Holly Tag

My last blog entry of 2011! OMG the year is coming to a close! I hope you are enjoying your New Year's Eve festivities. I am laid up at home with the remnants of a cold and finishing up some UFO's. Like this tag. I finally got the stamp I wanted for the sentiment and got busy with it. I notice that I was supposed to use some other stamps from this set on the background, but didn't have it at the time. But there's always tomorrow! Even if it is next year! BTW the glassine paper holly leaves were very interesting to make--check out Tim Holtz blog tag 7 2011 for the directions. I think I learned something new with each tag I made from the series this year. I still have to finish Tag 1--haven't quite mastered those pine cones yet. Now I want to make them into roses for Valentines Day. i wish you a happy and prosperous new year!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! This greeting card was fun to make. I used a digital image of a baby on a moon, some fancy pearly paper, and some chipboard glitter flourishes I have had forever. The tag is cut from black cardstock spritzed with turquoise Perfect Pearl Spritz by Ranger. The greeting and year are silver embossed Hero Arts images. I have lots of fun activities planned for the coming year, and I hope you do, too. Plus I have been busy cleaning out closets and the kitchen pantry--I guess that's part of January--getting things ready for the coming months. I organized and packed away all the Christmas decorations, and selected a few for give away/garage sale. I found a few treasures--my old barbie doll from the early sixties, some children's books I could never part with. And a lot of stuff that makes me think--"Whatever did I buy that for!! Oh, well, I'm sure I'll end up with lots more "treasures" like that in the coming years! Hey junk man! It's time to visit my house!

My Tim Tags continued

I finally finished the snowman tag from the 2011 Tim tags. I just love how this one looks so romantic and frothy!Everything came out perfect--from the "baked" stain inside the crackle paint (love this technique--I want to use it on the gingerbread man) to the "package" die cut plastic snow border edged with white paint, to the gleam of Glossy Accents inside the die cut "25". Plus, we had a lot of fun making it. Living in San Antonio, I like to think of the romantic side of snow--the white fluffiness of it. I know if I had to live with it all winter I probably would have a different point of view!
I never really finished Tag # 1 but hope to work on it tomorrow in the peace of Christmas Eve. We have started Tag 7 but I need to get that "Merry Christmas" stamp--it is perfect for Tag 7. All this tag making has made my craft room rather messy so I had to vacuum tonight to even walk through! It's amazing how stuff that has a home gets just tossed about. I never seem to have even a square foot of work space!

Christmas cards

Busy making Christmas cards I have three different designs. Which one will you get? One design, the one shown in this post, is just for mailing--very flat design--the post office gets enough money, anyway, right? This design uses Magenta papers and Peel offs, as well as some Stampendous peel offs. I added lots of glitter and sparkle paint, to match the saying inside the card. The second design has a ribbon bow which will be too bulky for mailing. The third design--well, let's just say it's "busy" with embellishments (I'm thinking jingle bells here). Oh, no, better get busy addressing envelopes!

My first Tag of Christmas

Charlotte, Barb and I got together and made the second of the Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas. Among the three of us, we had most of the supplies to do one just like Tim's (well almost). We did not have natural Stickyback canvas so we used the white and distressed it with Antique Linen Stain. Also we did not have Tim's holly stamp so we used one by Hero Arts that worked great. And I bet you can't even tell we did not have the Seasonal Kraft Resist. We used the original Kraft Resist and heat embossed the holly and the the text Christmas Carols (thank you Donna!). It worked out fine--we just had to make sure not to touch the embossing when we dried elements with the heat tool. I am very pleased with my lovely little tag. I want to make dozens of them! Next week we are going to do Tag One.

