Kard Krazy

"Cherish"

2012-01-23T11:00:00.003-06:00

My first time participating in the Simon Says Stamp challenge. The challenge is to use a song title to inspire you, and so I've altered a little wooden house I found in a thrift store and used the song "Cherish" as my inspiration. I forgot who sang the song, but the words were "Cherish is the word I use to describe, all the feelings that I have hiding here for you inside....." Well, I could go on, but I won't:)

Here is the opposite side which I also altered.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T02:36:00.002-06:00

Stamps by: Artistic Outpost

Wishing everyone a happy and creative New Year! Hoping this year brings more time for me to create and visit my blogging buddies! The busy-ness of this past year really cut into that and I miss it!

Christmas Art Book

2011-12-07T08:58:00.002-06:00

I have had no time to participate in Tim's Tags this year, but I did want to share a book I have been putting together the last few weeks. It's along the same lines as my Halloween book where I put together some of my favorite holiday art that I have created and received (from some amazing artists I may add).

So I want to start off by thanking all the artists that have contributed to this book by sending me some of their beautiful Christmas creations over the past few years :

Robin Woodard (cover), Sarah Hemphill, Jacqueline de Groot, Lynn Stevens,

Nancy Maxwell James and Kris Dickinson.

This gorgeous Christmas card I received from Robin Woodard graces the cover.

I collaged the inside cover and then added a mini paper bag which I decorated with this lovely tag sent by Sarah Hemphill. Since Sarah and I both share some German roots, I really adore this tag.

I covered the opposite side of the paper bag and inserted inside of it tags I made last year for Tim's 12 Tag of Christmas.

I then cut out two plastic sleeves from my ATC holders and added some of my

favorite Christmas ATC's I made.

The Christmas arch I included here was one I received from Nancy Maxwell James. I placed it in a plastic sleeve and backed it with a card from 7 Gypsies.

Another gorgeous arch, this one sent to me by Kris Dickinson.

Opposite that I collaged a bingo tag.

I'm thrilled to have one of Jacqueline's grid cards to add to my book.

Opposite that is a large pocket envelope which I decorated with yet another one of my tags for Tim's tags last year.

From the large envelope you can pull out a wonderful Christmas tag created by Lynn Stevens.

The next page I added was a smaller envelope which contains one of Jacqueline's lovely tags.

My final two papes are the back of the envelope to which I added one of my

house-shaped ATC's.

The inside of the back cover was then collaged by me.

So happy to have this incredible collection of artwork to grace my coffee table this Christmas!

French Flight Matchbook

2011-11-27T05:55:00.003-06:00

A matchbox accordian booklet I created using the new French Flight stamps from Artistic Outpost. Love these stamps for collage work!

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Artistic Outpost has a special going on now until November 30th!

For every $25 you spend, we'll send you a special gift code for $5 (GC must be used by March of 2012). Better yet! These gift codes stack! If you spend $50 you will get a $10 certificate, spend $100 get a $20 certificate! Remember, in the US you get free shipping when your order totals $50 ($250 internationally). Offer ends November 30th, 2011.

New Stamps From Artistic Outpost

2011-11-16T00:01:00.003-06:00

French Flight is the newest addition to Artistic Outpost's catalogue of unique vintage inspired stamp collections.

In the late 1700's , two French brothers, Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier launched the first manned ballon from the from the center of Paris and flew for a period of 20 minutes. In 1793, Jean Pierre Blanchard became the first to fly a hot air balloon in North America, yet another French adventurer!

This stamp collection pay homage to these adventurers. It is available in both unmounted rubber sheets or pre-mounted on EZMount cling foam and hand trimmed on a clear cling storage card

I created this mini book with a pull out tag from the new stamps.

To see more great art using French Flight check out these designers:

Gerrie Johnnic Lisa Somerville Judy Hayes Lynn Stevens Barbara Washington Stephanie Severin Suzanne Czosek.

Spring Book -- Part 2

2011-11-05T04:53:00.000-05:00

Here is Part Two of my Book on Life:

This page features a pull out tab which shows the sentiments shown below:

(Once again, click on the images to get a better view.)

Spring Book Part I

2011-11-02T11:38:00.001-05:00

I don't want to let a month pass without a post (Yikes, it's been that long?), so even though I'm moving backwards season-wise I am posting, in two parts, a spring book I just completed. I'd been wanting to make this all spring and summer, but it took me finishing my Halloween book to get the inspiration going to actually make it.

The cover for this one is also made from the 7 Gypsies book covers. The theme is Life.

My inside cover and first page: Dreams and Trust that Life is Good.

This page includes a small paper sack with a pull out tag covered with an arch I made long ago for the Gothic Arch challenge. Its sentiment is to feather your nest.

The next page is made from a large 7 Gypsies ephemera sheet and defines Blessings.

Wishes -- and a gorgeous image from Paper Whimsey.

I love the sentiment I stamped here on this mini bag: Live life one day at a time and make it a masterpiece.

A tag pulls out from the bag.

Two sliding botanical cards grace the page titled Take the Road Less Traveled.

The sweet image on the opposite page is the center of my Love page.

Leave a Legacy is my next page created on some more 7 Gypsies ephemera cards.

I then included a plastic sleeve in which I placed the Tim Holtz birdcage over some sweet vintage ephemera and faux rhinestone embellishments. The theme here is the vitally important life statement that Every Girl Needs Some Sparkle."

Clicking on the pages will make it easier to see all the details.

Halloween Book

2011-10-04T15:12:00.000-05:00

I started to pull out some Halloween artwork and found I had much more than I knew what to do with. I thought it would be fun to create a book that would incorporate some of my art plus some of the very cool artwork I've received from friends over the years.

I started with a chipboard book from Seven Gypsies and added a vintage Halloween image and an Apothecary Sticker.

The first page was a mini paper bag which I decorated with another vintage image, a Tim Holtz tag, some dimensional letters.

The back of the cover became a page dedicated to Poe.

Inside the bag I placed a Halloween card I received many moons ago from Kris Dickinson and which I've always liked. It fit perfectly in my paper bag.

This shows the back of the bag covered with some of my favorite Halloween paper from Authentique as well as an image I know Kris sent me quite a while ago.

I then altered the next page which began as a piece of ephemera from Pink Paisley's Junque line.

This doily covered page is actually just a very sturdy piece of acetate that came with some Prima flowers I thought it would serve to steady some of my other pages.

Next is a fabulous tag book made by Sarah. There's four parts to it although I'm only showing two here. This was a very nice addition to my book.

The back half of this part of Sarah's tag book. The rest is folded up.

I then added a plastic sleeve and inserted this gorgeous Gothic Arch which came again from Kris Dickinson. (Her Halloween blog is a great visit!) This page turns the other way in case you'r ewondering.

The opposite side of that page is one of my favorite tags that I created and also fits in the book sideways.

I then created a little pocket to hold some of the extra tags from Sarah's tag book. I added another vintage image here and this cool banner (just love banners!)

A library card pocket is the next page, decorated with a Halloween bingo card, which holds another tag.

For the opposite side of the library pocket, I created a little fold which opens up as seen below.

Below is one of my favorite tags -- made by Sarah and given to me on her

visit to Chicago last year. How cute is that! (Sorry, Sarah, I had to fold up

the bottom to fit it in, but it makes a wonderful last page.)

I love having my Halloween book sitting on the end table in my front room with all these lovely creations gathered together.

Thanks, Ladies, for unknowingly participating in my little project.

Whimsical Melange Fun

2011-09-25T06:19:00.001-05:00

Banners are everywhere -- and I have to admit that I am loving this craze. I was so thrilled to see a large and small sized banner on the Whimsical Melange plate from Artistic Outpost. I added to them by cutting out the little camoes on that set and inserting them into my banner. The ruler along the bottom comes from WM as well. I cut out the sentiment from AO's Typography plate.

My digital image is from Paper Whimsy.

Hold Fast to That Which Is Good

2011-09-11T06:52:00.001-05:00

A set of mini note cards I made using the new Whimical Melange set and the Typography set from Artistic Outpost.

