Friday Focus - Tim Holtz (New Stamps)

Hi everyone. Jenny (Buttons) here with your latest Friday Focus. I've been asked to focus on Tim Holtz's new stamps this week. As you will see if you browse the stamps available at The Funkie Junkie Boutique, there have been a number of these launched post Summer CHA 2013.

Many of these stamp sets cover lots of seasonal events like Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. They are all fairly self-explanatory and you will undoubtedly be bombarded with lots of versions of them over the next couple of months, so how could I deliver a twist? I was guided by a comment on Facebook about the Chemist and Laboratorie sets - "they are lovely but what would I do with them?" Well how about...

yes, a Valentine's card!! It's all a question of thinking outside the box, and the key to this one was the song title Love Potion No. 9.

My potion bottle comes from Mini Blueprints 5 (though there is a larger one in Halloween Blueprint 2). It's easy enough to stamp out a new label if you use a Distress Marker and colour around the border to avoid the poison logo - unless you have a less positive message to convey to your other half!!!

Next, the question of what to do with that formulae image from The Chemist. Don't we use script style images for backgrounds/patterns? The same can be true for this image too. Having stamped it into texture paste I sprayed it with Dylusions Cherry Pie (wow, what an intense amount of colour!) and re-stamped it with Watering Can Archival Ink.

Tissue tape is a fantastic way of adding some extra detail quickly and it doesn't cover up the colour underneath either.

Glossy Accents and layering always help to add dimension and there is a Simple Saying for every occasion which can be colour coordinated too.

With the 'chalkboard' style currently very popular, you can use the formulae stamp for any project to do with education; this is a sneak peak of something you'll be seeing soon. And in another sneak peak, why not use the Laboratorie stamps in your Halloween projects? Even witches and wizards need to learn how to create their lotions and potions! I'm even considering turning The Chemist into a gardener or florist by placing flowers or fruit in his hand to replace the test tube.

So to answer the original question, "they are lovely but what would I do with them?", the answer is get to creative and look at the versatility of these stamp sets. With an extra 15% Friday Focus discount there has never been a better time to add them to your collection. See all the Tim Holtz sets on special offer at The Funkie Junkie Boutique here.

Have a creative weekend, and please make sure you visit again tomorrow for a fantastic Step by Step with Terry. Take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx

$17.95 Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps - The Chemist	$17.95 Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps - Laboratorie	Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps - Mini Blueprints 5	Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps - Simple Sayings	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Tissue Tape, Laboratorie
Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi Embossing Paste - White	Dyan Reaveley′s Dylusions Ink Spray - Cherry Pie	Ranger Wendy Vecchi Archival Ink - Watering Can	Ranger Inkssentials Glossy Accents	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Aged Mahogany
Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Victorian Velvet	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Pumice Stone	Ranger Archival Ink - Jet Black	Ranger Inkssentials Non-Stick Craft Sheet