Tim Holtz Addicts of Facebook: #THA_APR Watercolor Resist...Easter LOVE

   

    Easter may be over, but I'm willing to bet most of you still have some Easter candy leftover. Oh. Ok, so maybe you still have some real boiled Easter Eggs left, then...likely. lol!

I tried to get this posted before leaving over the Easter Weekend to visit the Younger Set of Kids up in Red Wing, MN. But, as usual; best laid plans- and here I am. I think the theme still applies, though. In fact; it ought to apply even MORE on just the daily living we do, instead of only celebrating JESUS' death and Resurrection on one holiday of the year! So I feel confident posting this Tag after Easter, in that "The Easter Story" can be told any time of year. 
  

       Making this oversized Tag was actually a joy for me; I rarely just cut and paste so simply (other than on a computer program, that is). I wanted to keep it simple- again. This 'simplifying' is NOT easy for me to do, but I am challenging myself this year to do less tiny detail and add more color pops- the exact opposites of "my usual thing". Definitely easier said than done! There are a few techniques that Tim Holtz taught back during all the ten years of "The 12 Tags" that I wasn't reeeeeeally fond too of; embossing with chalk was -and still is- one, and water coloring is another. But, using RESIST ...however you choose- with Distress Paints, Resist Paperie, Tissue Tape, or in this case- stamping with Embossing Ink/Powder... is one of the techniques I found to be really FUN! And using the stamp/emboss method was my fave.

         Before we get started on the NEW, let's check out what the ORIGINAL Tag looked like:  

Tim's take on his July Tag used Water coloring, with Resist...

My take on Tim's followed his closely since I LOVED this Tag!!!

It's still one of my faves because my fave month is July- the 14 stands for our Anniversary.

You can see from the photos that I chose more muted shades than Tim.

Let's see what I came up with this time.

Here's that same 'Tuesday Morning' awesome deal on paper...

used yet again for this Tag.

And I knew I wanted to use the TH Alterations Dies Bunny, Butterfly and Bow,

 and it's partner; TH Alterations Movers and Shapers Mini Bunny.

I just got the TH Alterations Thinlits Set Detailed Mini Butterflies, and thought

I'd fussy-cut my own large egg, using the very-long-kept-not-used-in-a-while

TH Stamp Clear Stamp Set Urban Grunge for the Resist Technique.

As per Resist Technique: I chose the stamp and used VersaMark Embossing Ink (clear)

and some Paper Studio Embossing Powder (also in clear).

The TH Glass Mat comes in very handy when you want to perfectly line up a stamp

but need to keep moving the paper or the stamp up and down a lot like I did here.

The first egg: let's just assume this one was PRACTICE, lol!

Not only was this the very last sheet of water coloring paper from a very old tablet of such...

but it's good to have a go at practicing stamp line ups, before shooting for a nice one.

You'll notice that I did the process in bits...

1) Stamped the image ONCE

2) Applied Embossing Powder,

3) Heated Powder until melted,

and then repeated steps 1 to 3 over and over again until the entire egg was covered.

It didn't take as long as it sounds, either.

Here's the second egg: aka the one I wanted to use! hahaha!

And getting out my TH Distress Ink Markers... was a change from using 

TH Distress CRAYONS so much lately!

Then used the water brush to 'fan out' my lines of color from the Markers.

Resulted in this...

FRONT SIDE of Tag.

Closeup of Resist Water Coloring Technique and also

the Cross made from TH IdeaOlogy Letterpress- those little wooden letters

were the PERFECT TOUCH!

Instead of more Letterpress, I chose a TH Quote Chip edged

with Distress Paint in Tarnished Brass.

Closeup of the textures here- and a distressed/scraped Quote Token

(lettering done with Distress Paint in Picket Fence)

paired with TH Heart Charm, on a TH Jump Ring fastened with a TH Wire Pin-

all from the IdeaOlogy collections.

Also- I edged each piece with a co-ordinating TH Regular Distress Ink using

a Blending Tool.. just for a bit of dimension.

 The BACKSIDE:

where the fun part of me resides!

this is where the TH Alterations Dies  kinda...MULTIPLIED!

Closeup of... well, for real here...being DEAF is MY LIFE,

so getting some chuckles out of it, is allowed!!

