gift set using tag 5 (t!m holtz)

ok so i skipped tag 4 for now.....but here is tag 5 with a tutorial and all done up in a gift set based on last weeks Technostamper sketch->



and the finished tag:

and the gift set with close ups:

here's the how-tos:


Gather supplies: from Pezadoodles - 2-3 colors alcohol ink, pearl mixative,blending solution, glossy cardstock, felt and applicator tool, black brilliance ink (memento is pictured but i found brilliance to be better...)

In addition - stamps, bead trim, acetate die cuts (i did mine with my cricut)

add alcohol ink to the felt pplicator along with the mixative.

i cut my glossy cardstock into tags with a sizzix die and my cuttlebug. Dab the ink applicator randomly around on the glossy cardstock.

next add blending solution to the same piece of felt. dab tags again to blend the alcohol inks:

next step will add an interesting effect. hold your heat gun in one hand and blending solution in the other. drip a bit of blending solution onto tags and immediately dry. repeat until happy with the effect.

stamp tags - i used black brilliance for the tree and orchid brilliance for the sentiments. this is when i love allmy studio Gs - the tree and larger sentiment came from the costco inkadinkado set. the smaller sentiments for the smaller tags are studio Gs and i easily found matching sentiments!

now for the "ghost embellishments" - rather than buy them i prefer making mine with my cricut and transparency sheets. here i have snowflakes.

i added more pearl mixative and blending solution to the same piece of felt and pounced it onto the snowflakes to give them just a bit of color

and here is my three completed tags

i hope y'all try some of these! alcohol inks are a super easy way to get dramatic results quickly. once again I will have the kit for 10% off!

don't forget to enter to win my blog tart -a t!m holtz bracket grungeboard book!!

gift bag ala t!m holtz - tag #3

my project uses Julee's mojo monday sketch ->

and is my take on T!m's tag #3 from last years 12 tags of christmas:

the stamps are from inkadinkado - Holiday Classics available now. i stamped them with versamark and carefully covered them with different colors of distress embossing powders. i inked the edges with matching distress inks. grungeboard pieces are painted using espresso & gold paint dabbers. Buttons are SEI and along the bottom one of those beautiful pieces of german scrap i mentioned before.......a little distress stickles just because....

remember i have the kit available to order at 10% off!!

i used it for a gift bag - i love the way it turned out!

now how about a little giveaway today???????? can you guess where i used some alcohol ink to "color match" something to my liking??? leave me a post and tell me where you think it is. up for grabs.........hhhmmmmmm

how about a grungeboard bracket book!!!!!

i will take entries ALL WEEK and announce a winner next saturday morning 11/15 at 8 am so spread the word!

t!m Holtz 12 tags of Christmas 2007 - tag #1 & 2

i have been re-visiting these lately and having a great time! if you missed them last year i encourage you to go have a look on t!m's blog and try some out!

These first two are done as a part of two pages in a heritage album I am doing for my brother for Christmas:

Tag #1 - uses crackle paint, distress inks and grungeboard - pic is my grandma in 1920s Cuba

Tag #2 - wrinkle free distress technique - uses distress inks, snow cap paint dabber, ghost shapes (cut from transparencies with my cricut, bling and distress stickles.

I am gradually putting together kits on my website for each of the tags - get all of the supplies at 10% off!!! plus this way you know you have what you need to complete it!
I also added some gorgeous German Scrap in small bits - just in time to jazz up your christmas projects vintage style!

SFYTT and Cupcake challenges (from last week...EEK!)

WOW!!! have i really gone all week without posting!??!?!?!? i hope y'all missed me - hee heee! i have some cute stuff to share today - both are based VEEEEEERRRY loosley on these two sketches - the first from Jen over at i{heart}2stamp and the second one from Taylor over at Taylored Expressions. Taylor recently launched her own stamp line and oh how i ADORE them - well christmas cupcakes were released and i just couldn't WAIT to ink them up and play!!! here are two projects done with more to come - i URGE you to run over a take a peek at them - talk about FUN!!!


I am making gift sets for my mom's open house right after Thanksgiving so these are my first two installments.









i apologize for the poor pic quality - not sure what happened........

Images are colored with copics and accented with LOTS of liquid pearls...

Again images colored with copics and highlighted with LOADS of stickles!

