Good bye 2010, hello 2011!

I was hoping to make some profound statement about the end of the year, etc. but so many have already done this and I can really only echo their sentiments.  Hard to believe I've been blogging for 1 year and 1 day!  It's been a lot of fun, a neat learning experience, and a great way for me to share my artful journey with you.  Your comments have made my day(s) and I look forward to gaining more followers and visiting with all of you in the new year.  I hope 2010 hasn't been too awful and that 2011 will be awesome.  I feel lots of wonderful things will be in store for us...new stamps, new products, new tools.  What more could we ask for except more time to enjoy them all? 

Oops...just got issued another tornado watch...60 and looking nasty outside.  What a way to end the year...not quite the noisy outcome I was anticipating!  And way too early for noisemakers! 

Happy New Year!

1882 - yesteryear

The latest theme from Simon Says Stamp & Show blog is 'yesteryear'.  I'm guessing that April 1882 will qualify.  I took a picture of my great-grandmother at age 16 (1866-1939) and enlarged it.  I didn't like the black mat so I painted it with gesso then added plenty of Bundled Sage, Brushed Corduroy and Forest Moss distress inks.  The original photo is now grayish-green on a pinkish-orange chipboard background.  I looked at the colors on the color wheel and decided that a sage green and grayish lavender would work nicely with the photo.

Wendy Vecchi's script background stamp (Live & Make Art) was stamped in Olive archival all over the mat and dots (Seriously Art) was stamped on part of the left side of the mat in in Sepia archival ink.  In the four corners I stamped the corner flourish from Tim's French Market in Sepia archival ink.

Wendy's 'Be Happy...Make Art' provided the image for the grungepaper flower (Bundled Sage, Forest Moss, Milled Lavender).  I stamped two images then layered them, cutting apart the flowers for more layering with grungepaper scraps in between the layers.  On vellum I stamped Wendy's German text in Black archival, distressed with several brown distress inks then wadded up for even more dimension.  My great-grandmother was born in Germany and only spoke German so this was perfect.  I added a Maya Road Bingo piece (16) sanding it before gluing it down on the vellum piece.

Tim's flourish and ticket dies were cut from a sample tag of Scribble Stain Distress (Tim's technique from his latest book).  The flowers (smallest die from 'Tattered Florals') were cut from sage green grosgrain ribbon then tapped onto a brown distress ink.  They frayed without any help from me.  Tim's brads form the flower centers. 

I don't know the font that was used on the ticket die but I really love it.  There is no info on the bag as to the manufacturer or any other info.  The numbers are separate stamps but the months are spelled out...no separate letters, darn it.  I stamped 'April' in Wild Honey distress ink and '1882' in Coffee archival.

We have only a few pictures of Regina, as an older woman, so I'm ecstatic to have found this one from her youth.  It does pay to look through older collections...you just never know who you'll find in a photograph.

Merry Christmas!

Here's a simple holiday card decked out via Tim and Wendy!  Santa's suit has one of Wendy's backgrounds stamped in Coffee Archival Ink.  The belt has Black Soot Distress Crackle Paint with the White Paint Dabber run over it then a brown distress ink.  The gold belt buckle has Tarnished Brass Crackle Paint and a brown distress ink over it to bring out the cracks.  Tim's alpha die was used on a soda can for the numbers.  A bit of brown distress ink all around the card layers brings it all together.

From my creative space to yours...

Merry Christmas!

Dance in the rain

Okay, so today I'm dancing in some sunshine and tomorrow it will be snow.  That's life!  This week's Compendium of Curiosities challenge was to use the Scribble Stain Distress technique.  I don't know that I achieved the same effect that Tim did; when I attempted to activate the Distress re-inker nothing happened.  I made numerous tags and still didn't get anything to happen.  Sigh.  But, these attempts gave me more backgrounds for future use, including one for this tag (raindrops and umbrella man).

All stamps are Tim's with the exception of the dance pattern on the bottom of the tag.  That's Dawn Houser's design from Inkadinkado.  I can't remember what colors I used...green, blue and brown...sorry.  The raindrops were punched out of an extra tag then covered with Glossy Accents and adhered.  Umbrella man was stamped on the same tag but in Stormy Sky DI.  He got a brown distress edging as did the whole tag.  I had some Wraphia that was the perfect color combo.

This wasn't one of my favorite techniques but still fun to see what the results would be using all different color combinations.

Last of the tissues so no more issues

Last tissue box cover this year.  Had it in my head to do a real glitzy one.  I used a Cuttlebug snowflakes embossing folder and plenty of Stickles on all the embossed areas...maybe Diamond?  My hand really got some nasty cramps.  The camera angle didn't pick up the glitter effect but it is pretty when light shines on it.  I edged the pieces with the silver paint dabber.  A friend may be bringing me some lemons and kumquats from her yard in southern Alabama so I wanted to have a little something to say 'thank you'. 

