Tell Your Story

I've got this thing about seeing sky inside a frame so I played around with the idea this week and I'm linking this tag to Simon's Monday challenge, "Frame It."

The girl is a Baseboard Doll (Tim Holtz) that I stripped from her backing and you may have guessed that's a flower cut from the Wallflower paper stash.

The frame is a tiny die cut from Stampendous that I crackled with medium, the text is a Remnant Rub and I used Ranger's Liquid Pearls on the inside edge of the frame.

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care.

She Loved Them All

Just four days away from Valentine's Day (and my wedding anniversary) and I still need to make cards for my hubby and my good friend (and fellow card maker) Thelma.

I guess I was warming up by making this tag and so I thought I'd share it with you today.

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care. 

A Glimpse of Heaven

glimpse /ɡlim(p)s/  -  (noun)  a momentary or partial view

I'm drawn to vintage portraits with unusual or intense expressions. This image is a good example of what I mean and it's what prompted me to use it.

After some fussy-cutting and sanding, it was pasted to a tag covered with an old German bible page partially tinted with gesso, inks and colored pencils.

The flowers were cut from scrapbook papers and the text is a Clippings Sticker (Tim Holtz). I use these stickers a lot, their curation is very good and always seem to prompt a creative angle/story I might not have considered.

I stamped the symbol in the sky with grey archival ink and enhanced the values with a black fine-line pen.

I'm linking to the "Flower Frenzy" challenge on Simon's Monday blog.

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care. 

Love Everything

Hello friends, today I'm sharing a greeting card crafted for Valentine's Day. It was made using an image altered in Photoshop before printing, trimming and pasting to my card.

If you're curious what I mean, here's the before/after using a filter called "poster edges."

I cut a paper heart and tinted it with Distress Oxides (Candied Apple and Worn Lipstick), the background was stamped with script and gesso applied to knock it back, washi tape was used to visually anchor the image and a border was cut from striped paper.

I'll mention a very useful (non-digital) technique for altering the color and texture of any image which is scratching the surface with the point of a knife to create lighter areas which can be tinted with color. Here's a close-up to illustrate:

The sentiment stamp seemed perfect for this image and it's one of Simon's from a set called Delicate Flowers. I'm linking this post to their Monday challenge blog because this week's theme is "All Loved Up."

I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care. 

12 Tags for Christmas 2019 - New Year New Me

In previous years, my twelfth Christmas tag usually had a serious/religious theme (see here, here or here) but since I'm a little behind and it's already the New Year my last tag in this series is a spin on the New Year holiday instead.

Every year we get another chance to do things differently and I'm full of ideas on how to change things up. The list is long and I know some goals won't be met so I'll focus on the important ones like more patience and more kindness. More sleep wouldn't hurt either 😏.

Happy New Year everyone--let's make it a great one!

12 Tags for Christmas 2019 - Winter Wonderland

I've used a die-cut for this year's Tag #11 called Dancing Snowflake by Poppy Stamps.

I covered it with dimensional paint and glitter (Scribbles and Nuvo Glitter Drops) and, while it's hard to see, I put Glossy Accents inside areas of the snowflakes.

It sure seems like this was the year for using everything in my craft space that comes in a little squeeze bottle with a teeny-tiny spout!

The text is a Remnant Rub and the background paper was made by Martha Stewart and featured ombré colors (both products purchased long-ago).

12 Tags for Christmas 2019 - Peace Love Joy

Wishing all of you peace, love and joy this Christmas!

Tag 10 for Christmas 2019 is book paper covered with tissue, pasted with die-cut pieces and tinted/embellished with ink, paint and glitter.

Click to Enlarge

The black and red tinting was created using ink pens and a waterbrush. I draw the ink lines and before they dry, I use the brush to spread/blur the color.

The die-cut pieces (Tim Holtz Poinsettia) came from Thelma's Christmas card.

The best feature here is the area inside the poinsettia where I applied Rock Candy Distress Stickles. Remember this stuff? It's a product that's been discontinued and one I wish they'd bring back!

