12 Tags of Tim Holtz - December 2015

12 Tags of Tim Holtz - December 2015

Hello Everyone 

Hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas sharing the LOVE and enjoying some magical moments !

I must begin by apologising for not being around much during December! Things got a bit crazy here what with health issues and all the Christmas prep I was so behind with that I sadly have had little time spare to be creative and blog .Usually I am so organised for Christmas and everything is normally all good to go by the end of November but this year things really did leave me spinning!! 

Needless to say the 'chilled white' has got me through and I'm back today in blog land to share with you my take on Tim Holtz tag for 12 tags of 2015- December

I've  followed Tim's Tutorial to create my tag,  making the necessary changes due to my craft stash lacking some of the craft supplies that Tim has used on his tag . 

I used a piece of cream burlap to cover my tag before spritzing Fired Brick Distress Stain Spray through Tim's Flourish layering Stencil. I have to admit despite having a few spritz /stencilling doubts. I am really impressed with the end result! 

I only have one of Tim's punches (Laurel  so I also used a couple of the dies from Tim's Holiday Greens Thinlit Dies to create my wreath. I used both green and brown shades of Kraft Core card stock.
 

I adhered my foliage, as Tim does on the Tutorial, starting at the bottom of the wreath but I adhered the foliage in a continuous circle - lets say an unintentional error that I think I may just have gotten away with! 

I used the medium sized bow and embellished it with a silver button that I altered using Alcohol Inks (mushroom and gold) 

Santa was kind enough to bring me one of Tim Holtz splatter brushes for Christmas and as you can see i had great fun trying it out !  Its a must have in my opinion - splatters so much better than an ordinary paint brush . Thanks Santa - hope the mince pie I left for you was as good as my splatter brush is!  

I  thought I had the required small talk stickers but nope - wrong again so I have used a much loved  sentiment stamp instead.  I had to resort to some good old hand sewing too as my sewing machine is not 'in situ' at present .  

I always finish off my tags by mounting on to card stock and fixing an eyelet around the hole of the tag to feed my choice of hanger through - in this case its a length of natural jute. 

 Here's my finished tag

  

I would like to enter this tag into the following challenges 

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2015- December  

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge -- Winter Wonderland 

Craft Stamper TIMI Challenge - December - Sharing The Season  

I have loved joining in Tim's tag's this year and as a result of participating I now have a great body of work that I have to say I'm really proud of.  I really hope Tim's up for doing another 12 tags for 2016 .

Fingers crossed !!

 I guess its time now for me to go and make a start on my next piece of creativity so until the next time I will love you and leave you and thank you too for stopping by today.  All your visits, comments and follows are very much appreciated ! 

Wishing you all a lovely week ahead

Take Care 

Hugs Amanda x

A Vintage Christmas

A Vintage Christmas 
Hi there Everyone

Today is not only the start of a new challenge over at A Vintage Journey but it is my first official post as an AVJ Creative Guide. How exciting ! 

Lovely Annie is  hosting this months challenge and her chosen theme is 'A Vintage Christmas' and here's what Annie has to say

 'Use your dies, stamps, rub-ons, anything you choose to create a Vintage Christmas card , home decor piece or a gift for someone special ! '

 What a wonderful theme for December with the festive season upon us!

Over the years I have bought some lovely original Christmas decorations. Here's a couple of them

I always look forward to displaying them in my home and Christmas for me wouldn't be the same with out them so for Annie's theme I  have taken inspiration from my treasured Christmas decorations and created an original piece of Home decor that's rich in both texture and traditional Christmas colour .

So lets gets the Creativity started ......

The Background Panel 

I  created the background using Tim's 'Rusted Enamel' technique,  Fired Brick and Ground Espresso Distress Inks being my colours of choice . The technique can be found in Compendium of Curiosities Vol One, Page 41. Though it is quite a tricky technique to master its definitely worth trying.

I also added some script stamping around the edges of the background panel before adhering onto a cream card stock mount.

The Frame 

I die cut a piece of mount board using Tim Holtz Postage stamp Bigz die and cut away the centre to create a frame. 

I applied a coat of Gesso to the frame and once dry a generous layer of Deco Art Sand Texture Paste.

Once the paste had dried using a dry stippling brush I painted the frame with Distress paints (Ground Espresso and Tarnished Brass.) Using my finger I caught the rugged surface of the frame with Gilding Wax .

                          

Santa

Santa, taken from Tim Holtz  'Retro Holidays' stamp set is stamped on cream card stock using Potting Soil Archival ink  and coloured using Caran~Dache Watercolour Pencils. I inked around Santa using Distress Inks (Walnut stain and Ground Espresso) but felt it still needed something more so I masked  Santa and then Spritzed and Flicked . I love this technique it's such a simple technique but so effective- just the added extra my Santa image needed !

