Inspired by Tim Holtz 1

Welcome to March and this, my first post for the latest Countryview challenge. This month I chose the theme, "Inspired by Tim Holtz". I trust most of you will find it easy... who hasn't got any products designed by him, from Sizzix, Ranger, Stampers Anonymous and lots more or hasn't tried one of his techniques?!

Should you need inspiration from the master himself, I will point you in the direction of his blog where Tim has lots of steps by steps, mainly through his 12 tags monthly posts from 2012 through to 2016, a whooping 60 and that's even before we look into his Christmas tags...

Without further ado here's mine:

First I created my base, the equivalent of a No8 Manilla tag, after realising that this is the size TH actually uses and not 10 as I thought! I cut a tag then gessoed it, painted in Fresco Vanilla and even created a faux hole protector.

Then I applied some tissue tape. I tore 1 strip in half to give uneven edges, which you'll see if you look close up. You'll notice I have the dispenser too and it may be an extravagance but it is nice to have this tool as it makes it super quick to get a piece of tape.


For my focal image, I stamped the Bowler hat man from the True Gentleman set from Flonzcraft with Archival.
It's one of my favourite stamp set and I couldn't possibly narrow it down to just one!

I applied some Grunge Paste (Paper Artsy) through the Retro Circles(Stamplorations) and Reverse Chicken wire (TCW) stencils.



Next, I spritzed my tag and applied Distress inks re-inkers. Usually TH would use Distress Stains for practical reasons but, as my experiment reveals, it's perfectly OK to use re-inkers although messy (beware stained fingers)...

I used a chicken wire stencil to add more stencilling with black ink and tried to lighten my man's face and clothes.

For finishing touches I added some wooden gears (Calico Crafts) and an arrow (Tando) after giving them a metallic look with DecoArt Metallic Lustre in Silver Spark.
TH would at this stage include some sort or words be it Chit-chats or a metal plaque, but I couldn't find the right space for it and I'm a woman of a few words so I settled for the single "authentic" from the Thinlits set Adventure Words die-cut from black card.

I am looking forward to see all your Tim Holtz inspired creations on the Countryview Challenge blog! You could win a £20 voucher for your entry...

Thanks for coming by,
Also entering the Penny Black and more, SSS Wednesday and Vintage Journey challenges.