This is the outside of one of the mini notes. (Couldn't help but add the tiny snap to where it says "hold fast.")

And this is the inisde. I held the two sides together with some decorative tape down the middle.

As today is the ten-year anniversary of 9/11, I think this simple sentiment is very appropriate.

Whimsical Canvas

2011-09-04T05:18:00.001-05:00

A simple canvas made using background stamps from the new Whimsical Melange set from Artistic Outpost. The banner stamp is from that set, too. Sentiment is from the new Typography Set.

Image is from Paper Whimsey.

This just makes me happy -- and reminds me of something important, too!

New Releases from Artistic Outpost

2011-08-31T00:01:00.004-05:00

Wow, Artistic Outpost has been cranking out the new stamp sets it seems at lightening speed. Three new releases today -- and I am really excited about them.

Check this out:

Whimsical Melange

This is just one of my favorites! Can't you see all the possibilities in this set for ATC's, house shaped cards or books, little doors opening as I've shown here to reveal all kinds of surprises? I also love the banners -- in a larger and smaller size. I've wanted banner stamps forever, and really like the grungy kind of appearance these have. I've been using that on everything! I know this set will get lots of use.

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Typography

You can never have to many sentiments or sayings so I love seeing this new set. Lots of variety in style and font here.

I created some acrylic tags which I colored with alcohol inks and then stamped several of these sentiments on.

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My Favorite Book

This wall hanging was easy to create with these adorable images from the My Favorite Book set. The reading themed frame is another great idea -- to use with the quote as shown or insert others.

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For more ideas check out the Gallery at Artistic Outpost as well as these fabulous designers:

Gerrie Johnnic * Lisa Somerville * Judy Hayes * Lynn Stevens * Barbara Washington * Stephanie Severin * Suzanne Czosek *

Configurations

2011-08-10T07:37:00.001-05:00

Tim Holtz Configurations Box

I have wanted to make one of these for quite a while. I knew I didn't want to cover the whole box with the Tim Holtz tape as I've seen many do. That just seemed way too much work. When I decided to give his Distress Stains a try on one of these, I knew I'd discovered a way for me to really enjoy this.

I sanded the Configurations Box just a bit and then applied Vintage Photo Distress Stain on all the areas that would show, inside and out. It dried very quickly. I was able to stamp my checkerboard Stampin'Up background stamp all the way around the outside of the box.

I checked around my odds and ends drawer looking for all the game pieces and game-related items I could find. I was surprised to see how much I had that would fit right into my Game Piece Configurations Box.

I really enjoyed this project. Of course, I think it helped that I started with one of the smallest Configurations Boxes. The large ones would really overwhelm me. I'd probably try this again with another theme, maybe a holiday one.

A Couple of Cards

2011-08-06T11:29:00.002-05:00

A couple of cards I made this morning using new papers

by Authentique.

I showed their Christmas papers in

my last post, and I also love this

pink and gray line I used here called Uncommon.

You can see their new papers here.
Their Halloween line, Glowing, is some of the best Halloween paper I've seen.

The image I used here is from Paper Whimsey. Isn't she sweet? Well, maybe not sweet -- she actually looks sassy, doesn't she?

Christmas in July

2011-07-31T00:20:00.002-05:00

Whew! I just made it -- for a Christmas in July post, that is. I really love these retro Christmas/ winter images in the new Frosty & Friends set from Artistic Outpost. I paired them with gorgeous new Christmas paper from Authentique. If you haven't seen any of these papers yet, you have to check them out.

"Art" Swap

2011-07-29T04:29:00.002-05:00

I participated in an amazing swap with four other very talented artists and fellow bloggers. Our assignment was to create a 6x6 canvas with the theme of "Art." The idea is we could assemble our canvases into a book if we desired. Here are the five projects all together:

Lynn Stevens piece was the first to arrive.

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This "timeless" piece came from Pam Upper .

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I almost used the exact same artist stamp for mine as Sarah Hemphill did here.

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I decided instead to go with these little art angel. Sorry for the funny angle, but I didn't want to get the reflection of me taking the picture in this little mirror I used in my project..

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And finally this steampunk piece from Lori Hessler..

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I love each and every one of these pieces of art and am so honored to have them all!

Thanks again, Ladies!

Artistic Outpost New Releases

2011-07-27T00:01:00.014-05:00

New Releases from Artistic Outpost!

Apothecary : Before the invention of the drive-thru Walgreens®, the apothecary was not just a dispenser of medicines, but also a mix-ologist of tonics, keeper of secrets, and giver of advice. Antique apothecary bottles are highly collectible in part due to the “mystery” of what could actually be in them. Our AO stylized bottle has a blank space that our “product” labels fit perfectly into…or hand write your prescription on our vintage Rx pad.

Halloween Treats : Growing up, our Halloween decorations were Technicolor large die cuts of pumpkins and kitty cats and witches on broomsticks. These stamps remind me of those “cardboard” cut-outs. How I wished we had saved them! Try mixing this set with our other Halloween collections as well as Apothecary!

Frosty & Friends: I love the sweetness of vintage Christmas cards. The secular imagery was dreamy and cute...so sugary sweet my teeth hurt just to look at them. This collection features some of our favorite images from our own AO collection of vintage ephemera.

Note from AO: Please note that due to the high volume during new releases, that “mounted” stamp collections may take 10 days to ship.

To see some of the design teams samples using these collections, click here: Lisa, Gerrie, Sue, Barbara, Stephanie, Lynn Judy.

Class Time

2011-07-25T08:49:00.003-05:00

With CHA in town last week our LSS, Creative Cuts, had some great teachers coming in to hold classes. I was able to take a class from Teresa Collins as well as three classes taught by

Debby Schuh.

We made this Christmas book using new Christmas papers from Teresa Collins:

Teresa showed this book with a big black flower in it -- her signature style. I just couldn't do a black flower for Christmas so I used this grungeboard flower I had made last Christmas for one of the Tim Holtz challenges. I think it works a bit better.

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The next three projects were taught by Debby Schuh. It's impossible to show all the detail that went into every project she taught. They all were amazing.

We started off with this wall hanging, which includes a mini book hanging from it. We used the

7 Gypsies Ticket Holder and their Botanical paper.

Next we created this mini book from 7 Gypsies Lille Paper. There are so many pockets in this thing you wouldn't believe it!

This travel journal we made also has pockets and fun tags and journaling spaces throughout. I especially liked the way we incoroprated plastic ATC holders as pages for small photos. We used a combination of papers for this project.

Creatively, I was fried after this weekend. If it wasn't for the wonderful hospitality of the women at Creative Cuts supplying us with a never-ending supply of beverages and snacks, I'd have never survived:)

Chunky ATC

2011-07-17T06:55:00.001-05:00

Another Chunky ATC I created. This time I used stamps from Artistic Outpost's new London releases to create a background sheet from which I cut the face for this ATC as well as the rosettes at the top. Those were cut using the new Tim Holtz die. I also added some of Tim's filmstrip ribbon, gears and spinner to embellish it.

Basically, the reminds me it's time to get my butt in gear and take that trip to London which I've always wanted to do :):)

Handcrafted

2011-07-09T15:16:00.001-05:00

I've been meaning to post this for a while -- but just haven't gotten to it. My complementary copy of Stampington's "Handcrafted" arrived about a month or so ago. Frankly, I wasn't even aware of this particular publication, but it appears to be an annual compilation of some of past features from Somerset Studio, Somerset Memories, Somerset Life, Stampers Sampler, etc.

What they chose to feature of mine was a house I created for a Stampers Sampler Tempting Template challenge back in 2008. In fact when the challenge results were published, one of my houses appeared on the cover of Stampers Sampler. It's that same house they used for this issue of Handcrafted.

The house at the bottom is the one that appears in Handcrafted. Fellow bloggers Lynn Stevens and Lyneen Jessee also had items included in Handcrafted using that particular template. Congrats, ladies!

