Jungle fun

Ok, this last one is just a fun one!!!  By the fifth tag I was starting to feel tired and goofy.  And hence, I created a fun goofy tag!  LOL  It's a very light hearted, childish, fun tag.  And honestly, I had no idea where this was going when I started.  LOL  My brain had gone to mush and I managed to find some fun 3D stickers in my stash that I think make this tag fun.   I hope you agree?  ;)

LOL, ok, like I said... goofy and fun.  I love the little Lemur.  He's so cute!  LOL 

I started by coloring the tag with Distress inks spiced marmalade.  I then used a stencil I found at Michaels by Americana in the craft paint section.  Now, this stencil is sticky and very very very fragile and thin.  It was a challenge laying it down without wrinkles.  I used Distress ink black soot to color in the tiger lines and distress inked the edges as well.

I cut the leaves from Tim Holtz's Alterations die cut.  I don't like to cut up books for the scripted backgrounds so I take pages and photocopy them onto regular paper and use that instead of damaging books.  I used regular paper because it is thinner and it gives the leaves a more realistic look because it is so thin.  I crumples and crinkles easily when inking it.  I inked using Distress inks crushed olive, rusty hinge, and vintage photo. 

I stuck down the King of the Jungle with his happy smile!  Then I placed the leaves where I wanted them.  Glued them down.  Lastly, added the Lemur and the 3D leaves. 

Not much to making this tag, but what the heck, they don't all need to be technique driven.  LOL  Besides, by the time I got to making this tag, I was in mush mode.  LOL  Have you ever had days like that?  Spend the whole day crafting and at one point you hit the craft wall and say... that was fun but I'm done!  LOL    So, my day is done.  I feel happy and content.  A great day with my GF, lots of tags, and overall a wonderful day.  A perfect day in my world!  :)    Have a wonderful weekend.   Next week is going to be a crazy busy week so I'm not sure how much time I will have to play.  So till next time... take care and have fun playing with your own imagination.  :) 

Songbird

Almost done posting... this one and one more!  Good thing, my eyes are starting to cross a bit.  LOL  I think blogging them is more tiring than creating them.  :)  This one is another really simple tag.   The hardest part was making the pinecone, at least for me that was the hardest part. 

To start I used Distress inks to color the background.  I used Fired brick, crushed olive, spiced marmalade, scattered straw.  I randomly worked the color onto the tag and blended them together with the blending tools.  Next, I took a letter stencil from Crafter's Workshop by Jamie Echt and laid the stencil onto the outside left portion of the tag and taped it down so it wouldn't move around when I inked overtop of it.  I inked with Fired brick again. 

Next, I cut out the bird and branch using Tim Holtz's Alterations die cut.  I cut out a blue mini polka dot pattern paper and then inked overtop to color the areas I wanted to change the look.  I used Walnut stain on the branch and crushed olive and old paper on the bird.  I glued it to the tag. 

I then stamped the sentiment from CTMH Hello Tweety onto some white cardstock.  I roughly cut around it and inked with old paper.  I stamped the chain onto the tag so it looks like it's hanging from the top.  I added the sentiment with a pop dot. 

I then used Recollections flowers and prima flower leaves and laid them where I wanted them.    I cut the pinecone from Tim Holtz's tattered pinecone die cut and rolled it into shape and glued it to hold it together.  This took a bit longer than normal because I think it was from using Tim's Kraft Glassine paper which has a waxy finish to it.  I didn't use my hot glue gun, instead I used Liquid glass and so I had to hold it for a bit before the glue took hold and held the pinecone together without unraveling. 

Next, I glued all the parts down and added a little Recollections embezzled bling that has a topaz color to it that just seemed to suit the branch and pinecone color scheme. 

One more to go and then I think a hot bath is in order and bed.  What a productive day!!!  And I was so glad to be able to enjoy my time with my GF today!  We really don't get to spend a lot of crafting time together and so today was such a great time doing what we both love.  I am so blessed to have her as one of my dearest friends!   Thanks for sharing your afternoon with me Sherry!  xoxo

Tim Holtz Feb 2013 inspired tag

I haven't yet started on doing Tim Holtz's 12 tags of 2013, but today I thought, you know I'm going to do my version of his Feb tag.  I didn't use all his techniques, I just used the inspiration to make this tag.  And I LOVE it!  I really wasn't sure how it was going to turn out.  I sometimes self doubt... I really need to work on that!  :)    This tag was definitely a bit more technique oriented and took longer than any of my other tags I made today.  But I think it was worth the effort.  :)

With this tag I started with a #8 Black tag.  I wanted the solid black background to start without having to paint or color it.   First thing I did was use Distress crackle paint in picket fence and swiped a streak up and down the right side of the tag.  Set it aside to dry and do its cracking. 

