June 12 Tags of 2015 - Coffee!

So What's Your Favorite Brand of Coffee?

I grew up with the "Good To The Last Drop!" coffee in my house. It's still my favorite. However Tim, Mario and my coffee drinking daughter Sarah are fans of another brand. If you are a Tim fan you know which one it is.

When I saw Tim's tag this month I knew I had to make it. I really lucked out this time too. I don't have the coffee die but Linda at The Funkie Junkie Boutique encloses little goodie bags in her orders. I always find fun little surprises in these gift bags. I remember that she had enclosed a set of the coffee diecuts in the goodie bag with my last order. (Thanks Linda!) It was before Tim posted the June tag so it was just turned out lucky for me that I hadn't used them yet. The pieces Linda sent me were white except for  the corrugated band and the acetate top. I think the white cup turned out great on my tag.

I Love Distress Minis!

I followed most of Tim's directions with a few changes here and there due to what supplies I had on hand. I was so excited when I saw Tim's plaid. I was able to recreate my plaid using Distress Minis with his Stripes Layering Stencil. The first tag I did was with Festive Berries, Weathered Wood and Faded Jeans. I loved the way it looked but quickly realized that I had skipped Tim's first step.

When I realized what I did (or didn't do) I decided to start over. One reason was because the technique was so quick and easy. Another  was that I really need to play more with my Distress Sprays and finally I decided to use shades of greens. I'll use my Red, White and Blue tag for a July project.

Can you see the shimmer?

I spritzed my tag with water then Cracked Pistachio Distress Stain. I decided I wanted a little shimmer so I used Perfect Pearls Mists in heirloom gold instead of plain water for the drips and splatters step that was next. The colors of Distress Minis I used for my plaid were Forest Moss, Mowed Lawn and Crushed Olive.

I wanted a heart where Tim used a star. I freehand cut one out of Clearly for Art Modeling film by Wendy Vecchi. I painted it with Brushed Pewter Distress Crackle Paint and when it was dry added drops of Watermelon Alcohol ink.

I still don't have any of Tim's burlap so I used fabric from Tim's Eclectic Elements Line. The phrase I used is from Tim's stamp set Way With Words CMS165 from Stamper's Anonymous.

I always find such wonderful inspiration and tutorials at Tim's blog. If you want to see Tim's June tag and check out his great tutorial click here. Another place to get ideas for using Tim's products is the Ranger Ink blog. If you'd like to see some fun projects the Ranger Artists created after being inspired by Tim's June tag click here.

Layering Stencil Fun for the Compendium of Curiosities 3 Challenge

I had such fun working on my entry for Challenge #31 at Linda Ledbetter's Compendium of Curiosity 3 Challenge. Layering Stencil: Paint Resist that I posted a couple of photos of my work in progress shots on Instagram. Did you see them? Here is the completed tag.

 

The background of my tag was created using the technique from page 47 of Tim Holtz's "A Compendium of Curiosities Volume III". I used Picket Fence and Mustard Seed Distress Paint and Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick, Dusty Concord and Squeezed Lemonade Distress Ink along with the Harlequin and Flourish Stencil but as to how I did it you will need to check your own copy of the book. 

Rules for the challenge are here and loads of inspiration for the technique is here.

Sponsor of this challenge is Inspiration Emporium.  They are generously donated a $50 gift certificate that some lucky winner can use to purchase some more goodies. If you want to check them out click here.

I realized I needed more of the smaller flowers.

Alcohol Ink on Gems

After finishing my base tag, I decided to create some flowers using one of my favorite dies, Tattered Florals. I used the pink pattern paper from Tim's Vintage Shabby Paper Stash.  For the smaller flowers I used the smallest flower on the Tattered Florals die and after inking it up and shaped the petals with my fingers. For the centers I took the gems off the ends of Tim's Idea-ology "Gem Clips" and colored them with Butterscotch Alcohol ink then glue them into the center with Glossy Accents.

Making leaves and flowers

The leaves for the smaller flowers are die cut from the Motif paper stash which includes both white and kraft colored paper with varnished designs that resist ink. I inked the paper up with Bundle Sage and Mowed Lawn Distress Inks, then die cut them with the small Poinsettia mover and shaper die. I cut each poinsettia into sections with 2 petals for each flower. For the larger leaf, I hand cut a leaf shape using my very old deckle edged scissors. (I started scrapbooking when these were cutting edge technology!) I glued the leaves to the flowers. Once everything was dry I started playing around and arranging the flowers.

