12 Tags of 2015 -- July

Well, I'm here with, not just one, but two tags for my take on Tim Holtz's July 2015 tag.  Such a cool technique using Distress Micro-Glaze and water color paper.  I won't go into details here since Tim did such a fantastic tutorial on his blog; however, as I was making my first tag,  I realized how amazingly versatile this technique is.  My first tag (made when I was thinking about the summer coming to an end and going back to school) has a very vintage vibe to it.  My second tag is very vibrant with some of Tim's new Distress colors for 2015 (Abandoned Coral, Mermaid Lagoon, and Twisted Citron) for a very special person's birthday card.  Basically it's the same tag in composition, but each has a completely different feel because of the color choices.

It has been a long day and so I don't have much energy to type right now.  I'm going to leave with a couple of pics of each tag individually.  Wishing you all a great week!!  -- Mary Elizabeth

 

Adventure Awaits You in 2015 -- CC3C #33 Tag

I'm really excited to be able to participate in the second-to-last Compendium of Curiosities 3 Challenge #33:  Altered Surfaces (p. 45).   If you have not already checked out Tim Holtz's latest book, you can order one directly from him and he will even autograph it!  The lovely Linda Ledbetter at Studio L3 is hosting these challenges and there is plenty of inspiration from the very talented Curiosity Crew.  Seriously ... drop by and see what they've been up to.  They all are amazing crafters!! 

 

I made a tag for my entry.  This year I am doing a "scrap calendar" for my Mom.  Each month, We are choosing a favorite event that happened to her during that month and taking a photo.  I'm making a tag to accompany the photo for that month's calendar page.  We will fill the days on the calendar with special memories.  My mom turned 80 in February, so I created an 80th birthday tag for the month of February.  This tag going to decorate January 2015.  It is celebrating some new beginnings for both of us.  My mom spent the majority of 2014 taking care of me.  Starting in January 2015, my mom got to lead her own life for a change :)

I've got to confess, this tag is one of my favorites.  I love the altered surface technique and I really enjoyed making the background to show off my altered elements.  I started the background with a piece of scrapbook paper (you can see part of the 12 by 12 sheet that I used in the pic to the left) that was pre-printed with some copper metallic embossing.  I used Tim's #8 tag die and die cut the paper.  I adhered the paper to a manilla tag with Glue and Seal for stability.  Then I got to have some fun!  I stenciled some Ranger Transparent Gloss Texture Paste through Tim's Flourish Stencil and let it dry.  Then I took Broken China Distress Paint and lightly swiped the paint horizontally (left to right) directly onto the tag.  I wiped the paint off of the clear embossed flourish pattern (also wiping left to right) and I could see the pattern paper underneath!  A heat tool was applied to completely dry the paint (careful not to overheat the embossed areas and bubble it). Then I went back and inked the entire tag with Walnut Stain Distress Ink. It really made the Broken China pop because all the non-painted and non-stenciled areas were filled in with that rich, dark brown.   Finally I used a Black Soot Distress Marker to add some shadowing to the embossed flourish.  Oh my goodness!  I loved the final result.  Here is a close-up of the background:

You can see that the copper embossing on the patterned paper also acted as a partial resist.  It added to this cool background.  Here is a close up of the top of the tag with one of Tim's Custom Fasteners that I colored with alcohol ink and added to my tag's bow.  The bow was colored with Broken China and Walnut Stain Distress Stain then spritzed with some water.

Let's take a look of the stars of this project -- the altered surfaces.  I can't go into details of the technique used because it wouldn't be fair to Tim and all the hard work he did to put together Compendium of Curiosities 3.  I will tell you that I applied the technique to the hammered ring charm below that surrounds a tiny custom fastener.  I used Broken China, Walnut Stain, Picket Fence, Mustard Seed, Black Soot and Ripe Persimmon Distress Paint on the ring charm to achieve the effect. In the background you can see that I embellished the bottom of the tag with a strip of Recollections trim tape.  Another strip of this trim tape was added to the right side of the tag.  You can't see much of the vertical strip because it is mostly covered with my altered pieces.  To mark the many possibilities that 2015 holds for my Mom, I added the sentiment "adventure awaits you" from Tim's Small Talk Stickers.

Here is a close-up of some other altered surfaces.  The washers originally had a verdigris treatment on them.  I used some more Ripe Persimmon, Walnut Stain, Black Soot, and Picket Fence Distress Paint to complete the look.  The number 1 for the 15 (representing 2015) came from one of Tim's Alpha Parts sets.  It primarily was treated with Broken China Distress Paint and accented with Antique Bronze, Black Soot, Mustard Seed, and Picket Fence Distress Paints.  Underneath the "1" is a metal embellishment that I treated with alcohol inks as well as Ripe Persimmon and Walnut Stain Distress Paints.  After the number 1 was adhered to the metal disk with Glue and Seal, I added a layer of Glossy Accents to the metal disk (inside the ring surrounding the 1).

The same treatment was given to the number 5 in the pic to the right.  I love the addition of the Glossy accents to the metal disk behind the 5.

That's it for my CC3C #33 Altered Surfaces Project.  I just want to remind you all that there are some amazing Tim Holtz goodies up for grabs to the Curiosity Crew's Choice winner (from Tim and Mario!!) and a sensational $50 Shopping Spree from one of my favorite online crafting stores, Inspiration Emporium ,will go to one lucky random draw winner.   I hope you have time to play.  We are almost out of challenges (wow!).

It has been such a pleasure to get in my craft room and create this past week.  Thanks so much to Tim, Mario, Linda and each of the Curiosity Crew members for inspiring me this week.  I can't remember when I've had so much fun.  And most importantly, thanks to you for dropping by!!  -- Mary Elizabeth

Saying Happy Birthday!!

