Mirror Mirror on the Wall !!

Hi Everyone............................its Sunday again and I hope that whatever you are up to you are having some fun. I was very fortunate to have met up with Astrid McLean and my mum ( Rita) yesterday for a lovely day of chat and crafting. We have all joined Creative Chemistry 102  ( CC102) and spent some time with 'The Professor' in between tea and more chatting.........it really was a lovely fun day. 

Today I am fortunate to be spending  some more time crafting as I have a few projects to complete before next weekend. I also wanted to take part in Tim's October tag, which you can see below :-)   You can view Tim's  tag and recipe by clicking HERE if you would like to take part in the 12 Tags of 2013. 

I did have to improvise  on Tim's recipe and will share that with you as we move on through the photographs.

As mentioned the background was completed using Distress Paints you can view in the photograph below. Tim explains the technique on his blog and also CC102. The skeleton is from TH 'Poisonous' stamp set by SA, no CMS 171

I used first, second and third generation stamping. 

You can also see stenciling top left and lower right using Tim's new Shatter stencil. I took some Vintage Photo and lightly "danced it around" as Tim would say. 

Another view of the shatter stencil below.

 Distress Paints I used in the marbling technique :-)   

I was lucky enough to have Tim's new Sizzix Ornate Frame die but I did not have any of his new glitter. 

Fear not !!!!  Last year Tim demonstrated how you can alter the colour of glitter by using  Alcohol Ink...see HERE.    (I used Eggplant AI)

I love Tim's Skull stamp, which I cut out and distressed with Vintage photo. I went over the teeth with Picket Fence Distress Marker, outlining them in black. The little mustache was a gift from my crafty friend Anita Houston.  The spiders were in my stash from last year and fitted this  project perfectly.

When I placed  the frame over the skull it looked to me like a mirror, with Mr Skull ensuring that his moustache was trimmed to perfection !!!! Such a Handsome Chap !!!! Mind you he also looks like he is going to sneeze ! Maybe that feather is tickling his nose !!

As I did not have the  Sizzix owl and moon dies that  Tim used  I improvised with the TH Movers and Shapers mini inkwell and feather die. The little bottle was cut out in black card and then some glossy accents was adhered. The feather was inked with Vintage Photo and Black soot around the edge.  

After dying the crinkle ribbon I decided to stamp the skull on to some clear shrink plastic to create an embellishment for my tag.  I used Jet Black Archival Ink to stamp on the plastic and was careful not to smudge it before drying/shrinking it with my heat tool.  ( Remember to punch a hole before you shrink it.)

I then added an idea-ology jump ring and safety pin to complete the look. 

Hope you like my fun tag...I certainly enjoyed the creativity and it was nice to use various techniques that I had not used in a while. 

As this is my  very own take on Tim's tag I would like to enter  the following challenges :

Stampotique Designer Challenge whose challenge is Halloween and Our Creative Corner, whose theme is Halloween, Lets Tag It On

Off to do some  visiting as well as tidying up on the blog before I sit back down to other crafty makes that I have on the go. Catch up soon x 

Best Wishes and Crafty Hugs 

My Take on Tim's Tag February 2013

Good Evening everyone.................and a warm welcome to new followers :-)

This year I have decided that I am going to participate in all of Tim Holtz Tags of 2013 and below you will find my take on Tim's February Tag. I improvised on quite a few items as I did not have everything that Tim used. Its all about enjoyment and participation so here's the recipe I used.  If you would like to participate and find out how Tim created and inspired us this February click HERE

I did not have the Distress Stains that Tim used but I did have the Distress Inks, so I inked up my craft sheet with the Distress inks in the same colours and spritzed with water, smooshing my tag through several times until I was satisfied with colours.  If you have not done this before remember to dry each layer with your heat tool !

You can see the results below. I then followed Tim's tut for edging/distressing and inking my tag

As I did not have the Queen of Hearts blueprint stamp I decided to triple emboss one of my favourite stamps from Tim's Stampers Anonymous Classics SCF 007.

First I took black card stock and added clear embossing ink then Ranger  ultra thick embossing enamel. I did this several times before adding a few drops of various Ranger Perfect Pearls Powders.

I then inked the stamp up in  permanent Red Archival Ink and stamped in to the very hot enamel.

I was not happy with the result so took my heat tool and melted it again. You can see how the enamel melted but the image remained. 

I then added gold ink to the stamp and placed it in to the warm enamel once more.

I was still not happy and melted it again with my heat gun..............however, I absolutely love the look of my happy accident so decided to keep it for another project.... !!!!

I started again as before but this times used black archival ink  on the stamp and you can see that the outcome  of my triple embossing was what I hoped for :-). I cut around the stamped image and left it to the side to adhere later.

As I did not have the embossing folder Tim used I took some die cut letters from Tim's Sizzix Word Typepad die, placing them on a piece of card, which I covered them with Inkessentials metal foil.

I took my brayer, rolling it back and forth. I then took a ball tool and went around the edges of the letters, making them stand out even more.

I painted the piece with black soot and then sanded it to distress it.

Attaching it with some staples. 

I did not have a custom cash key so I inked the same stamp on some shrink plastic, colouring it with alcohol ink.

I have not used shrink plastic for a long time and forgot how fun it is to work with.

You can see the small embellishment below......................isn't it cool !!

I do have tissue tape and whilst I love  the way Tim has used it  I wanted to use some rag ribbon that was a gift from my very talented blog friend Anita, whom you all know as The Artful Maven Haven. 

I placed some Fired brick DI on my craft sheet  and spritzed with water, scrunching the ribbon around until satisfied with colour. I dried the ribbon with my heat tool and then decided to stamp the word love, using  Archival permanent waterproof ink.  

Anita also sent me some moustache gems, which I placed above the O, its kinda like an offset hairpiece!!!

The embossed image was adhered with silicone as I wanted it to be raised slightly off the tag.

A little chit chat sticker covered the word Patisserie that is on the stamp.

So thats my finished Tag. 

Now I wonder what have you been up to?

Whatever it is I hope you are enjoying the weekend. If you drop by please leave a comment and I shall get back to you as soon as I can. 

Take Care and Crafty Hugs