Owl Be There.

This is my post over on ScrapbooksPlus.

I have been wanting to do this project for months & was waiting for the right paper line to come along & Simple Stories Year.o.graphy could not be more perfect! Using the Tim Holtz Valise die & the cinch to make a mini-book. The obvious thing for this would be a travel book but isn't life travel also? I made a page a month plus book. I made the cover & back using heavy bazzill chipboard that I purchased at ScrapbooksPlus. I cut out the paper -"green" & heat embossed a map design with copper. The straps were cut out using the kits "red". The buckles are glassine that were sanded around the edges to look aged. The nails were made with pearls. Everything was distressed with vintage photo my favorite go to. I added fun metal elements. The base of the book is the monthly journal card elements and an alternated fun element in the middle. Tags, envelopes, or the kits flash cards.

Here I made a bingo card with craft paper, cutting the edges with Alterations. Stamped a script image & ran it through the bingo emboss texture fade. The page was swiped with fired brick to pick up the bingo card image & distressed.

This page I used a glassine envelope & ran it through a texture fade than added perfect pearls & heat set it. To pick up the embossed image I swiped black soot over the top.

This was an insert where I just added a tag. Once all the pages were assembled I put them together using The Cinch. It was super easy & makes my book look very professional. Now all I need is photos, embellishments, journaling...... Have a very Merry Christmas & peace be with you!

Simple Stories

Whew after all the 12 tag craziness I will try to keep blogging-I have art journal to do & am making an altered house. For now here is a layout I did for ScrapbooksPlus design team. Enjoy!

I love this months paper line! Simple Stories has wonderful eclectic paper that is almost finished for you to just put photos down, add some of the extras boom done. I made my glassine envelope by tearing it & running through an emboss folder. Hit the high points with staz-on, then spritzed with Perfect Pearls mist & Glimmer chalk. I added a brad & one of the many journal cards that come as paper.
I added my matted photo & distressed cut out words. The trees were cut out using card board from a soda box covered with metal foil tape. Recycling! I embossed the trees, & painted them with black acrylic paint, when the paint was sticky-dry, I wiped off the high points. Next up alcohol ink, to give that great multi-color look. I adhered 1 of the trees in 2 layers, using pop dots to give it dimension. I alcohol inked the tissue tape & ran it down the side of the photo. When I do that I always run my ATG glue down first to help it stick. My title was cut out of one of the papers-done. Love it!
Supplies:
Paper- Simple Stories- Year in Review
-Flash Cards for journal
-Title-Capture the Moment.
-Date sticker
Dies -Alterations for Tim Holtz by Sizzix
Glassine & tissue tape-Ideology by Tim Holtz/Advantas
Alcohol ink by Ranger-terra cotta, meadow, pesto, sunset prange, stream
Distress ink by Ranger-aged mahogany
Brad-My Minds Eye
Glimmer Mist-Partridge in a Pear Tree
Perfect Pearls Mist-Mandarin

Tim's Tags Day 12!

All good things come to an end apparently-& so has the 12 tags of Christmas. I love Tim's last tag but ironically I also have almost none of what he used on it so... to see his tag & instructions click here. I stamped one of my favs- the word stamp from the Papillon set. Then I covered it in a tissue napkin with decoupage glue. I covered it with Star Dust Stickles & smoothed it out with my fingers-like Sir Tim. I cut one of my favorite dies-Rickety House from chip board & painted it. Next I embossed, sanded the edges & distressed with walnut stain. I cut the letters the same way as Tim, added some metal, & an angel. The photos are from my family as a girl, using index prints. The last touch which is hard to see is adding flower soft for snow & stickle icicle as icicles. I must say I love Tim's tags but it was tough to get one done everyday, blogged & uploaded. He is a rock star no doubt! I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!!! I will leave you with my new favorite Christmas song. His name is Sean Quigley, he is an 18year old from Manitoba who shot this video & did all the music, instruments...himself. Incredible! Enjoy!!!

