12 Tags of Christmas TAGS 4 & 5

I had to take a day off from my beloved 12 Tags of Christmas by Tim Holtz yesterday due to my annual holiday workshop. The workshop was 6 hours long (and lots of fun!) and by the time I cleaned up it was almost 9:15 and I was beat. I have to admit I briefly entertained the idea of making Tag 4 after cleaning up but just couldn't summon the energy. It made me just a tiny bit sad.

So bright and early this morning I was ready to make Tags (in my case, ornaments) 4 and 5. Let's get right to it then. Here is Tim's Tag #4...


Wow, I really REALLY love this one. It almost looks as if a light is shining through the tag to the right of the snowman. There's such depth and dimension with the technique Tim uses to create the background, yet it's all completely flat on the tag. Check it out here to see all the details.



For my ornament, I didn't have to make too many adjustments this time....


I didn't have the snowflake on-the-edge die so I used a Martha Stewart punch for the large one (not easy to punch through clear plastic, so I used a transparency for that one) plus I cut two snowflakes from Tim's Winter Wonder Alterations die.




Everyday I learn something new and also learn you can't skip a step. If Tim says to spritz the tag with water before you drag it through the stains, you gotta do it. The one on the left was not spritzed with water and the result was flat dry-looking colors that sort of looked a little muddy. The one on the right WAS spritzed with water then dragged through stains and came out so cool! This is the depth and dimension I was talking about earlier. 




I don't have a bird like Mario so I just used some of the same white wired tinsel on the snowman's hat that I used at the top. (I thought that was so funny!)




Today's Tag #5 by Tim looks like this...


Another cool technique went into making this one, so be sure to visit Tim's blog today to read all about it. 


I have to say that I had a little difficulty with this one, but overall I am happy with my results...


My difficulty was removing the archival stamped words from the alcohol inked background with the cloth without removing too much of the stamped image. Maybe it was just me, but it took some serious elbow grease to remove that stuff! So, I have a bit of blurriness here and there, but as they say, "Embrace the Imperfection."



You may have noticed that I didn't have the Regal Crest Alterations die that Tim used for his wreath, so I improvised using the Elegant Flourishes die. I cut three of them from grungepaper and painted them with two shades of green, sort of sponging the light green over the dark green for a variegated look.




Once they dried, I popped them all out and started cutting them in pieces and playing around with them in a circle shape to form a wreath. I quickly found that I needed some sort of frame in which to build these pieces...




...so I cut a circle from some plastic packaging material then cut away the center. This didn't need to be perfect because I covered it entirely.




Then I started gluing the pieces this way and that until I was happy.




In the areas where there were some overlaps that I didn't like, I just covered them with the self-sticky pearls.




This ornament was pretty quick once I stopped fretting over the imperfections. And I'm pleased with the outcome overall. Now I'm headed over to Tim's blog to check out all the creations from other artists who are participating in the tags this year.


Thanks for stopping in. Enjoy your Monday!





Comments

  1. Like the idea of using the elegant flourish for the wreath.

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  2. This is beautiful! I love the flourish as the wreath. Perfect!

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  3. What a great idea to use the flourish! Both ornaments are fabulous! You will have to post a photograph of your tree at the end of the week!

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  4. Both tags are beautiful. Love the snow guy background...so shiny. The flourish wreath was a great idea!

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  5. Annette, I'm have more fun picking your creations out from what is posted on Tim's site before I come to visit you here! I missed the snowman, but am otherwise batting 100!

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