Under the Sea with Tim ... Holtz July Tag for 2014

Well I'm back with my take on Tim Holtz's July Tag for 2014 (this time before the end of July!).    And I have to say, this was one of my favorite tags to make.  So many cool techniques to try!!  I was in crafting heaven.  If you haven't already done so, go check them all out here on Tim's blog.  He gives you step-by-step directions for his tag.  It's fabulous!

Tim used shrink plastic to create the water element for his lovely tag visit to the sea.  I used shrink plastic on the top of my tag for the waves breaking on top of my sea.  It was run through my Vagabond in Tim's waves from his Travel Signs Texture Fades.  So cool!

I actually used a less rigid transparency film for the "under sea" part of my tag because I wanted it to have less white marks under water.  I didn't have the bubbles texture fade; so I used Tim's Regal Flourishes to create underwater movement like you see when sunlight pass through water.  My tag background was created using the same process that Tim used on his blog.

 Love the Rock Candy Crackle Distress Paint accented with Walnut Stain Distress Stain on the seahorse.  The sunlight really makes him sparkle! I used Mustard Seed, Rusty Hinge and Fired Brick Distress Paints to color my underwater "equine".  

I created my "Under the Sea" sign using a Memory Glass frame.  I stamped the sentiment on the tag background and didn't cover it with any of the plastic. The frame wasn't quite big enough for the image, so I broke one side of the frame off and moved it to the bottom of my image.  I added some cute jeweled crabs charms to fill in the gaps on the lower frame corners.   I used Glossy Accents to  fill in the waves of the stamped image along with adding some "water droplets".

 I followed Tim's directions for the rest of the tag.  I fussy cut my seahorse, starfish and snail from stamped images on multimedia paper.  And I added my own shells from North Myrtle Beach.  Loved playing with the "sand" mixture (thanks for the idea Tim ... more fun!!!).

 I am going to leave you with one pic of the entire tag.  I can't wait to see what you've been creating lately.   Thanks for dropping by.  -- Mary Elizabeth

 

Saying Thanks with Tim ... Holtz June Tag of 2014

This tag is a little late.  I 'm playing catch up on my crafting and blog hopping :)  This is my take on Tim Holtz's June tag for 2014.  You can check out his tag and his step-by-step directions as to the techniques and products he used to create his amazing tag here! 

My tag is a little different.  I went with a little more intensity on the stenciled layer and then used white specialty stamping paper to really make my "Thanks" pop.  I love this little stamp because it allows me say thanks to so many of you, my friends, from all over the world.   You all have really helped me through some tough months by leaving me such sweet comments here on the blog or sent me encouraging emails.  This tag is dedicated to you!!  Thank you!

 Because of my intentional use of white on this project, I'm going to enter this over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge -- W is for White.  I hope you drop by and look at the Design Team's fabulous makes.  Wow!  White always seemed boring to me.  Not any more :) 

Thanks again to you all.  It has been a rich and colorful year for me with you all in my life.  -- Mary Elizabeth

Faux Metal Ceiling Tile Album Cover

Hi everyone!!! It has been such a very long time since my last post.  Many of you know I had pretty serious neurosurgery in New York back in May.  I am back home now and slowly but surely healing (I just got my stitches out.  I can't believe how long the scar is!  Thank goodness for long hair :) ).  I will be wearing a neck brace for the next couple of months and I can't lift anything over 3 pounds to keep pressure off of mending bones.  This kind of limits what I can do.  I've gotta say ... try crafting (as well as eating and putting on your shoes and so many other things) without being able to look down :)  It's seriously a bit of a challenge!!   However, I've managed to overcome the hurdles this week to do a project as a Guest Creative Guide over at a Vintage Journey.

Before I introduce my latest project, I would like to give a heartfelt thanks to Anne and all of the talented creative guides over at A Vintage Journey for choosing my tag as their "It's All About Him" Challenge winner.  That was such a special project to honor my dad and remember those who have sacrificed their lives in military service.  I loved that tag and was so glad to have a chance to share a little bit about my dad with you.  It brought tears to my eyes when I saw that you all liked it too!

Ok ... now on to my latest project.  While I have been laid up in bed recovering from surgery, I've spent a lot of time watching home and garden television programs.  I love shows that repurpose vintage items and use them in home decor.  One of my favorite decoration ideas was using old metal (usually tin or copper) ceiling tiles for wall art.  The embossed metal tiles have intricate designs and often are painted.   If these tiles have been laying around for awhile, you can see the the metal peaking through where the paint has worn off.  Sometime they are pretty distressed and have accompanying rust or corrosion.

I wanted to create a scrapbook album cover that looks like one of these vintage ceiling tiles.  It was the perfect project for Nikki's "Use Every Stamp in a Set" Challenge over at A Vintage Journey.  One of the first Tim Holtz stamp sets that I bought (and still one of my favorites) was the Floral Tattoo Stamp Set.  Although I  have used individual stamps from this set at various times, I had never used them all on a single project.  These stamps create images that already seem to have such texture to them.  I was really excited about playing with them and seeing what kind of arrangements I could make for my faux embossed metal tile.

 I had a 12 x 12 chipboard album in my craft stash.  I started by giving the front cover a good coat of gesso.  After that dried, I painted it with copper acrylic paint.  Then came a coat of Antique Linen Distress Paint.  Now here is the fun part. I started designing my cover by using my Tim Holtz Floral Tattoo stamps.  I used some 12 x 12 white paper and stamped various designs on it with black ink until I had a design I liked.  I then recreated that design on the cover with Pirate Gold embossing powder (alas ... no copper embossing powder!).  I used Distress Embossing Ink for the stamping.  After the entire cover design was stamped and embossed, I painted the cover with another coat of Antique Linen Distress Paint. 

After everything dried, I pulled out the sand paper.  I sanded the embossed areas to uncover those wonderful floral tattoo stamped images.  I really distressed the album cover edges and even distressed all the way down through the top layer of the chipboard to create the “rusted holes” (actually ... copper doesn't really rust ... it "corrodes") in my faux ceiling tile.   Next I took some Walnut Stain Distress Ink to rub into the distressed areas. I grabbed some Martha Stewart verdigris jewelry enamel glaze and wiped over some areas of the cover to give it that patina-like finish in places.  Finally to bring out the stamped design a little more, I rubbed Walnut Stain Distress Paint into the nooks and crannies of the embossed images.   Here are a few close-up pics:

I have just about used all of my energy for the afternoon.  Thanks for dropping by.  I hope to visit your blogs soon and catch up on all of your creative endeavors.  Wishing you all happy crafting!!  -- Mary Elizabeth