TIM HOLTZ PRODUCTS USED:

Alterations Dies:    Bigz- Bunny, Butterfly, &Bow

                               Movers&Shapers- Mini Bunny

                                          Thinlits Set- Detailed Mini Butterflies

Stamps:            Clear Cling- Urban Grunge

        IdeaOlogy:      Heart Charm, Jump Ring, Letterpress, 

                             Quote Chip, Quote Token, Wire Pin, 

Ranger TH Distress Products:    Regular Distress Inks (various colors), Blending Tool,

                                                         Distress Ink Marker (Black Soot) with Marker Spritzer

                                                    Distress Paint (Tarnished Brass and Picket Fence)

THANKS! for stopping by once again, and a shoutout to all my fellow TH Addicts

for the constant AWESOME INSPIRATION from all the posts where so many

talented creative minds share their work and their ideas!!!

Most of all- thanks THA folks for admitting your ADDICTION.

I'm most definitely there with ya!!

Until next time...

BE SAFE &

HAPPY BLOGGING!!

UPDATE; Thanks, Everyone!!

Frilly and Funkie Challenge #9; Re-Purpose, Re-Use, Re-Cycle..."Oh, We're Goin' For A Ride!"

     April is always a busy month because it usually includes an important holiday (Easter) as well as another birthday (Younger Son up in Red Wing). And that meant we took the weekend to go up to Minnesota to be with the Younger Set of Kids for a first-time visit since Thanksgiving. The weather there is about three weeks behind Indiana's, but it was unexpectedly warm and sunny while we were there! There were still the piles of die-hard snow, but not as noticeable since they were melting pretty fast, and covered with black dirt and rocks from months of plowing up. But since that last 16 inches of snow was just a couple of weeks ago; impressive! Even more impressive was being able to get a start on the yard work with the kids; helping move the pile of wood and finish cleanup of the Willow tree that crashed down (nearly to the backdoor) during a tornado last fall. (Holli had been alone, taking cover in the bathtub with the pups,and Brett at work, but everyone turned out ok, and now the yard is, too!) I really had hoped to get this posted and out before we left, but here I am- typing up as usual, at the last minute. *giggles*…*hut-hum*...Right. Aaaaanywaaay.
               The The Frilly and Funkie Challenge Blog has been really putting some CHALLENGE into these Challenges; this time is all about the Three Rs. No, not Reading, Writing, and Arithmatic...it's about helping our Earth: Re-Purpose, Re-Use, and Re-Cycle. Very fitting theme considering yesterday (April 22nd) was Earth Day. I am a firm believer in The Bible and a Creator GOD, so taking care of HIS Creation is very important to me. We have recycled as much as possible here, and we have passed that habit on to our kids. Picking out the packaging that can still be used for crafts is now a thing the ChiefHubby joins in with me on- always asking if I can use it before he puts it to the "Burn Pile" or the "Recycle Pile". I save up all my paper/craft trash into small piles used to start campfires or burning cut/fallen branches and leaves. So anytime I am cutting, I am also thinking ahead on how to best use those leftovers...down to the very last bit. My mind went straight away on this theme to a Re-Purpose; with something that just came into our home the very week before and the ChiefHubby started saving them for me, asking what I could make from them! Perfect timing!

            Before we look at my project, I must show you where the idea came from...  

Those of you fellow Baby Boomers will recognize this song.

And, new Grandparents like me, are probably singing this song

to their Grandbabies during any trip.

Wittle Peanut Grandson, Cole, absolutely LOVES cars and trucks, so this is "our song"

as well as my inspiration for this entire project!

Now, let's get to the project itself!

The ChiefHubby thrives on chewing gum. His favorite brand went from little 5 stick paper packs,

to larger 18 stick paper packs, to these new plastic containers. The plastic itself is much more

recyclable than the dozens of little brand-name-printed little papers that get tossed.

I was thinking of the song above and wondered what I could transform this into.... 

I began with cuts....and cuts....and cuts... and MORE cuts!

Using the Sizzix Doll Die and some older Sizzix Mini Doll Dies, I cut enough

MatBoard bases and enough regular Vanilla Cardstock to form a 2-sided body,

as well as all the Granddogs and our own Hunni Pi, for each member of our family.

Using Glossy Accents, I glued each half together to form very sturdy chip people.

The FRONT SIDES of each 'skin' was left out- that would come up next...

