Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas 2010

That's right! It's that time again! Tim Holtz and his 12 Tags of Christmas start on December 1st and run though December 12th. Such a fun time of year. I love waiting up until 12:01 am to see the new tag for the day and then gathering up all of my supplies (I am shocked every year at how much TH stuff I have in my stash!) and I make a list of a few of the new things I want to add, and then I try and get to work.

Last year I waited and had a 12 Tags party, but we only got 4 tags mostly done and I only completed 5 more on my own, leaving me with three to still finish.

This year I just couldn't wait that long, and since I ended up with a last minute reprieve from baby sitting our nieces this weekend, I decided to jump in and get started!!

Tag #1
(if you click on this title, it will take it to Tim's blog so you can see his tag)

This one took about 3 1/2 hours to make...there are so many little details, but it was so worth it!

Tag #2
(click on the title to see Tim's tag)

I really liked this tag because it gave me a chance to try the custom stamp pad technique that allows you to stamp in several different colors (like the ticket on tag #1) Really a terrific technique! It looks so great! Check out Tim's blog for a photo tutorial on how to make your own custom stamp pad.

Tag #3
(click on the title to see Tim's tag)

Okay -- I forgot to put the moss on the bottom of the bird's feet, but I don't have any, and so I just took the pic without it. This tag had a couple of techniques. One was the Tissue Tape collage bird, colored with alcohol ink, and the other was the Tissue Tape flower. Tim made videos on his blog showing how to do each technique, so be sure to check it out!

Tag # 4
(click on the title to see Tim's Tag)

Tag #4 wasn't too terribly difficult, but I had a hard time getting the blue I wanted. I didn't like the bright blue on the facet on Tim's tag, so I ended up reinking it several times. I finally ended up using Slate (grey) and Stonewashed (blue) to get this somewhat darker greyish blue color. I'm 90% happy with it. The bling on the tag was a tiny bit tedious because I didn't have the bling on a roll, but I love the end result.

Tag #5
(click the title to see Tim's Tag)

I haven't done this tag yet. I skipped it, but will get it done.

Tag #6
(click the title to see Tim's Tag)

This tag Tim introduced a really cool technique that includes stamping on an embossing folder before you run the tag through it. I loved it! We also embossed the grunge board deer. This wasn't too terribly complicated, BUT we couldn't find the tiny green garland anywhere that he put around the deer's neck. Only one site that was selling it in 60 yard increments for $9.97. I thought that was a little excessive being that I only needed like 2 inches. So I messaged Mario and so must a lot of other people, because two days later he opened and etsy shop and sold kits with cool Christmas minis it, so my friend and I bought three! Woo hoo!

And this is a fun little tag I made using the techniques from Tag #5 and Tag #6. I used the stamping on an embossing folder technique, and the bling embellishing technique. I love it! I made several of this tag as it is the only one I will probably give away to people.

Tag #7
(click on the title to see Tim's Tag)

This one was really time consuming, but it is so beautiful in real life. You can see the sparkle of the rock candy stickles and the texture of the canvas poinsettia, So many steps that it took about 4 hours to make, but I made two because I figured that if I was going to go to all the work for one, I might as well do two since I didn't figure I would get it all out and do it again any time soon.

Tag #8
(click title to see Tim's Tag)

I haven't done this tag yet. I skipped it, but will get it done. To be honest, I don't like it. I like the technique, but don't like the tag, so I'm going to change it up and needed some time to figure out how I'm going to do that.

Tag #9
(click the title to see Tim's Tag)

This one was really fun and so full of vintage golden goodness that I skipped several days and went straight to this one! The baubles at the top are some old earrings I had. The rest of the stuff is from Tim's Ideaology line. Not too difficult and such a pretty result. Definitely one of my favorites.

Tag #10
(click the title to see Tim's Tag)

Again, I skipped ahead to try this technique before I go back and do #5 and #8. This is a thick tag. The snowman has two layers of grungeboard and then there is an embossed acetate tag covering the whole thing. Although time consuming, it really wasn't difficult and I love the dimension of the embossed plastic covering. I used snaps in the corners instead of washers and brads. I thought they were fun.

