Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas - Day Six

It's day six!! We're half way through the 12 Tags of Christmas and I couldn't be having more fun! It has been such a blast to create my own interpretation of Tim's tag and to come up with solutions for how to make embellishments that aren't in my stash. Today's tag is one of my favorites! Tim again stunned his blog readers with an amazing vintage truck carrying a tree covered in white sparkly fluff. (He even "tied" the tree to the roof of the truck with twine...brilliant!)

I again followed Tim's technique for covering my tag, which consisted of attaching newspaper to the background (Tim used a dictionary page), then aging the piece with ink and a distressing tool. I also added a big 'ol swirl (a favorite element) and sentiment, from Kitchen Sink Stamps, in cranberry red. And that's where the similarities end...because...while I own two jars of sparkly fluff, I only own a chocolate brown and orange...not a jar of white fluff in sight! So I created hills that were covered in brown fluff! To make the hills I tore pieces of kraft cardstock into a hill shape and then crinkled up the paper. After smoothing the paper, I ran a blending tool, loaded with distress ink, over the paper. The ink sticks more to the creased section and the edges, creating depth and shadows. I then used glossy accents to adhere the sparkly fluff. The hills were overlapped and glued to the tag. My trees, compliments of GinaK, were embossed with olive embossing powder on kraft cardstock, aged with olive ink, and attached with dimensional tape.

And then...this may be my favorite part...I created a faux metal tag! Tim used one of those fancy real metal tags but...well...you know...I don't have any of those special trinkets. (Is anyone feeling sorry for me yet? LOL!) To create the metal tag, I dumped a big 'ol pile of silver embossing powder onto a piece of cardstock (no VersaMark, just a pile of embossing powder). Using a heat gun, apply heat to the embossing powder by holding the gun underneath the paper. It will take some time but eventually the entire pile of powder will melt. Then, working quickly, ink up your stamp with VersaMark ink and push it into the hot embossing powder. Once my "tag" cooled, I used Nestibilities die cuts to cut out the tag shape, which is attached with a safety pin to my ribbon.
And that is the story of today's tag!! I can't wait to see what Tim has in store for us tomorrow...This has been such a fun adventure in experimentation and creating!! Thanks Tim!

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas - Day Five

Whoa Nellie! I barely made it tonight...Just finished up with Tim's Day Five Tag and this one was a doozie! A boatload of techniques and embellishments; from embossing to using paint daubers, to playing with the oh so fun Fragment charms (mine are actually the circle and oval Fragments). Why today's tag was so involved it required me to make a run out to my local scrapbook store, Wholly Scrap, for supplies! I just had to try out the Fragments and let me tell you, they are fabulous!! And you must, must, must check out what Tim did with the Fragment charms on his tag...simply stunning!

So what did I do differently on my tag? Again, it's not holiday themed because as much as I adore the stamp sets that Tim used, I don't owe them. (Oh Tim, don't you feel bad for me and earnestly want to send me a few free sets? I mean it is almost Christmas...) OK, in all fairness Tim is giving away oodles of free goodies on his site! Oopps, off track...I did use the same techniques to create the background of my tag. The swirls were stamped using paint daubers, very cool. I just picked up a gold paint today! This picture shows better detail of the gold paint and Fragments (with stickles underneath!!)
If you check out Tim's tag, you'll see that he attached some wonderful gold edging (probably more of those pesky metal trinkets) on the top and bottom of his card. To create my edging, I used a SU! corner punch (without the corner device attached) to punch out a decorative strip of cardstock. I then covered the strip in VersaMark, by pushing the strip into the ink pad, and dumped gold embossing powder all over it! A little heat and voila, I have my own faux metal trinkets. :-) Here's a better shot:
Once I created my Fragment pieces (check out Tim's blog for step-by-step directions on how to complete these) and attached them to my card, I simply added a rub on sentiment from SU! Most of the images used on my tag are from SU!, with the exception of the swirls on the background, which are from Unity.

Well I am exhausted from creating my tag....whew....so I'm off for a little R&R before hitting the hay! Check back in tomorrow for tag number six...the half way point!!

