The Artful Maven

Sunday, July 05, 2026

Stamper’s Anonymous Curations Summer 2026: The Beach Thickboard Tag

Hello Everyone! I hope those of you in the U.S. had a wonderful 4th of July celebration! Today, I have the third and last project I created for the Stamper's Anonymous Curations Summer/Travel YouTube Live, featuring the stamps and stencils of Tim Holtz, as well as the launch of the Curations Oceans Horizons Thickboard pieces, that I've used here on this Beach Tag. I had this crazy idea of trying to create a beach horizon view with crashing waves from multiple angles using the pieces. It ended up taking me 1 1/2 packages of the set to complete and quite a bit of time, but I was very happy with how it came out. I hope my step outs don't confuse you much, lol. Enjoy!

I used two Thick Board Mini Tags...One to plan out my strategy that will go back into the package and one that will be the actual project, just to help me in planning. I used two packages of the Ocean Horizon Ornamentals because the Mini Thick Board is wider and this size is better to show the scene. I removed every piece from the first package except the large sun and the half pieces sun. In the other package I only used some of the waves. The tag hole will be the umbrella. In this picture some parts are painted white already, but I will cover that in the next step. This step is all planning the scene and having it gradually slant slightly from the horizon.

Using Picket Fence Distress Paint from Ranger, I painted over the Mini Tag size thick board, tag hole, sun, and 4 clouds (back and front on the clouds) that will be large waves. They would make good rocks too. Using Tumbled Glass, I lightly painted over the white in the sky area so it looks like thin clouds are about and continued on until I got to the bottom portion of the tag and stopped about 1.5" up keeping it slanted. I painted the bottom portion with Antique Linen Distress Paint. This will be the sandy beach. FYI...the spongy paint dabbers make this a lot easier instead of the flip lids on the paint. It's nice to have both for certain projects.

From the Mini Layering Stencils Set 38, I used the sun rays stencil, laying it on at the top where the sun would go, and pounced on Antique Linen Distress Paint with a Mini Ink Blending Tool, and cleaning that off onto the sun piece. Then I added Scattered Straw Distress Paint to the center part of the rays and cleaned that off towards the center of the sun, and finally Fossilized Amber Paint to the top rays and cleaned that off in the middle of the sun. I knew I used a little too much paint and could feel it moving under the stencil, but I'll fix that in the next step.

I laid the hole piece where it would go as a guide and added Tarnished Brass Distress Stickles (YES, I still have some!) first to the top edge where the blue meets the sand to look like wet sand that is darker than the dry sand. Then I added Antique Linen Distress Stickles to the rest of the area around the hole piece which would be the umbrella later. The Distress Stickles are more matte and not as shiny as the regular so I thought they were a good choice for the sand, and I needed to use these up as they are running low anyway. To fix the rays where the paint spread under the stencil, I used more Tumbled Glass and a detail paint brush and just brushed between the rays carrying the blue out a little further. It probably looks a little too Heavenly, but I like it.

This was my process for the all the waves from the Ornamentals sets...working top and then bottom to hopefully meet in the middle while looking even, and adding extra length of wave from the second set of Ornamentals, gluing it together and adding a small piece of tissue paper to help hide the seam, painting the waves, stenciling the waves, and finally adhering them. So I started on the horizon top piece, cut about 1/4" piece of extra wave using a ruler and craft knife to help cut, adhering the two pieces together with Collage Medium and adding a strip of tissue to cover the seam with the Collage Medium. I did the same to the bottom wave but angling it to fit above the sand. This was quite tedious until I got into a rhythm.

I painted the horizon piece with Prize Ribbon and then Picket Fence on the top edge. I stamped the linear dots in Glacier White Pigment Ink here and there along the top of the horizon piece, from the THMM122 Mixed Media Set. On the bottom shore piece, I painted it Tumbled glass, and then added Picket Fence to the top edge carrying it over. I also added Picket Fence to the edges of the sand where it meets the water. Then I stamped the bubbly splats in Glacier White over the edge of the waves. I adhered the horizon piece in place at the top with the straight edge up....this will be the only straight edge piece, and the rest will be wavy. Then I adhered the shore piece in place at the angle, using Collage Medium.

The next four pieces are wide pieces, 2 for the top and 2 for bottom. The two top pieces will be waves facing up and gradually slanting down to the left and are painted with Mermaid Lagoon and Picket Fence on the waves, then stamped with the linear dots in Glacier White after the extra additions are added with the tissue covering the seams. The bottom two pieces are waves facing down and gradually slanting up to the left and painted Salvaged Patina and Picket Fence on the waves, and then stamped with the linear dots again, after the additional length was added. It's the same process, with really only the direction of the waves different. I also clean the brush of blue color on the before or after waves to help blend the next blue into the other for more cohesiveness. I only glued down the first piece top and bottom to figure out spacing and angles. See the next step to see what I mean about the angles.

Before I glue down the second Mermaid Lagoon top piece and Salvaged Patina bottom piece, I laid them out and added the rest of the middle pieces on to figure my spacing, placement, and top to bottom angles. Then I glued those two down only using some spacers to help me, i.e. paintbrushes. I had to let this dry a while before moving on.

I was so busy concentrating and cleaning up the glass mat, that I did not get a better step out photo, but on the last 4 waves and big waves (clouds), same as before, adding extra length additions, tissue covering seams, painting Broken China Distress Paint this group, and Picket Fence edges. Once dry I just played with the configurations and tightness of adding them all in so that it would like rolling waves coming in, before adhereing. They are sort of bunched up, but ultimately I like the look. To finish all the waves off I used Frosted Lace Stickles which are more opaque and a little less glitzy than most other white Stickles. I added it to all the edges and then on the big waves I tried to draw movement scrolls. I adhered the sun on and added a little Glossy Accents on top to for some sheen.

