Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas - Day Ten

Wow - only two days left to Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas! Now that ten tags have been completed, it's fun to see them lined up in my craft room. Each tag is so different and incorporates so many techniques....very cool! One of the things that I've most enjoyed about participating in the tags is how many new techniques I've been able to try...today's tag is a prime example. When I opened Tim's blog this morning I thought, "oh man, how am I going to create today's tag? I don't have any metal letters..." and then I read through his post and saw this amazingly wild technique. Definitely check out his post to read all of the details but the short story is that these aren't metals letters, they're chipboard (or grungeboard) letters that have been glued to the tag and then metal tape has been applied over the entire tag. I happen to actually own a big 'ol box full of Tim's grungeboard letters so they were a perfect choice for the tag. However, there isn't a sheet of metal tape anywhere in my craft room...but there is an entire roll of heavy duty aluminum foil, which worked perfectly, in my kitchen! A few notes on the foil...It does tear easily, even the heavy duty stuff, so you have to be very careful when pushing the foil around the letters. I found that simply rubbing over the letters with my fingers did the best job. Foil isn't going to be as smooth as the metal tape but I felt like that added to the worn look of the piece. Copic markers worked wonderfully well on the foil and dried quickly and I was also able to gently rub some black Memento ink over the letters to tone down the shine and darker up the creases. This is one of the most literal copy of Tim's tags that I've created but I really wanted to work through his tutorial step-by-step. This same technique would make a fun small tag, with one word for example or shape, on a regular sized card. The one difference on my tag is that I added a large chipboard snowflake to the ribbon...you'll notice the photo on the left has the snowflake and the one of the right does not. I also added some silver brads and staples to my tag...You can enlarge the photo, to see more detail, by double clicking on it. Well I think I'm fighting getting my oldest cold so I'm off tonight...feeling super tired. Early bed time tonight! Looking forward to tomorrow's tag...what will Tim think of next?

SALT Challenge - God with us

Today it was Pauline's turn to set the challenge on the SALT blog and she chose "God with us." Because I'll be posting twice today (Tim's tag coming later today), I'm going to copy and paste Pauline's excellent comments from the challenge here on my blog. "In Isaiah we read the prophecy “a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14), then in Matthew’s gospel, we read of the fulfilment of this prophecy with the birth of Jesus. Immanuel means 'God with us' and it’s this meaning that I wanted to focus on this week. Life in our house (and no doubt everyone else's house too!) is always busy in the run up to Christmas and for this reason I’ve been reading the Christmas story and taking time to reflect on it. There’s a lot of conflict happening around the world in big and small ways. I’m thinking not just of conflict in terms of war but also in terms of the number of redundancies, financial difficulties etc that people are experiencing. People are hurting for many different reasons and many are fearful of what may happen next. The inspiring message of Christmas is that we are told, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” (Luke 2) God understands our fears but doesn’t want us to be controlled by them. The prophecy of Isaiah meant that Jesus' birth was not unexpected. God became human just as He had promised. God became completely accessible to all of us. I feel so privileged to know that Jesus’ birth was promised many years before it happened and that when he was born the prophecy was fulfilled. God is faithful and will keep His promises." Thank you Pauline for sharing your thoughts!! Of course I think I was the only one of the team to not make a Christmas themed card! However, I loved the verse that came with a lighthouse stamp set from Sweet 'n Sassy stamps, it fit perfectly with today's theme. Since the verse is stamped on acetate it's a little difficult to read in my photo, it's from John 12:46, "I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness." Such words of comfort...Christ didn't come into the world as a literal light to brighten up a dark sky but as a light to brighten are dark hearts. Only Christ can fully transform a heart that is filled with fear, anger, insecurity...you name it, He came to overcome those sins! And that is the best reason of all to praise Him, not only during the holidays, but every single day of the year! Some details on my card...First, the lighthouse image that comes with this set is much larger than shown, I only used a small portion of the image. To add the sentiment over the lighthouse, I created a frame to hold a piece of acetate. I created the oval frame with my Nestibilities (just like the square frames I created on yesterday's tag). I then embossed the frame with a embossing folder and rubbed distress ink over the frame to further highlight the embossed section. Once the verse was stamped on acetate, it is suspended over the image so that both are clearly seen. (If I stamped the verse directly over the lighthouse, it wouldn't have been visible). The frame has been attached with dimensional tape.

The card background is a combo of swirl images (from Papertrey) and a sanded background from SU!. I also stitched around the card is a wavy, nautical pattern...get it, lighthouse, nautical, waves....oh dear...(I'm just happy to finally have my sewing machine unpacked! Which reminds me...I need to share pictures of my new craft room!) Final addition were six antique brads surrounding the frame. Check back later tonight for tag ten! Holy cow, wait until you see what Tim has in store for us today!! Also, please stop by the SALT blog to see the rest of the team's beautiful work!!

