Enjoy the Journey Holtz Tag

Yesterday was a momentous day for my husband and I. For many years we have owned RVs and currently (until yesterday) have very small 18ft trailer to use. We bought the little trailer while I was having severe back troubles. We didn't want to put alot of money in something if my back did not heal. It's now been a little over a year since I've 100% recovered (yay for spinal fusion surgery!). We decided it is safe to shift life back into full swing and yesterday we picked up a new adventure mobile. It is a 33ft fifth wheel that has three slides and seems loaded with goodies to us since we've always owned entry level rigs.

To celebrate, I made my first large Holtz tag. I've made small ones for packages, but none of the large, in the Holtz style. I used this weeks Splitcoast Stampers IC536 - which is being inspired by an easter egg pin from the hostess, after settling on a pin, I further searched Pinterest to find Holtz tag inspiration (having never made one before) and have posted the inspiration tags below the image of our new setup. Though I own the dragonfly stamp which is in the inspiration tag, I decided to go the direction of Journey and Travel. I love both of the sentiments I decided to use, but alas, my stamp set is different than what you can purchase today. I bet you could search ebay for the exact one with the "Enjoy the journey" in one row. I could not resist adding a metal band embellishment that says "Expedition". I added two Admit One tickets, one for my husband and one for myself. Not satisified yet, I added a branch with a bird. Finally, I dug out a Holtz brad that says traveler. I enjoyed sponging the vibrant colors and then edging the tag in Vintage Photo.

Here are the details of my sponging technique. I use the round ranger mini blending tool. I started with the rectangle when I began my crafting journey, next I have tried the yellow sponge cut in pieces (Stampin' Up seems to really like this option) and finally I have settled with the mini round blender tool. I don't get unwanted streaks and can sponge a small area. I have sponges in each color range, I do have velcro on the bottom of each large distress ink pad and have left the rectangle pads attached. Round sponges hang out in a drawer. I pull out a sponge for the color range I am after and I have three of the tools.

Now, back to this project. I pulled out the inks, stacked them with lightest on top, I had three stacks. I do begin my sponging off the edge (on the craft mat) and in a small circular motion I come in onto the card and sponge in small circles until I get the desired effect. I do all my lightest colors first, then start on the next darkest color. You will see in my color list below that I only used two for the coral, because I didn't have a very light coral to start with. With the darkest color, I actually used the pad on the edges to really get some dark contrast at the edge. I then sponged in small circles to rub out some of the extra/unwanted marks as needed. My last step in the sponging was to add vintage photo to the edges.

Next, I splattered water droplets to achieve a distressed look. Each side has a Holtz stamp scroll from his Boundless Flight stamp set, I did stamp off once to ensure a softer look, using Vintage Photo. The sentiments ink is StazOn Jet Black I purposefully left the center the lightest to draw the eye to the sentiment. Since we love to adventure in the mountains, I die cut one evergreen tree (the new Holtz Woodlands tree) and used the inside of it for the right and the left is the entire tree, that I've glued half on the tag, leaving half off the tag for added interest.

I used seam tape for the tag topper. I colored it very quickly by pressing sections of it onto various ink colors listed below. I spritzed the ribbon with water then crumpled it up into a ball a few times, I let it relax a bit and let it dry overnight. In the morning all I had to do was add the ribbon. I love how this came out!

Distress ink colors used lightest to darkest:

• Spiced Marmalade->Abandoned Coral
• Twisted Citron->Cracked Pistachio->Crushed Olive
• Antique Linen ->Fossilized Amber ->Wild Honey

Edges and filigree background ->Vintage Photo

Pinterest Pin from the hostess board to get me started - these eggs had colors and distressing with intricate lines, all that interested me for my tag.

Pinterest Pin Tag I used for Further Inspiration - this dragonfly tag had elements I wanted to mimic, the colored seaming tape top, metal embellishments and distressed vibrant background showcasing Holtz stamps.

Challenges I've entered with this project:

• Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - make your own background
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - use a little green
• Splitcoast Stampers Inspiration Challenge- Easter Egg Hunt IC536