january technique challenge…

Jantag "january technique challenge" – tim holtz(c) 2008
supplies: non-stick craft sheet, distress inks: faded jeans, broken china, vintage photo, walnut stain, black soot, ink blending tool, clear embossing powder, heat tool (ranger); paper distresser, scratcher tool (tonic studios); craft iron (clover); stamps (stampers anonymous); #8 tags (office supply store)

Step1

step 1: ink stamp with a lighter color distress ink and stamp on to surface.

Step2

step 2: working quickly, cover the stamped image with regular clear embossing powder and remove excess powder and place back into jar. (*tip: remember distress ink is an embossable dye ink)

Step3

step 3: emboss the image using a heat tool until powder is completely melted. (*tip: do not over-emboss the image, when it’s raised and shiny, it’s done)

Step4

step 4: choose a variety of colors of distress inks for your background. (*tip: choose colors darker than the stamped image)

Step5

step 5: using your ink blending tool, begin inking tag using the lightest color.  tap the tool on to your distress ink pad and in a circular motion, apply the ink to the tag. (*tip: only ink various sections of the tag with this color, not the entire tag)

Step6

step 6: repeat above steps using the next darkest color. (*tip: again, only ink other sections of the tag you didn’t ink with the previous color, but still leave areas of the tag un-inked)

Step7

step 7: repeat with next color following above steps.

Step8

step 8: finish inking the tag with the darkest color.  this step should cover up any un-inkned spaces left on the tag. (*tip: you can always go back to the previous colors if desired – be sure there is contrast from your embossed image to your background colors)

Step9

step 9:  place a piece of newsprint old paper bag over your embossed image.

Step10_2

step 10: iron over the newsprint using a craft iron set to the highest heat setting. (*tip: a craft iron is twice the temp of a household iron and does not have any holes)

Step11

step 11: continue ironing until you can start to see the embossed image show through the back of the newsprint.  (*tip: this step is re-melting the embossing powder and absorbing it into the newsprint. your image is now smooth and the original color you stamped in as the embossing powder acted as a resist to the top layer of inks.  this is similar to wax batik but using embossing powder instead)

Step12

step 12: drag paper distresser along edges of the tag.  this will tatter the edges and prep them for ink.

Step13

step 13: ink distressed edges of tag using your ink blending tool and a brown color of distress ink.

Step14

step 14: stamp bird image near the top of the tag across batiked image using black soot distress ink.  this will still resist the ink from the stamped image too!

Step15

step 15: stamp verse stamp in bottom corner using black soot distress ink.

Step16

step 16: distress the surface of the tag using a scratcher tool by extending the wires and dragging it across certain areas of the tag.  this will scratch away layers of the tag. (*tip: do not be too aggressive with this step to avoid putting holes into the tag.)

Tim Holtz Creative Chemistry 101