Wednesday, December 29, 2010

My Very First Set of ATC's

Have you heard about ATC (Artistic Trading Cards)? I just recently discovered these little works of art and do believe this could be my latest addiction. ATC are like baseball cards to the art world. They are 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches of pure art. I recently made my first 5 ATC for a RAK/PIF game on the yahoo group All Things Tim (Tim Holtz that is) They were so much fun to make and I hope that the 5 people that receive them enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them. Here is what they look like:




As you can see I used mostly Tim's products and techniques to create them. Below is how I made them and what I used:

The background is made using Shabby Shutter distress ink to which I used Tim's flicking method with embossing powder; you can find the instructions for this here: http://timholtz.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2007/12/19/tag7_3.jpg

I then stamped the umbrella man onto grungepaper embossed him in black and then cut him out. Next, I took a sheet of music that I ripped out of a book and torn off a piece and inked the edge with Vintage Photo Distress Ink, glued it to the card using Glossy Accent. Attached the umbrella man with glossy accent, added a Memo pin with one of my favorite says (I just printed this off my computer, crumbled the paper and added vintage photo distress ink) Added a Philosophy Tag using a brad.

I'm really pleased with the way my first ATC came out and look forward to creating some more. Thanks for stopping by.

Jamie

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas Day 11

Using your die cuts to make custom stamps?? Seriously? Yap, that's what Tag 11 is all about. Tim's mind just doesn't work like the rest of us, how he comes up with this stuff I don't have a clue, but feel privileged to call myself a fan of such an awesome crafter! So here is Tim's Day 11 Tag



On his tag, Tim, used his snow flurries edge die to cut a custom stamp from fun foam. I hit a little (okay BIG) snag because I didn't have any foam or Tim's edge die, so what's a girl to do? Well one of my fellow ATTers,  Eileen, her amazing blog can be found here http://artsaveslives-paperqueen.blogspot.com/ ,  came up with a brilliant idea to use magic erase foam in place of the fun (craft) foam. So I proceed to rip my kitchen apart looking for one of the 756 boxes that I know I have somewhere, and couldn't find a one, so off to Walmart I went. Craft foam in hand I head down to my craft room to figure out the die problem. What I discovered is that my cricut will cut through this foam; so I used the city line (on shadow) from the Plantin School Book Cartage. Worked perfectly. I followed along with the rest of Tim's masterful instructions to complete my tag, except I replaced the Branch Tree for the Pine Tree die. This is what I came up with:

Well that's it for tonight, hoping to get Day 12's tag done tomorrow between loads of laundry while the children are in school. Humm...if I don't do tag 12 then does that mean 12 Tags isn't over??? LOL

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Tim's 12 Days of Christmas Tags Day 10

On the "why didn't I think of that" meter today's tag is a 2 slaps in the forehead type of tag! And a 10 on the cool meter. Here see for yourself :


Awesome right? And have you guess what is over the tag? It's that irritating plastic that you can never get open without a chain saw! I know, I told you it was 2 slaps to the forehead! This plastic is going to be my new best friend, just love the effect this give after it's embossed.

For this tag I didn't have the snowman die so I used the snowman stamp that I had, stamped it twice and then cut it out per the rest of Tim's instructions. This is how my tag turned out:

So it's on to Day 11, can't believe it's almost over. Happy crafting fellow Tag-i-acts!

Jamie

Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts with me.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Tim's12 Tags of Christmas Day 9

In the words of our Fabulous King of Twitter, Mario, this tag is FANFRIGANTASTIC! This tag is simply stunning, and of course it's my favorite one, will be doing a couple of different versions of this tag for gift tags. So without further ado here is Tim's Day 9 tag:

                                                     Tim's Day 9 Tag

I must say that of all the tags I'm most pleased with the way my version of Tim's tag came out. I didn't have the Once Upon a Time die, so once again I used my Cricut to cut out letters from the Storybook cartage, also I didn't have enough coredinations paper so I took plain white card stock and then sanded it, then went over it with Black Soot Distress Ink.  For the long fasteners I used Tim's fasteners that look like screw heads (I love those things). And to save my life I could not find my Tim buttons, so I pulled out my granny's box of buttons to find some suitable one (very pleased with what I found). Then came the garland, which is not in my stash but glittery piper cleaners are so that's what I used.  So there you have Day 9's tag in a nutshell. Can't wait to see what Day 10 has in store.  So this is my Day 9 Tag:



