Tag 4

Tim made a gorgeous tag for today! I just love the blue and white and shimmer and .. and ... everything!

But, as usual, I had to find substitutes for a couple of things. The focus of this tag is the snowman with the numbers 2 and 5 cut out of his belly. Well, I don't have any of those, but can you tell from my tag? No? I tell you a secret: I drew and cut it out BY HAND!!! It took a little time, yes, but I think the endresult was worth the effort! Take a look:

I took the houses die (which I borrowed from Christa!) and some punched out snowflakes. Because I have the houses at the bottom I didn't want to add buttons there. It would clutter up the bottom edge too much. Here are some details for you to enjoy!

White enamel accents for snow on windowsills and rooftops.

Snowflakes stamped in weathered wood and flourish with frostwhite pigment ink.

Hand drawn and cut out 25, filled with diamond glaze. I made the music paper by stamping and coloring with old paper distress ink.

even the littlest comment is greatly appreciated!

Hero Arts 90 minutes scramble

Tonight Nancy was hostess of the Hero Arts 90 minutes scramble. The rules are you have to make and upload your project in 90 minutes. Nancy gave us a wonderful photo made by her daughter Sarah for inspiration:

We could use anything from the photo to base our cards upon. At first the white table and the crumpled edges of the bags inspired me. I tried to find buttons in earth colors.

The first card was ready in 30 minutes so I started on a second one. I think the second one came out the better one. I like it better, anyway! I was inspired by the beautiful earth colors, especially the golden yellow saffron! And I used one of the sketches of the Hero Arts december challenge.

The star ornament can be used in so many ways! I did flick some golden-colored droplets on the basic card. The circles were colored with distress ink mustard seed.
I do so love these scrambles. At first you think you can't do it: get inspired, think of the general layout you want and then create and photograph and upload your card in 90 minutes. But when you get going it's so much fun! Go and see what everyone else made of this challenge in 90 minutes!

even the littlest comment is greatly appreciated!

Tag 3

Good afternoon bloggers! Here is tag 3, made with Tims favorite technique "cut 'n dry felt custom mde stamp pads". Unfortunately, I don't use cut 'n dry, but fortunately Tim included other techniques in the bonus section!

For todays tag I went with the watercolor look. I had the phrase "A snowflake is winters Butterfly" in my head all day, so I don't think you'll be surprised at my take on tag 3! The butterflies are beautiful and like the snowflakes blend in with the background.

I stamped and inkblended my favorite colorcombination (broken china and shabby shutters) and used a (like ready made custom inkpad) Big and Juicy inkpad Waterfall to stamp the butterflies. Everything is sprayed with water (the butterflies with a water/perfect pearl mix from the minimister for a pearly shine) to achieve the watercolor look. Here are some details for you to enjoy!

Rhinestones for the butterfly bodies. Too bad the camera doesn't pick up the pearly shine. It's really lovely. Like fairy butterflies!

A bell and a key I saved from a 2ct child bracelet.

Frayed edges from the background stickyback canvas.

Tonight I will participate in another Hero Arts 90 minutes scramble. I can hardly wait! Those scrambles are always so much fun!

even the littlest comment is greatly appreciated!

A new Hero Arts stamp: Delicate Blossoms

My mojo is really flowing these days. I wonder why ... LOL! I told you about the prize I won with a Hero Arts scramble challenge. This is the second stamp from that prize. It is called Delicate Blossoms and oh boy ... are they DELICATE! And DELICIOUS! I made this card set with it. It looks like I'm totally in love with red on white color combination.

These are a gift set for one of my darling SIL's, I don't know which one yet! I already have ideas for the next set and going to challenge myself with another color combination! Here are the cards separately:

I stamped the blossom with versamark black on the card. Then a second print to color with distress ink barndoor red. I cut out three blossoms and glued them on the first print. Then I colored the rest of the blossom very lightly with adirondack salmon and juniper.

The two blossoms side by side embossed in white on a red card. Less is more! Just a bit of twine on the side randomly fastened with whte brads. Background dots sponged with distress ink barndoor red and masking dots.

The last card has more elements. Large canvas stripes with barndoor red distress ink, a small border with a border punch. The delicate blossom partly cut out over the border. And three brads to complement the three blossoms in red. Did you notice the different rounded corners? Oh and I just noticed: I used no stickles! None of these cards need stickles! I wonder if I will experience withdrawal tonight?
That's it for tonight. See you all tomorrow for Tim Holtz' Tag 3!

even the littlest comment is greatly appreciated!