Christmas Tree

I had to make an unexpected trip to Salado today--got to go to Stamp Salado (bought some yummy stuff) and then went to a decorator store next to it called Henfeathers(?). Here I saw this decorated Christmas tree:

My sister had mentioned the tree at lunch (Adela's,in a white house on Main Steet, really good food, service, and ambience) especially because she is intrested in making the faux paper chain that decorates the tree. The chains are made of fabric, and I think the fabric is covering some stiffening backing, like buckram. Each link in the chain is an absolute perfect circle, with no lumps or buckles, life fabric usually does. I see a project--a tree decorated with scraps of elegant fabric made into "paper" chains. How many times do we see paper emulating fabric? This is a new twist--fabric emulating paper!

ATC Trade

A rather blurrrrrrrr!!!***y} picture of my ATC for the trade tonight. When will I ever learn to use this camera! I have to say I like the verbiage best--It reads: "Harken! The bird of night calls forth the darkness and yea dismisses it as the new day approaches. Oh ye spirits who dwell in the light—beware the call of the bird" Despite the corny presentation, I love the idea of the owl calling forth the darkness. I love to lay awake at night listening to the call of the owls and being awakened by them in the near early morning. It's as if they are announcing the arrival and departure of the magical world of the dark. Sensible people say there is nothing there in the dark that is not there in the day--but who of us is sensible when the lights go out and you can't turn them back on? Oh, back to the ATC--the chalk resist method on glossy paper lights up the stars in the night sky. The owl is heat embossed with Stampendous Mahogany tinsel embossing powder.

Starting Fresh

It's raining outside, and it seems it's raining in my soul as well. Not an icky, depressing rain, but an all washed off and ready to start fresh sort of rain. I love the sound of gentle rain coming down the gutters and sprinkling against the house. As the rain falls, I work on my projects--you may recognize the project from a class I did some time ago:

The sentiment says "Let's get together" and that's the message I'd like to send to you. I treasure each of my stamping and scrapping friends and I want to keep you close. We will get together and work on projects and laugh and visit. I realize I need to get together with lots of you so I have made multiple cards:

Post a comment with your contact information, or e-mail me privately, and I would love to send you one of these cards with maybe a special invitation. I hope to hear from you soon!

Hero Arts club at Stamp Antonio Arts

Tomorrow is our November meeting at Stamp Antonio Arts and Fall is in the air! We will be making these three autumn themed cards. Thank you, Hero Arts, for most of the ideas! We are using Tim Holtz Distressed Inks in Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard, Peeled Paint, Vintage Photo, and Barn Door. Also, lots of pearlized water or Perfect Pearl mist. You will need some markers, too--copic or watercolor, or maybe pencil if you prefer. We hope to see you there!

Tagalicious Tuesday

Texas Pride Chipboard book

And you thought it was going to say "Tagalicious Tuesday!" This coming Saturday I will be presenting this red, white, and blue "Texas Pride" chipboard book which participants can fill with their own Texas pride pictures. The theme I chose for my book was "Family Reunion" and it shows pictures of my husband's parent's 50th wedding anniversary. (and you thought that was supposed to be gold and white!--This is Texas, remember!) Other themes for the book could be: Texas travel/vacation, summer fun, backyard barbeque, visit to the Alamo, etc. Once the pictures are set against the Bobunny Liberty themed papers, Texas themed stamping and red, white and blue embellishments fill the top-hinged book. You will have to come by the store to see the actual pages! I had a lot of fun (and some angst with the journaling--that always happens with family stuff) filling this album. Texas Pride!

Tagalicious Tuesday

This week at Stamp Antonio we are celebrating Halloween! We are going to be your Halloween Central for decorating and paper crafts! This is the black cat tag we are making tomorrow for Tagalicious Tuesday. Harlequin paper from Canvas Corp, a Tim Holtz black cat, Basic Grey letter stickers, and a bit of lace I've dyed with Distress Ink. Very spooky! Below, here's my presentation of the Witch tag from the Tim Holtz blog. Instead of Grungepaper, I used a Memory Box Halloween word stamp heat embossed on kraft paper. The witch came out fabulously sparkly with Forever Green Perfect Pearl mist, and the little Halloween charms make the tag!

