The random winner of the foam stamps is…

Congratulations Nikki. Please email your address to igirlzoe@gmail.com so I can send the stamps to you.

Thanks to all of you who commented and look out for another blog giveaway during May.

Zoe x

Studio L3 has kicked off the new Compendium of Curiosities 2 Challenge, generously sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. I’m lucky enough to have a lovely signed copy from Tim Holtz. You can order your signed copy HERE.

I had looked at the different techniques in the book and wondered what the first one would be. I thought “as long as it’s not page 66 as I don’t have any foam!” LOL

As the first weeks challenge fell on Friday 13th, I decided to go with a darker theme.

Whilst cutting an assortment of foam stamps I came up with the idea of using my Sizzix Movers and Shapers Keyhole and Cabinet Dies to make a door and have the image lurking behind the keyhole. I chose the Stampotique stamp because it’s just so creepy.

I used the custom foam stamp inside the notebook as I wanted to use a stamp from my new Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous World Traveller set.

The question mark stamp reminds me of Batman’s The Riddler and also has quite a creepy look to it. I have posted a craft haul video which includes this new stamp set, if you’re one for craft haul drooling.

I made up a small assortment of custom foam stamps using my Sizzix BIGZ and Movers & Shapers Dies. I’m pleased with the piece I made, however, I’ve realised that I’m not a fan of foam stamps and doubt I will use this technique again, although I’m pleased I tried it.

As I’m unlikely to reuse my foam stamps, I’ve decided to give them away. Comment on my blog during the next week and I will pick a winner at random and send the stamps to you.

Zoe x

Distress inks spritzed with water

Spritz and Flick / Brushless Watercolor / Wrinkle-Free Distress

The spritz and flick technique has become a firm favorite with me, followed closely by the brushless watercolor, which I had never done before. I am beyond at excited about what you can do with a little H2O.

Zoe x

Day 1 – Discovery & Understanding (and CAKE)

My Husband surprised me with these miniature cupcakes for my first day of class

I can’t believe it’s been nearly a month between blog posts! BAD ZOE!

In my defense, I’ve been getting inky with Tim Holtz via his online Creative Chemistry 101 classes which concluded today. You can still sign up as there is lifetime access to the class content. The forums and galleries will remain open until April 9th, so there is still time to ask Tim questions, chat in the forum and share your creations.

Day one was about discovering the different characteristics and properties of the products in our craft stash and understanding how to use them.

I will be posting the tags I’ve made from each days class. I hope you’ll stop back and take a look.

Zoe x

I started with this naked snowflake that I picked up in the January sales.

I covered the snowflake with Gesso and put face down on to a dictionary page, smoothed out the wrinkles and left to dry and harden. I used distress stains and inks to give an aged effect and gold adirondack paint on the edge of an old credit card to create gold streaks, (a technique from Kate Crane’s Art Journaling DVDs).

I used sandpaper, distress inks and stains to age the edges and attached a chain and some other idea-ology pieces to decorate.

‘The word ‘snow’ is grungeboard covered with distress ink and distress stickles. I made the snowflake embellishment by cutting grungepaper with a Tim Holtz movers and shapers snowflake die, covering with distress ink and pearl adirondack paint. I made a snowflake wax seal, trimmed and attached to the center of the grungepaper with glossy accents and added a small pearl accent to finish it off.

Here is the finished snowflake, ready to hang on my swap partners Christmas tree.

Zoe x

I am going to spend the weekend pouring over the pages and getting inky. It should keep me out of trouble until the Creative Chemistry 101 classes start on Monday 19th. Tim has just posted a video teaser and details about the class on his blog.

Zoe x

I’ve excitedly waited all day for the Tim Holtz Creative Chemistry 101 SUPPLY LIST, and here it is…

 
I have most items on the list or a variation of, so my Husband’s credit card remains safe (for now)!

I’ll need to pick up a couple of Distress Markers when they become available. I’m going to order Fired Brick and Vintage Photo first, to see if I likey. I think they’ll be really useful for inking detailed areas of stamps. I may have to add Black Soot to my list, to ink up individual words on a quote stamp.

Oh it never ends! Today a couple of Distress Markers, tomorrow 37 varieties and a new storage conundrum!

Zoe x

Tim Holtz promises to guide us through the “science” behind Rangers many mediums. Through online workshops we will learn techniques as well as ways to use all the creative mediums in our stash. We will create tag swatches with instruction labels for future reference.

Hope to see you in class.

Zoe x

As promised in my last post, I have some vintage Timmy Treasure to giveaway.

For your chance to win this lovely loot, just write a caption for the following photo of Tim Holtz and leave it in the comments below.

I’ll pick a winner at random on Wednesday 29th February at (GMT 21:00). There will be an extra prize for the person who comes up with the funniest caption.
(I will happily pay for international shipping).

Zoe x

And the random winner for the Ye Olde Tim Holtz Giveaway is…

And the winners for the funniest captions are…

 
Thank you all for your your funny captions! These two made me laugh the most and I couldn’t decide between them, so they both win!

Congratulations Rhea, lcjustme and Angela. I hope you really enjoy your vintage Tim Holtz goodies.

Zoe x

Tim Holtz‘s fabulous Distressables books are jam packed with techniques, projects and inspiration. The easy to follow step-by-step instructions are illustrated beautifully in colour photographs.

A signature I would love to have in my Compendium of Curiosities book.

My mini avalanche of Distressables 9×9 cardstock makes me happy.

A snapshot of the Distressables 9×9 cardstock.

Distressables Doo-Dads are seriously awesome! The miniature images are perfect for sanding, distressing and using for collaging on dominos, bottle caps, slide mounts and other tiny altered projects… also great for ransom notes!

As these are rarer than an orderly queue at a craft clearance sale, I propose to share! I’m putting together a little bundle of vintage Timmy love to give away in my next blog post.

Zoe x