Another tissue box cover

This one has something different on each side as well as the top.  The base is kraft cardstock and the layers and embellishments are from a Sizzix pad of 6"x6".  I used Tim Holtz Texture Fades and dies and a Tartan plaid embossing folder by Provocraft.  Ranger Distress Inks and regular and Distress Stickles are all over the place.  I did use a Brilliance Platinum pigment ink on the blue snowflakes.  It's hard to see all the stickles I used on the snowman, tree, ornament, deer and cover top but they are there.  My neighbor was quite tickled to get this as she was drooling all over the ones from the other day.  She also was happy with her Santa tin and puzzle (from an earlier blog entry).  I think I need to work on some holiday food preparations now and stay out of my art room for a bit.  :)


Brick wall with ornament





Frosty and friends




Frosty and his snow-laden tree




Reindeer in the forest



Tartan topper

Here's the link for those who missed it the first time.

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/tissueboxcover/

Achoo! Gesundheit!

Made more tissue box covers yesterday.  My siblings and I don't exchange holiday gifts but I do try to make something for them to take home after our holiday gathering.  You saw the black snow one several blog entries back. 



Cuttlebug folders:  Victoria, Floral Fantasy
Cardstock:  Bazzill
Leaves, flourish:  Spellbinders
Flower layers:  Tim Holtz
On the edge die:  Bracket
Inks:  Distress by Ranger

Cuttlebug folder:  Clockworks
Texture Fade Retro Circles: Tim Holtz
Cardstock:  Bazzill
Gears:  Tim Holtz
On the edge: Postage
Inks:  Distress by Ranger

Cuttlebug folder:  Birds & Swirls
Cardstock:  Bazzill
Bird, cage:  Tim Holtz
On the edge die:  Scallop
Inks:  Distress by Ranger

Cuttlebug folder:  Stylized Flowers
Cardstock:  Bazzill
Leaves, flower:  Tim Holtz
On the edge die:  Scallop
Inks:  Distress by Ranger













These do work up quickly and can be as simple or complex as you care to make them.  Any theme will work, any color scheme will work.  Let your mind wander and don't worry if it goes off the beaten path!

A fave Tim technique...or two...or more

This week on the Simon Says Stamp & Show blog the theme is to use a fave technique of Tim Holtz.  Perfect timing since he's shared a few new ones during the 12 Tags of Christmas.  Hmmm, so many to choose from.  What shall I do????  I really like his Shabby Chic technique (pg. 49 from The Compendium of Curiosities book) so that was the base for my theme.  But I didn't stop there.  The ornaments are one of his techniques and the tree trunk is yet another technique (from the video on Day 6), but it may be harder to see.

This project was so much fun to create!  I started by using the Shabby Chic technique on the oak leaves (Tattered Leaves die).  Tim's evergreen branch was clear embossed on black cardstock then I painted over the entire sheet with the Bottle Acrylic Paint Dabber.  Cut out 10 leaves then tipped the edges in Gold APD.  The small flower is from Tattered Florals and shaped with a craft pick and an embossing ball tool on a dense foam mat. They also had their edges tipped with GAPD.  Gold flat-backed jewels were added to the centers.

Preparing the 8x10 canvas was a trip and a half!  First I smeared Claudine's (watered down) acrylic paint all over it...Traditional Tan, Dab of Yellow, Altered Orange and Sable Brown.  In Black Archival Ink I stamped Tim's musical score and his bare branch tree (this can look like veined marble if you stamp it just right).  In Coffee Arch I stamped his holiday text and 2 of his smaller snowflakes.  More small snowflakes were stamped in Sepia Arch.  Okay, these images are way too stark.  A wash of CH's gesso and water were applied over all, leaving some areas lighter, others darker.  Hmmm, this isn't what I wanted.  A wash of Trad Tan and water.  Let sit then pat off.  Better but still not the look I was hoping to achieve.  Okay, another round of Trad Tan and water.  Now, that's what I'm talking about!  A bit of Gold APD to the edges of the canvas and I'm a happy camper.

The tag is yellow, orange, red, brown and blue distress inks, edged with the Gold APD.  Yes, all those colors!  I stamped Tim's 'Merry Christmas' in Black Arch and wanted to shadow it with gold embossed text.  Thought the black was dry so applied the embossing powder.  Oops!  Nearly the entire tag was covered in powder.  Blast!  Quickly brushed off as much as I could, being careful around the sentiment...maybe I can still save some of my idea.  Heat embossed and was tickled with the results...the embossing was somewhat there, somewhat not.

