July 12 Tags of 2013...Yes I Know it is August.

Tim's Tag.  Source: TimHoltz.com

Sooooooo....I didn't get my July tag done in July.  Yeah, Yeah, Yeah.  Lucky for me Tim extended the time to tonight....like I literally got it posted with 5 hours to spare.  He extended it because he ran a CHA recap all week and since I can't look a gift horse in the mouth, I had to finish it.

I started it two weeks ago with high hopes.  I chose 3 color schemes (using Distress Inks) and set to work laying down the background stripes of color.  All along thinking how cool it would look with my chosen color pairs-blue (Stormy Sky) and red (Fired Brick); green (Evergreen Boughs) and red (Fired Brick); and green (Crushed Olive) and pink (Tattered Rose).  Perfect right?  I figured such an easy technique would leave lots of time for embellishing.  Problem #1...it isn't that easy.  It looks easy...actually laying the color down IS easy.  It's the getting-it-to-look-good that isn't.  In fact, while I LOVE how this one turned out, it looks nothing like Tim's and I DID TRY to get mine to look like Tim's.  I tried for like 20-tags-into-the-trash tried.  In the end, I think both look great- Tim's is a more of a wash of color with very subtle stamping while mine is bold and spots of vivid colors mixed with more of a washed effect.  This plays well with the darker stamping that I used.   So, now I like what I did and that is a good thing because I couldn't get the washed out effect to save my life.   (***Note- I found those messed up tags in my recycle bin yesterday and decided they looked pretty darn cool...definitely worth saving even if I use them to die cut.  The rescued tags are sitting on my work desk awaiting further instructions).

Once I finally got the background stripes the way I liked them and had the Eiffel Tower all prepared with the treatment it needed, I realized that I didn't have anything to represent the stars.  Ok, so what else did I need.... Alterations Old Glory flag (don't have);  Tissue Tape (got it), a Muse Token and a Star Charm (got them); seam binding (got it); the label stamp from Simple Sayings (got it....wait...where is that?  Have I seen it lately? Did I buy it or did I just think about it?  {pulls out receipt for large stamp order from after winter CHA} hmm... I don't got it...I never bought it ....WHAT??).  Ok, so I don't have the flag, the tag stamp or the stars...what to do?...oh.what to do?  The flag can easily be replaced by the Eiffel Tower and I can keep the colors the same as blue, white and red are the colors of the French flag.  The stars and the tag....I have no idea.... usually when I don't have the exact same item, I have lot of ideas and things to substitute but here I was STUMPED.  So two weeks ago I quit...left the tag for later ...until yesterday.  Maybe it was because I had the extension, maybe the moon was full, maybe.... whatever, but I sat down and the ideas started flowing.  In the end, I LOVE this tag and the background technique went from...

"I FREAKIN' HATE THIS"

 to 

"OMGIAmSoInLoveWithThisBackgroundIWantToUseItOnEverything".

Alterations
Eiffel Tower and Fleur De Lis 

 Tim used his Alterations Old Glory die to cut the flag as well as the row of stars along the bottom of his tag.  I don't have Old Glory so I substituted the Eiffel Tower (from the Alterations Eiffel Tower and Fleur-De-Lis).  I love the way the Eiffel Tower looks but the Fleur-De-Lis that comes with this die is to big to replace the stars.  Those stars drove me nuts for two weeks.
 My "Aha Moment" came last night when I opened one of my storage boxes of Idea-ology and realized I had a ton of Fleur-De-Lis charms from the Adornment Charms package.  I bought dozens of them at Tuesday Mornings for $1.99 each.  Since they regularly sell for $9 it was a real steal.  The Fleur-de-lis charms have a ring at the top for hanging.  I simply snipped them off using my Tim Holtz Tonic Scissors.  I painted them with Picket Fence Distress Paint and glued them to the tag using Glossy Accents.  This detail was literally the stumbling block that kept me from finishing this tag 2 weeks ago but now I am very happy with it.   

So many cool details on this tag that I just love...the colored Gem Clips, the background technique, the background stamp, the fleur-de-lis charms.... 

 Tim's Creative Coordinator Paula has been showing colored Gem Clips.  She dyes them using alcohol inks and I love the look enough to steal the idea..  I used red and blue alcohol inks and coated the plastic bead at the top of the Gem Clip with several layers in order to get a deeper color.    Delicious!

 My seam binding was stamped with a French Script background stamp from Stampin' Up that could say anything and I wouldn't have a clue.  The technique for stamping seam binding is to 1. use Archival Ink and 2. dry the ink with a heat gun after each stamping-this keeps the ink from bleeding out and distorting the image.  If you use Distress Ink it will react with the wet Distress Stain and water that is added in the second step.   I colored the seam binding using Fired Brick and Stormy Sky Distress Stains using the technique Tim outlines on his post.  The tag is an actual tag from Idea-ology Tag Labels.  I added the "Merci" by printing it out on black tape using the cheap-o label maker I got at Target.

 I left this photo with the tag turned sideways because I wanted to showcase the background itself.  Isn't it beautiful?  I used the large background stamp from Tim's Paris Memoir set and stamped randomly with Archival Black ink.  For more information on this awesome-frustrating, but AWESOME- background, you can see Tim's step-by-step instructions at his blog.

Hope your day is filled with Sunshine had GLITTER.

Glitter?  Did someone say Glitter? I did...and so did Tim Holtz...Tim who HATES glitter...the man who shuttered last summer when I mentioned the word to him just released an entire line of GLITTER.  Distress Glitter to be exact.  Glitter that doesn't fly away and stick to one's face, clothes, husband, dog, or kids.  My order has shipped and I can't wait to get my hands on it.  Why you ask?   While I LOVE glitter...like I use it on everything...literally...well everything except food.  But I do have food grade glitter as well...but that is an entirely different topic.

Source: Ranger.com

Ranger posted these photos on their of the production of the glitter. 

Source: Ranger.com

Source: Ranger.com

Source: Ranger.com

Source: Ranger.com

 As much as I LOVE glitter, I hate the fact that it gets all over everything as much as the next person.  On days I hit the glitter hard, I stumble upstairs from my studio, bleary eyed from all that sparkle and glue flumes, catch a glimpse in the mirror to find that I have an ounce of glitter under my eyes and sweeping across my forehead.  Not my best look.   My husband bitches complains about finding glitter on his work clothes (she whistles innocently pretending it isn't HER fault) and I sometimes find it on my son's cheek after he gets home from school (how long has that been there?).  Glitter that stays put makes me happy and I know that Tim would only use glitter if it really stayed put.  So I have high hopes.  Distress Glitter comes in 24 colors you can see here.  The glitter is priced around $5.50 but I found the full set for $105 which is $4.38/jar at  Marco's Paper.   Tim demo'd the glitters at CHA and said that it looks like mica glitter, is ink-able, and tolerates heat so it can be dried with a heat gun.  What isn't there to love?

This post has been linked to the following Linky Parties and challenges:
Tim Holtztimholtz.com
Simon Wednesday Challenge Blog
Life on LakeShore Drive
One More Time Events 
3 Mango Seeds
Craftastic Moms
DIY Sunday Showcase
Sunday Showcase Party by Stephanie Lynn 
I Gotta Try That
Project Inspired
Made It Monday
Manic Monday
Monday Madness with Priiincesss
Craft It Up & Link It Up
A Little Clairification
30 Handmade Days