Grungy Monday 29: Countdown to 12 Tags, and a Cool Prize, Too!

Happy last Monday of November! Before we get rolling on the next challenge, I have a prize to give away. The Random Number Generator has spoken, and the winner of the Tim Holtz Journal Kit is.... Number 3, Bonnie McLain! Congratulations, Bonnie!!!

Thanks to everyone who shared their gorgeous creations last week. I truly do wish I could sent every one of you a prize.

And now, it's officially The Most Wonderful Time of the Year! We grungy crafters wait for it, wish for it, plan our early Decembers around it... that's right, it's almost time for:

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas 2011

YAY!!!

Did you watch the video? You've got to watch the video! I watched the video, like, eight times. I love, love, LOVE the 12 Tags, and can't wait to enjoy this beloved tradition along with my Grungy Monday friends!

This challenge is going to be a little different from the norm, because I want everyone to have the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in The 12 Tags of Christmas. So, Grungy Monday 29 will be open for TWO weeks, and the challenge is to post your favorite winter holiday-themed project using Tim Holtz products and/or techniques. You are welcome to link in one of your new 12 Tags projects, or any other Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Winter Solstice/"What-the-Heck-It's-Cold-Outside" piece you wish! Please be sure, though, to include info about which of Tim's products you used.

You can post your entry anytime between now and 8pm Sunday, December 11. That's the second-to-last day of 12 Tags, so you'll have lots of projects to choose from if you decide to link in one of those pieces. One lucky participant-- selected by Random Number Generator-- will win this very cool, canvas Tim Holtz Idea-ology messenger bag! What a great way to tote around your craft supplies!

To keep it all equitable, please link one project only for this challenge. You can upload a picture from your blog or any online photo-hosting site, using the InLinkz button at the end of this post.

Don't forget to upload your art to the Grungy Monday photo album at All Things Tim, too, where awesome List Mom, Gloria, has provided this easy way to share your GM work with the entire membership there. It's an awesome group of artists, and if you're not a member, it's high time you joined the fun!

Have a great time with this super-sized Grungy Monday, and I hope to see you all linking your tag every day at Tim's blog when the 12 Tags of Christmas officially begins. Don't forget to add a project here for an opportunity to win the messenger bag (and because I'd miss you if you didn't!).

Hugs,
Linda

For my project, I made a shadowbox to display a couple of the vintage shelf elves my mom gave me last year. They're old and a little stretched out, and don't sit too well on their own anymore... so, they needed something to lean against! 

The shadowbox is a cheap-o craft store crate, painted with Adirondack Denim Paint Dabber, then sponges with Snow Cap Paint Dabber. The edge is painted with Silver Adirondack Paint. The snow is... well, um... it's blown-in insulation from my attic. Yep. You can craft with darn near anything. 

This is a big 'ol celebration of Tim's new Christmas Alterations dies: Bigz Vintage Noel (cut from Grunge Board), Bigz Holiday Lampost (more Grunge Board), and the Festive Greenery Strip Die (cut from various colors of Tim's Core'dinations Kraft Core paper). 

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Grungy Monday 28 and a Great Big Prize!

Happy Monday, and happy Thanksgiving week to my friends here in the states! You guys did a spectacular job on last week's challenge, and I'm very much enjoying making the rounds and seeing your beautiful art. 

Simon Says Stamp will be announcing the winner of the $25 shopping spree on their blog later, so be sure to check and see if your name is there! Thanks, as always, to the wonderful ladies at SSS for their generosity. 

Do you follow the Ranger Ink blog? If so, you probably saw their awesome Great Pumpkin Challenge last week. They gave several of their most beloved designers a little craft store pumpkin and asked them to create a wonderful centerpiece using Ranger products. Well, the designers more than rose to the occasion, and created some mind-blowingly gorgeous pieces. Here's a link to the first post in the series, so you can see all the cool art! In that spirit, this week's Grungy Monday will be to create your own project that's based on....