Close ups of both are below. i have a TON of these acrylic boxes - more than i could probably use - if you want to purchase just a few instead of the full packs like i found contact me...

SOOOOO in love with the Cuppies!!!!

Sorry for such a short post but I am runnin'ragged these days!! stay tuned tomorrow for a really cool T!m holtz inspired gift bag and new product announcement!

distress sticles - a closer look!

i thought i would give everyone a closer look at the new distress stickles as well as do a few comparisons to regular stickles to try and illustrate the uniqueness. and they ARE unique i assure you! my initial order has come and gone back out with more on the way.

first a close up:
here are all 12:



next a few comparisons:




also a line comparison - the opening is larger on the distress:

i'd love to hear what you think!

hi all! i hope everyone had tons of fun trick or treating or whatever you might do on halloween! we were thrilled when we finally got pezzy to agree to put her costume on (you'll be seeing those pics soon in a LO) and once she got going she loved trick or treating. she even roared for a few of our neighbors! at one point she looked at hubby and said daddy! i am a trick or treating baby! when we got home she helped hand out candy too!

todays' post is picture heavy but worth it (i think). want to do individual ornaments for folks in a jiffy? alcohol inks and porcelain!


Here is what I have so far - instructions follow:

first the basics - backgrounds. i found two ceramic ornaments at Michaels - the rest are from my mom's stash of porcelain! i WILL be putting together a one-time only order for porcelain ornaments THIS WEEK so if you want some info will follow probably on monday BE SURE TO CHECK IN!

SO of course i am using alcohol inks for the base colors as porcelain is slick - just what alcohol ink is made for!

Other supplies you will want to have for the various techniques: versamark, brilliance metallic inks, stamps, stickles, liquid pearls, dimensional pearls and lots of embossing powders! the best are detail clear, embossing tinsels (come in iridescent bridal, silver, gold, red and green), white and the distress embossing powders - all of these are available through my webstore along with the versamark, brilliance inks, liquid pearls, dimensional pearls and stickles. The metallic mixatives are especially wonderful on these - here i used red pepper, cranberry and gold mixative - it creates a gorgeous marbled look with gold veins. Be sure to let the alcohol ink dry thoroughly before going on with additional steps. i found some of the ornament surfaces were not exactly flat and level so i stamped without putting my stamps on a block so there would be some flexibility.

Now the details of each one:

STamped a solid poinsettia image from Inkadinkado's Peppermint Twist set using versamark. Covered with gold embossing tinsel and heated to melt. accented the open work with gold liquid pearls.

Stamped the holly leaf from Inkadinkado's Christmas Classics set using versamark, covered with silver embossing tinsels and heated to melt. accented edges with silver stickles.

background is copper mixative with meadow and lettuce alcohol inks and LOTS of blending solution to soften the colors. the hanger portion and bottom ringer portion are straight copper mixative. stamped the pine cones from Inkadinkados Holiday Classics set using versamark and then "colored" them using distress embossing powders and heated to melt. dots are Lettuce Dimensional pearls.

I used stonewashed and denim alcohol inks with pearl mixative. i stamped some super little studio Gs using sky blue brilliance ink and then covered it with frosted crystal embossing antiquities powder and heated to melt so the ink wouldn't smudge. added details with silver stickles.

this ornament is done same as above.

Used the same alcohol inks again but with silver mixative and less blending solution. stamped snowflakes in versamark and used silver embossing tinsel and white embossing powders. heated to melt. used crystal stickles for dots along the edge.

Meadow and lettuce alcohol inks with gold mixative. stamped image from Inkadinkados Winter Shapes set using galaxy gold brilliance ink which i heated with the heat gun and it dried (doesn't work for all of them for some reason). dots and "trunk" are gold liquid pearls.

stamped the silent whisper image using black brilliance ink and heated to dry. colored the image using my copics (yep copics are alcohol markers so color away on slick surfaces!) snowman is covered in crystal ice stickles. open work edge is done using thyme brilliance ink just tapped directly on from the pad. then i covered it in frosted crystals antiquities embossing powder and heated to melt.

so there you have it folks - a variety of ideas and successful products for porcelain ornaments. remember if you can't find them near you tune in monday and i will post what i will be ordering so we can do it all at once!

now off - lots of work to do today!