Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas #6

     Ok you are not missing the other tags. I watched Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas and played along when I had the supplies or time. (You know what I am talking about in regards to time at Christmas time, lol). Anyways this tag REALLY intrigued me because of the drill punch.
     I am always looking at Tim's section in my local craft store and saw this thing that looked like a huge hinge. I thought, what in the world does he use this for? (Guess I should have looked at the header to see what it was, lol). You can only imagine how thrilled I was when I saw Tim use it on the video for Tag#6! You use it to drill holes in soft metal. How cool is that!

     I decided to use this on an ornament. The wonderful thing about Tim's Tags is the inspiration he gives you. I had this glass ball hanging around and although I thought it would be nice, it didn't have the glitter I was looking for. I held onto it and decided it would be perfect for this technique of Tim's. Boy was I right!
     Thank goodness I had Tim's adornment with the wreath. I thought I could use it for something and then, along came Tim's 12 tags.First I started to drill the hole using the hand drill. The wreath was then painted with green acrylic paint and then distressed with Tim's sanding grip. After, I added some red berries also with acrylic paint. I used Ranger embossing ink to the whole wreath and covered with Kaleidoscope transparent embossing powder by Stamp N Stuff and heated the wreath to set the powder. The colors are just gorgeous!

     The inside image is from Tim's Seasonal Stack that I covered with paper glaze then cut to fit inside the wreath.You can tell from the top photo the image is of a wonderful winter countryside.I finished off the ornament by tying a red cording and a small jingle bell. After adding a white sheer bow to the top it is ready to hang. Thanks Tim for being the inspiration behind this ornament.

Tag 1 Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas

  Ok, so now I get to play and share a few of the projects I learned from Tim Holtz fabulous 12 Tags of Christmas! I just love all the techniques he shared this season and it's the first time I have been able to play around.
     This first tag had some great techniques including some new ones as well as some I always love to use. I cut my own tag using Art Philosophy @ 6.25" which is the equivalent to the manilla tag Tim sells.The first part is to emboss the tag first with a dry embossing and then to add some embossing ink and white opaque embossing powder. The effect is a nice pearled sort of background. Of course that is followed by distressed inking Antique Linen) after a little distressing. I love Tim's sanding grip. It seems to give you nice control and is easy to apply just the right amount of pressure without sanding away too much of the paper. Oh I forgot to mention I used the snowflake embossing folder from the cuttlebug.
     I thought I would use the "Let It Snow" phrase from Winter Frolic so I cut it @2.25 from some glittered card stock I had. I also cut the shadow from a metallic silver card stock from my stash, lol.The snowflakes are also from the Frolic cart.
     The challenging part about this cart is the pinecones. I searched all over to find this die of Tim's but to no avail. So I searched my cartridge "library" and settled on a cut from the gypsy font. I need a LOT more practice,lol. After some distressing inks and shaping, I added some Martha Stewart crystal glitter and some of Tim Holtz' snow cap paint to the edges. Although I am not too happy with the finished product, I know with some practice I will do better.
   I forgot to mention I used a strip of Tim's Seasonal Pack for the music sheet and also distressed the edges with Vintage Photo ink. The final touches were a few leaves cut with martha's leaf punch and some bling and pearls to jazz it up!
     I completed the tag with a nice ribbon and a snowflake brad. I can't wait to do more of his tags!




  
    

 

Ben's Birthday Cake

     The month of December is a REALLY busy one for us.You see not only do we have all the activities of Christmas but we have 6 birthdays. Dec.7, 13, 19, 22, 28 and also the 31st! The ages they are celebrating are 5, 5, 23, 38, 2 and 22. I feel so bad for them because it's almost like the birthday is set aside for Christmas. So with that in mind I have always made sure the presents are wrapped for the right occasion and there is a birthday cake. We have plenty of cookies for Christmas but birthdays deserve a cake!
     We don't get to see Nicholas who turned 5 on December 7 since he is in Florida however we did send his gifts. Poor Benjamin who turned 5 on December 13th FINALLY had a party. You see it usually snows or his third birthday was supposed to be a big party however we were hit with a major ice storm and most of us were without power for 3-5 days. Chuck e Cheese to the rescue for some of us, lol. I believe last year there was also a snow storm. So this year the weather co operated and the party was a blast! (Literally, they did laser tag)!
     I had just gotten the Cricut cake machine in (great deal) so this is my first attempt using this machine. I used the Buccaneer cart since it was a pirate party. I think there is going to be a learning curve!