Tag #11
(click title to see Tim's Tag)

This is today's tag, so I haven't even started it yet. I do want to try making my own stamps though. Should be fun. I want to go through my dictionary now and see if I can find any cool Christmasy pictures to use as the background on my tag. Can't believe he found one with a sleigh!

Tag #12
(click on title to see Tim's Tag)

Tonight is the finale! Wonder what the last tag will bring? I am hoping it will be a tutorial on how to make the "Mold n Pour" molds and shapes. I've seen Mario making those for the classes and I want to make some too!!

Gift Tags - Inspired by Tim Holtz

My friend Kim is hosting a booth at a local fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Clubs in our area. She is selling hand made gift tags and paper crafts in her booth. A few weeks ago, some of us who tried to do all 12 of Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas LAST year, decided to get together and try to make as many gift tags as we could for Kim's booth.

I decided to make mine in sets of 5 and to try and do simpler versions of some tags I have seen Tim do, or just using his stamps and other Ranger supplies.



These Merry Christmas tags used a very old Walnut Ink from Tsunieko as the base. The edges are dry embossed with a Quickutz Goosebump die, then the edges and embossing, and tree were stamped with Forest Moss Distress Ink. The tree was clear embossed, then I went over the branches with an embossing pen and added white embossing powder. The Merry Christmas was stamped in Barn Door Distress Ink and clear embossed.

This was inspired by a tag I saw on Tim's blog that he created at the Carson Stamp show this weekend. I wanted to leave room for someone to write their To and From message. The background writing stamp was stamped in Pumice Distress Ink, Postcard and the holly were stamped in Forest Moss. The holly was then covered with Peeled Paint Distress Stickles and holly berries are Fired Brick Distress Stickles. The edges are colored with Aged Mahogany and Vintage Photo.


This Tag is also one that was inspired by a tag Tim made at the Carson Show this weekend.
The base of the tag is colored with Tumbled Glass and Faded Jeans. The Flourish is stamped with Weathered Wood. The Seasons Greetings was stamped with Faded Jeans and then clear embossed. The snowflakes were stamped with clear embossing gel and then I used white embossing powder. To finish it off, I spritzed it liberally with Pearl perfect pearls mist.


This tag is one of my favorites and was a lot of work! I didn't really follow any of Tim's tags for this one, just kind of used inspiration for several of his past tags.


First I stamped the back music notes with Pumice Stone Distress Ink, then colored the entire tag with Victorian Velvet Distress Ink. I added some Vintage Photo Distress Ink around the edges. I stamped the Christmas Carols in Vintage Photo and then embossed with Copper Embossing Powder. Cut it out and then inked it with Bundled Sage Distress Ink and a little Forest Moss Distress Ink. The Prima leaves and flowers were colored using Color Wash. The leaves were colored with Pesto and the flowers with Cranberry. After they were adhered, I went over each flower and leaf with Rock Candy Distress Stickles.


I stamped this tag with a large background stamp (not Tims :-0 ) in Vintage Photo, then edged it lightly with the same color. Stamped the tree with Forest Moss and clear embossed it. I stamped the Merry Christmas in Fired Brick and clear embossed, then colored the background with Forest Moss.


This background is made using Faded Jeans and Broken China. Then I stamped the snowflakes using Faded Jeans, but spritzed the stamp with water first so the ink would bleed. The snowman was stamped with clear embossing gel and then white embossing powder. The title is stamped with Faded Jeans and clear embossing powder.


This was made by putting Scatter Straw, Fired Brick and Pine Needles ink on the Nonstick Craft Mat, then spritzing the mat with water and laying the tag in it to get the watercolor background. The whimsical Dr. Seuss type stamps are from Inque Boutique and were designed by my friend Susan Stringfellow. (Sorry Susan!! I totally screwed up and stamped the tear drop ones upside down so I tried to make the best of it.) I added a little bling with one of the crystal pens.


What fun it was to create some pretty tags and actually put some of my stash to good use!

ADDITION:
After I made these tags, I decided to make a set of small gift tags for each of my colleagues in the department where I work. So here are the pictures of those gift tags.

The funny thing about this is that I made each one with a particular person in mind, so I bundled them into little pockets I had made out of green velvet ribbon, but when I got to work, they each selected a packet and then all decided to swap so that they had at least one of each tag. I just hope that they used them on packages to special friends and family.