Thanks for stopping by and if you'd like leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Day 8 of Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas


I'm just loving these personal mini classes that we get each day from Tim. It's like having him right in my craft room with me (okay, so a girl can dream). The day 8 tag was all about some serious masking. Here is Tim's tag:







My Day 8 Tag

 
Today's tag took some thinking! How was I going to do the masking technique without the mask or any blank masking sheets? I ponder this most of the afternoon and then it hit me. I used my Winter Wonderland Cricut Cartage to cut out the sleigh and reindeer. I used the negative and positive images just a Tim did on his tag, but let me tell you had I had the blank masking sheets this process would have been MUCH easier.

I then used my Plankin School Book cartage to cut out the city in place of Tim's edge die. Side note...my Christmas list is getting longer with each tag...lol

I had all the hardware that Tim used on his tag for my tag which made me happy.

So that's it for Day 8...now on to day 9, I'm kind of sad that these days seem to be going so fast, so it will be over and then I'll have to find something else to fill my "me time" time.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing this journey with me, I really do appreciate the comments.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Tim's 12 Days of Christmas Tags Day 7

Tim just continues to freak my freak! Day 6's tag with the Branch Tree antlers and today with the tattered floral poinsettia. I had to slap myself in the forehead and say "now why didn't I think of those", and then I came to the realization it's because I don't have Tim Holtz's brain, that's why..lol But seriously did anyone else think of the antler trick?? Even better it was a conscious thing and not a happy accident. So like I said today is all about the tattered floral poinsettia, his tag is simple stunning (I'm going to run out of adjectives to describe his tags by the end of 12 days) This is what his tag looks like:


                                                  Tim's Day 7 Tag

I was just tickled that Tim used this die, it's one of the few that I have. Then came the kink...no sticky back canvas or colorwash. Here is what I did have though: An old canvas apron that just happen to be white, some distress ink, perfect pearl mist, and spray adhesive. I cut the apron to size, sprayed the back of the apron and grudgepaper with adhesive (tada homemade sticky back canvas, I was pretty proud of myself for coming up with that one) and put the two together...worked great. Then I inked and inked and inked some more until I got the color I wanted then sprayed it with interference red perfect pearl mist. I did the same for the leaves, except I didn't use the tattered leaves die I used one that I had made by cuttlebug. For the rest of the tag I followed along with Tim's instructions, this is what my tag looks like:
Leave me a comment and let me know what you think. Thanks for stopping by!

Tim's !2 Tags of Christmas Day 6

Mr. Holtz was at it again, I am completely amazed each day by what comes out of his creative brain. If I just had a 10th of his creative juices, I'd be a happy lady. There was one point during his video instruction that made me question his sanity though. It was the point in which he said we can make slits in our fades for our tags can slide through. My first reaction was "You want me to do what to my texture fade"...after that momentary doubt I thought to myself well your the crafting king so okay...and proceed to slice through the seam on my texture fade. This man is just a genius. So on to today's tag it's a beaut.
                                                                       Tim's Day 6 Tag
For this tag there wasn't a lot of Tim products that I had (note to self: ask Santa for more Tim Holtz goodies) So here is what I did

For the reindeer I used my Winter Wonderland Cricut Cartage and cut the reindeer out of grudgepaper at 4 1/2". (I debated on whether to cut the antlers off and use the Branch Tree die to make them. I decided that I liked the curly antlers)

For the trees I used my stamp and then embossed with clear embossing powder to allow the forest green distress ink to show through.

I used some flourishes that I had on hand.

I used a stamp that has little teenie tiny snowflakes on it to get the splatter effect.

I had the music note tissue tape, journal tag, and season greeting stamp.

So there you have it..and here is my version of Tim's tag:


Leave a comment and let me know what you think, Thanks!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Tim's 12 Days of Christmas Day 5

Can you believe it we are already to day 5? Before I post the tags I wanted to share a little funny. My 3 year old son helped me pick up the Mr. Potato Head and when we were done he wanted his usual high 5. So I put my hands up and he went to give me a double high 5 and suddenly he stops puts his hand on his hips and in the most discussed voice says "mom" points to the kitchen sink and says "wash"...lol This is what he was seeing. I got to laughing and just about peed my pants.

