12 Tags of Christmas TAG 11

Well, I'm officially a day late but that's okay. I'll do tag #12 tomorrow and then mope around because it's over. I have loved this year's 12 Tags of Christmas by Tim Holtz. It's become a tradition in our household. My family follows each tag each day (whether they want to or not). And they oooh and ahhh (whether they like it or not) but I think they do.

Anywho, here's Tim's tag #11...

It's got that fun retro look about it. And you've just got to check out the Shrink Plastic/Melting Pot technique he used to make those cool looking holly leaves and the branch. He's got an excellent video to share with us. Go here to see it.

I have been waiting for Santa to make an appearance! But my all-time favorite Santa stamp is this guy...

It's a Stamper's Anonymous stamp on a wood block and is labeled U2-1106. I knew that I wanted to use this stamp from the beginning and was just waiting for the opportunity. I used the same techniques Tim did, only with a more vintage feel.

I have to admit, this was the first time I'd seen this technique with the shrink plastic melting in UTEE in a melting pot. I'm sort of the last to know things usually. But when I saw it, I knew I had to have that melting pot and try all kinds of things with it. So to Michaels I ran with my 50% off coupon and got it for only $20! It was quite addictive making little shapes and coloring them. I wanted to do all kinds of things! If only I had more hours in the day...

One big thing I learned is when you pour out the hot UTEE onto your non-stick craft mat, don't do it on a self healing cutting mat like mine. The heat totally warped it. I should have known this because I warped my other one using the heat gun in one place too long. Oh well, it's time for a new one.

I'm looking forward to all the artists' takes on Tag 11. If you go to Tim's blog, just scroll to the bottom on his post and you'll see tons of links to bloggers all over the world participating in the 12 Tags along with Tim.

Now I'm finally off to bed. Thanks for taking a look. Here's how my ornament looks on the Christmas tree.