Holiday tissue tape was left over from one of the earlier tags; it's been colored with archival inks and some copper alcohol ink.  There's a strip of grungepaper behind it to keep the bowed shape.  Tim's corners finish off the piece.  Yup, I'm happy with the results!

Believe...it's time to share more art

Saw a Christmas tag on Linda Cain's blog last week that I was itching to recreate.  I went with a blue distress ink background, snowflakes, and a reindeer that is flying over the treetops (aka small evergreen branch).  My tag isn't as colorful as Linda's but I'm quite pleased with it.  I did add a snowflake button that has Diamond Stickles on it for a bit of punch.  I will be writing a 'thank you' note on the back for a gift I recently received.  Just a thought on what you can do with some of your tags. 

Movers & Shapers - Day 12

The last day of Tim's 12 days of Christmas.  What fun it's been coming up with ideas different than Tim's but still following his lead with all the steps he took creating his tags.  While reading his blog the idea for today's tag popped into my head and I couldn't wait to finish reading the steps so I could get back into my art room. 

Christmas is more than shopping and eating.  I wanted a reminder of the keys to Christmas...hope, peace and love.  I chose Tim's Styled Label (weathered wood) with one of the key hole movers & shapers.  The background is a sheet of Tim's seasonal stash that is a very busy Christmas collage.  The 3 Maya Road keys were colored with red, yellow/orange, and green distress inks.  The text stamp is by Outlines (D-306); I masked off the outer portions.  I highlighted the key words with the same colors as the keys.  The message sits atop 2 decorative ornament hangers.

My Wendy-style tag uses her heart stamp (From the Heart) that I stamped on grungepaper then cut out.  Sizzix numbers were cut out of the hearts to mimic those mentioned in the sentiment (Card Art Essentials).  They are held together with Tim's memo pin.  I masked then stamped the 23 (Art By The Number)* onto a piece of tag scrap, punched out and adhered to the memo pin with Glossy Accents.  The background on the text box is from Let Your Art Have Wings.  Tim's paper from his Retro collection is the base of the tag.  There's a snippet of calendar tissue tape behind the sentiment.

* 23 is the date of our anniversary







I hope you've enjoyed my renditions of Tim's tags in his style and that of Wendy Vecchi. 

Happy holidays to you all!

Die + fun foam = stamp

This was another technique that wasn't new to me but always lots of fun!  I often create my own background paper then add the die cut as another element.  I have plenty of fun foam and in 2 thicknesses.  In the past I haven't made an acetate base but just used double stick tape on my acrylic blocks like I do my other unmounted stamps.  By doing it this way I can stamp either side of the image...a mirror effect.

Like Tim, I used his Snowflurries edge die.  It's a bit hard to see behind the reindeer that's been flocked.  I added the Townscape village at the bottom, coloring each house with pigment ink (Mushroom, Butterscotch, Denim and Bottle) then dabbed DecoArt Snow-Tex on the rooftops and the ground. 

Instead of using the decorative label that Tim used I opted to do a bit more recycling and ran a soda can through the Tag & Bookplates die.  I streaked Pitch Black alcohol ink across it to simulate the brushed look.  The word 'Christmas' is from the ATC stamp 'Reindeer Games'.  I inked it up with a marker then carefully stamped on cardstock that was cut to fit the label.



For my tag ala Wendy, I used a vintage kraft paper sack that looked like a newspaper ad page.  I've saved these for years and am glad to finally have an opportunity to use them on just the right project. 

I used a Sizzix mitten die for my new stamp.  Then, since it's winter, or feels like it anyway, I opted to stamp Wendy's garments from 'Fashion Style and Art' on grungeboard then flocked them.  Who wouldn't want a fur skirt and jacket for winter????

This label plate is also from a soda can but was treated to Ginger alcohol ink then distressed with the sanding grip.  No need for an inside label as there were words already on the tag that seemed to work perfectly.  I was going to use the word garment so might as well take advantage of what's already before me.

A trim of beige fur (okay, pretend, please!) and some red buttons strung on gold thread top off the tag.

Only one more day left of Tim's 12 tags of Christmas.  I'm sad to see these days have flown by but I now have an arsenal of cool things to try on future projects. 

Day 10 - recycling plastic

Our garbage can is usually pretty empty as we recycle so much or don't throw items away because they can probably be used some other way...some day.  It's a good thing we only have 1 car in our 2 car garage!  LOL  I've been keeping my acetate packaging for quite time so have quite a stack of flat pieces.  Tim must have seen the pile and came to the rescue when he used some in a texture fade folder for Day 10.

For my Tim-styled tag I chose the woodgrain texture fade, his reindeer (now Rudolph with a white tail and holly at his neck) and his three pines stamp.  On the deer (grungeboard colored with Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade & Vintage Photo) is stamped 'Merry Christmas' from the ATC 'First Christmas'.  A few of his snowflakes grace the top of the tag in a pearlized paint.  I do need to practice using the paint dabber around the edge of the tag...mine looks more like a stripe.  Oh well. 