I then got onto my computer and found all the most recent photos taken of each person.

We are OVERDUE for a new full-family shot, and we'll likely get to that 

during our get-together at Mackinac Island in a rental house this summer!

I cropped and edited each photo until I got what I wanted to print onto my 

Dolls Template created file I use just for printed faces or funny faces for dolls.

Here is a printed sheet from my Doll Template- it allows me to match up a ready-cut-doll

and use it to help line up the face for a perfect matching cut from the Doll Die.

Be careful not to burn yourself on the lightbulb of your Studio desk lamp!

Here's all the Kids and Grandkids...in their Birthday Suits!! Hahaha!!

And here is what I did with them...

This is US!! Each Doll has been seal-coated in Glossy Accents (which lasts thru baby

*mumming* & chewing- already tested on a prior project).

The ChiefHubby and I with the (Older Set of Kids) Grandbabies, our HunniPi and a toy truck... 

...and the BACKSIDE of us.

The Older Set of Kids..with their kids and pups... FRONT SIDES...

...and BACKSIDES,

The Younger Set of kids and their pups...

...and the BACKSIDES.

So, you ask, what was REPURPOSED?

THIS!!

I was first going to use my Cricut to copy both sets of kids' travel-together vehicles,

but that got too complicated to make each set look the same.

Then it hit on me to make them look like my Grandpa Raymer's 1931 Durant

( Hemming's Classic Car magazine, April 2006, Volume 2,  Issue 7)

CLICK HERE

which was his pride and joy! He'd purchased it the year I was born in 1965 and that car

was pretty much a 'staple' in our lives: parades, car shows, etc.

The Tim Holtz Alterations Die Old Jalopy comes as close to this fond memory

that our own Sons remember very well! My choice fit perfectly- on the boxes also!!

I used black and white vinyl since I don't have a perfect COLOR match for that car.

And the doll sets fit into each 'car' for a game of "We're Goin' For A Ride!"

each set of us will get their own car, and mine will have each Grandchild in with us.

(And there's always time to make more whenever we get any more!! Hehe!)

This entire project was a bit time-consuming as far as cutting and sealing went.

But it will be totally worth it- just to see the look on Wittle Peanut's face when

he looks at his own doll! As new Princess Pistachio gets biggeer; she will be able

to recognize herself as well. *huge smiles*

I can see Cole 'running' his 'car' along the window- the safety of the smooth plastic

will keep the Parents' REAL CAR pretty untouched- Bonus!

I'll end this post with some shouts of "THANKS!" to:

1) All the WONDERFULLY SWEET Comments left to me from the

 (Alice in Wonderland- "Follow The White Rabbit") last Challenge.

The Younger English Edu Daughter loved it, as I was able to take it to her

over the past weekend- another perfect timer thing! And,

2) As always- The Funkie Junkie Boutique as the Sponsor of these Challenges-

Linda always seems to have what everyone needs, and I try to peek in

at least once a week to make plans for my next order & keep up with 

the latest TIM HOLTZ products coming out!

The PRIZE DRAWING for each Challenge: SO FUN to see a WINNER!!

3) YOU; MY READERS!! For taking the time to pop in and take a LOOKIE!

   PLEASE...

BE SAFE &

HAPPY BLOGGING!!

Frilly and Funkie Challenge #8; March Madness...Follow the White Rabbit!

             March has actually blown past us now, but at                         The Frilly and Funkie Challenge Blog , you'll find several great takes on a "March Madness" theme that has us all -oddly enough- working forward in April.  )  Oops! You just missed the Cheshire Cat, but it seems he did leave a hint of his smile back up there. He's a sneaky LARGE thing! And from here on out; you'll just have to keep a look out for him in this project.  I tried to keep a hold on him in here, but, you know how that goes. 

 In all honesty; Alice In Wonderland has never been one of my favorites in the Disney Productions. I've always been a pure Mickey Mouse fan. Part of that old Original Mickey Mouse Club, and all THREE versions of the Club Song. Pluto and Minnie come in very close there, also. And, while it does seem kind of strange that I'm usually the one in the group of Crafters who is singing "I'm late! I'm late; for a very important date! No time to say 'Hello, Good-Bye,'! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!". Alice and her gang of strange tunnel fellows were just never on my list of "Must See Movies". I do know what it's about, however, and have a few folks I know of who are VERY fond of AIW- one is our Younger Daughter, the English Edu. Teacher up in Red Wing. And because of that; this is the one who will receive this little board-book surprise...if she'll have it! It was a very fun make and I went a bit overboard on my original "keep it simple" idea. But, oh well.      )     The Cat again!!!