I used Tim's Stampers Anonomyous Classic #5 face stamp and cut it out, I took Fired brick and lightly blended color onto the image focusing the color more on the outside edges and lightly into the cheek area.  I set it aside to glue down once the crackle was dry. 

I then stamped various hearts from a Hero Arts stamp set I have.  I heat embossed these.  The bottom square postage stamp style I embossed with a black embossing powder and then distress inked in with fired brick.  I used my finger and rubbed some Viva Inca Gold in old gold around the edges and any remainder on my fingers over the black embossing surrounding the heart area.  It's very subtle but when the light hits it, it just gives a bit of gold sheen ever so slightly. 

The next heart is a scripted image.  I again embossed with a black embossing powder.  I then took my distress ink fired brick and inked the heart.  The embossing acts as a resist.  Next, I took some more of the Viva gold and rubbed it overtop of the whole image and lightly took some paper towel and removed the gold from the black embossing.  The red beneath just lightly is peeking thru. 

Onto the next scripted heart.  I heat embossed this one with Red embossing powder.  And then again, lightly distress inked in Fired brick.

The last heart is a solid heart that I embossed using Distress embossing powder in Fired Brick.  Once cool I used my finger to scuff it up.  With this one I also lightly used some Viva gold and lightly rubbed it to the surface.  I did this with such a super light touch cause I didn't want the gold to take over, just to enhance it delicately when the light would hit it. 

I had a pack of Tim's mini cards and pulled out the Q card.  I distress inked around the edges and slightly inward with Fired Brick again using the blending tool.  It caused a bit of smudging which I thought was neat.  I then took Viva gold and ran it around the edges and with my finger lightly in the center. 

By now the crackle should be mostly dry.  Mine was still a bit wet so I took my mini blow dryer and started to dry it.  Because it had started to crack already it was ok to do this.  I find the warm air actually accelerates the cracking a bit.  Once dry, again I used my finger and Viva gold and rubbed the gold over the cracks, around the edges of the black tag and swipes over random areas of the tag in a vertical direction so that all the streaks are going the same direction.  I didn't want a cross hatched streaking. 

Time to assemble.  Glue on the face.  I laid out the card and the hearts the way I liked them best and then glued them down.  I found a metal embellishment that I had that I thought worked perfectly with this tag.  Add some ribbon to the top and entwine the ribbon thru the embellishment to attach. 

Like I said, this one took a bit more work and a lot more techniques and steps to it, but all the little subtle touches is what I think makes this tag come to life.  A tag fit for all us Queen of hearts out there.  As scared as I was when I started this one, I think it turned out pretty cool!  At least I like it.  LOL   

Now, only two more to post for today.  Phew...  See you in a moment... :)   

Birdcage bliss

Ok, This next one may be in my top faves.  The pastel and softness are so beautiful.  I just have so much fun making these tags.  It is so therapeutic during what is such a stressful time in my families life right now.  Anytime I can get away from my life and escape into my craft world is such a blessing.  So on that bit of deep insight, LOL, I am off to show you my next tag!  :)

I started with my #8 manila tag and used 2 different chalkboard shimmer sprays.  I stood the tag up inside my spray box and sprayed the Mint chocolate chip fairly heavy and let the liquid run and drip down a bit.  Then I took the Concord spray and sprayed in the areas that the mint didn't go.  There will be a fair amount of overspray collected on the bottom of the spray box so while still wet I took the tag and laid it face down into the excess overspray and when I lifted it up it had a real mottled neat look.  The colors mingled and I had new colors develop on the tag.  It was cool!!!  Those chalkboard shimmer sprays are one of my favorites shimmer sprays to use for background colors.  I would like to get more colors.  ;)  Like I really need more supplies!  Yup... I do.  Is there ever such a thing as enough?  Not when you are an addict like myself.  LOL 

Next I pulled out the stamps I wanted to use for the background images.  I used Tim Holtz Grunge in the web design and also CTMH Fabulous You images.   For colors I used CTMH Sky for the web stamp, and a combination of Distress inks Dusty concord and Milled lavender for the CTMH images.  I pressed into the Dusty concord first then the milled lavender and then very lightly back into dusty concord.  I found that the milled lavender was too light and the dusty concord was a bit to dark so I layered the color to get a more mid tone color that I was happy with.   I distress inked the edges in Chipped sapphire. 