Happy 4th of July

2011-07-02T09:06:00.000-05:00

After spending 10 hours cleaning up my craft areas (yes, that's plural), I felt the need to sit down and actually create something. So I pulled out my Artistic Outpost patriotic stamps (Hero set) and went about altering this vintage Bingo card.

Good story about the Bingo card. When I was down in Alabama with Sarah, Pam & Lori we were out junking and came upon a town rummage sale. I happened upon a box of these Bingo cards (there are some in black as well). They were marked "Free." I doubled checked with the woman whose booth it was and she replied, "Yes, they're free. Can't imagine what anybody would want with them."

Happily, there was more than enough to share with everyone!

London Journal

2011-06-19T00:55:00.001-05:00

These new London stamps from Artistic Outpost work together so wonderfully -- both sets! I had fun making this jounal and just collaging them all together. Above are the cover, the inside front and then the last page of the inside Between are blank pages to write on.

Chunky ATC

2011-06-17T12:16:00.000-05:00

Not too long ago my son was admiring some of my Chunky ATC's and told me I should make him one. As his birthday is this weekend (he's turning 25), I thought I'd make him one incorporating a quote he recently expressed that he liked. What he actually told me was that he wanted a "set" of these, but all I had in me was one:) I robbed the workroom of a few of its treasures to incorporate into this one.

British Invasion from Artistic Outpost

2011-06-15T00:01:00.012-05:00

Artistic Outpost is celebrating a British Invasion.

Artistic Outpost is releasing two new stamps sets, both with a London theme. I am so thrilled with this theme, I can't even tell you. It's my favorite city I've never been to. But it's on the bucket list:)
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From AO's Site:

Loverly London is a collection of vintage inspired imagery of our idealized London. This collection takes some liberties with "My Fair Lady", because we can't help but picture the gentleman in his "dinner jacket" and hat as Professor Higgins and the lovely lady as Eliza Doolittle.

Now for a horse of a funkier color, London Underground, what we think are some of the coolest stamps featuring stylized collage elements. Have fun creating mixed media collages with all these elements. We can't wait to see what you create with the vintage underground sign and the Union Jack.

Both collections are right on trend with things happening in the media and home decor. So get on the "tube" with us, and let's all go U.K.!!!

If you spend $42 on rubber stamps you can save 20%. Simply use the code London at check out!

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I so enjoyed coming up with samples using these stamps. Here's a shadow box I created using some packaging from K&Co. I used stamps from both sets on this.

If you'd like to see more samples from the London series, you can check out these talented ladies' blogs: Gerrie Johnnic * Lisa Somerville * Judy Hayes * Lynn Stevens * Barbara Washington * Stephanie Severin * Suzanne Czosek.

Father's Day Canvas

2011-06-12T05:15:00.001-05:00

To create the background for this chipboard canvas I started out by layering color from the new Distress Strains from Tim Holtz. Love these for covering large areas! And so much easier on my hands then using the Distress Ink with the applicator.

I added some white gesso over that to mute the color. I then applied a variety of stamps in various colors of Staz-On using the Generation Redux set from Artistic Outpost.

The rusty flourish was created by first applying some pumpkin Staz-On. Over that I layered Distress Embossing Powder from Tim Holtz.

Memorial Day

2011-05-30T07:48:00.001-05:00

I almost captioned this post "Happy Memorial Day" and then stopped myself. I know it's a day where people celebrate the start of summer, having the day off from work and getting together with family and friends, but it's more importantly a day to remember those who have given their lives for our country. (It's kind of like saying "Happy Veteran's Day" when for most veterans it's a very difficult day.).

So today is a day I remember someone in my family who gave his life during the 2nd World War, my mother's brother, John. I've shared his picture here before, but today is the day to do it again. As the card above says, he is a Hero.

Card Details: Card created from Artistic Outposts "Heros" set.

CATCH UP

2011-05-26T13:38:00.001-05:00

In more ways than one! Wow, can't believe how long it's been since my last blog post. Life has been waaaay too busy lately. So I'm taking a few moments to play catch-up and share some of the items I had published in Stampington's Catch Up Issue which came out May 1st.

I think I hit a record with this last one. I had submitted it for a challenge whose results were published in Take Ten in the Summer of 2006! I guess it took about five years for it to grow on them:)

Happy Mothers Day!

2011-05-05T17:32:00.000-05:00

....... from Artistic Outpost!

A special sale from Artistic Outpost -- from their blog:

We rejoice in the blessing of all mothers, aunts, mother-figures and grandmothers this weekend. Whether you have children, grandchildren, or furry kids, we know each of you means the world to your family and friends. Because you mean the world to us as well, we are featuring a special 20% off our entire line of stamps, cardstock, papers, and inks.

Simply enter May2011 coupon code at check out to get your discount.

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For my house collage (Tim Holtz die) I used stamps from Birds of Feather and Generation Redux sets from Artistic Outpost. Check out the embellishment I made on the top of house #1. I cut an oval of the stamped lace at the bottom of house #2 and placed it in the metal frame. I then added Glossy Accents on top. Makes a perfect coordinating embellishment!

Fabric Collages

2011-05-01T05:51:00.000-05:00

After I posted my fabric collage a while back someone commented that these can be very addicting. Well, they were right. I've been making these at breakneck speeed -- and I am amazed that I am enjoying the hand stitching. I find it very relaxing Who knew!

(An update on Pam -- have heard from her and she is fine. Although tornadoes passed much, much

too close to her.)

Chunky ATCs

2011-04-29T12:00:00.000-05:00

I wanted to share these Chunky ATC's I was inspired to make during our recent trip to Alabama to visit Pam (see previous post). But I can't do that without saying that due to recent tornadoes and storms in her area I'm really hoping everything there is okay and it's just a matter of there being no phone or internet service. I'll just rest a lot easier when I hear from her that things are okay.

We worked on these ATC's there and I made up a bunch more when I got back home. I have to confess the rosettes at the top and the grungeboard flower on the front of the 2nd one were inspired by Lori. (It's hard not to copy when you are working right next to someone:)

Totally fun to make and approved by the son as being "really cool."

Fabric Collage

2011-04-18T06:00:00.004-05:00

When I said I wouldn't be continuing with Tag Tuesday anymore, I don't think I expressed how busy I have been the past few months. The day job has kept me hopping

-- which is a very good thing, I know.

I also took a trip to visit some of my cruising friends (Tim Holtz cruise, 2009). Sarah, Lori and I met up at Pam's house. I had a ball travelling to Pam's with Lori. And Pam was a wonderful hostess to us all.

We did the things we all enjoy -- junking, eating, crafting! A fun trip!

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And I made something! I've been wanting to try fabric collage but I don't have a sewing machine. So I went with some hand stitching which looks a little crude, but all in all I like it. I used fabric from some upholstery sample books I had. I then dyed that and all my lace in coffee. The image was printed out on a cotton sheet suitable for my inkjet printer.

Altered Jean Pocket

2011-04-10T04:50:00.002-05:00

I've been holding on to this blue jean pocket for a while after having confiscated it from a pair of my son's old blue jeans. It's unique in that it has a zipper (covered by the flap). Finally this pocket, some Sticky-Back Canvas from Claudine Hellmuth/Ranger, and the Huck Finn set from Artistic Outpost came together!
.I stamped onto the canvas with Staz-on and then colored the edges with distress ink. I added more color to the images with Copics. To ensure it stayed onto the pocket I actually pulled out a needle and thread to add three buttons (I'm not one to sew if I don't have to). I stamped the word Dream from that same stamp set onto metal tag to embellish the top.
I don't have many little boy stamps and I'm not into cutesy type stamps, so I just love this Huck Finn set.

Flapper Fashions

2011-04-03T07:32:00.000-05:00

More Flapper Fashions from the new Artistic Outpost release. I created a collage background from that stamp set and then stamped on the flappers on an oval as a focal point. I thought these little art deco earrings I had made the perfect embellishment.

New Releases from Artistic Outpost

2011-03-30T08:46:00.010-05:00

These four beautiful plates are being released today at Artistic Outpost!

