Heart and Soul Project with Tim Holtz

The first project we did during the weekend with Tim Holtz at Absolutely Everything was this rolling box featuring "faux metal" techniques.  The class was called "Heart and Soul" (everytime I say or type that I hear the tune on the piano!).

The kits and all of the tools we needed were laid out on our tables.  I liked the large photo on the cover of each instruction set.  I didn't really look at the instructions as we made our projects because Tim was calling out the steps.  It is nice to have the handouts to refer back to so I can remember the techniques that we used.

While the larger items for the projects were sitting on the tables, we also got a baggie full of lots of little metal pieces and some twine in the kits...

We began by cutting up metal foil tape into irregular shapes - keeping them fairly large - and applying the tape to the papier mache heart.  We just needed to cover the front and sides since the back would be hidden in the box.  The foil tape overlaps and creates some seams and ridges. 

Next, we used a variety of tools and objects to make impressions in the foil.  These gigantic pushpins were very helpful for piercing the heart shape.  We also used pens and craft scrapers to make dots, lines and holes.  The wrinkles in the tape are good to add additional texture.  Tim told us we were going to see a lot of ugly before the heart started to look good!

Here is a view of the busy students applying various textures and patterns to the metal foil tape.

After adding all of the dots and lines and holes we used black and a couple of colors of alcohol ink to color the metal foil.  We applied the ink with a bit of cut 'n dry foam.

Here is a closer view of my inked heart.  We then took some fine steel wool and burnished off the ink to reveal the metal again.

Here is my heart after the ink had been burnished off.  Some ink stayed in the creases and the holes and lines we made earlier to produce this aged metal effect.  We used loops of ordinary wire to create the crossed stitches in one section of the heart.

Here is my friend Marilyn Mae with her "faux metal" heart.  We all did basically the same steps but the hearts each had their own character.

We were working with the small square configurations boxes.  The little boxes inside were not used for this project but we took them home to make additional projects on our own.  We painted the box top and bottom with paint dabbers (I used silver).  Then, we used steel wool and other tools to distress the painted finish.  Finally, we applied distress ink with a blending tool to achieve the aged metallic effect (I used Broken China ink - you can see the blue if you look carefully).

The next step was to line the box with this tissue wrapping paper.  We applied the Glue n' Seal to the inside of the box and then crumpled the tissue and smoothed it to fill the inside as a liner.

Once my box was lined, I tested the heart for size and angle before adding it to the box.  We didn't need to worry about being neat at the top edges of the box since the lid would cover the edge.

 

The same giant push pin that we use to distress the heart also was very helpful in making starter holes for the brads that hold the corner covers in place.  I need to look for these giant push pins next time I go to Staples.

We each had a package of four wheels (used all of these) and eight box corners.  Tim suggested that we only needed one set of four corners and that we should save the other four for another project.

There were holes in the positions for the four wheels.  The quickest and easiest way to add the wheels was to hold the inside screw steady and turn the wheel on the outside of the box.

Once we had lined the box and distressed it, we set it aside.  We added a watch key on the right side of the lid of the box and chose some metal charms to dangle on the chains.  The holes for the wheels and the keys had been done ahead of time for us (as Tim would say, "we" put the holes there for you and when I say "we" I mean "Mario").

We could add all sorts of gears and other mechanical looking pieces to the heart. The kits were all very generous with supplies and we usually had extra pieces that we could save and use for another project.

We added a pull string and you can actually wheel the box around like a child's pull toy.  Here is my final project flat on the table.

Here is the example Tim made - you can see that the extra bits and pieces dangle off the clock key on the right.  The light bulb, wing and Viewmaster disc were adhered with a glue gun.

I am using the same technique (with a few variations) on another project that I hope to post later this week.  If you have any questions about what we did be sure to leave a comment and I'll try to explain better.  I didn't take as many photos during the class as I usually do on my projects at home so there may be something that I skipped over...

It has been very cold and rainy here - 50 degrees in June after 80 degree weather in March? - something is not right with that!  I hope that summer has reached you - maybe it will arrive here by this weekend...


