Scrap N Grow

Posts Tagged ‘Tag’

Good Monday morning to everyone.  How was your weekend?  Our’s was a mixed bag of good things.  We finalized our initial plans with our contractor so he can begin framing our unfinished basement, I finished up last minute fall chores, and stocked up on holiday colored card stock at Archiver’s buy one get one incredible sale.  I must admit, I have never seen so many people crammed into a little 2 foot wide aisle before.  Fellow shoppers were pleasant and we all walked away with a great deal.  I also had time to catch up on my Compendium of Curiosities II challenges.  This week’s challenge entry includes this week’s and last week’s techniques rolled into one fun tag.  Linda Ledbetter over at Studio L3 is the host.  This week’s sponsor is The Funkie Junkie boutique.

Compendium of Curiosities II Challenge Entry for Weeks 26 and 27

This tag was so much fun to make.  For this tag, I followed the instructions for two techniques in Tim Holtz’s book, Compendium of Curiosities Volume II.  The first technique (last week’s technique) is called Krumpled Kraft Suede. Instructions are on page 40. This was a completely new technique for me and boy what an amazing technique it is.  It was so much fun.  I kept doing it over and over for a total of four times, each time in a different color. Colors used for the tags were Mustard Seed/Crushed Olive, Broken China, Vintage Photo, and Picket Fence.  I love the resulting feel of the tags afterwards. It is hard to believe it is paper and not suede.

Afterwards, I picked out various stamps to create a collage.  Stamps are Tim Holtz by Stampers Anonymous and were stamped with Ranger’s Jet Black Archival Ink. I added several Idealogy embellishments: Pen Nib, Films Strip, Tissue Tape, Muse Tokens, Mini Paper Clip, and a Plaquette.  The optical lens in the center is from Red Lead.  The second technique (this week’s technique) is called Alcohol Ink Palette, page 52. I applied various colors of Alcohol Ink to the filmstrip, optical lens, and the plaquette. This gave each of the elements a vintage, aged feel.

I am pleased with the results and love the eclectic elements included in this tag.  I hope you do too. I am glad that I could catch up on my challenges.  Each technique is fun as well as a great learning experience. I encourage you to enter yourself, entry deadline is Thursday evening.  Come join the fun.  Have a great day everyone!  Thank you for stopping by.

Michelle

Hello blog readers. I am so happy to be back blogging. I came down with a nasty summer cold Monday and today was the first day I could actually think and see straight enough to create.

A lot of exciting things happened while was sick.  First, I received a very sweet thank you card from my girlfriend’s daughter who graduated from high school this year. Her thank you card included,”your card was the coolest card I have ever received and I am going to keep it and put it in my scrapbook”.  She is such a sweetheart and I am certain thatshe will do great as she heads to college in the fall.

Second, each month I have been diligent to complete Tim Holtz’s Tags of 2012. Click here to be redirected to Tim’s site for each month.  Each month’s  featured tag is chocked full of techniques and/or insightful ways of using a current or newly released product. Each participant can opt to upload their entry using a inlink tool on Tim’s website. Then at the close of each month, Tim selects a certain number of tags and each of these tag’s creator’s receive a package of goodies from Tim himself. Drumroll please……..I was one of the winners for June.  I was so excited and have already contacted Mario, his assistant, to receive my goodies.

I copied and pasted the text from Tim’s site below:

congrats to the winners from the june 12 tags of 2012 gallery posts.  if you see your name below and it links to your tag, please contact mario@timholtz.com to claim your prize!

1. emeraldradio
2. Barbara Ford
3. Dottie
4. Michelle Nun ME!!!! Yahooo!!!!
5. Miss Laballade
6. Antonia
7. Bararayaya
8. Creative Tara
9. Pamela Bennett
10. Anita Houston
11. Judy C.
12. stampersuzz 

Lastly, for great news.  I have been contacted by a publisher who is interested in using one of my featured projects in their upcoming magazine.  I am still awaiting to hear about the final details, but what great news to hear when you are under the weather.

So onto today’s featured tags.  Today’s tags are inspired from Tim Holtz. Directions for the tags can be found on his website, click here to be redirected.