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas - Day Three AND Four

Guess what? I managed to get two tags (days three and four) completed for posting tonight! Yeah!

Day four presented a major bonus as Tim posted a tutorial on how to create the adorable pin attached to the above tag. Well...this was the pin that Tim created for the make 'n take at Summer CHA show so I already had the pin in my stash! I only needed to stamp and ink my tag before attaching the pin. I used multiple sets from Unity on my tag, along with a few images from my Taylored Expressions holiday set. I didn't have a fancy antique pin (gosh darn it, I need some of those metal trinkets!) to hold my house pin so I used a metal jump ring. Be sure to check out Tim's blog for his tutorial on making the holiday pin. (PS - How many times can one say "pin" in a paragraph? Good grief!) Here's a close up...well...you know...
Next up is day three and so far, the biggest challenge for me! Tim posted a really fun technique for making plaid background paper using reinkers. It looked really easy (and I suspect that it is) but I think it takes a little practice (or I'm just a slow learner!). I ran out of glossy cardstock, I only had a few pieces, practicing so I'm not thrilled with my final piece but it was the best of the bunch! I also only have a few reinkers so my color palette was limited. I do want to get my hands on more reinker colors so I can try out this technique a few more times...it really is fun! (Notice that awful double black line...blech...but I guess it adds to that homemade look, right? LOL!)Here's a close up shot of one of the better plaid sections...And my one metal trinket!
The stamp set I used is from Stampin' Up! and the swirls are from PTI. The speckles in the background are from one of the very first SU! sets I ever purchased. I keep trying to get rid of the set but every now and then I need a speckled background and that tiny stamp fits the bill perfectly! So...I guess it's going to hang around for awhile longer...

I hope you enjoyed today's tags! I'm off for a date with my hubby tonight...finally, it's been about eight months!

Check back for another tag tomorrow...

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas - Day Two

I know..I'm a day and a tag behind...darn medical procedures, throwing a monkey wrench into my creativity! Oh, and we've got another sick child at home...sigh...'tis the season for germs! Blech!

Well believe it or not, today's tag is actually a holiday themed tag! Seems I did have a holiday set in my collection, an adorable set from Taylored Expressions that I received at Stamping Around PA! I used that set to create the snowflake background and for the sentiment. The swirls are from Papertrey.

With my day two tag, my goal was to mimic the elements used on Tim's tag but with my own twist. On Tim's tag he stamped and embossed his frame directly onto his tag. I don't have a fancy frame stamp like he used (although I think I really need one) so I grabbed this chipboard frame to put around the sentiment and instead choose to stamp and emboss my snowflakes directly onto the tag. I then used Tim's technique (and fab blending tools) to add the colors to the tag, wiping off any excess ink to reveal the embossed snowflakes. The swirls were added next and once I wiped off the excess ink from the swirls, I got a nice layered look with the appearance of the swirls being under the snowflakes.

The other area were I had to improvise was on the flower and photo corners. Tim used these marvelous antique photo corners on his tag and you simply must see how he created his stunning metal flower! However, I don't have either of these things...it's a hard life, I tell 'ya. :-) So...I stamped a floral image on cream cardstock and embossed it with copper embossing powder. Next, I used punches to punch out the flowers and two photo corners (all punches from SU!). It's hard to tell in the photo but there's a nice shine to the embossed areas and the copper embossing powder gives it an antique look (I also rubbed some distress ink over the edges to tone down the cream cardstock.) Here's a better view of the photo corner, that has been wrapped around the corner of the tag.
And here is the layered flower...First the leaves, then two flowers, and finally a yellow rhinestone for the center of the flower. Everything has been attached with dimensional tape.

You know...now that Tim has shown us how to use all these amazing products and tools, my Christmas list just got longer! I have to get my hands on the metal trinkets...they are so much fun!

Stay tuned for day three (and if I'm feeling ambitious) day four tags tomorrow!!