Tim's Piece for the Ranger Ink Great Pumpkin Challenge

The idea here is to be inspired by the technique Tim used to alter the pumpkin, not to actually alter a pumpkin (unless you want to, of course!). So, think embossed, Alcohol Ink'ed foil, and then let your imagination run wild with the idea. For my sample piece, I made a little holiday gift box:

I got the template for these little boxes from my friend, Lynn Stevens, who's truly one of the most amazing artists I've ever known. You can check out her beautiful blog here. The box is made from Tim's new Christmas Memories Kraft Resist paper, colored with Festive Berries Seasonal Distress Ink. This week's technique was used on the strip of Ranger Metal Foil tape, embossed with the garland folder from Tim's Sizzix Alterations Christmas Backgrounds and Borders set. Santa is from Tim's Seasonal Paper Stash, attached with Glossy Accents to a round Idea-ology Fragment. 

But, enough about me. Let's talk about the awesome prize that one of these week's entrants is going to win! I bought this in Mario's "Shop at Sea" on the Crafting Cruise a couple months ago, and Tim was gracious enough to autograph it, knowing it would eventually be a Grungy Monday prize. It's a very special Life's Journey Journal Kit, and includes all the components you need to make your own beautiful book, with Tim's instructions for putting it together. Tim taught this class several times over the past year, including in Puerto Rico to an audience of 800 students! The kit is something that's relatively rare and completely wonderful, and I'm so excited to be able to offer it as a Grungy Monday prize!

To be eligible to win, create your own work of art based on Tim's Great Pumpkin tutorial. Remember, this is all about taking the techniques and making them your own, so you can make whatever you wish as long as you incorporate Tim's process for embossed metal/foil with alcohol ink. When you're ready, upload your finished piece to your own blog or public image-hosting site, then add it to this post using the InLinkz button below. Please remember to include a link to Tim's tutorial in your post. Entries that don't won't be included in the drawing for the prize.  The winner will be chosen at random and announced in next week's Grungy Monday post.

Remember to share your photo at the All Things Tim group, too! Lovely List Mom, Gloria, has a special album just for your Grungy Monday masterpieces! If you're not already a member of this talented, supportive group of Tim fans, be sure to join!

I hope you all have a wonderful week, and whether or not you're celebrating Thanksgiving, I wish you countless things to feel grateful for. I certainly feel enormously thankful for all of you, my blog friends who never cease to inspire and amaze me with your kindness and talent!
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E-Team Special Mission: Be Merry!

I'm always thrilled when a new E-Team Blog Hop rolls around, but I was over the moon when I learned that the topic this time is Seasonal Tags and ATCs. Yes, I've succumbed completely to Early Onset Holiday Syndrome, to the extent that I'm already drinking eggnog lattes and listening to Harry Connick, Jr.'s Christmas albums... over and over. I guess I just need a little Christmas. Right this very minute.

 Here's my ATC

And, here's my tag.

As with every E-Team Blog Hop, Daisy from eclectic Paperie has some prizes up for grabs, and all you need to do to be eligible to win is leave a comment at each artist's blog. Easy as pumpkin pie, and you have until Thursday, November 17 to get those blog visits in. Daisy will randomly choose three winners from among all the comments, and each will win an awesome "Be Merry Goodie Box!"

Remember to visit the eclectic Paperie blog, too. Leave a comment there about your favorite Thanksgiving dessert,  and you might win one of two $20 gift vouchers!

All winners will be announced on the eclectic Paperie blog on Friday, November 18.

The eclectic Paperie E-Team is:

Daisy Sparks, our Fearless Leader

Broni Holcombe

Latrice Murphy

Linda Duke 

Linda Ledbetter (That's me!)

Micki Harper

Sherry Cheever

Starla Nelson

I'm honored to be in such good company!

For my own Be Merry project, I went totally Ranger Ink/Tim Holtz (big shocker, huh?) ;-)

 1. Begin by stamping snowflakes from the Tim Holtz/Stamper's Anonymous Reindeer Flight (on #8 size tag) and Mini Holidays sets using Distress Embossing Ink. Heat emboss the inked images with clear embossing powder.

2. Smear a generous amount of Iced Spruce Distress Ink (from the limited-edition Winter Seasonal Distress Ink Set) onto a nonstick craft sheet. Spray the ink with Perfect Pearls Mist in the color "Perfect Pearl.

3. Drag the tag and ATC through the wet ink. Presto-change-o, the snowflakes pop! Blot off any pools of watery ink with a paper towel, and allow the tag and ATC to dry.

