ROCK CANDY DISTRESS GLITTER FOR COMPENDIUM OF CURIOSITIES III CHALLENGE

Good morning friends and welcome back to my blog and to another new challenge over at Compendium of Curiosities III!   

This is the 21st out of 34 challenges already!  I cannot believe how quickly the time is passing.  Thanks to all of you for allowing all of us on the Curiosity Crew to share our love of all things Tim Holtz and his products and techniques with you.  And thank you for the beautiful art we have been seeing from YOU on every challenge. So inspiring!!!

This challenge is found on page 55 of Tim's Compendium of Curiosities III book.  It is Rock Candy Distress Glitter.

 

I have created this #8 Manila tag using Tim's technique.  While I can't divulge the actual technique with you, I will tell you this...it was SO MUCH FUN to do!  I am really not a "glitzy" girl and seldom will you see a lot of "bling" on anything I make, but the subtle sparkle you achieve from this technique is well within my comfort zone. (smile)

I will also be very happy to tell you all of the products and the steps I did in creating this tag.  This is one of those projects that literally just came together pretty effortlessly. (Don't you LOVE it when that happens?) 

I began with a plain #8 Manila tag.  I distressed the basic tag using Mustard Seed and Wild Honey Distress Inks. 

I swiped both of those colors onto my main "have to have" craft supply, my non stick craft sheet, and then spritzed the colorful swipes with water until little colorful beads appeared.  I then swiped my tag through the beads, heat set it (very important in between layers) and repeated this process; also blotting up the tiny excess droplets of colored water until my craft sheet was dry. 

 

Here is the tag after distressing with just the Mustard Seed and Wild Honey plus a little Gathered Twigs added to the edges using my Ink Blending Tool.  Then I decided that I might like to add another layer of color using the Gathered Twigs.  So, I swiped the ink pad onto my craft mat, spritzed it with water and repeated the process above until all of the colored droplets were gone.

Here is the the richer more dramatic tag after adding the Gathered Twigs. 

Next I did Tim's technique using the Distress Rock Candy Glitter.  The ink color I used on this beautiful background stamp (from Tim Holtz' Distress Damask stamp set) is Walnut Stain Distress Ink. Notice the little bits of sparkle left behind?  Love that! I later decided to add little accents of Peacock Feathers on the outer edges of the tag for what I was planning next....

Since the technique was done, it was time to add embellishments to the tag.  I had already decided to use the beautiful vintage image of an ink bottle from Tim's Typography stamp set on this tag.  An ink bottle needs an ink pen...right?  So, I decided to construct one out of a wooden skewer, one of Tim's Pen Nibs, some feathers and whatever else came to mind.

I began by stamping the ink bottle image onto a piece of manila cardstock and coloring it using Tim's Detailer Water Brush and Distress Inks.  I used Peacock Feathers for the glass section of the bottle, Scattered Straw for the majority of the labels on the bottle and a Tattered Rose Distress Marker to fill in "writing fluid" on the label. I fussy cut around the bottle and colored the edge with Scattered Straw.  Finally, I matted the bottle onto some black cardstock to really make it pop against the tag background. 

Next I colored some of Tim's Tissue Tape with an Espresso Paint Dabber. This would cover my wooden skewer and also help hold the feathers in place at the top of the pen. 

I had some lovely little teal-ish and brown (my favorite colors together) feathers and glued them to the backside of the skewer using Glossy Accents. To help hold them in place, I added a 1/4" piece of adhesive silver tape and wrapped around the end of the pen. Then I added Tim's Pen Nib to the bottom of the pen and toned down the bright silver surface with a Pitch Paint Dabber that was added then wiped off to leave a more antiqued finish. I dipped the tip of the nib in the black paint to look like dried ink. (You will see more of the pen in a minute). 

 

Next I distressed one of Tim's Word Bands with Broken China Distress Paint.  I simply wiped the dabber across the word band, filling up the letters and then wiping the excess paint off of the smooth surface, leaving it in the letters to highlight them. 

Finally I decided to add one of Tim's beautiful butterflies from his Papillon stamp set to my tag...flying out of the ink bottle.  So I stamped the image onto a piece of Specialty Stamping Paper using Jet Black Archival Ink.  I then colored the butterfly with Wild Honey and Peacock Feathers using Tim's Detailer Water Brush.  I cut out around the butterfly, colored the border with a Scattered Straw Distress Marker and edged it with a Black Soot Distress Marker. I added some wire to the backside to create antenna and also a cork screwy bottom piece to represent the butterflies flight pattern as it rose from the ink bottle. 

 

Now it was time to put everything together. But as I was starting to layout my design, I decided that my ink pen needed something else at the top.  

So, I wrapped some wire around the silver tape and added one of Tim's Type Charms to dangle from the pen.  I like that little bit of detail that such a simple step adds.

Next I used some of Tim's Trimmings to attach the Word Band in place at the bottom of the tag.  

I used Glossy Accents to glue the pen onto the tag but since it is pretty dimensional, I also wired it in place.  The ink bottle would cover up the wiring. I really love that pen going diagonally across the tag.  I love the airiness of the feathers, and the grunginess of  the wire, the pen body and antiqued nib in contrast to the softness and feminine quality of the Rock Candy Glittered damask image. 

I attached the butterfly to the bottle using the quirky wire and then I added three layers of black pop dots to pop the bottle over the pen.  It took that many layers of pop dots to "clear" the height of the pen wired onto the tag.  So, you can tell that this tag has some dimension, unlike last challenge's watercoloring technique tag that was relatively flat. 

And here again is the finished project. Simple and fun!

Now it's time for you to try your hand at this Rock Candy Glitter technique and enter our challenge. You have TWO chances to win some fabulous prizes.

Our sponsor for this challenge is 

that fabulous online store ... INSPIRATION EMPORIUM. They are giving away a $50.00 gift certificate to shop in their store!  Thank you to Inspiration Emporium for you continued support!

And, of course, Tim and Mario have donated tons of Tim's wonderful products to be given away in prize packages for each challenge. A very generous selection of these products have already been given to 20 previous winners!  Will you be the 21st?

If you are not clear on our simple rules to follow, just check them out at Linda's blog. 

Have a great couple of weeks and get inky!