Reunited...

Hey,

Happy Friday to you all!

I am super happy today, as my Ma arrived last night from London, she is here for 10 days and as from tonight, I will be off work, so I can hang out with her :)

Whoop Whoop!

Today's card is just something that I ended up with when I had a play at my desk one night with whatever was die-cut and on my desk!

Pretty much sums up how I feel today :)

I used a Lawn Fawn stitched square, a MFT stitched rounded rectangle, 2 Stampin' Up hearts - created using a die/emboss Framelits thingy, a mini staple and a stamp by Paper Smooches. All papers by Recollections.

It came out pretty well, so I made another similar one..

Today is also my Grandma's birthday - here is the card I made for her, using an April Tim Holtz Tag...

Have a great weekend..Hubby, Ma and I are off out to Vamos! tonight with our friends and then we are heading to AC for the weekend..

Cx

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2015 - My April Tags...

Hey,

So I was a bit nervous about this month's tag..it looked complex.

I LOVED making these, they were fun and meant I got to get my sewing machine out!

I made a mistake with the first tag (Birthday Wishes) too close and too heavy handed with the spritzer...

You know I have this only one new product per tag rule..well I broke that this month, my new products are - the kraft tags, crinkle ribbon and the word dies. Sometimes a girl has just gotta spend :)

I adore the word dies and think that they will be getting a lot of use.

I was a bit concerned that my stamps wouldn't work as well as the TH ones, but I think it all turned out just fine - even with an oops :)

Here are some individual photos of my tags -

Birthday Wishes..blue slodge - oops..

    

Hello Love..much better spritz splatter here..

   

What did I use?

INKS/PENS: MFT Hybrid ink (perfect for colouring and watercolouring), Picked Raspberry, Pumice Stone and Evergreen Bough Distress Inks, Hero Arts Green Neon Ink. Peacock Feathers and Worn Lipstick Distress Marker,
PAPERS: #8 Kraft tag, Distress watercolour cardstock, black scrap paper from my stash
TOOLS: Distress Marker Spritzer, Paper Distresser, Craft knife, Ranger Heat Tool, ATG, xyron, Ink applicator, Aquabrush, Singer Sewing Machine
STAMPS: Bee Happy by Hero Arts (from Darnell last year!)
DIES: Sizzix / TH Adventure Words Block, Winnie & Walter Birthday die (The Big, The Bold   and Wplus9 Hello die
MISC: Crinkle Ribbon, water mister, t-ruler, metal ruler

These tags have been a lesson in trusting myself - good to see that stepping out of my comfort zone every now and then works.

I've decided that I am going to mount them to cards and use them for a couple of special birthday's that are coming up.

Cx

WOYWW #307..My craft room exploded...

Hey,

Happy WOYWW.

My craft room didn't really explode it just looks like it!

I'm showing you my desk because it's that fab time of the week where we get to join the lovely Julia over at her blog Stamping Ground and have a global desk nosy..

My desk photo was taken around 11pm on Tues evening. I got home at about 9.15ish after a dinner date with Hubby (yummy burgers at Umami Burger) and got straight to work at my desk.

I wanted to finish my April tags for the Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2015 and some Mother's Day cards that need to get delivered this week!

You can see my new die storage system. I was looking for a die and realised I needed to take a photo of my desk, so multi-tasked (I am a Project Manager after all).
The binder is supposed to be a recipe binder, it came with a lot of fab pockets, which make perfect die storage. I cut down the dividers to use in the extra pockets I bought (the blue gingham paper you see is the dividers) waste not, want not! The whole thing cost $9 including the extra pockets - score! America based ladies the binder came from Burlington?!

I popped into my local craft store on Monday and went a bit spendy, spendy, but the good news is that I also signed up for a Mixed Media card making class in 2 weeks.

I've labelled the rest of the mess items for your pleasure!

Here are a couple of fun cards that I made for OWH, there are 8 of them in total in a few different colours.

Thanks again everyone for the lovely kind words about my broken foot (you guys are the best!). It is on the mend and I am now as slow as a retired Greyhound!

A special shout out to Darnell, who sent me a wonderful card to help me stop wallowing in my own misery - I mean it was my fault after all - the wall doesn't move!

Cx

Tim Holtz Tags of 2015 - My March Tag..

Hey,

Hope you had a great weekend, I had a very relaxing one.

