Perfectly Happy

I was inspired by a post at Vintage Everyday that featured wedding photos during WWII and I used one of them for this tag.

It was framed for Simon's Monday challenge this week and also features a Hero Arts stamp from 2007 called Lace Flower Cluster which I used especially for their 45th anniversary Show & Tell Celebration.

After stamping, the lace flower was cut out and embellished with lines from a white Gelly Roll pen. I altered a Tim Holtz lace frame by peeling it from its baseboard backing, trimmed its shape a little and applied dots of Liquid Pearls to the edges. The background was made with Collage Paper.

Miss Trudy

I'd sure like to know the story behind this lovely little girl but for now, I'm calling her Miss Trudy. She's a Tim Holtz Paper Doll and I stained her clothing with the ink from gel pens (scratching the darker areas a bit to lighten and texturize).

The background was stenciled (Tim Holtz Dot Fade) and I stamp embossed the border using a vintage rubber stamp (1996) by Hero Arts called Violet Border. I am featuring this stamp as part of the company's 45th anniversary Show & Tell celebration for a chance to win their monthly kits.

I am so glad I dusted it off and set about putting it to work as I'd forgotten just how useful this stamp can be!

My tag was colored with Distress Oxides, some gel pen ink and a bit of colored pencil. The bench was made out of washi tape.

I had a lot of fun with it so it's no coincidence that I chose this particular Remnant Rub for the text!

I'm linking up to the Hero Arts Show & Tell Celebration and also to Simon's Monday challenge because this week's theme is Use Stencils.

A Fortunate Find

I fussed with a tag over the weekend by altering a photo of a vintage road sign. I knew it needed something else and this morning's announcement of the stencil theme at Simon's Monday challenge gave me the ah-hah moment I needed.

I used the Tim Holtz dot fade stencil in the background but instead of dabbing ink through the holes, I swiped my ink pad over the entire surface of the stencil and then pressed it on to the tag.

The Way

During an evening walk a few weeks back, I found a rusty, gold painted piece of metal (shaped like a wing?) which someone had tucked into a street sign in my neighborhood.

It was happenstance that I glanced-up at just the right time with just the right light to see it's shiny reflection and to know it was there.

And so I used it for a small plaque made with various papers (vintage book, Tim Holtz collage and butterflies cut from Prima scrapbook paper). The flowers are from the new Idea-ology Botanical Layers and the girl is a Baseboard Doll.

I used a bit of crackle medium around the edges, drew some lines and added shading to create a faux border, and trimmed the plaque edges with gold paint. The text was an image transfer.

I began work on this Monday when I discovered the Simon Monday challenge was "Add Something Metallic." Since this metal piece had been laying around my studio for awhile (with no idea of how or what to use it for), this challenge was just the push I needed.

I didn't think I'd get it done in time to enter but sure enough, I did!

Happy Mother's Day

This is the card I made for my Mom this year. I am so grateful to have her still (she's a nonagenarian) and these days, our roles are reversed somewhat but more than a mom, she's my truest friend.

That's washi tape around the outside (pink polka dots), the scalloped border was hand-drawn and embellished with white paint and glitter glue.

The stamped pieces (Simon's Delicate Flower set) were cut from transparent paper that I tinted with inks and pasted onto book paper along with some more washi.

I used white and black gel pens to make lines in the background, on the borders and to further emphasize the line quality on the flowers.

I'm linking to the Monday challenge at Simon, the theme is "Add Something Metallic" and I think my glitter glue may qualify.

If you are a Mom, I hope your day is as special as you are!

Beautiful to Me

Let's just say you don't see these greeting card techniques everyday so I thought they might be worthy of a share. I made this card for my stamping sister, Thelma, using the new bottle of glitter that she had gifted me.

I stamped my images (Simon's new Delicate Flowers set) on purple cardstock, outlined the edges with Nuvo Glitter Drops, used bleach with a paint brush to lighten the colored paper, tinted the space with colored pencils (orange and green), and finishing up with a big ol' fussy-cut.

I mounted my cut-out on some Prima cardstock (Ephipany), used black Scribbles to bring out the stamens, and edged the card with thin dark grey paper and more Glitter Drops.

I've used Nuvo Crystal Drops before but this was a first for the glitter drops and I must say they are very useful for a number of reasons. First, the are very easy to apply--the fine tip and soft-sided bottle allow for good precision. Second, this stuff is tough! Even after using the bleach, rubbing in the tints, and cutting right next to it, the glitter never came off the paper. It reminds me of Glossy Accents with glitter in it.

Duplicate

Craft nerd (and big fan of tags) that I am, when I heard the Monday challenge at Simon this week was "Tag It" I jumped right in. I grabbed a scrap of Tim Holtz paper (Memoranda) and a couple of his stamps and boom--a tag was born!

After stamping, I machine stitched, drew lines, tinted with markers and colored pencils, added some tissue tape, ephemera (the cigar ring and buttons), and even a touch of Glossy Accents.

No plan, no rules, just spontaneous play and when my head is in this kind of zone I am happiest. Thank-you, Simon!