New Hero Arts at Stamp Antonio!

Plus, we got lots of notecards for holiday cardmaking, and the large flower (you know, the one we use for the vellum flower) back in. More new, including Christmas, is on the way!

Hero Arts club meeting this week!

Tomorrow is our Hero Arts club meeting at Stamp Antonio Arts. Here are the cards I will be presenting. Peeled Paint is a must for this class! Several of these ideas came from the Hero Arts classes I took this past weekend in Houston at the Collins trade show. Thank you, Shari Carroll and Jennifer Maguire! I really enjoyed the classes and learned some new techniques which I hope to pass on in the Hero class tomorrow. I had a great time at the show and got some fantastic ideas for future classes. It was super of Carol and Amy to make sure that all of our employees got to go. I have tons of pictures to share. Okay, back to the Hero Arts club meeting tomorrow--I hope you don't mind--I skipped Halloween and Thanksgiving and went straight to the winter holidays. The cards are generic enough, however, that they could be adapted to other holidays/events. Please bring: detail scissors, adhesive, a foam applicator tool with foam if you have it, and Peeled Paint Distress Ink (if you have it.) I am sure you will enjoy the projects!

Tagalicious Tuesday

This little tag card is an idea given to me by Rosemarie, who wanted to do a tag in honor of breast cancer survivors. I think it came out rather pretty. I used one of the silhouette girls from Hero Arts for the stamped image. This paper is one of my favorites, the chiffon and light aqua from a discontinued line by Luxe called "Cashmere Sweater". The paper has large circles of light aqua on an ivory background on one side, and I die cut the ovals for the silhouette from those circles. The adage ticket is of course Tim Holtz. The focus for the class will be the embossed "wallpaper" background, using Tattered Rose embossing powder by Tim Holtz for Ranger.

Childhood scenes have a way of staying in your mind, and often they are not remembered the way they actually are. This tag is reminiscent of my Great Aunt Addie's front room, which was neither decorated in shades of aqua or teal nor did it have a chandelier, yet in some way these new images from Hero Arts reminded me of that scene. I think I am remembering tone and texture, rather than actual artifacts. I remember she kept lovely romantic pictures above the piano and graceful antimacassars on the upholstered furniture. She and my other aunts would crochet these by the hour. I call this tag "Addie's parlour" in her honor. Of course, participants in the tag class will be able to add their own pictures. Who doesn't have an Aunt Addie?

Tagalicious Tuesday

Hello, Doll! This tag card is a rough copy of a card I made several years ago. I love sewing ephemera and paper dolls and this card is a perfect blend. Yes, the participants will be doing a little sewing (at least a button--everyone can do that, right?) I think this little paper doll would like to dance right off the page!

Yes, we have been having a lot of "bright days" in South Texas this year! I wanted to some "embossing scenes" and this one feels right to me. (after more than just a few failed attempts!) I used Zing metallic embossing powders to make the grass and sky. A texture embossed Colorcore distressed card extends the sky, with Stickles in Icicle making those hot rays of the sun!

Card Factory

These are the cards we are making for Card Factory on Saturday (Is that tomorrow?) Very late this month with the samples. I had a creative streak this morning and was able to finish them up! The ideas have been rolling around in my head for a while. Amy asked me to use the Zoology papers, thus the circle card (Inside it can say "I love you just the way you are!). Also the brayering with the Big and Juicy pads and I thought--we'll do a woven strip card! I had been wanting to do a card with the large flower from Hero Arts. I don't think you can tell in this picture, but I used some vintage glass glitter in the center of the flower. Very sparkly!
The Halloween window card is inspired by Shari Carroll's window card--hers has a large butterfly and a spring like scene--I did Halloween! The red stripe card I made a long time ago and it has been waiting to show up in Card Factory! I love that stripe and dot paper! Anyway, join us tomorrow if you like--10:30 at Stamp Antonio. Bring adhesive and scissors and you will have a lot of fun. See you then!