            Let's "Follow The White Rabbit" down the hole and see where he takes us...

I knew exactly what I wanted to do as soon as the theme came out.

It was all a matter of finding all the printouts I wanted that would match what I 

would 'morph' them into. As a photographer who works with pixels, colors, light, 

and basically graphics in general; I have a very wide and deep file of already saved

art to choose from, as well as free printouts available as close as the keyboard.

give me endless refills on my Canon Printer (the only kind I will buy-

currently a Pixma with separate refillable tanks for each color), and I used

to go through a new one every year for the time my boys were in school.

I helped head up a Volunteer List of Moms for the Student Council, Faculty, & Staff,

 taking pics of the kids and using photography for any kind of educational use for the kids. 

So I know my way around a computer and programs, graphics, etc.

It can be as easy as just "cloning" to remake a line appear in another spot,

or as complicated as making an item fit to scale.

And don't forget Copyrights. Selling another's idea is a big NO-NO.

For the simple reason that our family has always been blessed with The LORD'S provision;

I've never taken payment for anything. As long as my ChiefHubby shelled out;

I produced as I physically could. And it's been quite a wild ride which has yet to end!! 

*NOTE* Printer ink will run if it's wet- even after drying it overnight (which I do).

To avoid this: keep your hands dry, and while Tim Holtz's Distress items CAN

be used easily; be sure to heat dry after each coat.

Glossing over with sealer is not usually workable, but if you want to seal it;

the best way is to use clear contact paper covering over it and THEN

add embellishment items. Clear Glossy Accents works very well for embellies!

Choosing a couple of free printouts was easy once I found card shaped posters!

Not all of the sizes matched up, so that's where making things to scale comes in.

Then, I needed some firm boards (I used my usual Mat Board from my still-tall pile)

and 2 of them easily made a front and a back for this 'board book' with each mat board

having 2 printouts for the front and back. Using a strong light can help match up the prints

by holding them up to the light and lining up the edges as closely as possible to the

ones that are already the same size. 

I used my Glider Tape gun to adhere the cardstock prints, leaving the edges on 

one side of each to meet in the middle for the book's spine.

Next- after all the trimming was done as closely as possible, I sanded the edges with my

TH sanding block. Then distressed it in matched-up Distress Paint on the edges

all around the outside in "GOLD" (probably the oldest bottle of TH Dpaint still around),

and my fave Distress Inks in regular Vintage Photo and Pumice Stone. Then heated all.

I found these stacks at a Tuesday Morning and fell in love with the shimmer

(but glitter-less!) texture and strength of this cardstock.

It served very well for the tea cups cut with the Sizzix Die,

as well as for the printed-pattern, fussy cut top hat of the Mad Hatter.

Those familiar with this tea cup die will notice that they are about half

as thick as the cut is supposed to be.

I merely cut the fronts & backs of the cups as usual, and then hand bladed

the middle piece HALF the usual size that holds the front and back together.

This resulted in a thinner stacking tea cup.

While the Mad Hatter 10/6 card was not very visible with the tea cups in front,

I still wanted as much detail -both front facing AND back facing- as possible.

This long-stashed-away clear stamp set still had the original package unopened!

So I got it out and used it to make the backside of the card look realistic.

Getting the card to really 'work' was one of my usual tricks; I make a small sample

of what I want to do and keep at it until it does what I want it to do.

I call that "LylaDetermination" aka

"If it won't work...work it till you make it work."

Sidenote: Alice here was a sample since the lines are still showing on her.

I'd gone in and worked her over a bit until she had no lines on her,

 and looked a bit pixel-sweeter.

Here's where we come to the fun part: the tiny deck of cards!

Ooooh! I so loved those as a kid and I think I even still have a couple of tiny decks around!

I remember buying them in bulk for the boys' class Holiday Parties since I was a Room Mother

every year also...(WHERE did I get the energy and time?!? And the physical stamina to still

handle all that with getting sick all the time?! I must be gettin' OLD... ER!)