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas - Day Nine

It's day nine! And each day I think, "now this is my favorite tag" but...I think today's might really be my favorite because Tim incorporated photographs, which meant I was able to include my munchkins on my tag. Of course these photos are from three years ago but who's counting and it adds to that vintage feel...really... Today's tag started with a few simple additions to the tag itself; ink, swirls (from Papertrey), scripty writing, and a few stamped images in black ink. Aren't these circle images fantastic? You can make a layered circle by including all of the images into one stamp or you can pull each circle apart to put around a individual photo, etc. I have long since lost the original packaging so I'm clueless as to the manufacturer (sorry), however, if I can find a link I'll post later. Nothing like pointing out the wonderful features of a stamp set and then telling you I don't know where you can buy your own...gee, how nice of me! ;-) For my photos, I altered a color photo to make it black and white and then I created slide mounts to hold the photos. The slide mounts were made using my Cuttlebug and Nestibilities die cuts. I created the frame by using two square dies, a smaller nestled inside a larger before running through the Cuttlebug....instant frame! I then stamped a script image over the top of them in white ink. There is also a piece of acetate on the front so they're like those real slide mounts you can buy at your craft store. If the photos had been a little larger I would have added a rub on to the front of the acetate but no room on these little photos! At the top of the tag, where Tim chose to add two alphabet circles, I added the date '06, from when these photos were taken. Since they're hanging on a safety pin, you can't always see both numbers so I took a better photo. These are just stickers that I put on cardstock for more stability. Last, I added a paper ribbon to the bottom with a "I love you so much" sentiment from Papertreyink. The sentiment is embossed in black and the paper has been aged...oh goodness, I probably don't need to tell you about the whole "aging" thing anymore, do I? I mean I can hardly stop myself from aging the edges of everything I create so how about we just stop talking about that step...I know, you feel better already, don't you? Well I can hardly believe that we have only three days left...what the heck am I going to do with myself after the 12 Tags of Christmas have ended? Guess I'll be able to get back to activities like making homemade playdough and creating crazy animals with my kids... That's what we did today after my tag was completed and I realized the kids were rolling on the floor, whining about how bored they were....egads...can't they entertain themselves for hours on end? I mean I've only been locked in my craft room for nine days... :-) (Notice how I am only talented enough to create a snowman and my husband can create a dinosaur watching over it's eggs in the nest. Did dinosaurs make nests? Where does he come up with this stuff??) Be sure to check back tomorrow for....day ten!

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas - Day Eight

Welcome to day eight of Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas! So far I have managed to keep up with each day's tags, however, my family has grown quite hungry, my house is like a war zone, and I'm not sure when I last showered...OK...it's not that bad but I have been crafting like a mad woman and have been having so much fun that I seriously want to lock myself in my craft room with my stamps and tags! If only I could get paid to make tags....hummm....I need to work on that! :-) On today's tag, Tim used vellum, metal trinkets (darn those trinkets!), distressing (but of course), and embossing. I managed to bring in those elements on my tag but it took some thought and serious searching for what appears to be the only remaining tiny scrap of vellum left in my giant pile of scraps. (Note to self, "buy more vellum!") Since I chose images that were on the smaller side, I opted to cut out a circle of vellum vs. using a larger sheet, like Tim, since my images would have gotten lost. (Tim created his vellum to look like an old sheet of music...very cool.) I just went with a script background that was then aged with distress ink. I also roughed up the edges of the circle to stay with that vintage look. The tag background was simply covered with two different brown distress inks and stamped with swirls and a sanded background (from SU!). The heart image is from Unity and is one of my favorite stamps from the company, along with that darling sentiment. I stamped the images on kraft cardstock and embossed both; the heart in black and the sentiment in gold. Both images got some ink on the edges; the heart got a bit of color from Copics and the sentiment was cut into a tag shape, both were attached with dimensional tape. Last but not least, diamond stickles were added to just a small section of the heart. I added the only metal trinkets that I own, two square paper clips at the bottom of the tag (they look kind of cool, right? Work with me people...) and two "paper holdy things" (that's a professional paper crafter term) on my tag. I know that "technically" the paper holdy things are supposed to face in but I kind of thought they looked funky the other way around but then maybe I've been sniffing too much Zip Dry over the past eight days...LOL! Hope you enjoyed today's tag...back with more for day nine!

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas - Day Seven

Wow, it's day seven already! The time is flying by and my mind has been constantly on the go, thinking of different design combinations, colors, and techniques! Am I the only one looking forward to day eight? :-) On today's tag, Tim demonstrated a masking technique. He has this nifty clear masking sheets that appear to work really well (need to add that to my growing shopping list) but I just used a plain 'ol piece of scrap cardstock as a mask for my tree. The shape of this tree, from a Unity set, isn't clearly defined so I was able to play around with color a bit and added some yellow behind the tree once all the color was on my tag. Once my tree was stamped, I used a distressing tool and sponges to add the red, green, and yellow ink onto the tag. Now is when my mask came in handy...I stamped a bunch of Papertrey swirls in snow white ink as well as a word stamp from SU!, and a few random polka dots from a PTI set on the tag background. This photo is a good shot of all three of the stamps used on the background as well as the swirls and another one of my faux metal tags. This time the tag was created using copper embossing powder and the number seven for...well day seven! I also embossed my sentiment in copper embossing powder, which shows up better in the photo below. Since my colors were dark on the tag background I opted for stamping my sentiment on a plain circle and attaching it with dimensional tape so it wouldn't get lost in the background.

The last element on my tag was to add some stickles to portions of the tree trunk and pears along with a hint of glossy accents on the bird and smaller pears. I also, finally, went a bit darker with my ink colors. I found that my colors weren't coming out quite as vibrant as Tim's so I used a heavier hand today and am happier with the results. Love those dark, rich colors! As always, creating my tag was a boatload of fun and I can't wait to see what's in store for tomorrow!!

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!!