It Has Been a Great November

...we have been the "vendor-of-the-month" for the "All Things Tim" (as in Holtz) yahoo group, also known as ATT...and we have had lots of fun getting to know so many of you great people. Thank you so much for all the support and orders. We will continue with our great service through December and next year....and every now and then we will post a special or two. I do encourage anyone who is a fan of the whole Tim Holtz Distress style, and vintage look, to join this group...you will get lots of tips...they answer all sorts of technique questions...and you will get to see the wonderful art that they create. So, I am ending the month with a few pieces of inspiration for the coming season. This past weekend, I spent quite a bit of time putting mini art pieces onto wood blocks, of assorted sizes, so that I can stand them on my mantle and switch them, back to front, to change the look up a bit. In fact, we will have a class on this style of display as we do some of the 12 Tags of Christmas, using Tim's work as inspiration, and putting our own spin on it...
The first four tags are from last year, or even before that...and I have painted the blocks, added some Viva Inka Gold rub on paint, or some Distress ink. We have cut the wood blocks to 6 1/2 inches (they are 2 x 4s, so they are just the right width for the tag.) I have attached the tags to the wood with Zip Dry. The first block was painted blue, with silver inkagold, and the second block is red with gold inkagold...

In this next set of photos, the blue block is a work in progress...the red is shown, both sides, using multiple dies from the Tim Holtz Sizzix line.
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This pair, below, is a mini block, only measuring about 1 1/2 x 3 inches, again, I am showing both sides...

The following six pictures show both sides of three different blocks, which are 1 inch wide, and about 4 x 5 inches in area...this gives me a bit of room to play with....however, I find that I prefer a wider block so that there is more ease in balancing to stand...this stands, but i like it a little wider...live and learn...

This last set of blocks was cut to 3 1/2 x 5 inches, and done up sideways...

Sometimes I paint the blocks...other times I use Maya mists, which have terrific coverage. I also used the new Color Washes from Ranger .In some cases I papered the sides, or just the front...really, you can do anything...

I will use these around my house just to add that little sparkle of holiday to a shelf, a table, the mantle...and i can switch them from front to back so it looks like I made twice as many! I have a feeling that more than a few of these will make their way into the homes of a bunch of my friends.

Anyway, I hope you are inspired by this little project...I would love to hear from you if you give it a try. Also, if you leave a question in the "comment" area, I will answer as best I can..

One more thing...here is a little St. Nick in a jar, with a bit of snow (mica flakes)..the label is a Hero Arts stamp, and we sell the bottle! I plan to add ribbon and flowers around the neck of the bottle..would love to hear your ideas of what else to put into the bottle!!

What Fits into the Configurations Boxes??

I took some photos of some of the items we have gotten in to the store that we thought would be fun to use with the configurations boxes. Today, I will focus on holiday items. I will post other theme-related items a little later. We have glittered reindeer, small and large trees, extras"ornaments" (pieces from a garland) for the trees, a sweet little bird on its nest, a few different wreaths, a cool santa (there is a photo showing him hiding behind a tree, in the box I was taught to make in a Tim Holtz class here at the store,) silver glass house ornaments, tiny glass vintage-like ornaments, candy canes, and a neat, color-changing tea light...In the first few photos, you can see how, with any of the trees, to make them fit in, you will need to trim half of the back off. Don't worry...none of this trimmed part is visible. As you can see in the photo, it allows the tree to sit back into the box.

It just depends on the size of the item you want to place in the configurations. Just remove some of the boxes. Other uses for the boxes that are removed??...add them to the outside of the configuration piece somewhere, or use as a separate ornament...anyway, its all fun. The tea-light isn't shown, but it will sit beneath one of the glass houses and cause cool reflections on the ornament. You can also hide the tea-light with a piece of garland, or even a photo printed on vellum or a transparency sheet (all things I learned from Tim Holtz.)