Live Now!

Hi all!

Pezza's challenge piece turned out so nicely I just had to make one myself to enter into the following challenges

• Tim Holtz 12 tags - July
• Mixed Media Monthly Challenge - Around the House
• Pile It On - Embossing

I don't do tags so instead I incorporated my smaller piece into a larger page sized to fit in my 8 x 8 loose leaf journal I have been making in my Journal Soup class with Kate Crane.  I followed Tim's tutorial as closely as I could - I was lacking a few products as he comes out with products far faster than my budget can keep up with now that I don't work!

My base page background followed his background and then I added a bit more to it by stamping with bubble wrap and distress paint, then I sponged embossing ink through sequin waste and sprinkled on Distress Embossing Powder for a nice tone on tone effect.  Finally, I took the leftover gritty goop mix (the "sand" in his tutorial) and I spread that through the same sequin waste.  I am quite pleased!

Here is a closer look at the main part - that Rock Candy crackle followed by Distress Stain is fantastic!  For the "around the House" challenge I have used the packaging from an embossing folder for my embossed plastic layer and I tied my metal tag on with kitchen twine I used to use to stake my gladiolas.  The Live Now tag is perfect - I am a live in the now type and my poor hubby is a plan for the future type so we tend to drive each other nuts!  But there is a good reason opposites attract - we balance each other out.

This was my first time playing with the Distress Glitter - I love how it sparkles in the "tree branch" goop I made.  I am thinking I need the rest of the colors - it is quite deelish!  If there is anyone who would like some Distress Embossing powder super cheap let me know - I still have several jars of colors in the inventory left from my store and would be willing to part with it quite cheaply!

Thanks for having a look!  Let me know what you think as I love to get comments.  Did anyone else participate in either of these challenges?

TH tags - tag 1 black cat style

hi all!

the weatherman is talkin' snow!  yay! oh i hope i hope i hope!  i LOVE snow!  maybe not 5' like a couple years ago but enough to blanket the whole area in sparkling white drifts is always nice.  i was watching the weather in my chiropractor's office - i am hoping he can do something to get rid of these headaches.  at this point i don't go one full day without excruciating pain although the issue of my hand going numb has improved since the first visit last week.  i was even able to color some images with no numbness at all!  but those are not in today's post - you have to wait a few more days.  they have videos to go with them that need approval from FaveCrafts first!

i have been watching tim holtz's 12 tags again this year like i have done since the first year he did them. the first year's tags were always my fave until this years - i am really liking them!  i have not been able to do many of them over the years but i do try and get a couple in and it is one of the kinds of things i wanted to have time for again when i gave up all my design team positions.  however, i don't have any of his stuff - no winter distress inks, no xmas embossing folders, no xmas dies, no kraft core paper.....well you get the idea.  it's not that i don't desperately want them but until i win the lottery i have to narrow down my shopping list.  and so i had to make do but i am actually quite happy with the end result for TAG 1:

in case you are not following tim here is his tag 1:

for starters i made a card instead of a tag that i will be sending out.  i did not have the kraft core cardstock so i started with regular blue cardstock and this cool snowflake embossing folder i dug out - no idea when or where it's from.  anyway, i put versamark on the embossing folder, embossed and then added white embossing powder.  my first try i followed tim's directions - some areas were totally covered and others had just speckles of powder and i really liked that so i started over.  this time instead of dumping on the white embossing powder i sprinkled it so i had more of a snow flurry speckled look.

next, the little pine cone cluster and glittered die cut noel.  i did not have any of these items and i wanted it to be flat anyway for mailing.  after considering several options i decided to go with a cute tree branch with a bird house from the Winter Re-Tweet  cut file at My Scrap Chick - cut with my Black Cat of course!

i still wanted a bit of the "cluster" look so i added a stack of die-cut felt, fabric yoyo, glittered skittle and a fabulous flourish by Make It Crafty from SCACD.  i gave the snowy cuts a dose of stickles and the flourish is covered by bundled sage distress ink and bundled sage distress stickles.

i am hoping i get another one done tomorrow!

bubba kitten has been up to no good as most kittens are.  he has quite a vicious battle going on with the roll of paper towels in my studio:

and then there was round 2:

which as you can see thoroughly exhausted him and he had to nap.  luckily these are the paper towels in my art studio so i can still use them - i just pick up some shreds from the pile...good thing he is so stinkin' adorable!

party pez!

i hadn't inkeed up my little mardi gras pezzy yet. i decided to use the sketch from scs which i hadn't done in awhile!
















i thought she would look good done up T!m style:
figured i better start gearing up for next weekend when i take a class at cha with t!m! i did these using his tag 1 tutorial in the 2008 12 tags of christmas series. i placed a mask over the main panel and then inked the piece with peeled paint and dusty concord distress inks. next, with mask still in place i stamped the music background. then i peeled the mask up and misted with water so the ink feathered into the masked area.

i stamped the mardi gras pez on grungeboard. i highlighted a few areas with spica glitter pens in purple, green and gold (traditional mardi gras colors). i rubbed the edges with vintage photo ink. i covered two grungeboard crowns with antique linen distress stockles and stuck them on with glue dots.