Hi everyone!!  Here's a quick post to celebrate my nephew's birthday and the fact that I actually finished this birthday card (yay me!!).   My nephew loves rodeo and cowboy boots, so I decided to go a "western" feel to his card.  The card is made out of a 12 x 12 Core'dinations card stock on which I used a wrinkled distress technique (yes ... I will actually iron a piece of cardstock and not my clothes).  Some red and white check printed paper and a piece of bandana print card stock were used to decorate both the outside and inside of the card.

 To go along with my western theme, I used Tim Holtz's stars and train track (to look like a fence on the bottom of the card) embossing folders to deboss the front of the card.  I swiped some black archival ink on the folders before I sent them through my Vagabond machine.  This gives the card the look like it has been "branded".  The debossed image didn't go all the way to the the center crease, so I used some tissue tape on the crease to cover the bare space.

I fussy cut Tim Holtz's jalopy truck (stamped in black archival ink on kraft paper) and used Crackle Accents on the windows and headlights.  A little Walnut Stain Distress Stain was used to highlight the crackles.  This was foam tape mounted to the front of the card.









I topped it off with a strip of denim material and a corrugated cardboard diecut that I treated with Antique Linen Distress Paint and Walnut Stain Distress Ink.  I began to wish my nephew a "happy" birthday with this  metal embellishment that I painted with Barn Door Distress Paint and some Ginger alcohol ink.  Love this grungy, cute piece on that bandana print!

As you can see in the pic below, I carried over the checked and bandana print paper to the interior of the card.

I used Tim Holtz's WISH die on the bandana print and backed it with more denim fabric.  I tied a cute cowboy ornament to the H and let him run along a strip of printed paper I added to the top and bottom of the interior of the card.  The kraft paper interior was kept to a very neutral palette with stamped sentiments in black and coffee archival ink.  I used a few TH stencils with Walnut Stain Distress Ink as well.

The star of the show is the denim pocket (real denim!!) that I found as a part of banner set at Michaels. Makes a great tag holder!!  I used Tim's stripes embossing folder on the bottom of the pocket and added a little Picket Fence Distress Stain/Paint mixture to the embossed stripes (to give them a faded look).  Some knotted rope, a TH stenciled coffee ring, and a metal "birthday" embellishment completes the look.  I hope you can see the Stampendous bandana print background stamp underneath the pocket -- such a great stamp!  You can see a little sheen on the paper here in the sun.  I used a layer of Matte Multimedium to seal the kraft paper interior.

Here are a couple of pics with the tag.  You might recognize the background from my Tim Holtz June Tag for 2015 post.  A piece of resist kraft paper (cut off of the cover of Tim's kraft resist Paperstash pad) was inked with Weathered Wood and Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink and stamped with a TH sentiment (black archival ink and clear embossed).  It made the perfect holder for my nephew's gift card.  The tag is topped with a rope tag tie and a "play" ideology charm on a safety pin.

 

The back really shows off the the wrinkled distress technique.  It works so well on the Core'dinations card stock.

I'm really not very good at card making.  It has taken me a few weeks to finish this one.  I hope my nephew likes it.  Anyway, it contains a heart-full of love and best wishes.  Since it definitely says something ... I'm entering it in Frilly and Funkie's Something to Say Challenge.  And since it's Anything Goes over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, I'm going to enter it there as well.  

On a related note, I would love to give a warm hug to the DT over at Simon Says Stamp for spotlighting my Stars and Stripes burlap canvas.  I was floored!!  There were so many amazing summer projects.  I love that piece (it's hanging on my wall) but I really appreciate the fact that someone else liked it too.  Thanks again!!

Hope you all have had time to start (and finish) a project as well this week.  Looking forward to seeing and being inspired by your works of art.  -- Mary Elizabeth

Stars and Stripes

Happy 4th of July!!  We're celebrating our Independence Day here in the States and it's definitely one of my favorite holidays.   I love my country and so I created a bit of rustic patriotic decor for my house.

I started  by priming a burlap panel with a bit of gesso.  Then I used Wendy Vecchi's Crackle Texture Paste on a Heidi Swapp star stencil that I found at Michaels.  After it dried, I seriously grunged all those wonderful cracks and crevices with Walnut Stain Distress Stain and Soot Distress Marker (specifically around the star's outline).  I wiped off most of surface stain and ink with a damp cloth.

The star stencil came with its own mask, so I masked the star and used Barn Door and Chipped Sapphire Distress Paint and Tim Holtz's Stripes stencil to create some very rough stripes around the star.  I grunged around the star with Walnut Stain Distress Stain, Frayed Burlap  and Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink.  

I accessorized my star and stripes with some Tim Holtz Tissue Tape and Industrious Stickers (also grunged and splattered with some watered down white acrylic paint.)  Don't you just love Tim's box corners?  I added some Ginger, Latte, and black alcohol ink to age them a bit.

The panel was topped with some jute strings that I pulled from the back of the panel, a TH muse token, and another star.

I stamped some stars on the edges of the panel and tapped in some star tacks that I had grunged with more alcohol ink.

Since this is my favorite summer holiday, I am entering this in Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Summer challenge.  I remember celebrating with my family at my grandmother's house.  We had a huge picnic and swam in her pool.  Then at night, we had a poolside view of a nearby park's 4th fireworks display.  Great food, sunburns, the smell of chlorine and bright pops of color in the night sky ... some of my favorite summer memories.

Hope you are making some favorite memories today.  Happy 4th to you all!!  Mary Elizabeth