I wanted it, and it self leveled nicely.  BTW, I used a tie tack finding  to make the pin, and all three flowers were glued together with matte multi medium (held in place with small clamps until dry).

Oh, and this is completely off topic, but here are a few shots of Caribbean tranquility:

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.







The 12 Tags of Christmas -- Day 10

Sob, sigh....only two tags to go.  But on a brighter note, my comment on Tim's blog yesterday was one of those chosen, and Mario is sending me a prize!  I won once three or four years ago, and let me tell you, winning never gets old.  Thank you Tim and Mario!!

Today's tag features facets and packing tape transfers with a twist.  It's a cool twist, and it results in pieces that have the look of old mercury glass.  Not that you'd know that looking at my photos, but trust me, it's a very nice technique.  Wait, you don't have to trust me.  Just head on over to Tim's blog and see for yourself.

Tim stamped his tag with a sheet music stamp for the background.  I could have done that.  I could have stamped any number of images.  Sometimes we use what we have.  And sometimes we use what we can reach.  Yep, having one of those lazy days (maybe the fact that finding out I was a winner at 3am got me so excited I couldn't get back to sleep had something to do with that), so instead of getting up and finding a stamp, I used Tim's text tissue paper, because there it was, right in front of me.

Other differences:  Tim used two large fragments; I used three smallish ones.  His hung from the top of his tag with jute; I have mine suspended from a tree branch on bakery twine.  I don't have the tattered banner die, so I made my own by attaching tissue tape to cardstock and folding it and glueing it until it sort of resembled the real thing.  Tim spelled believe with his alpha parts and dabbed them with gold paint; I used the word peace and copper paint.



I think it came out OK, though I don't love it as much as some of the others I've done.  Like yesterday's.

The 12 Tags of Christmas -- Day 9

Tim's tag today so inspired me, I did two versions!  The main feature is a beautiful background technique that involves double heat embossing.  Tim used traditional Christmas colors and the result is really striking.  I went in an entirely different direction.  First, tag #1:

I used a Hero Arts background stamp that I fell in love with during Jennifer McGuire's Inspiration Showcase class a  few months ago.  The inks I chose were old paper and evergreen bough, which gives a more subtle look than the vivid one Tim achieved with the green and red.

Tim's focal image was a candle and candle holder, cut from grungeboard, inked and highlighted with glossy accents.  I used one of the guys from reindeer flight instead.  I got the spots by using that technique where you flick drops of water from your fingers to the inked surface.  The deer is covered with vintage photo and gathered twigs, then glossy accents over everything.

The third element I took from Tim's tag was the use of lots of foliage, cut from varying shades of green.

The idea for my second tag came to me while I was still working on the first one, and I couldn't wait to get going.  It may not look a bit like Tim's, but it does incorporate the three techniques:  the double embossed background, the highlighting grungeboard shapes with glossy accents, and the use of lots of greenery.

The background is a Cornish Heritage Farms stamp of license plates.  I had a somewhat different idea in my head when I stamped it (an idea that didn't work), which is why the license plates are sideways.  I still liked the way the background looked, so I went with it. The sentiment is a Wendy Vecchi stamp.  The old car carrying home a Christmas tree was done with movers and shapers; after inking the car with vintage photo and black soot, I highlighted the tires and headlight with markers, then gave the car the glossy accents treatment.  When it was completely dry I attached the tree to the car with twine.

The house was put together with chipboard shapes I've had lying around forever.  The square was embossed with Tim's bricked folder and then inked with fired brick, aged mahogany, and vintage photo.  On this tag, the greenery took the form of trees behind the house.

There are lots of ways to do snow.  This is what I did here.....I applied some glossy accents (since it was already right in front of me) to wherever I wanted a bit of snow, then covered it with white embossing powder.  When heating it, the still wet glue underneath bubbled up a bit as the powder melted, creating some texture and dimension.  I like the way it looks.

Is tag 9 now my favorite?  Could be......

And now, pardon me, but I have to get on a soap box for a moment and explain one of the many reasons I adore and respect Tim Holtz.  He featured a Hero Arts stamp on his tag and is participating in a blog hop celebrating their new catalog.  Even though he has a signature stamp line with Stampers Anonymous.  Some stamp designers act as though their stamps exist in a universe with no others.  Some stamp companies do the same.  I have always felt there's room for excellence from many sources, and I so appreciate Tim's collegial attitude and willingness to showcase the talents of his peers.....and think of them as peers, not competition.  OK, soap box is put away.













The 12 Tags of Christmas -- Day 8

Ah, be still my happy heart.....today Tim went all steampunk on us, and I love it!  Not for everyone's taste to be sure, but I have always been drawn to those industrial/sci fi images, and using them on a Christmas tag is just plain fun.