The first one is my official entry.  I followed his directions rather closely and only changed up a few of the embellishments to what I had on hand.

Tim Holtz Tags of 2012 July Challenge Entry

I also did a second tag wondering what it would look like without use of compressed air and instead use my alcohol ink felt applicator tool. My results are below.

Tim Holtz Tags of 2012, July Version #2

Here they are side by side.

Tim Holtz Tags of 2012, July Challenge Entries

It is hard for me to decide if I prefer one tag more than the other.  I would love to hear what you think. Simply leave me a comment below, and as an added bonus and to celebrate my win. I have 2 unopened sets of Tim Holtz Distress Inks your choice of Fall 2011 or Winter 2011. I will draw 1 winner at the close of July.

Lastly, I invite you to subscribe by email if you would like to stay informed each time I post a new, inspiring project.  Thank you for taking time to visit and I hope that you will come back again real soon.

Michelle

Hello readers,

How is everyone?  It is a sweltering hot one here in Minnesota.  I ran errands earlier today and finally had a chance to complete my June tag.  Since February, Tim Holtz has featured a tag and accompanying tutorial each month. Each tag is chocked full of techniques and new ways of using his various products.  This month was no exception for he demonstrated how to tint photos (which is way cool). Click here for Tim’s website. The June tag was very fun to create! Below is my tag.

Tim Holtz's Tags of 2012, June Edition

A few minor differences to note. I used a snippet of paper that featured a Minnesota advertisement (Destinations Paper Stash).  I used my favorite number 9 for the file tab and exchanged the star for a heart to which I applied a Vintaj patina.  Lastly, I preferred to use a row of flowers rather than a single flower.

Thank you for taking time to stop by and I hope that you will return again soon.

Michelle

Good Evening everyone.  I had a little free time this afternoon to complete my challenge entry for week 10 of Compendium of Curiosities II. This challenge is hosted by the lovely Linda Ledbetter over at Studio L3.  This weeks technique is tissue paper flowers and the instructions for this technique can be found on page 37 in Tim’s latest book, Compendium of Curiosities II.  The Funkie Junkie Boutique is sponsoring this week’s challenge and is offering a $25.oo gift certificate for their online shop for one lucky participant.

Compendium of Curiosities II Week 10 Challenge Entry

I kept this week’s tag pretty simple. It was fun and allowed me to test drive some new product. First up is the background.  Earlier this week, Kaz over at the The Little Shabby Shed shared a technique that she recently discovered by accident.  Click on the hyperlink to be taken to that post.  I love the results and will definitely use it again on future projects.  The stamps I used to create the background  were from Tim’s winter CHA release, Mixed Media and Words For Thought.  The colors I used are from Tim’s latest summer Distress Ink release, Mowed Lawn and Salty Ocean.  These colors are so vibrant in person.  Afterwards, the tag’s edges were distressed and inked with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink.

I followed Tim’s technique on page 37 to make a tissue wrap flower using Terminology Tissue Wrap from Ideaology.  After the flower was assembled, I lightly sprayed Perferct Pearl Mist spray for added sparkle and added an accouterment to the flower center.  I then adhered the flower using pop dots to the tag and attached a green chenille stem using my tiny attacher stapler. Lastly, I stamped the sentiment using Jet Black Archival Ink and used Shabby Shutters Distress stain to color Stampin Up Seam Binding ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by. I have been busy behind the scenes making custom ink palettes for forthcoming Compendium of Curiosities II challenges.  I will share those in accordance with those challenges in future posts.  I am also in the process of reorganizing my studio and am taking pictures of the process.  Next up is to finish my June Tags of 2012 that Tim features each month on his blog. Have a great night and hope that you will stop back again soon.

Michelle

Good evening.  Today, I am going to finish sharing my Toy Box Mini Album. I shared part one on Wednesday. Click here to read part one. So let’s return to our Toy Box mini album reveal.

Spread Five.

Spread Five primarily consists of photo mats and has an interactive flap that reveals additional photo mats when opened.

Toy Box Mini Album Spread Five

Toy Box Mini Album Spread Five With Flap Extended

Spread Six.