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Charmed Possessions Necklace - Part 2

There are so many bits and pieces included in the necklaces that we made in the Tim Holtz "Charmed Possessions" class.  The necklace did end up being rather heavy.  I don't know how often I would wear it but Tim encouraged us to hang it in our craft spaces as a reminder of the various techniques we used.  We could also take some of the bits and pieces and incorporate them in other projects.

The pocket watch was not in the kit that was sitting on our tables.  As we progressed through the class, Tim said he knew we needed more things to work with and that the pocketwatch was the centerpiece of the design.  The next thing we knew, Mario and the rest of the helpers were handing out bags with several more packages of charms, jump rings and the pocket watch piece to fill as we liked.  It was funny to hear all of the excitement in the room - just as if it were Christmas morning!  We took apart our watches so we could fill them.  First we cut a piece of paper for the back of the case, using the template on the packaging to get the size right.

Then we assembled some little gears and put the brads right through the background paper.  The number and the word (from the ChitChat stickers) were attached with black foam tape to give more dimension.  Once the center was finished, we carefully put the watch back together again.

We created a faux patina on some of the metal charms by dripping snow cap mixative directly on the charms and then adding drips of other colors of alcohol ink.  Then we blended the colors with a blending tool with a felt pad.  We also could use steel wool to burnish the piece and remove some of the color.  You can clean up the mat with alcohol ink blending solution but Tim gave us a tip to just use cheap hand sanitizer to clean the mat so we could conserve our blending solution.

We also learned how to add a perfect hole to a metal piece by using the drill punch.  This handy tool costs less than $20 and allows you to drill through fairly thick pieces of material.

You insert the metal and make sure that the bit is positioned where you want the hole to be - then you put the drill on the table so the cross bar can stabilize it as you twist the handle.  It was hard to turn at first but then you suddenly feel the metal give way as the hole is made.

The end result is a perfect hole that is smooth on both sides and does not crack or damage the original piece.  You can see the plug that was cut on next to the wing.

Some of the pieces had been pre-drilled so we could add tiny screw eyes to the tops to make them ready to hang on a jump ring.

These screw eyes can be hard to turn so we learned to use the craft pick for some leverage to quickly twist the screw eye into position.  It is important to make starter holes so the screw eye won't split that piece when you start turning it.

We added wire to a tiny lightbulb - yet another "found object" to add to the collection.  It sometimes makes me laugh to think that Tim has these collections of odd items that he finds and then has manufactured so others can use them for their creations.  In a way, it seems a little too impersonal - I'd always want to be sure to add some of my own unique bits of "junque" to the mix.

The last charms we worked on were the typewriter keys and cash keys.  These are sized so you can use the designs that come included in the kit or punch your own bits from whatever paper you would like to use.  We added some Glossy Accents adhesive in the base and then placed the paper cut outs on top.  After letting that sit for a little while, you can place the epoxy dome on top to give the rounded shiny finish.  Tim mentioned that you could add some silver Stickles beneath the epoxy sticker to make a glitter charm - I'll have to try that next.

When I had all of my items selected and completed, I laid out the pieces on either side of the pocket watch to try to create a nice balance.

Here is a closer view of the left side.  I highlighted the word "Love" on the metal stick by smearing on some red paint from a dabber and immediately cleaning off the surface, leaving color only in the letter indentations.  I also drilled another hole at the bottom of the charms and added the heart as a dangle.

Here is the right side.  We added some glass glitter to the little vial and secured the cork lid with more adhesive.  All of the charms were placed on "charm clips" which have a wide circle at the top for easy stringing of the necklace.  The charm clips are being discontinued so if you like them stock up if you find them!

It was quick and easy to string the charms with the beads interspersed as separators so the charms can dangle more freely.  When we had our necklaces assembled, someone would come around to glue the clasp on the end of the rubber cord.  Tim glued my necklace together - don't you love his watch!