For my Wendy-styled tag I chose Tim's Vintage Holiday texture fade.  Wendy's tree was stamped on harlequin grungeboard, colored with various green distress inks and the gold paint dabber, a twine garland and small red cardstock dots decorate the tree.  The tree and sentiment are from Wendy's 'Art of Making It Merry'.  Hint hint to Wendy...maybe a few more holiday-ish images?   I did pound some red brads after distressing them with some sandpaper.  

Rosettes to die for (or die trying to make them-grrr)

So, I knew sooner or later Mr. Tim would pull out that rosette die that makes me crazy.  If the die doesn't cut completely through his paper then it won't lay flat and ends up tearing anyway.  Oh well.  Guess I'll be practicing a lot more.  Here we are on Day 9 with several rosettes...in pieces... in the trash.  Never mind, finally got 2 that worked so I was off to the races to get my Tim and Wendy tags completed tonight.

First up is the Tim tag.  All stamps are from 'Artful Flight'.  I used Broken China and Tumbled Glass with Forever Blue and Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls mist (homemade).

I was already frustrated so I could have used the brads and pounded the heck out of them but knew there were some sequins dying to be used and they were a perfect match to the paper (Tim's vintgage shabby collection) I used for the rosette. 

My lace was white with gold trim but some color wash changed that.  The center of the rosette is a gold metal piece with music notes.  Tim's bird die sits on top of the rosette...kind of like sitting on it's nest. 

A bit of music notes tissue tape and a silver button that was treated to several colors of alcohol ink helped finish the tag.

Going with Wendy's fave colors (most of the time) of butterscotch and denim I was able to use another rosette from Tim's blue side of the vintage shabby collection.  This meant I could also use letters from the same die cuts (Tim's Carnivale) as I did in Tim's tag. 

The background is the text stamp from 'Live and Make Art'.  Scatttered Straw, Wild Honey and Tea Dye are glitzed with Mandarin and Perfect Gold Perfect Pearls (again, homemade).  The tag was edged wtih Tea Dye.

I treated another piece of the same white and gold lace to more colorwash, this time with butterscotch and water so it wasn't too dark.  Still no pounding of brads; I used black enamel accents for the dots. 

The butterfly (Botanical Art) was stamped in black archival on grungepaper and colored with scattered straw and denim and hit with the perfect pearls mist.  On top is a Clearly For Art butterfly.  Tim's spinner forms the body and it's held together with a long fastener.

The center of the rosette is part of the milk label from 'Homemade Art'.  I stamped it in coffee archival ink on grungepaper then colorized it with scattered straw, wild honey and vintage photo.  Do you see what I see?  How did I do it again?  I'll never know, that's for sure.  Still don't see it?  I didn't until I saw it through the viewfinder on my camera.  Look at the rosette...there are 3 petals inside!

Day 8 - Extreme Masking (with some frustration!)

I've worked with masks before and usually end up bending one or getting it so unstickable that it's useless.  Some days are just like that.  Or I get ink smudges from my dirty fingers on the clean areas of the tag.  Oh well.  Just another opportunity to be creative with the cover-up!  Seems like most of my tags have been non-Christmas but once Christmas is past I'll probably be doing things in holiday style.  Go figure. 

This tag is in holiday style, just not the current holiday.  I used the black cat and bat from the Seasonal Masks collection.  The On the Edge Fence was dry-brushed with Espresso acrylic paint (dabber top is no longer usable).  All stamps are the from Tim's Haunted mansion set.  After stamping the scroll with the owl in the center I realized it made the cat look like it's roaring.  Couldn't do that again in a million years!  Unplanned exact placement has happened several times during this tag-making session.  The pumpkin was a button with the shank removed.  The leaf punches - haven't a clue as to their manufacturer. 

Once again I went lighter and brighter with my Wendy-style tag.  Using some of the blank mask material I created my own mask of Wendy's leafy vine (Ticket to Art).  It was colored with yellows, oranges and some green distress inks.  The first stamp overlay was her plaid background (Make Art) and over that was some text (Live and Make Art), both in olive archival ink.

The flower border (Art Rules) at the bottom was stamped in plum archival ink.  I stamped the Fly Poop (Ticket to Art) in sepia archival ink over the entire tag.  I wish I had done this with a lighter touch.

Wendy's house (Home Made Art) was stamped in black archival on grungeboard.  The house was colored with blue and brown distress inks.  I stamped and cut out a separate door, colored it in reds and browns, then added an ultra mini silver brad for the doorknob.

