A Tim Holtz Inspired Christmas Card Class

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!  Not because there's piles of snow on the ground, because sadly, here in Albuquerque, after a recent less than stellar effort to squeeze out a few flakes, Mother Nature has ultimately left us high and dry.  Instead, we rely on other ways to identify the onslaught of the Yuletide.  Every year, December 1st marks the first day in an age old tradition that many of us hold dear in our hearts.  Okay, so maybe "age old" is a bit of an exaggeration.  I think it's been around 4 years now but that just doesn't have the same ring.  If you follow my blog, you already know I not only use a lot of embellishments on my cards, but in my stories, as well...ha!  Anyway...we wait for this event with extreme anticipation and salivate at the thought of the eye-candy to come. 'Tis the season when a good lot of us crazy crafters trample each other in a virtual stampede each morning to see what gift our craft guru, The Sultan of Grunge, Tim Holtz, has whipped up to share with us.  Yes, I'm talking about the 12-Tags of Christmas. 

Some folks play along, day by day, using the inspiration laid out before them to create utterly breathtaking works of art.  I never seem to carve out the time.  Last year, I made one tag. Tsk, tsk.  This year is not looking much better, even though the 4 tags that have been revealed thus far are exceptional.  However, I've been so insanely inspired that I've created a card that's an amalgamation of several of the techniques Timbo (that's what I call him) has shared to date.

I started by glittering a die cut deer using the technique Tim describes on his blog.  Then I moved to the background and painted a piece of Kraft Resist paper with Black Soot Distress Stain, boy do I LOVE that stuff.  I set it aside to thoroughly dry and then embossed it with a Swirly Cuttle Bug folder.  I then sanded off some of the black to let those fab swirls show through.  I painted the Snowflake border with Picket Fence Distress Crackle Paint and let it do it's thang.  Next, I swiped Evergreen Bough Distress Ink onto a long piece of seam binding, misted it with water, crumpled it up by hand and sat it aside to dry.  I picked up the crazy cute pine cones at Michael's and they were already painted with no additional preparation needed.  A couple of stamped images on a small tag and my card was ready to assemble.  

I rather like this card.  It was fun and by the end of it, I was completely inky, which is the true measure of a successful day in the old craft room.   This is one of two Tim Holtz themed cards I'll be teaching this Friday, December 9th, from 1:00pm - 5:00pm at Harwood United Methodist Church located at 420 San Lorenzo.  If you're in the Albuquerque area and want to join me Friday, just send me a note via email at cvaladez@comcast.net.  I'm working on a second card and it will include lots of TH inspired techniques, as well.

That's it for today, folks.  Look for that second card in a day or two.  Until then, stay crafty!        

Tim Holtz Tag and a Kenny K Challenge!

Hey all! I want to give a big shout out to all of the fab folks that joined me Saturday for my Goth Christmas card class. It was a blast! Thank you for spending your afternoon with me, as I know there were probably a million things on your "To Do" list that day, especially this time of year. I truly appreciate it!

Now, for my tag. My mom has been playing along with the Tim Holtz 12-Tags of Christmas this year. In fact, she played along last year, as well, and my sister and I got to reap the fruits of her labor. This year, she has convinced me to play along, too. I am a little late to the party...I just finished Tag #1, but I had a good time putting it together.

I cut out all of my grunge board pieces including the Rickety House, however, when I was trying to assemble my tag, I couldn't balance all of the elements to my satisfaction. Tim (yep, first name basis, except that he doesn't know mine) used a wire type tree that he fashioned out of some Prima rustic branches. It didn't take up much space on his card. I decided to go with the Alterations Branch Tree and it is slightly more bulky. When I laid everything out on my tag, it was way busy. I really liked how my tree turned out though, because I layered on lots of glitter to resemble snow. AND it was REAL glitter, not the glitter glue crack that I am addicted to. BUT, you know what that means... there was glitter everywhere! The cats are going to be pooping glitter for a week...! Oh well, at least it will be sparkly when I clean the boxes. So, because I was so fond of the tree, I had to forgo the house. It may show up on a tag down the line, who knows. I also opted to add a smaller tag with a sentiment on it, whereas he has a ticket on his. It is certainly very different from Tim's tag, but you can see where his original tag sparked the idea for my tag. All in all, I am happy with the way it turned out and can't wait to start Tag #2.

Before I go, I have two things to share. First, there is a new challenge happening over at Kenny K's Krafty Girlz Challenge blog. This week, Team B is asking you to create a monochromatic card. I've never created a monchromatic card, but the results are stunning. My Team B teammates have really created some amazing pieces using this technique, so please pay them a visit on the blog. Remember, there are lots of new images in the store including those sizzling Krash Kittenz (MROWR!). Also, there's a new freebie for December, so stop by and pick her up.

One last request. We're having a Design Team contest over at the Bombshell Stamps Forum. Each of the DT members has created a project and we want you head over there and take a look at all the fab eye-candy. Now I'm going to give you my best Politician Running for Office spiel...please cast your vote for me and I promise to lower taxes and bring more jobs to your state. Ok, so I can't do those things, but I can be really grateful and thank you profusely ;D

Tomorrow I am sharing a Christmas card, so be sure to come back. Until then, stay crafty!