I'm Back with Tim ... Holtz 12 Tags of 2013 -- October Tag

It has been some time since I last visited Crafty Blogland.  I haven't been feeling the best in the world and I have had more things to do at work than I could actually accomplish.  It's been a slight bump in the road of my life.  I hope to catch up with you all sometime soon via Pinterest and your wonderful blogs.

I'm back with my take on Tim's October Tag for 2013.  Check out all of the details of his really cool way to celebrate Halloween with gorgeous Distress Glitter!

I had such fun playing with these ideas that I made two tag contributions this month.  I didn't have the Ornate Frame die, so I thought it would be fun to make a wreath to create a focal area on the tag instead. I immediately thought of the Autumn Gatherings Sizzlit Die Strip and thought about making an Autumn leaf wreath.  But then I thought about Halloween and wanted to make a spooky "wreath".  I started thinking of this spooky wreath as the kind of wreath that Dr Frankenstein would make if he also liked scrapbooking; he would make it out of spare parts laying around the lab.  So I found a skeleton clipart online and the rest is history!

 Here are some close ups of each tag:

The Fall Wreath Tag

 

I used Peeled Paint, Antique Linen, Rusty Hinge and Walnut Stain Distress paint to create the background.  I then added some fall and script stamped images.  The edges were distressed with sand paper.  I added to Walnut Stain Distress Ink to the distressed edges.

All of the pieces that created the fall wreath were die cut out of cream card stock.  I then painted them with different colors of Distress paint.  Sometimes I spritzed the pieces with water to marbelized the colors.  After the paint dried, I added Glossy Accents and Rock Candy Distressed Glitter.  When that dried, I added some coordinating Distress Stain to provide and overall rich color for each piece.  I started off with stick pieces to form the base layer of the wreath. Then each of the leaves, wheat, and acorn pieces were added so that colors were distributed around the wreath.  I loved it!!

I attached the wreath with Glossy Accents to the tag.  Then I grabbed one of my Tim Holtz pumpkin die cuts.  I tried an orange pumpkin, but it got lost in all the colors of the wreath.  So I went with a white pumpkin and only glittered the white part (and not the lines that create the shadowed creases of the pumpkin).  Some alcohol colored jewelry wire create the vine spirals off of the pumpkin.

The tag was finished with part of a Tim Holtz Tattered Banners die cut that was cut out of some pattered paper.  I stamped the words Fall Fields and added some color with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  I embellished this with a chunky staple and a flower charm. 

And one last shot of the complete tag.

 

Dr. Frankenstein's Spare Parts Wreath Tag:

I love the colors on the background of this tag.  I used Seedless Preserves, Walnut Stain, and Rusty Hinge Distress Paints as well as some regular Copper acrylic paint. I stamped some barbed wire, "skeleton" keys, and Happy Halloween on the back ground.  To add even more interest, I put some Walnut Stain, Rusty Hinge and Black Soot Distress Paint on my craft mat, misted them with water, and laid my chicken wire stencil (from The Crafter's Workshop) on the paint.  I lifted it up and laid the paint-covered stencil on my tag.  I pressed it down with a paper towel and then lifted it off.  I really like the effect.  The edges were sanded and I distressed them with Black Soot Distress Ink.

Now to make my wreath, I started with a skull and crossbones die cut from Tim Holtz movers and shapers dies.  I cut off the "crossed bones" part because I want them to have a little more presence in the overall structure.  Next I took the skeleton clipart and printed it onto matte photo paper.  The bones were fussy cut and I added a few more bones for good measure.  I put Rock Candy Distress Glitter on the white parts of all the bones with Glossy Accents.

When they were dry, I started piecing them together with some Tim Holtz Idea-ology long fasteners and tiny fasteners.  It really does look like a Dr. Frankenstein construction project.

Before I attached the skeleton wreath to the card, I stamped the black chain so that it looks like the skull at the bottom and the armbones at the top are linked together.

As I constructed the wreath, I thought it might be fun to have the wreath hanging on the tag by one of the skeletal hands.  But then I realized it would cover the tag hole.  I tried several different ribbons in the hand to see if I could make a tag tie that way, but nothing really fit.  That's when the idea of a hangman's noose came to me.  It worked perfectly.  I had some black netting that I used as a back drop for the noose.  I think it turned out particularly creepy :)

I added a wonderful Distress Glittered bat, some alcohol ink colored stars, a 31 for today's big Halloween celebration, and a stamped "welcome" from Dr Frankenstein that says BEWARE (colored with some seasonal Distress Markers). 

I'm leaving you with one last pic of the entire tag.  Hope it inspires you have a spooky good time tonight!  Since Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge is "Anything Goes", I'm going to enter both of my October tags.  Drop by and see all the cool DT projects as well as all of the talented entries :)  -- Mary Elizabeth