Frayed Burlap was applied to the edges of the tags.  I used a flower left from yesterday's Wendy tag to be the chimney and coiled some floral wire behind it.  Gotta be green as it's a flower; silver would be fine for a real chimney.

Instead of using Tim's photo corners I used some bronze photo edges by Maya Road.

Day 7 of Tim's 12 tags of Christmas - Tattered Florals and Sticky Back Canvas

Who knew a flower die could become a different flower just by cutting apart the petals and reassembling?  As you know from the directions, Tim chose not to use the daisy die included in the Tattered Florals die when creating his poinsettia.  Being the noncomformist that I am, I did elect to use it.  I did use his Rose Leaf from the Tattered Leaves die.

If you haven't made the time to go try out the technique seen in the video from Day 6, what are you waiting for?  It's simply too cool for words!

Following Tim's video from Day 6, I colored the debossed area of the brick wall texture fade using Pumice Stone and Weathered Wood for my mortar and Fired Brick, Barn Door, Aged Mahogany, Rusty Hinge and Black Soot for my bricks (embossed design).

I cut up 3 daisies and 2 small flowers then inked the sticky back canvas with Butterscotch and Terra Cotta Color Wash and Sunflower Sparkle Perfect Pearls mist (homemade).  The petals were edged with Rusty Hinge.  The leaves are Pesto and Lettuce Color Wash and a mixture of Kiwi and Sunflower Sparkle Perfect Pearls mist (homemade).  Peeled Paint is on the edges of the leaves.

As soon as I saw Tim's video I knew I wanted to use this texture fade background for my Wendy-style tag.  Tim's Regal Flourishes reminds me of vintage wallpaper.  In the debossed areas I used Old Paper, Tea Dye and Tattered Rose distress inks.  For the embossed areas I used the same colors to further enhance the dimension.

Of course I HAD to make a Wendy rose (3 of Wendy's rose stamps and one flower from Tim's die for the bottom layer). Since color wash isn't made in the colors used above I improvised by smearing the pads on my craft sheet, misting with water and swirling my pieces of sticky back canvas in them until I was happy with the colors.  The color was very mottled which I really, really loved.  I used the same colors as above for the petals while the leaves were treated to a wash of Bundled Sage, Antique Paper, Tea Dye and Kiwi with Sunflower Sparkle Perfect Pearls.

Seeing as how I was making the rose, I knew it could be done just using the sbc.  Okay, too much white showing and not holding the curl well.  Drats!  I ended up taking it apart and adhering the pieces to grungepaper.  A chore and now the sbc doesn't stick as nicely.  Sigh.  Thanks to my trusty glue gun I was able to make all this work out.  I added a 'Love' word stick and small silver key to my Martha Stewart silk ribbons at the top.

Holiday greetings (2nd post of the day!)

Over on the Simon Says Stamp & Show blog the challenge this week is to create a holiday greeting.  Every holiday has it's own ideas for greeting visitors...grinning jack-o-lanterns for Halloween, flags for patriotic days, etc. 

Here's how we'll be greeting visitors to our home this month.  We've snow on the ground and plenty of cold temperatures to keep it here...at least for a while.

I've used Sizzix dies, some of Tim's Sizzix alterations and Martha Stewart punches to create these night lights from black cardstock and traditional brown paper lunch bags.  Welcome to our home! 
 

Texture fades and stamping inside them

How cool is this technique Tim has shown us????  Oh my gosh...I can see so many ideas with this!  We're halfway through the countdown...will be sad to see it go but I'm eager to try out all I've learned during these 12 days.

I chose Tim's snowman texture fade instead of the tall pines.  His reindeer is my pine.  It already had swirls in the grungeboard so I saved a step there.  In the background is the Christmas carol sheet music.  The label sentiment is from the ATC sized stamp called Reindeer Games.  I selected the snowflakes tissue tape..gotta have snow on the ground...lol!  I added a red heart brad that's been distressed with the sanding grip because I love listening to the carols being sung by a choir.

My Wendy version was a bit tougher for me this time.  But I think it came out okay.  I substituted Tim's cattail texture fade for the trees and in the background is stamped Wendy's small bird and butterfly and her oval doily made some cool clouds.  I chose too light of Distress Ink for the butterfly so I painted some of the same color on with a damp paint brush.  Live and learn.  I chose to put Wendy's sentiment on Tim's ticket die and added photo turns to hold it in place.  Once again patterned grungeboard to the rescue on the large bird flying overhead. 

Off to see what inspires me for Day 7!

Rock Candy Distress Stickles

just doesn't photograph well!  Time for another challenge out of Tim's Compendium of Curiosities book.  We're at week 24 now and are allowing ourselves 2 weeks to finish our projects during this busy month.

