Tim Holtz

thank you all...

i just wanted to once again thank all of you for helping out "a place to bark".  the contest has officially ended and bernie came in 5th which wasn't enough to win the additional grant, but she has still raised an incredible amount of money and awareness for her cause.  you can check out how bernie and the animals are doing, and continue to help throughout the year by visiting her blog.  thank you, thank you, thank you!  i'll be posting the winner of the canvas as soon as i get the list from bernie...

on another note....the february "technique challenge" goes up tomorrow on the blog!  see you then...t!m

it's so close!

seriously - we are down to the wire here!  and it is neck and neck for the top 4 causes to win the extra grant money.  i know there are lots of great causes out there, but this one "a place to bark" is very important to me.  i've said it many times and this is my last chance to say it - PLEASE donate your $10 to this great cause.  it's important to have as many DIFFERENT people donate to win this for bernie and her animals.  whoever you can get to donate, any part of the world you live in, you can help do this! check out the top standings here - remember bernie has to be in the top 4 to win!  c'mon everyone - let's pull together on this we have until 3pmEST!  a very sincere THANK YOU goes out to those of you who have already made your donation for this great cause.  you have no idea how much your support means to me...-t!m

this is it...

i've posted several times about a cause i think is so amazing - "a place to bark".  there is a contest going on to provide additional grant money and you can help!  if you haven't taken the time to donate - PLEASE DO IT TODAY!  the contest ends tomorrow at 3pmEST.  many of you have already stepped up to help out and i truly appreciate it, and i know some of you think that $10 won't make a difference - but it will!  remember it's all about the number of DIFFERENT PEOPLE who donate, not the number of times or amount.  $10 can make a huge difference, so please ask everyone you know - your co-workers, your neighbors, your kids, whoever, we need as many different people to donate as possible - that's how this contest works.  i know we can all come together and make a difference for these animals.  my blog gets over 8000 hits a day - so if everyone who views this, just donates $10 we will win this thing for bernie and her animals.  i've said it before and i'll say it again - we get what we give in life.

please help if you can, and remember you can also win this!  i've decided to pay it forward and give up something i've been keeping for myself.  it's this distressed canvas mosaic.  it's an art piece composed of (9) individual 4x4 chunky canvas squares.  you can hang these on a wall with or without spaces in between them as these are not connected or you can stack them up on a shelf.  this is a very special piece to me - i created it for a ranger project last year for our CHA booth it's one of my favorite art pieces.  i've decided to give it away to a lucky winner for doing something good.  all you have to do to enter is make a $10 donation by following the information below - think of it as a raffle ticket with the benefit of doing something good.  every time you make a $10 donation, you'll get your name entered into the drawing.  you can enter/donate as many times as you want to!  the drawing will be held on February 2nd. *IMPORTANT: when making your donation, please be sure to include your contact information and then enter the name "cooper" on the line that says "dedication or gift" this will enter you into the drawing. here's more information:

How It Works:
The four charity badges with the most unique donations through America's Giving Challenge will get $50,000 for their cause.
America's Giving Challenge runs only until January 31st.
Donate:
If you are able donate , please donate via the badge a $10 tax deductible donation. We need the most people possible to each donate $10 to A Place to Bark. In order to win the grant we need to have the most amount of donors, not necessarily the amount of money donated.
All donations made to A Place to Bark's Six Degrees Badge, will be matched by the "Zoline Foundation" up to $25,000.00!!! All donations up to June 1st will be counted for the matching donation from the Zoline Foundation.

please click the donate button  to do something good and help out if you can.  there's even a video to watch about the wonderful things "a place to bark" and bernie berlin are doing.

this cause really means so much to me and i appreciate all you can do to help.  we can do it!  thanks again...-t!m

and the winners are...

thanks to all of you for your kind and excited comments.  i'm glad you're enjoying the videos - i agree that seeing things work makes all the difference.  here are the 3 winners of the 3 new product packs!  please e-mail your address information:
Posted by: Tiffanie W. | January 25, 2008 at 09:52 PM
Posted by: Marge Grauso | January 26, 2008 at 11:44 AM
Posted by: Earlene | January 27, 2008 at 11:39 AM
congrats to all of you....-t!m

lights, camera, action...