Tagalicious Tuesday

Paris! City of lights, fashion, excitement, romance! That's what I wanted to convey in this sweet little tag. The tag itself is actually a stamped image of a Hero Arts collage stamp, which I collected a few years ago. At first, I wanted to highlight the Eiffel Tower image with a stamped domino. I had made a domino with an Eiffel tower image some weeks ago in a class with Ginny. However, the domino seemed to make the image "top heavy", so my next thought was to use a Tim Holtz clock face image. Not having one of a size to fit the clock face on the stamp, I decided that the inks themselves were enough of an embellishment, especially since the paper image the tag was going to be mounted on was delicate in color and design. The Eiffel tower charm was the perfect accent!

This tag has a little booklet at the bottom, patterned after the little Halloween booklet Lisa did for the new Hero Arts and Sizzix dies. I used Spellbinder's dies instead, and Graphic 45 images.

Tagalicious Tuesday

This is my neice, Stephanie, who is a star! Well, she is a star in our family, and now she is the star of this card! It looks in the picture like she has star freckles, but that is the glitter on her picture! I am experimenting with this shabby chic style, which I really like. I figure imitation is the highest form of flattery, so I took my idea from a magazine. But whoa, my card doesn't look at all like the original--so I guess I didn't do too good of a job of imitating, did I?

Tagalicious Tuesday

This is one section of the cute little tag book we are making tomorrow at Stamp Antonio. The book will have three pocket page sections and chipboard covers. I decorated mine with Graphic 45 Wizard of Oz papers, to house my Wizard of Oz tags. Thank you, Peg, for bringing the Sizzix tag booklet die we are using in our brand new Grand Mark Accucut machine. What fun!

Tagalicious Tuesday

C is for Cat! I knew I wanted to make a tag with this adorable new Graphic 45 paper featuring school! I paired the papers with a Magenta Cat of the Month (This is Kashmir Katten--have I shared his story with you?). The large letter stamp is Technique Tuesday--I have had them for years and rarely use them, but they are fabulous for scrapbooking. I think the schoolchildren heard about Kashmir from one of his famous sea voyages--I am sure he made the news and more than one little school boy most likely wants to run away to sea with him (at least that might sound better than sitting in a chair all day learning his abc's!

This sweet little tag was inspired by the bead stamp from Deadbeat. It screams "flapper!" to me. The photograph is of my Great Aunt Elizabeth--always full of life and ready to go dancing! This card would be fabulous for a birthday or celebration of any kind. The sentiment could just as well say "Enjoy!" or "Ooh la la!" or "Celebrate!" (all of course in my stamp collection in various renditions). I printed her photograph on Tim Holtz' glassine paper and then carried the glassine over to the border of the card. I love how the glossy finish of the glassine adds to the sparkle of the embossing powder. The embossing powder (Extreme Peacock and Pastel from Judikins) makes the magic on this card.

Tags Tuesday

I have had the idea for this fun little tag for some time. I have been wanting to use this little wheel from Deadbeat Stamps, and when I read the post from Jenni Bowlin on how to use the Smooch spritz with paper tubes, I knew what I wanted to do! The Basic Grey paper was the icing on the cake! (Or at least the last step on the tag!) I added the penguin for whimsy (sp??) but I really wanted to use the Judikins sock monkey! Remember the old Hero Arts round sequins? They would be perfect on this tag. Oh, check out Lisa Spangler's new blog post--the link she gives to the antique quilt patterned masking tape contains a picture of a tag with round circles made from tiny microbeads--tres cool!

This is the last in the Wizard of Oz series of tags we have been doing. It is called, of course, "Over the Rainbow". Ver simple, an alcohol inked rainbow with collage elements. I don't think you can tell, but the Graphic 45 Dorothy is dimensionalized (now I am making up words!) with foam tape. The little star charm came from a jewelry store that was located next to Stamp Antonio and we got some great deals on charms when the jewelry store closed. Now all Dorothy needs is a wand!

