tim tag mania #4

welcome back authentique fans!suburbngypsy here with inspiration for the holiday season and beyond. today i'm going to introduce just one of the many techniques i used for this tag. upcoming blogs will highlight others including using "acrylic paint dabbers" to create a release, and creating gilt leaves with "glycerine paper".

so are you ready gypsies? well then away we go!

it's been an amazingly creative month. so many company challenges, so many incredible blog hops. and what would the season be without tim's "12 tags of christmas". after totally immersing myself in craftiness, i started to try putting everything i'd seen and learned into some sort of order. and i found myself wondering what would happen when i took two inspiring techniques and put them together. the result? tiny crystal roses!

these delicate little beauties are made with our "wonder" collection, but any of our papers would do. the heavier the paper the better the results, and the more white on the paper the more translucent your flower.

these first steps are inspired by tag #10 from tim holtz's "12 tags of christmas"

the first thing you need is some very clear packing tape - yep! packing tape. and some paper - for these i used pieces from our "wonder" collection..

adhere the tape to your paper, burnish it down, then cut it out.

next dip the strip in very warm water. the warmer the water, the easier the next step is.

once the strip is completely wet, take it out and turn it over so the paper side is facing up. then rub rub rub away the paper. keep rubbing until no paper is left on the tape - you'll have an imprint left from the ink though, that creates a translucent strip.

pat the strip dry with a paper towel - don't use a heat gun! once dry, take a second piece of packing tape and tape the backside of the strip, creating a two-sided glossy strip of translucent paper.

now we're ready to make the roses. this is inspired by christina colon at the twisted muse.

next, cut 2" squares, then cut each square down to a circle. you can use a punch, but hand cutting will give your rose a more organic look. take your circles and cut them into spirals, leaving a round circle in the center.

now use tweezers, and starting at the end, twirl the paper around the tweezer tip. you'll see the paper curl into a cone shape, and once you've reached that little circle you left in the center, stop and pull the paper cone off the tweezers. keeping a good hold on the cone, let it open up and relax a little so you can see the "petals" start to form. use the tweezers and your fingers to loosen or tighten the layers. once you're close to a shape your like, dab a little hot glue on the circle you left at the end of your spiral, and press the flower gently onto it. you can continue to shape the petals while the glue sets.

 

once the hot glue has set, the final touch comes by applying a little bit of glossy accent along the edges of the petals, and dipping the flower in diamond dust.

by creating your own transparent "paper", the roses become luminous in a way paper can't match. you can vary the roses - buds to full blooms - by playing with how tightly you wrap the spirals. you can also play with the size of the petals by how thickly you cut your spiral - the wider the spiral the bigger the petals.

i hope you enjoyed today's technique tutorial. the tag i created to highlight the crystal roses is a compilation of lots of techniques - too many for one blog! so be sure to come back on december 22 for the "gilt leaves" tutorial!

materials used
"wonder" - authentique papers
glossy accents
diamond dust
special thanks to tim holtz and christina colon for their inspiring work.