Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2013 - July

Hello there and thank you for visiting.

I've been working hard in my craft room lately and am trying to keep up to date with the various challenges and projects I've got on the go at the moment. So I'm pleased to reveal my interpretation of Tim's July tag (which you can see here).

Tim's Tag is 4th of July themed, although he has dedicated it to the brave firefighters tragically killed in Prescott, Arizona this week.

As a Brit I don't have any stash relating to the 4th of July or Americana in general so I have designed my tag to have a summertime feel. As the tag evolved it also came to reflect the fragility of life and of  the debt of gratitude we owe to those who put their lives on the line for us every day.

As usual I didn't have all of Tim's supply list so had to do some creative thinking. The butterfly (Tim's Fanciful Flight) die was chosen as it was the closest thing I had to the cut out style of the Old Glory flag. I used Distress Stains in Scattered Straw, Wild Honey, Bundled Sage and Pine Needles and a little splash of Tea Dye for the background and edged the tag in Tea Dye and Gathered Twigs DI.

I used DS in Bundled Sage and Pine Needles on the butterfly, but I don't think I put my Crackle Glaze on thickly enough to get the full crackle effect. I smooshed Tea Dye DI over the top to distress and then rubbed some Inka Gold over to get a metallic sheen (I hadn't used any metallic DS as Tim had).

My background stamps are PaperArtsy HP1006, I used the flourish and the music and Japanese script sections of the "Sanctuary" stamp. The text stamp "Les Papillons" is by Cavallini.

I used a TH Trinket Pin in place of the Wire Pin and Muse Token which Tim used. (The word seemed appropriate somehow).

The label stamp is Papermania Hampstead and the sentiment is part of a Hero Arts Favorite Journal stamp.

I faffed about for ages with the hardware (as I hadn't got a Stencil Clip - which wouldn't have been relevant to my design anyway) but in the end I decided to go for a simple TH Foliage flower to balance the piece.

Whilst I've stuck to the general design of Tim's Tag I've given it a very different feel and I'm looking forward to seeing all the other interpretations of this tag.

Hope to catch up with you soon. Thank you for taking the time to visit.

Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2013 - June

Tim Holtz's June tag (you can see it here) uses Distress Markers and water pens to create a watercolour-esque appearance. OK, so the main problem here is that I don't own a single Distress Marker. But necessity is the mother of invention and I do own plenty of Distress Inks, and a water brush so I'll just have to use the old smoosh-the-ink-on-the-craft-mat,-pick-it-up-with-a-water-brush-and-hope-for-the-best technique.

So, my second Tim Tag and I've got to say that, although I almost fell at the first hurdle, I'm really pleased with how this turned out.

I LOVE the splatted ink spots.

AND the background stamping. And I think you can just about see the watercolour effect - do you think I've got away with it?

If you're interested I took some progress shots, if not - well thanks for taking the time to stop by, please do leave a comment so that I know you came and I can visit you in return.

Chosen images - butterflies and post mark Crafty Individuals, flourish - Artemio

Instead of Distress Markers I used Distress Inks in Rusty Hinge, Wild Honey, Broken China, Faded Jeans, Peeled Paint, Spiced Marmalade and Ripe Persimmon

I had to repeat the distress technique a couple of times to get a look I was reasonably happy with (I used Salty Ocean DP, Gathered Twigs DI and Dried Marigold DS)

LOVE this stamping - Chocolate Baroque:  Artistic Affirmations, Paper Artsy Ink and the Dog: Clocks 3, Paper Artsy: HP1109 and Cactus Annie: text stamp.

I'm really pleased with how this turned out - and I'm actually itching to have another play with this technique -
Thanks for the inspiration Tim!