CHA 2015

I spent the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas last year creating pieces for the Tim Holtz Idea-ology Booth at the Craft & Hobby Association's 2015 Annual Show at the Anaheim Convention Center in California.

It was not possible to make them public until the show started yesterday, January 10th, so I'm proud and happy to be able to share them now. Click on the images to see a larger view.

I was asked to create a Configurations Shadow Box and it was my first time using this product. I was very impressed with the sturdy construction--it really held up well during my alterations and I had so much fun!

There are many ways to "configure" the box inserts but I settled on a combination of front and back facing surfaces, some whittled down a bit to vary the height.

Found Relatives and the Wallflower Paper Stash were fussy-cut and layered to create a secret garden, some boxes were transformed into windows with rafia curtains, and a stamped and embossed clock and picture frame reside on the walls inside.

Acrylic paint was used on the Foundations Metal Box Feet and I topped it off with a Curio Door Knob and some Linen Ribbon tinted with Victorian Velvet Distress Stain.

Tim's Burlap panels provided the support for the remaining pieces starting with my brave and patriotic heroine who's a Found Relative from the new Occasions series.

The background is a page from the Crowded Attic Paper Stash and I embellished with Industrious Sticker Trim, an Arrow Adornment Metal Charm wrapped with thread, a piece from the Thrift Shop Ephemera Pack and a Curio Door Knob. Small Chit Chat Stickers were used for the text.

I think I found the perfect Small Chit Chat Sticker for this piece which was covered with gesso before applying a page from the Wallflower Paper Stash, a fussy-cut Found Relative and a Nature Adornment Metal Charm.

I call this one "Luigi" (another Found Relative) who was placed on Tim's new Postale Tissue Wrap along with cut-outs from the Wallflower stash, Industrious trims and a Plaquette that was altered with an image transfer.

The Chit Chat stickers come in black and white, the black background worked great for this piece. The border on the top and right-hand side was cut from the pretty background paper found on the back of a Found Relative card.

Gesso was used to alter this panel and then I applied Postale Tissue Wrap, a Found Relative, some fussy-cut Wallflowers (which wrap around the left side of the panel), a piece of Foliage Metal Hardware painted to match and Tim's new Big Chit Chat Stickers.

It was an honor and a privilege to participate in this event. The Idea-ology product line is genius with an amazing variety of quality pieces that are really a pleasure to work with.

Together

"Make New Friends and Keep the Old" is the Monday blog challenge this week at Simon Says Stamp. It's also the name of a song I learned in Girl Scouts which was sung "in-the-round" (like Row Row Row Your Boat). I hadn't given it a thought since I was a Brownie xxx years ago ☺ and now I'm having major flashbacks. For you youngsters out there, here's what our uniforms looked like back in the day:

Imagine girls (of any age) wearing gloves today and why did the Brownies wear a manly bright orange neck tie? Strange, yes, but I liked them. Mom, not so much as they were a pain to iron.

The challenge prompted using something old or new so I grabbed the very first stamp I ever purchased, a vintage sunflower from Inkadinkado. It is based on this original engraving:

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I applied an image transfer of the girls to a blank tag and before rubbing off the paper, I stamped the background. This way the transfer acts like a mask and saves a step or two. I used distress inks and colored pencils to tint and washi tape for embellishment.

The "new" feature on this tag is the Tim Holtz Remnant Rubs text which I recently acquired and used for the very first time.

If you'd like to know more about the image transfer technique, you can find my tutorial here.

Take Aim

Here is my January tag inspired by Tim's 12 Tags of 2015. This month, it's a play on words and I chose mine from the pages of a book. The background is his new tissue paper and I modified one of his index labels to make a bull's eye.

I really like using Tim's tissue paper: It's tough but thin so it's great for pasting, it stands up to abuse and I like that it's barely transparent. But initially, I found it a bit challenging to tint (especially with dye inks) under certain circumstances.

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So I'd like to share a new technique I worked out which you may also wish to try. The tissue colors on this tag are distress stains applied to the back of the paper. Since the paper is transparent, they show through and won't be disturbed when you paste or paint on the top side.

I'm so happy the tag tutorials will continue again this year, it's great to see everyone's creations and it makes me feel part of something really special. And, of course, I love making tags!