12 Tags of Christmas...{day 1}

supplies: craft sheet, distress inks/faded jeans/broken china/weathered wood/dusty concord, distress crackle paint/rock candy, distress stickles/rock candy/picket fence, distress embossing ink, adirondack paint dabber/snow cap, black embossing powder, heat-it craft tool, archival ink/jet black, mini mister, glossy accents, ink blending tool (ranger); grungeboard/basics plain/elements, tiny attacher (idea-ology); tim holtz scissors (tonic); fabulous flourishes, retro holiday , reindeer flight (stampers anonymous); #8 tag, dymo label maker, ribbon, 24g. wire, double stick tape, foam tape

step 1: apply various colors of distress ink to your craft sheet by rubbing them directly on the sheet.

step 2: mist the inks with water from a mini mister.  be sure to create droplets of water on the ink.

step 3: press the tag into the ink making sure to cover the entire surface with your first layer of color.

step 4: dry the tag with a heat tool.  it will curl when it's wet, but flatten again when dry.

step 5: tap the tag back into the ink and stand it on end to let the inks drip and move around.  repeat this as many times as you wish and then heat the tag to dry it again.

step 6: stamp the snowflakes with jet black archival ink.  we want to use a waterproof ink for this image.

step 7: stamp the fab.flourish with faded jeans distress ink.  we want to use distress ink for this image.

step 8: begin applying rock candy distress crackle paint to the tag.  you'll notice that the flourish stamped in distress starts to bleed a little (this is intentional), that's why we stamped the snowflakes in archival to they stay detailed.

step 9: cover the entire tag with a generous layer of crackle.  think frosting on a cake - i love frosting! set the tag aside to dry. (this is going to take a while to start cracking so let's work on other components of the tag)

step 10: stamp snowman on a piece of plain grungeboard with distress embossing ink.

step 11: pour on black embossing powder over the image and remove excess and place back into jar.

step 12: heat emboss with a heat tool until the powder melts and becomes shiny. *note: grungeboard will curl when you heat it, but it's okay - it's flexible and unlike chipboard, the embossing powder won't soak into the surface and disappear.

step 13: once the image is embossed, let it cool for a minute and apply snow cap paint dabber over the entire image.

step 14: while the paint is still wet, wipe over it with a paper towel to remove the excess paint.  this will color the snowflakes white, and give the embossed image a cool white-wash look perfect for the holidays!

step 15: cut out the snowman from the grungeboard sheet.  i find it easier to chunk it out first.

step 16: begin cutting around the image - a sharp pair of scissors help.  it's okay to leave a bit of a border around it if you want.

step 17: once you've cut around the outside it should look like this.  the next few steps are the reason why i like to work on grungeboard - see for yourself.

step 18: using a hole punch (a crop-a-dile works best to go through grungeboard), punch a hole inside each arm area.

step 19: using the tip of your scissors, begin snipping out the inside areas.  i make small snips at a time and because grungeboard is flexible, you don't have to worry about anything breaking off or tearing.

step 20: finish cutting around all of the openings - yes you could use a craft knife for this part too, but i'm knife challenged.

step 21: apply a generous squirt of rock candy distress stickles over the snowman.

step 22: spread out the distress stickles to make a thin layer over the entire image.

step 23: my favorite part of using distress stickles - you can dry them with a heat tool immediately!  so go for it, dry them.  just be sure to keep the heat tool moving - remember we're drying not embossing.

step 24: remove a flourish from the grungeboard elements pack and paint it with snow cap paint dabber.

step 25: once the paint is dry, apply some rock candy distress stickles and dry them with a heat tool.

step 26: ink the edges of the flourish with distress ink using an ink blending tool.

step 27: cut the flourish in two.

step 28: check the tag to see if it's crackled.  if it's not quite finished at this point you can speed up the process with your heat tool and watch it finish crackling right before your eyes.

step 29: ink over the crackled tag with distress ink using an ink blending tool.  one of the cool things about rock candy distress crackle paint is that it's completely clear so you can add any color into the cracks to accent your background design.

step 30: create a piece of thin wired ribbon by starting with a 2 thin pieces of ribbon, a piece of 24g. wire, and a piece of double stick tape.

step 31: apply a piece of tape to one of the ribbons.

step 32: remove the backing of the tape and press the wire on to the tape.

step 33: line the the second piece of ribbon directly on top of the wire sandwiching it in between the two ribbon.  there you have it, custom wire ribbon! (this is also cool to do with any scrapbook paper or fabric scraps)

step 34: to make a scarf for our snowman, thread the ribbon inside the opening on the right as shown.

step 35: fold the ribbon around crossing the left end over the right.

step 36: slip the left end up underneath the right as shown.

step 37: fold the left down and crumple the ends to create a blustery wind blown look.

step 38: apply a few pieces of foam double stick tape (this can be any color).

step 39: remove the backing of the tape with a craft pick.  neat trick huh?

step 40: apply a small amount of glossy accents to the back of the flourish and adhere to the right and left edges of the tag.

step 41: press the snowman over the grunge flourishes.

step 42: create some words for your tag.  this can be a stamp, scraps of paper, something you print on the computer, or a label from a dymo label maker - i love my dymo!

step 43: attach them to the tag using the tiny attacher.

step 44: apply picket fence distress stickles across the top of the tag and pulling down tapered lines.

step 45: this created your own "distress stickles sickles".  pretty cool.  these are going to take a while to dry, even if you use a heat tool so do these last.  attach a ribbon to the tag and you're done!  whew!

(in the details:) i always like to show a detailed shot of each tag and what i think is the best part of each one.  here i wanted to show you the cool textures the rock candy products create.  the rock candy crackle looks like cracked ice on the background and the rock candy distress stickles look like the snowman has been sprinkled with sparkly snow.  and how cool is that wired ribbon scarf blowing in the wind?  it's in the details...t!m

Comments

[Helen]

Stunning tag... I love the snowman !

[lynne]

Fabulous Tim, now it really feels like Christmas!! Thanks so much for doing this again.

[Melissa Burford]

Thanks for the heads-up about scrapbook.com. I'm glad that you decided to do the 12 Tags of Christmas again. I love the snowman and can't wait to see what else you have to show us. Merry December!

[Lori McCausland]

Awesome instructions! Whoo hoo!!! Can't wait to make this one!

Great start for the 12 days!

[L@urie Lacle]

WOW! Gorgeous as usual! Can't believe it's already December 1st - where did the year go?!
What an awesome tradition, t!m. Keep up the GREAT work. :)

~L@urie

[Lynn]

I love that crackle effect! Just the inspiration I need to get cracking on my Christmas projects.... it just wouldn't be Christmas without Tim's Twelve Tags, it's fast becoming a tradition.

[Kathryn in Benicia by the Bay]

Off to a beautiful start! Now it feels like the Holidays.

[Liz Walters]

How can this possibly get better?? Awesome. I’m overwhelmed and am so excited for 11 MORE!!!
Thanks so much!! You ARE the man!!
Love, Liz
Liz Walters
Prescott, AZ

[LenaS]

Love this! No wonder it took so long to load...what a great tutorial! Thx Tim.

[K.Ahlswede]

You know how in movies when something super amazing comes up on the screen they play background music of a choir singing "Hallelujah"? Yeah...that's kinda what's playing in my head while the picture of the tag are loading one by one. It is so pretty! I love the Stickle-sicles!