Tags are Finished !

I did it ! This year I made all 12 Tim tags - well, tags based on Tim's fantastic talent and unlimited supplies . Mine were a challenge - create the look with stuff I already have. It's amazing what you can come up with if you're willing to lay awake at night thinking about it!

The tag on the left (really number 11) was to feature custom made rubber stamps using one of the TH dies. I used a Crescendoh stamp, clear embossed onto a dictionary page, then rubbed with Distress ink. The original tag featured yet another die cut, but I just stamped out a tree, painted a bit with Pearl-Ex and added some white ink snow.

Tag 10 on the right featured embossed plastic packaging. I couldn't figure out how to replicate that look, so I eliminated that step. I love my snow man! He's an old foam stamp with the sections all separate - perfect for this tag. I love how well grunge paper distresses - the edges on his hat sanded off so nicely. I'll be using the technique of edging the tag with a white paint dauber before covering with Distress Ink in future projects for sure. In one tag I added chalk to deepen the background color - warning - the chalk doesn't resist the ink!Tag 9 on the left showcased a beautiful rosette made with - you guessed it - a TH die. I didn't think I could hand accordion- fold a small strip of paper, so just gave up and made a flower out of some paint-splattered paper, rubber with Vintage Photo ink. I used an old hand-crimper to give the edges some texture.

On the right, Tag 12. An old Christmas card, edges daubed with white acrylic paint, was pressed into service for the background. I cut the ornament out of grunge paper and stuck on the gold letters. I did use crackle paint over the inked ornament, but not much crackling happened.

Now I need to dig out from under all the stuff spread around in my studio. I cleared a path, so at least I can walk around without stepping on something or tripping - progress!

Happy Holidays!

Hope your holidays are magical, filled with love, family and friends. A few treats and some eggnog would be good, too!

A Few More Tags

Not much "me" time for making tags! I won't finish them before Christmas, but still having fun playing with these. I cut the reindeer from a template and made the horns from a glittery swirl. No embossing gizmo for the trees, so just stamped them with a mixture of Distress Inks. Finally got to use my new splatter stamp on a tag! Loving the tissue tape !

This one is a study in make-do! No wood grain embossing folder, to dug out a piece of wood grained paper for the background. This was supposed to be the poinsettia tag - I tried making one that ended up looking like a mutant botanical specimen! I decided a red leather flower was a more workable option.

This is the "extreme masking" tag - only no extreme mask. I made a simple tree mask instead. I was amazed at how easy the soft wire twirls - I have several colors but never used it because I thought it would be hard to bend. That's the fun of these tags - trying out all the stuff you bought but never knew how to use! I added the glitter snow on the bottom like TH did on the variation he showed. The photo corners are pieces from an old book study on faux metal we did on NGS.

Four tags to go. A big part of the fun is figuring out how to approximate the look without taking out a loan for new supplies!

Quick Altered Journals

I found these great little journals at Michael's - and the stamps, cups and rub-ons to match! The journals are perfectly fine as is - quite cute, actually. But I thought maybe a little altering might be in order.

I added an eyeglass stamp I had made at Casey Rubber Stamps in New York City. If you're in the city, check it out - a most interesting and unusual shop, littered with rubber shavings, catalogs piled to the ceiling and an owner who is definitely one-of-a-kind. He makes stamps while you wait - fine quality wood -mounted stamps. You could spend hours browsing his stash of catalogs! Don't ask him to make unmounted or clear stamps - he will have none of those new-fangled "lazy" stamps! Finished this one with a few red dots stamped with a pencil eraser and red acrylic paint. I love the fancy little chair, especially with it's new coat of teal Perfect Pearls. I made little dots with some of the Perfect Pearls and stamped the top corner with a Tim Holtz stamp.

Isn't this birdcage cute! I stamped the birds (another TH stamp), and then used a Cresendoh music and stitch stamp. I love the bits of music and faux stitching! I added a ring of keys to the Discover journal and used my go-to stamp - Christine Adolph's Shore Cliff Trim. The stars work for so many different styles. The wiggly lines behind the eyeglasses above are from the same stamp. This one got the pencil-stamp dot treatment with gold paint.

I stamped another candelabra on this one and then used my new TH splatter stamp. I'm splatter stamping everything....

These quick and easy little books are heading to The Captain's office staff. They take good care of him, so it was fun to make something special for them.

Tim Holtz-esque Tags 4 & 5

It's getting pretty crazy with these tags! I read this hysterical post by a woman who sends her husband out with a "Tim's tags" list and he goes from store to store trying to find all the right stuff . He even texts her with questions about potential purchases. More power to 'em, but I'm going old-school - making it up as I go along. Tag 3 is all about inked and stamped facets, but no facets here. I glued some background paper I made onto the back of some clear buttons for faux facets. No Santa- themed paper, so I used the one Santa stamp I have - one of TH's collage stamps, inked very carefully just to get Santa. I clear embossed and colored it lightly so it is really just a hint of an image. This tag has considerably less bling than Tim's, but lots more than I'm used to!