Spread six features a vintage rocking horse chip board accent from the Crate Paper Toy Box collection along with a Maya Road library pocket and journaling spot.  Opposite page has two bookmarks tucked into a page pocket.

Toy Box Mini Album Spread Six

Toy Box Mini Album Close Up

Toy Box Mini Album Close Up of Pocket Page

Spread Seven.

This was a fun spread and I admittedly went a bit over the top.

Toy Box Mini Album Spread Seven

The left hand side page of the album features a notebook embossed card that has spaces to place photos or journalling inside the card.  I used Tim Holtz’s Notebook Texture Fades embossing folder to emboss the card front and attached a mini journaling card from the Toy Box collection with a mini paper clip.

Close Up of Embossed Notebook Card

The opposite page has a pocket and holds a keepsake Toy Story coloring book.  I made the coloring book using my Your Story Mini machine and Toy Story coloring pages purchased from Target. The color book’s cover focal image is a Toy Story sticker that I purchased at Michael’s.  Inside and alongside the color pages, I added a dimensional Crayola sticker embellishment that I also purchased at Michael’s. See Below for close ups.

Close Up of Keepsake Toy Story Color Book Cover

Close Up of Keepsake Toy Story Color Book Pages

Spread Eight.

This album spread features a dimensional train embellishment from Jolee’s Boutique and car embellishments from the Crate Paper Toy Box collection. I die cut the road using my Cricut machine and the My Community Cricut cartridge.

Toy Box Mini Album Spread Eight

Toy Box Mini Album Close Up

Toy Box Mini Album Close Up

Spread Nine.

This spread features another extended flap page in order to accommodate additional photos.

Toy Box Mini Album Spread Nine

Toy Box Mini Album Spread Nine With Flap Extended

The fire engine is a dimensional Jolee’s Boutique sticker.  The airplane and the John Deere tractor are chipboard embellishments from the Toy Box paper collection. I used a Martha Stewart border grass punch for the grass and found the dump truck embellishment in the patches department at JoAnn’s. I cut the dirt hill by hand.

Spread Ten.

Toy Box Mini Album Spread Ten

The left hand page features a centrally placed photo mat that is surrounded by various sizes of Lego’s that I hand cut from Lego decorative paper that I purchased at Archiver’s.  I used pop dots behind various Lego bricks for added dimension. The right hand page features a complex pop up block element.  I say complex as the block took me several hours to figure out it’s proper assembly.  The block is a Karen Burniston 3D twist cube pop up die. I love how it turned out, but will admit that the process of trying to place the interior rubber band inside the cube totally frustrated me.  This band allows the block to twist and pop up.  Once assembled, I secured the block to the page with a brad which allows the block to spin.  I embellished the sides and the top of the block. I die cut the word PLAY and the star using my Crricut machine and the Mickey Font Cricut cartridge.

Close Up of Pop Up Twist Cube Block

Close Up of Pop Up Twist Cube Block

Spread Eleven.

Toy Box Mini Album Spread Eleven

Both pages feature a corner pocket page design and each pocket contains a removable, interactive A2 flap card.  The cards were die cut using a Sizzix A2 Card w/Flap Die.  The cards provide room for 4 photos. I used a Velcro hook and loop fastener for the flap closure and added a button for added detail. Afterwards, I tucked in a few journal cards from the Toy Box paper collection.

Spread Twelve.

Toy Box Mini Album Spread Twelve

This spread is all about vintage toys.  I had each of these toys in my own toy box as a child. The embellishments are from the paper’s collection with the exception of the moon tickets and and rocket advertisement which came from October Afternoon’s Rocket Age collection. The advertisement is mounted on a mini file that opens to reveal two additional photo mats.

Toy Box Mini Album Close Up

Spread Thirteen.

Toy Box Mini Album Spread Thirteen

This spread features popular games that children play.  The checkerboard paper was purchased at Archiver’s as a single sheet and I apologize that I can not recall the manufacturer.  I embellished the page with a couple of authentic Checker pieces from a well loved game that I purchased at a garage sale. The opposite page features a set of I Spy cards that are held together with a decorative brad.  This page is actually a flap that opens and features two more of my favorite childhood games, Monopoly and Domino’s. The domino’s are purchased embellishments as real Domino’s would have added too much bulk to the album.

