Delicious Food

"Candy is delicious food." That's what it says right on the wrapper and so it must be true. And this candy bar is also "rich in dextrose, the sugar your body uses directly for energy." Who doesn't need some of that!?

This old wrapper (circa 1940) was pasted to a tag. I added some stitching, ink and Remnant Rubs along with an image stamped on paper then cut out (Tim Holtz Sideshow).

My dad found it (probably under an old house--he was a plumber by trade) and kept it tucked away in an envelope which I came across recently. He liked old stuff too (especially bottles) and must have felt this wrapper was worth keeping.

It was quite crumbly but I managed to reassemble it and maybe it will last another 70 years.

One Size Fits All

I've altered a vintage "alterations" tag with an image transfer over some ink plus stamping and Remnant Rubs.

I was born and have lived my entire life "land-locked" but felt completely altered when I visited the ocean shores. Standing on the beach, listening to the waves brought immediate calm and serenity.

If only I could spend the summer at the beach! Maybe someday?

For now, I'll just make tags and link them to Simon's Monday blog challenge--this week's theme is Splash It On.

12 Tags for Christmas - November

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Tim's November tag was a lesson in using Remnant Rubs as a resist and dimensional coloring. As with my original tag and again for this one, my rubs didn't resist in the same way Tim's did. I'm not sure why but think it may have something to do with how absorbent the background paper is.

My background is a little out-of-the-box in that I used a piece of delaminated cardboard (made by soaking it with water then peeling apart the layers). I like how it took the various stains I applied and puddled around the cardboard lines.

I used the white version of Tim's Christmastime Remnant Rubs, filled-in the background with random dots made with a Gelly Roll pen and added some vintage lace and a few seed pearls. The tag borders were hand-stitched with thick white thread after punching the holes on my machine.

I stamped my poinsettia (Penny Black, Christmas Star) on watercolor paper using red archival ink then tinted it and filled in the lines with some glitter paint. To make the flower coordinate more with the rubs I outlined the petal edges in white. The center is a Gumdrop tinted with Butterscotch and Wild Plum alcohol inks.

I have one more tag to go but don't expect to complete it before Christmas Day so with this post, I'm sending you my very best wishes for a safe and peaceful holiday that's full of good cheer!

12 Tags for Christmas - September

Paint patina and an alcohol ink resist technique was the recipe for Tim's September tag. My intentions were honorable for attempting a Christmas version but when I tried the ink resist technique using glossy paper instead of Yupo it just didn't work.

So my background of various alcohol ink drippings was stenciled over with white paint then a stamped image (Deep Red, December Tree) was pasted in the center and tinted with ink.

I cut numbers from Tim's Christmas Words stamp, outlined them in black and applied tint and glitter. A remnant rub (Christmastime) was used to balance the top along with a Mirrored Star (tinted with alcohol ink).  More bling came from dots of purple Stickles around the borders.

The multicolored background reminds me of those big old-fashioned Christmas light bulbs and how any and all colors can work for this holiday!

12 Tags for Christmas - July

Last year, I was able to stick with the same techniques Tim used for my Christmas versions of his monthly tags. This year, not so much. For many of them, he favored using word die-cuts quite a bit and it's difficult to find an appropriate substitute.

So here's what I did instead for this year's July tag (a remix of watercolor resist and layered words).

A book page, Tissue Tape and an oval cut from tissue paper (which was sealed with acrylic medium) were pasted on a tag. The edges were brushed with white paint then I stained the surface with Distress inks and the previous elements resisted the tint.

My angel is a stamp from Inkadinkado (Christmas Silhouettes) which I cut out and embellished with a white Gelly Roll pen, Liquid Pearls and Stickles. A Christmastime Remnant Rub provided the sentiment.

My little angel still seemed a bit plain (especially for Christmas) so I covered her with lots of Clear Rock Candy Distress Stickles. You just can't beat this old favorite for adding the perfect amount of vintage sparkle!

12 Tags for Christmas - May

Tim's remix for May was a Tissue Tape resist and Tattered Florals--here's how I spun a Christmas version.

