In Remembrance, Last Project of 2010

Wow what an incredible year its been both personally and artistically. I have learned a lot which is what its all about right?

As promised I have made an Altered Tray for my Brothers Birthday in January.

I picked some images of our father that I know he doesn't have. Both he and my father are veterans so I'm sure this will hold a special place in his heart.

I used some Making Memories fabric on the bottom of the tray to simulate Army fatigues.

The larger image is printed on vellum to give it that misty vintage look. I used gold photo corners on the images to give it that old scrapbook feel.

I will update you once he receives the tray on the 20th

I cut some words from paper and adhered them to some heavy card stock then used Ranger Pop up dots to raise them from the tray.

Double layered ribbon with gold star embellishment's help add to the military feel.

A rosette in military colors toped off with an epoxy covered star help give the feeling of a badge.

Altered Silver Trays

Another member on the All Things Tim Yahoo list, Leslie posted about how she had been using old silver trays in her altered art projects. This intrigued me so much I thought I just have to try that.

Below are some of the trays I have made and will be using for Christmas gifts this year.

This tray is for a dear friend, more like a second mother to me. She is 79 years old. This tray is for her and its a picture of her mother!! I used a Graphic 45 envelope and some flowers along with flourishes from Tim among other things.

This tray is for my sister Beverly, shes the one on the right. This is a picture of her and our other sister who passed away in the 70's. This image is from an Easter back in the 50's

Last but definitely not least this final tray is for my daughter. Its a picture of her grand parents, my parents both gone now.

This picture was actually taken on top of the

Empire State Building in New York on their Honeymoon!

Circa early 1940's

The flowers used on this tray came from the Round Robin Swap Box currently being swapped on the list. Thank you whomever put them in there for they go perfectly with the paper I used.

Hope they like them as much as I did making them. I think I'm addicted to making these now. Cant get enough. Oh yeah, I got the trays at our local Goodwill store. Didn't pay more than a buck or so for any of them.

Simon Says Stamp and Show... Lord Tim of Holtz Technique

Well coming off of the 12 Tags of Christmas by Tim Holtz it was easy to come up with this weeks challenge from Simon Says Stamp and Show.

I loved the Day 10 tag do much I had to recreate the technique in a Christmas card.

Sent this one to my neice in California.

I hops she likes it.

12 Tags of Christmas Day 11 & 12

Oh NO.... Can it be we have come to the end of this years incredible, creative journey?

Well maybe not but its definitely the end of

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas

I have loved playing along this year and appreciate all the wonderful, kind words left by all my followers of my blog. You are all incredible!

Day 11

Well I have been blessed to have almost everything Tim used this year until this tag.

No on the edge dies at all, No Pine Tree die. What to do, what to do?

Well I did stamp and emboss snowflakes down the side of the tag. I know you cant even see them in my picture but they are there. I wasn't completely happy with the look so I added a die cut snowflake too.

But... What am I going to do for the tree? Well I had a stroke of genius.

I have the Tattered Leaves die.

Well what do you know the oak leaf when inverted looks good enough for me...

Day 12

I know, Looks good huh? Well the ornament and the shaker and mover joy was all cut by hand.

Yep you guessed it another die I didn't have but I was so amazed by Tim's tag I just had to make one for myself. No mini pine cones but I think the mini lights go really well with the Shiny Brite background paper.

Thanks again to Tim for incredible inspiration!

What are we going to do tomorrow??? Maybe get some of those gifts wrapped?

Friends

12 Tags of Christmas 2010 Day 10

Its day 10 already and it just keeps getting better and better.

Todays tag even though not full of the intense techniques some of the others have had certainly doesn't take a back seat to the others.

The embossed overlay used for this tag makes it just over the top in WOW factor. I absolutely love it and can't wait for my sisters reaction when she sees it.

I don't have Tim's texture fade yet but another snowflake embossing folder did the trick.

I LOVE IT!!

12 Tags of Christmas 2010 Day 8 & 9

Finally I have caught up on the Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas.

Day 8

A super masking technique. I love doing this and Tims take with Christmas was beyond fabulous! I tried to make mine very similar to his with the exception of the metal corner placements. Also I dont have the town scape on the edge die. However living in a suburb of Atlanta I thought why not use Tim's city scape stamp?

Kinda gave the tag a cool urban feel. Hey, Santa has to come to the city too!

Day 9.

Whats to say other than WOW!

Each and every day they just get better and better.

Once again I tried to make my versions a lot like Tim's but still different. I loved the colors so I kept those. Not having any of the baubles and accoutrements I had had to improvise.

No story book die led me to use pre-cut letters that I covered in rock candy stickles.

For my sisters tag I used the same adornments that Tim used.

For mine I used the wings and star which I think gives the tag a more masculine feel.

12 Tags of Christmas 2010 Day 7

Ok, the best laid plans, right?

I fully intended on catching up today but....

On to day 7

I really, really love the inking the texture fade technique. This made the most realistic looking wood I could have ever imagined.