anyone going to any mardi gras parades???? i SO MISS mardi gras parades.........

tim tags with the new stamps!

hi everyone!

i have two more samples for you today using my new pine cone scroll stamps! today i used them more as a background stamp rather than the focal image. they also follow two of the recent tags over on tim holtz's blog.

the first one also uses Jen's sketch for last saturday's Sketch For You To Try->

and the card using tim's tag 11 tutorial:

i paired it up with some great pine needle patterned paper and accented the stamped images with my inkssentials pen.

here's a closer image of the main panel. the fragment charms are also stamped with pinecones and then embossed but the effect is hard to capture in a pic.

the next one is LOOSLEY based on Taylor's sketch from last friday->

And the card using tim's tag 9:

and a close up:

i used the pinecones to stamp randomly on the card base and then covered half with patterned paper from k & co. then on the main panel i also have pine cones peeking from under the "frosty - ness of the window pane i imaginethis snowman peeking thru :) yet another piece of tim holtz magic!!! just "flick a snow cap paint dabber on the top and bottom and then down each side. rub on the distress inks and stamp with distress inks and then wipe it off the painted portion which acts as a resist. how neat is that????? i just knew as soon as i saw tim's card that these pinecones would give the perfect hint of winter forest outside the window!!

all of the stuff needed for tim's tags can be found on my website too!!

i want to make another one with a few "whiffies" if i have time......

i would love to hear what y'all think!!

Tim holtz's tags 3 & 5 - used in LOs...

i have a couple more tags done from t!m's tutorials. The grungeboard pieces are fairly large so my finished pieces were larger than i wanted to use for a card or gift item. then i spotted the two LO sketches i had printed recently by valerie salmon and it hit me - i could use the pieces to prep some christmas LOs!

here is tag 5:

rather than use a tag i just cut a shape with my nesties and followed tim's tutorial. i used a outdoor snow scene for my background.

here is the sketch i decided to use it with from got sketch.

and here is the resulting LO:

next up is my version of tag 3:

I used this LO from got sketch

and here is my LO (with a "marker" where the pic would be):

these were SO much fun and came together so quickly and easily once the "tags" were done! what do y'all think????

now a little glimpse of the shenanigans that go on while i am trying to snap pics for the blog:

seems i have a little camera hog on my hands!

this is the face we get when we tell her to smile.....

SFYTT plus tutorial alcohol inks (and a cute story)....

SO before i get into the fun post i have for you today i have a cute story for ya. once upon a time things like starbucks were a luxury i could NEVER afford - since that's changed i hit starbucks at every opportunity and now of course so does Pezzy - my little Partner in Crime. well daddy takes pezzy every saturday and sunday morning and yesterday he took her out with him to run some errands. so i get a phone call and he says "what have you been teaching our daughter?" and i think uh oh.....by the third one you get so lax you know....so i said what happened? well one of their stops was target (all of our targets have a starbucks in them). so they pull in and get out and she says DADDY! i need to get me a blueberry scone! hee heeee that's my GIRL!!


ok one to the real reason you vist me with me every day - a card! i used Jen's Sketch For You To Try for this one ->





i also did one of Tim Holtz's 12 tags of christmas - this technique is from day 2 (yes i am VERY behind!!!) - so here is my card:

Rather than doing tags i have cut some shapes out with my nesties and am using those in place of tags and then i will mount them on cards, LOs as titles or other christmas gift items. you can get ALL of t!m's goodies at the store!

i have to say this technique is AMAZING!!!! in fact the alcohol ink background is so friggin awesome i HAD to do more of them AND make a quick tutorial to share at least that protion of the tag with you for those of you that are not tim obssessed like me *grins*


here are the two blue and silver backgrounds i made. i also made a large green and gold one and a red and copper one. however my batteries died in my camera :P you will see them in upcoming projects though!

your supplies are pretty simple - if you like alcohol inks you will already have these things on hand. you need 3-5 colors of alcohol inks - be sure not to pick colors that make mud when mixed! i stayed within color families for these but may get more adventurous next time. you also need one metallic mixative, blending solution and glossy cardstock. start by dropping several drops of metallic mixative onto your craft sheet. (not too much) this was for a 6x6 piece of paper.

next add your colors - keep drops of colr grouped together so i went from dark to light - dark drops across the top area, next lightest color across the middle, next lightest color beneath and lightest color across the bottom.

next squirt a little blending solution around - the more you use the lighter your intensity of color.

now just lay your glossy cardstock face down and sort of twist it or move it a bit in a small circle to get the alcohol ink spread over the paper. grab one corner and sort of lift/slide your paper up off the mat to streak the color.

wah la! gorgeous background! for added fun dip a toothbrush into more metallic mixative, hold it over your paper and rub it with a needle to flick specks of color across the area.

it hink i could make these all day!!! the nice thing about glossy cardstock instead of photo paper - your colors will be more vibrant AND you can stamp and then emboss on the glossy cardstock which is what i did above on the card!

i hope y'all try this one!!!!!!