The Funkie Junkie Boutique's Inspiration Ave... #2 Chapter 1 Dies... 2023; The Year of the Gentlemen!

   What a day of this posting, it was: trying to get all my photos from my iPhone which was fighting me big time. I finally was able to get through several problems- in "just" 12 hours- and figure out what the problem was. Once I did (just a bit over 2 hours before actual posting time) it came out really fast! We finally got our own internet hooked up on the outside during this past week and the router was hooked up just a few hours ago. While my iPhone was the main problem, the speed of the new internet is nothing short of amazing and turned my day-long feelings of frustration into pleasure at the unexpected help that gave! My iPhone and I are going to have more 'discussions' tomorrow, for sure. 

 The weather has been mostly mild here, although when it does dip downward, it usually happens after we have days of warm 65*-75* and overnight, drops 30*. So, we do have extremes, just a different kind. Thankfully; nothing like Christmas was! We've got a couple of pipes to repair, thanks to that freeze- at least one Palm to replace also. New Year's Eve and Day was spent with family; the awesome fun of retelling the CHRISTmas Story- in Dixon Family style, and worship on Sunday; New Year's Day was the perfect way to begin 2023! The Grandbabies are keeping us up to date, and we've been talking to them through Facetime. It's amazing how much they bubble over to tell us and keep us updated on kisses. I miss them dearly, but there's so much to do here each day that time passes quickly. We did hear that Farmer Peanut has been excited that Santa Claus brought him all four pieces of a remote-control tractor. He's been plowing the floors at home ever since. Princess Pistachio got her long hair trimmed up and got noticed at school.... for wearing her Princess high heels. She found out that is a "No-No", but Daddy took the blame since he never noticed she left the house with them on. (The snow must have muted the 'clickety-click', lol!) But what's a Princess to do when she's wearing the most fashionable Princess dress?? Then, there's Little Man Pecan, up in New York, making friends with people left and right. He really is an out-going, happy 3-year-old who waves to everyone he passes. He's having fun discovering with his first Best Friend- Deek. Princess Rose is growing like a weed and at less than 5 months... yep; ready to crawl! She's a happy baby who's going to be the go-getter. I spent months after her impending birth was announced, searching for a matching treasure-shaped box for her keepsakes. The other three are paperboard Tri Coastal large, flat-topped, rounded treasure boxes which I found each year of their births, but none to be found for Princess Rose. While Christmas shopping down here in Florida, a rope on a shelf caught my eye; lo and behold- there it was! Smaller in length by 2 inches, but the same height and width, so the same Tim Holtz Folio will fit just like the others. And the design... was ROSES! I carried that treasure out of the store like it was made of glass! I already had the TH Folio finished and only had the front to do. It was a perfect match and I'm stoked to have 2 of the 4 finished and just adding to the boxes now and then. I have 2 Folios to give the finishing touches to. If you want, you can CLICK HERE to see the first one (Peanut's box and Folio) which I made for The Funkie Junkie Boutique's Guest Designer spot.

     It's time for more Inspiration Ave, and we've got some new items hot from Sizzix: Chapter 1 Dies 

are here and they do not disappoint! It's Lyla here- taking the first turn on showing you what one of Tim Holtz's new Everyday Collection sets - Gentlemen - looks like. At the first glance, I fell in love with this clean cut, and easy to use set of 5 pieces! You'll notice these new sets are actually less small pieces since they are put together to help make easier matching of the pieces- a huge bonus in my opinion. Scroll down with me and let's take a look at what I did with my choice from Chapter 1, and what resulted from that.

GOODIES... from The Funkie Junkie Boutique!

These are the main items I wanted to use...

... along with some Mat Board, these were my choice pages from Tim Holtz.

(List given below.)

Click on the links below to help you find the items I used:

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Crayons - Set #2

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Storage Tin

Ranger Inkssentials Ink Blending Tool + 2 Blending Foams

Ranger Inkssentials Glossy Accents

Tim Holtz Tonic Studios Kushgrip Snip w/Non-Stick Blade & Cap 7"-Small

Tim Holtz Tonic Studios Black Kushgrip Snip w/Non-Stick Blade & Cap 5"

Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Etcetera Mini Tag Thickboards

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Pad - Vintage Photo

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Pad - Ground Espresso

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Pad - Black SootRanger Tim Holtz Distress Paint - Picket FenceStampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Stamp Set - EccentricSizzix Tim Holtz Thinlits Die Set - Gentlemen

Tim's dies are always high quality, but it feels like he's gone well beyond even that!

These are so precise and easy to use- it's been a long time since we've had just simple,

but so detailed, fun shapes like this, and I thoroughly enjoyed these!

I cut all I needed for the first side of my Etcetera Mini Tag.

I still like to stack my shapes- especially if they are going to move.

The half man is explained next...

I noticed that the "Lefty" was touching his hat with his hand,

but "Righty" seemed to be touching his eyeglasses.

So, I turned my paper to the opposite side, and cut enough layers to make

a "Righty" arm and hat so they would both be tipping hats to each other.

I carefully trimmed away the unneeded arms on both guys,

since both arms would need to move.

TH IdeaOlogy Long Fasteners come in very handy here

since they are both long and skinny enough to fit the small arms.

Once all the pieces were moveable, I inked the edges and heat dried.

For the background: I took a sheet of Mat Board and traced the shape of the

Etcetera Mini Tag over it, cut it out, and then cut out a "T"-shaped area 

where the arms would move back and forth in a sideways motion.

Another piece of Mat Board was needed to make a slightly thinner T shape

with a longer handle piece. The length would be trimmed as needed to fit.

The top of the T (or left side as shown sideways) in the hallowed-out area allows

the filler T to move back and forth, yet not come all the way out. 

Then I traced and cut out the choice papers from the TH Backgrounds Vol. 1

for both front and back. The back could be put on right away, but

I needed to figure out where the arms would attach to the T board,

with the paper in between having only a slight slit opening for the 

Long Fastener to fit through.

I gave both backgrounds a workup with Distress Oxides in Vintage Photo,

and Ground Espresso. I did some water spritzing, heat drying between, and finally.

stamping with some TH Vintage Photo Distress Glaze.

Here, I was covering up the trimmed pull handle- gluing it only to the handle,

but allowing it to slide over a bit of the background freely.

This is what the finished FRONT looks like before the final layer over the T.

This is what the BACK looks like before the covering up.

After the 2 guys are affixed to the background, both moveable,

I ran the TH Walnut Stain Distress Crayon over all the edges of the Tag.

Don't forget to heat dry after crayoning.

The same steps used for the BACK- cut all the die pieces needed

to stack up and make all three guys ("Middle Guy" wanted in on the fun).

Ink the edges and heat dry and they're ready to play!

Top hats and canes needed rose boutonnieres, in moho.

These were leftover stash ribbon roses from Princess Judith Rose's box.

And this is what I ended up with...

FRONT SIDE

BACKSIDE

And yes... on the FRONT SIDE...

they tip their hats to each other on the way in to work!

Thanks so much for joining me for the kickoff of

Tim Holtz Everyday Collection die sets!

Be sure to go to The Funkie Junkie Boutique and check out the

TONS OF NEW ITEMS!

And don't forget to come back here to Inspiration Ave,

for more inspirational makes from the rest of our talented and helpful

 Funkie Junkie Boutique Design Team!

Until next time...

Stay Safe &

HAPPY BLOGGING!!