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!