Tim Holtz Tags of 2014 - July

What fun this month's tag was to make!

Besides following Tim's instructions for a few new (to me, at least) techniques, I have to mention two unusual things about my July tag:

1) I used only supplies that I had on hand - nothing new was purchased

2) I drew the main feature of the tag myself

Here is Tim's Summery-styled tag:

As usual, I gathered what I thought I would need. Chipboard, grungeboard, cardstock, dies, inks, paints, tools and embellishments were pulled out of my stash.

I wanted to make a sea-themed tag like Tim, but not having his "Sand & Sea" Bigz dies, I decided to draw my own seahorse. So I Googled some images and came up with this design

to use as a template to cut out in grungeboard (as usual, I am making a second tag for The Scrapbook Cottage):

Since I had decided to use only supplies I already had on hand, I "repurposed" a few of Tim's dies to create under the sea features. His juniper branch from the Tattered Pinecone set would become coral, the Festive Greenery would make great sea grass and his Twigs on the Edge die was used for the seabed. I cut all of these out of Tim's Kraft Core cardstock pad.

For my "bubble" background, I cut a piece of clear acetate (old Spellbinder's packaging) using Tim's Bigz Tag and Bookplates die - the same one I use to cut both the white cardstock and chipboard - and embossed it using the Spots and Dots Cuttlebug folder.

Next I followed Tim's technique (he used on his starfish and sand dollars) to add texture to my coral pieces by dabbing with Antique Linen Distress paint and then sprinkling Distress Embossing Powder (Vintage Photo) onto the wet juniper branches, inking to bring out even more texture after it dried.

 

Again using Tim's Distress Paint (Broken China and Antique Linen), I started to paint the sea horse grungeboard pieces:

I inked the edges using Vintage Photo, covered with a layer of Distress Crackle and set aside to dry (and crack!).

Next I started on the background of the tags, using Distress Paints, Stains and inks.

A delightfully messy technique using water sprays to create a cool background. I also followed Tim's suggestion and spritzed some ink droplets using his Distress Marker Tool. After it dried, I glued the tags onto chipboard to keep them from warping and inked the edges with Walnut Stain.

Now I was able to put all my layers together, using my Tiny Attacher stapler to mount the clear acetate over the background, Glossy Accents to adhere the cardstock elements and the grungeboard seahorse (which, after drying, was inked and further coloured in using Distress Markers and the Distress Spritzer Tool).

Next came the creation of "sand" for the sea bottom. I had only Vintage Photo Embossing Powder, so I mixed that with the UTEE, Dry Glitter and some gold Perfect Pearls to get the colour I needed.

After adding Glossy Accents I was able to trowel it onto the tag with my palette knife.

The last items to add were an Observations Word Band and jute string, pulling it apart for a softer look.

This seahorse reminds me so much of the ones I saw when we were visiting Minneapolis a few years back. I remember these little guys would use their tails to hold onto the seaweed / grass as they swayed in the current. So I made sure I wrapped my little seahorse's tail around the foliage too.

I just LOVE the crackle effect on the seahorse image!

I think this just may be my most favorite tag yet...

Have I said that before?

Well, I can't wait to see what he has in store for us in August...