Tim Holtz ROCKS!

Before we get to today's stamping topic (basically gushing over Tim Holtz), I thought it would be fun to share some pictures with you.

First, here is a picture of "Pops" and his girlfriend Gladys, from the other day when I met them for lunch. Pops is doing much better, but he is having a great deal of trouble breathing (just walking back to the car made him out of breath) and remembering words. He knows what he wants to say, just can't remember what word to use.

From Drop Box

And here is poor Roxy. She had to be stitched up again on Saturday (I took a picture of the wound but decided it was a bit graphic to post), and I now have to give her pills twice a day. She seems to be healing better this time, and will have just another week with the cone.

From March 4 2009

So, onto the topic for today, Tim Holtz (and some Judikins too).

Has anyone gone over to his blog lately? I did today and was amazed at the new products he has, as well as the new videos on his site. All of the Ranger products are high quality, versatile, and must haves for the serious stamper/scrapper/paper crafter. And what new product am I dying to try? His new alcohol ink fillable pen (and there are new alcohol ink colors as well, lights and brights.)

Here is video he did to demo these new pens:


The pens are just hitting the stores, so far the best price I have found online is $4.80 at Page Additions.

And Holtz has also updated his video section with new videos, and all of them are worth a watch. I especially liked this one on the dauber paints:



I really love the Holtz products, and have just recently bought the distressed embossing powders, they are very unique and add a very interesting element to your stamping. Here is a sample I did today, haven't decided on how to use it in a card, but the powder was fun to work with:

From March 4 2009

I used a green distressed ink, then a brown distressed powder, then added some more green, then some blue. The distressed embossing powder sticks to some but not all of your image, and you need to take a few different steps when you use it. For complete written directions click here, for a video click here. The distressed embossing powder is a matte finish, and it is also pretty "rough," sort of like sand paper. So far I am just loving it for trees, it really adds a unique dimension to your image.

You can click on the image with the trees and you will go to my picasa album, click on the little magnifying glass to see the image in more detail and you will see how the powder allows your ink to show through.

And I also purchased some really neat paints from Judikins at a rubber stamp show I attended a few weeks ago. These paints are called "Mica Gloss" and WOW are they ever amazing! They cost about $6 a bottle, and though the bottle isn't very big, a little goes a long way with these wonderful paints. I have searched for tutorials on how to use these paints, haven't found one yet, but will post some tips on how to use them in the next few days.

One thing that is GREAT about these stamps is how they blend so easily, and the sheen they leave on your cardstock is amazing.

Here are two examples of what I did with the paints:

From March 4 2009

The stamp is a music sheet background stamp that I inked with dauber paint, embossed with clear embossing powder (I have a drawer full of embossing powders of all colors and almost always use the clear) then added green and gold mica gloss paint, then covered the whole thing with a bit of the white mica gloss paint.

From March 4 2009

This was a Tim Holtz image, stamped and then embossed with clear powder. Then I started with the gold ink, then slowly added a little of the other colors and blended, the picture doesn't really show how wonderful the mica sheen is, but it does at least reveal how easy it is to blend the colors.

And last, but not least. I broke down and bought some Tilda stamps, and here are two cards I made using them. The Tilda on the orange card was done using OMS and Twinkling H20's, the Tilda on the green/yellow card was colored with copics.

From March 4 2009

From March 4 2009

Ok, that should keep you busy for a few days.

Have a great rest of the week, and an even better weekend.