Tag 2

And here is TAG 2. Everyone has scrambled madly yesterday to get his/her tag uploaded and to enjoy all the tags made around the world and viewable with inlinkz. (Why don't we rename that to INKLINKZ for the duration of Tims 12 Tags?!!) Take a look at Tims tag 2:

Gorgeous isn't it? Cute reindeer! But I had to find another shape. So I went with a christmas tree. I used only Art Journey stamps today. From the sets "Noel", "Men" and "Christmas Tree". The background paper comes from a (cheap!) paperblock. I used it because it had some embossed snowflakes.
No distress stain picket fence here, in fact I have no distress stains AT ALL! So I substituted some paint dabber snowcap, liberally watered down on my craft sheet to make the transparent white layer. Made some white pearl mist in a minimister and sprayed that on my hand so I could flick droplets.

I decorated the tree with a green ribbon which I covered in stickles holly. And the brads were white. I colored them with alcohol ink ginger in a plastic bag.
Well, there you have it: my take on tag 2. Here are some details for you to enjoy!

A little branch on the Art Journey "Men" set becomes a holly branch when colored green and stamped mutiple times. See the delicate white snowflakes? That stamp comes from the "Noel"set and I stamped it with frostwhite.

The ribbon is colored with watered frayed burlap distress ink on the craftsheet. I crumpled it and let it dry. A little piece of vintage lace, colored the same, is my substitue for the piece of burlap on Tims tag.

Details of the green ribbon with the stickles holly the embossed snowflakes and the brads. I just wrapped it around the tree. See the frayed edges of the stickyback canvas on grungepaper? I colored the tree with old paper distress ink and stamped a darling christmas tree from the Art Journey "Christmas Tree"set on it. The brads were punched with a pointy screw! See the difference in coloring on the brads? That happens when you just let alcohol ink dry naturally.
See you tomorrow!

even the littlest comment is greatly appreciated!

Star Ornament

Two weeks ago I participated in the Hero Arts 90 minute scramble. Which means you have to create a card acoording to the challenge and upload it within 90 minutes. Now you know why it is a "scramble"!
Trinh gave us a lovely challenge: "Use a stamp in an unexpected way" or "Make a non-holiday card using fall or winter holiday stamps." I decided to go with the first rule. I used a tie stamp for clock arms. You can see it here.  And I won! Today my prize came in. Trinh sent me (among other goodies) a lovely Star Ornament stamp from Hero Arts. I made this card with it:

Embossed with silver and cut out in layers it's a wonderful stamp with perfect lines and details. I'm sure I can think of more uses for it!
Thank you for visiting my blog today and the wonderful comments! Tomorrow it's time for tag 2 and I got another wonderful Hero Arts stamp waiting for ink. Hmm, I'm not sure I'll be able to sleep with my mojo flowing in all directions!

even the littlest comment is greatly appreciated!

TAG 1

It's december 1st and Tim has started his 12 Tags of Christmas fun! And what a fabulous start! Just check out his TAG 1. He uses so many techniques here, I can't count them all!

Each year it is a struggle to come up with something similar. I want to use his techniques but I also have to adapt them to the products I have here. It's fun to see if I can think of alternate possibilities, but hey, that is what the journey is all about, isn't it?!
Here is my take on TAG 1:

I used the caged bird this time. The bird is embossed with glitter red embossing powder. I cut out two cages and used part of the second one to make the door of the cage stand open. After all we have to make our own choices in life therefor the bird gets a choice too!
I used Enamel Accents white on the flower and black for the eye of the bird. The heart of the flower consist of a lot of little red beads, glued with Glossy Accents. I made the music strip myself with a music stamp and distress ink old paper and walnut stain.
I hope you have fun today playing with all the techniques. Keep an eye on Tim's blog for more blog- and eyecandy from now till december 12th.
Here are a few detailed photo's for you to enjoy!

The poinsettia with rock candy stickles, red beads heart and enamel accents white.

The red glitter embossed bird, ready to fly to his freedom! Enamel accents black was used for his eye.

Made my own little bead ornament with metal wire and blue beads. Have you seen all the green freewood branches? My husband helped me punch them because my hands started to hurt after punching three times! Isn't he a dear? He gets caught up in the excitement because of my enthusiasm!

even the littlest comment is greatly appreciated!