Toy Box Mini Album Spread Thirteen With Flap Extended

Inside Back Cover of Toy Box Mini Album.

Toy Box Mini Album Back Cover

The End.  In all, the Toy Box mini album has places for over 50 photos and journaling.  No doubt that this album was labor intensive and expensive to make.  I am almost certain that the intended recipient will cherish this album and that the gift will become a keepsake for her son in the years to come.

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit and for allowing me to post this jumbo mini sized album into separate blog posts as each post took me several hours to compose and post. I tried real hard to include each page’s details and source’s, but if I forgot something, please do not hesitate to email me or leave a question in the comment section.  Thank you again for visiting and I hope that you come back again soon.

Michelle

Good evening. I finished my entry for this week’s Compendium of Curiosities II hosted by Linda Ledbetter over at Studio L3 late last night. This week’s technique is brushless watercolor. The technique’s instructions are on page 49 of Tim holtz’s latest book, Compendium of Curiosities II. This week’s challenge is being sponsored by Daisy from Eclectic Paperie.

Compendium of Curiosities II Challenge Entry Week 7

For my tag, I used Nature’s Moments stamp set from Stampers Anonymous for the brushless watercolor image and sentiment.  Afterwards, I used an acetate die cut from the Sizzix Alterations line called Weathered Clock as a mask.  for a final touch, I added a butterfly trinket from my stash and dyed a strip of Stampin’ Up Vanilla seam binding ribbon  to match the Distress Stain colors used in my technique.

Thank you  you for stopping by and hope that you will stop by again soon.  FYI, I may be intermittent in posting over the weekend as the weather forecasts predicts that I should be able to finally complete staining our deck’s floor.

Michelle

Good morning to you!  It is a very soggy day here so I plan to play in my studio and embrace my official last day of vacation. Yesterday I posted my challenge entry for Studio L3′s Compendium of Curiosities II week 6 challenge, and in that post I stated that I made several attempts before committing to completing the tag I presented.  Well yesterday afternoon I made my second best attempt and forced myself to make something of a tag I had set aside for discard.  Today’s featured tag is titled “Fly Free”.

"Fly Free" Tag

I began by following the technique for tissue collage, but forget to add my grunge paper die cut element per the instructions on page 38 of Tim’s book.  I did not do this intentionally, but it was this reason that I originally elected to abandon this tag, hence this tag would not have met the challenge’s instructions.

For this tag, I used Tims’ bird cage and hanging sign post element for the focal point images. The images were cut from grunge paper using my Vagabond.  I die cut the bird cage two times and glued only the outside edges together to create a 3D birdcage.  Afterwards, I created an opening for the bird to “fly free” by simply cutting the center bar out the front cage. Unfortunately, the bird elected to perch atop the sign hanger instead of truly flying away.

For added interest and dimension, I added some Prima pearl bling behind the hanging bird cage. Next, I created the word fly out of Tim’s Ideaology line of letterpress grunge blocks. Final assembly included using 2 thicknesses of pop dots behind the bird cage hanger to enable the cage to hang freely without obstruction.  I colored the bird with Distress markers and pop dotted him to perch on top of the bid cage hanger, dyed some vanilla Stampin Up seam binding ribbon to coordinate, and added a F type charm to the top of the bird cage.

Thank you for stopping by, I hope that you liked today’s attempt #2 tag.  I hope that you come back again soon.

Note: I will be back later this weekend with more inspiring projects as tomorrow (Friday) is supposed to be the only nice day till next Tuesday.  See you then.

Michelle

Good morning.  I just completed my entry for this weeks Compendium of Curiosities II hosted by Linda Ledbetter over at Studio L3.  This week’s technique is called tissue wrap collage. Directions for this technique can be found on page 38 of Tim’s book, Compendium of Curiosities Vol II.  There is still time to enter if you have a chance. This week’s challenge is being sponsored by the Funkie Junkie’s Boutique. They will select a winner at random to receive a $25 gift certificate to use in their online boutique.

