12 Tags of Christmas Day 12

When I saw Tim's Day 12 tag I was beyond excited!!! I've been wanting to make a grunge rose ever since i got instructions from Liz. (Hi Liz and ATT gals!!!) Anyway, I just havent made the time. I did now and boy oh boy and I ever happy! This tag is my absolute favorite! I used Glimmer Mist, Lumiere paints and Rock Candy Distress Stickles on my rose. I think with more practice, my roses will get better. I had Glossy Accents EVERYWHERE when making this one. lol I printed the sheet music, tore it and added to my tag. I inked all over the stamped over the entire tag with various Club Scrap stamps. I was so suprised at how good this one came out. I hope you suprise yourself in your art too! Try a new technique or product. You never know what you will come up with. Happy Crafting!!

12 Tags of Christmas Day 11

OK, Day 11, almost done. Tim's tags have been so inspiring to me. I wasn't so sure about this one. I have nothing to make my own brads and no local scrapbook store. No, the Arts & Crafts Center on base doesn't count. lol Well, unless I want paper or stickers. They don't have cool new gadgets. Anyway....I thought on this one a bit then remembered a card my mom has that I made as a child in school. It was a flower made from a cupcake liner with a photo of me in the center! BRAVO! Good idea!!! I decided to use my daughter's smiling face as the center of the flower. The tag just took off from there. She loves horses so I knew I would use Close To My Heart set that I have with a running horse. I used Shabby Shutters and Scattered Straw on the background. The "Tis the Season" & snowflakes on the tag are Hanna Stamps. What happened to Hanna Stamps anyway? I sure do miss seeing new stamps on their site! Plus, I would love to buy more. Oh I got off track there. Back to my tag. lol The flash washed out the colors on this one. Its a bit darker in person. I stamped the horse in Walnut Stain directly onto the tag. I stamped another horse onto grunge paper and embossed it in black. Then I inked all over in Fired Brick. I smeared Rock Candy Distress Stickles all over the "Tis the season to be pretty" phrase. It sorta smudged the ink but that's ok. It only adds to the grungy look. (Yes, I know, this card isn't all that grungy. lol) The snowflakes are stamped using Faded Jeans Distress Ink. So have you done anything crafty today??? I sure hope you've found time to do something fun for yourself. Happy crafting!!!

12 Tags of Christmas Day 10

I have finished all 12 tags! I hope to get them all posted on my blog today. Day 10 took some work. Tim used metal tape sheets on his Day 10 tag. I used 2 layers of heavy duty aluminum foil. Instead of grungeboard letters & shapes, I used Thickers and Holiday House Foil Merry Mint from American Crafts. FYI, if you try this technique with Thickers, do not use the foam letters. Use the cardboard ones. If you click on the photo, it will bring it up larger. Notice the "fun" and "joy"? Those were the foam letters. They didn't come out as well as the other letters and shapes. When using foil, press it along each letter and shape gently before attaching the foil to your tag. I used Copics G09, BV08, B16, Y17 and R46 for my coloring. Go slowly with the Copics. One of mine was really juicy and the ink pooled a bit in a few spots. Happy crafting!

12 Tags of Christmas day 9

Yet another amazing tag from Tim.Somewhere, I have a pic of my daughter crying on Santa's lap. Maybe I will find it and make a tag more like Tim's. I love the ideas of using photos on tags!! I don't have his filmstrip ribbon so I made my own. I used Close To My Heart's Picture Perfect stamp. I stamped the image onto the plastic cover my Tim Holtz ruler cam in. Creative, I know. lol Staz On works great on plastic! These are pics from one of our trips to Tokyo Disneyland this year. The Mickey heads in rhinestone are EK Success. The 09 is American Crafts Thickers. I think the Mickey sticker is EK Success. The photo corners were white. I inked them with Weathered Wood ink. The background stamp is from Club Scrap. Remember, you can click on the photos for a larger view. I hope you are having a happy crafty day!!!

12 tags of Christmas Day 8

Tim's Day 8 tag is STUNNING!!! I will eventually make one like his with the music stamp, lamp etc. I just have to wait for the supplies to come in. So, I improvised yet again. I started this one by digging through my stash. The only key I had was the one that said "Dream". While searching through ny stamps, I stopped at Tropical Christmas by Close to my Heart. LOVE that set!! Its always been my dream to live at the beach. sssooooo, this tag was born! I again used the CTMH Jingle Borders for the background. This time on the vellum. The swirl on the tag is Club Scrap. The palm tree is embossed on grungeboard paper. I added bells from my stash and Stickles.

12 Tags of Christmas Day 7

Day 7 was the toughest tag for me so far. See Tim's amazing tag on his site. Stunning as always! :) I mixed stamps from several companies on this one! The wavy line background is Close to My Heart Jingle Borders. The snowman and snowflake are Inkadinkado. The white Swirl is Stampin Up's French Flair. I painted Jacquard Neopaque white paint onto French Flair. It seemed to soak into the tag. I tried wiping off the ink like Tim said. It just wasnt working for me. I decided to hand paint the swirls. I simply painted over the swirls that were stamped. It took awhile but I love the results. I used Distress Stickles on the snowman's scarf and hat. OH I almost forgot the coolest part about this tag experience. I don't have any of Tim's blank masking material. So, instead of using a post it note or piece of paper to make a mask, I searched the house for alternative. I have a digi photo frame sitting in the box that I haven't yet made the picture sd card for. On the front of the screen is a clear, lightly adhesived plastic sheet to protect the screen. I peeled it off and gently stuck it to a tag. I held my breath while I slowly tried to remove it from the tag. It worked!! It didn't stick!! I was so excited. I stamped the snowman using Staz On and it stayed. When I tried to wipe the paint off though, some of the Staz On snowman came off the "mask". So, while this isn't a replacement for Tim's blank mask, it sure was a temporary choice. I can see I am going to love masking once I get some of the blank mask material.

