Lost Art Creations

12 Tags Of Christmas ~ Day #12

Oh crap, what will I do now when I wake up at 5AM?!  Today is the last tag in Tim Holtz's 12 Tags Of Christmas 2011.  And what a beauty is it!  So feminine, shabby chic, soft colors - dreamy.

For once I actually had everything he used!  Sort of.... I don't have his fragment dolls, however when I went up to Absolutely Everything in Topsfield MA to take a weekend of classes with him a few years ago he brought all kinds of cool treasures to sell.  In that mix were real Frozen Charlottes and I picked up a couple.  So 3+ years later I actually got to use one.  Hey, I was waiting for the perfect project! :0)

The only thing I had trouble with was the Faux Dresden Trim.  I think that the cardstock I chose to back the metal tape wasn't thick enough and it cut unevenly and was very difficult to separate.  Next time I will try it with glossy card like he suggested.  The wings and crown are real Dresden trims that I just 'shabbied' up with black then white paint.  The decoration on the Frozen Charlotte is a vintage embellishment that I sell on my Etsy shop.  I LOVE these little embellies!  They are slightly dimensional, soft metal - silver on one side, copper on the other.  They come in a mixture of shapes, from the cross that you see to stars, diamond cabochons and thistle stems. 

I had a little trouble with the tissue flower.  The first one was too big, the second too small, but like Goldilocks the third one was juuuust right!  Such a simple technique and so pretty!

12 Tags Of Christmas ~ Day #11

Today's tag was surprisingly quick.  It was my additions that took so long to dry - VBG.  The shrink plastic/UTEE technique is SO cool and has so many possibilities!  Even my husband thought the holly leaves & branch looked like glass.

I don't have the stamps he used - or the die for that matter, so I had to improvise.

I stamped Santa and Merry Christmas on Glossy cardstock.  I added glitter glue (Distress Stickles Peeled Paint & Stickles Xmass Red) to Santa's hat and a cabochon crystal to the greeting.  I loved the effect of water drops on the colored glossy cardstock.  Tim was right ( as always!)  the effect is stronger on Glossy than on regular cardstock.

Because I didn't have the die I hand cut holly leaves.  Easy enough - I just had to cut them big enough to start with.  My first attempts were way to small.  Other participants talked on their blogs about how they had a hard time releasing the tweezers from the plastic once they pulled it out of the UTEE.  The trick is to pull it out and drag it quickly across the craft sheet and release.  Don't fuss with it too much or the tweezers will stick to the plastic.

 

12 Tags Of Christmas ~ Day #10

I love my kitties but sometimes they do baaaadddd things!  I was just about to publish the story about my Day 10 tag when - BAM!  Polly jumps on the computer case and the on/off button - GRRRR....

Anyway, today's tag was all about the embellishment, specifically faux Vintage Mercury Glass.  Oh, be still my heart!  I love Mercury Glass!  He did the image transfer onto packing tape.  I usually use cold laminate sheets for this technique because it is stronger and you tend to get a clearer transfer, but I thought, what the heck - I'd give it a go.  The fact that the packing tape gives a softer more ethereal transfer really worked to advantage for this technique.  They came out so pretty I made 4 facets and I am turning the other two into pendants.  LOVE IT!!

I did a few things differently, some because of what I do & don't have, some just because I wanted a 'girlier' look - VBG!

First I didn't have either of the stamps he used so I used the ATC size Christmas carol stamp from Red Lead Paperworks and his Pine Bough stamp.

I used red glitter brads instead of the industrial copper brads he used.  That's the Girlie part I was talking about!

I didn't have any tiny mercury glass ornaments (mine are all rather large) so I used mini ornies that I had recently picked up at AC Moore.

And I added the tiny candy cane just to be, you know, girlie - VBG!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12 Tags Of Christmas ~ Day #9

Today's tag while working up pretty fast (comparatively speaking) looks deceptively simple.  I adore this technique and will be using it often going forward!

I didn't have the candlestick die so I used the Holiday Lamppost die.  I am also essentially out of plain Grungeboard so I used two layers of Grungepaper instead.  This allowed me to create a little depth in the lamp, only keeping the 'glass' pieces to the bottom diecut.  I colored the 'glass' with Wild Honey then filling in the space over the colored grungepaper with Rock Candy Stickles.

I also didn't have the alpha die but I had a Quickutz one called Haunted that is pretty darn close!  I do have the Festive Greenery die which I LOVE for it's versatility.

The background stamp I used is from Stamp Camp that I have had forever but don't think I actually used it until today - LOL!

I used the Deco-it Snow Writer and Diamond Dust for the snow. 

I also added a crystal and some jingle bells to the ribbon.  I thought it looked a little bare!

