Tims January tag

Have spent a lovely morning on this very snowy day completing my T!m tag:

I decided to try and make my tag look like Big Ben and incorporated the nursery rhyme Hickory, Dickory, Dock (the mouse ran up the clock!) with three (blind?) mice dotted around it to compliment the time theme - not sure if I accomplished that or not but I like it! 

I used some House Mouse Personalities stamps, the time quote is from T!ms Going Somewhere set, Artistic Outpost London Elements stamps (the Look Right pointer, telephone box and clock), Archival Ink in Coffee, Crimson and Jet Black.  Gathered Twigs, Frayed Burlap, Walnut Stain and Fired Brick distress inks with Frayed Burlap, Tea Dye and Tattered Rose Distress Markers.  The tag background is done with a brick embossing folder - I think by Creative Expressions not sure as I have reused the packaging! 

To define the bricks I inked the whole tag with Frayed Burlap ink, then used a Frayed Burlap distress marker to highlight the left hand side and underneath of each brick, then I reinked it all over again with Frayed Burlap and then inked the whole edge of the "clock tag" with Walnut Stain to define it further.  To finish the clock face I inked it very lightly with Frayed Burlap and then edged it very lightly with Walnut Stain and then used pen nibs to set the time to 1 o'clock covering the join of the nibs with two mini gears. 

I positioned a mouse looking like he was waiting for the phone to ring to give him the go ahead to race up the clock (how many hours do we spend in our youth waiting for someone to call??? or was that just me?), then I positioned the mouse in pride of place at the top of the clock to look as if he had just made it to the top for 1 o'clock! and then the (tired) mouse I rested on the scroll end of the Time quote (picture doesn't show this very clearly does it, but it is a rolled up scroll - honest!) to look as if he had just completed a run up and down Big Ben.

It seems I am still carrying on with my London theme with this tag! not sure whether I will manage that again for a whole year though as it required a lot of extra thought!  But I will try and either do British themes again or nursery rhymes (that sounds really tricky though doesn't it!).

All in all very good fun!  It didn't take too long as I have had it planned in my head for a couple of weeks but havent gotten around to completing it as I have been busy sewing a quilt for a blog hop I am in on 24th January more details are here - come back then and check out what I have made!

To check out the rest of the entries for T!ms January tag click here.

Thanks for looking - Snowed In from Solihull

edited to add - after posting I remembered I had a mouse footprint stamp so I have dug it out and this is now the finished tag:

cute eh!