The birdcage and the bird are embellishments from Recollections.  The flowers and the beaded stems are from Prima flowers.  And I added a few beautiful bedazzles from Doodlebug just to add a bit of Bling to the tag! 

I hope you enjoy it!  Now, I have more to come!  ;)  So next....

Make every moment count

Wow,  today has been a busy day making tags!  Love it.  I had my GF come over for a few hours and we played, stamped, colored, cut for a few hours.  I was pretty proud of myself and managed to make 5 tags this afternoon!  I love making tags but when you get to create in the company of great friends, then it just makes the afternoon a complete wonderful time.  This first tag is Tim inspired even though it's not using all of his products.  I have to make use of what I have cause I don't have all his stuff, so I used what I had but the look resembles his style.  My GF loved this one and wanted me to make her one too!  So I guess I made 6 today.  ;)   Well here is the first tag:

Firstly, I inked the tag with Distress Inks in Aged Mohogany, Spiced Marmalade, and Scatterd straw. 

Next, I used a brick stencil from Crafters Workshop design by Jamie Echt, and in Distress Ink Vintage photo.  I also used Vintage photo to distress the edges around the tag. 

I then used another stencil from Jamie Echt, mini tile texture using Distress Ink Crushed Olive. 

I stamped the face image from Tim Holtz Stampers Anonomyous Classic faves #5.  I distress inked the image with Old Paper and Scattered straw.  And affixed it to the top of the tag. 

I have this awesome stamp set from Hero Arts with a beautiful clock face and sentiments.  I added the clock image in Black and then also heat embossed the sentiment with Distress embossing powder in Walnut stain. 

The telephone booth and the coin were embellishments from Recollections.  Gives the tag that vintage Tim Holtz look.   I added TH trinket pin to the yarn up top. 

I am in love with this tag.   So now, onto the next one I made...  :)  

Measure up

Another simple easy tag,  primarily another paper tag with a few embellishments.  No huge techniques in this tag either.  But I love this one!  This tag speaks to me cause I've been so struggling with a weight issue for so long and no matter how hard I try my body is not responding to what I want.  So this tag has a tape measure ruler and a Tim Holtz embellishment that says "Embrace Imperfection",  and I need to remind myself that I am beautiful and a good person regardless of what the scale says.  So this is to me!  I'm sure many of you women out there can relate and we all need to remember that we are all special and beautiful unique individual women with something to offer the world.  So Embrace Imperfection is the name of this game. 

I again used a black #8 manila tag and some MME paper that I had left over from my project before this one.  I tore, cut, and glued them where I wanted and added the ruler, the flower, and the Tim Holtz metal embellishment.  And that is it!  :)  Really just took me minutes to put together.  But it's the message it sends to me as my reminder.  Take care and love yourself.  :)

Buzzy bee

Hi all.  I didn't have a lot of time but wanted to do some playing so I did a couple of really simple tags.  Nothing with lots of techniques, mostly just paper crafting. 

I used a #8 black manila tag.  I took some MME paper that I had different patterns and tore them into the pieces I wanted to use.  Next I took Heidi Swap honeycomb stencil and Distress Paint in Wild Honey and painted in the pattern.  I took some scrap cardstock and used CTMH Honeycomb Flair stamps and stamped some of the octagons in Scattered Straw, Wild Honey and Rusty Hinge combinations.  I cut them out and attached them with pop up dots to give some raised dimension.  Then I place the paper pieces where I wanted them.  I grundged the edges with Distress inks Wild Honey.  Glued them down.  I took some flower embellishments and leaves, colored them with Distress inks and glued them down.  The Bee is a sticker embellishment from the Naturals canvas from Michaels and I used the Distress inks in Scattered straw and Wild Honey to color it with a water pen.  And finished!  Easy peasy.  But cute!  :) 

Just a note

Well, again.  Another tag that I had no clue what I was going to do.  I just started grabbing stuff from my stash and threw it together.  I have to admit that this one I wasn't feeling at first.  I got about half way thru and though... ich... Not liking this tag at all.  But, I just kept working with it and in the end, I don't mind it at all.  Funny how that works.   Here it is: 

 

 

I colored this tag with the Chalkboard shimmer spray in Concord.  Once dry I used Distress Ink Dusty Concord and inked around the edges and overtop the tag a bit where the spray didn't cover completely.  I then took my water mister and lightly added some drops of water to the tag to give it a speckly look.  With all the dampness the tag started to get that grungy crinkly kind of look and so instead of letting it completely dry I used Distress ink Chipped Sapphire and ran it along the edges and overtop of some of the wrinkles on the tag. 