When my necklace was all done, I posed for a photo with Mario.  Tim and Mario are both pros at the quick photo pose and very photogenic!

If you have any questions about the techniques we used, just leave a comment and I'll try to answer.  If you are an email subscriber, you probably have two posts in one email.  My days are a little crazy right now since our son has started his job but is still commuting in to the city which means a lot of time driving for me if I want to have my car during the day.  He has done the paperwork for an apartment starting next month so we hope to hear that things are finalized any day now.

I hope you have a great day!

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Charmed Possessions Necklace - Part 1

One of the great things about taking classes from Tim Holtz is that you don't need to bring anything to class.  You just show up ready to create - Tim, Mario and the rest of the team have everything waiting and ready for you.

While the class groups were quite large (90 people) the room is set up with work stations for groups of four.  There is a large screen and Tim wears a microphone so he is easy to hear no matter where he happens to be in the room.  It doesn't really matter where you sit since he wanders the room constantly.

This is the set up for a group of four.  The three larger baskets in the center held inkpads, distress stains, Perfect Pearls mist, alcohol inks, paint dabbers, etc., to share between the four people.  The small baskets had supplies for the two people on either side.  There was a good variety of colors and you could also trade with a neighboring group if they had something you wanted.  Special items needed for certain classes were added at each session.  Everyone had a non stick craft mat to work on - this really is an essential tool for many of the techniques.

For each class there was a kit with a set of printed instructions and neatly labelled and measured "ingredients" for the project.  These were the items in the "Charmed Possessions" necklace kit.

In this class we learned lots of different way to make and alter embellishments.  If you remember my question from a couple of days ago, the beads were made with the plastic tubing at the bottom of this photo.

We used various styles of tissue tape and wrapped it around the tubing, overlapping slightly to fully cover the tube.  Then we cut the tube at the width of the tape and continued on to make 12 little segments.

We used a blending tool and any color of distress ink we wanted to color the tape.  Tissue tape is not designed to stick to itself (otherwise it would be hard to get it off the roll!) so we needed to seal the beads.  We applied some Multi-Medium over the inked tape  to seal the beads.  To avoid contaminating the bottle, we placed some multi-medium on the craft mat and brushed it on one color at a time (you can see the leftovers of my red bead coating on the mat).  The ink is reactive with water so they were a little messy but they dried to a nice even color.  The brushes had to be collected and put in water right away or else the brushes would have been sealed and ruined.

The beads were set aside to dry and by the time we were ready to assemble the necklaces, they were ready.  At this point, we cut each segment in half to make 24 little beads.  These were used as spacers for the charms on the necklace.

Tim is great at leading everyone through the process while allowing us to make our own choices about how we want our project to turn out.   He explains how to do things and why we need to use certain products and then turns up the music while the class gets creative.  He has such a great attitude about creating (embrace imperfection!) and a perpetual twinkle in his eye as he encourages everyone to experiment with all of the goodies in front of them.

We made some fragment charms for the necklace, choosing four shapes from a nice variety that was in our kit (the rest we took home for future projects).

There were baskets with pieces of 2 x 2 papers that we could select as the background of the charms.  We "auditioned" the placement until we found a spot that the charm framed nicely.

We applied Glossy Accents on the back of the clear fragments and pressed them over the paper at the spots we had chosen.  You need to hold the piece down for a little while to make sure it stickes evenly with no bubbles.  Then we trimmed away some of the extra paper.

Next, we placed the paper side of the charms on a strip of clear packing tape - the kind you buy for packages on a huge roll.  The tape seals the paper on the back which would otherwise be exposed to water and skin oils on the charm necklace.

After the pieces were taped, we trimmed away the excess paper as closely as possible to the edges of the charms.  You could stop here and just sand the edge a bit to make sure the charm was smooth.

We used metal foil tape in copper that had some patina added to wrap each charm. 

The class involved lots of techniques for altering and making charms - I'll show the rest in Part Two.

One more photo - we had the option of ordering boxed lunches and they included these delicious cake balls - almost too pretty to eat!

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