September Tag

Morning Folks,

I hope life is treating you well wherever you are and whatever you are doing.

I have a tag, made for a swap, to share with you today and it's my homage to the great man himself, Tim Holtz.

Needless to say, I had almost nothing from the supplies required for this month's tag but nothing ventured, nothing gained :)  I simply followed his instructions, improvising, adapting and substituting as I went.

For example, where TH used a manila label, I cut a scrap of white card to size and shape, and where he used a star patterned stencil, I substituted star-shaped sequin waste. Embossing paste, I had none ... so I made some up, a vaguely remembered recipe Ali Reeves mentioned during a TV demo some time ago, mixing PVA (white/Elmers) glue with cornflour (cornstarch) ... it worked perfectly :)  And that is pretty much how I continued ... I got pretty stumped on a few of the steps but, after cogitating and deliberating over the instructions, usually thought of a suitable substitute for almost everything needed to complete the tag.

One of Tim's mantra's is that we should 'embrace imperfection'. Well, I have, quite literally by including it on the tag ... seemed appropriate somehow given how imperfect the tag is :))

I won't say there wasn't times when the little grey cells felt defeated but it was a very satisfying exercise and a great way to use a few snippets of card. And at the mention of snippets, I am reminded that I can submit my tag to Pixie's Crafty Snippets Playground - any excuse to visit the duck pond and feed the ducks :))

Materials used:

• scraps of white card from the snippet box
• Tim Holtz distress inks - Festive Berries, Peacock Feathers; Dried Marigold, Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo and Black Soot
• dimensional paste made with PVA glue and cornflour
• sequin waste, masks from Special Touch and Crafter's Workshop and a plastic stencil for numbers
• white acrylic paint
• stamps - Craft Stamper butterflies, Denami Design dragonfly and the ruler from a sewing set that was free with a magazine, Artemio key, alpha set for letters - maker unknown
• gold embossing powder
• punches - circles in two sizes
• Archival Jet Black ink, VersaMark
• Tim Holtz Idea-ology Chitchats and black marker
• white American seam binding - coloured with distress ink

Edit Note: having been ordered by BJ to enter this on Tim Holtz' blog NOW ... how do I dare to disobey :) 
Thus, I'm submitting this tag to Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2013 - September 

It's dental check-up day, again :( Two appointments, one for the hygienist and the other for the dentist himself, groan ... I know it's essential but that doesn't make it any easier. Ah well, it will be soon over.

Hope you have something much more pleasant in your diary for today.

Take care and happy crafting,