Since the florals die-cut is on my wish list (are you listening, Santa?), I modified this element by using a scrapbook paper cut-out of poinsettias instead.

There's plenty of tissue tape, though, and also Plain Tissue Wrap stamped with red archival ink using the Dots and Florals stamp.

I used the Dot Fade stencil which, out of the package, has a modern, high-tech appearance but by applying texture paste randomly and then using gold paint for highlights, I was able to create a vintage look that coincides with the Christmastime remnant rub.

Abraham

A mixed-media menagerie is what Tim had in mind for this month's tag using a rub resist technique with dimensional coloring and this is what his post inspired me to create.

I lightly tinted a vintage tag (used for tracking sewing alterations) with shades of fall colors and applied Gilded Alpha remnant rubs and a bit of stenciling.

The photo is an image transfer that I framed with tiny dots of black Scribbles (a 3D fabric paint).

I cut and pasted Abraham's initials from a text stamp and the owl stamp was hand-carved by yours truly. The Adornment Arrow was tinted with Butterscotch alcohol ink to match the gold of the remnant rubs and I used some Small Talk stickers that were a perfect match for the photo.

Ripper Street

My husband said this Found Relative photo reminds him of the Victorian era detective drama called Ripper Street that he enjoys watching hence the name of my post/tag. One of the main characters wears a Bolo hat so I suspect that's his reason for this connection.

It's my entry for Tim's September tag challenge where he introduced an archival/alcohol ink resist on Yupo. The background text in the close-up above was made using this technique with his Ledger Script stamp.

I've always wanted an easy way to make light text on a dark background and this is a great way to do it--thanks, Tim!

I began by cropping and distressing a Sophisticate cabinet card that I delaminated and pasted to a manila tag. The Found Relative (also delaminated) was cut-out and pasted to the Yupo and then cropped into an oval for mounting on the cabinet card tag.

I used copper and black Scribbles around the oval to create a pseudo-frame along with some Idea-ology ephemera (Thrift Shop) and paper strips (cigar box labels) cut from the Dapper paper stash.

The star was made by altering an Idea-ology Fastener by picking out the original image, painting in the center, applying a Remnant Rub and tinting/distressing the metal edges.

If you're on the fence about adding Yupo to your stash let me say I highly recommend it. It's great for mixed media and I've used it extensively for creating my own stencils because it's thin, easy to cut and very, very durable (see my post here).

In my opinion, the only shortcoming is that since it's actually a plastic you have to use caution with heat guns.

Number Six

Six Years? Where did they go? Seems like only yesterday when I started following (and participating) in the Monday challenge blog at Simon Says Stamp.

This week is their sixth birthday and I'm linking a tag made to commemorate this very auspicious occasion. Uh Uh Uhmm...

The background is one of those vintage portrait photo covers and includes an emblem of the photography studio that's embossed on the front of it. The foliage was hand-cut from some Graphic 45 paper called Botanicabella. That number six tag is from a Tim Holtz paper stash and the bee is a Remnant Rub.

I'm always inspired by the MCB design team and appreciate how hard they must work to create such interesting projects week after week. I'm sending my very best birthday wishes and look forward to seeing what the next year will bring.

Snapshot

Behold my most favorite Tim Holtz stamp (Memoirs). It's a bit tricky to get a good impression but once mastered, I think the rewards are massive. I'll never tire of using it and I'm delighted to share it with you today (this image is also my favorite Found Relatives photo).

I've used it for this month's 12 Tags of 2016, though I've strayed a great deal from his watercolor resist and word layer techniques. Still, his post inspired me and this is the result.

The manila tag support and ephemera already had a vintage tint so I only used a few Distress stain colors--primarily Tea Dye and Bundled Sage with just a touch of Victorian Velvet thrown into the mix. To create more depth in the stamped image, I used an Indigo colored pencil in the background.

The ephemera frame is actually a windowed envelope that contained souvenir photos like this example.

The butterflies were stamped onto Tim's Plain Tissue Wrap then cut-out and pasted on. I also used words from a Remnant Rub and machine stitched along the tag edges.