 

Next I used Jamie Echt 6x6 stencil Mini tile texture and Distress ink Chipped Sapphire to create a background look.   I found this image of this vintage typewriter on Pinterest and printed it out.  I scaled it down to the size I wanted.  The black and white image was a bit too sharp for me so I sprayed some Perfect Pearls heirloom gold shimmer mist overtop to tone it down.  I cut a slit with my Exacto knife where paper would be and ran a bit of scripted washi tape thru the slit to mimic paper.  I added a little Idea-ology mini paper clip to the washi paper. 

 

I pulled out one of my stampendous clear stamp sets Vintage typewriter and used the Just a Note stamp.  I stamped it with clear embossing ink and heat embossed with Stampendous Aged Black embossing enamel.  As an after thought, I think I would have preferred to used the Distress embossing powders.  The embossing enamel just ran a bit too much and blurred the words.  Oh well... next time!  LOL 

 

I finished off the tag with some black script washi tape, an idea-ology pen nib, and lastly my black micropen and a ruler to draw a few lines along the side and bottom.  And that's all folks... 

 

 

I hope you like looking at them as much as I enjoy making them.  Thanks for popping in to see me.  I hope you'll leave me a note so I know you were here.  :)  Night!  

Butterflies

Been awhile since I was able to do a tag.  I had to make a small trip and unfortunately playing was not a part of that plan.  So, I'm back and made a few.  This tag was just on a whim, no plan, no idea of what I was going to do so I just was flying by the seat of my pants at each step and I actually quite like the end result. 

So, first I colored the tag with my chalkboard shimmer sprays.  I used Admiral first and covered the tag and then took Concord and sprayed it onto my craft mat and pressed the tag into it.  The concord didn't change the color a whole lot but it gave it a slightly different look than just the Admiral alone.  I liked the finish.  Once dry, I took Distress Ink Chipped sapphire and inked the edges.

I then took my Distress Crackle paint in Black Soot and did a swipe randomly on the tag.  Once it started to dry and crack I took my little blow dryer to speed up the drying and cracking.  I find it works quite well.  I don't use my heat gun cause that just heats it up too fast I find.  The black crackle paint is difficult to see the fine cracks so I used the Distress stain Silver and smooshed some overtop and used my finger to rub it in and around the edges for some highlight.  It's hard to see in the picture but when the light hits it you are able to see the texture of the cracks better and the silver gives it a bit of shimmer. 

Next I stamped Tim Holtz heartfelt stamp with embossing ink and heat embossed Stampendous Aged silver embossing enamel.  I love this stuff!!!   The butterflies and the little flower are Forever in Time accents. 

Onto my next one!  :)   <3

Happiness

I just made a super simple tag today.  I figured they don't always have to be elaborate with embellishments and what not's.  This just felt like it needed to be a simple pretty tag.  And I love it!  I used CTMH stamps and some inks to make this tag. 

I had a tag that I used all the extra overspray from my last tag, using Tattered Angels Black Magic and Smooch white.  The tag was a light colored silvery tone.  I wasn't really feeling it so since I am so in love with the new Chalkboard shimmer mist in Mint Chocolate Chip that I bought I sprayed some of that directly onto my craft sheet and took my silvery tag and pressed it down into the spray and moved it around, picked it up and laid it back in picking up all the Minty goodness that was on my craft sheet.  You can kind of see in the photo the metallic marbling that this spray leaves behind, but you don't get this look by just misting directly onto the paper.  You have to move it around to get the marbling effect which I am absolutely loving! 

I then went hunting thru my CTMH folders to find the stamp set that spoke to me today.  And I came across one from a few years ago that I love called Treasure Life.  I also rummaged thru my older CTMH ink pads and found Grey Flannel, Garden Green and New England Ivy that I thought would work well with the background color.  I did random plant patterns starting with the grey flannel, then garden green, then to the darkest New England ivy layering the images.  I did the sentiment in Black.

