Don't you just love Grungepaper???

So do you remember this happy couple....Penny and Bob? Their full names are Penny Pennypot and Bob Sprocket and they were the inspiration behind my latest brainwave. I always loved their hair and was trying to think of another way that I could use their funky hair do's.

Then suddenly out of the blue, it hit me like a lightening bolt.....an Idea-ology tree. So I had it in my head how the tree would come together but what the heck was I going to do with a tree laden with Tim Holtz Idea-ology? I know, I thinks to myself, let's make a house so it can sit in the garden.....this is the result. I used three little boxes that I had left over from a Configurations box which I glued together with Claudine Hellmuth's Multi Matt Medium (love that stuff), covered them with Tim Holtz paper from the Crowded Attic collection and painted them with Paperartsy Fresco Finish paint (London Night and Butternut).

I made some little Grungepaper frames to fit the front of each box. Coloured them with Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink and stamped some of Tim Holtz images with Jet Black Archival ink. I then stamped some more of Tim's images on acetate using Black Stazon and painted the back of the acetate with more Fresco Finish paint. When dry, I stuck the acetate behind the frames and then to the front of the boxes. I had a few small gaps between the frames so I used some of Wendy Vecchi's Art Part that I also painted with Fresco Finish to hide the joins but of course you can't miss out on an Idea-ology opportunity, so I punched holes in the Art Parts with a
Crop-a-dile so that I could dangle some treasures. I also made the roof part from Wendy's fabulous Art Parts and glued everything to one of Wendy's frames, this made a great sturdy base for everything to sit on.

Now for the Grungepaper tree. Work out the height that you want your tree to be and add an extra 2cm to the height to allow for the leaves to curl over. I cut strips into my Grungepaper about 4.5 cm long and then coloured the Grungepaper with Peeled Paint Distress ink. Remember to colour both sides and all the edges.

I used Claudine's Multi Matt Medium again to glue my tree together. You will need to roll and shape the tree trunk before gluing. The taller piece of Grungepaper needs to be rolled tighter than the shorter piece as it will need to slide inside when dry.

I used some Hinge clips to hold everything together until the matt medium had dried.


Take each leaf and roll between your thumb and finger to curl the leaves into a spiral.

Then you can hole punch and dangle Idea-ology from the leaves using some jump rings. My word of warning is two fold. Don't choose Idea-ology that is too heavy and also try to balance the weight evenly.....otherwise your tree will fall over.....I know this!!!!!

I did also make a smaller plant to fit inside one of Tim Holtz Corked Vials, it made a great planter!!

That's me for today, let me know how your trees turn out.

Lin