Industrial Grunge Tag for TT

After seeing that the Theme Thursday challenge was 'Masculine', I knew just what I'd make. I recently came across this metal canvas piece by Hermine, one of my favorite artists, and was inspired to try something similar, but using different materials.

I started with a tag cut from cardstock, using Tim Holtz's Tag and Bookplates die. Next, I cut chipboard gears using both the Mini Gears and the Gadget Gears dies. I tacked them onto the tag with a bit of glue and then covered it with foil tape (I didn't use it, but Ranger's Inkssentials Foil Tape Sheets would be perfect for this!). After burnishing it, I coated the whole thing with black paint, using an Adirondack Pitch Black Paint Dabber. After a bit, I wiped it off, making sure some paint stayed in the creases.

After the paint was dry,  I added stamped images from Artistic Outpost's London Underground and the new Apothecary stamp collections. If you don't have these yet - you need them! And if you use my code: stamptramp, you'll get 10% off of your order. :-)

Once my stamped pieces were attached using Inkssentials Wonder Tape and the Idea-ology Tiny Attacher, it was just a matter of loading up the tag with some cool Idea-ology bits and pieces! I've used Sprocket Gears, Numerals, Muse Token, Light Bulb, Washers, Mini Fasteners, Swivel Clasps, and Long Fasteners.

Don't forget, there's still time to enter the Inspiration Emporium  'Texture It' challenge! Check out the fantastic artwork by the Inspiration Team and read all about the challenge here. You could be the lucky winner of a $50 gift certificate!

Theme Thursday, Stamping With Stain, and a Tiny Pillow

Today's Theme Thursday challenge is borders - this chunky tag's border might be tiny, but it adds a subtle little touch that I love. Another thing I love?  Both the London Underground and Loverly London stamp plates from Artistic Outpost (as if you couldn't tell). My favorite stamp of them all is the grungy Union Jack. I have been dreaming of this stamp for ages and am so thrilled to finally have one! Below is a quick tutorial showing how I created the border on my tag using the Union Jack stamp and Tim Holtz Distress Stains - another thing I am crazy for right now!

Supplies: Fired Brick and Faded Jeans Distress Stains, Inkssentials Mini Mister, plain white typing/computer paper, Union Jack rubber stamp from Artistic Outpost.

Begin by inking the red stripes with the Fired Brick Distress Stain. Don't worry if you get a bit on the area that will be blue; it gives it a nice blurred look. If it bothers you, carefully wipe it off with your finger.

Next, do the same thing with the Faded Denim Distress Stain.

To reactivate the ink (in case it dried a bit) spritz lightly with a water-filled Mini Mister -  three squirts is about right, depending on how 'watercolor-y' you want it to look. Side note: while I was doing this I wondered what it would look like if you spritzed it with some homemade glimmer mist. Hmmmm....need to try that!

Align your stamp with the bottom edge of your paper and press down. Oooooh! Very cool!! This is the best stamp in the world, is it not?

Now, you're going to repeat the process until you have a nice border. Don't worry about cleaning the stamp in between impressions. 

At this point you can cut your strips in half and you have a cute border to use in your projects. I also used a strip to cut a rosette using Tim Holtz's Paper Rosette Die. VERY cool! (Not shown 'cause I used it in the collage I posted a couple days ago!)

If you like a more vintage feel, ink it up with a little Brushed Corduroy or Vintage Photo Distress ink.

Guess what? You can do the same technique on fabric! Is this the most adorable pillow you've ever seen? I love it so much! It is tiny...like a baby kitten would use it for a pillow, tiny. Too, too cute. I told you, I'm obsessed!

Have I convinced you that you need these stamps? If so, you can use this coupon code: stamptramp and get 10% off your order at Artistic Outpost. Sweet!

If you're looking for the rest of the supplies, be sure and check out Inspiration Emporium!

Supplies for tag:

Artistic Outpost London Underground and Loverly London Rubber Stamps

Idea-ology Film Ribbon

Idea-ology Sprocket Gears

Idea-ology Plaquettes

Inkssentials Manila Craft Tags

Idea-ology Tiny Attacher

One more thing - the red ribbon is from the batch I dyed awhile back and wrote about here. I love that I can easily make coordinating ribbon for my projects. I forgot to mention it in my earlier post, but the ribbon I used is actually seam binding that can be purchased very inexpensively here. Be careful, you might end up like my friend Bonnie! Now, that is a party I would love to go to. :-)

Girly Grunge + a Distress Stain Ribbon Sampler

This week over at the Grungy Monday challenge - where we pay homage to a different technique or product of the great Tim Holtz - we were asked to use Distress ink. My card shows how you can use Distress ink in a very subtle way, to make a pretty, feminine card. This is also my 'better late than never' submission for Theme Thursday's Pink and Brown challenge. Oh, and after seeing Evelyn's fantastic Center Step Card, I had to try one!