you've asked for it - so here you go!  i received so many great comments from you about the grungeboard video and asking for more - so here are 3 new videos on the uses for my idea-ology products including: fragments, the design ruler, and the texture hammer.  I think these short videos are a great way to share my thoughts on why i designed a product and it's uses.
*by the way:  to answer many of your questions about where to find my products, be sure to check with your local scrapbook or stamp stores first!  shopping local is key, however i understand not everyone has local stores.  now you can simply click the link on the right column of my blog to shop at scrapbook.com.  they just recently added a "tim holtz" section so you can find everything you're looking for all in one stop....
let me know what you think???  it's been a while since i've given anything away so be sure to post your comments on my blog as i'm drawing winners for 3 prize packages of ALL 3 items in each!  yep, good things come in 3's - i'll be picking the winners on monday!  have a great weekend.  enjoy....t!m (photo: movie 3)

what's new...

it's always exciting when the new products i've been designing start showing up.  i've been busy working on new samples for the booths for CHA.  crazy stuff!  i've been able to start using some of my new stamp images - i think you're going to like them!   looking forward to a couple of weeks home before the show - busy times, but i get to be home so that always makes my happy.  Speaking of happy, here's a pic of some new treasures i picked up at during my travels: the metal toy jack i got at home goods while in new jersey and the cool & and @ i got at hobby lobby coming home from the airport.  i had the perfect spot for these eclectic treasures in my studio...

i also wanted to say once again a huge thank you to all of you who have been participating in the "place to bark" donation contest.  i'll be picking a winner and announcing it on february 2nd for the canvas mosaic.  here's a link to that post in case you're checking out my blog for the first time.  it's not too late to help out and get entered into the drawing....-t!m

headed home...

i'm heading home after a week in new jersey at ranger.  i spent the week working on sample boards for our CHA booth with my friend robin (who also happens to be the director of education at ranger).  we worked about 16 hours a day for the last 5 days - lots of time, lots of work, but lots of fun...and coffee.  we created samples, samples, and more samples - which are to be displayed on boards in our booth - i think they look great!  we also had our share of meetings including our plans for new products (top secret stuff of course...).  all in all it was a great week.  there is still lots of work to be done before the show, but we are certainly in a great place.   i can't wait!

i also wanted to thank so many of you for the support of "a place to bark".  the challenge is almost over and i appreciate so many of you making a difference - good luck on winning the canvas!  have a great weekend...-t!m (photo: old luggage)

we can do it...

thank you to so many of you who have donated to help out "a place to bark".  i know we can all come together and win this for bernie and her animals.  if you haven't taken the time to check out the post, please do.  we're only 2 weeks away from the deadline - remember it's all about the number of PEOPLE who donate, not the number of times or amount.  $10 can make a huge difference, plus you get a chance to win some artwork.  i believe you get what you give in life - 'cmon, let's make this happen.  enjoy today....-t!m

january technique challenge...

"january technique challenge" - tim holtz(c) 2008
supplies: non-stick craft sheet, distress inks: faded jeans, broken china, vintage photo, walnut stain, black soot, ink blending tool, clear embossing powder, heat tool (ranger); paper distresser, scratcher tool (tonic studios); craft iron (clover); stamps (stampers anonymous); #8 tags (office supply store)

step 1: ink stamp with a lighter color distress ink and stamp on to surface.

step 2: working quickly, cover the stamped image with regular clear embossing powder and remove excess powder and place back into jar. (*tip: remember distress ink is an embossable dye ink)

step 3: emboss the image using a heat tool until powder is completely melted. (*tip: do not over-emboss the image, when it's raised and shiny, it's done)

step 4: choose a variety of colors of distress inks for your background. (*tip: choose colors darker than the stamped image)

step 5: using your ink blending tool, begin inking tag using the lightest color.  tap the tool on to your distress ink pad and in a circular motion, apply the ink to the tag. (*tip: only ink various sections of the tag with this color, not the entire tag)

step 6: repeat above steps using the next darkest color. (*tip: again, only ink other sections of the tag you didn't ink with the previous color, but still leave areas of the tag un-inked)

step 7: repeat with next color following above steps.

