Inspired by... Part III

Hello again... thank you for your indulgence this week!  I hope you enjoyed the hop out of kin of the dollshouse post - something a little different, for a change - and if you haven't yet, I would love it if you had time to check out my debut post as a full-time DT member at The Artistic Stamper.

So, I'm back with the third (and final, you'll be glad to hear) part of my attempt to accept that crafting has simply become as necessary to me as breathing.  I'm trying to understand how it's taken me over by looking at what it is that fires my blood about it all.  So we've come to the prime inspiration...

And the sharper-eyed amongst you will already have spotted that in Parts I and II this name has already cropped up...

No doubt about my chief inspiration - and it's why his recognition this week has really overwhelmed me - and so for my final instalment I'm sharing my take on Tim Holtz's incredible May tag.

As often seems to happen to me, I started out with one, and ended up with two (count yourselves lucky - sometimes it's three or more!)... so let me introduce you to the Dreamer of Dreams and the Collector of Memories.

It was Distress Inks, and Tim's incredible, funky, beautiful stamp ranges that started the whole shebang for me - and the delight I find in simply inking up a stamp and pressing it onto a piece of paper is hard to express.  

As for what happens when you pick up an ink blending tool and start moving water-reactive ink into the picture... what can I say?  It thrills me.

Every time.











In fact, I don't think I've written a blogpost yet where Tim isn't in the Labels, whether as direct and immediate inspiration for a technique or design, or as the designer and creator of the products which have taken over my life.  Thank you, Tim Holtz.  

Oops, that may have come out as sarcastic: I really, really mean it... thank you, Tim Holtz!

There are two tags partly because I was having so much fun with the technique, and partly because as I was making the Dreamer, the Collector started forming in my imagination as a contrast to her.












I don't need to tell you much about the making of these, since you can get it all straight from the horse's mouth right here, but I did have to make a couple of adjustments, including making my own "enamelled" tags, which I will fill you in on.

But I am sharing quite a few pictures because, again, Tim's tag really inspired me, I had the most wonderful time making these, and I love the results.

The rub-ons are really cool to use - lovely memories of playing with transfers as a kid - that magical moment when you peel the paper away and leave the image behind.

They resist the inking fabulously, so that you get really brilliant effects.














I don't have Mona Lisa, so I knew straight away I'd be using the almost as enigmatic woman from the Classics #5 set, and since that lives right next to the Apothecary set in my folder, the skull immediately demanded to be let in on the act too...















Deep ocean blues and greens reflect her unknowable depths, while the skull is in autumnal browns, with even a touch of the metallic Distress Stains in there.














No film strip ribbon, so I stamped the film strip stamp onto acetate and cut it out - love the look of crinkled old film this gives you.  

And I loved the serendipity of being able to fit one of the frames over the eye, looking right back at her!

My favourite bit of rub-on on the skull one is probably the clock... the reminder that time is passing and the end comes to us all... hovering there bisected by the skull.
















I also love that I ended up with the poison label on this side, so I added to that with my stamping.

So, the enamelled tags, then... I don't have any (yet!) so I tried a couple of ways round to create my own.  

I thought it was going really well with the Ranger Enamel Accents, filling little metal cameos from my stash.  I'd got as far as the alcohol ink, and was pretty pleased - but disaster struck when I tried to rub on my rub-ons.  

I'd obviously not left it to dry for long enough: when I pressed down to rub... squidge!

Back to the drawing board...  

In the end, I handcut a couple of ovals, and then embossed them in white.  Lovely firm surface - phew!
















I added some alcohol ink, and then my selected words and images from the rub-ons... She's clearly a Dreamer of Dreams, and he became the Collector of Memories, with another part of a clock face, and lots of file numbers for where he stores all the memories.












I edged them with black Archival ink to mimic the beautiful ones from the Idea-ology range.

Finally, to give them a bit more dimension, I added a coat of Glossy Accents and laid them aside carefully to set.

Each tag has its own Word Band, carefully selected... 

I did make some effort to dent the fasteners using an old pair of scissors... texture hammer here I come.

And, of course, the toppings, dyed crinkle ribbon tied with paper string which I've curled, just for fun!



Thank you, Tim, for another amazing piece of inspiration - I think this has been one of my favourite makes ever - and for being the root and source of such a joyous new life journey.

I'd like to enter these in the following:
As my May tag(s) in Tim Holtz's 12 tags of 2013
A third and final piece of working out what I'm Inspired by... at Simon Says Stamp and Show

To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause...
From Hamlet, by William Shakespeare
Dreams and death (and the other prime inspiration in my life, W.S.)... sorry, I just had to!!