Be Still

My cat knows how to be mindful. He can sit for hours, just being present, calmly watching the world go by (in between frequent naps, of course). The sentiment used on this tag is a tribute to his pensive mood.

I began by pasting paper scraps to the background, covered them with a light gesso wash, then applied tint with inks and stains. I laid down a layer of fine crackle medium and used more ink to emphasize the crackling.

The cat is a tiny image transfer, the leaves and birds are Botanical Remnant Rubs. My confidence in using the rubs has greatly improved since I discovered they always stick better when applied to an acrylic-coated surface.

Creativity

This is my last week as a guest designer for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and it has been a wonderful experience.

This is such a great blogging community full of inspiration and information--I'm happy to be a part of it and grateful for the feedback I've received!

This week's challenge is to use a metallic element so I made an assemblage that would definitely set-off a metal detector!

I used found bits of really rusty metal (the square frame and large nail), a vintage key and lots of Idea-ology including a Quote Band, Number Brad, Gadget Gear, and Faucet Knob.

A border for the Burlap Panel was made using tacks and copper wire (credit to Paula Cheney at oneluckyday.net for this idea).

The background technique is rather unconventional. After prepping the burlap with paste medium (to fill in and even out the surface), I transferred an image cut from the Destinations Paper Stash using polymer medium. The overage of paste medium around the edges was tinted to match the paper.

I've done image transfers with lots of Paper Stash and I suspect it would work with other brands as well. Here's a link to a recent tutorial which describes my technique in more detail.

I included a doll and roses because of the Quote Band. The Salvaged Doll is the artist, the faucet knob represents effort, the number stands for time, the key unlocks the idea, the gear stands for the process and the result is beauty represented by the three Heirloom Roses.

It's fun and easy to transform the doll from its original, stark-white appearance. I just covered her with off-white paint, used blue for the dress, brown for the hair and mixed-up a flesh tone for the face, arms and legs. Everything was coated with fine crackle medium and after it dried, I dropped in some Tea Dye Distress Stain to emphasize the cracks. A tiny drop of red ink went on her cheeks and a fine-tip black marker helped define the eyes and mouth (my photo doesn't do her justice).

I wanted to match the roses to the other pieces but didn't have rust-colored alcohol ink. Since mixing colors opposite each other on the color wheel makes mud, I thought to drop an assortment of colors I did have on top of the roses until I got the look I was after. Then I took the shine away with some fluid matt medium.

The Quote Band was also given a rusty look. I filled in the letters with white paint, wiped the background with a rust-colored ink (like StazOn) and used black paint to distress the edges. I used an antique gold metal paint on the Faucet Knob and glued on a few brads with Glossy Accents.

Speaking of glues, if you'd like to try making an assemblage but you're not sure how to anchor the elements I have some advice. Use nails, screws or wires when you can (no problem with the Burlap Panel since the backing is made of wood). When you can't, a good urethane-based glue (like Duncan's Liquid Fusion) and some clamping will secure just about anything. You can see my other assemblages here.

There are other details about this piece that I could mention but if you've already read through what just may be the longest post in the history of craft blogging, then I may have said too much already!

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Please join us for this week's challenge and when you upload your creation to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog you'll have a chance to win a $50 voucher at the Simon Says Stamp store!

Here's a list of the products I used for this challenge which can be ordered from Simon:

Tim Holtz Burlap Panels, 6x4 Inches	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Paper Stash DESTINATIONS 12 x 12	Tim Holtz Idea-ology SALVAGED DOLLS	Tim Holtz Idea-ology 2015 HEIRLOOM ROSES Embellishments	Tim Holtz Idea-ology GADGET GEARS
Tim Holtz Idea-ology FAUCET KNOBS	Tim Holtz Idea-ology QUOTE BANDS Findings	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Remnant Rubs 2015 SPECIAL DELIVERY	Tim Holtz Idea-ology ELEMENTS REMNANT RUBS	Ranger Alcohol Inks
Duncan LIQUID FUSION Adhesive Glue	Glossy Accents	Tim Holtz Idea-ology PASSPORT Design Tape	Tea Dye - Distress Stains	Tim Holtz Idea-ology NUMBER BRADS