Gatsby features the main characters of the novel in photograph style with deco backgrounds.
Flapper Fashions is a wonderful collection of "flappers" wearing their fabulous stylish outfits!
Huck Finn is a collection of collage and illustration images featuring Huck, paddle boats his friend Tom Sawyer.
Windows and Doors features some beautiful background and focal images along with lovely sentiments.

All of the new stamp sets are available both as unmounted red rubber sheets for $14.00 or pre-cut and mounted on EZMount cling foam for $22.99.

I created this altered book using the Huck Finnn set. I never have enough masculine stamps, so I am crazy about this one.
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This altered jar was created from the Flapper Fashions set. So fun!

The design team has created some really fantastic projects and cards which you can go see in the Artistic Outpost Gallery. The design team is also sharing wonderful projects on their blogs:

Lisa Somerville
Gerrie Johnnic
Lynn Stevens
Barbara Washington
Connie Paxman
Stephanie Severin
Judy Hayes
Suzanne Czosek

For a limited time, if you purchase all four of these sets, you'll receive a 15% discount. Please note you must purchase all four to be eligible for the discounted price. Simply use the code: GATSBY during check out.

A Lovely Day

2011-03-27T07:20:00.000-05:00

A card I created mixing some French Collage papers and stamps from the A Lovely Day set at Artistic Outpost.

Thank You!

2011-03-23T20:23:00.002-05:00

ETA: Happy news for your Taggers, Rebecca has picked up the challenge and you can participate with this weeks challenge here.
Thanks Rebecca, you've made many Tuesday taggers very happy:)

Such a great showing of appreciation for the Tag Tuesday challenge -- it really touched me. For a moment....and just for a moment....I thought to myself, "Maybe I should carry on with it just for a bit more." The heartful comments reminded me why I started and continued with this challenge -- because it was such a nice group of crafters and I felt like I was inviting my close friends over to my house every week to create together.

But it is time to move on as I said ..... with one more huge "thank you" to all of you!

Tag Tuesday News

2011-03-22T02:30:00.002-05:00

After giving this a lot of thought I'd come to the realization that life is way too busy and I'm wanting to get involved in some other activities and, therefore, something just has to go. It appears that Tag Tuesday is going to be one of them. And, sorry to say, there's no final challenge, this is just going to have to be the end.

I appreciate every single one of you that joined in enthusiastically week after week. And I can think of so many of you I came to know just because you joined in this challenge.

So thank you all for checking out and joining in the challenge week after week for this past year and a half.

I'm also thankful to Pam who created the blog banner so many of you shared. Yes, feel free to remove those.

I'll still be blogging -- in fact, stay tuned for some fun things coming this way soon. And, of course, I'll still

be creating tags here and there.

Birds of a Feather Tag

2011-03-13T07:36:00.002-05:00

A tag I created using a mixture of stamps from from Artistic Outpost -- the Birds of a Feather and Generation Redux sets.

Tag Tuesday -- Surprise Me

2011-03-08T04:52:00.006-06:00

I have a feeling today's theme is going to scare a lot of you -- but rest assured it's not as intimidating as it might first appear. My idea for this week's theme was to create a tag that had a little surprise to it -- like a secret pocket or panel or as in my tag one that opens up to reveal more sections. You can go a lot of different places with this idea and I think that's what will make it challenging and fun! This will be another two week challenge so you'll have plenty of time to think!

My mini tag is created from a stamp by Repeat Impressions. It opens up to reveal this triptych. And then the middle flap drops down to reveal a third panel. I love this stamp! I can see so many possibilities with it.

Another Run In and Some TH Goodies

2011-03-07T08:32:00.003-06:00

I was looking online yesterday for the new Tim Holtz paper pack when I remembered there was a stamping/scrapbook show going on about an hour and a half away from me. I decided last minute to drive up there because I knew Stampers Anonymous was one of the vendors. Was elated to find many of the new TH products that he just premiered at CHA that were on my shopping list: His new paper pack with matching stickers, his seasonal masks, those mini hangers, the rosette die that comes in two sizes. I looked at the TH stamps there that were on my list and then decided I could live without those. The show was small but all the vendors there were good ones.

I was in the Stampers Anonymous booth when I saw a familiar face -- one of our cruising buddies from the '09 Tim cruise. None other than this very talented blogger.

Published -- Take Ten

2011-03-06T07:26:00.001-06:00

Here's part of a three-page layout that was recently published in the Spring issue of Take Ten. I created a masterboard and then several pieces from the masterboard itself.

I also had a card published on a page with Kris from Nostalgic Collage which she talks about on her website. You can see that here: http://nostalgiccollage.blogspot.com/2011/03/published-take-ten-marchaprilmay-2011.html

Sunday Postcard Art - Double Take

2011-02-26T20:29:00.002-06:00

I'm happy to be hosting this week's challenge at Sunday Postcard Art. I chose the theme “Double Take" when I found the stamp I had of this little girl's face matched the face in this round stamp I had. So you can repeat an image as I did or take the theme in any creative direction you choose.

You can find all the other postcard entries here: http://sundaypostcardart.wordpress.com/.

Tag Tuesday -- Two Week Challenge

2011-02-22T05:26:00.001-06:00

Today's theme is "Postcards." Create a tag that uses postcards, has the word postcard, etc.

For my tag I used a postcard stamp from All Night Media. I stamped it out several times, cut the images out and then layered them across my tag. I stamped a postmark on the bottom and then added a couple postage stamps and some vintage images from Tim Holtz. I created my flower by punching out a flower from some postage stamp paper and adding a vintage chipboard button in the center.

{Please Note: This is a two-week challenge. I have committed to hosting another challenge this Sunday so feel it will be better to have Tag Tuesday run two weeks.}

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Waiting For Spring

2011-02-19T13:50:00.001-06:00

I just couldn't help myself -- I had to use this Rabbit from the Wonderland Collage set from Artistic Outpost to express my anticipation for spring! Our 24 plus inches of snow has been rapidly melting this week and it just makes one long for spring.

I colored my stamped image with Copics and then cut it into quarters. I applied Glossy Accents to the squres although it's kind of hard to see that from my picture.

Tag Tuesday -- Friends

2011-02-15T05:57:00.002-06:00

Today is the 85th Challenge at Tag Tuesday. For some reason my mind was blank this week and I could not easily come up with a theme. I decided on "Friends" early this morning as that was just what seemed to settle onto my tag in front of me. Yes, that's how the themes sometimes get picked! I chose to illustrate friendship of the four-legged variety. Please feel free to interpret the theme of Friends any way you'd like.

{If it seems I'm creating a lot in pink, I am. The reason is I am decorating some journals that are different shades of pink and tags are the perfect thing to place on the front of them.}

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This Week's Sampler for A Tag on a Tag

2011-02-14T14:42:00.001-06:00

I was just blown away by the submissions for this past weeks tags. Check out the slideshow on the left to see some of the amazing tags that were created using the Tag on a Tag challenge. I think it's the best group of tags we have ever had. And as far as I know it was also the highest number -- with a total of 48 tags! I was hoping we'd hit 50, but we didn't.

For those of you who participate in this challenge, I know sometimes it is hard to get to everyone's blog and comment, but I do hope that if you are creating a link and posting a tag that you'll consider it part of the challenge to visit the other participants' blogs and maybe leave a comment. I know it's time consuming and sometimes I don't get to it right off the bat, but I do my best to visit each link and leave a comment sometime during the week.

(If I don't leave a comment it's probably because I forget to scroll down for that word verification and just figured my comment was posted.)

Another Tag on a Tag

2011-02-13T00:03:00.003-06:00

I guess I liked my own theme this week because when I started this Alice In Wonderland inspired tag, I found myself gravitating back to this week's Tag Tuesday challenge, A Tag on a Tag.

The sentiment I stamped on my smaller tag (from Studio G) just went so well with my Artistic Outpost Wonderland Collage stamps (background stamps and main image). I added a little playing card border at the bottom as well.

We all know somebody this tag would suit perfectly, don't you think?

