Pink Plaid for Grungy Monday

Seems like forever since I've posted on Grungy Monday.....and now it's time for Tim's Creative Chemistry on-line class.   I have a feeling that my photography, which takes most of my time and energy, is going to be moved to the back burner for a couple of weeks.   This cool plaid technique first appeared on Tim's blog during his 2009 12 Tags of Christmas.  I did the tags that year, and I was pleased with my plaid tags.  Today, I thought I'd NEVER get a plaid that I was happy with!  Finally....    (Image is from Paula Best)

Happy Birthday, Tim Holtz

Linda's Grungy Monday is celebrating the products of Tim Holtz for his birthday.   I covered cardstock with "Journeyman" tissue tape (both rolls), and die cut the "Old Jalopy."  "A Splendid Adventure" is a sentiment from Stampers Anonymous.  The background layer is from Tim's kraft Paper Stash.  (The tape has a greenish tint because I applied some Pine Needles distress ink to the edges of the car.)

Tissue Tape is the Key

I'm back to Linda's Grungy Monday, where tissue tape and/or paper take center stage.  My card features one of Tim's "Nostalgic" tapes and stamped butterflies from Tim's "Papillon" set.

Embossed Metal and Alcohol Inks

When Ranger challenged some talented designers to "decorate" a pumpkin, the results were as varied as one could imagine.  Personally, I enjoyed each one of them!  Tim Holtz used alcohol inks on embossed metal for his PUMPKIN.  Linda of Grungy Monday has invited us to use that creation as the inspiration for this week.   Tim's lampost die arrived in the mail today....a perfect choice for the challenge.    I applied metallic flashing tape to matboard and diecut the lampost and the holly.  Those pieces were then embossed in a Sizzix folder and inked with Bottle, Cranberry, and Gold Mixative.  (The tag was made of paper from Simple Stories' "25 Days of Christmas" 6x6 pad.)

Masking and Misting with Perfect Pearls

Linda's choice for Grungy Monday this week is an old tutorial of Tim Holtz's for his 12 Tags of Christmas in 2007.  It involves a Perfect Pearls Mist and some masking.

I created my mist from Vintage Gold PP and Faded Jeans Distress reinker. Additional inking involved Pine Needles DI.    Shelly Hickox challenged me to try out my new Tattered Pine Cone die, which was definitely a challenge for me.  I made two, but one looks more like a rose.  I embellished my pine cone with gold microbeads and spritzed some gold Glimmer Mist on the juniper sprays.

Another Tim-Technique Tag

For Grungy Monday, we're using one of Tim's Christmas tag techniques.  I managed to make it difficult.   ;-)  When I finished, I realized that my focal image isn't very visible among all the extras.    However, I did use two of the new limited edition Distress Ink colors:  Festive Berries and Evergreen Bough.   

I managed to make it difficult

Grungy Monday is featuring Tim's "Perfect Distress" technique, and I've done it several times. (Video here) However, I decided I wanted to use autumn leaves (Tim's Falling Leaves set), and I wanted to make a card instead of a tag, but things just wouldn't work.  That was yesterday---and this is now.   Inks for the leaves: Barn Door, Rusty Hinge, Seedless Preserves, Crushed Olive.  I added Mustard Seed to the background after using Vintage Gold Perfect Pearls.

10-minute Grungy Monday

It's been awhile since I've "grunged" anything for Linda's Grungy Monday challenge.  This week it's "Tim in 10"...a creation using Tim Holtz products and completed in 10 minutes.   I was inspired to use gold snowflakes and silver trees because of a tag of Suzanne Czosek's in the current Stampers' Sampler.   (She did a much better job of cutting out the trees than I did; they're the most time-consuming element of my tag.)
(Tim's "Reindeer  Flight" stamp set, gold and silver EP, Tumbled Glass, Wild Honey, Bundled Sage, and Walnut Stain Distress Inks.)


Only after I posted this tag did I realize it should have been a card.    

Back among the crafters of the world....

I don't think I've ever created a single piece that works for two challenges before, but I did that today.  Linda of Grungy Monday is featuring Distress Stickles this week, and Rebecca of Tag Tuesday wants tags with a vintage photo as the feature.

The Bo Bunny 'et cetera' collection just arrived in my mailbox and that's what I chose for this dual-purpose #8 tag: patterned paper, ribbon, chipboard embellishments, and brad.   Old Paper and Tea Dye are the Distress Stickles of choice.  (The creative mind behind most of these Ranger products, of course, is Tim Holtz.) At the center of it all is a beautiful vintage photo  from Dezinaworld.    (Click each photo for a closer look.)

Off the Wall

It took several days of thinking about the Grungy Monday challenge, and I watched Tim's video of his "plastic" Christmas tag several times.   My result is most likely way off the mark, but I have dimensional grungepaper "Tattered Floral" shapes coated with acrylic paints and I've embossed a piece of plastic from something IdeaOlogy to cover the embossed and distressed tag.  (The tag is one of the new kraft tags from Ranger.)  