I love this one! Tag 5 is was all about enamel numbers. No metal numbers, so I stamped the numbers with embossing ink onto card stock and used several layers of embossing powders - white, clear and UTEE. The nails are black Enamel Accents - one of two tag-related purchases. I love how shiny it is and it's a good stand-in for brads - much easier! I did have a holly stamp, but no green stickles for the leaves, so I painted them with green glossy accents. Tim's tag has embellished metal flowers ; I used some red leather flowers - the large one was sanded to distress it a bit and the smaller one was embossed with gold. Same Santa stamp as above - I like how the dab of white paint makes Santa's beard and hair pop! I did use real brads along the bottom - embossed with gold and whacked with a hammer to distress. I like the effect of dragging a white paint dauber along the edges and then rubbing with Distress Ink - wiping the ink off the edges makes a nice light edge.

I'm hanging these on the trees as ornaments. I'd be very sad if I put them on packages and they ended up in the pile of wrapping paper trash!

I'm having fun trying to figure out how to make these lovely tags without adding too much to my stash of stuff. The splatter stamp ( my other tag-related purchase) arrived and I L.O.V.E. it - it's just perfect for a little extra around edges - I'm splatter stamping everything in sight!

Tags a la Tim Holtz - 2 and 3

Tim Holtz is in full-on Christmas mode with this year's tags. For those who don't know about Tim, every year he debuts the 12 Tags of Christmas - tags that have more steps than a program ! Not only are the tags fantastic, Tim also gives lots of tips about other ways to use his techniques (and products!).

I'm doing the tags this year. I've also decided not to run out and buy every product he uses, but to try, for the most part, to improvise with what I have. I have LOTS of stuff - so much that it makes "normal" people gasp when they see my room bursting with supplies!

(I did tag 1 and posted that on the Facebook site. I decided I'd rather share them here so I can tell you all about my interpretation of the tag techniques).

Tag 2 above - Tim makes a custom stamp pad for this so the pine needles are green and the cone brown, hard to do with one stamp pad! I "painted" the tag with a brush dipped in distress ink instead - think it's much quicker. Distress inks stay wet for quite awhile, so you can finish painting and still have wet ink to hold the embossing powder.

Tim uses a great speckle stamp around the border - I spritzed on some ink from a toothbrush. I've ordered that stamp (despite good intentions noted above) because I think it's one I'll use often. I'll try not to rationalize a purchase for each tag, but he uses such cool stuff...

Tag 3 - my favorite so far. Tim uses a die cut for the little birdie - I found a template online and reduced it to fit. This is the first time I've used Grunge paper (from my stash) . I stamped it with a sheet music stamp and sprayed it with red glimmer mist. The Grunge paper really gets saturated with color. The flower is made with tissue tape, crimped onto a small card stock circle - super easy and it looks so cool. The tape is really easy to use; it's just tacky enough to stick but lifts easily if you want to reposition it. I've had the tissue tape for awhile and just wasn't sure what to do with it - now I know!

I need to get going - I'm already 3 tags behind!

Christmas - An Excuse to Gild Everything

As you've probably noticed if you spend any time here, my style is more grunge than glitz - art, house and wardrobe. But it's Christmas time, and I had a can of gold spray paint I bought in a box of stuff at a tag sale. Armed and dangerous, I started looking around for things to paint. If I had a mantle, this is how I'd decorate it. I don't, so this this table is a good stand-in. An old mirror at the back doubles the viewing pleasure.

I salvaged some of the small fall pumpkins and gourds and gave them a spray of gold. Then some leaves and tree branches got the glitz treatment. I found gumballs that I had stashed away and sprayed them, too. The pine cone candles were next. I had three stray candles for the flower pot and now they match.

I found these gourds at the farmers' market and knew immediately that they would make perfect pears. Of course, perfect gold pears. I love the long, arched stems.

I made a set of these trees as a gift a few years ago and have wanted a set for myself. They are made from Styrofoam cones. First job is to paint the cones - trust me, it takes LOTS of paint to cover all those tiny little holes in Styrofoam! I was at a Michael's in Boston and found that they had paper mache cones. Wish I had found them before I started - they'd be much easier to paint! Once the cone is painted, hot glue on rough jute twine, starting at the bottom of the cone and winding it around the cone. Cut it off at the top and glue the end down. Repeat until the cone is covered how you like it- just make sure the twine is in a criss-cross pattern. I don't glue the whole piece of twine - just the bottom and top and maybe a smidge in the middle if it's looking loose. Brush gold paint over the twine - no need to cover completely, just brush over the top. Repeat all of these steps for the star toppers. I had trouble finding Styrofoam ones, so used some small wooden stars on the smallest tree and a paper star on the middle one. Hot glue the star to the top of the tree and you're done.

It's beginning to look like Christmas around here!