I got my idea after watching a video on Tim's blog today (Day 6 of his 12 days of Christmas tags).  This is such a cool, cool, COOL idea!  First I used a white paint dabber to create a resist on the tag with the snowflakes.  I overstamped  his tall pines on the snowman texture fade.  Prismacolor pencils were used on Frosty to accent some of his features.  Stamped 'Merry Christmas' in Fired Brick DI but really should have used an archival ink.  Rock Candy Distress Stickles was smeared over the entire tag.  Once it was dry I added Frosty's scarf.

Here's another photo of the tag, hopefully you can see the RCDS better.

'Twas a very productive day.  I finished gluing my pile of styrofoam snowballs.  Covered a hall door with wrapping paper and stapled strips of ribbon horizontally to hold the holiday cards that have been arriving.  Got a cool thank you tag made based on Linda Cain's idea the other day.  Also got my version of Tim's Day 6 Christmas tag completed.  Now to work on the Wendy style tag.  And I even finished my project for the Simon Says Stamp and Show blog but need something from the store which I'll pick up tomorrow.  Whew!  Can't wait to show you all the finished pieces but you'll have to wait for a new one each day this week.

As I look out the window I see more snowflakes are falling.  Makes this tag fit right in with the mood of the day.  Hope you're having fun following the various holiday challenges!

Techniques galore

on Tim's Day 5 tag of his Christmas classes.  Just think, we get to take these classes at our leisure, in our jammies if we want, and have his 'undivided attention'!  Seriously, he's super generous with his time, energy and creativity.  Thank you, Tim!!! 

No Christmas theme for me today.  I read the blog entry, made notes that I needed an image, something to 'fly' off the page, metal embellishments and metal numbers to dramatically change.  Hmmmm. 

I used Scattered Straw, Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge and Vintage Photo Distress Inks on the tag before adding Tim's birdcage.  The flourish is from the same set (Artful Flight) and has Peeled Paint, Tumbled Glass, Broken China and Faded Jeans Distress Stickles on the leaves and flowers.  Wishes is from the set 'Good Thoughts'.   Instead of a label I used Spellbinders' bird die with Broken China Distress Crackle Paint.  The text is actually from an old bird identification book.  Tim's bird charm is the one with the cool vintage enamel look*while the bees and the letter 'B' got the Distress Embossing Powder treatment.  Mood when done? Happy!

So, what to do for my Tim tag ala Wendy?  What does she like?  Well, she's always talking about Butterscotch and Denim so I used Scattered Straw (the only yellow I had on hand) Distress Crackle Paint on the label (from Tim's tag & bookplates), edged it with Rusty Hinge Distress Ink while Tumbled Glass, Broken China and Faded Jeans Distress Inks went on the tag.

For the image I chose to use Wendy's bottle from 'Art Inspiration'.  It has a light coat of Picket Fence Distress Stickles on it to simulate an old frosted glass bottle.  The flourishes are from 'Art Parts' and are highlighted with Fired Brick Distress Stickles.  I cut the sentiment apart carefully so it would spread across the bottom of the tag - I liked this arrangement better for this tag.  I had some metal alphabet stencils and chose Wendy's initials with Fired Brick Distress Embossing Powder.  The enamel look*went on the 490.  Recognize the numbers?  It's from Tim's first alphabet die.  It took a few rollings through my Big Shot but I was able to cut the numbers out of a soda can.  Mood when done?  Quite pleased with myself!

* I didn't have White UTEE but did have clear and it seemed to work just fine.  With the bird I added 2 layers of UTEE (heat, pour, heat).  The numbers were too lightweight and flighty no matter how high I held the heat gun or tried to corral them with a wood skewer.

I could probably copy Tim's tags, I'm sure I have most of the items, but I've challenged myself to think outside the box and come up with something completely different from Tim's inspiration.  Not sure I'll be able to do it on every tag but I'll give it the old college try. 

Off to dream of what Day 6 will be like!  G'night!

Facets and baubles

Day 4 - thank you for choosing something relative easy and quick today, Tim!  My muse needed a bit of a breather. 

My past 3 days of Tim's tags have been on the dark side, color-wise.  I went to the lighter side of life with this tag, even using a non-holiday paper and image on the facet.  I did learn that using black Archival Ink on his clear stamps doesn't work as well as on his red rubber images.  Having a juicy ink pad works better, too.  Sigh.

