Tim Holtz December Tag

Like many of the Tim Holtz projects on which I’ve worked, this month’s 12 Tags of 2013 was not finished in a single sitting! It took a couple of tries for me to be happy with the design and execution. That being said, one of my favorite things about the Tim Holtz projects is that they push you to try new techniques and products.

Tim Holtz December Tag

I followed the directions on the December tag post, substituting supplies as needed. The focus of this month’s tag is the frosted film and Clearly for Art used for the die-cut poinsettia. The Clearly for Art product is covered with the film, die cut, colored with inks (on the frosted film side) and then curled with the application of heat. I could have used a few more hands during that process! As Tim explains, “if you don’t like the shape you created, simply reheat it and it will flatten out completely allowing you to reshape it,” which I did more than once!

While Tim’s tag features one of his newest stencils for a background pattern, I stamped my background with the Seasonal Catalog stamp in Vintage Linen for a tone-on-tone look. Tim used a splatter brush from Liquitex to apply Picket Fence paint. I used a toothbrush, since I don’t have that tool. The toothbrush delivers an even dusting of the paint. I would have liked a few more drips and a more random pattern, which the splatter tool appears to provide.

Supplies:

Day 9 Tag from 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist

I’m sharing a tag inspired by the tag that Teri Anderson created as part of the 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist series in the CLASSroom at Ellen Hutson’s.

Day 9 Tag - 2013 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist

I cut the skates from three cardstocks – white, black and silver. I pieced the skates together with the silver cardstock as the base. This was decidedly less labor intensive than the way I crafted the skates for this tag. The tag background of two patterned papers is on a craft-a-board base. I covered a different patterned paper with frosted film for the die-cut snowflakes. The effect is subtle, but noticeable! I also applied Wink of Stella to the cut-out sentiment for some extra shimmer.

Supplies:

Tim Holtz Skates Tag

There’s just something about a pair of ice skates that says winter! Since I first saw the Tim Holtz skate die cuts from summer’s CHA, I’ve wanted to try them on a project.

Tim Holtz Skates Tag

I cut the skates from grunge board and applied gesso to them. I tried the gesso method after trying to paint the grunge board raw. I just wasn’t able to adequately cover the raw grunge board with the paints. The grunge board acted like a sponge with paint. After the gesso application, I painted the skates with Distress Paints – Picket Fence on the skate bodies, Black Soot on the heels and Brushed Pewter on the blades – and got good coverage. After the paints dried, I lightly sanded the skates for a distressed look. For a bit of sparkle, I added Clear Rock Candy Distress Glitter with Glossy Accents as the glue.

Tim Holtz Skates Tag

For the background, I cut a tag from grunge board with the Tim Holtz tag die and covered it with a piece of patterned paper from the Merriment stash to which I’d applied the Frosted Film. The Frosted Film in easy to apply and gives a nice finish to the paper. Something to note, the tag size just exceeds 6″ in height. I was using a 6″ x 6″ pattern from the paper pad, so rather than cut the tag down in height, I used a strip of paper at the bottom that is rotated 90 degrees to the other paper. The Word Band covers up the paper seam.

I laced the skates with the Natural Hemp Cord. I considered baker’s twine, but the Hemp Cord texture seemed more appropriate. I used a needle to thread the cord through the holes in the skate die cuts.

I applied the Picket Fence paint to the Word Band, let it dry a bit, and then rubbed it off leaving paint on the recessed words.

This isn’t “whip up a tag in a few minutes” project. This tag took a couple of days of trying things out and letting the die cut skates dry between the various applications of gesso, paints, and Glossy Accents! That being said, I really like how the skates turned out. I think it would be fun to make some as Christmas ornaments.

Supplies:

12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist – Day 2

Have you been following the amazing tags shared in the CLASSroom at Ellen Hutson’s? It’s all part of the 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist series.

I’m sharing a tag inspired by Julie Ebersole’s. Her video was an absolute delight to watch – she’s funny and provides great explanations of her steps.

2013 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist - Day 2

I made some modifications to use what I had on hand. And I learned a lot in making the tag. I made more than one mistake, but I learn the most when I make mistakes. The patterned paper is from last year’s (year before last’s?) My Mind’s Eye holiday release. One of the things I learned is that the Tim Holtz tag die is longer than a 6″ x 6″ pad, so I used 12″ x 12″ scrapbooking paper, which put some limitation into my choices.  The sky is dry embossed with one of my favorite Sizzix embossing folders.

Happy December!

Supplies:

Tim Holtz November Tags

Since taking the Online Card Classes Tim Holtz Creative Chemistry 102 class, I am continuing to play with the techniques. For this month’s 12 Tags of 2013, Tim Holtz demonstrated the chalkboard technique we covered in class. I’m sharing two tags using this technique.

Tim Holtz November TagsFor the first tag, I stamped the sentiment and fun retro snowflakes onto the tag. The Santa was silver embossed, cut with the matching Sizzix die, and added to the tag with dimensional adhesive. I finished the tag off with tinsel twine, trimmings, and a Christmas Muse Token.

Tim Holtz November Tags

For the second tag, I stamped the blueprint onto the black tag with Versamark, and again on Ranger watercolor paper with Archival ink. I colored the toy soldier with a variety of distress inks, both from the pads and from markers. I prefer to scribble onto my craft sheet and lift the ink off with a water brush, rather than put the ink directly on the paper. I added some Seasonal Chitchat that I distressed around the edges with Black Soot distress ink. For the top and bottom of the tag, I dry embossed red Core’dination cardstock with the Candy Stripes folder to which I’d applied Distress Embossing Ink in the way that Tim shows in this post. I heat set white embossing powder and then distressed it lightly with a sanding block.