                                                                        Anyway...
             You can see where I found a free printable deck online and sized it to what I wanted.
    I used the PrintMaster GOLD for this- on Windows 10 system. Very easy program for anyone!
                  The Soldier Cards are also free (via a Crafter who shared them specifically for
                                helping to make your own...I LOVE that about Crafters!!!),
                        and the Hooka….I just KNOW my kids are gonna give me the
                 what-the-heck-how-does-mother-know-how-to-fashion-her-own-hooka,
                                                but a Crafter does what she's gotta do.
               So I found a photo that wasn't "vectored" (copyright owned and watermarked)
         of the Walt Disney World daylight Parade (my own photos are mostly of all the Electric Light Parades since who wants to stand around in the heat for a parade...
             unless- of course- it's you very own Marching Band kids (3 of our 4 adult kids)
      in the WDW Parade (& 2 marched on the Indy 500 track before the 2010 race, also!)….
                                                                    ANYWAY!!!
               I took that photo and freehand cropped the hooka from the parade float of  AIW.
                 Then I Glider Taped it to the color of shimmer cardstock and just kept cutting
                            layers until I got all I wanted to add pop-dots to fill it out with.
       The TH Heart Punch, and a pair of heart hand punchers got the heart decorations just right.

Cutting the tiny deck of cards apart,

and then I mixed them up and staggered them to make them random.

Set aside about 10 of them for the ones that will be at the very bottom falling on Alice's floor.

Divide the rest of the deck in half...

Then using some floral green wire; 26 guage;

4 pieces twisted together for good measure, as well as some 'bounce',

run the Glider Tape over the wire all the way from top to bottom...

and simply start randomly layering cards from one half of the deck;

turn over the entire thing and retape another row of Glider Tape

(I actually made three runs to cover the cards on

both sides of the wire as well as the wire itself.)

Now it's ready to adhere the bottom to Alice's lap and the top into the top tea cup.

Hare it is; Follow the White Rabbit!

The Front Side of the board book...

… and the Back Side of the book.

Popped open!

A few curiouser and curiouser closeups... 

The charms were from a Bestie- a stash of jewelry she gave me for junk stash.

The TH Clock Hands are on the TH PocketWatch and Key Chain instead on on the clock's face.

Bottle made from clear scrap trash covering & cork stock,

with TH Alterations Apothecary Die,

free printouts made tiny scale,

and a middle fussy cut plastic played with TH Alcohol Ink in Salty Ocean

by coating extra layers onto the bottom half as I went downward

from the top of the plastic with only one layer of ink.

Made it look like the potion 'settled' down on the bottom of the bottle.

The incriminating hooka we thought was so cool in the late 60s and early 70s..

who knew our kids would have one just for a 'cool collectors item'?!

Are we THAT old??

I cut two Alices and 'pop-dotted' her arms, face and lower body to make her

appear to be surprised and suddenly bending down

to try to contain all the cards landing onto her lap.

Anyone notice those "spears" are real finger food spears from my kitchen?

This perspective is given of the book closing; you can see the detailed backside of everything.

The 2 Knaves trying to get away!

Extra tickets that I printed out and used my TH reg Alterations Strip Die Tickets.

The group of tickets were actually stacked together with many others.

I chose which ones I wanted by cropping and repositioning onto a template

I created just for making my own personal Tim Tickets!

I've made event tickets, Happy Birthday tix, and even Wedding tix; all personalized.

This was a VERY fun project- despite not caring too much for poor Alice. lol!

*UPDATE 4-11-2019

Due to being distracted by medical testing;

this VIDEO was mistakenly left out of the original posting...

Here's another SHOUTOUT of THANKS! for all the WONDERFULLY NICE

things folks have to say about my past projects- and the Top Pick on that last 

Frilly and Funkie Challenge!!

BIG THANKS always goes to the Design Team who put in quite a bit of time

and effort to keep the rest of us inspired to create our craft!!

There's always fun to be had when there's a PRIZE being dangled from

The Funkie Junkie Boutique

the Sponsor -and super store of every craft need!

Anyone can join in- no matter if you're talented... or challenged as I was here!

Please feel free to check out the rest of the projects as there is no limit to

the inspiration that comes from creating and sharing together!

THANKS! for checking in once again;

Be Safe &

HAPPY BLOGGING!!