I stamped the bullseye from THMM Set 139 onto the smooth side of Distress Watercolor Cardstock in Barn Door several times to make it nice and bright, using a Stamping Platform. I added two sided tape to the back, and cut it out around the last white circle. I used a black fine permanent pen to add the lines and then I tried to fold it along the lines but the two sided tape made that a bit difficult. I snipped the edges of the white along the lines and folded the borders in so that it looks like the sides of the umbrella hanging down. I adhered the hole piece to the beach portion using Collage Medium and stuffed some left over tissue in the hole trying to make it pointed and cone shape . I removed the backing of the tape and stuck the umbrella on. I had some Mini Starfish Bezel Fillers that I thought were the perfect size for the beach so I stuck them down with more Antique Linen Distress Stickles. I wanted to add the sentiment 'some beach somewhere' but I didn't see a good place to add it.

Supplies:

(Paint Brush, Scissors, Mini Ink Blending Tool, Ruler, Craft Knife, White Tissue Paper, Stamping Blocks, Stamping Platform, Two Sided Tape, Black Fine Point Pen)

-Stamper's Anonymous Tim Holtz Etcetera Thickboard Mini Tags

-Stamper's Anonymous Ornamentals (2 Sets): Ocean Horizon

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Paint: Picket Fence, Tumbled Glass, Antique Linen, Scattered Straw, Fossilized Amber, Prize Ribbon, Mermaid Lagoon, Salvaged Patina, Broken China

-Stamper's Anonymous Tim Holtz Collection Mini Layering Stencil: Set 38

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Archival Ink: Fossilized Amber, Barn Door

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Stickles: Tarnished Brass, Antique Linen

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium: Matte

-Stamper’s Anonymous Tim Holtz Mixed Media Stamps/Stencil: THMM122, THMM139

-Ranger Glacier White Pigment Ink

-Ranger Stickles: Frosted Lace

-Ranger Glossy Accents

-Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Cardstock

-Blank Slate Mini Starfish

Thank you truly for stopping by and for all the kind words and comments. I hope to be back in the near future. Until then, I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!

Saturday, June 27, 2026

Stamper’s Anonymous Curations Summer 2026: Happy 250th Birthday USA

Hello All! First, let me give you a big thank you for all the warm comments and messages from last weeks post and my long absence! My cup runneth over. Today, I have the second project shown in the Stamper's Anonymous Curations Summer/Travel YouTube Live featuring the stamps and stencils from Tim Holtz, the patriotic 250th Birthday Thickboard Tag. I used the Retro Carnival Components Stamp as my inspiration for this, and had a lot of fun creating it. I think it would look awesome in a wreath. Enjoy!

Using the Retro Carnival Components Stamp as my inspiration, I gathered the larger stamped images from the Psychedelic Grunge stamp set and kind of planned it out. Using Picket Fence Distress Paint from Ranger, I painted over the Mini Tag size thick board and tag hole.

Once dry, I started from the bottom working up and started stamping. I cut the numbers for the years from the Mixed Media 118 set and added them to a stamping block, then stamped them in Black Soot Archival. I cut one star from the row or stars and stamped it in the middle of the years with Barn Door Archival. (FYI...I ended up needing masks for pretty much every stamp from here on out for the bursts part, so I used sticky note to make them.)

Taking the circle star from Psychedelic, I stamped it in Prize Ribbon Archival and made a mask. Then taking the bullseye from the MM122 set, I stamped it using Barn Door Distress Archival Ink over the mask so the star would be in the middle, all on the bottom right.

I stamped the 'how old' and arrow in Prize Ribbon Archival. Then taking the number stencil, I inked in the numbers 2 and 5 with Barn Door.

Taking the star from Psychedelic, I stamped it in Barn Door and masked it. Then using the stencil with the arrows, I chose the firework rocket looking one and over the masked star I inked it in with Prize Ribbon Archival in the middle of the tag.

I took the mini star stencil from Set 38 and inked in some below the firework in Barn Door. Then using the Alphabet Stamps I cut off the U, the S, the A, and stamped those on the firework and star using Glacier White Pigment Ink, stamping them several times to be nice and white.

I added the circles from Psychedelic to a stamping platform and stamped them along the right side, alternating colors and using sticky notes to mask off the parts I didn't want to be inked using both the Barn Door and Prize Ribbon. I stamped the star circle above in Barn Door, and stamped it again on the hole part in Prize Ribbon. Then I stamped the whole circle image again on sticky note for masking in the next step.

I cut out the masked sticky notes and placed them on the top portion of images. Then I took the Rays Layering Stencil and Glacier White Pigment Ink and inked in the Rays with a Mini Ink Blending Tool. I did the same to the bottom. The ink covered up some parts I didn't want covered up, but I just reinked those parts.

Using the Dot Matrix portion of a stencil I inked in the open areas of the rest of the tag with Faded Jeans Archival. I painted the edges of the whole tag with Black Soot Distress Paint bringing it up over the edges for a distressed look like on the Components Stamp, as well as the hole. Then I adhered the hole onto the tag with Collage Medium.

Using a black permanent fine pen, I outlined every single thing on the tag. I used a white gel pen to color in a few portions that needed more white. Then using 4 colors of Stickles I went nuts with the glitz. Once dry, I wrapped twine around my hand several times, tied a knot in the middle and tied it onto the hole.