Tim Holtz–Summer of Creative Chemistry 2016

I’m taking part in Tim Holtz’s Summer of Creative Chemistry over at Online Card Classes and here’s a few reasons why I think you all should too! <3

• The live forum’s with Tim Holtz have been reopened!
• He seems to be answering every single question the people are asking
• Recap Creative Chemistry 101 and 102 and surprise yourself!  When I first signed up to 101 and 102 I didn’t have that many supplies (mainly just distress inks) but I was thoroughly impressed with how much my stash has grown in the last year so I learnt even more techniques 2nd time round and recapped everything else to keep it fresh.
• There are 4 sets of prizes given out each week (which are decent prizes!)
• Start your own sets of technique tags which you can refer back to forever
• Even if you don’t think you have everything right now, there will still be plenty of techniques for you or maybe it will encourage you to have a go with other things in your stash.
• Be part of the brand new Creative Chemistry 103 when it is released in a couple of weeks with the same live access to Tim that you would have got when 101 and 102 launched.
• Learn why we do stuff, why it works, why this and that go together and why those things over there resist each other, which surface to use, etc…
• Apply the techniques to whatever craft you do: card making, stamping, scrap booking, art journaling, etc…

Here’s my set of technique tags which I’ve created from this week’s recap of CC102 – week 2: stencilling.

Art Journal: Our Mind is a Constant Voyage

I do like this one it could be one of my favourites but I'm not sure if that's anything I've done or just the fabulous quote.  I also like how I included a simple tag to a page as part of the quote made it interesting.  Long words are achievable with a hyphen!  Hurray!  There is a lonnnnnng list of materials used for this one so please scroll down for details and photos.  At the end of the video you see me adding some stamps but I didn't like how it came out to I stamp onto book paper instead and voila!

Ingredients

• White Gesso
• Decoupage papers
• Tim Holtz Tissue Wrap
• Distress inks: Old Paper, Antique Linen, Tea Dye, Vintage Photo
• Manilla Tag
• Homemade ink spray (Aqua Tints in a mister bottle with a little water)
• Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Stamps Classics
• Faber Castell PITT brush pens
• Clear stamps from my stash of random stamps
• Black Archival Ink 
• Liquid Pearls: Brass
• Thick reclaimed Twine
• Old book paper
• Stencils – Memory Box and Dot Fade by Time Holtz
• Pebeo modelling paste
• Brass charms from stash
• Alpha stamps by Craftwork Cards
• White gel pen and Black spectrum noir
• Distress texture stamps – Sheena Douglass
• Thick Embossing Powder by Cosmic Shimmer – Vintage Bronze
• Gilding Wax by Creative Expressions in Vintage Green Gold

Technique Tags: Aquatints

I’ve been playing with my Aqua Tints by Spectrum Noir (super awesome liquid watercolours) and have been inspired by Sheena Douglass to create my own set of technique tags.  A lot of these were suggested by Sheena on her colouring DVD and YouTube channel but I have added some other techniques from here and there.  I’d like to keep adding to this page when I do more!  The tags used are Craftwork Cards Essentials Tags.

From left to right: original colour, mixed with white (opaque goache), mixed with black (tint)

Mica paints: mixed with silver (more silver), mixed with gold (less gold)

Mica resist using Sheena’s stencil with gold and then washing colour over

Pastel layers using two layers of pastel blocks allowing to dry in between layers

Using glycerine and cut ‘n’ dry foam to blend colours

Salt technique: add salt to wet colours and leave to dry

Brayering: two colours added one at a time with brayer, also distress ink around edge

Gesso surface: colour painted on top, also flicked water to create faux bleaching

Sponging with kitchen sponge

Cling Film wrinkles with silver

White stamping top layer

Marbling by dragging through colours but needs to include white

White top layer over coloured layer

Art Journal and Tag: Dragonfly and Pear

I have finally decided to take on a new art journal.  Recently I’ve been doing some of the older Tim Holtz Tags of 2013 which is a great place to start if you need to build up supplies as some of the stamps are repeated and the products are older now so they are cheaper to buy!  The tag used in this entry is from the June tutorial and basically I continued the theme.  I stamped the dragonfly and pear onto watercolour card and then added colour using Spectrum Aqua pens instead of Distress Markers and blended with a water pen.

Scroll down for list of supplies!

Check out the rusty effect of Vintage Photo Distress Embossing Powder!