I have a lot of steampunk stamps, dies, embossing folders, and even some stickers and rub-ons.  I have gears, watch parts, all sizes of small light bulbs, springs, and other assorted industrial type metal bits.  Lots to choose from.  So, while I followed the general layout of Tim's tag, and did use his background techniques on the tag, I pretty much went off and used what I had.  And had a blast doing so.

Instead of using the gadget gears die, I chose the steampunk on the edge die and attached it to the right side of the tag.  It was cut from grungeboard, pounced with gold and copper paint, then distressed and sanded and covered with both walnut stain and black soot distress inks.  Some of Tim's idea-ol-ogy pieces were attached to the top.



Tim's steampunk set includes a stamp of three men.  Since I don't have it, I used the stamps I do have, from Oxford Impressions.  I added a little something to one of the guys to put him in the right holiday spirit.

The santa hat was cut freehand from a scrap of grungeboard and covered with.....are you ready?.....flock.  Yep, good old flock.  I'm sure I haven't used any in years, but when it came out and was all the rage, I must have bought it in every color.  The other fella's hat was covered with glossy accents and he has some holly (mini movers and shapers die) and berries (stickles) on it.  Both gents have stickled bowties.  As for what's on the bottom.....I raided my steampunk box (yes, I have one) and came up with some springs and an odd looking piece (in between the two springs) and attached them all together with brads.

Tim's tag has a ticket with a pointing hand, letters made shiny with glossy accents, and one of his miniature lightbulbs as an accent.  Here's how I put some of those elements together:

I used the Merry Christmas ticket stamp from Tim's odds and ends set.  It doesn't show up very well, but the number 25 got the glossy accents treatment.  The bit of chain is held onto the ticket with staples (Tim's tiny attacher), and a miniature (decorative only) light swings from the end of the chain along with one of Tim's lightbulbs.  I used a pointing hand stamp (one of Wendy Vecchi's) a bit differently too.  It is on a memo pin, which was stuck behind the santa hat.

I love Tim's tag, and I'm thrilled with my version.  But if you don't love steampunk you probably won't much like either.  Me, I'm as happy as can be.







The 12 Tags of Christmas -- Day 7

Today's tag features kraft glassine paper, and Tim has included a video that demonstrates all the ways this product can be used.  Like many of you out there, I bought it when it first came out but haven't used it much.  Now that I have a better idea of how versatile it is, I'm sure I'll be including it in more projects.  Today we made holly leaves and colored them with alcohol inks.

Tim cut his leaves with a die, which I don't have.  However, holly leaves are very easy to cut freehand, and that's just what I did.  On Tim's tag, the sentiment was part of a very beautiful and elegant stamp with a lovely frame surrounding the words.  Again, not something I own.  I used the stamp (from Tim's mini ornates set) that is blank on the inside.  I had a few holiday sentiment stamps that fit inside, and used holiday cheer, which is a Stampin' Up stamp that is several years old and I'm sure retired ages ago.  I think the two stamps look like they were made for each other.

My holly berries are just some random "pearls" from my stash of dead and dying costume jewelry, and like Tim, I colored them with red pepper alcohol ink.  I did the same for the bauble on the top of the tag, and added some red crystals, putting them on a trinket pin.

Here are some closeups:



As for the background of the tag itself, I used the techniques Tim demonstrated, but selected different colors and stamps.

We're more than half way finished, and I'm already looking forward to tag #8.



The 12 Tags of Christmas -- Day 6

The tag Tim did for today features embossed metal, painted and distressed and very vintage looking.  Tim used one embossing folder for his tag (one I don't have), and I used three folders.  I cut them into sections to create the collage look of the folder Tim used.

I used the holiday, snowflakes and sheet music folders.  This tag was not difficult to do, but it does
involve some drying time.  Also, as Tim states clearly, after painting the metal you will most likely think that your tag is a hot mess.  Don't be alarmed.  The following steps really do make it all work.  I think it's a wonderful look.

The embellishment (I don't have any of the Christmas charms) started life as a truly ugly overly bright piece of thin cheap metal.  Applying the paint and embossing it really transformed it.

By the way, Tim used Ranger's self adhesive foil.  I used metal from Ten Seconds Studio.  But......if you have neither, this is what I used to do before I had any metal sheets.  Adhere some heavy duty aluminum foil to your cardstock and then proceed as directed.  As long as you are a bit gentle with your sanding you won't tear the foil and it is a good substitute for the real thing.



