Remember Who you Are - Sizzix Colorize

I originally made this tag featuring Harrison, one of the colorize dies from Tim Holtz, for the Sizzix Blog back in 2021. Unfortunately that particular blog is long gone and with it this tutorial.   So I am reposting with the re-release of the colorize dies in 2026.

I had a chance to visit Walt Disney World in October of 2020 for the very first time ever. Before I was married I lived in Kenya for a year, and as expected, on that 2020 trip to Walt Disney World, I fell in love with Disney's Animal Kingdom park. It is the closest I will ever come to getting to share that Kenya experience with my husband. That trip inspired me in so many ways, and this make with Harrison is one of them.

Here is the video talk through of this tutorial if that is helpful to anyone. 

The supplies you need to make this are:

• Harrison Colorize 665218
• Bold Alphanumeric 665205
• Funky Trees 665217
• Stacked Triangles 664748
• Medium Etcetera Tag
• Media Marks 1 Stamps CMS362
• Media Marks 2 Stamps CMS363
• Flurry & Pine CMS312 
• Speckled Egg Distress Paint
• Distress Inks - Gathered Twigs, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss, Black Soot, Crackling Campfire, Fossilized Amber, Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy, 
• Clear Embossing Ink and Powder
• Distress Mixed Media Heavystock
• Distress Watercolor Cardstock 
• Iron

To begin, I wanted to make some paper that looked like African Mud Cloth or Kitenge cloth. You do not need to do this step if you have some patterned paper you would rather use. For me, it’s all in the details, and I really enjoy making things like this to give my projects a unique, personalized feel.

 

To do this I stamped a pattern onto some Distress Mixed Media Heavystock using the small, linear stamps from some stamp sets called Media Marks 1 and Media Marks 2 from Stampers Anonymous (pictured above)

To make a whole piece of patterend paper, I picked two of the patterned linear stamps and placed them next to each other on my stamp platform. Then I stamped them two at a time in clear embossing ink onto an A2 piece of Mixed Media Heavystock. I started at one edge of the paper.

Then I moved the paper 1/2 “ to the right and stamped again, moved 1/2 and inch, stamped again, and repeated until I had a whole side of and A2 paper stamped. With some patterns I turned it over and did the other side too.

Then I was done stamping, I quickly put embossing powder over it, heat embossed, then inked the piece with Distress Ink and a Blending Tool. Once inked I sprayed with water, to let the ink move and pool in a few places. Set aside to let the piece dry naturally. Don't use Distress Spray Stains for this technique because the color is too wet and too intense and it will soak under the embossing and it won't resist the way we want it to. Continue the same way with other stamps until you get at least four pieces stamped, embossed and inked.

Then using a hot, dry iron, put a clean piece of Mixed Media Heavystock over the embossed, inked piece and heat it with the iron until the embossing powder remelts and soaks into the second piece of Heavystock. It leaves the first piece looking so much like batik or mud cloth which is a great look and perfect for this project.

The second piece of paper that soaked up the embossing powder will still resist ink, so cover it with Distress Inks in the same manner you did the first four pieces. You will end up with a nice array of eight patterns and colors that you can choose from.

When you finished making your mud cloth papers, you need to cut them into triangles. I used the smallest two triangles from the Stacked Triangles dies. There are five sizes and five of each size so you can cut multiples at the same time. You will want to cut ten of the second to smallest triangle from color. I cut yellow triangles from the second to smallest. Then cut 10 from the smallest triangle in another color. I cut them from brown. These will go inside the yellow triangles later. Lastly, You will want to cut eight more of the smallest triangles for another color. I used orange.

Across the top and bottom of the tag, cut a strip of one of the colors (I used a green paper) that is just wide enough to fit the yellow triangles. Arrange the yellow triangles on the paper so they point up along the top and down across the bottom. Add the small triangles in the center of the yellow ( I chose dark brown). Don't adhere anything yet, just place things on the tag for spacing.

Across the bottom do the same thing. Then add a second strip of patterned paper above the first one. I chose a strip of dark brown and made it just wide enough to place eight small triangles on their sides. The triangles on this piece (I used orange ones) should have the points facing the sides with the flat bottoms butted against each other forming a diamond shape.

Once the patterns on the top and bottom were started I added some strips of black paper between each section. I made this the same way as the other papers above, I just used the pine stamp from Flurry & Pine CMS312. I cut 1/8" strips to go across the tag to separate the borders.

Before you start adhering anything, there is one other bit of prep work to do. Paint the Etcetera Tag with Speckled Egg Distress Paint, and then when it is completely dry, sand it off in areas, allowing the kraft color of the tag to show through. 

You want to be sure before you adhere the Stacked Triangle pieces that you make sure you have room for Harrison and your sentiment. I did this by placing the dies on the tag to be sure I had plenty of room. The sentiment was cut using Bold Alphanumeric. 

I cut Harrison from Distress Watercolor Cardstock on the rough side and colored with Distress Inks. I think the rough side really makes the pattern look a little like ruffled fur. I found it easier to color the paper before I cut the large parts. For the smaller pieces, I cut them from white watercolor paper and it just took a second to color the tiny pieces with a watercolor brush before assembling. 

I assembled Harrison according to the photo on the package, but Sizzix has a great video on their website for putting him together that might help.

Next I cut and assembled the Funky Trees, again using the rough side of the watercolor cardstock to add texture like I did for Harrison. I adhered Harrison and the trees onto the tag leaving enough space for the sentiment.

As you can see I put Harrison and the Funky Trees on the bottom of the brown border to leave room for the sentiment.

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I cut the title from the Bold Alphanumeric several times. Each letter is cut three times from black cardstock, and once from the orange inked paper. I glued the black cardstock letters to one another and then attached the orange one on top. This makes the sentiment really stand out.

The finished tag can be a decor piece that is a good reminder that as Mufasa told Simba, “Remember Who You Are.”

Thanks you so much for following along with this make. I hope you are inspired to make something with the new Harrison Colorize die.

Tami

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