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas - Day One

It's here, it's here! Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas and I plan to play along each day! However, it looks like I'll be producing the "12 Tags of Randomness" - LOL! I don't have much in the way of holiday stamps. It's not a bah-humbug thing...really...Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday, I just don't make my own Christmas cards so I rarely have a need for holiday themed stamps. :-) So...drumroll please...here is your first Tag of Randomness!

I did use some of the same techniques that Tim used on his first tag. I added ink to my tag in the same manner (using my craft sheet, distress inks, and spritzer). This is a fantastic technique so be sure to check out Tim's blog for details! I then aged the edges of my tag because I just can't help myself...Leaves and swirls from the latest PTI release went on next (in black and blue ink, like Tim) and then a layer of french script (from SU!) was added, in brown ink, over the majority of the tag's surface.

Next I added two chipboard swirls that had been covered in PTI Snow White ink. My butterfly, also from SU! (a retired set) was stamped on white cardstock and embossed with brown embossing powder. To add color to my butterfly, I sponged on yellow, orange, and purple dye ink. I attached the butterfly over my swirls with dimensional tape. The sentiment, also from PTI, is stamped on cream cardstock, edges aged, and cut into a ribbon shape. In the photo below you can get a better view of the diamond Stickles that were added to the swirls.
And in this final photo, you can see the dimension to the butterfly and sentiment. I also like to bend up the butterfly wings and sentiment to give the illusion of movement.

Hope you enjoyed today's random tag...I had a blast making making it and am looking forward to more Tim artwork in the coming days!! Yippee!!

Friend Scrapling

I created this scrapling a few weeks ago for a blog hop. However, this card was posted on the SALT blog so it's the first time I'm sharing on my blog. Godelieve has been creating and posting some amazing scraplings for the past few months and I simply adore this style! These tall, narrow cards are created using the scraps left over from making traditional sized cards. For this card I attached two long strips together; one end is bent over the other (where the word Friend is stamped). I love that it looks like the card is wearing a little hat! :-)

The base of my card was stamped with a PTI set and embossed with silver embossing powder, I love silver on navy! I then stamped the flower (and leaf) again on white cardstock and colored with Copics before cutting it out and attaching with dimensional tape. My sentiment was attached with a shiny silver safety pin.

And now...who is ready for Tim Holtz's 12 Days of Christmas??!! I'm so excited and will be playing along for as many days as possible! I've having a minor medical procedure done tomorrow so I may not be posting but I'll get my first tag up asap!

Enjoy!

Keep it Simple Sunday

Today's Tip: Use one color of cardstock and embossing powder for instant glitz!

First, I have to apologize for my somewhat dark photo...for some reason the shine on the embossing powder made my cheapy digital camera flash freak out and every photo I took was washed out...too much flash! So I had to resort to desperate measures (seeing as I was taking my photo in the dead of night and there wasn't any hope of natural sunlight) and turn off my bright overhead lights to force my flash to behave!

Anyway...the inspiration for tonight's card came from Mary Fish. I'm not quite sure how I stumbled upon Mary's blog but she is one seriously talented stamper and a recent member of the SCS Dirty Dozen. I was browsing through their latest gallery when I saw a wonderful card created by Mary. She had used only red cardstock and silver embossing powder, the results were fabulous!

I went with a deep plum and had originally thought about going with a holiday theme but while looking through my stamps, I realized that my poor Unity stamps have been left alone for far too long! I belong to their Kit of the Month club and this cute typewriter image and sentiment is from their November kit. This is a small card, only 4"x 4", and after stamping and embossing the typewriter I realized I didn't have room for my sentiment. And that, ladies and...well....ladies (I've never had a gentleman visit my blog), is when a tiny bit of my own inspiration hit! I cut a slit into the top of the typewriter and inserted the sentiment so it looks like the typewriter is typing on the paper....Come on now...it's pure genius! Oh alright, having one good idea in years I should not brag about! LOL!

One other thing about the card, that is difficult to see in the photo, is that the card base has a texture to it and the paper with the image does not. The difference is more obvious in person but I thought that, and adhering the image with dimensional tape, was a good way to add separation to the tone on tone affect.

OK kids, enjoy your evening! I'll be back later this week with a fun scrapbook project to share!