The image on the facet is one of Tim's butterflies.  Looks much better IRL.  I had some clear beads that I turned purple with alcohol ink.  The stones at the bottom are purple and shiny even though they look matte/pearlized in the photo.  And Tim's tiny safety pin would barely go through my ribbons.  Good job you can't see how bent it is now!  LOL

So, if I went to the lighter side with Tim, I had to go to the dark side with Wendy.  Well, I didn't have to but chose to.  Since Wendy doesn't have her own stash of papers (hint! hint!) I created my own with her stamps.  Sepia, coffee and black archival inks on kraft cardstock were my colors.  A bit of Rusty Hinge distress ink is in the center.  Made my own ticket using Tim's die.  Can you figure out what's stamped on the facet?  Nah, didn't think so unless you know what set was my inspiration.  It's the nose/lip.  And my ginger alcohol ink is quite thick and gunky so that made it even harder to get this to work.  Oh well.  I'm sticking with it.  A few gold-tone stones at the bottom, black beads at the top and a Stampin' Up clip to hold the ticket to the tag.  Done!

Tissue tape - love it or leave it?

Day 3 and Tim's challenging us to use tissue tape in a new way.  It's not supposed to stick to itself but I found that several of my rolls were very much stuck to themselves but when I tried using it the tape wouldn't stick to anything.  Go figure.

So here's what I came up with for my version of Tim's Day 3 tag.  It's similar to his but I chose to tissue tape collage one of his ornaments and hang it from an evergreen branch.  My coppery flower looks more like a medallion but that's fine for this tag.

I chose various blues and greens alcohol inks for the ornament with a splash of copper mixative.  I ran ginger, butterscotch, and copper alcohol inks over the tissue tape before it was made into the medallion.  Okay, I didn't think outside the box on this one but have had the general idea floating in my head for quite some time.  Felt I better use it before it was forgotten.  All the stamps are Tim's.






So my Wendy version went light, bright and airy...again.  This time the tissue tape collage is on the butterfly's wings.  Pale yellow, orange and pink alcohol inks brought forth an image of spring.  Never mind it's below freezing and starting to snow.  There are several pieces of grungepaper and grungeboard between the butterfly, the 2 sets of wings and the body for dimension.  This time the tissue tape flower does look like a flower.  :)  I chose an Easter sticker - the colors look nice with the tag.  Maya Road sells the pink velvet gathered ribbon.  The green rickrack was leaf green but a bit too bright so I ran one of the brown distress inks over it.  The background bubbles, leafy stem and sentiment are from Wendy's collection.

Thanks to Ranger for all the great choices in coloring mediums!

Tim's at it again!

Tim Holtz has started his 12 tags of Christmas and I'm a tiny bit behind but only because I really wanted to get some personal things done and out of the way (cleaning and laundry - lol!) so I could have uninterrupted time to play.  And it worked!  Except for the cats demanding attention at the most inopportune times.  Sigh.

So, without further ado, here is my version for day 1.  Tim focused on using the rickety house and fence dies.  I went a bit on the wild side with this tag.  If you live in Illinois you have most likely heard of the Cabrini-Green high rises in Chicago.  The last building will be demolished very soon.  There's always been a lot of death and violence associated with this project, sad to say.  All stamps are Tim's with the exception of the 'graffiti' that is stamped across the building; it's from Wendy Vecchi and says 'create'.  I broke out the window frames and put some cracked glass (acetate) from Tim's embossing folder behind the windows.  There's even some rolled back screen on the door.  The fence is broken, slats damaged beyond repair, a gun is on the scene.  The face represents the residents.  A memo pin acts as a sign post.  With the scene so bleak I chose the bare branch tree.  Some of Tim's birds were stamped in the upper right hand corner.  This was fun, even if it is quite outside the box.

As you know I belong to the EverythingWendyVecchi group and posted a challenge to all those who were making Tim's tags to do a set in Wendy's style.  Here's my version using much brighter colors and a lighter theme. I used a wooden fence I found in a craft store and perched 3 of Wendy's mini houses on top of the posts.  They're now birdhouses!  Her bird was stamped in red on grungepaper and my cardinal is quite happy sitting on his new home.  Wendy's tree is in the background.  Tim's ticket and safety pin, a glitzy snowflake and the monogram finish off the tag.

Ready for day 2?  Tim showed us how to create a custom stamp pad using Ranger's Cut & Dry Felt pads.  Way cool!  I tried using the Black Enamel Accents but wasn't happy with the results.  I tried to wipe them off quickly, of course they smeared.  So I took a black marker and highlighted some of the letters for a more artsy look.  I adhered an old French postage stamp to grungepaper for dimension.  All the stamps are Tim's.

It was harder for me to create the same idea using Wendy's stamps.  Probably could have made a better choice but I was determined to see my idea to the end.  The heart is suppposed to be the Queen's chest; I guess it kind of works.  The crown is Maya Road.

Thank goodness Ranger has so many great colors of Distress Inks, Distress Stickles, paint dabbers and Distress Crackle Paint!  I couldn't keep track of all that I used.

Can't wait to see what's in store for day 3!

Happy Hanukkah!

Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah.  I love watching the candles flickering on the menorah.  And I can't forget about potato latkes!  Yum yum!  This year's card is simple...some watercolors smeared on watercolor paper with the cute stamp (can't remember the company) layered on colored cardstock, a Star of David silver rub on and a Sizzlits dreidl die that has silver paper behind it. 

It's always interesting (to me) to see when Chanukah falls each year.  Sometimes it's before Christmas and sometimes it overlaps.  In 2013, the first night is Thanksgiving night! 

Some of you may have Hanukkah bushes and Hanukkah Harry stops by your homes.  When your family celebrates both holidays you never know what traditions will be born.

Nonetheless, I wish you all peace!

Wendy's latest flower creation

Wendy created a really cool piece of art using Art Parts and Clearly for Art on her blog the 29th.  I followed the directions for the flower - what fun and very cool!  I created a tag...am stingy with my Art Parts!  LOL 

First I clear embossed the watercolor paper tag (cut with Tim's new die!) with Wendy's text background stamp.  Butterscotch and Denim pigment inks were smeared all over, as well as some brown distress ink.  I salvaged some of Tim's tissue tape from an earlier colorwash spritz project - the color was perfect for this tag.  I made my flower just like Wendy's but I think mine is a bit darker.  I chose some of her larger leaves, stamped on grungepaper with olive archival ink, then added the black archival dots with another of her stamps.  Wendy's sentiment is at the top but I chose a game tile for the 'L'.  Naturally, it was distressed with sandpaper and inks and a Sepia Copic marker.  A piece of natural colored twine was knotted at the top - it just needed something there.  Felt ribbon and rickrack and a green brad (also distressed with sandpaper) help tie in the color combo.

Distress inks (and more) galore

What did I do before distress inks came along?  Not sure, but everything that leaves my stamp room these days has at least one distress ink on it and possibly lots more, including other distress products.  Just can't get enough of them!  How about a vintage holiday tag that has really been distressed?

The background technique was one Tim used in 2007 on one of his first Christmas tags.  I made some faux printer blocks, added holiday tissue tape, sticker from the seasonal stash, stamps, grungeboard tree die, a rusty snowman and a bulldog clip (neither are Tim's).

Let's see...Distress Ink colors include Weathered Wood, Black Soot, Barn Door, Fired Brick, Aged Mahogany, Tea Dye, Frayed Burlap, Walnut Stain, Crushed Olive, Shabby Shutters, Bundled Sage, Peeled Paint, and Pine Needles.

I always use more than one shade of a color when distressing.  Not only does it add more color interest but the shading has more depth.  Try color combos that you haven't before...add a bit of dark blue to the edges instead of dark brown or black.  You'd be amazed at how neat it looks!

I do need to find a way to keep the ink color from bleeding because it makes snow no longer white.  Maybe heat setting the ink would help or finding another product to create the snowy effect.  At least it's green and not yellow!

Bingo!

I'm currently playing several games of on-line Bingo so this seemed an appropriate embossing folder to use for the CCC this week.  Double Distress is the name of the game and I used the technique on the Bingo card as well as the snowman.  The snowman actually got distressed 3 times because he's sporting some Distress Stickles on his snowflakes.  Everything is Tim and Ranger with the exception of the Maya Road Bingo piece (sanded off the black and used green distress ink on it) and the snowman's flakes (they're Provocraft). 

Got lucky with the placement of the diecut in the snowflakes embossing folder...check out his nose.  That snowflake was placed perfectly...bet I can't do that again!  So, naturally it got some orange distress stickles while the arm got walnut stain, the body a blue d.i. and the hat a touch of black diamond stickles.  I did highlight/shadow a few things with a black marker. 

Gesundheit!

I've been wanting to make a different sort of project for quite some time, something simple yet could easily be decorated for another theme, and could become a gift.   Hmmmm...aha!  This is it!  I found it while wandering around the Splitcoaststampers site.  I did tweak a few things and will make further changes now that I've constructed one as a test.

The tissue box cover (I used a generic brand so dimensions must be checked before you start cutting!) uses black and kraft cardstock, a Snowflakes Cuttlebug folder, Spellbinders snowflake die, grungeboard letters and grungeboard, brown and black Distress Inks, Tim's scallop border die, mitten buttons and some gold brads that were painted black with a Sharpie marker.  A bit of Distress Stickles for some added glitz and I have a gift worth giving!

Thanks, Tim & Mario, for sharing how to make the faux printer's letters (s-n-o-w)! 

I already have plans to make several more for my sisters and mom for the holidays.  I'll be using lots of Wendy's and stamps Tim's dies for them.  The covers need to be much brighter; my family wouldn't go for this dark stuff.  Sigh.

  

Blogger, I give up.  Why, oh why, can't you put multiple small images on one line??????  Grrrr.....