I spent lots of fun time at my desk, including making my tag for this month's Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2015

Here's Tim's tag -

I had a lot of fun making my March Tag

I followed all of the steps. Some of the items came from my stash - washi tape - by Michaels, stamp - by Stampendous and came with a mask! Stencil - letter jumble by Dyan Reaverey and the embellishments are all by Michael's.

I didn't have a metal word plate..so I used chit chat stickers that I recoloured.

Here are 2 close-ups -

This tag was really fun to make, I loved the texture paste / embossing powder technique.

Cx

Playdate Fun...

Hey,

So last Saturday JT and I indulged in an epic 3hr playdate....

We played with lots of fun stuff and chatted and caught up - it was fun.

We based some of the cards on a Bo Bunny stamp set I had bought for each of us (you might remember them from my Jan Tim Holtz tag..)-

We also used our gelatos. I gave them to JT because I knew she would love them, as she loves Crayons and Gelatos are seriously the next step up from crayons :)
We stamped with them, it's a totally super crazy messy fun technique.

I also threw in some random stuff that was on my desk - tags (shop bought) and ready made pinwheels.. I used a ton of scraps too.

Here are the cards -

The main card today uses gelatos stamped onto watercolour paper. You spritz the stamp and colour the gelato directly on to it. It's a touch random, but I really like it. I die cut a piece from my larger piece using a SSS stitched die. I added a tag (shop bought) from my desk and a scrap piece of ribbon.

1 - Bo Bunny stamps, ready made pinwheel, heat embossed sentiment

2 - Bo Bunny stamps, tag (ready made from TJMaxx) from my desk, orange gem

3 - Bo Bunny stamps, scrap papers and a SSS stamp, Versamark Brick ink and SSS white ink

Such fun to make and I know - only 4 cards in 3hrs?! But we also consulted on our DT makes, showed each other what else we have been making, gossiped, you know like when you are in the same room :)

It's always fun, but it's bittersweet as it makes me miss my girl JT even more..

Cx

Tim Holtz Tags of 2015...February...

Hey,

So I finally got round to starting AND finishing my February tag last weekend. And yes the photo is HUGE, but he's sooo gorgeous, I wanted to share him in full detail :)

So modge podge gave me some issues, thus it is time to invest in glue n seal!

I used all the technique's Tim used, but I substituted some of the items. My papers came from my scraps, the sentiment I stamped and then distressed.

I assembled the entire tag, following all the steps. I did not want to sew on my heart and looked at the other tags for inspiration - big thanks to Belinda Basson, her use of staples inspired me to do the same.

The die cutting felt was a new thing for me - believe it or not. Silly right!

I added some gold stars around the frame on my tag, I felt I needed sparkle! For the final touch I used a Navy mist to add splatter. I smudged some of it in, as it was a bit OTT..mists, still mystify me..

I broke my one new item rule - there are 3 here..sorry I just couldn't resist the President's Day sales.. So the arrow, heart and frames are new..sorry but I love a sale!

Here's a close-up -

I love how my tag looks, it feels feminine yet grungy - love it!

Cx

p.s Yes..'Tags' are male...

Tim Holtz - 12 Tags of 2015 - January..

Hey,

So I made my first tag for Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2015  before I left for Tel Aviv and I LOVE IT!!

If you saw my WOYWW #293 post, you will remember a strange Monster in the corner, he was hiding this beauty :)

I really wanted to join in last year's 12 tags, but to be frank the techniques, etc scared me a bit :)

Now after a year of learning, practicing and exploring I felt ready..

I didn't have all of the items on Tim's product list, but no matter that made it even more fun - hunting for things to use instead.

I started by making my own tissue paper - I made myself a promise - only one new item per tag - new item for January was the ChitChat Stickers.

I used white tissue paper and Bo Bunny stamps (To the point and It is written) and a free text stamp in silver. Here is a photo of the paper before I used it -

This was a new technique for me, super easy, fun to do and has endless possibilities.

I used my Silhouette to cut 2015 out of chipboard and double sided adhesive. After adding distress paints (Mustard Seed, Broken China, Mowed Lawn) and a blue mist to the tag, I stuck the 2015 on and glittered the numbers.

I decided that I would use the stickers to describe what I want from 2015. Here is a close-up of the tag -

I covered the entire tag in Modge Podge (no glue and seal in my stash) and outlined the stickers using distress markers in the same colours as the paints.

Final touches were the glittery star and the purple ribbon.

I'm really pleased with my first attempt at a Tim Holtz tag.

Come on February..I'm ready for the next one!

Cx