Reversing the petals of the flower is perfect to make a poinsettia. Not having any sticky back canvas I used some canvas inkjet print paper instead.

I inked green leaves also but by complete mistake I felt the backs actually looked more like real petals of a poinsettia.

Close up of the backs of 2 of the "original" all green leaves

Hopefully I can catch up tomorrow...

12 Tags of Christmas 2010 Day 6

Ok, Ok so Im a day behind.... Here is the reason.

For those of you on the All Things Tim Yahoo List know that I was the host for this years

6 x6 Christmas page swap.

Yesterday was swap them out and get them ready for the mail day.

This is what your kitchen table looks like covered in 400 6 x6 Christmas Pages!

On to Tag 6 of Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas

Lots of new techniques again. I just loved the stamping on the texture fade to get the

"behind the embossing" look.

Since I used the deer on day 4, I decided to use the snowman on tag 6.

Im just waiting for Tim to use it again somewhere else so I will be scrambling again to get creative.

I really liked the look of the tissue tape ribbon too.

Speaking of two. You know I made one for my sis.

My pieces are drying for day 7, Hopefully I will catch back up soon!

12 Tags of Christmas 2010

Week end Catch up....

Man this cold is really cutting into my play time..... I did manage to keep up with the

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas.

This year Tim is really giving us lots of techniques to try. Im loving the challenge.

Day 4

The real challenge here for me was the reverse alcohol inking on the facet. I must have cleaned and re-stamped these half a dozen times before I got the look desired. He said it would take practice. Not having the baubles I added a snowflake and an AI colored button, Thanks for the tip Angie!

I also added the deer since my background images didn't really stand out. Lots of bling and of course the believe stamp.

Close up of the facet

Day 5

Tim really gave us lot of technique today.

I followed along as best as I could but I did make some changes. Starting with the stamps, and not having the metal embellishments I still think the tags turned out great and its all about the inspiration which Tim always gives.

12 Tags of Christmas 2010 Day 3

Well those 3 days went fast.... You know that I'm talking about

Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas

Feeling a little under the weather but wanting to keep up my tags maybe a little like copy cats but I didnt want to fall behind and my creative muse is feeling like a cold coming on.

Anyway....

I love the way Tim works in layers on these tags. I keep telling myself I need to remember that when Im designing my own creations.

I did change up the embellishments a little. No ribbon, or tinsel.

I do like the way my gold trim nest turned out. :)

12 Tags of Christmas 2010 Day 2

Wow was day 1 intense or what??

Unless you haven't been paying attention you know I'm talking about

Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas.

Day 2 introduced us or should I say re-introduced us to creating your own stamp pad.

Tim also used one of the stamps that I have just been looking for a reason to play with. As a lot of people, I don't always have everything Tim uses so you have to let your creativity take over.

I didn't have the clear embossing powder that he used for his tag but I did have some UTEE. I really like the way it bled around the pine needles leaving some of the un-inked background showing through. Looks just like snow edged branches.

I also loved that Tim used a metal embellishment on his tag. For my metal I used, are you ready for this, a shower curtain ring that I got a yard sale, 12 for a buck!

Im loving this years tags, How about you?

12 Tags of Christmas 2010

Yes, It's finally here....

Tim Holtz The 12 Tags of Christmas 2010

Day 1

Well, Lets just say all I had that Tim used was the inks, the ticket die, the texture fade and the stamp. I had to improvise the rest.

But hey, this is what its all about Inspiration!

No, you're not seeing double. Every year I make 2 of the tags each day. One to keep and one for an early Christmas present for my sister.

No Rickety House die, but I do have another Halloween House by Sizzix. That'll work!

I didn't have the picket fence die, but I do have the rosette die. Well what do you know it looks just like a white picket fence. Who Knew??

I also didn't have the Prima wire branch, but I do have the branch tree die. Run it through another texture fade and it looks great. Instead of the holly garland wreath, I used an ornament and my placement really made it stand out.

It also gave the tag weight it the front enough to make it free standing. How cool is that??

Thanks Tim, Cant wait for tomorrows challenge...

Simon Says Stamp and Show... A Tag

Ok, Ok, call me crazy... While everyone is busy making Christmas and other Holiday projects leave it to me to come up with a Valentine.

Well its never too early is is?

Anyway, over at the Simon Says Stamp and Show blog this weeks challenge was A Tag..

Could it be any easier for a self proclaimed tag fanatic?

Here is my offering in all its Victorian Glory. XO

Sunday Snowman Card

Hope your weekend was a good one. I decided to get in my craft room and finish up a few loose ends today. I also took some time to create another Christmas card.

Hey you cant ever have enough on hand right?

Here is what I came up with. I used 2 of Tim Holtz's Alteration dies. I combined the Branch Tree, which I covered in Picket fence Distress crackle with the Winter Wonderland snowman which I stamped his Carol Music stamp. I covered the snowflake with Frosted Lace Stickle.