Tag Tuesday -- A Tag on a Tag

2011-02-08T05:31:00.002-06:00

This is a challenge I've had on my "list" for a while. I've also seen a lot of you taggers doing this. The challenge is simply to create a tag and include another tag on it.

***It took me quite a while to get around to everyone's tags last week. Our blizzard here really threw me for a loop. But I really enjoyed seeing all the ways you taggers incorporated circles onto your tags. We really do have an amazingly talented bunch of artists here!***

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Vintage Valentines

2011-02-06T04:20:00.003-06:00

Being snowbound this week -- we had 21 inches of snow here -- gave me some time to create some Vintage Valentines using some of my Artistic Outpost stamps.
I used this little football player (very appropriate for this Superbowl Sunday) from the Cutie Pie stamp set for this Valentine. I used the word Valentine
from this set, too, and then used a variety of alphabet stamps to create my greeting.

This beauty pageant winner also came from the Cutie Pie set. I had fun creating a Miss Valentine scene for her.

For this Valentine I used the Tin Man stamp from the Oz Collage set. I thought this worked very well as a Valentine. I created a movable part by place a heart over the clock face and then writing "You Are Loved" on it.

Tag Tuesday -- Circles

2011-01-31T18:55:00.004-06:00

Yesterday I was determined to sit down and do some stamping. I still have stamps from Christmas I have not inked up yet and I wanted a chance to do so. Here is one of the tags I created. I think the theme is appropriately Circles.

Create a tag this week using more than one circle or round stamp, image, etc.

All my stamps are from Seven Gypsies except for the face which is from Stampland..

Patchwork Valentine

2011-01-30T05:39:00.003-06:00

As soon as I saw this lovely heart from Artistic Outpost's Cutie Pie plate, I thought "patchwork." After creating the patchwork from assorted papers and cutting my nine hearts out, I placed it on sturdy chipboard which I had painted with pink acrylic paint and then outlined in a gold-embossed lace border from AO as well. It's just the kind of pink-and-lace type Valentine I love!

Speaking of Artistic Outpost, I am happy to share with you that I will be acting as a guest designer for them. I have loved their stamps since they put out their first set so it should be a lot of fun. And some of their current designers are ladies you'll recognize as regulars from the Tag Tuesday challenge.

Valentine Hanging

2011-01-29T10:16:00.002-06:00

I started this Valentine Day hanging with Tim Holtz' bingo embossing folder and it just flowed from there. The little girl image and ticket are from K&Co. They have a really wonderful set of vintage Valentine ephemera this year. I ran a strip of Tim's tissue tape across the bottom. Found that things don't really stick to it -- even with the best of adhesives.

I have to share a little find I had yesterday. I walked into one of my favorite thrift shops to look around -- always looking for that little gem you can use in your artwork. I didn't see this table until I was almost ready to leave -- at which time I spied about ten baskets full of stamps!
I made away with these -- displaying great self control. The prices were reasonable, and it helps to know proceeds from the shop go to help developmentally disabled adults.

Tag Tuesday Challenge -- Valentines

2011-01-25T05:35:00.008-06:00

My Christmas crafting mess is still not fully cleared way, but it's not too early to start on Valentines. So for this week's challenge we will be making Valentine Tags.
Please feel free to use any medium you'd like or create any style of Valentine.
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I used to love passing out Valentines in school when I was a child. We'd always have to bring a shoe box to school which we would decorate and then use to hold all our Valentines.
The stamps I used for my tag come from Artistic Outposts Cutie Pie plate. The stamps on that plate all remind me of the Valentines we'd swap in school.

Tag Tuesday Challenge -- Winter

2011-01-18T05:05:00.004-06:00

Today's challenge is simply Winter. Create a tag using any kind of medium and interpret the theme any way you'd like!

**{So many great tags last week using fabric. I was happy to see so many participate in that challenge.}**

Details about my tag: Did you ever start playing with alcohol inks and found you weren't crazy about the effect, so you added another layer of color...and then another ...... and then another? I can't tell you how many layers of alcohol inks were added to this tag I finally had to stop and say, for better or worse this is it. I had embossed snowflakes in white first. On watercolor paper I created my snow globe, inserting my Art Impression snowman inside and adding Glossy Accents and some glitter at the bottom to create the snow globe effect.

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So I made this thing.....

2011-01-13T17:07:00.001-06:00

and I really like it. Especially since I actually took needle and thread to fabric and sewed on it. SomethingI've avoided doing like the plague because to me it infers housework. But my question is: What do you call it? Any ideas?

Tag Tuesday Challenge -- A Bit of Fabric

2011-01-11T03:05:00.007-06:00

Today's challenge is a bit easier than last week's: Simply use a bit of fabric on your tag. Or use more than a bit, if you'd like, and make your whole tag from fabric.
I actually used two small pieces of fabric on mine, one under the button and the other one appears to be largely covered up with my piece of ribbon. But it's there:)
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I know last week was a challenging theme, but was glad to see so many give mosaics a try!
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Don't know who makes the Alphabet background stamp I used. The image of the two women is from Artistic Outpost. The crocheted flower is
by ScrappyPam and you can find them here.

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Another Book To Share

2011-01-08T08:46:00.002-06:00

And this time it's an altered book I am creating for Christmas as a round robin project with Pam and Sarah. When they visited in October we decided now would be a good time to work on this when all our Christmas stuff was still out and about.
I chose for my book the theme of "Words" which is essentially words that reflect something about Christmas.
It took me a bit of time to get this book going (Sarah and Pam both thought I'd have my part done way ahead of schedule), but I did struggle a bit.

Now that I've got my cover, sign-in page, and one other page done, I think I'm on a roll.

This is my "Noel" page.
I had a few false starts because I chose books with very fragile pages. I then came upon this Christmas book that for some reason already had two pages attached together throughout the whole book.

A Book About My Blog

2011-01-06T04:41:00.004-06:00

Here's something cool I did: When posting to my blog recently I saw a little blurb about how to make a book from posts on your blog. I was kind of in a spending mood so I followed the directions to see how it would work and what the cost would be. It was very easy to navigate the site and follow the prompts. My first few attempts, however, told me I had way too many posts on my blog and I'd have to narrow it down using a date range or tags. I finally decided I would include only those items that I'd tagged as "Published" which meant I would have a book with all my published work and what I had posted about it.

You also had the choice to include the comments you received on those particular posts, but I chose not to do that. You then chose whether you wanted your book to be a hardcover or softcover book as well as what picture (your artwork) you wanted on the cover, the dedication page, and the back page. The total cost, with shipping, ended up being $30.

I have to say it turned out way cooler than I anticipated it would. I'm very pleased with it! My book is 35 pages total and here is what it looks like.......

If you'd like to check out the site, it's called Blog2Print and you
can find it here: http://sharedbook.com/.

Tag Tuesday Challenge -- Mosaic

2011-01-04T05:09:00.002-06:00

Today's challenge is to create a tag that includes a mosaic of some kind. It can be the whole tag as mine is or a portion of your tag. Feel free to expand upon that idea. It will be fun to see what your creative minds come up with.

A tip that made this easier for me: I assembled my tiny pieces on a a long piece of packaging tape, sticky side up. I covered half the length of it, and then when I was done I brought the bottom half of up to cover my mosaic.

Tag Tuesday -- Christmas Leftovers

2010-12-28T06:00:00.003-06:00

Don't know if anybody else has been eating Christmas leftovers as I have the last few days. Thank goodness they are almost gone.
But I also find I have a lot of craftable (don't think that's actually a word) leftovers as well. For instance, the paper liners from the Fannie May candy box. I used them to make my flower on this week's tag.

So your challenge this week is to use some leftover Christmas tidbit -- maybe a tag from a gift you received, a scrap of pretty Christmas wrapping paper, some packaging that looks interesting.
It doesn't need to be a Christmas tag -- just use some Christmas leftover on it.

And if you've cleaned up your house so well already that none of this is laying about, then I guess you are out of luck for this week's challenge.

Have fun making tags this week!

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Christmas Past

2010-12-24T20:09:00.001-06:00

Along with my heartfelt Christmas wishes to all my blogging friends, a few of my past Christmas creations!