Hero Arts Club

I hope you decide to join us at our monthly Hero Arts Club at Stamp Antonio this Thursday or Friday. We have a request to do projects "with one stamp". So I am going to show various techniques to use large background stamps. I made the cards in the picture above today to show the techniques. The stamp used was "Large Lotus Blossom". I used Ranger Perfect Pearl Mists, heat embossing, adding glitz with Stickles and Spica glitter pens and dressed up a couple of the cards with little flowers. Basically I will take participants on a little journey of techniques. It's fun to sit down with one stamp and see what you can create! The stamp begins to take on a "character" with various quirks and possiblities, and I find I begin to appreciate the stamp more the more I work with it. Hey, maybe "less is more" is really true. Up til now I have been going with "She who dies with the most stamps wins!" Now for the real test--I am going to repeat the techniques with a different stamp and see what happens!

Tagalicious Tuesday

This picture above was the tag card we did in last Tagalicious Tuesday. Inspired by an article in Scrap and Stamp Arts, I decided to make custom buttons, some foam, some made of chipboard with Diamond Glaze. The button die border is from Memory Box. Now this picture below, is what Stephanie made, inspired by my design. I love how she took my tag and made it her personal creation. She colored the buttons differently and added threads to the die cut. Also, she chose not to make the tag card, but just a stand alone tag. Kudos to Stephanie! I love it when participants in my classes take the designs a step further!

Tagalicious Tuesday

I wanted to capture the look of straw on this very simple tag. So I used a Tim Holtz stamp of lines to simulate the "straws", stamped and embossed. Then I went over the embossed image with butterscotch paint dabber--it was the perfect color! The Graphic 45 scarecrow image "makes" the tag--very little else was needed--an appropriate sentiment, a couple of crows here and there, and some raffia to get us in the mood of the cornfield. If I only had a brain!

I made a bird on this tag, but I can see other stencil ideas coupled with various "label" words. I used the mini label die from Tim Holtz as well as a Memory Box border die. I plan on using stickles on the SING, but I will put them on before I go to bed (whenever that will be!) The medallion at the tag top is Deadbeat stamped and embossed with blue Zing embossing powder.

July Hero Arts Club Meeting at Stamp Antonio Arts

Do these cards look familiar? That's because I pulled the ideas off the Hero Arts blog. This Thursday and Friday is Stamp Antonio's Hero Arts Club and our theme is Beach Party. I thought I'd share a little of what's been going on the Hero blog. Join us if you can--lots of fun and cardmaking.

Deadbeat Cowgirl Book

This is a photo of one of the five pages in the star book I presented yesterday at Stamp Antonio. The book was frankly copied from a sample at the store, I presume made by Mark Jetton, who owns Deadbeat Stamps. We had a nice cozy group of ladies who colored the cowgirl images with Copic markers or Prismacolors and then who put the book together. I used BoBunny papers for the pink scalloped inserts. A nice touch, not shown here, are the copper colored heat embossed edges of the book, an idea given to me by Gail and Ginny who had taken Carrie Avery's class and had learned the technique there. The embossed edges are really a touch of class to the book, and I hope to upload an image soon of those edges. We never stop learning!

Tagalicious Tuesday

Flowers, flowers, and more flowers! This little flower is made using the Tim Holtz Tattered Floral die from text paper, and I backed it with a tiny Memory Box die cut from purple cardstock. I then added stems and leaves with a glitter technique. But the fun of this card is the background, a tecnique I borrowed from Shari Carroll from Hero Arts. You could use any clear stamp (must be a clear stamp!) I used a damask from one of the Hero Arts clear sets. Very fun! This tag is white embossed, but I think I want to do some with clear embossing and then iron off the embossing powder. I liked the white on this tag because it seems to say "shabby chic", which by the way I hope never goes out of style. The stamp at the side of the card is from a Dylusions set which I love. It is distributed by Ranger Industries.