step 8: finish inking the tag with the darkest color.  this step should cover up any un-inkned spaces left on the tag. (*tip: you can always go back to the previous colors if desired - be sure there is contrast from your embossed image to your background colors)

step 9:  place a piece of newsprint old paper bag over your embossed image.

step 10: iron over the newsprint using a craft iron set to the highest heat setting. (*tip: a craft iron is twice the temp of a household iron and does not have any holes)

step 11: continue ironing until you can start to see the embossed image show through the back of the newsprint.  (*tip: this step is re-melting the embossing powder and absorbing it into the newsprint. your image is now smooth and the original color you stamped in as the embossing powder acted as a resist to the top layer of inks.  this is similar to wax batik but using embossing powder instead)

step 12: drag paper distresser along edges of the tag.  this will tatter the edges and prep them for ink.

step 13: ink distressed edges of tag using your ink blending tool and a brown color of distress ink.

step 14: stamp bird image near the top of the tag across batiked image using black soot distress ink.  this will still resist the ink from the stamped image too!

step 15: stamp verse stamp in bottom corner using black soot distress ink.

step 16: distress the surface of the tag using a scratcher tool by extending the wires and dragging it across certain areas of the tag.  this will scratch away layers of the tag. (*tip: do not be too aggressive with this step to avoid putting holes into the tag.)

paying it forward...

i've decided to pay it forward and give up something i've been keeping for myself.  it's this distressed canvas mosaic.  it's an art piece composed of (9) individual 4x4 chunky canvas squares.  you can hang these on a wall with or without spaces in between them as these are not connected or you can stack them up on a shelf.  this is a very special piece to me - i created it for a ranger project last year for our CHA booth it's one of my favorite art pieces.  i've decided to give it away to a lucky winner for doing something good.  all you have to do to enter is make a $10 donation by following the information below - think of it as a raffle ticket with the benefit of doing something good.  every time you make a $10 donation, you'll get your name entered into the drawing.  you can enter/donate as many times as you want to!  the drawing will be held on February 2nd. *IMPORTANT: when making your donation, please be sure to include your contact information and then enter the name "cooper" on the line that says "dedication or gift" this will enter you into the drawing...
If you've already made your donation yesterday, not to worry, i will get your contact info from bernie and you will be entered into the drawing for the canvas - thank you.

if you didn't read yesterday's post, here it is again.  i'm sure we can all come together to help...

in life i think it's so rewarding when we have a chance to do something good.  sometimes it's the simplest thing to change someone's day, sometimes even their life.  i truly believe that you get what you give in life, the whole pay it forward kind of thing.  a while back i was contacted by a very special person who is doing just that - making a difference and changing lives.  her name is bernie berlin and she is a mixed media artist with a heart of gold - she also runs a full time dog  rescue "a place to bark".   i just wanted to share with you what great things bernie is doing and how she has devoted so much of herself to help our furry friends.

How It Works:
The four charity badges with the most unique donations through America's Giving Challenge will get $50,000 for their cause.
America's Giving Challenge runs only until January 31st.
Donate:
If you are able donate , please donate via the badge a $10 tax deductible donation. We need the most people possible to each donate $10 to A Place to Bark. In order to win the grant we need to have the most amount of donors, not necessarily the amount of money donated.
All donations made to A Place to Bark's Six Degrees Badge, will be matched by the "Zoline Foundation" up to $25,000.00!!! All donations up to June 1st will be counted for the matching donation from the Zoline Foundation.

please click the donate button above to do something good and help out if you can.  there's even a video to watch about the wonderful things "a place to bark" and bernie berlin are doing.  if you would like to add this badge to your blog, click the share tab to do it.  enjoy your weekend - the technique challenge goes up on monday!!!  -t!m