Tag Tuesday -- Colors of Christmas

2010-12-21T05:24:00.004-06:00

Creating for Christmas, for me, often includes either silver or gold. And I usually tend to go for the gold. So I challenged myself this week to use silver. I silver embossed my three images and then placed them on some background text I recently received which has the Christmas story on it.

So this week the challenge is to use either Silver or Gold on your tag.

This will be our last challenge before Christmas. I will be back next week with other one. But until then I want to wish all of our taggers a very blessed and special Christmas!

(Just a quick note: I make it a point to come and see every single tag that's posted.....sometimes it just takes me a couple days. I know this week will be especially busy:)

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Snowflake Ornaments

2010-12-19T10:09:00.001-06:00

I first admired these snowflake ornaments over at Robin's Nest. Then when I passed some of the snowflakes yesterday in Walgreen's I picked up a pack to experiment with.

I found I had to use a glue gun to adhere my round artwork to the snowflakes because of all the glitter. I also found since the snowflakes are so sparkly I preferred it without the glitter around the circle.

But I think they are so pretty.....and I am off to make some more!

Tag Tuesday Challenge -- The Colors of Christmas

2010-12-14T04:48:00.002-06:00

Welcome back to Tag Tuesday -- where I promised an easy, stress-free challenge (you won't need any specific inks, stamps, sparkly snow stuff, die cuts or anything like that). Lynn S asked for no weird colors, so I'm really hoping I won't disappoint there either:) But you can take all week to create your tag and link back here.

With that intro the colors for this week are: Green, Yellow & Brown.

Here's my very uncomplicated tag.

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Published!

2010-12-13T06:19:00.001-06:00

I had some work published in the latest edition of the Stampers Sampler which I wanted to share. It was for the Different Point of View feature. These two pages show how I used the same sentiment stamp in different ways.

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Congrats to other Tuesday Taggers whose work I spied in there: Lynn Stevens, Tracy Evans, Lolita Dally and Penny Bennington.

See you tomorrow for Tag Tuesday!

Day 12 of Tim's Tags {And I'm Exhausted}

2010-12-12T08:17:00.000-06:00

I don't know how Tim manages to create all these tags 12 days in a row, but it has exhausted me! As Day 12 rolled around {thankfully} I had to get this tag off early this morning if it was going to happen at all. The wind is howling outside, a snowstorm is expected, and I'm supposed to be making a long drive out to my sister's house.

So I made my tag. I'll give you glimpses of it as it really was not fit to print, shall we say. IRL it looks okay, but it just would not photograph well at all. And probably the only thing resembling Tim's tag for today was the background paper I used. There's another reason I'm glad this tag thing is over -- I'm getting frustrated cutting into my Seasonal Paper Pad!!

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Well, the good news is that Tag Tuesday will return this week -- that almost sounds like a joke at this point. But we still have a few more weeks before Christmas to finish up our colors of Christmas series. So I hope you'll pop back on Tuesday and join us for a non-stressful, take your time, easy kind of tag!

Tim's Tags Day 11 -- and I'm Off!!

2010-12-11T07:32:00.003-06:00

I started out today EARLY because I've got a million things to do this Saturday two weeks before Christmas. Woke up and was THRILLED to see Tim's tag was not too difficult to replicate.

I had the exact dictionary page he used -- and that was about it. I used some snowflakes as a mask for my background and Flower Soft for the snow.

I like today's tag. I can tell you yesterday's tag is never going to happen:):)

And with that I am off to do the million things I've scheduled for today!

No Tags, No Flowers -- Just Spoons

2010-12-10T06:51:00.003-06:00

I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels overwhelmed trying to keep up with Tim and his tags! Whew! So I'm just going to go at my own pace and make them as time allows and I feel inspired to. Working has kept me very busy this week so that has come into play, too.

Today I thought I'd share some altered spoons I made a few weeks ago. It's my first attempt at them. On Black Friday I scored a fabulous deal on a new set of silverware, so I made use of some of the spoons from the old set.

Tim's Tags Day 9 -- More Flowers!

2010-12-09T07:20:00.002-06:00

Day 9 finds me faced with another flower I didn't have the die to make -- only this one was a lot easier to create and turned out much more successfully. I just cut the paper on my own as Tim showed in his video and -- voila -- this time it turned out proportionately!.

Time and inspiration kept me from yesterday's tag, so I was glad to see this one this morning was on the easy side. It forced me to cut into my Seasonal Paper pad (which I'm not fond of doing) for the background and flower, but seeing as this is one of my favorite tags I guess it was worth it.

Best tip from Tim today: Tim's video on how to make a rosette was very helpful and can be created without his die, too.

Tim's Tags Day 7 -- That Darn Flower

2010-12-07T07:12:00.002-06:00

For me it all started with the flower. Yes, I had the sticky back canvas and the grungeboard, but I didn't have the flower die. So I figured I could just eyeball it and cut out the pieces myself. (Oh, I didn't have that mist either to spray the sticky back canvas, but I made do with some reinkers and water in a mini mister).

Well, cutting out the flowers myself gave me an ENORMOUS flower. I liked the flower a lot, especially when I stamped the text on it, but it was ENORMOUS. So my tag, therefore, had to be ENORMOUS.

I cut a piece of cardboard heavy enough to hold my ENORMOUS flower.

From there I just went out on my own, adding the calendar, the fragment with 25 behind it and the clip at top. I already had some canvas letters, so I simply scraped the edges with my finger to distress them (turns out you don't really need that fancy tool to do this:)

And there you have it. I like it a lot.

Oh, and in case you are wondering -- I happened to be up at 4:30 this morning and this darn flower took me an hour and a half to make. Had to kind of hurry with the rest of it so I could get off to work!
Did I mention I really like that darn flower?

Tim's 12 Tags -- Day 6

2010-12-06T08:01:00.002-06:00

No tag on Day 5 from me -- it was just too busy of a day. When I had a little time in the evening I was too tired to really get inspired. So I'm letting Day 5 go and moving on to Day 6.

Which was a little interesting given that the main focus of Tim's tag was a very large reindeer and I only had one rather small reindeer stamp to try and substitute. So I made up for his size by giving him a shiny red nose!

I liked the idea of creating a woodland scene though and added a rusty metal moon to mine.

His tissue paper ribbon at the bottom was a great touch and I carried the music theme to the top of mine by stamping on my ribbon. Along with a little jingle bell I added.

Feeling much better now knowing I didn't miss another day.........

Tim's 12 Tags -- Day 4

2010-12-04T09:39:00.003-06:00

Today's tag was another fun one -- and easy. Which is good because our first snow is falling today and there's snow to be shovelled!

It did require me to cut in my Tim Holtz Seasonal Paper Pad (for the Santa paper background) which I was very reluctant to do. I guess I'll have to buy another pad just to look at.

I deviated a little from his tag, but now awfully much although I did bring a bit of red into my tag. The only ticket I had said "trust" so I kind of stamped "wish" on a piece of brown cardstock and stuck that over part of the ticket.

The coolest trick of today's tag was how Tim showed how to create this snowflake patterned blue facets. You can see how he did it here.

Tim's 12 Tags -- Day 3

2010-12-03T07:00:00.004-06:00

I'm loving these tags of Tim's!! They are incredibly designed -- and leave so much room for you to add your own touches or change things up as you need to.

It was only as I tried to reproduce his background that I saw how many layers and how much detail he adds to things.
I had his bird die and I also had vintage greeting he used from his seasonal paper pad. (Can I just take a minute to say that his seasonal paper pad is the most fabulous set of papers I have ever seen. Out and out my all time favorites! I will have to have one I'll use and one I'll just keep to look at:)

I also chose to create a pinwheel flower for my tag as I had just been making some of these the last few days and had it handy.

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Like that telephone in the background on the first picture? As I was walking this morning around the neighborhood (I like to go early when it's still dark out) I spied it in my neighbor's trash. (ETA: I didn't actually go rummaging here, I just spied it sitting on top of the newspapers in the recycle bin.) I scooped it up, brought it home, cleaned it up a bit -- and now I have a super cool retro phone for my office.