Daily Window Designer Challenge

My friend and constant source of paper crafting inspiration, Susan Stringfellow, posted this contest Daily Window Designer Challenge on her blog. I thought it would be a really fun thing to try and come up with something and try to enter.

This is my first entry. I say first because I want to try a couple of different backgrounds if I get the chance. As you can see, there is room for someone to put a picture, their name or even a quote on this and then slip it into the window pocket of one of the bags.


I used some older MME scraps and some velvet ribbon from Cosmo Cricket.


This is the second background I made using some cream burlap and some Scrap Within Reach paper.

I really love the big bag with the window. She says it is the perfect size for taking to a crop. I'd love to win, or at least have one of my friends win, so you have until the end of the month to turn something in. Give it a try!

Hope Card and Paper Bag Pouch

I was inspired by Michelle Woodson and Melissa Phillips to make some of these paper bag pouches. I made these for October Breast Cancer Awareness month.


It's difficult to see, but the card and paper bag pouch are spritzed with perfect pearls and are all shimmery, and I used Rock Candy Stickles on the flower, and Embossing Glitter on the stamped piece.

Freedom

My mom and sister came down this weekend and stayed with us. Mom and I were both taking different classes from Marion Smith at my LSS. So when we weren't in class, one or the other of us was working on various scrapbooking projects with my sister (who wasn't taking any of the classes.) Since she was working on finishing several of the mini albums we started together a few years ago, I decided to get out some old kits and get them put together.

This was an old Bo Bunny kit that I picked up at an LSS in Simi Valley a few years ago. I've been wanting to get it put together, but just never made the time to sit down and get it done. I changed the layout of the pages so I could get more photos on it and also didn't use most of the embellishments, stickers or words. I did use lots of Ranger Distress Inks though!

Me and DH at the family 4th this year, my family here at our house for the 4th in 2005,
and my sister's bird, Peep, who is a very patriotic love bird!

After Peep is a picture of me and DH in front of our favorite attraction at Disneyland,
Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln on July 3, 2010,
and then a picture of us on Main Street USA on July 4, 2009.

And the last picture is of me in Boston with a costumed tour guide who happened to be playing my favorite American Revolutionary and Patriot, James Otis.

This will go perfectly on my mantle.
I keep my patriotic decor up until after Patriot's Day on September 11th.

Summer Tote

I made this cute summer tote with my Adirondack Colorwash, some Basic Grey Origins fabric and my QuicKutz. Fast, easy, and FUN! I'll try and take some pictures and post a tutorial on how to do this. It's so easy you'll want to run out and get a tote so you can make one too!

Bang that Beat!

This Disney layout is dedicated to some of the great Disneyland Street Performers. The Trashcan Trio is a group of percussionists who play in Tomorrowland at Disneyland. They keep a foot stomping, toe tapping beat going using just trashcans, buckets and trashcan lids. As you can tell, they're a fun group!


Again, I used Scrap Within Reach " Paper Boy" paper for this layout, and sketch #11 from Sketch Savvy. It was a one pager, but you know I can't do just one page for my Disney photos or I will never get them finished! So I turned it into a two-pager again.


I decided to put part of the title in a trashcan. The template for the trashcan is at the end of this blog post. No, I still can't make an SVG file, so if you make one, please let me know and I will link it here.



The trashcan is cut from some really old Black Tie Basic Grey paper that I had.


To add to the industrial look, I added some Tim Holtz Ideaology washers and some large pewter brads. The teal trim is Creative Imaginations.


Here is the template. Please let me know if you convert any of my templates into SVG files so I can link to them and we can share them with others.

Jolly

Awhile back I got some free Cosmo Cricket Christmas paper and thought I would do a fun, simple layout. This is a picture of us all at Disney's California Adventure a few years ago.


I used one of Susan's sketches from Sketch Savvy, and cut the title, flourish, and snowflakes with my Cricut.

I inked the edges of all the paper with Ranger Distress Ink Old Paper, and then added some Rock Candy Distress Stickles for a little clear glitter affect.


And for the additional embellishments, I used some old metal ornament charms I have had forever, and the velvet scalloped ribbon from Cosmo Cricket as well.