Tim Holtz tags

I've been making a few Tim Holtz tags but I wanted to show you how I used other things to get the same effect and you don't have to use all Ranger products. I LOVE Ranger products and I love Tim Holtz, but lets face it, I can't afford to buy every product out there! Well I could if I my son didn't need new clothes every 3 months, that kid is growing like a weed.

I made these two tag using a lot of the same techniques that Tim had, but some differences are, I made the numbers and the stencil letters out of chipboard cut from the cricut and painted them.

Also if you don't have the same embellishments that Tim uses, use what you have. I had those metallic pointesettias instead of using charms like Tim did. I used paper leaves too instead of the charms.

My favorite trick was this. I didn't have the Tim stamp (the one used on the first tag below) so this is what I did. Found an image on the internet, saved it to my desktop, opened up Excel and inserted the image. You can use whatever program you are good at, Photoshop, etc. I resized it to fit the tag, and then printed it on light blue cardstock and then attached it to my tag. Once it is inked and grunged up you cannot even tell if it was a stamp or not.

Although you can't see the musical notes on the one set of numbers and the calendar I did the same thing. I don't stamp much and therefore don't have a lot of stamps but this is a great way to get the stamp effect without buying a stamp you are only going to use once.





Here is Tim's tag from 2009. I think mine looks pretty close to his, except that picture was my son when he was little, not a very good picture but my son was screaming about Santa! lol Funniest thing is Santa is his oldest brother!


Also use what you have and be creative. I found these metallic letters in my stash and some old stickers. With a little creative imagination, I bent back the pointy things in the back and added the sticker letters, and used Glossy Accents on top to give it a shiny appearance. Also used Glossy Accents to hold the ring in the back so I could attach it to a safety pin. I also added a jingle bell, thought it looked festive! - Get creative!

Here is another tag, looks better IRL. It's sort of a take on this years tag, but instead of the embossing folder, I took the idea he had a couple of years ago and used chipboard letters. For mine I used leftover letters and instead of his foil wrap I used plain old heavy duty Reynolds wrap. I took me a couple of times, because it kept ripping, but I found if I crumpled it a little then took a small tool with a round head to smooth it, it worked fine.



Also I don't buy tags, I use chipboard and cut my own. Sometimes I cover them in cardstock if needed, and I always cover the back with a pp that matches.

As you can see I really messed up so I ripped the paper off, and started over on the front. After I am done with the tag I add paper to the back - it 'neatens' up the tag.



I have one more tag I made, actually it turned out great, only problem is I took it to work on Wednesday and hung it up and never got a picture. Have to remember to take my camera tomorrow to work.