Tag Tuesday -- Christmas RAK Winners

2010-12-03T06:49:00.001-06:00

Friday morning -- time to announce the winner for my Christmas crafting RAK. I had already decided in my mind that I would pick the numbers of this season -- 12/25.

So having said that, the winners are:

#12 -- Sharon

#25 -- Elwa.

Ladies, please e-mail me with your info and I will mail these out to you. You can find my e-mail

by clicking on my picture on my blog.

Congratulations!

Tim's Tags Day 2..

2010-12-02T05:04:00.002-06:00

..and not only is it a much easier tag to create (only took me 1/2 an hour today as opposed to three yesterday), but I was doing it at 5:00 a.m. instead of 3:00 a.m.

You can see Tim's original tag here. I followed it pretty much as he showed. I didn't have the Happy Holidays stamp, but I thought my Merry Christmas stamp looked very Tim-esque. I also didn't have a bird charm, so I silver embossed one from a stamp I had.

The best tip of today's tag: Tim showed how to make your own stamp pad of sorts from Cut and Dry Foam. Since I just bought a whole new package of this I was able to give it a try. He has shown this in the past, but I have to admit this is the first time I really understood what he was saying. I can't explain it....

you'll have to check out his post today to see for yourself. Anyway, I didn't have the exact shades of reinkers I needed so my pincone came out a little less vibrant than I would have liked

All in all though I think he created a lovely tag and I'm pleased with mine as well.

My Three Hour Tag

2010-12-01T07:33:00.004-06:00

Wow, Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas really started up with a bang! I can so appreciate those of you who commented yesterday that they didn't think they'd have much time to play along with his Christmas tag fun. I wouldn't have even attempted this one -- except I woke up at three in the morning. So by the time six o'clock rolled around, I was just waiting for enough light outside to take a picture.

As you can see, mine is substantially different than Tim's. Didn't have the house or fence die, so I created those on my own. With my tree I went in a totally different direction, using corrugated cardboard and then white embossing it for a snow effect. Speaking of snow, I had none of the stuff he used, so I opted for flower soft. I added a little garland to my fence, too, which I quite liked.

Actually, I like the way my tag turned out, even though it I had to venture out of the Tim Zone for quite a bit of it.

Best little gimmick of his from this tag: Love using the bit of cotton from a cotton swab for the chimney smoke!

Tag Tuesday News -- A Brief Interruption

2010-11-30T04:51:00.006-06:00

In lieu of the fact that tomorrow Tim Holtz is beginning his annual 12 Tags of Christmas, I am planning on taking a small break from my Tag Tuesday challenge. I love playing along with Tim's challenge! Last year I had much more of his product as I had just been on his cruise. This year should be a lot more interesting trying to substitute materials.

****I'll be back on December 14th with another Tag Tuesday challenge.****

Until then, leave a comment and let me know whether you too will be playing along with Tim's challenge so I can come and check out your tags.
Everyone who leaves a comment (either yes, they'll be playing along with Tim's challenge or no, they won't ) before Friday will be eligible to win a very cool Christmas RAK to help them in their Christmas creating. I'll be giving two of them away and will announce the winner early on Friday morning.

Tag Tuesday -- Colors of Christmas

2010-11-23T00:29:00.001-06:00

It's time to revisit our "Colors of Christmas" series from last year. Yes, Tag Tuesday is celebrating its second Christmas season!

Our color scheme for this week is Navy, Turquoise and Red.

Create a seasonal tag using that color scheme this week.

My thanks again to Pam, our guest hostess last week. So glad to see so many jumping in for that challenge.

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Craft Fair Season

2010-11-20T07:26:00.001-06:00

I've been busy the last few weekends with craft fairs, so I thought I'd share some of the things I have made for sale.

Lots of mini chipboard albums as you can see.

These are the premade scrapbooks I've made as well.

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Thanks to Pam this week for filling in as guest hostess for the Tag Tuesday challenge. It certainly appears that many of you have enjoyed the challenge.

I'll be back this coming Tuesday as we revisit last year's "Colors of Christmas" challenge. We've got to get busy on all those Christmas cards, don't we?

See you then! Oh, and if you have a minute, drop by Sarah's blog to follow along in her guest hostess duties which is a cool synopsis of our trip to Stampland.

Tag Tuesday -- Guest Hostess

2010-11-16T00:16:00.003-06:00

I'm busy with craft fairs this past and then next weekend, so my friend Pam from Scrappy Pam Designs has agreed to be our guest hostess for this week. Pam creates some of the most beautiful backgrounds, so it was no surprise really when she chose that as her theme. Pam's tag shown below reveals her knack for backgrounds.

Here's what Pam is asking you to do this week:

Backgrounds are the basis for any tag or project, but often backgrounds are beautiful in and of themselves. This week, create a tag that highlights the background that you've created through ink, stamps and inky techniques. Remember, don't cover it up! Use a minimum of embellishments, if any. We want to see that background shine through.

For more info on how Pam created her background, check out her blog at Scrappy Pam Designs.

Tag Tuesday Challenge -- Bingo!

2010-11-09T06:13:00.002-06:00

I love Bingo cards and have noticed that my collection is growing and growing. So I used one up by creating this Bingo themed tag. And I've also made that our challenge for this week -- Bingo! Please feel free to interpret the theme however you'd like and use whatever materials you prefer.

Note about this week's sampler: There were so many very creative and cool "Front and Back" tags last week. I really enjoyed checking each one out. Due to time constraints and the way the slideshow would appear, I didn't include those that were shown in two separate pictures and had to choose from those that showed both front and back in one picture.

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Tag Tuesday Challenge -- Front & Back

2010-11-02T00:09:00.006-05:00

Well, I'm thinking with the two weeks we had since the last Tag Tuesday post, everyone should be really ready for a challenge! I hope so, because I've got one for you this week.

Inspired by one of the new stamps I acquired on our visit to Stampland (see post below), I tried stamping half of a stamp on the front of the tag -- and then continuing with the other half of the stamp on the back of the tag. In my case, it was a two-fold process because the stamp I used of the woman painting came with a blank canvas. I had to then insert another image (the two girls) and carry that over to the back of the tag, too.

I had quite a lot of fun creating this tag and am pleased with the way it turned out.

So this week's challenge is to include something on the front of your tag that runs over to the back of it. It doesn't have to be stamping -- it just needs to go beyond the front to the back of the tag.
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Windy City Visit -- Part 2

2010-10-29T05:33:00.001-05:00

We had a grand day yesterday as the Windy City Visit continued. After I gave Pam and Sarah what I call the "nickel tour" of Downtown Chicago and all its interesting surrounding sites we headed over to an old neighborhood of mine for a scrumptious lunch at the retro cafe "Kitsch'n."

This neighborhood known as "Roscoe Village" was not so cool and trendy when I grew up here, but it's a wonderful little community now on the north side of the city.

After lunch we headed over to Stampland which is an actual museum and stamp making site owned by William "Picasso" Gaglione and Darlene Domel. The history of the thousands and thousands of vintage stamps they own was fascinating. As was the class Darlene gave us using masking tape and dusting brushes.

I cannot tell you how warm, inviting -- and funny these two were:)

You know our visit included shopping afterwards. Check out their enormous inventory of stamps!

After that it was off to Greek Town for some Saganaki, Moussaka, Lamb Chops, etc.

A great day!

Windy City Visit

2010-10-27T22:22:00.004-05:00

Pam and Sarah "flew" into Chicago for their visit this week.....

......literally, due to records winds we have been having here.

We've had great fun together .....doing a lot of drinking (as you can see above.. lol ) and, of course,

shopping as you can see below.

(That's Pam, Sarah and Me enjoying lunch together. We are off to Stampland tomorrow, so more about that later.)

Tag Tuesday Challenge -- Orange & Black

2010-10-19T04:50:00.004-05:00

Today's Tag Tuesday challenge is a simple one and inspired by a popular color combination of this season, orange and black. You can make any kind of tag you wish, just use the colors of black and orange on your tag.

