Review of A Compendium of Curiosities by Tim Holtz

Here's two more creations I made after receiving the new Tim Holtz book, A Compendium of Curiosities. They both use the alcohol ink monoprint technique for the background of the stamped image.  Although I have used alcohol inks a lot to make his "alcohol ink agate" backgrounds, this is the first time I have tried this.  It took a little practice to get some backgrounds that I liked, but I think I eventually got the hang of it.  I especially like the background in seashells.  These are two of the 35 techniques covered in the third section of this book.  Each technique is described in six illustrated, easy to follow steps.  Although many of these techniques have been covered in Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas (found here, here and here) or other tutorials on his blog, there are several new ones and it is wonderful to have them all in one place. Unlike the tag tutorials, these techniques do not result in a completed project; rather they show you how to create various pieces that can be used as either background or embellishments on completed projects.  I like that because I want to learn the techniques and then decide how to put them together.  If you're looking for completed projects, the fourth (last section) of the book is a gallery with 28 completed cards, tags, scrapbook pages, etc.  There's no description of which techniques were used in the completed project or cross-reference to completed projects in the technique section, and I wish there were.  But I guess the reader will just have to figure it out themselves.  The first section of the book is a list of tools:  24 different Tim products (including basis like scissors and heat tool; specialty tools like a scratcher and tiny attacher; and consumables like paints and inks).  I guess it's a sign of my interest in Tim stuff that I own at least one version of 22 of these!  (I do not have the texture hammer or tiny attacher.)  In my defense, I accumulated these slowly over time, often for classes I taught based on Tim's techniques, which were always very popular.  Plus, I use them all.  The second section of the book is called ideas and covers 22 products, mostly metal.  For each product, there's four photos of how these products can be used on a project with a brief description.  These products are things like corners, plates, fasteners, etc.  I own very, very few of these products, so this section did not appeal to me that much.  On the whole, the book offers a wealth of information for how to use the various products created and/or popularized by Tim Holtz. I also like the feel of the book - it's 75 pages or so and about 9x9 square.  It has a spiral binding, so it will lie flat, but the wire is covered and won't catch on anything. Two caveats:  if you don't own any of these products, the book is not really for you.  Also, if you're looking for a step-by-step guide to make completed projects (like the tag tutorials), you'll be disappointed.   But if you're looking for a primer on everything from alcohol ink to distress powders, A Compendium of Curiosities is definitely for you!  Since this review is longer than I anticipated, I'm going to review Tim's other publications in a separate post.

Scrapbook Friday

Just a couple of layouts that I made during the Building Pages class.  I notice that my scrapbooking (and most other types of art) goes in streaks.  I have been doing a lot of scrapbooking lately, but I kindof lost momentum this week.  I am trying to finish up my 2009 pictures, so I hope to do some more scrapping this weekend.  These are both from our trip to the tree farm.  One tells the story of DD burying a paw print of our late dog Buster to create a memorial for him there. The other shows her making a wreath with my husband and posing with us.

By the way, did you know that Tim Holtz actually has at least 3 books and two videos?  I own them all, and I'm working on a mini-review.  Check back this weekend  for that!

Like a Schoolgirl . . .

That's how I felt when I opened my copy of Tim Holtz's new book, A Compendium of Curiosities and read "Maria - Explore your curiosities! *Tim Holtz 2010."  It made my heart flutter like a schoolgirl to know that he had written that - just for me!  Yes, I have a little crush on Tim.   I have actually met him several times, including at a very small mutli-day retreat when he was just starting out.  We've also exchanged emails a few times when I was teaching projects using his techniques at my local scrapbook store.  It's hard to imagine there's a sweeter, more generous artist.   Anyway, the book got my muse all, um, stimulated, and I made a few tags.  The one of the left uses a very cool stamping with water technique to create the batiked/bleached flowers at the bottom.  I also colored the crown with alcohol inks after painting with a silver dauber, but that's hard to see in the picture.  I made a few other Tim-inspired bits and pieces that will no doubt show up soon in my artwork.  If you like Tim Holtz and want to learn more about how to use his products, the book is a terrific resource - and he'll even autograph one for you if you order it from his website here.

Religion and Art (midweek controversy, perhaps?)

Religion has been a subject for art and artists throughout the ages.  For me, I have used religious icons (especially the Virgin of Guadalupe) in several art pieces, especially those with a strong political message or Latino influence.  Recently, I was inspired by this post at Karen's Random Reflections blog to make time to create one art journal page a week during Lent (the 40 days between Fat Tuesday and Easter) that reflected upon my current feelings about my religion.  Here's my page from this week. It's about insights as to how my Catholicism can co-exist with my more liberal tendencies and views.  What about you? Do you incorporate religion or faith into your art? 

