Tim Holtz Inspired Tag- January 2015

I love almost everything Tim Holtz put out into the craft world. I especially find the things he creates with his Distress line inspirational. I use his Distress Inks on nearly everything I create, whether it is a tag, card, home decor piece, or a layout.

Each month he creates a tag tutorial to inspire crafters to create. Here is Tim's tag for January.

I have decided to try to create a tag each month based on his inspiration tag. Let's hope I can keep up & remember to share it here. :) I also plan to create my tag with materials/supplies that I already have on hand. I'm not going to go out and purchase new TH stuff just to create a tag. That being said I do currently have a cart at Simon Says Stamp full of Distress. Have you seen the new monthly Distress color?? Cracked Pistachio. I now have to decide if I need it in the full Distress line or just the ink and marker... (The whole line is currently in my cart). :) Can't wait to see what new color he debuts each month this year!

So now onto the tag I created:

I like how he created the background using his tissue wrap. I didn't have his tissue wrap, so I used a piece of light yellow tissue paper and used a glue stick to glue it down. I made sure to kind of smoosh (technical term of course) it around to ensure I got some of those great creases that would hold extra color and ink. 

After it dried I painted over the whole thing with some Tide Pool Glimmer Glam by Tattered Angels. When that layer dried I used a palette knife to spread some Distress Paint in Brushed Pewter, sprayed Biscotti Perfect Pearls, and then added drops of Gold Perfect Pearls mixed with water. I dried it with my heat gun and then stamped the large saying from Tim's Way with Words Cling Mount Stamp Set in black ink. The saying didn't stamp as well as I had hoped it would, but I decided just to roll with the imperfection. To make the imperfection look a little more intentional I added more Biscotti & Gold Perfect Pearls.

The whole tag & edges got inked with Broken China Distress ink I inked the crinkle ribbon with Broken China as well and then spritzed it with Biscotti Perfect Pearls. 

The embellishments include an older Charm Fragment piece. I covered the back of it with Silver Metallic Mixative Alcohol Ink and then used a Life Quotes Remnant Rub-on on the front. Added a jump ring and attached it to the crinkle ribbon. 

On the bottom of the tag I used the Idea-ology Mini Numerals for 2015. The "Tell the Story" piece is from Tim's Simple Sayings Cling Mount Stamp set. I stamped it on a manila tag, cut it out, and then used Broken China ink mixed with Biscotti Perfect Pearls to paint on a watercolor-y background. 

For me this tag is the perfect way to start my creative journey for 2015. This year I want to spend more time creating and using the beautiful stock pile of materials/supplies I have to TELL MY STORY.