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I got back to some stamping on my tag this week. The bird and branch is from Tim Holtz and the sentiment is from Cloud Nine Designs. I love the acorn, but can't remember who makes that.

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This will be a two-week challenge as I'll be having my cruising buddies (can you believe that Tim Holtz cruise we took was a year ago already?) over for a visit this next week, and I think I'll be somewhat preoccupied. Yes, Sarah and Pam will be staying a few days with me and I'm quite looking forward to it. I'll be sure to let you know what we were up to later on.

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Tag Tuesday Challenge -- Moon

2010-10-12T05:00:00.009-05:00

This week's challenge will take on another sign of the season -- Moon. Well, I guess Harvest Moon is more like it. But just to keep it a wide enough challenge we'll just go with Moon!

For my tag I painted the tag with black acrylic paint. I then added white pigment ink around the edges. I stamped the alphabet and embossed it in orange. As I was creating this tag, the little sentiment came to me, so I boldly added it in my own writing (which seems such a scary thing to do).

Art Creations Friday

2010-10-08T06:43:00.000-05:00

I've had so little time lately to play along with other challenges, but this week's offering from Art Creations Friday was too good to pass up. I used the gorgeous background that was given as a challenge to create my tea cup. This template was sitting on my craft table as it's the newest template challenge being shared in the Oct/Nov Stampers Sampler.

Go to Art Creations Friday to download it and play along if you'd like! I had fun with this.

Tag Tuesday Challenge -- Pumpkins

2010-10-05T07:11:00.001-05:00

It's that time of year again. October definitely means pumpkins around here. So our challenge this week is to include a pumpkin on your tag.

That sounds easy enough, doesn't it?

If you are in need of something with pumpkins on it, check out the Graphics Fairy link below for free clip art. That's where I got my vintage seed catalog image.

http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/2010/08/vintage-halloween-clip-art-pumpkin.html#links.

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Published/Tag Tuesday/And a Little Coincidence

2010-10-01T08:47:00.001-05:00

The newest Stampers Sampler arrived in this week's mail and I was happy to find a few of the items I submitted for their Christmas challenge inside.

One of the items included was this tag you may recognize from a Tag Tuesday challenge. I am pretty sure it was for the colors of Christmas (Pink & Brown) series we did last year.

I wonder if there are any other Tuesday Taggers out there who might submit their tags for publication?

From the ones I've seen submitted for Tag Tuesday, they are certainly publication-worthy.

I was also thrilled that one of the cards I submitted (St. Nicholas card above) shared a page with the very talented Debbie Kaste. (She created the angel tag above.) If you are a fan of the Stampington publications, I am sure you have seen her work in Stampers Sampler and Take Ten. In fact, she recently was the Guest Artist in Stampers Sampler.

Which is how I knew what she looked like.

And how I knew it was Debbie when she walked into the scrapbooking store I was at recently.

That's the coincidence part of this post.

Debbie visits my blog occasionally so she knew who I was when I introduced myself.

We had a wonderful little chat and it was fun getting to know a little bit about each other.

Above is another card of mine that was published in this edition of Stampers Sampler.

ETA: So I've come to find out that the beautiful book on the cover was created by one of our Tuesday Taggers, Tracy Evans. Congrats to you, Tracy!

Tag Tuesday Challenge -- Calendar

2010-09-28T03:46:00.002-05:00

I really enjoyed seeing all the banner tags. I thought that was a fun challenge.

This week's challenge is to include a calendar of some sort on your tag or something that indicates year, month or date.

I've used a stamp that has a calendar for 1900 (Stamp by Limited Edition.) My image is from Paper Whimsy.

Have fun creating tags!

Tag Tuesday Challenge -- Banners

2010-09-21T05:03:00.003-05:00

Everywhere you look you see banners these days. When I included one on my school days tag last week I knew we'd be having this as a theme very soon.

My little banner shapes are stickers from Jenny Bowlin. But on last week's tag I just cut out some diamond shapes from patterned paper and made my own little banner. However you'd like to do it is fine, but the challenge this week is to create a banner and add it to your tag. I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!

Birthday Card

2010-09-17T13:46:00.000-05:00

I made this card for my baby sister's birthday next week. If you look closely at the 2nd picture, you'll be able to see how old she's going to be. It's all pink and fou-fouish which is a lot more the look I like than she does ... but, hey, I think she'll still like it!.

Tag Tuesday Challenge -- School Days

2010-09-14T00:17:00.003-05:00

We had so many beautiful entries to our butterflies challenge! I was so glad to see a lot of new taggers join in as well.

I'm happy to be able to post a new challenge today and I hope you'll be ready to jump in and join us.

When I think of September I always think of going back to school. So that's our theme this week -- to create a tag with a "school" theme.

Printers Tray meets Halloween in Wonderland

2010-09-12T15:41:00.005-05:00

I really enjoyed filling this 7 Gypsies Printers Tray with Graphic 45's Halloween in Wonderland paper and other fun bits.

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For lots and lots of Halloween inspiration, check out Craft Critiques Halloween Carnival here: Halloween Carnival.

Tag Swap

2010-09-11T10:27:00.003-05:00

I was so happy when Sarah invited me to join her tag swap using this mannequin template, because when we used it as a challenge theme for Tag Tuesday she was guest hostess and I didn't have a chance to participate.

We had some wonderful tags made by Robin, Lynn, Evelyn, Me, Pam and Sarah.

I even had a shadow box I could use to display these on the wall -- they look wonderful!

Speaking of Butterflies......

2010-09-10T05:38:00.001-05:00

I recently had these cards published in the Fall Take Ten -- featuring butterflies!

(You can click on the magazine to see more of what is in it)

Tag Tuesday Challenge -- Part Two

2010-09-02T02:00:00.000-05:00

As many of you guessed, there was more to my tag on Tuesday. I actually had made a little tag book. I decided to do this as I began to see how much butterfly related stuff I had. The book just grew from there.

To create the tag booklet, I just scored my tags at 1/2 inch on the end without the hole. I then punched four holes into each end. (I used my new Cinch to do this, but I think you could easily do it with a regular hole punch.) I added the fibers to hold all the pages together and -- voila! My little tag book was finished.

Tag Tuesday Challenge -- Butterflies

2010-08-31T06:05:00.004-05:00

Today's challenge is an easy one -- our theme is Butterflies.

Last week's challenge was a bit different, I admit. And seemed a bit intimidating to non-scrapbookers. Although I was happy to see many take on the challenge and then remark it was motivating them to give scrapbooking a try.

In creating this week's tag I was surprised to see just how much butterfly stuff I have. More to follow on this.

But for now just create your tag with any kind of butterfly you'd like.

*****Since next weekend is a holiday for us here in the States (Labor Day), I am making this a two week challenge. The next challenge will be posted September 13th.
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Speaking of Scrapbooking.....

2010-08-29T12:11:00.000-05:00

Aside from the Heritage Album I mentioned I was working on, I've also been creating premade scrapbook pages which I sell in my Etsy shop. It's quite different when you are creating pages for someone else to add their photos to rather than creating a page around photos of your own. Since the pictures are what make a scrapbook page, it's challenging trying to create interesting looking pages minus the photos. It's also important to keep the theme generic enough to appeal to more people. Here's a few of them I've created lately which I particularly like:

Tag Tuesday Challenge -- Scrapbook a Tag

2010-08-24T00:53:00.010-05:00

Today's challenge evolves from a Family Heritage Album I've been working on. It got me thinking about creating a tag I could use as an embellishment for my album page and then became an idea for this week's theme.

So create a tag as you would a scrapbook page -- use a photo, add a background, a title, journal on it. Basically tell a story with your tag. The theme can be anything you'd like it to be. And this week it can be on paper (which I know will be a relief for many of you:)

The wedding picture in the center of my tag is of my grandparents. The two smaller pictures above it are their respective families. And then the smaller picture below is of the children my grandparents had. My mom is the last female on the right. (The picture was taken when her brother was on leave from the service during WWII). The brad with the letter B on it stands for the family name, Braun.