I WON!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG!  I WON for my January Tag at Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2014!  I am SO honored!  I mean…I'm runnin' with the big dawgs over there!  Lots of talented "Vintage-ologists!"  I logged on this morning to check out the February Tag ('cause I can't wait one more day!) and there it was…my name…as one of the winners!  Wow!  I am absolutely thrilled!  Well…enough about me…let's talk about YOU!  Here's my tutorial for my February Tag…

Put a couple of Distress Stains onto a Craft Sheet and spritz with water.  Drag your tag through the ink until you've achieved the desired look.  Heat Set.

Flick some water onto the tag to get those big water marks and heat set again.  Make sure the tag is thoroughly dry before you go to the next step.

Tape a stencil over the tag – I used Tim Holtz's Heart Layering Stencil.  Using a Blending Tool, sponge some of your lightest color ink over the stencil. If you have a medium shade in that color family, sponge some of that over portions of the tag – I didn't so I went over lightly in some areas with Fired Brick Distress Ink and then went over other areas darker to get different variations.  (Just when you think you have everything, you find out you DO NOT!)

 Remove the stencil and immediately pour embossing powder over the tag and heat set.  Use a Distress Tool (or the ends of a scissor) to distress the edges of the tag and then blend in some Walnut Stain – first onto the top edges of the tag and then on the distressed edges of the tag.

 Cut a heart out of chipboard or grunge board.  Now, if you're like me and you have a million – okay hundreds – of dies but NOT hearts, you can trace it and cut it and then use a sanding block to shape it.  Use your Blending Tool to color the heart red.  Put Glassy Glaze or Crystal Effects over the heart and smear with your finger.  

Dump Red Distress Glitter over the heart and let it dry.  (You've probably noticed that Red Distress Glitter is another item I don't have in my stash – Can't wait to tell my husband: "NO, I do NOT have every single craft product ever made!"  LOL – I used regular red glitter and smudged it in a couple of places.  

I didn't have the stamp Tim used so I used a stamp from "Good Thoughts" and "#I love you" from Mario Rossi's Hashtag Stamp Set.  I inked it in Distress Embossing Ink and embossed it with Antiquities Frosted Crystal Embossing Powder and heat set.

Next, rub a piece of Chalk over the entire image and use your hand to wipe off the excess.

Layer that onto a piece of White Cardstock and layer onto the tage using Stampin' Dimensionals.  Take a strip from Idea-ology Industrious Stickers and cut it to the size of your tag.  Adhere to the bottom of the tag.  Put foam tape on the back of an arrow and layer onto the tag.

I used Linen Ribbon and ran Red Ink over the top of it and then frayed the edges. 

I love the texture and dimension!  I'll be posting a different version of this tag later in the month.  Thanks for stopping by! Hope you're having a great weekend! 😀