And that be all.  :)  No embellishments, no embossing, no gluing, just stamping!  And I think it is beautiful!  Have a great day and maybe I'll work on another one...

Free Yourself

Hi.  This tag actually looks so much better in person.  I just could not get the lighting and my camera to work together.  The whole tag is a bit representative of how I sometimes feel.  I keep a lot bottled up... my thoughts, emotions. I allow my thoughts to sometimes spin and spin.  Over the past few months I've learnt to journal my thoughts and feelings, to express them to those I need to express them to, and to basically Free myself from the cage I keep myself in.  This tag is what this is all about and a reminder to me when I start to feel like this...

I wanted to do something with foil today.  First I took some scrap paper and cut various triangular shapes and glued them randomly onto my tag.  Then I cut a piece of foil from my Tim Holtz stash of goodies, and stuck it onto the tag covering my triangles.  I used my boning folder and pressed around the edges of the raised triangles and shaped them thru the foil.  I then took the tip of a closed pen and pressed into areas of the foil to make the circle marks, and also a embossing tool with a relatively small bulb on it to draw in some X's, lines etc to other areas until I was satisfied with the result.  From here I took the sanding block and sanded overtop of the raised triangles to etch them a bit.  Then I used some alcohol ink in Aqua and applied it to the foiled area just to give the foil a tint of color.  I inked black around the foil area to color the paper part of the tag that was exposed.

I used the Dusty Attic hinges chip board and base painted it with Distress paint Black.  Once dry I rubbed Viva Inka Gold in Graphite first overtop and then Inka Gold Silver to give it a mottled antiqued kind of look. 

Next I tore a square piece of cardstock and sprayed it with Art Anthology spray in Raider, which is a really nice matte black spray.  Almost gives it that matte chalkboard effect.  I also tore two small pieces for the script Free Yourself.  I didn't have a stamp that said what I wanted it to so I hand wrote it in to mimic my own journaling.  I glued the white pieces to the black and then also attached with a glue dot one of the Idea-ology pen nibs and it says thoughts which is finely engraved into it. 

I stamped the image of the girls face onto some white cardstock and tinted it slightly with some Tattered Angels shimmer mist in Black Magic and Smooch spray in white.  I sprayed both colors onto my craft sheet and ran the image thru it to give it a softer look than the starchy white image alone.  I set it aside to dry. 

I used 2 different brands of gears.  The largest one is from 7Gypsies and the two smaller ones are Idea-ology mini gears, all in the tarnished silver.  I found the bird cage pendant at Michael's from Industrial Chic. 

Now it was time to assemble all the pieces to the tag.  I laid down the birdcage first so I could fit all the rest of the pieces around it to my liking.  I then glued down my face image, the black paper with the pen nib, then the hinges.  Once the glue was dry under the hinges I added the mini brads in both black and silver.  I didn't have enough black to do them all so I had to get creative with the two colors.  Next I glued down the gears and attached the bird cage with my yarn. 

And this was a little like homework for me today.  In a good way.  It's kind of neat that our crafts become expressive art.  Now onto some chores today and supper.  Toodahloo...

How do you display your tags?

I'm running out of room on my string for hanging my tags... I'm going to have to get creative and find me some more space to display my tags.  My room is getting pretty crowded looking.  I have stuff from corner to corner thru the whole room.  I might need a bigger house with a bigger room!  Somehow though I don't think my hubby is going to agree to that plan.  How do you display your tags?  I'm looking for some suggestions that might get me to fit more onto the wall space that I have. 

Time to shut it down for the night.  Good night! 

Believe in your dreams

I took some time today to sit in my craft room and get to playing with some of my new finds.  I really like how this tag turned out.  One of my newest purchases was the Tattered Angels Chalkboard glimmer mist in Mint Chocolate Chip.  I'm in love with this mist and the color.  And I found it did something really cool when I played with it.   So here is the tag and my how to instructions. 

 

So, the first thing I did was spray the tag with the Chalkboard glimmer mist in Mint Chocolate Chip.  It seemed like a regular mist and really minty green.  There was a fair amount of over spray on my craft sheet and I hate to waste so I thought I'd turn the tag over and pull it thru the over spray and get a full coverage on the tag since the misting didn't cover the whole surface space.  Well.... how cool!  Once I started to blot and pull the tag thru the spray that was on my craft sheet, the metallic in the spray really became noticeable.  It was very mottled and marbled looking.  Love the effect it gave.  My camera does not really pick up the shimmered splotchy look. 