Tim's Tags Day 11!

Not that I really needed a whole new appreciation for Tim but he got one anyway. I have been doing a tag a day with him, changing mine up a bit. Basically following his techniques, sometimes the pieces he uses. It is not easy to everyday come up with another tag every day & photo it & blog it...-& I am only following his lead. He has to come up with a new technique a day that he knows will be viewed by 50,000 people-no pressure there. Plus in depth directions, maybe a few video's. Wow. Rock star hello!

So we are seriously winding down-tag11... I whipped this one out. No time today to play. I followed Tim's techniques- you can find his tag here. I had never used distress ink on a glossy tag but I love the way it turned out. The water drops were cool to but I needed some shimmer. I than spritzed it with perfect pearls mist in both blue smoke & perfect pearl, beautiful!!! The believe stamp is part of Tim's big word Christmas stamp. The snowflakes are a sizzix die with shrinky dink-still haven't pulled out my melting pot-I know once I pull it out I will need time to play! I did these flakes in the oven because when I heated them with the heat gun they got all stuck on themselves. In the oven I covered them with chipboard & that kept them flat. I then colored them with alcohol ink & glued them using glossy accents. The big snowflake is done on glossy paper & heat embossed with silver-who knew you could do that? I than distressed inked it. Added my words, some bling & a Holtz charm-done. Good luck & happy tag making! Once again check out the tag contest on Inspiration Emporium! Awesome work.

Tim's Tags Day 10!

As much as I love me some Tim-I think I may have Tag Weary Syndrome!!! A big part of that is I am taking way too long to make my tags & need to get other Christmas stuff done!!! Having said that I love the techniques today-I am a fan of clear embossing but haven't used it this way in awhile. I also have wanted to do the packing tape transfer in awhile. I did it 2x, figured out it doesn't work with an ink jet print out. My 2nd was successful but it didn't end up on the tag. I really wanted photos from our ornaments so I just printed them on paper & adhered them to the fragments with glossy accents. To see how Tim did his tag, properly, click here.

For my tag I used Tim's paper as the background & stamped with his pine branch in 2 colors & than clear embossed. I gave the tag a good spritz with forever green perfect pearls mist so there is a pretty green shimmer. I used eyelets & twine to hang my charms. I made a sad looking long pine cone (1st time) and added ornamental stuff. Some beads on a pin & a charm-done. So why did it take me almost all day??? I could probably duplicate it in 30 minutes! I may have to go buy a Christmas tree to hang them all on! 2 more days & than it is back to reality!!! Enjoy it while we can! Don't forget to check out all the awesome tags during the Inspiration Emporium contest.

Tim's Tags Day 9! Still.

Finished! I really liked today's Tim technique. You can see it here. As you see from my next post I had some technical difficulty getting this done. I started with the key in Dusty Concord & clear embossed it. Next I added the Degas script in Gold & clear embossed that. Finally I distressed the whole tag as Tim did & covered it in clear emboss powder & flicked some off. After heating & cooling I went over it in vintage photo. This gave it a totally cool vintage look. I stamped the fabulous angel in Archival & colored it with copic, metallic water color, & glimmer mist. It is very shimmery in real life. I pop dotted her and it makes it look like she is flying. I did the glossy accent technique with the letters. Finally I added my misted flowers & fleur des lys, along with some bling. This tag has a wonderful romantic look to it. Great techniques today!!!

Tim's Tags Day 9!

Phew got this one done under the wire! I was busily making my tag when one of my kids started throwing up. Needless to say, kid trumps tag. I am trying to be the good sympathetic Mom as I am freaking out in my head-my tag, my tag!!! Got him off to bed feeling better & zoomed, sprinted & threw things on. "It's not finished in the classical sense" Hugh Grant-Music & Lyrics. I will post a 2nd photo when I finish, just had to get it done by midnight! Here is Tim's link!

Tim's Tags Day 8!