Ding Dong the Wicked Witch! I used shades of green and purple to capture just the right touch of evil in this poisonous little tag! All hail Graphic 45 and Tim Holtz for the eeriness displayed! Very fun!

Tagalicious Tuesday

This little tag is called "The Road to Oz". I will have to pre-paste all the tags this evening with the "yellow brick road", but I think decorating the road will be fun. I did get carried away with the glitter at the top, but I like the overall design. The tag features two Tim Holtz dies--the pennants and the town. I also made a little shaker element from glass slides. I saved two pieces of the precious poppies paper (how's that for alliteration!) just to use on this tag. Hopefully Stamp Antonio will re-order this paper for anyone who didn't get any so far. I had wanted to use it in Card Factory, but it sold out! I hope participants will choose to alter the tag to suit themselves--I have several options planned regarding color and decor.

This tag is per special request from Alice. She saw the lovely sample someone left at the store--(I still don't know who)--but I would like to thank whoever it is. It is done in lovely shades of Dried Marigold, Dusty Concord, and Victorian Velvet, which show up beautifully around the white embossed flourish. I set it into an embossed Color Core background and added a Hero Arts stamp and postmark. Very lovely! Plus, this idea could be done in so many different colors! I spent the whole afternoon experimenting.

July Card Factory

Here (finally!) are the cards I will be presenting at Stamp Antonio this Saturday. I decided to use tons of die cuts--Tim Holtz and Memory Box. I guess I'm going to need that steel plate to cut the Memory Box dies from the Vagabond--I had to use the Cuttlebug and a shim. Can you tell we are doing a summer theme?! I hope you are having a good summer--I am, but it is just really hot here. I am ready for a summer rain storm! Carolyn is back at work, so I can stay home and play today. I hope you like the cards--join us if you like, Saturday, July 2 at 10:30. Call 210-764-7900 to sign up.

I am working on my sample now!

Tagalicious Tuesday

This is the second in our series of "Wizard of Oz" tags--the Ruby Slippers. The stamp is from Great Impressions, and the paper of course from Graphic 45. I used the Rosette medallion die cut from Tim Holtz, along with Perfect Pearls Mist, Barn Door and Stormy Sky Distress Inks. Ranger embossing powder and red Stickles complete the look.

The last patriotic tag we did was so well received I decided to try it again, this time using glitters. We learned a glitter technique at Stamp Antonio presented by Angela Finet, and this tag card will be a little "refresher course". I originally wanted to do a floral theme but couldn't get the right sizes of punches or dies, so I went with this star theme. The stars are Martha Stewart's Punch All Over the Page. The card really shines with Ranger embossing glitter on the Hero Arts stars in the background. Happy 4th of July!

Tagalicious Tuesday

This is our tag card from Tagalicious Tuesday this week. I used Aged Mahogany to color the tag and then put it through the Tim Holtz collage embossing folder. Too bad this Botanica Bella has been discontinued--I will have to go on a search to get some more--it is one of my favorite Graphic 45 lines. And the old "page pebbles" I bought years ago have "aged" to a lovely shade of yellowish-brown to add an antique look to the stamped image, also now discontinued--one of Paige Nerrie's stamps for Stampington. I am so glad to have bought these stamps years ago. The leaf border, however, is brand new--one of my new favorites--the Dylusions line from Ranger. It is reminiscent of some Stampotique stamps I got years ago--fits right in with the line. I think I chose the text paper to complement the text "leaves" in this stamp!

I guess this tag will be one of series! I have had a request to continue a group of tags using the new Graphic 45 line of Wizard of Oz papers. Next week: Ruby slippers! (I hope!)

Tagalicious Tuesday

Flag Day, June 14--Join us at Stamp Antonio to make this patriotic red white and blue tag.

Here's the tag card: a cute flamingo in a tropical setting. Welcome vacation!