OCC: Time for Tim!

Happy Saturday!

I hope you have some relaxing/exciting/fun/productive things lined up - whatever it is that makes you happy.

This week, our fearless OCC leader, Linda has an interesting challenge for us - to use a Tim Holtz technique in your paper crafting this week! Don't be fooled! Tim's techniques aren't just for the mixed media, eclectic, grungy style that you might think of initially. These techniques can be used for any type of papercrafting.

I use some of his techniques often and have watched several videos. (Admittedly, I spent some time at Jo-Ann's cruising through his book "A Compendium of Curiosities" and found some new and interesting approaches I'll have to test out on my own). 

The one thing to keep in mind about these techniques - they take some practice and some tinkering. You will probably not get it the way you see it in your head the first time. But that's ok! That's part of the fun of papercrafting. Enjoy the journey!

I'm going to share a step-by-step of how I made this card using a paint resist technique.

First I gathered up my stamps, ink, paper and  paint. I did test my colors on a test sheet to see how they blended together because I wanted to be sure I liked them all together before I got going.

I trimmed a piece of white cardstock to 5" x 3.75". Then taking the paint dabber,  I covered my large peony stamp. The paint dabbers by Ranger are perfect for getting stamps inked up - no mess with even coverage and not a lot of waste.

Immediately after I stamped my image, I took my stamp to the bathroom and ran it under water while running a foam brush over it. One thing about paint - you want to get it off your stamp as soon as possible otherwise it will dry in all the little crevices and will make it hard to stamp good clean crisp images in the future.

After the stamp was clean, I ran my heat gun over the stamped image to get the paint dried completely.

When it was completely dry, I got to inking. I started with the darkest color in the lower right hand corner.

Then I layered with the medium shade moving up and to the left.

And then the lightest color in the upper left hand corner.

To blend the color even more, I lightly sprayed some water over the top of the whole thing. Since I didn't use watercolor paper, I had to make sure I didn't add to much as to keep the paper from getting bubbly and warped. This mini mister from Ranger is perfect for these little misting techniques.

Then I broke out the heat gun again.

I decided at the last minute my sentiment was too long so I cut it apart so I could stack the words. The picture shows them together but I ended up stamping the THANK and then the YOU afterward so I could have more control over the spacing.

One thing I like to do when I stitch cards is to leave the ends sticking out a little. I just like how it looks.

And the way the Pearl metallic paint picks up some of the ink is just beautiful. I love this technique - especially with the pearl paint. 

So watch some Tim Holtz videos, visit his website, peruse his books, check out some of his product at your local craft store. There's a lot there to try. And remember, trying some of these techniques is some of the fun. Don't get frustrated with it if it doesn't come out how you want it to the first time. 

Get inspired! Check out what the rest of the OCC team has worked on:

Linda Coughlin The Funkie Junkie

Vicki Burdick It's a Stamp Thing

Sue Butler Scrumplescrunch

Anita Houston The Artful Maven Haven

Anne Marie Hile Stampin' Anne

Wendy Janson It's All About Stamping

Marcy Kaminski En Papillote Arts

Irena Kowalczyk (aka Rudlis) Love, Life and Crafts

Meihsia Liu Simply Paper Crafts

Tui Nathan Stampin Time

Lori Rider The Diva Stamper

Kristin Tierney Lilly Beth Boutique

Sharon Wheet Designs by Sharon 

I hope you really challenge yourself this week and play along!

Holly