Okay, so now onto the tags


Here is where you can click on the link below the Tim's Tag to be taken to his blog for complete instruction.

This is my version of Tim's Tag:

I really like the way this tag turned out but those numbers gave me fits! I didn't have any of the Utee Ulta Thick Embrossing powder so I used just regular and applied it really thick, well I think I must have gotten it to hot because it bubbled and stayed bubbled never really smoothed out like Tim's did, but oh well, in person it looks like I painted over rusted numbers. I also didn't have the right colors of the distress embossing powder so I used distress stickles instead, which turned out to be okay. I was missing one of the leaves that he used so I put my flower on top of some leaves that I had because it just needed a little something. In the picture you really can't see the sparkly fluff either but it's there. This was the first time I used that product and I think it could become habit forming. Another thing I didn't have was the styled label so I used my cricut to cut one off of the Storybook cart. Well guess that's about it.

Let me know what you think. Thanks for stopping by, I really do appreciate all of the lovely comments and encouraging words.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas Past

While I'm sitting here impatiently waiting for the Day 5 Tag to be posted I decided to make a couple more of Tim's tags from the past. If you remember this is my first year doing his tags so I have some catching up to do.


This is the tag from 2007 Day 6





This tag is also from 2007 Day 8

So that is 5 down and 31 more to go not including the tags from this year. I see inky fingers in my future for the next several months...lol

Tim's 12 Days of Christmas Tags Day 4



I can't believe it's Day 4 already, it's going by so fast. Today's tag was all about the bling, and I loved it! If you would like to play along click on the link below Tim's tag to be taken to his blog with full step by step instruction and be inspired to create one of your owe.

Here is my version of Tim's Tag (I swear once I started with the bling I just couldn't stop..lol)
Let me know what you think and thanks so much for stopping by. Have an inky day!

Friday, December 3, 2010

12 Tags Day 3


Once again the master was at work creating another incredible tag. He truly does amaze me each day. To see full instruction plus bonus videos click the link above. Also follow Mario on Twitter because he is providing some awesome behind the scene teasers. I know we all aprreciate the awesome job that he is doing.

Here is my take on Tim's Day 3 Tag

Once again I did not have everything that he used on his tag so I did as he said, used what I had. So far this is my favorite tag, but I'm sure he will come up with something else that will be my favorite. Can't wait to see what Day 4 will bring.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Day 2 of the 12 Tags of Christmas



Good afternoon fellow Tim-a-holics it's time for the Day 2 Tag (click on the link below Tim's tag to be taken to his blog with full instructions on completing one of your owe). Tim once again created another beautiful tag and the techniques he shared are mind blowing. This is my take on Day 2's tag:
As you can tell once again I did not have everything needed for this tag (okay so the only things I had were the bird in flight and the baubles so I used what I did have. It's hard to tell from the picture but my branches (which are from his Letter to Santa stamp set) are embossed using a similar technique that Tim used. I didn't have the Cut N Dry Felt so I used a paint brush and distress ink to color in the branches which stayed wet long enough to allow me to emboss the image once it was stamped on the tag. I used Stampendous Music Score for my background and some flourishes that I had ( not sure who makes them). I thought the flourishes looked like the wind blowing. I didn't have any of the color that he used on his tag except the Fire Brick and Walnut Stain, so once again went with what I had. I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out.

**Just a note I ordered some of the Cut N Dry Felt so I can try his technique of creating a custom stamp pad, the endless possibilities in this piece of information.

Day 1 of Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas






Can I just say holy cow! Tim sure did throw down the gauntlet for his first tag of the 2010 12 Tags of Christmas challenge. After the 4th try on the house to which I'm still not happy with this is what I ended up with:


Here is the details of the have and have nots and what I used in it's place:

  • Didn't have the On the Fence Edge Die (used the rosette die, cut on the perforations and attached to 2 strips of grudge paper and then followed the instructions to complete the fence.
  • Didn't have the Prima wire branch (used the Branch Tree die instead and added stickles to get the snow effect on it)
  • Didn't have the tag (used the Wish ticket and inked around the edges in Fire Brick)
  • Didn't have the crinkle ribbon (used sparkle silver ribbon instead)
  • Didn't have the Mini Garland (used a gingerbread man in it's place, not sure I'm happy with that so might try and find something else to replace it with.
As you can see I had more have nots than I did haves but that is part of the fun, coming up with creative ways to use what you have. Now it's off to work on Day 2's Tag. Have a great day and remember get those fingers inky!

