Big News and New Project!

First, the Big News. If you recall, last month I entered my very first tag in Tim Holtz' 12 Tags of 2014. His January tag was awesome and I had a wonderful time creating my own.

Well.... on Saturday, I was thrilled to discover that I was one of 12 winners (out of hundreds of entries, mind you)! Woo Hoo! How awesome is that? I received a gift certificate from Inspiration Emporium, something special is coming in the mail (which I will divulge when it arrives) and I also got this uber-cool badge to proudly display:

Thank you so much, Tim, Mario and Joy at Inspiration Emporium!

I can't wait to get going on his February tag. So much fun to play along. I have ordered a couple of supplies online, so I hope they get here soon. In the meantime, I thought I would share my latest altered piece using a whole bunch of Tim's wonderful products.

When I was at the thrift store weeks ago, I saw this item in the bathroom section:

I didn't know exactly what it was (um, yeah, that happens a lot it seems). Did it stand or was it to hang? And what the heck were the hooks for? Well, I decided they would now be for keys... but NOT for the bathroom thankyouverymuch.

I began by unscrewing the hooks and painting the entire thing black. It was going to be rustic with lots of texture, so I got out my burlap and rope. My "Snoopervisor" (thanks for that term, RedSetter!) Tawnee approved - only after I gave her a length of rope to play with, natch.

I used Tim's Distress stains to age the burlap before adhering onto the base and top of the frame with some Scotch Quick and Dry Adhesive.

Ditto for the rope, but this time I needed E6000 glue to attach it. I also removed the glass from the frame and spray painted the wooden mat with chalkboard paint.

I have two of Tim's 12 x 12 "Crowded Attic Paper Stash" pads and pulled out this old map page. After wrapping it around the frame, I cut out the center and stained the edges for an older look. A spritz of water made the stains run even more.

Distress Stain and Ink was also used on the silver hooks to turn them into Tarnished Brass.

Viola! An old-world style key holder. I got out four antique keys from my stash and added stained chain and jump rings to attach Tim's "Tag Labels". I also added a keyhole and key from his Ideology "Locket Keys" set on the lower right side, popping it up on double-thickness black foam dimensionals and using E6000 to set the key into the lock. Some crinkled and stained seam binding was added to the tiny key.

Lastly, I wanted to add a small notepad to the set. So I used more of the same paper and cut and distressed a front and back cover. Inside I made perforated pages which can be easily torn off. Butcher's twine and more crinkled, distressed seam binding were added with a "Collage Key" again by Tim Holtz. The vintage clip holds it in place as well as securing the string for the piece of chalk.

This set I am keeping; it fits in with my Studio decor so it won't be shipped off to the Scrapbook Cottage like my Couture pen stand and Bohemian book and box!

Oh, and the reason I wanted to use this paper? Not that it was perfect (it was). Not that it was uber-cool (it is). It's because there in the upper right hand corner.... was Winnipeg! Of course I had to make sure when placing this on the frame that my very own city was sure to be seen!

Here's a video for even more photos (as if these weren't way too many already....)