Time for Tim...in January

There were so many things I loved about Tim Holtz's first tag of his annual challenge...the stamp-punkiness of it, the embossing, the colors, the composition, the....well, you get the idea! You can find all the details of the original at this post.

It was so cool, I knew I needed to give it a go. Mine looks quite like the original this month...I mean, how could I improve??

For some reason my Pumice Stone stain looked really green, so I ended up with layers of stain, ink, and finally paint. Funny thing about all that. All those layers gave it a significant depth....

I didn't quite have everything Tim did, so I made a few substitutions. I changed out the rub-ons, the tickets at the bottom and the very specialized embellishment at the top - but I did get a chance to use snaps...I just love those snaps! I love how the clock portion looks...such a cool idea Tim!!!

One product I reach for again and again is the chit-chat stickers. I like words. I like using words in my art. I love the little messages you can make with them... and I do think it's so important to value everyday...we just never know.

Here's hoping you have lots of laughs today and you discover something new.

Thanks again Tim for a great project. 

Patchwork Christmas

I have been itching to start making Christmas cards (I salute those of you who are well along this path - but this is early for me!) Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge this week is patchwork which was the perfect inspiration for me.

I absolutely love the Graphic 45 Christmas papers so I knewI would start there.  They remind me of home spun fabric. The first thing I did was cut up A LOT of paper into 1" squares.

When I started I was going to use 1/2' squares.  Three hours into the project I was awfully glad I chose the one inch size! I started playing with designs and finally decided to use a simple pattern of squares on edge. In fact it's simple I can't find the name for it! Once I had them all cut up they reminded be of the beautiful quilts of Marsha McCloskey called Blended Quilts. I've made a couple of them and throughly enjoyed auditioning all the fabrics. However, they take a LONG time to complete. Hence why I'm drawn to paper - you can actually complete things.

Once I started laying them out I had some floral designs which helped me decide on the type of embellishment I wanted to use - flowers.I had these beautiful small prima roses and I paired one with some Ideology leaves I had melted embossing powder on (thank-you for another great way to use the products you already own Tammy Tutterow).  

I also used some alcohol ink on a metal tag, and a Tim Holtz Rub-on. To Becmake sure the squares lined up nicely I cut 1" strips of red paper and glued all the squares onto the strip. It also helped add more depth to the card. Because I wanted it to look like patch work, I used a micron pen to make some dashes between the squares and then around the entire design. 

As I was making the card, I had one of my sisters in mind. She once spent 12 hours making a beautiful birthday card for a member of the family....so happy this didn't approach that time schedule. 

Hope there is magic in your life!

In addition to SSS, I'm also entering this in the Try It On Tuesday color explosion - seasonal!

Summer Dragonflies - Tim's Tag Plus

I've been on a real orange and yellow quick lately....so I decided to use those colors to work on Tim's June Tag. He used the dragonfly stamp again!! I was so excited. I am a TOTAL fan of dragonflies: I have a dragonfly dress, dragonfly earrings, dragonfly necklace, well....you get the idea. Plus he brought out the distress markers and we all get to pretend like we know how to watercolor! Actually I am starting to learn more about that, but this is so fun and easy. You should try it.

This is my rendition....

I did have to add some sparkle to the wings, because I think that's one of the coolest things about a dragonfly is their iridescent wings. 

And then I thought I should add a little something to the bottom and it certainly did turn out to be one of life's little moments. 

As I was sprinkling little drops of orange on another project, well, it sprinkled here too. I've decided it gives it character. Yeah, that's the ticket. Character.

I was having such a good time with the markers I mad a couple of other things using the technique including this card for my Uncle.

And because I was really in the "TIM ZONE" and I LOVED last month's technique so much I made a birthday card.

I played around with fragments last month - using the rub-ons, alcohol stains and foil on the back and loved how it came out - I was even one of Tim's May winners - so I thought I would try it again. This time I used his little stickers. With all the black I think it worked out fine. (Pretty sly how I worked that in, huh? LOL).

If you haven't joined the 12 Tags of 2013, give it a go....it is TONS 'O FUN. 

And speaking of fun, thanks for stopping by the Fun Room to see what's up! I appreciate your visit and your comments. 

Play Time with Tim's Tag

I hope Tim Holtz is a happy man because he just keeps doing the most AMAZING things and making so many people happy!! Including ME!

The 12 Tags of 2013 May version is a wonder. I saw it when I was traveling and it combines some of my favorite things. Film strip ribbon, word bars, and rub-ons and of course COLOR.

I am really having a blast with the rub-ons. They remind me of the rub-on letters we used one summer to put together a theatre program, except the ones on the market now are just so cool. Tim's especially!!

Check out his techniques here! Fabulous ideas. Here's my version.

Because my central image, the Eiffel Tower had less mass than than the original I embossed it with clear embossing powder, to give a bit more heft.

One of Tim's elements are the rub-on's on the enameled tags. Small problem. Don't have those yet. First I tried painting over a plaquette with white paint which worked pretty well until I put the alcohol ink on it. The paint reacted differently than the enamel. So I tried to correct that so much I ruined it.

Then I wondered about a Fragment. Love the fragments...and do have a bunch of those. Problem is they're transparent and with everything going on in the background of the tag it got kind of lost. AHA. Metal foil sheets to the rescue. I put some of that on the back and it adds a whole another element to the tag. Forgive me, but I love it. I see many of these in my future!

What a fun, colorful, inky mess I made tonight in the Fun Room. I'm a happy girl! Hope you are too. Thanks for visiting.

WOYWW #198

Zip, zip, another week is gone...where does time go? And why can't I bottle it? It's Wednesday in some parts of world...time for another tour around the world at our creative spaces, thanks to the lovely Julia and her blog,  the Stamping Ground. This week my desk is about average I would say.

A hot mess of a journal page...but as I remind myself it's a process and I have some learnin' to do. If you look at this in the larger picture view you'll see a BIG note to self at the bottom. If you are going to use watercolor, don't start the drawing with a stabio pencil - it will turn into a big ole' black mess.

I've been working things on the next class for the Stamp Cache which is called 'Working Smaller'. I love these little cut-outs that Helga makes at The ArtChix Studio so we'll be making a few of these in April. The little house is a magnet and the beach scene will be popped up onto a card. We'll see what else I can come up with in the next few days.

If you look hard you can see one of the new Tim Holtz rub-on sentiments at the bottom - sweet life. I love these because they're transparent!

And finally this was the major creative project over the last week. 

As you can see I have a thing for dress forms, so I knew it was a natural to combine that shape with Tim Holtz's floral dies for his Tattered Floral Challenge. For more details on my entry click here. I'm off to link up and head out! Have a great week everyone.