A Little Touch of Tim at A Vintage Journey

Phew, what a whirlwind few days! And now it's finally Friday and the start of a new challenge over at A Vintage Journey. Alison is our host for the fortnight and she's after seeing your ATC's. "Keep it small please! I'm looking for Vintage and Tim Holtz style ATCs - a single ATC or a set - perhaps a trio that match. And I'm being a purist here, so only ATCs, please - no ATBs or Chunky ATCs allowed".

Never one to knowingly disappoint...

I have been DESPERATE to use the new TH Gothic Layering Stencil so when Alison challenged  us to create Tim style vintage ATC's there was only one way this was going! I had images of rusted gates in my head (yep, it's a weird place in there ;) so these became experiments to create different versions of rust and verdigris.

For the first one I used the mono printing with Distress Paint technique, using a mix of Evergreen Bough, Shabby Shutters and Tarnished Brass on the stencil. Using the painted part as a resist I rubbed Rusty Hinge and Vintage Photo Distress Inks over the top.

The next one happened by accident! Having applied Copper Mixative, Bottle and Stonewashed alcohol inks to the glossy card I attempted the faded layers technique, but it didn't look so good with this detailed stencil. For me, I will note that in the memory bank (for at least half an hour!) and use larger, more graphic stencils for this technique in future. Rather than give up I added Ranger Verdigris embossing powder through the stencil and absolutely loved the effect!

This was a really quick one making use of the brayered stains technique. A mix of Evergreen Bough, Frayed Burlap and Antique Linen Distress Stains gave a lovely mottled effect before I added a mix of Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi Orange Blossom and Tree Branch Archival Inks through the stencil. A coat of clear embossing powder strengthened the colour.

Finally I reached for embossing powders again, this time employing a mix of copper and Walnut Stain through the stencil. Don't you just love that roughened texture, unlike any other embossing powder I've seen used. It worked perfectly as a resist to the Rusty Hinge and Evergreen Bough Distress Stains that were dragged across the ATC in much the same way as Tim has done with his August 2014 tag.

Each of these ATCs had a collection of die cut floral and fauna added before I cut a bird and the tag from paper from the TH Menagerie collection (inked with Vintage Photo to match). The Hash Tag stamped sentiments fit a little better than Chit Chat stickers this time as I really wanted the beauty of each background to shine through.

So here's the deal, my follower count ticked over the 300 mark recently but I was flat out with DT/workshop work and unable to celebrate it at that stage. Now it's time to put that right. Fancy owning one of these little treasures? Just leave a comment below and one of them could be winging their way to you! Yes, I'm giving all four of them away to different recipients - it's not much I know but it's my way of saying thank you for keeping me company as I travel this often bumpy creative road. I'll draw four lucky winners from the comments left at the end of the challenge in a fortnight.

Now I need to send you to see the miniature works of art created by my fellow AVJ Creative Guides - trust me, you will be amazed by their ideas. See them all at A Vintage Journey, then enter the challenge yourselves to be in with a chance of winning a shopping voucher from our generous sponsor, Country View Crafts. You can find all the items I've used (including the die to cut the ATCs) in the online shop.

Time to go and get back to work on new ideas and wish you a wonderful weekend, whatever you're up to. Take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx