September 2015 Tim Tag

So, I'm sitting here on my computer, and I'm on this site where I notice there are only 3 days left in the month.  Whoa!  I better take some pics of my September tag, blog about it, and get it linked up to Tim's site today!

I won a prize for last month's tag, so riding on that high, and seeing the awesome tag Tim created for this month, I got on it right away.  You can see Tim's tag in all it's glory here, along with lots of step-out photos and complete instructions.  I love making these tags for several reasons ... 1) Tim teaches us a boatload of techniques with each & every tag, 2) I enjoy putting my own spin on the tag and using what I have on hand, 3) Tim makes it easy to link up your tag on his site so other people can see it, and you could possibly win a prize, and 4) I just love making them and displaying them in my studio!

A lot of times, Tim's tag is just so perfect, I want to recreate it exactly as is.  This tag is very similar to his.

With all that said, I had a little scrapbooking get-together with a couple friends at the beginning of the month, and I decided to bring my supplies to make this tag instead of SBing.

My friend, Mercedes, who's new to stamping and Tim Holtz, wanted to make one too, so we got to it.  We used Alcohol Inks on glossy cardstock, Transparent Embossing Paste, a stencil, Wendy Vecchi's Clearly For Art in clear, Distress Inks, and a little bit of Idea-ology.

Here's a side view so you can see the dimension of the butterflies that were created with the Clearly For Art.  These plastic sheets (it comes in clear, white & black) are so much fun to work with to create dimension in your art.  You just stamp on it, cut it out with either scissors or a die, and then, using a heat gun, you heat up the plastic and shape it.  When it cools, it holds it's shape, even when going through the mail!  And, if you don't like it, you can reheat it to flatten it again, and start over.

Here's another view.  You can also see the transparent swirl design that was added over the alcohol ink background.  You just add the paste through a stencil, and it dries clear giving you this really cool raised effect!

These tiny black spots were added by using a Spritzer tool and a black brush marker.  I really love this tool, but a lot of my students have a little trouble at first, especially, if they have weak hands.  A little practice over some scrap paper usually does the trick.

I added some Mustard Seed Distress Paint over this Idea-ology Word Band with my finger tip.  After a couple of seconds, I wiped it off the surface, and the paint remained in the recessed areas.  Tim also showed us how to attach it with wire & brads.  A little tricky, but I love it!

I finished off my tag by adding some of Tim's linen ribbon (not sure of the real name).  It's very easy to pull it apart and get some cool, frayed ends.