Random tags

These next two are just a couple of tags I made last week randomly.  I had no inspiration, no clue what to do and just threw stuff together.  

The top tag is some chipboard heat embossed.  The medallion is a CTMH velvet rub on.  And the background is from some MME paper packet I have cut to size and adhered to the tag.  I distress inked the edges.

The second tag was sprayed with Chocolate chip chalkboard shimmer spray and then smooshed the wet tag into the overspray to create a real mottled metallic effect.  The shatter stamp is a Tim Holtz grunge stamp.  And the other two sayings are CTMH stamps that have been heat embossed in black.  The gears are chipboard and painted with Distress paints in silver and black distress ink finger applied once the paint was dry to antique them a bit

Thanks again for checking out my blog and my tags.  I have been enjoying sharing my stuff and appreciate any feedback you may have.    :) 

More tags from the Retreat

Wow, the wind here is crazy this morning and my head is not appreciating it at all.  So, I am going to quickly just post my remaining tags that I did this past weekend.    The technique primarily used was inking the embossing folder and then embossing the ink and image onto the tag.  I used a few stamps from CTMH and some embossing glitter powders as well as stickles.  The snowman tag also has an edging die cut done of snowflakes and then inked and clear embossed with deep impression embossing powders done several times to give it a real clear look to it.  Once cooled I lightly bent the strip to crackle the embossing for a neat look. 
Here are the next few tags. 

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look.  :)

Weekend retreat

Ok, it's been forever since I played and made anything.  Sometimes life gets in the way and well... this weekend I had booked myself to partake in a scrapbooking retreat and I had so much fun.  It was great being able to escape life if even just for a few days.  I really need to do this more for myself.  So, I actually felt like I got a fair amount done.  I made a load of tags and even a few extra that I gave to some great friends cause I love them.  I'm glad I took pictures of them all though.  So let me show you what brings a smile to my face...

My first tag is a romantic tag.  I love the colors and the feel.   I used Distress stains in worn lipstick, tumbled glass, squeezed lemonade, dusty concord, and Distress inks in crushed olive, black soot and vintage  photo.  I used a recollections stamp set for the vintage lady and CTMH stamp sets for the floral petals, the banner and the doily.  As well, I used a stencil for the script.  The flowers are Prima flowers. 

I think this has become another fave of mine.  :)  Do you ever have a hard time choosing a favorite when each time you make something you think to yourself... yeh, I like that one too!  :) 

Next up I made a Halloween tag.   I used Distress inks in dusty concord, mowed lawn, festive berries, tumbled glass, vintage photo, rusty hinge and black soot.  The stamps I used were Inkadinkado and recollections.   I also used molding paste and a dots stencil.  And I added glitter with several stickles.

This next one I made for my gf who was hosting the retreat.  I was so glad when she came over and commented that she thought this was one of her faves, because that was what I had intended it to be for.  :)   Guess that means I know her tastes.  :)  LOL  
So on this tag I used Distress inks antique linen, old paper, frayed burlap and vintage photo.  I used a stencil for the dotted pattern.  The leaves were a Sizzix die cut.   The butterfly stamps were from a Recollections stamp set because I don't have the Tim holtz butterfly stamp yet.  The dimensional butterflies were from a dollar store, and the metal embellishments were from Michaels. 

This next tag is just fun for Fall.   I was inspired by the fall air, the colors starting to change around here and just the cuteness of the stamp set.  I think I might make a few more of this one as gifts. 
I used Distress inks old paper, scattered straw and spiced marmalade.  The stamp set is a CTMH set from the 2013 winter catalogue that I just ordered a little bit ago.   The images are colored using Prisma watercolor pencils and the blending solution with the paper nib blenders.  I love using this technique for a coloring effect.  :)   It's a little more rustic looking than if I were to color with copics.   I really like this tag.   

I made several more but will have to post them later, tomorrow that is.  LOL   It's been a super busy weekend with partaking in the retreat the past couple of days, company visiting and staying with me, making 5 dozen perogies for one of my gf's, and my grandsons 3rd B-day party.  I still have all my stuff piled in my garage which I need to bring back into my craft room, but I think that will be a task for tomorrow as well.  There's always tomorrow thank goodness!  :)    My house is nice and quiet right now and I think I'm going to settle in for the night and relax with some candles and maybe a movie.  Popcorn is calling me.  ;) 



Time

I was starting to get a bit tired and decided I would do one more that was not complicated.   Sometimes even the simplest tags can be very rewarding. 

I took some patterned MME paper and tore it roughly and inked the edges with Distress Ink Frayed Burlap.  I glued it down.   The clock was a vintage clock image I found on a Vintage printables site.  So I sized it, printed and cut it out.  I colored it with Antique Linen and Old Paper Distress inks.  The embellishment is a Tim Holtz Time metal tag.  I used an antiqued brad in the clock.  I can't remember where I got the glass tiles from, I've had them floating around for a few years in my stash.  I really need to start using up my older stuff so I can buy more!  The pendant was from Michaels.  That's it, super simple. 

