Reflecting on Tim Holtz

Yes, ladies and Gents, it’s that  time of year again, Winter CHA is upon us. What that means for the average stamp-a-holic, is that all things new are being released to our Local Stamp Shops, who in turn will order great gobs of goodies for you and I to own! I love how Tim Holtz previews all of his new products on his Blog,  here we can see, hear and ALMOST TOUCH the new treasures that will soon await us. Now is the time to advise your stamp shop proprietor of what you can’t live without.

I’m jonesing for the Core’dinations  card stock which match the Distress Ink Colors! Conveniently packaged with one each per set of Tim’s 36 colors of Distress Ink. Secondly, Tim has a new Adirondack Cardstock made for specifically for Alcohol Inks, gotta get that too.  And Santa, I also put the Mini Rosette die and new tissue tape on my wish list too.

Tim is our artsy hero. He thinks of everything we wished we had thought of and creates it for us. He never ceases to take things just one more step beyond cool, which makes it fun for his many aficionado’s. On Saturday,  I’m facilitating a monthly project at Stamp Therapy for our Altered Art Group which is inspired by Tim’s Creative Blocks.  Having not taken his class, I came up with my own version of the project,  using of all things; a shoe box lid and foam core board. I later learned that he actually used canvases for his Creative Blocks, but ours is inspired by his and will of course be different. I’ve decided to share the process with you in case you’re interested. I'm calling my version:

A Tattered Journey

What I did:

I located a shoe box with a narrow depth lid. I chose one from a pair of ladies shoes, pretty average sized shoe box. No rules, use the size you like.

Using a screw-type hole punch, I punched two holes in the back of the lid about 1 ½” from the top and spaced about an 1 ½” from each side. I inserted a sturdy wire, which I then looped and twisted on the inside so the wire stayed in place. I then taped the loop down.  This creates a hanger.

I used a stapler to reinforce the box lid sides.

I cut two sheets of ¼” thick foam core board the same size as the inside of the box lid. I secured the first one with red tape to make sure it stuck to the wire firmly. The second layer I glued in with Tacky glue.

I created a template with a sheet of card stock to help me decide what size to cut the blocks. 

I then scored the template using my score pal and cut out the different sized block templates. 

Cut approx 1/16” off of each top and bottom of your templates in order to save room for the thickness of  the papers you will use to wrap your blocks. You can arrange your blocks in whatever way seems visually pleasing to you. I labeled each template with a letter so when cutting the foam core board to match I knew where each was to go. 

Then, using each template, I cut foam core board with an Exacto Knife and a steel ruler on a self-healing mat to match each template. I cut two for every size, and three for a couple  that I wanted to stand out. 

Each set of matching Foam core blocks were wrapped with tape to hold the bundle together. 

I laid out the blocks to make sure they would fit inside the shoe box lid.

I then began covering the bundles with papers, similar to wrapping a gift and securing ends with sturdy tape. 

Once all the bundles were covered with papers, I used Tissue Tape to cover the outer edge of the box lid, making sure to overlap the tape and cover the first 1/4" of the inside rim. It took two widths of tape to cover the edges that would be seen.

I then used red tape around the inner perimeter of the lid, and glued each bundle in with Tacky Glue, making sure that the lid was tight and firm to the bundle edge.

Now it's time to embellish.

I used a couple of rubber stamps; purchased ephemera including a clock face, medallion, Tattered Angels Glimmer Chips and Key; Tim Holtz Ideology gears, stickers, memo pins, keyholes, German Scrap, mini canvas altered with 7 Gypsies Gaffer Tape, Jenni Bowlin Butterfly and some old costume jewelry. Whenever possible, I distressed with Tim Holtz Distress ink. Let me know what you think!

Cricut Expression

I’m a day behind in my goal to post weekly, but we had family in this weekend and I didn’t get the time. My Sister-In-law Amy and niece Madeline came in for a “Girls Only” weekend. We scrapbooked and made Valentines for Madeline to give her class. Amy also brought me my newest toy, a Cricut Expression. Her husband Chris (who is so like me, in sniffing out great deals) found one on Black Friday for $148.00. They regularly sell for $299 and I have seen them as low as $189 but never under $150. When they asked if I would like one, I was not sure if I would use it. Matt (hubster) said “go for it!” So I now have the Cricut to play with.


The first thing I observed is how much space this system needs. It’s pretty large and the instructions stated you must have at least a foot behind and in front of free space for the machine to run safely. This is something I should have known before making my decision. My art room has space at a premium, so this proved a bit of a stressor for me at first.

Matt urged me to go ahead and use it, make sure it works. It did, and worked quite well I might add. It’s really fun and with the right cartridges, you can cut out multiples of just about anything, in whatever size you’d like. I’m going to try to keep my cartridge purchases at a minimum, since I have a Cuttlebug and loads of Nestabilities Spellbinder dies, as well as Tim Holtz dies, I have to be careful not to overdo. Let’s see how that one goes….Happy crafting!

January - A Time to Organize

Each year, January rolls around and I get the urge to purge. Also to sort, reorganize and rethink how I can make my studio space more efficient for me. This year, I couldn't even wait til January. I started this two weeks before Christmas! This should tell you that it was really bad!
On Black Friday, I bought two organizing pieces, which motivated the early start for me.
I got a rolling storage cart from Joann's, which has been designated for my wood mounted rubber stamps.

Oh, if only they all would have fit! I sorted through them and have two boxes of stamps which I will be selling.  I was left with enough to fill one three drawer Iris box. Not too bad. Why can't I let go?
 The second item I bought was a Ribbon storage rack. Again, from Joann's. Love it! It's full! My sign that I can't buy anymore. Hmmmm.. will I obey my inner limiter?

My husband thinks that this room should be for whatever we need to hide for a while, so I had to start hauling things out. You know cleaning one room always forces all the others to be cleaned. Otherwise clutter just moves from room to room!
I have some things to use for my used craft sale piling up, but will need to go through more before I hold it. As soon as this is done, you will get to see the after pictures. Happy organizing, fellow pack-rats!