A Tim Holtz Amazon!

Hello and welcome to Magpieheaven! It's been a busy week for me, full of little Green Men! No, we haven't had a Martian invasion, I've been lucky enough to be guesting over at PaperArtsy and my theme has been The Green Man! It's been such fun looking at the beautiful interpretations people have come up with! I've also been dying to enter a new challenge and I seriously began to doubt that I would have time, as I've also been very busy with my English tutoring. Then I grabbed some time and this is what I created. Can you guess the new Challenge I'd like to link it up with?

 There's quite a bit of Tim Holtz influence on this, so that should be a clue! Yes, it's the wonderful brand new Vintage Journey Challenge, which you can find out about here! Do pop over and take a look! They have a wonderful team with some great vintage inspiration on offer. This challenge is to create something in a Vintage style with a strong Tim Holtz content! I've been a huge fan of Tim's style and the creative journey he encourages us to take ever since I started blogging about a year ago. I thought I had the exact idea of where I wanted to go with this tag, but - like all the best journeys - this one changed direction along the way!

I started out with a picture of myself in the '60s, two tags and an embossing folder!

I loved the pattern on those stage curtains and my feather headdress that said 'Woman Warrior' but didn't really 'go' with the girly party dress! I was small and quiet as a little girl, but I felt like a hero inside; it always annoyed me that the boys in stories got to do all the interesting things and I was always on the side of the Native Americans when I watched Westerns on Sunday afternoon TV. I intended to make this picture the focal point of my Tim Tag until the creative process took over and I began to think about my journey into adulthood and how it was like learning to be a Woman Warrior! The little girl with the feathers might be behind this tag, but should she take centre stage?

I put her to one side and started to make a little 'purse' for her to carry on her journey. I swiped a #7 tag through distress inks - Vintage Photo, a little Fired Brick, Squeezed Lemonade and stamped with Tim Holtz's Como19 Photograph in Black Archival Ink. I added some Idealogy details, a gem clip and a 'Destiny' tag along with a little feather. That purse was going to carry all I needed for my journey: Courage, Honesty and Adaptability! Sometimes I remembered to dip into the purse and use them, sometimes it would feel like they were all used up!

 Here is my tag that I would attach the purse to. It soon seemed to resemble a dark forest. The leaves from those curtains were forming themselves into real leaves and branches, closing in on winding paths I must navigate my way through! I swiped through Vintage Photo, Peeled Paint and Peacock Feathers and edged with Walnut Stain. The Leaf is one of Tim Holtz's Tattered Leaves dies, cut from Shrink Plastic painted with a wash of PaperArtsy Fresco in Guacamole and edged with Walnut Stain Distress Ink. The rose at the centre of the 'Forest' is made from card die-cut with Tim's Tattered Pinecone and then stamped with Tim's Como19 again and edged in Peacock Feathers Distress.  I accented the swirls with some Treasure Gold in Aquamarine, White Fire and Classic.

 Then came the Change of Direction! That little girl wasn't right. I needed an image that emerged from the leaves of the Forest, strong and Amazonian! I took up one of my favourite Tim stamps! SCF005.

I stamped the face, which I think looks pensive but strong onto cream fabric and painted it with layers of Frescos blended with Fabric Medium and Distress Inks, glazing with Satin Glaze and - when it was dry - touches of Treasure Gold. I also die-cut some Tattered Leaves from yellow fabric and treated these in the same way!

 I knew just the sentiment I wanted that happens to go with the image I had chosen in SCF005. I stamped this onto an oval piece of card, spritzed and flicked with Broken China and Vintage Photo and edged with Walnut Stain and a little Treasure Gold. The words are stamped in Black Ranger Archival and then embossed with clear EP. I added some Tim jump rings around two red pearls.

The little leaf peeping from the purse was punched from painted card then coated with Versamark and clear UTEE and heated.

Some dyed seam-binding with an Idealogy pin completed the tag.

I touched areas where the embossing showed through the fabric with Treasure Gold to create the impression of dappled Forest light and shadow. Here is my tag hanging in my 'Tag Vase' in the Magpieheaven living room. I should like to link this to the Vintage Journey Anything Tim Challenge . Thank you so much for patiently looking at all these images and listening to the story of a tag!