Grungy Monday #18

Tim's "Twelve Tags of Christmas 2009, Day 8" is the model for this week's Grungy Monday. Linda has created a wonderful seamstress tag in cheerful colors.   I had difficulty getting my vellum to "crunch" and curl; my Grungepaper flower is inked with Barn Door and Fired Brick Distress inks, with a little Wild Honey added. Weathered Wood and Peeled Paint were used on the tag.

Rockin' Grungy Monday #17

Rock Candy is the star of this week's Grungy Monday, and I've used both Rock Candy crackle paint and the Rock Candy Stickles on the cover of my paper bag book. (See Tim's video HERE.)  The two torso shapes were cut from Grungepaper and painted with Distress Stains in Fired Brick, Wild Honey, Faded Jeans, and Peeled Paint, with Walnut Stain to edge the shapes before they were painted with the crackle paint.  The Prima flowers were glossed with Stickles.

It's a Grungeboard Extravaganza

Linda's Grungy Monday challenge is relatively wide open....as long as we use Grungeboard. (See Sir Tim's video HERE.)    I began with Tim's Tattered Florals die and then embossed the flowers in a Sizzix folder and inked them with various colors of Distress Inks.   To add some shine, I used the Cafe' collection of Perfect Pearls, attached the flowers with a Basic Grey brad and stamped one of Tim's sentiments on patterned paper to make my card.

City Skyline on a tag

Tim always makes it look so easy, and the Grungy Monday challenge on Linda's blog this week is no exception.   I tried at least 4 different backgrounds, following Tim's video of Day 7 of Twelve Tags of Christmas in 2007, trying to get a tag color that I liked.    The city skyline is from his ROCKSTAR stamp set. (Broken China with Brushed Corduroy and some Walnut...I think my blending foam had another color on it, resulting in the green cast of the tag.)

Those fabulous...but unpredictable...alcohol inks

Basic Tim Holtz this week for Linda's Grungy Monday:   alcohol inks.  Before he developed the Distress Inks, Tim created a lot of things with his line of alcohol inks.  (Video is HERE.)

My tag is of heavy glossy cardstock, inked with my favorite "primary" trio:  Wild Plum, Butterscotch, and Stream.  I inked a domino with the same felt and edged both the tag and the domino with gold Krylon.  Image is from Stampington and the definition ribbon is from Graphic 45.

Feminine Grungy Monday

I know it's Friday, and I'm just posting my Grungy Monday entry.  I find that when something doesn't work for me the first time, letting it sit for a day or two--or four--often helps.  Such was the case with this particular technique of Tim's technique of April 2008.   I painted three tags, but scrubbed two of them to death.   I painted the "love" stick with a Pearl dabber and used a fabric harlequin ribbon instead of the Dymo.   And of course, I added the rose to continue with the pink and black theme, based on a piece of Tim's Vintage Shabby paper.

I changed my mind...

It's Tuesday, and I just finished my Grungy Monday entry.  Linda has challenged us to use one of Tim's 2008 techniques.  I tried it at least four times---with a tag, without a tag, on a piece of Tim's kraft stash cardstock, on a piece of manila folder.  When I completed a tag to my satisfaction, I just wasn't in the mood for the masculine look.   I started over by die-cutting a manila folder and using Tim's "Urban Chic" stamps, which I won on Linda's blog early in the Compendium of Curiosities challenges.   So, I have two Grungy Monday pieces this week. I much prefer the second one, but I didn't want to trash the first!

Monday, Grungy Monday

I'm at a point where I spend more time on photography than on my crafting, but I haven't given up on the latter. Linda's Grungy Monday challenge this week is simply Distress Inks.  I would LOVE to do some fabulous project, but it's not going to happen.   When I make something now, it's generally for a practical purpose.  In this case, I needed to make three thank-you cards for high school classmates who organized our recent  class-reunion-for-the-ancients.    The cards are a CASE of a Hero Arts guest designer's Christmas card last winter and featured on the Hero Arts blog.   Distress Inks, of course, are one of those great developments of Tim Holtz.

Pumice Stone, Bundled Sage, Wild Honey, Weathered Wood, and Tumbled Glass were my choices for the colors, with Vintage Photo for the background stamping.

Red and Black for Grungy Monday

After trying two different black cardstocks, I went back to painting a manila tag for this week's Grungy Monday challenge.  It's a Shabby Chic technique that Tim used on one of his Christmas tags , but Linda's guest designers have employed the technique for beautiful 3-dimensional creations, too.  (I have only 2 colors of dabbers, plus white and pearl, so I used red acrylic paint over the black paint.)

Not-so-Grungy Monday

Linda Ledbetter  has Grungy Monday followers going back nearly three years to one of Tim's techniques that's a favorite of mine.  I've heard it called "brushless watercolor."

I chose Tim's "Artist" ATC image and "Serendipity" from Stampers Anonymous.