Compendium of Curiosities Week 6 Challenge Entry

This week’s technique challenged me to push beyond my comfort zone. One step in the technique instructs you to cover a shape, essentially use it for texture in the background.  I do not typically do this as I personally feel it hides/detracts rather than adds to the overall piece. Perhaps with a bit more practice, I will embrace this technique again in the future.  I must admit that in the process of this technique, I tried and scrapped several attempts prior to completing today’s featured tag.

After several previous attempts, I finally chose to use the filmstrip die as my background element. After running the die with grunge paper through my Vagabond, it occurred to me that I did not use paper as the die is intended for.  OOPSIES, as a result, it did not cut all the way through. It was not a big deal, I just used my scissors to complete the cuts by hand. Afterwards, I followed the directions regarding the remainder of the technique on page 38 inside Tim’s book.

My overall interpretation of the tissue wrap collage technique is that the technique is intended to create a textural background for a project.  At least that is how I have decided to use it. I decided to use the new Vintage Camera die from Tim as my focal point image.  I elected to paint the camera and its pieces similar to the photo on the die’s package. I struggled a bit when I was trying to adhere all the pieces together as they did not seem to fit well together once painted.  I also struggled with initially trying to remove the die cut pieces from the die itself. Tim’s die pick enabled me to remove them, but the pieces were not salvageable to use.

At this point, I was hesitant yet to adhere the camera to the tag, as it kind of bothered me that the covered filmstrip die was not really very visible and would become even more nondescript if I were to just adhere the camera to the tag at this point.  So I decided to highlight the filmstrip by adding a few mini vintage photographs.  This helped my brain to make more sense of the hidden filmstrip shape. I made the mini pictures out of snippets from a Red Lead collage paper and adhered them to Tim’s fragment pieces using Glossy Accents.

Finally, I adhered the camera to the tag using several pop dots. For added flair, I rolled a bit of Tim’s filmstrip and stapled it using his tiny attacher tool to the tag and glued a sentiment from his Ideaology line to the front of the camera. Lastly, I added a few final embellishments including Ideology corners, coordinating seam binding ribbon, and a word stick.

Despite my challenges with this technique, I am pleased with the outcome.  Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope that you will come back again soon.

Michelle

Good morning blog friends.  Today is day 2 of my vacation. The weather forecast for today is 80 and sunny.  I have plans to spend the day outside staining our deck’s floor as I prepped our deck floor yesterday for staining today.  Last night, I relished in having play time in my studio and completed Tim’s Tags of 2012 for May. This year in place of his 12 tags of Christmas, he instead showcases one tag per month and started with February, he has said “he owes us January”. His tags while beautiful, are really a great learning experience as they are chocked full of old and new techniques utilizing supplies from his various product lines.  This month’s tag is none the exception.

May Tag Inspired By Tim Holtz Tags of 2012

Each month, I typically try and follow his tag to a tee to ensure I try out and learn each technique presented, but this month, I added my own twist.  I instead decided to create two tags, his version and my variation. Click here to be taken to Tim’s post regarding today’s featured tag. Tag 1 was Tim’s tag and tag 2, my variation.  I worked on each tag side by side and step by step with some notable variations.

For my variation, tag 2, I elected to use Tim’s Sewing Room Alterations die for the dress form and his Bird Cage die for the lower portion of the dress form.  This idea was inspired by the dress form stamp he used in his tag.  I die cut the dress form out of Claudine Hellmuth’s sticky back canvas and painted it with Pitch Black Adirondack Paint Dabber and embossed it with Tim’s Damask embossing folder from Sizzix. The lower portion of the dress form was cut from grunge board and painted black just as I had painted the dress form.

I also decided to place my measuring tape towards the top portion of the tag and added a fun pair of Studio 490 Art Part scissors. I painted the scissors with silver Adirondack Paint Dabber and used my Crop A Dile punch to create a hole for the scissor’s blades junction and inserted a silver brad fastener for added detail.  At this point, I have to admit that my variation was making me giddy happy. So much so, that I kind of started to abandon tag 1, Tim’s tag. Sorry Tim, no offense, but I loved the depth and all the extra stuff on my variation.

