Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2015-August

Just a quick post to display my August tag.  You can find the step by step instructions by Tim Holtz here.  Although I used  my Cricut to cut the words...I followed the remaining instructions for the background closely.  My tag celebrates events in my daughter's senior year of high school.  One of  the Bird Crazy gang is all decked out in football gear during Spirit Week.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by :) Kim

"Crazy" Birds Go Back to School

I, like everyone else,  have fallen in love Tim Holtz Bird Crazy stamps and dies.  I have chosen to make them my daughter's senior year mascots.  Today was her last 1st  day of  school...a thought that made her Mom a little melancholy :(

 So to brighten up the day, I made her and my "stepdaughter" tags to kick off the new year starring the Bird Crazy gang.

I made the background using Sunshine Yellow and Botanical Alcohol Inks to make a splatter effect as described in Tim Holtz's Compendium of Curiosities Vol I on page 52.  I 'll bet you can't guess my daughter's school colors ;)  I stamped a school bus and ruler as well as members of the Bird Crazy family in Jet Black Archival Ink.  I also stamped the date using a date stamper.  I used springs to make the bird's eyes pop...

I finished off the tags by mounting the glossy cardstock on black cardstock and tying a bow from black/white striped paper string.  My husband and I added a note on the back with wishes for a great day!  I wish to enter my tags in Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Back to School,

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day :) Kim

CC3C #34 Layering Stencil: Monoprint

Hard to believe that we have worked all the way through Tim's book, Compendium of Curiosities Volume III.  I have enjoyed trying all the new techniques, and I am thankful not only to the Curiosity Crew, but also to all the participants for their inspiration and encouragement.  Linda Ledbetter our talented and gracious hostess has led us through all 34 challenges over the past 16 months...thanks to her for all her hard work and talent.

Now on to my entry...you can find instruction on the technique on page 48 of Tim's aforementioned book and all the rules and inspiration over at Linda's blog.  Tim and Mario have donated a terrific prize pack and Linda Coughlin over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique is the generous sponsor for this challenge.

I have been waiting for just the right occasion to use Dyan Reaveley's Skull stencil.  I bought the stencil with my eldest daughter in mind.  We have spent the evening packing her up to go back to college in the morning and I always like to make an inspirational card or tag to send along.  You may think that the skull stencil is inappropriate for an inspirational anything...but it works if the person you are making it for is studying to be a Forensic Anthropologist :)  What a great technique to make a background.  My bottles are cut from Wendy Vecchi's Clearly for Art using Tim's Apothecary Bottles.  I tinted them with Mermaid and Indigo Alcohol Ink and used a heating tool to give them some shape.  I love the way the background is visible through the bottles...a happy surprise.

I finished off the tag with a stamp from Tim to get her through the year and added some jute and a skull from my stash.

I have truly enjoyed playing along these past 16 months and look forward to Volume IV and perhaps another Challenge series.  Have a great weekend! :)

Summer Flowers

What would summer be without flowers?  I find it hard to believe that any plant life can survive in the hot weather conditions we have had in North Carolina...but somehow they persevere.  Recently three of my co-workers have moved on  to new adventures.  I fashioned three cards using Tim Holtz's Flower Garden stamp set to wish them well on their journey. I used a technique from Tim's Compendium of Curiosities Volume I, Dabber Resist, to create the cards.  Each background is shaded with various  Distress Ink colors and finished off with water drops to give it some additional interest.

For the first card I used Fossilized Amber and Vintage Photo initially...Yuk!  Then I added Mermaid Lagoon to create this interesting shade of green.

 On the second card I used Victorian Velvet, Pickled Raspberry, Frayed Burlap and Aged Mahogany.

 

Finally, the third card background was inked with Dusty Concord, Faded Jeans, and Frayed Burlap.

Hope you like my summer flowers.  I am so looking forward to the coolness of fall and the colors of the changing leaves.  :)

I would like to enter my cards in the Country View Challenges-Summertime

CC3C #33 Altered Surfaces and Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2015-July

I can't believe it is the last day of July and the second to last Compendium of Curiosities III challenge.  Time is flying!  Of course the Compendium of Curiosities challenge is hosted by the talented Linda Ledbetter and you can visit her site here to read all about the fun .  This challenge is generously sponsored by Inspiration Emporium and non other than Tim himself along with Mario Rossi  Challenge #33, Altered Surfaces can be found on page 45 of Tim's book, Compendium of Curiosities Volume III.  I used the technique on my July Tag inspired by Tim Holtz.  His step by step can be found here.  I did not have the stamp set that he used but the Distress Micro Glaze is amazing! We are planning a family trip to Europe next summer before the kids fly from the nest.  I enjoyed using the mini blueprint journey stamps to make a tag for our trip.  I used the Altered Surfaces technique on the 2016. Here are a couple of pics.

Gotta run...have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by :)

CC3C #32 Frosted Film

Back to post another project that I would like to enter in the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge. If you haven't heart about it, head over to Linda Ledbetter"s blog...she serves as the amazing hostess. \\ The challenge is based on Tim Holtz's book, Compendium of Curiosities Vol. III, and it is not too late to grab a copy of his book here.  Tim and Mario have generously donated a prize pack for the winner of the challenge and Linda Coughlin over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique has donated a $25 spending spree at her store.  We have made it all the way to Challenge # 32, Frosted Film found on page 59 of Tim's book.

I told you I could not get enough of the last technique, Layering Stencil-Paint Resist.  I used the technique on my piece today with blues to create my ocean background.  I used the Frosted Film technique on my coral and sea grasses.  Here are a couple of close ups.

This challenge was great fun...gotta run.  Sorry for the short post.  We are getting ready for a yard sale at my Mom's house.  Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by :) Kim

CC3C #31 Layering Stencil: Paint Resist

Every challenge I think..."This is my new favorite technique", and it has happened again.  I am of course referring to the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge hosted by the lovely and talented Linda Ledbetter.  You can find out more about the challenge here on her blog.  There are fabulous prizes generously supplied by none other than Tim and Mario and for this week's challenge by The Inspiration Emporium.  To play along, you must have your very own copy of Tim's Book, A Compendium of Curiosities Volume III.  Don't have one?  Click here to order your copy now.

I can't tell you how I made my background but I used Weathered Wood Distress Paint along with Victorian Velvet, Frayed Burlap, Faded Jeans, Dusty Concord, and Antique Linen Distress.  Here are a couple of pics before I added any embellishments.  All total I used 5 stencils: Honeycomb, Dot Fade, Harlequin, Latticework and Flourish.  What fun!

I made a trellis from the Mixed Media Thinlit Die and distressed it with Picket Fence Distress Paint. I made flowers from the Tiny Tattered Florals Die form Kraft Core paper and placed them on leaves cut from the Spring Greenery Decorative Strip.  I finished it with a single word...love, cut with a die in my stash.  Here are a couple more pics.

I just love this technique...can't wait to try it with different combinations of colors and stencils.  That's all for now.  Thanks for stopping by :)