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!