The 12 Tags of Christmas -- Day 5

When I clicked on Tim's blog early this morning, my first reaction upon seeing today's tag was an actual, audible "wow!"  It is very graphic and modern looking, and really makes a statement.  I'm sure you've seen it already, but if by chance you stumbled upon this blog first, do go and look at it now.  Plus, there's a great video in which Tim explains all the cool ways to use his reflections stamps (you know, the ones that are backwards and probably had you scratching your head the first time you saw them).  Yep, today's tag features those stamps, alcohol inks, glossy cardstock, and a tag cut from thick plastic.  Are you ready? 

Tim covered the plastic tag with several alcohol inks in the red family.  I used blues.  He used the Christmas reflections stamp from the seasonal set.  I only have the original reflections, so I opted for the script stamp, and used it on an angle in the center, leaving room to stamp the snowflakes above and below the script.  This is what the tag looks like mounted on glossy white cardstock, after doing the technique:

I think you can see the script, and the snowflakes really show up.  I had lots of trouble the first time I attempted this technique a year or so ago, but it went well this morning.  Here's a closer look:

For the focal image, Tim created a beautiful and very dimensional wreath using the foliage from his Regal Crest die.  Of course I wanted to do something different, and besides, I didn't think the wreath would work as well with my background.  I had that pack of seasonal grungeboard on my table, and decided to use the elegant reindeer instead.   It was painted with a pearl paint dabber, and I did cut some leaves from the Royal Crest die to give him a blinged out scarf.  And here is the finished tag:







I have to say that I'm very happy with my version, because while it doesn't look a bit like Tim's, it does incorporate the wonderful techniques he featured.  This might be my favorite so far.....probably until tomorrow, that is.

The 12 Tags of Christmas -- Day 4

The tag Tim created today is (like all the rest) full of doable techniques, and as usual, I wanted my tag to include them all, yet look different.  Tim's focal image was his snowman die, cut from grungeboard.  I couldn't find a Christmas themed die amongst my many that would also take a movers and shapers die cut into it, but then I remembered my package of seasonal grunge shapes.  The two large ornaments seemed a good substitution.

Other than changing up the images and colors, I followed Tim's instructions for all the techniques.  I used the following distress stains on the background:  picket fence, peeled paint, bundled sage, and forest moss.

The ornaments were covered with white paint, a thick coat of rock candy distress crackle paint, and then several stains in the red family:  barn door, fired brick, and aged mahogany.  Instead of using the tulle buttons as an accent, I incorporated them into the decoration of the ornaments.  The larger of the two had enough space to cut one of the movers and shapers snowflakes from the center; I just left the smaller ornament whole.

This tag, though not complicated, took the longest to finish because there was so much drying time involved.  Thick crackle paint takes a long time to dry, as does the layer of glossy accents that fills the opening in the ornament made by the snowflake die. 

I'm more than ready now for tag #5!



The 12 Tags of Christmas -- Day 3

Today's tag features the dreaded custom stamp pad technique....but dreaded no more!  I just knew I'd acquired some of that cut 'n dry felt so that I could finally attempt this with the correct material (one year I tried it with some foam material and that was a disaster).  Well, acquiring it and finding it are two different animals, and wherever I buried the stuff, it has decided to remain there.  I did, however, find this:

I either found this at a stamp expo or the Ranger warehouse sale, and it contains the same felt Tim used, uninked and in a nice stamp case.  However, it is way smaller than I'd like.  But we do what we can with what we have.  I would ordinarily use a different stamp than Tim, but honestly, the one he used is the only one I have that coordinates with an embossing folder, so I went with that one.  Here's how the stamp pad looked after it was stamped and colored with the distress re-inkers:

Pretty terrible, huh?  But amazingly, it works, and produced this tag:

Since my custom stamp pad was too small to cover much of the tag I restamped a few times, and by some miracle I did wind up with enough words in the right location to then run it through the coordinating embossing folder.  I think it was an accident that I was able to emboss the top part of my tag, just as Tim did, but at least it was a happy accident.  After all that, I sprayed the whole thing with Perfect Pearls mist in perfect pearl, so it didn't add any color, just a very nice shimmer, which you may see better in this close up:

I don't have the dies Tim used to cut all the fabulous winter foliage for his tag, but I used his kraft core paper to cut leaves and branches from the dies I do have, in many shades of green.  I also threw in a leftover pinecone from the first tag.  My berries started out as white flat back pearls, and I colored them red with an alcohol based marker (because my alcohol inks were under too many things to get at without the possibility of an avalanche).

Now that I see how really easy making a custom stamp pad is, I am definitely going to either find the felt I'm sure I have or just get some more.

Besides this tag and several other great techniques, Tim's post today features a video clip from an appearance on the old Carol Duvall show, where he demonstrates making a custom stamp pad.  I loved Carol's show, and it was there that I was first discovered Tim, and it was such fun watching it again, so make sure you hop over to his blog if you haven't already.