4. Grunge up the edges with a Tonic Paper Distressing Tool, then smudge Stormy Sky Distress Ink around the perimeter of the tag and ATC.

 5. Stamp the large Santa from the Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous "Letter to Santa" set with Jet Black Archival Ink. Use little brushes to strategically apply Festive Berries and Evergreen Bough inks (both from the Winter Seasonal Distress Ink Set).

6. Repeat using the little Santa image from the Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous "Holiday Wishes" set. Cut out both Santa images.

7. Cut the Christmas Carol sheet music image from the Tim Holtz/Idea-ology Seasonal Paper Stash, grunge up the edges with the Paper Distresser, and smudge Walnut Stain Distress Ink around the edges.

8. From there, assemble your tag and ATC using foam tape to give them some dimension. I added Idea-ology Baubles to the tag, and an Idea-ology "25" Plaquette to the ATC. The candy cane-colored string is Twinery in Maraschino Red.

Thanks so much for helping the E-Team welcome the holiday season! We're wishing you all a lovely time, lots of happy surprises, and creativity to last the entire year through!

Hugs,
Linda

Grungy Monday 27!

Sponsored by:

Happy Monday, blog friends! It's 5:30 AM as I write this, and the coffee hasn't kicked in, so please forgive all typos and bizarre syntax. :-)

I had so much fun revisiting that classic "12 Tags of Christmas" technique last week, I just couldn't help but do it again. Tis the season, right? This week, it's all about Perfect Pearls mist, masking and (of course!) grungy fun DELUXE! Let's hop in the WayBack Machine and set the dial to:

Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas, 2007, Day 6

Please click here for a list of the products I used. 

You're not required to do a holiday-themed piece, by the way. 

The awesome folks at Simon Says Stamp are sponsoring this challenge and will be giving a $25 shopping spree to their amazing online shop to one lucky participant! To be eligible to win, just create your work of art based on Tim's tutorial. Remember, this is all about taking the techniques and making them your own, so use whatever imagery, colors and theme you're drawn to. When you're ready, upload your finished piece to your own blog or public image-hosting site, then add it to this post using the InLinkz link below. Please remember to include a link to Tim's tutorial in your post.

The winner of the challenge will be posted on the Simon Says Stamp blog early next week!

Remember to share your photo at the All Things Tim group, too! Lovely List Mom, Gloria, has a special album just for your Grungy Monday masterpieces! If you're not already a member of this talented, supportive group of Tim fans, be sure to join!

And with that, I'm crossing my fingers that my spotty internet connection holds long enough for this to post, and will look forward to seeing your amazing Grungy Monday art! I hope you all have a magical week!

Hugs,
Linda
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Grungy Monday 26!

As I write this on Sunday evening, I'm about 2/3 of the way through reading the submissions for last week's Grungy Monday, and they are breathtaking! The tributes to loved ones that were shared were absolutely beautiful and so heartfelt. I know it was a tough challenge and not everyone's cup of tea, but whether or not you participated, please carve out a little time to see the art and read the stories of remembrance. They're magnificent!

After last week's unusually introspective challenge, this feels like a good time to lighten things up and PARTY! Heck, Halloween is over and December will zoom in for a landing before we know it, so how 'bout we prime the pump and revisit one of Tim's 12 tags projects? This is one of my personal favorites, and taught me several techniques I've been using ever since:

Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas, 2009, Day 7

For a list of the products I used, please click here. 

Yep, I've succumbed to the lure of the holidays, even going so far as to listen to Michael Buble Christmas music while I was making this.

To play along at home, please create your own version of Tim's tag. This absolutely doesn't have to be a holiday piece-- just use his tutorial as a guideline and create something that's uniquely your own! Upload your finished piece to your own blog or public image-hosting site, then add it to this post using the InLinkz link below. Please remember to include a link to Tim's tutorial in your post.

Remember to share your photo at the All Things Tim group, too! Lovely List Mom, Gloria, has a special album just for your Grungy Monday masterpieces! If you're not already a member of this talented, supportive group of Tim fans, be sure to join!

Have a spectacular week, blog friends, and thanks for being part of Grungy Monday!

Hugs,
Linda
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