/* */ Beulah Bee: August 2016

August 28, 2016

Timeless Flight


When I browse Pinterest, I'll see an image and next thing you know I'm inspired to make something. That's exactly what happened with this tag. Here's the pin that prompted me to research and find the image I used. Nature never ceases to amaze me and Cithaerias pireta (the Blushing Phantom) is no exception!


I had a vintage tag (used for tracking sewing alterations) and covered it with a strip of gold Idea-ology Deco Tape, Tissue Tape and gold metallic mulberry paper along with some Mixed Media thinlits bricks and Remnant Rubs. I added more sparkle with Fruit Punch Stickles.

The antennae were made by pasting on some black hairs from an old paintbrush and Distress inks were used for tinting.

If you'd like to see a previous creation made with these vintage tags, here's the link. I really like working with them and plan to scout around for similar printed tags to add to my stash.

August 25, 2016

Louella


In the desert, there's no such thing as "a touch of fall in the air" because daytime temps stay in the low 100's until mid-October. So it's not the weather that inspired me to make a tag that looks a bit "Halloween-ish" but it does (I expect it was my color choices).

Perhaps it was just wishful thinking as I've grown tired of the heat and can't wait for winter. Oh how lovely it would be to spend the fall anywhere but here. It's such a lovely time of year.


August 22, 2016

Natasha Returns


Meet Natasha. She has returned for another appearance on my blog (see previous post here). She's an image transfer laid on top of a background made from the bricks Mixed Media Thinlit by Tim Holtz.

There's also a scrap of his Tissue Wrap and the butterflies are a stamp from Prima. A bit of embossed polka dots (Tim's Dots & Florals stamp) and a stitched border that was painted and embellished with black Gelly Roll lines complete the look.


I've recently entered the world of die-cutting and I'm learning as I go. As if I didn't collect enough collage "scraps" already, I've got a feeling this new technique will add to my collection exponentially!

Here's what I know now: Tissue paper over die-cuts can work and look OK but I don't care for the appearance of the image transfer over them and won't do this again in the future.

August 18, 2016

Receipt No. 25


I really like the look of sewing on paper. One artist whose work I greatly admire, Viv (aka Hens Teeth) in Staffordshire, embroiders on vintage envelopes and they are just divine. You can see them here. Her studio is pretty fantastic, too.

Tim Holtz also seems drawn to the look of stitching as several of his monthly tags have featured this technique so it's no surprise that my August tag for the 12 Tags of 2016 has some too.

A Mixed Media Thinlit die-cut, Wallflower paper stash cut-outs (including vellum), some Small Talk stickers and Remnant Rubs were used to complete it.

I wish I'd splattered some flecks of paint here and there as I think it would have been a nice addition. I just didn't have the guts and so I need to work on that.

August 12, 2016

Firm Heart

My local library has an on-going used book sale and periodically (no pun intended), I rescue a few "picture books" to use in my collages and also seek text for phrases that might add interest to my work.


The essence of this tag is composed of those very same elements: The background is a hand-drawn map of an old city and there is text. A Found Relative was framed inside a vintage cardboard box (the sides were trimmed down to keep it in proportion with the tag) and the owl is one of my own hand-carved stamps. It was embellished with black Scribbles, a paper heart covered with dimensional medium and some Remnant Rubs.


I'm linking it to Simon's Monday challenge blog. The theme this week is Try to Contain Yourself (so funny) and participants have been asked to use some sort of container. I know, putting a container on a tag is kind of goofy but I just can't help myself--I like making tags!

August 07, 2016

Turning Point


Today I am pleased to share some exciting news (for me, anyway) along with a journal page made from magazine scraps.

It features a photo, taken at a drinking fountain in a park in Chicago at the turn of the last century, of my two great aunts, Esther and Ada, and some girl friends (click the photos to see a larger version).

Collaging scraps from magazines really triggers my creativity--there are so many odd and interesting images to be found and I highly recommend it when you need a little "play" time. I use a glue stick as it works well to keep the thin pages from wrinkling.


I've enjoyed paper crafting for quite a while now, stamping, pasting and coloring but the world of die-cutting was never a part of it.

However, the introduction of some mixed media thinlits by a famous craft designer has finally compelled me to enter this arena and I've ordered a Big Shot machine and some dies!

Thankfully, the craft blog world is full of fabulous tutorials that I plan to review because I don't know much about die-cutting but I'm very excited just the same and hopeful that the pleasure of using them will be worth the investment. I'll keep you posted... ☺

August 04, 2016

Number Six

Six Years? Where did they go? Seems like only yesterday when I started following (and participating) in the Monday challenge blog at Simon Says Stamp.

This week is their sixth birthday and I'm linking a tag made to commemorate this very auspicious occasion. Uh Uh Uhmm...


The background is one of those vintage portrait photo covers and includes an emblem of the photography studio that's embossed on the front of it. The foliage was hand-cut from some Graphic 45 paper called Botanicabella. That number six tag is from a Tim Holtz paper stash and the bee is a Remnant Rub.

I'm always inspired by the MCB design team and appreciate how hard they must work to create such interesting projects week after week. I'm sending my very best birthday wishes and look forward to seeing what the next year will bring.