Once the tag was dry I distress inked the edges in first Peeled Paint and brought the ink inward just a bit, I then went back overtop with Vintage photo and did the very edges.  From here I pulled out my Tim Holtz Ultimate Grunge stamps and randomly stamped the grid in Wild Honey, the Month/Day/Yr in fired brick, and the numbers in Peeled Paint.   I added a torn piece of Bazzill Paper tape Wayfarer and stamped a sentiment I had in my binder that says "The future belongs to those who believe in their dreams".  I'm not sure who that stamp set was from.  (I got organized a few years ago and took all my clear stamps and placed them in clear pocket folders and into a binder for easy access, but the downside to doing that was I took them all out of their original packaging and now I don't know who they were from or what the name of them are.)  Sorry! 

I then stamped Tim Holtz's blueprint clock onto a piece of white cardstock.  I cut the edges with a jagged edged  Fiskars and then used the distressing tool to really rough up the edges.  I find cutting with the jagged scissors first really gives me a super rough edge that I like.  I Distress inked the edges in Vintage photo and brought that inward a bit.  Next, I used Clear rock candy crackle paint.  Once the cracks were done and dry I used Distress stain Bundled Sage overtop of the cracks.  I found it a bit too dark so I tried misting water on it and wiped the surface stain away.  I also found by doing this the water seeped into the cracks and made the stain spread a bit but also lightened it every so slightly which I like the look of better.  Phew...  The piece now has a rough leather texture to it.  I really like it.  I glued it to the tag and added some antiqued gold brads to the three corners to finish it off.

I added a Gem Gear from 7 Gypsies.  And then lastly, I took my black Micropen and a ruler and drew a line up from the clock with an arrow, and another line at the bottom with an arrow to mimic the blueprint measurements on the stamped image.  Added my yarn to the top and my tag was done. 

I hope you like.  Thanks for stopping in to take a peak.  :) 

Golden leaf

Boy did I have a blast today!  I hit our local scrapbook store and found me a load of goodies which got me inspired to make another tag for a friend.  I had intended on making a tag like this last week but didn't have anything in my stash that would have resulted in what I had in mind.  So, I found a few key items today and it brought my inspiration back to make the tag I had in my mind to begin with.  And since her passion is the outdoors, this will be perfect for her.   Here is the tag and how I made it...

 

 



 



First I sprayed my tag with a new spray I found, Art Anthology color Paprika.  I've never seen this line before and I had to buy one just to see what it was all about.  I love the color!  Once I dried the tag, I embossed with the cuttlebug Leaf folder.  I absolutely adore embossing.  To the raised image I used Distress ink Peeled Paint and the ink tool to bring out the leaves.  Then I used the Peeled Paint to distress the edges of the tag as well. 

I also bought today Viva Inka Gold in Old Gold and applied some of that to the leaves.  It really makes them stand out and shine.  The picture really does not do it justice.  So now the tag is colored, off to make the embellishments. 

I finally found the skeleton leaves that I have been feverishly searching for.  I laid the leaf onto my craft sheet and wanted to color it with my Krylon 18K gold leafing pen.  Worked ok, but it didn't really give me the depth of gold I wanted.  So, I took my new Inka Gold and rubbed some of that paste onto the leaf with a spatula, which filled in some of the meshy parts.  Once it was dried, I took my Krylon gold leaf pen and went back over top to really give it that Authentic Gold leaf look.  It turned out fabulously!!  I glued it to a piece of black cardstock that I used for a backdrop so the leaf would really stand out and shine.  I added some Inka Gold around the edges of the cardstock as well.  This tag is all about the gold. 

Next, I opened up my new Dusty Attic lock and key chipboard pieces and embossed them with Stampendous Aged black embossing enamel.  How awesome!  I love this embossing powder.  I have a silver powder on order and can't wait to get it!  Once the heat gun starts to do its thing it just turns to liquid and flecks of gold come out that you don't see in the granules.  Really cool!  I'm in love, and the texture it gives the pieces are amazing.  Love love love this stuff!  Once it cooled down, I took a little bit of the Inka gold again and rubbed it on the edges just to frame the piece. 

