Some of my favorite found objects–a piece of lake glass, and old rusty wire and a rusty star–make up this new mixed media piece titled “Creativity”.
Read the rest of this entryNov9
Mixed Media “Creativity”
Tag Archives: TimHoltz
May11
Flip of the coin
Hi guys! Today Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts is sharing a very special tutorial of mine called Third Time’s the Charm.
What’s that? Why is it special you ask? It’s special because I share how things went So. Incredibly. Wrong.
It went so wrong that Beauregard, our new puppy may have learned a few choice new words.
Oct27
Create your own mixed media elements
Let’s face it, thousands upon thousands of crafters, myself included, use the same mass-produced decorative elements in their projects. However, there is another option. If you don’t want your art to feature the same materials hordes of other artists are using, you can easily create your own elements. 
Sep8
Expanding Christmas Journal Part 2
This Expanding Christmas Journal is brimming with tags, magnetic enclosures and deep pockets so that you can store almost unlimited Christmas memories, photos, ideas or recipes.
Because the tutorial for the Expanding Christmas Journal is so detailed, I decided to break it up into two parts. In case you have not seen Part 1 of the tutorial at Gypsy Soul to learn how to create the album base and the surprise fold-outs,I thought I would first provide a recap of the book. If you have already seen Part 1, then continue below for the rest of the tutorial. Read the rest of this entry
Dec23
Fill your eyes with wonder at the Kringle Toy Store
Christmas is nearly upon us. Part of the magic of the season is when children fill their eyes with wonder while window shopping.
Make sure you leave time to stop by Kringle Toys, where the glowing chandelier casts a warm glow as shoppers come in from the newly fallen snow.
Approaching Kringle Toys, visitors see the faded ghost sign on the brick wall–a testament to the store’s longevity.
Dec9
A card for the Winter’s Solstice
Winter has arrived in here in Minnesota. It is a blustery nine degrees outside and as dusk settles, the wind is rattling the windows of our turn-of-the-century home.
In other words, it is a perfect night for crafting and for playing with the deep blue, purple, white and silver colors of Winter’s Solstice. Read the rest of this entry
Nov22
Small but mighty holiday album
It’s true what they say, good things do come in small packages. At only 6 x 6 inches, this holiday album might be small, but it is packed full of goodness.
You can see how to make it by checking out my tutorial at Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts.
Oct14
Mixing media with a steampunk star canvas
With a blank canvas in front of me, I decided to let me creativity soar by creating a mixed media piece for which I had not meticulously planned the final outcome.
In fact, the focal point is something I spontaneously grabbed from one of my studio tables, where it had served as a paperweight for several years.
The impetus for this steampunk project were some chipboard gears made by Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts. Here’s how I brought the whole thing together.
Tutorial How to Make the ‘Steampunking to a Star’ Canvas
Begin by prepping both the Gears Shape Set and a blank canvas with a coat of gesso.
After the canvas dries. apply modeling paste with assorted stencils of your choosing. When the paste dries, dry brush your surface with yellow, grass green and sky blue acrylic paint, making sure you use a heat tool to dry the paint between each color.
Next use a white paint pen to highlight some raised surfaces and Distress pens to emphasize some of the valleys. Then adhere torn pieces of an old sewing pattern to portions of the canvas. Repeat with printed tissue.
Emboss all the gears with seafoam white embossing powder. Then emboss portions of them with copper, bronze, blue and green embossing powders.
If any of the metal bits of hardware (in my case it was the the spring) you plan to use are not rusty enough, you can make them extra rusty with bronze embossing powder.
Adhere your chipboard gears, metal star, metal hardware and dew drops to the canvas with a strong adhesive.
After the glue dries, you steampunk canvas is ready for display. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Enjoy your weekend! –
Great Stuff
Canvas
Large metal star
Stencils
Embossing powders in bronze, copper, seafoam white, blue and green
Old sewing pattern
Tim Holtz tissue paper
Metal spring and bits of rusty hardware
Distress pens
Matte medium
Modeling Paste
Gesso
Acrylic paint
Aug26
Memorializing a Mid-Century Updo
A talented friend of mine has taken on the challenge of giving her entire house a Mid-Century Modern updo with only inexpensive secondhand goods.
Her ingenuity impressed me so much that I though she should memorialize her project with a mini album. As as surprise for her, I made a little album so she could paste in before and after pictures, make notes of her awesome estate sale finds and even add in inspiration and ideas from magazines. Read the rest of this entry
Aug23
My Swedish heritage & my multicultural family in light of today’s hate for AALL and Create Challenge #1 Europe
I was thinking about the AALL Challenge #1 Europe one day and inspiration came to me throughout the day. First, while visiting my elderly mother, I spied the family Bible–a massive tome in Swedish that no one in our family can read. Later, while preparing photos for digitizing, I came across both a stoic picture of my Swedish ancestors and a colorful picture of my own multicultural children with impish looks upon their faces. The day concluded with racist hate spewing across the news channels. Read the rest of this entry