12 Tags for Christmas 2019 - All is Calm

I am smitten with this very early photograph of three sisters by Carl Gustav Oehme taken in 1845. Back then Christmas celebrations were nothing like the customs of today but, around this time in America, Christmas trees and cards were beginning to appear.

I trimmed and tinted the photo, combined it with some Tim Holtz Christmas ephemera and embellished it with Stickles.

This is tag #9 in my ongoing quest for 12 for 2019.

12 Tags for Christmas 2019 - Believe in the Magic

So, all it takes is a prompt from Simon's Monday challenge and I'm off! This week's theme is "Cityscape" (add some buildings) and that was the inspiration for tag number eight.

The building image (Carabelle Studio Dans la Rue) was stamped on old book paper, tinted with inks and colored pencils then embellished with dimensional dots painted and glittered to look like Christmas string lights.

The little miss was cut from a Found Relative (Tim Holtz) and the kitty looks just like Howie, my cat, who turned 18 this month. It's Christmas everyday for this little guy who I spoil beyond belief!

12 Tags for Christmas 2019 - Snow Berries

I've got carols a' playing as I prepare this post (David Archuleta's "Winter in the Air") and I am grateful for this time to play and for music of all kinds that I simply couldn't live without.

Stamping of holly berries (Mondo Holly by Julie Ebersole) on watercolored paper along with a bird cut from the Tim Holtz Wallflower paper stash, snow flakes courtesy of a Simon stencil--that's what I used to make tag number 7 of 12 for 2019.

I thought you might appreciate the technique I used for masking and alignment of my stamping so here's a photo to illustrate.

I taped together the masks, laid them on the tag and used an ink blending tool and light colored ink to tap along the mask edges to create an outline I could use to accurately align my stamping.

I'm linking this post to the TFJB Challenge Blog: It's the Holidays.

Use the link on the sidebar or the 12 Tags label at the bottom of the page if you want to see more of my Christmas tags.

12 Tags for Christmas 2019 - Christmastide

We've had a really rainy weekend here in the desert which made for a good time to get cozy in the craft room and make another Christmas tag.

I was channeling a vintage vibe with this one and used a page from an old German bible along with some fussy-cut paper from Graphic 45.

It was embellished with glitter glue, Glossy Accents and machine stitching and I used my typewriter for the text. I needed something to fill-in the bottom area and used a Stamp Collector stamp (Tim Holtz).

There's time to link yet again to Simon's Monday challenge for this week's "Let's Sparkle" theme.

12 Tags for Christmas 2019 - Happiness & Cheer

This one is made of a black cardstock background covered with poinsettia die-cuts (Tim Holtz) and embellished with tints and glitter glues.

This was truly a learning experience: It's hard to cut thin papers with intricate dies (you can't get the design out without tearing it) so, thanks to Google, I learned about using dryer sheets or waxed paper which helped a lot.

Also, it was the first time making my own glitter glue. I needed red but didn't have anything but the loose stuff and an empty Stickles container (you must save these--they are SO useful).

The mix was approx. 3/4 glitter to 1/4 fluid medium and I have to say it worked well.

This was a fun tag to make because I went kind of glitter-crazy and it's perfect for linking up to Simon's Monday challenge this week which is "Let's Sparkle."

12 Tags for Christmas 2019 - Be Good

Underneath the many layers of tints, texture paste and crackle medium is a mixed media die-cut (Tim Holtz) fashioned from brown card stock.

The frame is a Spellbinders die-cut covered with dimensional paint (Scribbles) which was also used on the large text (an image transfer).

Inside the frame is a Photobooth image (Tim Holtz), I used dots of Scribbles and Stickles (glitter glue) for bling and a strip of washi tape to balance out the intentional off-center placement of frame and text.

It will be easy to link-up with Simon's Monday challenge this week as I work through more of my holiday tags. The theme is "Let's Sparkle" and I've never made a Christmas tag EVER without using glitter--it just wouldn't be Christmas without it!