Lastly, I took some beautiful sage colored lace I found at the store today and ran some across the bottom of the tag and glued it in place.  I cut a small piece of cardstock to fit in between the lace border and sprayed it with Walnut Ink Eucalyptus, then once dry, again with Perfect Pearls shimmer mist in Heirloom gold.  I took my CTMH stamp set Fabulous You, Seasons and Nature saying Wonderful fabulous you and inked the cardstock in black. 

Now just assemble to the tag and it's done!  I again used my stash of frugal dollar store eyelash yarn and looped it thru the top to finish it off. 

Hope you enjoy!  Happy crafting!  :) 

CTMH tag

OK, this will be my last post today I think.  I really should start thinking about getting supper going.  How easy it is to get carried away with the fun stuff isn't it?  I have this really great friend who sells CTMH and she does this once a month club were a bunch of us ladies get together to do projects, have fun, laugh and buy CTMH products.  She's been the primary reason I got started into scrapbooking years ago.  I've kind of fazed out of layouts and got into cards and now my fetish is tags!  But with all the grandkids popping up I really better get back into doing layouts again soon.  In the meantime.... TAGS it is!  :)  So, I wanted to do a tag for her just because she is such an amazing person and friend, but I also wanted to make sure that the tag was made with mostly the CTMH stuff I have purchased thru her.  So here we go, this is the tag I made and I'll let you know what I used to make it.  :)

I primarily use #8 size tags because I like the size of them.  It's rare that I deviate away from them.   So in this tag, I colored the background with a spray of Walnut Ink spray in Eucalyptus.  I sprayed it fairly lightly because these sprays can get really dark really fast.  So when it dried it was a soft sage green color.  I wanted it a bit more intense but waited till I had all the background stamping done and then added a bit more to intensify the color.  For the background stamps I used CTMH distressed backgrounds Flair with both the chicken wire and the fabric stamp.  I stamped the fabric stamp with Distress ink scattered straw in random places.  I then did the same with the chicken wire stamp in rusty hinge.  Now when I stamped these I did not use a block.  I just inked the stamp without the block and curled and rolled the stamp onto the paper so it was a bit more sporadic looking.   The I took the diamond stamp from CTMH Fabulous you Seasons and Nature set and stamped it with Distress ink vintage photo.   I used the blending tool and also inked the edges in vintage photo. 

The background tag is now done.  So off to do the individual pieces.  I cut 2 maple leafs using the Cuttlebug maple leaf die and embossing die and used some patterned paper I found in my stash.  I inked the leafs with Distress ink walnut stain around the edges and a bit overtop.   Then I stamped 2 images of the apples and branch from CTMH Sweet Life July Stamp of the month.  I colored both images using Distress inks and a water pen to get that water colored effect.  The apple was done in fired brick and aged mahogany for shading, the leaves were peeled paint and forest moss for shading, and the branch was vintage photo.  Once dry, I cut them both out and tried to cut them the same way because I was going to overlap them for a dimensional look.  I then too Distress ink scattered straw and lightly color washed the inside white areas.  Again once dry, I used dimensional pop up dots to layer the two images together.  The reason I colored both images is because with the pop up dots you can see the image below and you'll want that to be colored as well.  I also stamped the sentiment onto some patterned cardstock and cut it out, distressed the edges with a distressing tool and inked the edges in Walnut stain.  Time to assemble and glue it all into place.    I added some of my wonderfully frugal eyelash yarn again and TA-DAH... A tag made for my special scrapbook friend/enabler! 

Outdoorsy tag

Hi, here is a tag I made yesterday as a gift for a friend.  She likes outdoorsy stuff and so I tried to wrap my head around the outdoors.  What did I have in my stash that would be outdoorsy?  I had bought Tim's Alterations Tattered Pinecone die last year and have not yet used it.  I wasn't sure if I could use it in my Cuttlebug, since that is the only embossing unit I currently have, so I had to check online to see if anyone mentioned it working.  And I found a You Tube tutorial, whoohoo... it works.  So off to the races...

I started with my tag and smooshed Distress stains in mustard seed, spiced marmalade and walnut stain onto my craft sheet.  Gave it a spritz with water and laid my tag into the color and moved it around to color the whole tag.  I then took Distress inks in Scattered Straw, Rusty Hinge, and Walnut Stain to blend in the colors on the tag once it was dry.  Next step, I took the tag and embossed in Springtime background by cutting a slit across the top middle portion of the folder to allow the tag to fit thru on top.  (Loving that idea, thanks Tim!)  Once embossed I used Distress Ink vintage photo and an inking tool to highlight the raised areas.