I used the Tattered Floral Die for the large rose. I used Dusty Concord Distress Ink and a blending tool over the Vintage Shabby die cuts. I won't go into all the details here but here is a link to a really good turorial by Hels Sheridan, one of the Curiosity Crew members, for a large rose.  It's not exactly how I made mine but really close.

I used the Tattered Banners die and Remnant Rubs to create my banners, and finished up my tag by adding a few Idea-logy embellishments colored with alcohol inks and of course a ribbon bow.

My Layering Stencil: Paint Resist tag before I started putting everything together.

Curious how Time Flies CC3C 27

Another Friday night and another late night post. Just finished a tag for CC3C #27 Embossing Diffusers. Loved working on this project. I don't use my embossing folders nearly enough and although I have played around with my diffusers I hadn't created anything with them until this tag. If you follow my blog or are a participant in the CC3C you know that every other week Linda Ledbetter issues a challenge based on a technique in Tim's book and if you participate you might win a prize! I have won in the past and let me tell you I love getting happy mail.

Challenge #27 is Embossing Diffusers on page 61 of A Compendium of Curiosities Vol 3. The sponsor is Inspiration Emporium and of course a special prize is awarded to the Curiosity Crews' Choice from Tim and Mario. You can also see some inspiring creations by the Curiosity Crew.

Once you checked out the technique in Tim's book you'll understand how I started my tag. Now I did ink up parts of my embossing folder with Distress Ink before embossing but I can't go into detail about that because of the rules of the challenge. But after the technique I did a little blending with Distress Inks and then added some Distress Rock Candy Crackle Paint over the entire tag. Once the crackle is dry the Live the Life You've Imagined sentiment from Creative Muse CMS046  is stamped with Jet Black Archival Ink. Then I stamped the heart from Love Struck CMS082 repeatedly to add interest to the background. Both stamp sets are from Tim's line from Stamper's Anonymous. I used Ranger Ink Archival Inks because they will dry on slick surfaces such as Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint.

Several years ago, Tim had shown us how to create an alcohol ink palette by dropping alcohol ink into the wells of a palette and letting it dry then using the refillable pen filled with blending solution and color with it. I used my pen and Terra Cotta alcohol ink from my palette to color in the one heart stamped on the background and the Idea-ology heart hanging from the pin on the ribbon and the page corner on the lower right corner of the tag. Cherish on the idea-ology tag is highlighted in Cracked Pistachio Distress Paint the Idea-ology foliage is unaltered.

Exciting News for May!

Every Wednesday in  May!

I'm really excited to announce that I am going to be the guest designer at eclectic Paperie's blog for the month of May! I will be posting a new project on the eP blog every Wednesday this month.

I will be working with some fun products, many that I've never used before, so it's sure to be interesting. You don't have to wait until Wednesday. Visit Kim's blog at http://eclecticpaperie.blogspot.com/ for some wonderful inspiration.

In the meantime here is a cover I created for my Tim Holtz Stencils. Rangers #10 tags are the perfect size to protect my stencils. I used my mini blending tool and some Distress Inks, a little texture paste with embossing powder, some of Tim's tissue tape, a few Remnant Rubs, stencils and a lot of fun!

So Many Stamps to choose from...

When I realized that time was running out for the Smudge Stamping Technique at Linda Ledbetter's Compendium of Curiosities 3 Challenge #26 I got out all of my Tim Holtz stamps, my Distress Inks and my #8 manilla tags and started playing. I ended up using 8 stamps from 5 different sets. After 3 attempts I figured out the right placement of the stamps and colors I wanted to use. One thing I found out quickly is that this is a fun technique and I will be using with it more.

Curious about how it's done? Get out your copy of Compendium of Curiosities Volume III and turn to page 42 to find out all about Smudge Stamping. Don't have your own copy you can buy an autographed book from Tim here.

Want to see some more examples? Go to Linda's blog and see the amazing art she and the Curiosity Crew created. You can even check out the art from other creatives who have answered the challenge.

The sponsor for this challenge was The Funkie Junkie Boutique. If you follow my blog you will know there is also a Curiosity Crew Choice winner (who wins a box full of goodies donated by Tim and Mario!), and an honorable mention.

 I'm keeping this post short tonight. I had so much fun I lost track of time and it is awfully late here in Georgia. Lucky for me the challenge is open until 11:59  MST.