A Hopelessly Tim card. LOL

Christmas Page Swap Pages Revealed

As I stated before Im hosting a 6 x 6 page Christmas page swap on the All Things Tim list on Yahoo. Below are my pages that I will be exchanging out with the players in the group.

What a fun way to get into the Holiday spirit.

I stamped my pages with Tims Holidays Past stamp. Cut tickets using Tims Ticket Strip die which I stamped and embossed using Tim's 100th stamp set.

Cut snowflakes using Tims Winter Wonderland die. Added ribbon and Vintage Santa ephemera.

Some got red snowflakes, others got green.

On the reverse side I used lots of miniature ornaments. Each page got a different one.

The same side got a die cut ornament that I embossed with Tims Swirls Texture Fades to which I added some silver foil wings cut with Tims Heart Wings die.

I hope everyone likes them

Thanksgiving Week Challenges

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Hope your holiday was a great one.

As it is indeed a busy time of year for us here in the USA

I had to combine my challenges once again.

If I didn't know better I would think that

The Compendium-of-Curiosities-Challenge at Studio L3 (Double Distress)

and the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge (Show your Distress Inks),

were secretly combining their efforts for each week they seem to just go so perfectly together.

I used these challenges to create another Christmas card. I mean I have to get the most for my time right?

I used Distress Ink all over this project and actually used a watercolor technique to fill in the detail of the stamp. I love the way it all came together.

6x6 Christmas Page Teaser Pix

Over on the All Things Tim Yahoo group,

Im hosting a 6x6 Christmas Page swap.

You had to make 20 6x6 pages, send them to me and I would swap them all out for everyone. Our deadline for the swap is coming up soon and I decided that I would post a teaser image of the corner of one of my pages. Just a fun way to get everyone excited about the upcoming Holidays.

Whatever Makes you Happy, Alcohol Ink Splatter

Yep, you guessed it. I once again Im doing the 2 for Tuesday Challenge combination. So many irons in the fire this time of year.

This week at Studio L3 we are up to week 22 in the

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge.

This week its Alcohol Ink Splatter.

Over at Simon say Stamp and Show the Challenge the challenge is

Whatever Makes You Happy.

Well the AI splatter technique speaks for itself in this project.

As for the Whatever Makes you Happy challenge, well nothing makes me happier than making tags. I also like to multi stamp images to get layered results. On this tag I actually stamped in this order, paint, distress ink, archival, then embossed the image then archival again.

I love the 3-D effect it gave.

Compendium-of-Curiosities-Challenge Week 21 & Simon Says Stamp and Show your Favourite Tim Holtz Stamp!

WOW that title is a mouthful but as you suspected I am combining the challenges once again for I feel this week they really do go hand in hand.

The Compendium challenge at Studio L3 is Perfect Distress.

The Challenge at Simon Says Stamp and Show is Your Favourite

Tim Holtz Stamp!

I told you they went Hand it Hand.

I love the perfect distress technique for I feel it always gives a dreamy cloud like result. Picking a favorite stamp was more of a challenge. I picked the set of stamps that I first thought I just had to have from Tim Holtz.

I tried to photograph the close up from the side to really show off the Perfect Distress technique.

I love the way the tag turned out completely "dream" like.

This week Simon Says Stamp and Show ... Something Shabby!

As the title says this week over at the Simon Says Stamp and Show Blog

the challenge is Something Shabby!

As I often do I used the challenge as an opportunity to make another tag for the Holidays.

Below is my Shabby Santa on a fireplace tag I created by using one of Tim Holtz Texture fades then edged with some of Tim's Tiddings Tissue Tape.

Compendium-of-Curiosities-Challenge Week 20

Week 20??? What??

That right folks we are in week 20 of the Compendium-of-Curiosities-Challenge going on over at Linda's blog Studio L3

This week challenge is Industrial Grunge. You know the really down and dirty technique using Tim's Grungeboard. I decided to use this week to make another birthday card. These weekly challenges have really helped me stay ahead of my card and tag making. Thanks Linda!!

Christmas Pennants Revealed!

As promised here are the spoiler pictures of the Christmas Pennants I made for the swap on the All Things Tim Yahoo Group.

I had such a good time creating these pennants. My creative muse was working overtime last week and I couldn't be happier in the way they turned out. I hope the recipients like them as well.

The swap was a 10 for 10. I made 12 for I am keeping one, and Sandy our host said we could make an extra one if we wish and she would send them to Tim Holtz.

I made them in sets of 3 using different papers for each set.

Embellished them with vintage postcards, mini Christmas ornaments and rosettes I made using Tim's die

Which one will you get? That's up to Sandy...:)

Christmas Pennant Teaser Pix

Over on the All Things Tim Yahoo List we are having a Christmas pennant swap. I have been working all week on these and my

creative muse is in over drive :)

Here is a teaser picture of some of the items Im using on the ones Im swapping. Will post finished pictures soon.