Sometimes you have to wear a Hat - My take on the August Tim Holtz Tags of 2015

I'm playing along with the Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2015. I loved using the cut-outs and the decopauging onto the background! I never would have thought of that!

So here is my take on the tag. Let me explain my "inspirational" sentiment.

"Sometimes the journey craps on your head, and you have to wear a hat."

Have you ever had a time period where you have to persevere in spite of everything going on around you? A few weeks ago I was waiting at a stoplight on my way to work, when out of nowhere I was rear-ended by a large Yukon XL. I drive a Hyundai. Nothing too serious, but I had whiplash, a bruised up back, and a $2000 car repair. So I wasn't feeling very well for a few weeks, but I had to keep going to work. Then while my car was being repaired, I had to get a rental car. I don't enjoy driving a car I'm not used to. My car repair was supposed to take 2 days, but it took 1 1/2 weeks. So every morning when I went out to the rental car to go to work, I found the birds had left many surprises for me on the rental car windows. So I had to go back inside and get some spray cleaner and paper towels, with my whiplash, and clean off the windows of the rental car, then head off to work, totally paranoid that every car was going to rear end me. So this is where my sentiment came from, and it was very inspirational at the time, because every day, there was a new bird splat on the rental car. 

So in spite of the challenges, sometimes...like the tag says, you just have to put on a hat and keep on going.
The photo doesn't show the expression on the owl's face, but that was pretty much my expression throughout the whiplash, car repair, bruised up period of time. No fun!

But...I did have fun making this tag, and it helped me to forget about my pains for a while, in spite of the tag's message, it is actually a good message. Do-Do Happens, so put on the hat. Do what you have to do. Keep on creating and tell your story!

So I cut out a bunch of gears from the top tag. I used a rusty background underneath.
Then I put a bunch of gesso on the top, like in the tutorial. See the Tim Holtz thin-lit number die cut out on the left side.

 I died the bow, and used a crackle stamp and various die cutouts on the top layer of the tag.

 I used some ephemera, some I printed on the computer, and some are from the Tim Holtz collage elements.
Of course I created my own "sentiment" as this isn't a sentiment anyone would probably want to embrace, except me.

 But the "sentiment" inspired me to persevere throughout my rough few weeks!

I'm starting to feel a lot better, and since I got my car back, I haven't had one bird splat experience. It's like the birds didn't like the rental car or something. The rental car was red, maybe a better target.The rental car was also way nicer than my car.

My car is dark blue, and the birds, probably like me, prefer what they are used to having in the driveway. Maybe the birds were on my side and were expressing their displeasure at the whole experience. Thank you birds for the solidarity!

So thanks for checking out my goofy tag this month. I enjoyed playing along and trying out the techniques!