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

12 Tags of Christmas Past

So anyone that knows me, knows that I am an admitted Tim-a-holic ( aka Master Crafter himself Tim Holtz), don't be alarmed though there is no need for any type of rehab, my craft fairs support my habit, and my children and husband are not going hungry. They may on occasion need to run around naked because I have not done laundry for a week or so, but other than that I do not see any issues..lol.

Well the big kick off to Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas starts tomorrow, December 1, check out his blog here http://www.timholtz.typepad.com/ . I'm so excited I'm about to bust at the seams since this will be the first one that I'll be participating in. Well to keep myself busy I have decided to do some (hopefully all) of the past 12 Tags starting with 2008. Below you will find my first two tags. Now I do not have all of the same products that Tim used on his tag (I don't know how I do not have everything but I don't) so I will try and explain what I did to get a similar effect that Tim did on his tag. In my sidebar you will find links to some of my favorite places to purchase my Tim Holtz goodies. Hope you enjoy and please feel free to leave me comments, criticisms, or ideas on improvements. Thanks for looking and get creating! Ink on the fingers makes the day go better!

Jamie


Tag 1 is from 2008 Day 1   you can find Tim's tag and instruction here http://timholtz.typepad.com/my_weblog/12_tags_of_christmas_2008/



On this tag I did not have the same stamps that Tim used, so I used what I had. I also did not have the Fire Brick crackle paint so I decided to use Fire Brick Distress ink and then added crackle accent on top of that. I first stamped the Santa head and then made a mask on a post-it note and then stamped the music note for the background.

Tag 2 is 2008 Day 10  here is the link  http://timholtz.typepad.com/my_weblog/12_tags_of_christmas_2008/

As you can tell this is not the same stamp that Tim used but it is a Tim snowman stamp, think that counts...lol I did have all the other products that he used on this tag though.

I hope that from my examples that you do not need to have everything that Tim uses on his tags to get a similar effect.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Tim's Festive Bird Cage Tag

Here is my take on Tim's tag on the Ranger website; click here to see his tag and step by step instructions http://blog.rangerink.com/blog/2010/11/project-distress-festive-foliage-birdcage-tag.html

Tim's tag is much more impressive than mine, but I'm still pretty happy with the way it turned out. Let me know what you think.
Jamie

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Rosette Pendants that I made

Here are some of the rosette pendants that I made using the Tim Holtz die! I'm so excited with the way they came out, and the die is so simple to use.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

This is what I've been up to:

For about a month now, I have been busy making items for a craft fair coming up on Nov. 20th. This will be my second craft fair since moving from Illinois to Wisconsin. The first one went much better than expected and received a lot of cool feedback and was invited to two other fairs in December. Here is just a bit of what I've been making, hope you like it:
 Magnetic Bottle caps for interchangeable choker necklaces 
 More bottle caps
 And a few more bottle caps
 The top row are altered domino pins
Altered scrabble tile pendants for necklaces


I've also been working on some small canvas pieces, cards, and altered tins; once they are complete I'll be sharing them also. Once I get the children settled, I'll give some detailed information on how I made each of these items, what products I used and where it can be purchased. Thanks for looking and have a crafty day!

Sunday, October 31, 2010

When life happens

Don't you just love it when life decides that you should change your plans?! Well, I started this blog a couple of months ago and as you can clearly see have not been very successful at posting new stuff. My life was just turned upside down, nothing horribly bad, just everyday kids stuff. I'm hoping that after this next doctor appointment filled month that things will settle down some. Or at least as much as it can when you have 5 children ages 2, 3, 6, 8 and 12. If I'm not able to create something soon my brain just might exploded because I must have about 750 ideas for things that I want to attempt. So please be patient and I promise new stuff is coming so.


Thanks 
Jamie

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Stickle on my fingers

So tonight I have a stickle, ink and glue on my fingers and it makes me happy. I have been working on some domino pendants and thought I'd share a few.


Monday, October 11, 2010

My First Two Canvas Pieces

Today I'm posting my first attempts at altering a canvas. I'm pretty happy with both pieces, except I think the first one still needs something. I like the look of my second one much better though. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Hope you have a great day and remember get those fingers inky!

This was my first attempt at Altered Canvas

Much happier with this piece