Not Guilty

Yes, I'm guilty of not posting for a very long time but not guilty of wanting to--just so darn busy with all the stuff that gets in the way of having time in my studio to create.

Then, when I did find some time, I spent way to long on a project that never seemed to come together and I should have given up on it but I just wouldn't accept defeat. Thank goodness it finally made it to the trash can.

So it feels really good to get back to basics, take a few images found on the net that had caught my eye and put a tag together. No pressure, no struggles--just plain fun.

I call this one "Not Guilty" because the gent is actually a French criminal and this photo is what you might call a vintage mugshot. Well, he looks like a good guy to me so his crime must not be serious.

The background is a coloring page courtesy of a free download from Alisa Burke and the insect was found on Pinterest.

12 Tags for Christmas - December

I didn't mean to wait so long to complete my final tag of this series and link it to Tim's December post but it's been a busy month.

Each day I would pass by the bulletin board in my bedroom/studio and see the blank spot meant for this month's tag. I considered skipping it but that just wouldn't sit right with me--my track record for completing the monthly tags will not be broken!

So on the last day of the month, last day of the year and at the very last minute, here's number 12.

Happy New Year!

12 Tags for Christmas - November

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Tim's November tag was a lesson in using Remnant Rubs as a resist and dimensional coloring. As with my original tag and again for this one, my rubs didn't resist in the same way Tim's did. I'm not sure why but think it may have something to do with how absorbent the background paper is.

My background is a little out-of-the-box in that I used a piece of delaminated cardboard (made by soaking it with water then peeling apart the layers). I like how it took the various stains I applied and puddled around the cardboard lines.

I used the white version of Tim's Christmastime Remnant Rubs, filled-in the background with random dots made with a Gelly Roll pen and added some vintage lace and a few seed pearls. The tag borders were hand-stitched with thick white thread after punching the holes on my machine.

I stamped my poinsettia (Penny Black, Christmas Star) on watercolor paper using red archival ink then tinted it and filled in the lines with some glitter paint. To make the flower coordinate more with the rubs I outlined the petal edges in white. The center is a Gumdrop tinted with Butterscotch and Wild Plum alcohol inks.

I have one more tag to go but don't expect to complete it before Christmas Day so with this post, I'm sending you my very best wishes for a safe and peaceful holiday that's full of good cheer!