THIS TAG IS MY FAVORITE!!!!!! You had me at sprockets. You had me at steampunk. Both of them I'm in love. Don't get me wrong I love Tim's tag & have full intention on copying it in full. I just want to do my own interpretation as well. Umbrella man is my all time favorite stamp, image.... so this was the perfect time to add him to a tag. Yes I could add the holly but I just am pondering that for the moment. Maybe on the umbrella, maybe some Christmas bling. Ponder, ponder. You can find Tim's tag - here. I used almost all the same elements he did. Again I had to go the embossed metal route-I mean sprockets, come on! I used his ticket die cut & stamp, which is very perfect because there is a hand on it & a small "admit one"! We put up the tree tonight & that was a great place to take the photo. Enjoy!

Tim's Tags Day 7!

Totally loved the tag today & I immediately thought the Grinch when I saw Tim's video with photos on glassine. I started that route but went back to Tim's original. I will definitely work on my Grinch tag though! The only difference in my tag is really the die cuts. I don't have the holly die so I went with the small pine trees. Opps just realize I need to add my Stickles! I also spritzed my tag with perfect pearls heirloom gold so it has a nice shimmer-just doesn't show up in this lighting. Yay Tim-yay tags!!! To see his video...which is great, I love glassine- look here.

Here is my Grinch tag- I used the same techniques, just a different color palette. I wanted the Grinch to be imbedded in the tag so I used crackle paint & a brick stencil to help it blend into the background. I might add the quote- " the Grinch's heart grew 3 sizes that day." The tag has a lot more detail but the camera just wouldn't pick it up-too shimmery. It just isn't Christmas until we watch the original "Grinch"-amazing that it was made in 1966!

Tim's Tags Day 6!

Well the jury is out on this one! I love Sir Tim the Genius but this was not my favorite. I had already used the texture fade he used today on Day 1 so I decided to go another way. I had an idea, that led to some design challenges as I learned you can't emboss 2 different folders to create 1 image. The 2nd folder flattens the first image. I'm sure with practice I might be able to figure this out but kids-I need to buy some Christmas presents.... so I just kept going. I, like Tim shows here- used acrylic paint but I didn't have the sander...so I wiped the paint off carefully with a baby wipe on the embossed parts. I tried putting the distress inks on the metal once the paint was pulled off but the color wouldn't stick or was super light. So I continued on anyway, covering the tag with clear embossing powder & heating. The problem is the owl & branches just don't show up & there was too much silver. Now I am in salvage mode. I got out the alcohol inks & painted them on with a paint brush. It worked great & definitely helped tone down the silver. I die cut a snow flake from Clearly for Art & alcohol inked it, than heated & molded it to be dimensional. I adhered it with a blingy brad & bent that around too. Finally I added the ribbon, deer charm & bell. Voila done. Not my favorite but....

Tim's Tags Day 5!

Well today's was a bit tricky. It kind of worked so I just kept going in the interest of deadline. I followed Tim's technique posted here. On my tag the deer & the bigger snow flakes are using the archival ink/ wipe off technique. The other 3 little snow flakes were done with Archival Brilliance & surprisingly worked great. My houses were cut out of grunge paper & painted using a paint brush & dabbers, then spritzed with perfect pearls heirloom gold. The snow is flower soft. I may add a charm & something on the road-still thinking on that. I think I will have to play with this technique some more!

Tim's Tags Day 4!

Wow what a great day of tag! The techniques today while a little labor intensive are very dramatic & perfect for Monsieur Snowman. I don't have my 25/deer die yet- so sprockets are the order of the day. I love gears, I don't know why but I want more. I followed Tim's tag pretty closely other than the gears. Thankfully he has a gear edge (steampunk) die, that I could substitute for the snow flake one. I used metal on corrugated cardboard to cut my small gears out of & it has the image of that in the metal-kind of cool. The metal gears were alcohol inked as well as the rock candy gear I punched from the snowman. The glossy accents is still a little cloudy as it isn't dry yet but I cut some gears out of Tim's paperstash to keep with the theme. I like it!

