Anchors Aweigh! Tim Holtz July 2013 Tag

My take on Tim Holtz's July Tag for 2013 is dedicated to the memory of my Dad.  As I mentioned in an earlier blog, my Dad was in the U. S. Navy.  He served during the Korean War.  I've been scrapbooking his time in the military and will be including this tag in those pages.

I used Tim's brayer technique (see Tim's July 2013 Tag page for details) to apply Barn Door and Picket Fence Distress Stain to a manila tag.  I then used an ink blending tool to apply Broken China Distres Ink in the areas that did not have stain.   This highlighted the patterns made by the brayer tool.  I distressed the edges of the tag and then 'grunged' them with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

The stamps helped me to commemorate my Dad's first Pacific Ocean deployment on an aircraft carrier.  I found this great anchor stamp at Michaels.  Forgive me, but I cannot remember the manufacturer at this point.  It made a great focal image for the tag.   I outlined it with a Picket Fence Distress Marker.  I used some masking tape to cover the anchor in order to stamp the word "voyage" on the tag's background.  You can see a partial definition stamp for the word "family" at the top of the tag.  At the bottom, you will find the words "acting with courage" on the right and part of the tag and the word "hero" on the left. 

The men on this ship were on a peace-time training exercise off the Philippine Islands (my dad's first major cruise in the Navy) when North Korea crossed the 38th parallel into South Korea.  My Dad's ship was the only US Navy vessel in the area.  It went into full combat mode without a lot of warning. It had been a long time since the U. S. Navy had been in combat.  World War II was the last time this aircraft carrier had been used for combat missions.  The U. S. Navy recently declassified many of the military reports from this ship and its subsequent battle group.  These reports describe how the ships were not adequately outfitted for the air war advancements that had come on the Navy scene since WWII.  They had to make do "on the fly" as they started missions to support South Korea.  My Dad's squadron went into the history books with the first air strikes in the Korean War.  Can you imagine that ... going out on your first training mission and ending up in a war?  Bravery.

The stars were made out of grungeboard and covered with Rock Candy Crackle Paint.  The humidity in the south (due to all of the rain that we have had) really extended the drying time.  I didn't have any any metallic Distress Stains, so I tried an experiment to get some of the metallic finish that Tim got on his crackle elements.  I mixed Barn Door and Faded Jeans Distress Stain respectively with Silver alcohol ink metallic mixative.  Then I applied this with a paint brush to the crackled stars.  I really love the effect.  After that mixture dried, I went back with Barn Door Distress Stain (for the red star) and soaked the star again to really get the red into the cracks of the paint and soak the edges of the star.  I did the same process for the small blue star with Faded Jeans stain.  For the largest star, I applied Pumice Stone Distress Ink to my craft mat, sprayed it water, and added the silver mixative.   I applied this mixture to the cracks and let it dry.  I then soaked the top with Picket Fence Distress Stain to give it more of a white-washed finish.

I added a Navy "dog tag" made out of Core'dinations Cracked Sapphire paper.  I stamped the letters with Picket Fence Distress Markers and used that marker to edge the distressed edges of the tag.  I then used a brown archival pen to add some shadows and depth for the letters and tag.

 I love this rope embellishment that I found on a set of Jolee's U. S. Navy scrapbook stickers.  I added Walnut Stain to it and glued the knot to the tag above the tag's hole.  I took a craft knife and made a slit right at the end of the rope for my anchor stamp.  Then I took the end of the rope embellishment and inserted it into the slit.  This made it look like my rope tag hanger is an extension of the rope from my stamped anchor image.  The star was added to disguise the transition from 2D to 3D rope.  A "screw"-top brad was put through the rope's knot and hole at the top of the tag to complete the look.

I added a flag and USA stamp at the top edge of he tag and then some Tim Holtz tissue tape.  I grunged the tape with Walnut Stain Distress ink and used a black archival pen to outline the tape a little so that it didn't get lost in all of the grunge on the tag.  This tissue tape image was great for this tag.  My Dad worked as an electrical engineer on Navy Jets and was up to his eyeballs in plane parts and diagrams of plane parts :)

 And here is another shot of the finished tag.  I like it.  It will be a really nice piece to put in my Dad's scrapbook.  You will probably here more about this project on the blog.  I am learning a great deal about my Dad and the era in which he served in the military.

It is good to be back on the blog.  Hope to get back into my craft room later this week ... too many ideas rolling around in my head to keep away.  Hope you have a great crafting week!  -- Mary Elizabeth