Theme Thursday/Tim's Tag #11

Another day, another tag that took me way too long to make. The fun part of this one was making your own stamps out of fun foam. I don't have any edge dies, but I did think the gears die might be kind of interesting. Not very Christmas-y, but very Steampunky! I have been dying to use this bird from Oxford Impression's Steampunk Works collection.....I felt a plan coming together.

Quick tut! I always drool over Tim's metal frames, but at over $1 each, I just can't bring myself to buy them yet. I did want the look of his tag though, so I decided to make my own. (I apologize for the quality of my pics - they were taken with my phone.)

First, emboss a frame (mine is from Innovative Stamp Creations) on Grungepaper or Grungeboard using Versamark and silver embossing powder. I used Ranger Silver ep. When cool, trim closely as shown.

Cover entire piece with black acrylic paint. One of Tim's dabbers would be great for this. I don't have one in black, so I used a Hillbilly Dabber: cosmetic sponge and Walmart paint. Immediately wipe off with a tissue. You may have to dampen it if the paint has dried too much. If the embossing looks dull, try heating it again, just until you see the shine come back.

Here's your completed frame! Now, use your sharpest scissors to cut out the center and you're set. Not quite as cool as store-bought, but definitely metal framey looking. :-)

As I was looking through my stamps, fixing to put the frame away, I came across another frame and loved it even more! Again, from ISC. The sentiment I used is the last part of a quote from one of Tim's acrylic stamp sets. I adhered the frame to my tag with foam squares, so it looked more 3-d.

Another quick tip - I didn't have the thick fun foam like Tim used, so I die cut two pieces of the thinner foam and glued them together. When I went to cut out one more, I used only one piece and it worked fine too! For my background, I ended up doing a version of the Faux Designer Paper technique from the Technique Junkie newsletter. I didn't like the thickness and shininess of the clear embossing, so I ironed it off and stamped various images from Oxford Impressions and Tim Holtz.

My bird was stamped on Grungepaper using black ink and then sponged with brown Distress ink. I stamped the wing portion again, cut it out, inked it, and adhered it to the bird. A few clock bits and metal do dads and I was done. I'm kind of glad this isn't a Christmas-themed tag - I can display it year round!

Theme Thursday - Tags
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