Moving on, I placed several pop dots on the backside of the dress form parts and the measuring tape and adhered them.  I tucked in the scissors and place a small drop of Glossy Accents for hold.  I then attached a Ideaology Accoutrement button with a Ideaology mini pin to the dyed crinkle ribbon. I also chose to add another Studio 490 Art Part, a piece of scallop trim.  I painted the scallop trim with Claudine Hellmuth’s Studio Paint, Traditional Tan, and afterwards highlighted areas with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink.  Lastly, I embellished the trim with some Martha Stewart Pearls in my stash.

I had difficulty locating an appropriate sized spool as Tim had used.  The ones I found were the closet match.  I think they are a tad large, but I thought they would still work.. To cut the spool in half, I used my fiancé’s vice grip and hacksaw. It took more muscle and effort than I thought it would. Afterwards, I sanded the backside of the spool, and inked the front side of the spool with a bit of Frayed Burlap Distress Ink so that the spool was not so stark and new looking.  I then wrapped some thread around the spool and inserted a threaded needle for added detail.

Regarding the flowers, I could only find Prima flowers without stems. Because they were similar in size, I decided to purchase them and add my own stems using a fine gauge floral wire.  I used my needle tool to create a hole in the bottom of each flower, applied a small dollop of Glossy Accents, inserted wire and set aside each flower to dry.  I then busted out my Melting Pot for the very FIRST time.  For some reason, I have always been a bit intimidated by it for some unknown reason. I used it without any problems, but did learn that I should have held the flowers until they cooled so that I did not end up with a dollop of UTEE on my flower.  OOPS!!..lesson learned.  No biggie, I turned the flowers accordingly and wrapped them into a cluster and attached them to the spool with hot glue.  Afterwards, I attached the spool to the tag with additional hot glue to ensure that the heavy spool would adhere to the tag.

Lastly, like Tim did, I made an oval tag using a sewing image from his paper stash and attached the cash key tag to the hanger using a small jump ring.  Overall, I really like how my variation of his tag turned out.

I have to confess, that in the end, I did not adhere the embellishments to tag 1, and I kind of abandoned tag 1 altogether. I felt really bad, but I really preferred the dimension that I created with my variation.  Making the tags were fun, I learned a lot, and overcame my intimidations toward the Ranger Melting Pot.  Thank you for stopping by today. Behind the scenes, I am in the process of working on my Compendium of Curiosities week 6 entry and will be back later this week to show you what I came up with. Have a great day everyone! See you soon!

Michelle

Good Evening everyone and thank you for stopping by.  I finally finished my Compendium of Curiosities II Challenge week 4 entry despite a busy week.  This challenge is  hosted by the lovely Linda Ledbetter over at Studio L3.  This week’s technique challenge is called Faded Layers. Instructions for this technique are on page 43 of Tim’s Compendium of Curiosities II book. Pictured below are the before and after pictures of my tag.

Compendium of Curiosities 2 Challenge Week 4 Technique Tag

Compendium of Curiosities 2 Challenge Week 4 Embellished Tag

So to not distract from the technique of the tag, I thought adding a few roses would be a nice touch.  I made the roses from Tim’s Tattered Pine Cone die.  The leaves are leftovers from a previous project and were originally cut with the Cricut and the Giant Flowers Cricut cartridge while the smaller leaves were punched with the Birch Leaf Mc Gill Paper Blossom Punch.  I used the Mc Gill foam pad and tools to mold the leaves and give added dimension.  Afterwards, I adhered the roses and the leaves with Glossy Accents and added an Adage Ticket onto a Memo Pin.  The tag’s ribbon is Stampin Up Vanilla seam binding ribbon dyed with Postbox Red Dylusions Ink Spray.  For a final touch I added a jump ring to an Ideaology Locket Key and attached this to the ribbon with an Ideaology Trinket Pin.

Thank you so much for stopping by.  I am excited to have the day off tomorrow to catch up on some other pending projects that I will share next week.  Have a great evening and I hope that you will stop back again.

Michelle