12 Tags Of Christmas

The response to my tags in the 12 Tags Of Christmas in the last 24 hours has been overwhelming!  I usually respond to every comment I get, but if I did that today I'd be hear for quite a while - VBG!

SO, to everyone who commented about my tags and the Christmas exchange gifties I have received so far; thank you SOOOOO much for all the tag love!  Your words, support and praise mean so much to me.

XOXOXO

12 Tags Of Christmas ~ Day #8

Today's tag was all about using non-Christmas images to create a Christmas tag.  Tons of layers!  I think this is my favorite so far.

I had the dies and most of the doodads but none of the stamps.  I used images from Oxford Impressions, Post Modern Design, Lost Aussie & Stamp In The Hand to achieve a similar look.  I didn't have the light-bulb so I used a glass vial, filled it with micro beads and glitter.  To create the wire loop I poked a piece of wire through the cork top and fashioned a little pearl drop for the inside to secure the wire loop.  Love the paint resist technique he used on the tag - so cool!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12 Tags Of Christmas ~ Day #7

We are now a little more than 1/2 way through the tags.  It's been a bit of an obsession for me I'm afraid.  This is the first year I have been able to participate on a daily basis and I have had SUCH a blast!  I am learning new things daily, using my stash that has overtaken my studio and best of all freshening my creative spirit.  Day 7 we got to play with Craft Glassine Paper - which I already have and love.  Did you know you can run it through your inkjet printer?  I didn't until today - can't wait to try it!

I didn't have the dies or stamp set that he used so I fashioned my own fancy word using 2 stamps (masking out the word).  I used Red Leads crackle stamp and the mini (ATC) music stamp from Tim.  For the holly leaves I used the Holiday Lamppost die and the Branched Tree die for the branches.  Because my holly was so much smaller than Tim's I had this empty space so I stamped Santa to help fill the space. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12 Tags Of Christmas ~ Day #6

Phew!  Talk about under the wire!  I helped out at a friend's store today so I didn't get to making my tag until about 8PM.  Done at 10. 

For once I actually had everything Tim used except a couple of the paints.  I had them but they were old and hard as a rock.  My tag came out a bit darker than his but all in all I am happy with the vintage look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12 Tags Of Christmas ~ Day #5

Today's tag was the fastest of all of them.  If I had the proper dies it would have been even faster.  This technique was so cool and I will definitely be using it again! 

My images got clearer with each stamping as this one does take practice.  I don't have any of the reflection stamps but I do have a palette stamp.  This allowed me to stamp a regular word stamp and have it come out correctly.  Unfortunately it was the first image I stamped so it looked the worst.  I ended up covering most of it with the wreath.  I used lace seam binding for the bow and a mini Christmas ornament at the top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't have the die to cut the wreath so I fashioned one with a leaf punch and diecut circle.  I punched 25 leaves, sanded each one and edged them with Pumice Distress Ink.  Then I used foam dots in two thicknesses to give the wreath depth.  Not bad for ad-libbing.   I think the wreath took longer than the tag itself - LOL!

I can't believe we are almost 1/2 way though!  I am enjoying myself so much - plus it seems to have totally recharged my creative spirit.  She was getting a bit tired there for a while!  :0)

T

12 Tags Of Christmas ~ Day #4

Today's tag required a lot of dry time that couldn't be sped up with a heat gun and I am not terribly patient - I like fast & immediate.  Other than that the tag worked up quickly today and I LOVE the results even if I did have to do some improvising.  I didn't have the snowman/snowflake die so I used the new carved ornament die.  I didn't have the '25' but I did have the pre-cut sets of Grungeboard letters, numbers & punctuation - remember those!?  Talk about a blast from the past!  One good thing about these daily challenges is that I get to dig into my stash.  Woohoo!  

I glued music scrapbook paper (it was printed nice and small) to each number.  Once dry I trimmed away the excess paper then smoothed out the edges with needle files and emery board.  I edged with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink then I topped them off with Glossy Accents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The only blue Distress Stain I have is Broken China so I just sponged Distress Inks onto the dried crackle.  It was kind of rough and crackle bits kept lifting off so to seal it I wiped on a bit of Rock Candy Stickles to seal it and it REALLY made it shimmer!  The snowflake I used was a Basic Grey adhesive backed chipboard.  I brushed on some Turquoise Perfect Pearls on the exposed back of the snowflake to reduce the tackiness.  Wouldn't you know, I got some on the front - and - WOW!  It looked SOOO cool!  I ended up brushing some onto the ornament as well!

 

The only die I had for today is the snowflake border.  I really liked using PACKAGING as the material to diecut - thicker than regular acetate.  All the buttons I used are antique MOP, glass & Celluloid.  I have been collecting old buttons & lace since I was 9 years old so I have quite a stash!