'littlest of things' - 12 tags of 2016 March

hi there lovely friends xoxo

eeeeeeep! I've just finished my 12 tags of 2016, these Tim Holtz remixes are awesome fun and get the creativity juices flowing 'a' plenty :-)))

To go see Tim Holtz's remix tag and how he's created his beauty - PRESS HERE - you can see all the amazing creations inspired by Tim that are uploaded too! 

I went with a feather remix, tis the littlest of things that make my heart sing and brings  smiles to my face, such as the springtime birdies singing sweetly in the trees which  prompted this tag and I soooo looooves feathers too, there's something magical about them that draws me in...

bright, beautiful colour is 'springing' up all around us, springtime is soooo totally inspiring, the colour palette was easy, just oodles of it - teehee!

me being me lol... I start with about 5 or 6 ideas in my head and just go with it...

and this was where I started, 2 tags, one gesso'd, then when dry I popped it through my Bigshot with the Tim Holtz thinlets 'mixed media' die. I adhered Tim holtz's patterned tissue wrap to the other tag with matte gel medium - once dry I adhere the die-cut tag over the top of the tissue wrap tag (again with help medium)

I take a selection of the new Tim Holtz distress crayons from all 3 sets (oh dear I'm addicted to all 3 sets and roll on more sets eeeeeep!). And crayon in areas over the die-cut tag (one colour at a time is my secret) - starting with yellow every time and working outwards from there with similar colours ie. oranges, pinks, reds - where I want to add a little blue or green I simply leave a gap of white to crayon some in and slowly and carefully blend outwards - it doesn't matter if you leave white as you blend either - or popping blues and greens over the yellows is easy as they blend like a dream - also you don't need to blend every crayon stroke out! Whilst I scribble over the die-cuts I dig in a little deeper so the 'die-cut out bits' get coloured crayon chunks fast in them too!  

Once colourised I die-cut out the 2 feathers from Tim Holtz's Sizzix die 'Feathers Duo Bigz and Texture Treads' 

I carefully wipe away all the surface crayon from each feather, leaving the crayon that is trapped in the 'die-cut out bits' - make sure you wring out your wet wipe - you don't want a soggy wet wipe!

Also I die-cut out 3 feathers from a background created from multiple colours of the distress paints which are dabbed onto card stock then spritzed with water to let the paints merge.  I give these 3 feathers a vavavoom with the crayons, basically following my same techniques as above, just this time I enhance a yellow distress painted area with yellow crayon, the same for a pink area, I've pink over pink, but then you may like to try see if the yellow crayon sits kool over the pink paint - hey if it doesn't simply wipe away with the way wipe and try another colour!

Ann a couple of doodles with the Ranger Ink Fude ball pen - the black makes the colour 'PoP'

I gesso a black tag for my base, I use very little gesso and gradually build my layers, dragging what little gesso I have on my brush in a cross-hatch fashion around my tag, I aim for a hit and miss distress look with more gesso in the middle of the tag.

A piece of up-cycled corrugated cardboard is trimmed to size and gutted to leave a large oblong bottom area where the 'lightly gesso'd Ideaology quote band' will sit.  I paint the corrugated tag with lashings of Tim holtz's new and totally amazing (matte I might add) distress crazing medium - swooning lol (and let this dry naturally)

meanwhile I take the 'Speckles' stencil and ranger Ink (amazing marshmallowy feeling) texture paste and add a little texture to the top and bottom corners (distress crayons loooooves texture paste)

scribble your crayons over the dried texture paste (Ranger Inks texture paste dries über fast too) then blends with your finger tips, once blended carefully add another totally different crayon colour on the texture paste not blending this time.  The stronger/darker colours I always use for my last layers.

the corrugated tag and slightly 'curled/shaped' feathers are sewn onto the black background tag with a sewing machine - my beloved 'Singer' and then I add more crayon doodles. Where there is a pinky feather edge I add a little pink crayon to the background where it sits, and if there's a yellow feather edge, then I add yellow crayon doodles where that sits - thus the colour edges of the feathers reflect the same colours onto the background . The corrugated cardboard gets a coating of the White crayon, which rubs into the 'crazed crackles' beautifully, I repeat to build up a dusty looking topcoat and in places is ply don't rub in the crayon!  The quote band is adhered to the tag plus it's wrapped with cotton too.  The Feathers are adhered into place at the same time as the tag .

more doodles, this time with a Ranger Ink splodger edge (oh dear I left mine at my mates so I had to raid my purse for a credit card!) - the splodger works better for this job as it's unique shape gets into and around the raised texture paste/corrugated cardboard edges - any ways I add in lines of the distress paints, I also add lines to the bottom feathers!

more lines in various colours and 'Fude ball' pen doodles too, catch the left hand edges of your die-cut feathers too.  Once the lines are dry take the fabulously addictive and fun Distress 'Splatter Brush" dip the base of the bristles directly into Distress 'Picket Fence' paint, then whilst holding the top-mid lengths of the bristles use your other hand and pull your fingers across the base bristles - splat city hahaha (always practice on a spare sheet of paper first to perfect your technique eeeeeep!). The closer to the tag the more precision, the further away means you hit a wider area of tag - again eeeeep! (Can you tell I loooooooves this tool lol)

also the edges of the corrugated cardboard get a haphazard coat of 'Antiqued Bronze/Tarnished Brass' distress paints.

where would we be without 'Small Talk' - it's quick, easy and most effective - I add it to the gaping big hole in the middle of my tag, also it balanced up the 2 opposite 'black splatter corners', now there is a pathway through my tag, the eye has an easy route to peruse my tag, a flow, a balance...

to address the balance more, I darken the left hand side of the tag with a couple so spritz's of Pumice Stone Distress Spray Stain (covering the top right hand corner and feathers with kitchen roll)  I spray from approx a hands length distance away, for a mid coverage of stain.  Over this I spritz  (x2) the new Tarnished Brass Mica Spray too which is my final touch - the magical touch that draws me to feathers...