February Class Review

I participated in two on-line classes this month.  The first, Building Pages, was taught by Debbie Hodge at Get it Scrapped.  The four week class, offering three prompts a week, covered how various design principles can be used to improve the overall look and flow of scrapbook pages.  I loved the class because it explained why and how design principles work, appealing to the left-side of my brain.  I love learning about design principles because I have no design training.  Debbie's lessons were clear and well-illustrated.  They covered a variety of topics, such as how to best use rectangles, white space, foundation mats, diagonals (see above) and balance.  For right-brained folks who are more visual learners, she offered lots of sketches and examples.  Each lesson included at least one digital template/sketch to download for free, and there were many digital scrappers in the class.  But, the class was also geared to paper scrappers.  It's hard to find classes which appeal to both, and I think this class accomplished that.  I also appreciate the fact that each lesson had sketches and examples that could be used by people who scrap with LOTS of pictures (like me) or only a few. There was a fabulous gallery chock-full of examples from other class participants, and a forum for questions and discussions The class was originally priced at $25, but I responded to an early bird special and only paid $20.  All-in-all, it was a terrific class, and I highly recommend it!

The second class, a free on-line class called "Develop on Fridays," focuses on developing photography skills.  Once a week (on Friday), a different lesson or prompt was posted. It was originally scheduled for four weeks and hosted by Paislee Press.  I loved the prompts, and it really helped me think differently and more deeply about my photography.  When doing the sports portraits and team photos at DD's school, I kept the angle lesson in mind and found myself on the floor often, in order to get some good shots.  I especially like the photograph above, which is of two cousins who play on the team.  Aren't they beautiful? There was a forum to post your assignments, but not a lot of participation in the forums.  Instead, many people used flickr and twitter - neither of which work well for me.  After four weeks, the folks who offer the class plan to continue it with a few changes.  It has moved to this new website, and prompts will be offered every other week.  I plan to continue to visit the new website and do the prompts.  The most important thing I learned from the class is that I do want to step up my photography.


Not sure what I'm taking (if anything) in March.  I'm seriously considering Shimelle's Something from Almost Nothing and Dina's Art Journaling 101.  Do you have any classes to review?  Any that you're planning on taking?

Sports Photography, the Olympics, a Winner and a Challenge

DD is playing basketball in middle school and really enjoying it!  She's a wonderful defender and the third highest scorer on the team. I love sports photography and lately I've been thinking about why (maybe it's because of the Olympics).  I do two types of sports photography:  action shots and portraits. For the action shots, I really enjoy freezing that moment of athletic competition when two players are putting forth all their effort, trying their best, and one succeeds. There's always such emotion in these shots. In the photo at left, DD is off the ground and stealing the ball. Love it.


In the next photo of a player jumping on home plate after hitting a homerun, you can't see the pitcher he "defeated," but Sterling hit the ball off someone:

Other times, a great action shot can capture the moment when players don't know what the outcome will be, like this photograph where both the third baseman and runner are looking to the umpire to make a call on whether the runner is safe:

For the portraits, I love trying to capture the spirit of the athlete.  Here's one which I like (and I just noticed that the angle helps a lot):

One thing I'd like to do more of in my sports photography is capture negative, as well as positive emotion.  This famous photo of Olympic speedskater Dan Jansen (who fell in a race, shortly after learning of his sister's death) is a great example.  The photo is from Getty Images:

And how wonderful to be able to use sports photography to capture an important, historical moment, like this famous photo of black athletes giving a black power salute (again, not my photo):

Do you take sports photos?  Do you admire any in particular? Are there any enduring images from this year's Olympics that stick in your mind? NBC has a nice site with lots of photos here.


Speaking of competition, the winner of the Alice challenge is DEB!  I asked DS to choose a number between 1 and 11, and he chose 10.  Deb, send me your address, and I'll pop your houses in the mail.  Can't wait to see what you do with them!  And thanks to everyone who participated - there's a wealth of artistic inspiration in response to the challenge.  You can see them all at this post.  Thanks again!!!


And, speaking of challenges, I posted this week's challenge over at the Scrap Weekly Blog.  You can see it (and a couple of my poorly photographed layouts) here.

Alice AJ Page and Update

In response to this challenge at The Scrappy Tree, I made this Alice in Wonderland art journal page.  In terms of variety and creativity, there's been a terrific response to my Alice challenge.  So far,in blog land, there have been entries from:
Jacky who made these invitations to tea;
Mel who created this awesome mini book;
Cherry who made this amazing art journal page;
and Cindy who made a wonderful pin.

Folks who sent me pictures or posted in forums include:

Ruth Ann who created a terrific frame (above); and

Holly who made this magical digital ATC (above).

With one hour left to go, updated to add these blog posts:
Karen posted this rockin' card;
Gayle posted a terrific art journal page;
Connie jumped on to the House bandwagon and made this beauty;
and Deb posted this beautiful card with paper flowers.

And Mariana stepped outside her box to make this outside-the-lines ATC card:

There's still time to come and play.  Details in this post.  Entries close at 9:00 p.m. Sunday night.