     I had my own gum paste (tinted brown) for the skull and cross bones. The blue and white is a sugar sheet that I thought would be good to work with, wrong! it dries too quickly and is brittle. Even though I got it on sale, I don't think I'll use this again.

     I was fortunate enough to find some pirate themed candles to add to this. How cool are these banners? I made a lot of them because.....

     I made cupcake boxes for the kids party at the laser tag party so each kid would have their own cake. Ben's was extra special with the "Shiver Me Timbers" pattern for the cart. I made a little insert for the bottom of the wrapper to raise the cupcake up. The insert was cut from Sweet Tooth Boxes. I forget which cart I used for the actual box. Just a word of warning if you print your own cardstock with the Imagine, it is not waterproof. I placed the cupcakes in the wrappers just prior to bringing to the party.

     Here's the handsome and ever playful Benjamin who is now officially 5! I will show you the rest of our birthday bashes as the month goes on. Off to practice with my Cricut Cake!!!!

Glass Etching

     Do you ever wind up with a collection of other peoples baking ware and don't know who it belongs too? I have a solution. This year I went to several Tastefully Simple parties and bought a bunch of their famous Beer Bread. If you've never tried it , it is fabulous. You can also substitute any carbonated beverage in place of the beer!
     Now, I just love to add a personal touch to my gifts (who doesn't,lol) so I thought I'd pair the bread mix with a personalized bread pan. I picked up a bunch and was so pleased to find they were made in America. Believe me that is a rarity!

     I used the Cricut cart From My Kitchen to cut the "bread" oval @ 1.5". I used contact paper since it was cheaper by the roll and I knew it couldn't be used again so I didn't want to waste my ProvoCraft vinyl.

     Next step was to apply the etching cream. as you can see I put it on fairly thick. Oh before you do this be sure to tape off any edges so you don't accidentally spill over with the cream. I used painters tape so it would come off easily. Also be sure to protect your work area.I left it on a good 10 minutes.

     I really wanted to personalize these, so on the other side I included the family initial. The only problem is when you have a letter with cutouts, ie, A,B,D,O etc.No problem, I just used Provo Craft's transfer tape to hold the "middle" in place! once you adhere it to the glass with the vinyl you remove the transfer tape.

     Here's the finished product. I also added a holiday potholder and wrapped the bread mix. I can't show you how the letters came out, these are gifts after all. This makes a really special gift. What are you giving?

Ornament Boxes

Christmas Ornament Boxes

     Well have I ever been busy, lol. Along with trying to do Christmas shopping, filling ornament orders and doing Birthday shopping/baking, I haven't forgot I had promised to show you the packaging my ornaments come in.
     First I ordered some clears boxes from www.clearbags.com. These turned out to be the perfect size but, they needed something to hold the ornament in place. I hope you realize by now that there isn't anything you can't do with a Cricut! I used the Sweet Tooth Boxes cart and used a cupcake holder cut at 6.75. The patterned paper was done using Santas Village cart and I even made a matching tag. I just love how the Imagine can resize the images to the appropriate size object so everything is proportionate! One thing if you plan on making these is to use a sturdy cardstock for the base.
     We have 6 December birthday's (ughhh!) so I finally bought a Cricut Cake to kind of help me out yet I haven't had a chance to play yet. This week I have to dive in so I'll post pics on how I do, wish me luck!!!
     Also Tim Holtz is in full swing with his 12 tags of Christmas and can I just say WOW! I hope to complete a few and I'll definitely share these gems as soon as I finish. I think it's going to be a creative week!!!