Now that the tag portion is done, lets cut some pinecones and pine needles.  I just used random green and brown cardstock I had laying around to cut the pieces.  I think I cut about 8 or 9 of the pine needle branches and a couple of pinecones.  Once I got the pinecones rolled up and glued I gave them a spray with Imagine Walnut Ink spray.  These sprays are super intense and dark so it worked really well for the pinecones.  I lightly Distress inked the branches in Walnut Stain to give a bit more depth to them.  I glued the pine branches down with liquid glass cause I find it easier to glue the small spaces of the needles than using a tape runner or dots, and it dries fast too.  :)  Then I glued on the pine cones.  I added some metal embellishments that I found at Michael's and a little owl button that I had in my stash as well.  The butterflies were purchased at a dollar store and I thought the colors of them worked perfect with this tag and the outdoorsy theme I wanted to achieve.   Again, I used my thrifty eyelash yarn from the dollar store on top to finish it off.  :)

And that is it, my outdoorsy themed tag!  I hope she loves it.  :) 

Tim Holtz inspired tag

I absolutely love Tim Holtz.  I wish I had more access to products locally but I get what I can when I can and improvise with the multitudes of others products I have on hand.  Sometimes I feel like I'm not the most creative person on the planet so I really drawn inspiration from all you other crafty folk out there.  I love Pinterest to grab a hold of some inspiration.  This tag I made is using mostly Tim Holtz stuff and was inspired by his techniques. I love way the bright colors came thru. 

I used the Distress stains in faded jeans, barn door, and mustard seed.  Smooshed (that's my official term, LOL) them onto my craft sheet, gave them a spritz with water and then ran the tag thru it to cover.   I then took Distress Inks and blended around the edges and slightly overtop of some areas with mustard seed, broken china and festive berries.  Once I had the colors looking the way I wanted, I embossed with the Alterations embossing folder pocket watches.  I cut a slit on the top of the folder as Tim instructs in one of his tutorials so that the tag will fit thru and emboss the remaining portion of the bottom of the tag.  Works super!  Great idea and am doing this with all my folders.  Once embossed I took Distress Ink vintage photo and ran it overtop the raised portions with his blending tool and inked the edges as well.  I then used the Life's Possibilities stamp and stamped the rain man and took Distress embossing powder in walnut stain to give him some texture.  I roughly cut out Mr. Rain man and used broken china and vintage photo inks to color in the white areas.  I then stamped the saying and cut around it with some jagged edge Fiskar shears and used the distress tool to really rough up the edges.  I then inked the edges in the vintage photo as well.  Once the inks where dry I glazed the saying with Distress crackle medium in clear rock candy and let it dry.  While that was drying, I used Studio G washi tape stamp and made the arrows.  I stamped it in black soot, then used a white gel pen to draw in little highlight lines just under each arrow for extra definition, inked the edges in broken china then vintage photo.  I used Tim's Idea-ology locket keys embellishments and a small black safety pin. I added a drop of liquid glass into the key hole which is why it looks a bit cloudy,  It wasn't dry yet when I took the photo, but it dries clear.  Assembled and added some eyelash yarn that I got super cheap at the dollar store and whallah... My tag. 

I hope you like the tag.  I sure had fun making it.  Thanks for stopping in and I hope to get a few more onto here soon so I can actually say I have a blog going on.  I'm still learning all this so I hope it doesn't take me too long to figure it out.  A work in progress!  :)  I have most of my stuff on my board on Pinterest under Diane Krause, My own Creations.  I'm going to try to bring some of them over here to post with what I used on them.  Hope I can remember!  :)  See you soon!  :)

Snow Much Fun

This was a card I made quite a while back for a friend.  I had a lot of fun coloring this image.  I'm not sure who the stamp is from, cause I borrowed it from a friend to make this card.  But I used copics to color and textured snow glitter paste for some dimension.  She loved the card and that is what makes it all worth while! 

Wow... Hi.

Hi, I'm really really new to this and I'm trying to figure out how to get my blog up and running.  I'm technically challenged to say the least.  So please be patient while I try to figure this out and hopefully you'll be back to see my posts in I'm hoping will be the near future!  :)