Here’s the ingredients with links to Amazon:

• Moleskin Soft Large Plain Notebook
• Tim Holtz distress inks: Gathered Twigs, Wild Honey, Brushed Corduroy
• Tim Holtz Distress Paint, Salty Ocean
• Stamps: Stampers Anonymous Classics No. 1 Rubber Stamp, Stampers Anonymous Classics No. 4 Rubber Stamp and Crafter's Companion Textures Collection - Rubber Stamp - Splats and Stains
• Stencils by Sheena Douglass: Distress Grid and Pop Dotty
• Archival Black ink
• Faber-Castell Pitt Brush Pen Earthtones
• Watercolour Card
• Spectrum Aqua Pens (instead of distress markers): Aquamarine, Kingfisher, Yellow, Gold, Slate
• Tim Holtz Distress Marker: Fired Brick
• Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Powder 1 Ounce-Vintage Photo

Calendar Box Tags: March

This month’s tag was made using the Potting Shed paper kit from Craftwork Cards.  Accents include Glossy welly boots, crackled pots, Black Soot distress ink and some Sissal string.

Latest Tags for February

This month I have made four tags with the latest Craftwork Cards collections this I wanted to share..’'.

  

 Velvet Plum and stamped with ‘Love’ on candi pieces. Tag was from essentials collection and coloured with distress inks.

 More Than Words: Tag was a yellow base coat tag and elements and words were scalpled from the papers.

  Truly Scrumptious: this one was different for me and I tried to play mainly with a single element from the papers and coloured it with watercolour pencils and liquid pearls

Butterfly Parade: what a beautifully effective kit!  Tag was from the Base Coat set and the butterflies have been glittered with stickles.

Another Tag: Letters and Postcards

 

Made using a plain white CWC Essentials tag, Papers from the correspondence designs, plain white candi, distress inks (old paper + vintage photo + black soot), crackle glaze and a selection of script stamps.

Just before making this tag I had just finished making this one for fun, coming up with some different ways of using liquid pearls and glossy accents - again this was with Craftwork Cards Papers:

Framed Art: Botanica Butterfly Tag

Technorati Tags: craftwork cards,framed,butterflies,tags

I am really loving the Craftwork Cards papers!  Here is a framed 8 x 10” piece of art that I made.  It looked amazing on the wall and within a day it had been sold!  I tried to give the butterflies some life like qualities by getting them to fly away to the top flower.  Hope you enjoy :)      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

• Papers, paper butterflies, diecut flowers and tag: Craftwork Cards
• Textured watercolour paper
• Distress Ink: Vintage Photo and Tattered Rose
• Gilding Wax: Pewter
• Glossy Accents (on the butterfly bodies and the flower in the lower corner)
• DoveCarft mini alphabet stamps

Time Flies ... Fly With It! Tag Challenge Entry!

 

So I wanted to finally start a blog and this seemed like a good opportunity.  I would say I'm fairly new in the public Crafting World but I came across a challenge on the page http://tagalongchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ that would give me something to do!  This week's challenge: Tick Tock.  At the end of this post I've provided the meanings behind the elements on this piece.

Ingredients

Papers - Craftwork Cards (Time Flies)
Gilding Wax - Creative Expressions - Pewter and Patina
Distress Ink - Tim Holtz - Tattered Rose
Stamps - DoCrafts mini alphabet
Glossy Accents (on the clock faces on the butterflies)
Liquid Pearls - Silver Pearl
Paper Doily
Other bits and bobs from my stash - organza ribbon, clock hands, pink mini rose buds



Technorati Tags: butterflies,challenge,craftwork cards,doilies

Symbolisms You May Have Missed...

All in all I'm quite happy with the finished result and the symbolism of the design.  I didn't want to go down the route of doing a vintage and heavily distressed or steampunk style - instead I wanted it to be a bit more light and happy. 

1. The clock hands pointing towards the wording leads you to the words, but at the same time, separating the hands represents the two realms of time that we experience as humans: real world and dreams and how they are so separate and non-sync.
2. The wording of Time Flies... Fly With It suggests that although we can't stop time and have to go along with it then let's at fly instead of dragging our heels! 
3. I love that the clocks on the butterflies (from Craftwork Cards) all have the same time on them - so although they all exist at the same time they all chose their own path.
4. Why FIVE butterflies?  Numerology interests me.  The number 5 represents unpredictability, being always in motion and change.  There's a more in depth description of five here: http://www.numerology.com/numerology-numbers/5
5. Finally - the clock key on the ribbon represents that our life is essentially as long as a piece of ribbon held together by time (a very deep discussion point) and every time the clock needs to be reset (with the key) new buds will bloom (rebirth and new life after time ends).