12 Tags of 2014 – October – Trick or Treat!

Wowza! First of all, let me just say a big thank you to everyone who left a comment on my last post! That was certainly crazy and fun! SOOOOO many kind people came by my blog. At last count I was approaching 500 comments! Yowza! Good luck on winning the prize package!! If you haven't left a comment on all of the posts in the Simon Says Stamp Blog Hop – be sure to do so by this Friday the 10th! CLICK HERE TO SEE MY POST!  There is a prize pack on each of the blogs…so generous of Simon Says Stamp dontcha think? 

Today I'm sharing my Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2014 tag for October! Lots of cool techniques on this one…and it really got me out of my comfort zone (again). Mr. Holtz is very good at that isn't he? I used embossing paste, and glossy accents, and glitter, and inks and all kinds of good stuff to make this one. I took lots of photos too. Hope ya like it! 

 

 

 

The Tim Holtz stencil I used is called "shatter" but I think it looks exactly like a creepy spider web! I put the stencil down and then used white embossing paste with it…. Makes a really cool texture. That was the basis for Tim's tag this month and I'm trying to use lots of his techniques. Another technique he used is to selectively use the glossy accents on your pieces…Here you can see I used the glossy accents on the bats! While they were drying I sprinkled in some black soot glitter for a little spice!  

 

Another technique Tim used on his tag was to put brads down to hold your words or, in my case, numbers. I like how this looks too! My bats were stamped in jet black archival ink and then watercolored with distress inks!  

 

Here is the inspiration tag!

 

 

You know how much I LOOOOOVE to color my own ribbon! The entire card is done in Marmalade, Preserves and Olive Distress Inks. This might be my favorite ribbon ever!!!!

 

 

Tim used alcohol inks on his tag for the color, but I don't have any alcohol inks yet. I was trying to come up with a way to re-create the same look…so here's what I did… I took my spritzer and the three shades of markers and really spritzed good and thoroughly over the embossing paste. It still didn't look quite right, so then I mised the entire thing lightly with plain water! Voila! Now it looks nice! I love the effect of the spray – see in the corner?

 

 

 

 

I watercolored my bats with preserves and olive – totally creepy and funky!! See the tiny bits of glitter on their wings?

 

 

Close up of the ribbon! You can't really see it in the photo but I added some sprays of Heirloom Gold perfect pearls and it's so nice and shimmery! On the tag too!

 

 

Step one:  

 

 

 

This stuff is tricky – but don't let it intimidate you! Do a nice thin, even coat…
 

 

Here's what it looks like before coloring it:

 

 

 

My color palette for this project:

 

 

 

This is how the tag looked before I put everything else on it. LOVE it!!!

 

Can you see the gold shimmer?

 

 

I wanted my ribbon sort of color separated…does that make sense? So here's how I did it this time.

 

 

 

And here it is after it's dry. Delicious!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Here are my bats, watercolored, before cutting them out….

 

I've gone batty! (With glossy accents)!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had the most marvelous weekend this past weekend! The hubs and I celebrated our wedding anniversary (which was Friday) by spending a lovely day together driving around on Saturday, followed by a great dinner out. Thought I would share a few of my Instagram shots from the weekend!

We live not too far from Apple Hill (Placerville, CA) and we got up early to get in line for the apple donuts – still warm from the oven. YUM!

 

 

 

Here's a shot of some of the beautiful apples in the giant bins.

 

 

Here's me being silly, collecting leaves and putting them on a picnic table.

 

 

And here is a shot of my AWESOME anniversary present! I have been wanting an Origami Owl necklace for a really long time, and I finally got one! Yay!

 
Okay, this was a long post….

Thanks for hanging in til the end! Love ya! XO

I'm leaving Thursday for Iowa for the Stamp Joy event!