Finished!

My complete set of tags from Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas. What a blast it was making these - can't wait for next year!

Tim's Tag - Day 12 - Finally!!

I was chugging along so well with Tim's tags, until Day 12. It fell on a Saturday and I had a party to go to. Well, after that it was just one thing after another and I didn't get a chance to work on this until Christmas was completely over! I'm so glad I did it though - the Grungepaper roses are a little challenging, but lots of fun. You can tell I was challenged...there is only one rose! I cheated on the second one and just covered the Grungepaper with some vintage French paper and called it good. I do love the look of the sanded edges on that one! I also added a little faux metal flower that I made using the technique I posted here.

For my background I used the Metallic Pop technique from the latest Technique Junkie newsletter. I finished it with ribbon from RockCandy Studios.

I also wanted to show you how I store my Mini Misters. I found this flower frog at an estate sale a couple years ago. I had it sitting on my table just because it looks so cool. One day I had my misters out and..........

It's probably a good thing that I don't have too many. I don't think it would be practical if I had more than a few. I do love how it looks for my small collection.

I would like to wish you all a happy, healthy New Year. I hope your worries are few and your inspired, art-filled days are many!

Tag Tuesday - Shaped Tag

This week's Tag Tuesday challenge was to make a shaped tag. I have been wanting to make a little Christmas stocking ever since these Oxford Impressions stamps were released. Of course, while I was ruminating on the design, the amazing Elizabeth Shea made one and I was like - man, if I do one now, I will look like such a copycat! I guess enough time has passed and I feel ok to make my own, lol. Check out Elizabeth's (as well as a lot of other amazing artist's work here.

While you're drooling over all that art, I hope you are inspired to make some of your own. Suzanne, the owner of Oxford Impressions is having a Christmas card contest and you still have plenty of time to enter! Head on over to Suzanne's blog to get all the details. Good luck!

Tim's Tag Day 11 + Tag Tuesday

I can't believe there is just one day to go! I will really miss this challenge - it was a great way to try new things and use supplies that hadn't seen the light of day in awhile.

I must confess....I didn't really like today's tag. I have seen the brad maker before and wasn't very impressed with the results. For my style of stamping, it just doesn't really have a place. I am also not a big gadget person - things like this seem to get used right when you get them, and then slowly make their way into a closet or drawer, never to be seen again.

Ok, enough of my opinions! Go buy the brad maker! You'll love it! ;-)

My tag was basically done the same as Tim's with a few changes. First, I created my tag using the Watercolor Distress technique from the Feb/Mar 07 issue of the Technique Junkie newsletter. I don't have the reindeer stamp so I embossed a Grungeboard bird with white embossing powder and then painted over it with maroon paint. When it was dry I wiped it carefully to reveal the embossing. It was a little boring so I covered it with glitter. I totally discarded the idea of covering brads and instead, glittered up some velvet flowers I found at Michaels and layered them with a white flower. 'Peace' stamp is from Fancy Pants (as is the flourish on the bird) and is embossed with white ep. The other stamps used are from Oxford Impressions and Inkadinkado.

When I was deciding on a color palette I thought of Louise's Tag Tuesday challenge and thought the colors of blue, green, and wine would be perfect!

Wow, on another note - those of you who use Blogger, did you notice the new composer? How cool that you can make pics bigger?! I have always been frustrated by the size restrictions. Very cool improvement!

Theme Thursday - Vintage

I haven't been stamping much for the past few months. Not sure why, I think sometimes I just need a total creative break so that I can recharge. The only problem is - sometimes you can stay away so long that you get out of the habit! Following along as Tim Holtz creates his 12 Tags has gotten me back in the studio and back to doing what I love the most - stamping and playing with techniques.

Today's Theme Thursday challenge is Vintage. Well, not sure I do anything that isn't vintage, lol! I never really think about it, it's just my style. I don't even think of it as vintage. Anyway.....I am madly in love with the Metallic Pop technique from the latest issue of the Technique Junkie newsletter. Doesn't that background look like embossed metal? Too cool! I added a photo stamp from Oxford Impression's April in Paris collection, and some gorgeous trim from RockCandy Studios. Do you see the little Tim touch? I used the faux eyelet technique on the brad that's attaching the flower. Love that trick!

Tim's Tag 10

This was another fun tag! I was feeling very lazy and really liked his example, so I pretty much copied Tim's exactly. The main difference is I used metal tape from my friends at RockCandy Studios. It was just a bit shy of the full width, so I added little strips to the edges.

I didn't have the pens so I just used alcohol inks, a little alcohol, and a paintbrush. I think it worked just fine! I used a black Copic marker to do little stitches since I didn't have the stapler. They look much less dorky in real life! For some reason they really stand out in the pic.

I will share one tip that my friend Cyndi had: We were discussing the tag and she said, of course you can use your Cuttlebug to do the embossing. I was like - !!!! - I had totally forgotten about using it to do the smooshing. I shimmed it up with about three pieces of fun foam and it worked great. I did a tiny bit of detailing with my stump, but most of it was done with the CB. Great tip Cyndi!