Tim's NEW Tags!

Tim Holtz made a big announcement this month ... he's discontinuing his Twelve Tags of Christmas.  At first, I was shocked and dismayed, only to read on and be delighted.  See, I love doing his tags in December, but I just don't have the time.  After getting all my customers set with their Christmas card making, I don't get to really start working on mine until December.  Guess when his tags begin?  Yup, Dec. 1st.  I always get so excited to make them, and after a couple of days, I just make myself crazy trying to decide if I should make another tag or start working on the 130 cards I have to make.  So, the two years I've done it, I've only completed four.

Another thing is that I love ALL his products, but I'd rather spend my money on the stamps, embossing folders, dies, etc, that I'll use throughout the year and not on stuff I'd only use at Christmas time.

Here's the great part ... he's still going to do his tags, but now they'll be the Twelve Tags of the Year!  He's going to post one at the beginning of each month, instructions, pics & videos, just like before, but we have a whole month to just get that one tag done!  Woo Hoo!  And, we can post it on his blog like we did this past Christmas!  And ... he's still going to give away prizes!  Isn't that great!  No more pressure in December!  Now, I'll only have to do the one tag in December, and I can still get my cards done!

So, without further ado ...

Since Tim made his announcement in February, he's going to make up for January sometime in March, so we'll just have a tiny bit of catching up to do.  So, of course, his February tag has a Valentine's Day theme.  Like I said earlier, I prefer to purchase supplies I can use all year, and I'm not a big fan of the pink & red of Valentine's Day, so I did my own thing.  I almost didn't get this tag posted on time ... thank goodness for Leap Year!  Here's my tag ...

The bottom is a little hard to see because of the lighting, but I used Stampin' Up!'s Scallop Trim Border and the Lace Ribbon Border punches with some Walnut Distress Co'ordinations paper.  I trimmed away the top part of the larger punch so I had flowers.

For the background, I used my new Sizzix Postage & Frame stamp/embossing folder set.  I then colored with 4-5 different Distress Inks. 

Instead of Cupid, I used the Wings from Tim's Heart Wings die and colored with Walnut Distress Ink and Stickles.  I had to create my own honeycomb paper since my friend, Eileen Bellomo, posted a link for a tutorial on how to make it on her blog post of Tim's tag (view her blog post here).  I used my Movers & Shapers Heart die in my Alterations Base Plate to cut a heart from grunge, Real Red SU cardstock and lots of red tissue paper.  Took alot of time & patience to make this heart, and I love how it came out, but I don't think I'd want to do it again. 

I'd probably buy the honeycomb paper Tim referenced in his blog post (complete with video!).  For the letters, I used the 6x6 version of Tim's Valentine's Scrabble page and cut out "BE MINE".  I sanded the edges and inked with Scattered Straw.  I adhered them directly to the tag and popped up "B"  & "N".  I finished off my tag by coloring some of Tim's white Crinkle Ribbon with Red Barn distress ink.  I wanted to hang a charm from the ribbon, and it's been sitting on my table for two weeks!  Since today's the deadline to post, and I've got to pick up my daughter at the airport in an hour, thought I'd better just post it as is and be done with it!  lol

Here's what Tim's tag look like:

Tomorrow's March 1st, so you know I'm going to hit Tim's blog as soon as I turn on my computer!  Can't wait to see what it looks like ... maybe something blue and windy looking?