January Art Draw - Twelve Tags Tim Style

This is the set you will receive

It's time for the January Art Draw which some of you may recall I said was going to be a set of twelve tags based on the Tim Holtz Twelve Tags of 2012. Wherever possible I have tried to follow Tim's tutorials and these are my take on the tags he made staying as true to the original ideas and techniques as materials and ability allowed. Some are fairly direct copies and others much more interpretive but I hope that you will like them. 

 A couple more photos in more detail. I don't think the February one with the heart was ever blogged as we I did it out of sequence. The same goes for The September Industrial Tag, really like how that one turned out.

 

 

 

The November tag in fall colours wasn't blogged either. I love my little pine cone!!

 

Just for completeness here is the set I am keeping for myself.

 

 

Yes, I can count, I know there is one missing. I was looking at it earlier and now can't seem to put my hand on it........

 

And finally here are my 11 tags displayed on a big split ring. I will be posting the winner's set out packed flat but I'll  include a ring so you can do this if you want to.  Sorry about the lengthy post but wanted to make sure you know what you are getting. So, if you would like this set of tags all you have to do is leave a comment on this post before 9.00 pm on Thursday 31st January 2013.

International players welcome, feel free to link from your own blogs (if you let me know you have I'll put you in the hat twice).

 

I really enjoyed making the tags, even if I did feel a bit under pressure at times and the payoff is I have a ready made giveaway item.  It's time to start the Tags of 2013 so if this is well received I may do the same for next year (Nothing like planning ahead is there.........).

 

Did you know this giveaway has been running since February 2009? Where on earth has all that time gone! So thanks to everyone who has supported me over the last 4 years (some of you have been here since the beginning!) and here's to the next ........ well, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves!!                                                

 

 

Twelve tags of 2012... almost there................

Nothing like leaving things till the last minute is there? Still I'm sure I won't be the only one!!

Right. Finally got a chance to mosey on over to Tim's blog to see what delights he had prepared  to inspire us in December. Two Christmassy tags to make up for the January one we'd left out - and why not, suits me I still have everything christmas out and to hand.

For the first tag I improvised with the background using a broken china distress stain but a silver paint dabber for the metallic effect. Worked a treat. For the snowman I fell back on my trusted Octopode digi which has been much used in Christmas cards this year, I really love him, he is just a little quirky (which appeals to me) but not so much that my card recipients would wonder if I'd been on the sherry. I didn't have tinsel but added a line of glitter.

My snowflake embellishments are made from a heavyish card and covered with silver enamelling powder from Debbi Moore. I stamped into it while hot with a medallion stamp - well, some worked better than others but the idea is sound. They look quite metal like and it gives them a nice texture. I say some because as well as the two of each tag I committed to do this year (one for me to keep, one to giveaway in the January Art Draw) I thought I would prove I had read all of Tim's post and use one to make a card. Yay, I'm ahead of the game already for my 2013  Christmas cards!!

The second tag looked similar to one I had already made using a different TH technique, the rusted enamel look. So this time I just did the one following Tim's technique and design because I already have this one to keep myself and was pleased for an excuse to put it with my set of tags.

Hope that makes sense!!

So here is the second of my Christmassy tags. Again I had to improvise a bit with my backgrounds (no metallic stains so used paint dabbers again - cool effect!!) and the embellishments but I think the finished tag looks OK (though perhaps not very Tim Holtzy).  This is the one which will go in the January Art Draw collection.

These two tags will get posted on the TO2012 post for December but I have missed most of them as I am always late for everything. I confess I still have 1 month's tags to finish but I won't upload any more now until the big reveal for the January Art Draw which I will post in a week's time on the 3rd of January. Hope to see you then!!

Quick Update: Thanks to all who sent good wishes, son's girlfriend now out of hospital so nothing to worry about - a great relief to all  of us!!

 

Tim's Tags again - playing catch up!!

Right here are my catch up tags for July and August (don't know what happenned to those two months!!)

First, July - Tim's tag is here. The main technique for this was alcohol splatter ink background (nice technical term don't you think?) I know Tim likes us to be resourceful but I'm not sure he expected us to substitute his neat can of compressed air for a curly straw. But needs must when the devil drives and it was the best I could find in the kitchen drawer (!).

Despite perhaps a less than efficient tool I was still able to produce some reasonable results. Here are my finished tags:

Finally got a chance to give one of my Lynn Perella stamps a work out (truly it is killing me not to play but I just haven't had time).

I really love the vibrancy of these backgrounds and they are great with crisp black stamping (or not so crisp - I double stamped one as the first impression was a little wishy washy but I think it adds a certain something - OK, I think I got away with it!!).

Typically the little test piece I had done that I  then just stamped and made into an ATC came out the best.

And now on to August - Tim's vintage style ATC is here. The techniques on this ATC were to heat emboss a frame and then using an embossing folder to dry emboss the tag leaving the centre blank. I used an Anna Griffin frame and (as I don't have the folder Tim used) embossed the tag very carefully by just putting it through the cuttlebug so that only part of the tag was embossed (Hope that makes sense!). Came out quite well. I don't have a silhouette stamp but had these paper cameos. Tim used his pine cone die (I am tempted....) to make his roses but I used the Spellbinders bitty blossoms spiral die. I think they make great roses though I did follow Tim's pinching and folding technique which I think helps make the kraft paper a bit more pliable. The rest is just inking and spritzing. All in all quite pleased with all these tags, which just shows if you concentrate on the technique things come out a bit better.

But why (you may ask) do I make two of each? Well I did say I would do this so that at the end of the year I can have a whole set for either my December or January giveaway, keeping one for myself of course!! So far I'm only a little bit off track, and they should all be done by the end of the year. But if you can't wait till  then, just a reminder that the current giveaway is still running. Click here to have a look.

Oh well, that was my little escape from making bits for MacMillan so now I'm back making cards.

I also had another little craft break at the WOYWW Crop yesterday - what fun, hopefully I'll put a few piccies up tomorrow! Ate too much, talked too  much..... oh well what's new? Must dash, have to prep for an interview tomorrow, I've been putting it off all day and now it's dinner time - oops!!


 

Tags of 2012 - October

Halloween tags. I'm not a great fan of Halloween and I don't have many Halloween bits n bobs. So what I shuld have done is take the technique and do something different. Doh. But instead I tried to copy Tim's and I'm not overly enamoured of the results. Pop over to see Tim's original tag and instructions here.

Could have cropped the photo as well but didn't LOL. Loved the background effect, although I did use a very fine book old page and following Tim's warning was careful not to be too over enthusiastic with the baby wipe wiping. The stamping and the shimmer made it yummy.  I didn't have black glitter or black alcohol ink so I tried my Staz-on re-inker to re-colour my white glitter. Ve-ry messy, and it didn't 'de-clump' once the ink had dried as Tim says the alcohol inks do and went absolutely everywhere. It also comes out rather purple, which fortunately went OK with the background. Frankly I think I'll just  put black glitter on my shopping list, at least if I brush it off my clothes there won't be a risk of ink stains. Anyhow used it to cover an old grungeboard skull and words and spider I cut out myself. Quite pleased with the way they turned out it's just all the other bits, nothing seems to look quite right so it looks rather unfinished to me. I also bizarrely chose a different sized tag to the ones I have been using so my tag book will have different sized tags. I worried about that for exactly 5 seconds.

And on the subject of that book, some of you may think OK, so this is October's tag where are July through September? They are coming along, and will be here shortly!!

Tags of 2012 - June

Well it's halfway through June and it occurs to me it might be time to mosey over to the 12 tags of 2012 and see what Mr Holtz has to  inspire us this month. Here is Tim's tag:






First I tried out the marbled/mottled backgrounds using the materials at my disposal. Unbelievably, I do not yet own the picket fence distress stain so I try and improvise with a chalk acrylic. Quite pleased with the result but I'm a little pinker than I should be perhaps. That'll be the Fired Brick I chucked in to liven things up!!

I'm going to have to make my own flower embellishment. Grudgingly looked in my material box (don't go there..) to see if I had a piece of organza I could use. Nada. Then I recalled I had one of those little drawstring bags floating around the craft room. So I chopped it up and stained it along with some vintage ribbon and (just in case) some flowers I'd found on an old hula hula costume ( I kid you not). It did occur to me that this might have been a bit premature as I am not yet sure what colour this tag is going to turn out ......

Chose a different TH stamp, but one that had the 'photography' words on to randomly stamp the background. These tags are definitely going to  be pink!! Did a bit of 'stressing' (as my dear old mum calls it) round the edges with Black Soot and Vintage Photo.

Watched the Vid with delight as I have tried this technique before and actually posess some of the nibs (though not the holder). Tim's photo was so cute I decided to go with it but with no photopaper to be found had to be content with a decent graphic paper. The tinting went well I think, although it was hard to spread the ink because this was not a coated paper. I wet the nib with water to help me move it around.



Nearly there, I had to go my own way with my embellishments - I even got out a needle and thread to that organza... not entirely successful LOL, in fact not happy with the flowers at all -  a bit of alcohol inking, distressing, embossing and generally mucking about with bits and bobs in y stash. Just don't have the variety of things to load them up as much as Tim does but here we are.
Had to re-colour the ribbons......

I'm still not sure about the pink though!!

Tags of 2012 - May, Just!!

Here's Tim's Tag which you can look at here.

Here are mine. As always lots of compromises but I think I managed the basic techniques of stamping on tissue paper, making a 'medallion' (made mine with faux metal, not bad but not great) and the faux porcelain flowers. Think I need to practice those (!)but it does make a different embellishment. I did some leaves as well and liked the way they turned out. The tag on the left seems a little unfinished (not enough layers?) but I can't think what else to do at the moment. I shall put it aside and maybe it will come to me.

Anyhow that's that for now, just squeaking in as is my usual habit.