 

After coveting this birthday girl stamp from Red Lead for ages, I finally got it last week. She is so sweet! Her dress is colored using Spun Sugar Distress ink and a piece of Cut-n-Dry foam. The background was sponged with Antique Linen Distress ink and the edges were frayed with a Tim Holtz Paper Distresser, then inked with Vintage Photo Distress ink. See - lots of 'Distress'ing, but it's still very feminine! I mounted it on a panel of the new TH Distress Core'dinations paper that I embossed using the TH Sizzix Collage Texture Fade. If you look very closely, you can see that the stamped image is covered with a thin layer of Rock Candy Distress Stickles. I also added just a bit of vintage sparkle with some Antique Linen Distress Stickles.

The sentiment was created using the Faux Enamel tag technique found here. LOVE the look of it with the Wish stamp from Tim Holtz's Stuff to Say stamp set. It's attached using Idea-ology Long Fasteners, Idea-ology Charm Clips and a length of ribbon that I dyed using Distress Stain. So pretty and it coordinates perfectly!

Speaking of coordinating, the flowers on the top of the card were also dyed with Distress Stain. To see how it's done, check out this post on the Inspiration Emporium blog. I guarantee you will become addicted to making these in every color!

While I'm on the subject of Distress Stain (my choice for most awesome new product of the decade!) - a few days ago, I decided to cut a bunch of ribbon and dye it in every color of Distress Stain I had. I also wanted to see what it would look like if I diluted the stain just a bit. As you can see from the picture above - it's gorgeous!! What was so surprising was how pretty the colors were when diluted. Here are the colors, from left to right, front to back (click for the larger version, it looks much better!):
Fired Brick, diluted Fired Brick, Peeled Paint, diluted Peeled Paint
Wild Honey, diluted Wild Honey (love this color!), Spun Sugar, diluted Spun Sugar
Vintage Photo, diluted Vintage Photo, Faded Jeans, diluted Faded Jeans
Walnut Stain, diluted Walnut Stain, Broken China, diluted Broken China
Antique Linen, diluted Antique Linen

YUM! 

I thought about doing a little tutorial, but wasn't sure if that was really necessary. If anyone is interested, let me know and I'll do a quick one!

Theme Thursday: Texture and/or Layers + a Mini Tute!

I have been meaning to post this for the past week and the Theme Thursday challenge gave me the perfect excuse to get off my lazy arse and do it! I created it as a birthday gift for Gloria, our fantastic, fearless leader over at the All Things Tim Yahoo group. Unbeknownst to my fellow birthday club members, I often use them as guinea pigs for things I want to experiment with! ;-)

For this piece, I was trying very hard to come up with a decent looking substitute for mica. Did I? Not too sure about that, but it is pretty cool looking! On top of my 'faux mica', I layered some Grungeboard gears that I rusted using Tim's technique from Compendium of Curiosities, along with one of the new Idea-ology light bulbs and a length of Idea-ology Film Strip Ribbon. The men from the Steampunk stamp set were stamped on some heavy cardboard-ish paper, trimmed, and glued on top of everything.

The sentiment (from the Stuff to Say stamp set) was stamped on an Idea-ology Journaling Ticket. I attached it to the base with my Tiny Attacher. The hanger was inspired by the wonderful Nancy Crissinger. I spotted it on her blog and knew I had to find somewhere to use it. Thanks so much for the inspiration, Nancy!

I shot a quick and dirty tutorial with my iPhone - I hope you enjoy it! OH! One of the reasons I was inspired to try this is the awesome Packaging Challenge going on over at the Inspiration Emporium blog. Have you entered? If not, what are you waiting for? You could win a $50 gift certificate! Go! Now!

Faux Mica (kinda)

1. Begin by selecting a large piece of plastic packaging (or whatever size you need for your project).

2. Using a piece of real mica as a template, cut your plastic into a rough, 'organic' shape.

3. Using various Adirondack alcohol inks, color the plastic to mimic the look of mica. I decided I was going to try to get the look of darker mica, like you'd find on a Mission-style lampshade. When complete, sand the plastic lightly to dull it down (this is optional, I just didn't want it to be shiny).

4. Once it was dry, I adhered a piece of paper from Tim's Lost and Found paper collection to the back, using Claudine's Studio Multi Medium. I also inked the edges a bit with black Stazon ink.

