All About Him - A Vintage Journey

I am delighted that it is my turn to host the next challenge at A Vintage Journey.  I have chosen 'All About Him' as my theme.  Men are usually difficult to make things for but with Tim Holtz's rang of stamps, dies and accessories it does make life so much easier! So with Father's Day coming up this is a great time to make something for a man.  This challenge is to make a card/tag/3D or any other type of project specifically for a man, using Tim's techniques or products wherever possible.

The other Creative Guides (DT) have made some wonderful pieces to inspire you and I hope you will pop over THERE for a look.  Do please take a few minutes to look at our Travelling Instructions  and also visit Tim's Blog for further inspiration.  Our sponsors, Country View Crafts are offering a £10 gift voucher to spend, to one winner who will be chosen by the team.

I have made a little memento for my DH who is mad about cycling and he has done his fair share both here and abroad (in his younger days).  This year we are very excited as the Tour de France (the biggest cycling event in the world) will be starting here in the UK.  It has only happened on two occasions before, in 1994 and 2007.  We will be travelling to London to see the final leg of the UK part of the Tour, in July.

I started out with two 8" square (20 cm) canvases and turned them around so that I could use the back as my base.

To cover up the staples and uneven back, I cut some thick card to fit the outer frame and insides.

Now there is a nice even base to work on.  I am not too worried if there are small gaps at this stage because it is going to be covered up.

I painted all sides of both of the frames and added two hinges to join the two together.  I did not like the hinges showing so I used some of Tim's French Industrial paper pad to cover the frames.

On the left hand side, I took one of the 6 inch pieces of paper from the French Industrial pad and placed it in the frame as my background.  I stamped the Beefeater Soldier and Big Ben from Tim's London Sights stamp set (the soldier has been stamped twice, once in black and once in red, the red part was overlaid  onto the black layer.  Both have been fussy cut and added to the background with sticky pads to raise them up.

The letters are from Tim's latest (and fabulous!) Letterpress, they have been sanded lightly and coloured with Festive Berries and Picket Fence Distress Paint.  I took Tim's Harlequin stencil and stencilled on the top and side of the frame with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. London has been stamped with Tim's Worn Text stamp set.

The right hand side of the frame also has one of the 6 inch pieces of paper from the French Industrial pad, I though it was appropriate to represent the Tour de France.  The Eiffel tower and Fleur de Lys were cut using Tim's die and then embossed using the Eiffel Tower Embossing Folder.  I touched them up with Treasure Silver to highlight the embossed areas.  Paris has been stamped with Tim's Worn Text stamp set, in Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  Finally, I added 2014 from Tim's Label Letters.

This is a view of the back, which has been covered in more of the French Industrial papers and stamped, again with the Worn Text stamp set.

Finally, I added a clasp to hold the canvases closed so that they can neatly be held on a bookshelf.

Thanks for looking, I do hope you will have fun creating something and join us at A Vintage Journey.  Please remember to read the rules.  We all look forward to seeing your Tim Holtz inspired makes!  Hugs, Anne xx