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.)

Comments

[karen in maine]

thanks, tim - great technique!

[tammy b]

what is there to say, besides: you rock. sadly, not everyone is as open and sharing as you are. i'm so grateful you're sharing your gifts with us, as there is no way i could ever afford to travel and take one of your classes, so this is 2nd best - although i do love to see your smiling face in your videos!
happy and safe travels, tammy b

[Lauren]

Love it, love it, love it! Defintely going to have to try it & I even have all the tools I need at home! I might try to purchase some similar stamps though. I just started a book club with some of my online scrappin friends that are fellow book worms as well & these would make great bookmarks! Thanks Tim! :)

[Luanne]

hurrah! I've been lovingly stalking yoor blog all day waiting...absolutely worth it! Thanks again for doing this for us!! Your products inspire creativity, and when you demo them the juices start flowing! Gotta run, I've got tags to make -luanne

[Linda van Vliet]

perfect inspiration! I never thought about remelting embossing and removing it with a paper. I have all the tools I need for this example :) yippiee! And I'm off again on the next step of my journey. Cya all along the way.

[Diane Radischat]

t!m, You're right it's all about the sharing. It's what got me into this industry and it's what makes me most happy to stay in it. I appreciate you're willingness to share so openly your creative talents. Thanks again, I am off to my studio to 'unclutter' it, reorganize my space and start to create again. This technique will be first on my list. diane

[Lynne]

Hi Tim, thanks for the lovely tag. My sister in law and I went to a show on Sat and saw someone demonstrate blending distress inks on gloss card. I'd never tried them on gloss before but they did blend really nicely and s-i-l and I spent all evening playing - do you often use gloss card?
Have a safe flight.

[Tigger]

Gorgeous tag... You're at Ranger this week? Stop by and have a beer... ;-)

#1

[Jana]

Great !
I was just wondering
if a normal iron would work, for the ones like me that does not have a craft iron

[sofiso]

I really love that batik look !!! thanks for sharing !! :=)