The Corrugated Panel 

I cut a piece of corrugated card (from an old box) to the required size and artistically tore (cough!) some of the top layer away to create a ragged look. Using my finger I randomly applied Tarnished Brass Distress Paint to the panel and Gold Gilding Wax before distressing the edges with Distress Inks (Walnut Stain and Ground Espresso). 

I then mounted this panel onto a piece of cream card stock before finally adhering to a piece of mount board. 

 Frame Decoration

The holly and leaves are die cut using Tim Holtz Festive Greenery Strip die and coloured using Distress ink (Forest Moss,Ground Espresso and Walnut Stain) . I applied a crackle glaze to the holly and once dry I rubbed Ground Espresso Distress Ink over the cracks to accentuate them more.

All that remained now was to bring everything together . 

My finishing touches are a length of natural jute ribbon around the background panel, a brass button topped with a deep red gem bead to embellish the holly arrangement, some Tim Holtz ideology , and a chit chat sticker 'Believe'! 

Well after all, I believe in Santa Claus don't you? 

I'm pleased with how my piece of home decor turned out and i am looking forward to displaying it alongside my much loved Christmas Ornaments this year. I think it will compliment them perfectly.

I hope you have enjoyed your time with me today, it was rather a long post I know, but I thought you would like to see and read the various stages of creating .

If this months challenge theme  'A Vintage Christmas' appeals to you then there's plenty of time to enter Head over to A Vintage Journey, where you can view more wonderfully inspiring projects by my fellow Creative Guides. 
 We would love for you to join us so be sure to checkout the rules and then go get those fingers inky. It maybe just the break you need from all the Christmas prep . 

Thank you so much for popping by today! Your visits, comments and follows are always very much welcomed and  appreciated. 

 I would like to enter my home decor panel into the following challenges: 

Frilly and Funkie - 'Tis the Season!

Thats Crafty- Seasons Greetings Challenge Dec 04 2015 

Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #19 Silver and Gold Challenge  

(I used Gold and Silver gilding wax ) 

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Gentlemen

( Santa is a true gentleman and my Home decor panel is a suitable gift for a male )  

Craft Stamper TIMI Challenge - December 2015 'Take a Technique' - Sharing the Season!'

Now its time for me to go write my letter to Santa!

Look forward to seeing you again soon but until then I wish you all

 a lovely weekend

Take Care

 Amanda x

Christmas Crackle

Hello  and Welcome Everyone 

It seems like an age since I last blogged but its good to be back  kicking of December with a christmasy post. I don't know about you but I can't believe the festive season is upon us already ! Where did this year go??
So today I have a little bit of Christmas 'Crackle' to share with you that is easy to create and makes a unique Christmas decoration. that would make a fabulous very affordable hand crafted gift for an appreciative friend or relative.

Using a paper mache bauble that I picked up at a leading craft retailers for just £1 I primed the bauble using Gesso. Once dry I then applied a couple of coats of 'Midnight Blue ' Acrylic paint over the gesso leaving to dry between each coat. 
To create the crackle I used Viva Decor Croco Medium ( transparent). If you're not familiar with it, its a textural type paste that creates a crackle effect!

I applied a very generous layer over the painted surfaces of the bauble (The thicker the application the deeper the crackle) and set aside to air dry for at least 24 hours. In order to achieve the best results and some fabulous crackle patience is an absolute when using Croco .

 Heres the a photo of the crackle developing 

Once the Croco had thoroughly dried I then applied a little more acrylic paint and highlighted the fabulous crackle using both Silver and Gold gilding wax. I think Gold helps add a touch of warmth when used with silver . 

Aa few close up photos of the crackle  

I decorated the bauble with a poinsetta that I die cut using silver and deep blue textured card . I added a tiny hex nut to the centre of the poinsetta topped with a deep blue bead and adhered in place with some coiled silver wire for that extra finishing touch .

Here is my  Altered Christmas bauble

A pretty impressive makeover all thanks to the Croco magic!

I would like to enter my bauble into the following challenges:

Mixed Media World -#9- Anything Goes 
Mixed Media Monthly #19 Silver and Gold  

Anything But Cute Challenge #7 - its Ornamental

 Well time now for me to go and try and work my magic on another bit of creativity. Thanks so much for popping by today and hope to see you again sooner than soon . 
Take care 
Amanda x 

'Baby Your a Firework!'