This gives you a nice, sturdy base to layer on anything your heart desires. I hope you're inspired to look at your packaging in a whole new light!

Supplies used:
Tim Holtz Alterations Gadget Gear Die
Tim Holtz Alterations Mini Gears Die Set
Idea-ology Journaling Tickets
Idea-ology Grungeboard Basics
Idea-ology Philosophy Tags
Idea-ology Charm Clips
Idea-ology Swivel Clasps
Idea-ology Light Bulb
Idea-ology Film Strip Ribbon
Idea-ology Tiny Attacher
Idea-ology Lost and Found Paper
Studio Multi Medium - Matte
Tim Holtz Steampunk Stamp Set
Tim Holtz Sayings Stamp Set
Tim Holtz Take Flight Stamp Set
Ranger Adirondack Alcohol Inks

Theme Thursday - Numbers

My submission for this week's Theme Thursday challenge is a beeswax collage piece that I've worked and reworked about three times. I think I finally got it right this time! The great thing about using beeswax as an adhesive is that you can easily remove and rearrange your elements until you get it right. This was originally something I was going to submit for a Stampers' Sampler challenge, but I have just gotten too lazy to submit anymore - all that instruction writing, ack!

The base of my collage is a piece of corrugated cardboard. I layered various torn papers, and then added stamped images from Oxford Impressions and Tim Holtz. I finished it off with embellishments from Tim's Idea-ology line.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I want to remind you to check out the packaging challenge over at the Inspiration Emporium blog - you can't win if you don't play! ;-)

Supplies:
Oxford Impressions rubber stamps
Tim Holtz Steampunk rubber stamps
Melt Art BeesWax - natural
Idea-ology Plaquettes and Lightbulbs

Theme Thursday + A Tutorial (are you getting sick of these yet?)

Yesterday, I posted a Valentine's Day hanging (that sounds weird) and a tutorial for Faux French Enamel letters. I embellished it with a flower that was made from coffee filters, and credited two of my favorite artists - Angie Hall Haviland and Penny Bennington - with inspiring me to make one. Jann commented that she enjoyed the blogs, but no one really mentioned the steps to making the flowers. I Googled it and couldn't find any process that was quite what I used, so I went ahead and did a quick tutorial. Thanks again to Angie and Penny for the inspiration!

For my flowers, I'm using store brand cone filters. No reason other than that's what kind our coffee maker takes!

Begin by cutting off the bound edges on the side and bottom. I did mine in a stack of three just because I wanted a good supply.

Open the filters and smooth flat.

Spray filter using shimmer mists or other color mists. I made my own using Cranberry Adirondack color wash, Perfect Pearls, and a few drops of Worn Lipstick reinker. After misting with color washes, mist again with water, to spread the ink and saturate the whole filter with color.

Crumple filter into small ball (you're adding wrinkles) and then smooth out.

Dry with heat gun.

When dry, cut filter into flower shapes using a die (I used Tim Holtz's Tattered Florals die) or paper punch. You could even freehand them if you'd like!

Separate your flowers and crumple them up.

Open them up and begin stacking, using a dot of Glossy Accents or other glue to hold them together. 

You can use a popsicle stick or other pointy tool to hold the center while it dries.

Here's my finished flower. I added a pearl bead and silver jewelry finding for my center. So easy! There are endless variations too. Try mixing in some flowers cut out of French (or other) text, metal or fabric - go crazy!

After stepping out the tutorial, I figured I might as well make something with my flower. I decided to have a work table clean-up and use what was lying around. The first thing I spotted was a piece of French text that was about tag-sized, so I thought I do a tag. I found a frame I'd tried to do this technique with, but hated the outcome. I held it up to the tag and it looked great (never throw anything away!). It was stamped using a stamp from the new Songbirds collection from Artistic Outpost. Love these stamps - they're so perfect for Spring. The theme for today's Theme Thursday challenge is 'Words' and since I have a few on there I'm submitting it for that challenge!

I hope you're inspired to try these...they're quite addicting (right, Angie?!) and very fun to do!

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
Arty Jen's T!m Splinter Group

Theme Thursday - Winter!

I just got these stamps last weekend from my friend, Robyn, and I've been dying to use them. When I saw the TT theme was Winter, I thought they would pair perfectly with the Shadowbox Card technique from the Oct/Nov '09 issue of the Technique Junkie newsletter. I wish I could do a better job of showing the 3-d effect of this card. It is so cool!!

The images were all colored with Distress inks and a blender pen. I added just a bit of glitter to the edges of the card and to the trees. I also wish that showed up better - it's so pretty!