Tim's Tags Day 3!

Ok so I was very inspired by Tim's tag-so much so I couldn't stop myself by going completely in another direction but still the same. This is one of my favorite techniques-can't make it stop! Ran a black Ranger tag through the embossing folder- 2x to get both imprints. Than I swiped viva gold (inca-gold paints by Viva Decor) paint over the top of the words using the black side of the cut-n-dry foam. Once dry I spritzed liberally with perfect pearls heirloom gold mist (works fabulously on black). The paper I copied Tim on cutting out from his various dies & sanding, than distressing. I used gold paint on the branch tree bit to give it that metallic look. Finally added some bling, ribbon, & a pretty white bell. Love it!!! click on Tim to go to his site & see his original. Yet another fun fun tag!!!!

Tim's Tags Day 2!

Day 2: I love this tag! To see how Tim his awesomeness does it click here. While yesterday I went another route, today I just copied, pretty much. I used my Tim hammer for the first time. I hate to admit it but I have had it for years within reach but... I love the look of the hammer nails. I substituted muslin for sticky back canvas-I have some just don't know where it is. Also the snow flake charm was kind of perfect but I wanted a splash of color so I alcohol inked it. I may have to do a Halloween tag like this next- no idea why I am in a Halloween mood but I am!

Tim's Tags Day 1!

Ok down to the wire today because of deadlines & life! Here is my Tim tag day 1. I decided to go a different route with this tag. I love Tim's version, & will most likely duplicate it but this was my mood tonight. I used paper from Simple Stories as my tag & used the same emboss technique Tim did but in red. Next I cut the chipboard "wish", using the movers & shapers inserted in the styled labels. I added glitter-love the technique Tim did putting paper over the glitter. While I love to be covered in ink-I don't like having glue/glitter on my fingers either. I added a Prima poinsettia. The ribbon was colored with fired brick distress stain & a bauble was added. I used the clear ones up already-time to get some more! Finally for my holly, I used core'dinations & die cut from the lamppost Alterations. I sanded the paper to pop up the emboss image & hit the high points with peeled paint distress ink. After assembling I gave a hearty spritz using perfect pearls mist in copper. Even though I had to blast this tag out-I was very excited to get it in!!! Yayayaya so excited for the next 11 days!

Scrapbooks Plus DT

Sweet Treasure
This is a photo I took of my Grand Niece (not sure that it right but...). My niece had a baby therefore... This photo of Kylee on her soft blanket had the perfect color combination for this months MLYB paper. I kept the page very simple because I wanted the photo to be the main focus. One of the great things about working with distress stains & glimmer mists is you can create the colors you need. For example the leaf ribbon is white, I colored the leaves using distress stains to match my layout. The flower was created with book text & again colored. Voila, custom made embellishments that match my layout. I left the journal tag blank, I want my niece to tell me a story about being a new Mom, or how her baby loves being on a blanket... What makes this page is the photos. I lay on the floor with the baby so I could get the picture just a bit above her. I spread the blanket out so there was no carpet or furniture to be distracting. I made the shot very close up. Do not be afraid to do super close pictures. that way you can capture the mood or feeling instead of non-emotional background. It can take 20 shots to get 2 or 3 really good ones. Plus the subject, especially a baby will start to relax & ignore you, that's when you get the best photo. Hope that helps!
Supplies:
Paper, bird, tag & word-My Little Yellow Bicycle
Die- Tim Holtz for Sizzix
Distress Stains by Ranger
Brad- My Minds Eye

More!

One Sunday we took the family for a nice hike in the woods/park. These are the photos I took, the big photo of my boys trying to see if Mac had caught up height wise on his brother. Of course Trinny had to hop in the photo. Its a fairly simple page using Dylusions stamps along the sides, painted in with distress stains. Make a puddle of ink on your craft mat & use that to paint in the leaves. Some of the MLYB words are embossed so I ran an ink pad over them to pick up the embossed images. Enjoy fall!