Hi Everyone

I am so thrilled to have been invited back again this month as A Guest designer over at A Vintage Journey. It really is so wonderful to be given these opportunities to feature on such a fabulous blog and I can't thank all the lovely  AVJ Creative Guides enough.  
Am I confusing you ? I can here you saying now 'Guest design spot but I thought she was one of the new Creative Guides at AVJ?' and you wouldn't be wrong  to think that  but this feature itoday is one I was invited to do after being chosen as a pinworthy winner for Septembers Challenge 'Home Sweet Home' .  I can assure you that you are definitely confused and after today all my posts for AVJ will indeed be as a New Creative Guide and believe you me I am thrilled to bits to have been given such an amazing opportunity to work alongside a super talented and friendly design team.  I am indeed one very lucky lady! 

Its Nikkis challenge theme this month and she can be found not only at AVJ but also here.  Nikki is a very talented lady so be sure to check out her wonderful work . Nikki has chosen the theme ‘Baby your a Firework' and here's what she has to say :

'Fireworks are a big part of celebrations at this time of the year. Be inspired by them to create a Tim      style project; think Distress Glitter, bold colours, ink and paint splats and fun. Go on, light up that night sky.'

Well, what a challenge it has been for me as I am a self confessed 'Don't do Glitter' and 'Hardly ever do Sparkle' kind of girl! 
My creative mind was certainly put to task and as always once one idea came, plenty more followed but  in the end I settled on creating something that would include a few things I love – wall art, the night sky and silhouette imagery! 
So lets get started:

My finished piece would be mounted in a circular wooden frame so I began by cutting a circle of card to fit the frame. I then added colour to the card using Tim's Wrinkle Free Distress technique and several colours of Distress Inks( Broken China, Stormy Sky, Chipped Sapphire , Wilted Violet, Hickory Smoke)

Once dry I used Tims ‘Spritz and Flick' technique before adding more colour using Distress inks (Stormy Sky, Wilted Violet, Chipped Sapphire and Black Soot) and a blending tool.

I also added some stamping to the background using one of Tim's splatter stamp (this can be seen on later photos- sorry I forgot to take a photo at this stage . I guess I must have been getting a little edgy  about the pending glitter activity......

.....Now for the glitter and sparkle! Eek!  

The fireworks (A Crealies Acrylic Stamp I found hidden away in my stash) are stamped with VersaMark and heat embossed using Silver Tinsel embossing powder. (Despite using it in a controlled environment - plenty of newspaper down, a tidy tray -it still Insisted on going everywhere !!)  
 I mixed Pearlescent Mica powder with water, picked up the paint with a brush and flicked it randomly onto the card before spritzing with Perfect Pearls. Touches of cosmic shimmer (Aqua Twinkles)  provide the golden touches of sparkle to the night sky.

The silhouette images are created using Ranger Texture Paste, Black Soot Distress Paint and the fabulous Andy Skinner stencil 'Children'.  I do love this stencil and though I have had it for a while now this is its first outing!

 The frame is painted using Black Soot Distress Paint and crackled using Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint. With the frame being so narrow it did prove a little tricky to apply the crackle and as its dried it  reminds me a little of crocodile skin. Once dry I rubbed over the crackle very lightly with Weathered Wood Distress Paint and caught the outer edges with Pewter and Gold Gilding Wax .

I adhered the circle of card and the frame in place and added a few finishing touches - white highlights to the silhouettes using a white sakura pen, a chit chat sticker quote 'Remember the Now' and a hex nut to embellish the frame .

And here is my take on 
'Baby your a firework! '

I hope you can get a sense of how much this piece of wall art really does glisten and sparkle (It was tricky to capture when taking photos despite trying in various lights and at different times of the day)

I guess now I can no longer say I'm a 'Don't do Glitter' and 'Hardly ever do Sparkle' kind of girl can I? 

Thank you all for stopping by today and my very appreciated thanks goes to all the lovely AVJ ladies for inviting me to share my creativity with you all today and for making me feel so welcome, not just today but over the last few months when I have featured as a Guest designer. I have enjoyed every single minute . 
I would like to enter this into the following challenges : 
Country View Crafts- November Challenge - Blue 
Craft Stamper TIMI Challenge - November - 'Take a Stamp'  
Stamps and Stencils- November Challenge - 'Remember, Remember '  
Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #18- Texture  

Mixed Media World - MMW#9 'Anything Goes'

Frilly and Funkie Challenge - 'Altered State'  ( the frame was only £1)
Hope to see you all again soon both here and over at A VIntage Journey
but in the meantime be sure to ALWAYS 
'Remember the Now!'

Take care 
Amanda xx