This next week is going to be busy.  My Dad is being moved into a long term care facility in the very near future.  And my week will be taking care of that business with the appropriate channels.  I have a Dr app't for myself out of town and then have another trip at the end of the week to take care of a few things up north at our other home.  So I don't think that doing a lot of tag making is going to be on the agenda, but then you never know, I might find a few moments in the evenings, maybe if I'm lucky play a bit.  :)  

I hope everyone is having a great long weekend.  :)  Good night and sweet dreams. 

Tim Holtz Winter tag

Okie dokie... well, I got my thinking cap on came up with this Tim Holtz inspired winter tag. Don't get me wrong, not that I am wishing on any snow or cold just yet, but I've not yet done a winter style tag and I thought the diamond window cut out from my last project seemed to lend itself quite well to what I had in mind.  What do you think? 

Well, for this I used 2 tags.  One whole tag and the one that I had cut out the diamond cut from my last tag I made.  I used Distress ink Iced Spruce for this whole tag.  Yup only one color!  The bottom tag you can't see but because I have it layered with pop dots underneath I still edged the bottom tag in the Iced spruce. 

Next, I stamped my Tim Holtz snowman and just cut a square to glue under the window.  I edged this as well in Iced Spruce and brought the color inward but not so dark as to color in the image too much.  I just wanted a hint of the blue instead of the starchy white of the paper.  I let the ink dry just a bit and then patted on the Distress embossing ink, don't rub cause you don't want to smear the ink color (unless that is a look you are going for, but I wasn't).  I took my Ranger UTEE and covered the whole piece and heat embossed, then while still hot did more UTEE and heated it again, and one more time.  I wasn't even and parts cooled off to quickly before I got more UTEE on to stick so some areas are bumpy and others super smooth.  Which actually turned out ok and I kinda liked that it wasn't perfect!  It kind of made it look like imperfect pitted ice.  And you know what!  Tim Holtz is all about the imperfections which is one thing that I absolutely love about his inspiring creations!  So I'm learning to become an imperfect perfectionist!  A bit contradictory but anyone else who is the same will know exactly what I mean.  LOL 

Next it was time to make the top window portion.  Firstly, I inked the edges and the inside window edges with the DI iced spruce.  I pulled out my Tim Alterations embossing folder in Snow Flurries and rubbed my DI iced spruce onto the folder.  Make sure you ink the side that the writing is on so that the background is colored and not the snowflakes that will be raised.  I also made sure to cut the slit on the top of the folder so that the tag would fit thru the top portion.  Once it was put thru my cuttlebug, I took the embossing ink again and patted it onto the raised snowflakes, applied more UTEE and heat it to create a shiny glossy snowflake.  It looked great but wasn't quite enough for me so I added some Icicle Stickles to the snowflakes as well for some glitter, because snowflakes do glitter in the sun when they come down.  I looked at it and thought, nope still needs more bling.  So I added different sizes of clear jewels that I had from Doodlebug in Lily white.  That was their name for Clear!  LOL 

Once the stickles were dry I used the raised pop dots and attached the snowman in behind the window.  And then I added pop dots to the bottom tag in the 4 corners and carefully lined up the top tag and placed it onto the bottom. 

I still need to add some ribbon to the top, but that is pretty simple. 

Soar...

Good day!  Decided to take this Sunday to play with my stuff before the craziness of the week starts.  I still had everything scattered on my dining table... oops... from when my gf was over crafting with me.  So, before I have to pack it all back into my craft room I thought I'd take today for me.  I did manage to get my grass cut and watered this morning though, so my day hasn't been a total waste.  :)  It's a beautiful day outside but I have no desire to leave my home today.  It's one of those days when I just need to be around just me.  So today I'll be a crafting hermit, and maybe a load of laundry or two in between.   So here is my first tag today:

So the first thing I did was color my tag.  I used Distress inks in milled lavender, spun sugar, iced spruce and broken china and randomly blended them onto the tag.  I lightly misted some water onto the tag so that the colors would get that splattery mottled look when the water reacts with the inks.  Unfortunately you can't see it in the photo.  Next I took the iced spruce and lightly blended it around the edges, and then back overtop of the edges with crushed olive.

The diamond I cut with Spellbinders Classic Diamonds nestablilities.  This die cut not only cuts but embosses the edges as well.  I colored the diamond with Distress inks in stormy sky and the edges in crushed olive. 

The leaves were cut from Sizzix by Stampin up, Sizzlits little leaves.  I cut three of them and colored them with Distress inks crushed olive and the edges with mowed lawn for some depth.  Because the leaves are so small and fragile, when I did the edges I used the very corner of the blending tool sponge and just pushed it inwards along the edges so as not to cover up the whole leaf from the previous ink color.  I took one of the negatives from the cut and used it to stencil some leaves with crushed olive onto the paper so that it would give it a layered look.

The sentiment Soar is from CTMH Live Out Loud stamp.  The rhinestones scrolls were added for a bit of texture and the black helps to ground the image and balance it with the sentiment.  I added a little K&Company dimensional Bee to the top of the rhinestone swirls.  And the Butterfly is from K&C as well.

I initially cut the diamond out from a tag and so now I have a left over tag with a diamond cut out.  So I need to find a way to create something with that tag.  I can't stand wasting product so time to get creative with tag #2.  :)   Hope to see you later!