12 Tags of Christmas Day 6

Ok, I'm trying to play blogger catch up. lol I've had a nasty head cold and haven't spent much time online. I have however, completed my Tim tags every day. :) As you know by now, I have no Tim stamps. YET! They are on their way thanks to Croppinsville! Allie shipped the same day I ordered. Talk about amazing customer service!!! Check out Tim's tag. So, what stamps DID I use? The car is from Close to My Heart's Road Trip. The tree is from Tis the Season by Hanna Stamps. The tree is pretty thin so I stamped it 3 times on grungeboard paper. I then cute them all out, inked then and then layered. I didn't have the fluffy stuff Tim used so I used some sparkly stuff from my stash. I hope everyone is staying warm this winter. I've noticed the weather in the states is cold & snowy. Its rainy here in Japan today. The high today is in the mid 50s. I would love to see some snow here!

12 Tags of Christmas Day 5

Tim's tag today uses fragments to make ornaments. AWESOME!!!! Luckily, Laurel had sent me some fragments so I had a few to use for this lovely tag. I must say, I really like the way this one turned out. The stamp I used is Kodomo Tanabata. Scroll to the bottom of their page. I just pocked this stamp up 2 days ago when Michelle R and I went to shopping in Kichijoji. We went to Yuzawaya which is a 7 story craft store and crafters HEAVEN! I will be frequenting their store in the future! lol Ok I got off track again. lol Back to my tag...I stamped the image in Weathered Wood. I tried to emboss but it didn't work so well. I used Tim's blending tool to add green, brown and red to the stamped image. The gold swirls are made using Lumiere gold paint and Stampin Up's French flair. The gold border is stamped from Close to My Heart's Cupcake Sprinkles and embossed in gold. The stamps for the ornaments are Inkadinkado. I again used the gold Lumiere paint to make the top of the ornament. the hooks are green wire from my stash.

12 Tags of Christmas Day 4

Ok, y'all know how much I love Disney. Since I don't have any Tim stamps, I decided to make a Disney collage for this tag. You can see Tim's tag here. Like most of my tags, they are darker in person. As soon as there is a sunny day & I'm at home, I will take better pics of the tags. The flash really washes them out. At least you get the general idea. Ok, back to the tag....Disney collage background and Disney charm. The charm & chain are a bracelet that I will be giving my daughter for Christmas. The charm has tiny Mickey heads inside. wwwaaayyyyy cute! :) Notice the small Mickey heads on the tag? Its Mickey made from Sakura flower petals. Thanks to Michelle R. for finding that stamp for me! I stamped the image on a different piece of cardstock then cut out the Mickey heads. They pop off the tag just a tad. So, have you attempted anything crafty today? I hope so! Happy crafting!!

12 Tags Day 3

Tim Holtz made TWO tags for Day 3. This plaid technique with alcohol inks is so much fun!!!! Mine looks a bit brighter than it actually is due to the flash. I used Club Scrap stamps and glossy paper.

12 Tags of Christmas Day 2

Tim's art is absolutely amazing & inspiring! I am having so much fun with these tags. I don't have a lot of his supplies so I am improvising. Let me tell you its a great way to dust off those supplies in my stash and get them into a piece of art!
Instead of Tim's circle, I used corners from Autumn Leaves Heather Bailey line to frame my sentiment. Instead of Distress Embossing Powder, I simply brushed off some of the powder before using the heat gun. I used Inkadinkado (I think) stamps for the swirls in the corners. I do not own any Perfect Pearls. Yes, I know, sad. Feel free to mail me some. They don't sell them here & I haven't ordered them online yet. lol So what did I use instead? Watered down Lumiere gold paint. Cool huh?! Oh a reminder....Tim said make sure everything, including yourself, is covered before you flick the paint. He wasn't joking! It went everywhere. I have nothing around to attempt his gorgeous metal rose. Instead, I used a metal tag. Easy Peasy! lol So break out your supplies and give it a try! You don't have to make yours just like Tim's. Its all about creating! Happy Crafting!

FREE Printables!!!!

Yes, you heard that reight. (or rather read lol) There are fabulous FREE printables this month over at Ten Two Studios. Check it out!!! They list a new one every day this month. You just need to share the link. Enjoy & happy crafting!!!

12 Tags of Christmas Day 1

Ok crafters, like I said in my last post, Tim Holtz is doing his 12 Tags of Christmas again this year. His art is amazing. He gives step by step instructions. You can either copy his or use it to inspire you in other ways.
This is my tag from Day 1. I had to improvise a bit. I don't have any snowmen stamps so I decided to go a different route. I used the guitar from the Close To My Heart You Rock set. Well that just wont work with snowflakes so I thought I'd use the stars from their Shining Star set. I'm loving the crackles from the Rock Candy paint. I painted it on VERY thick. I can see that I will run out of this stuff soon. lol I dont have the paint dabbers so I used Jacquard's Neopaque white paint. I applied it with my finger to get into the swirls on the guitar. I dont have grungeboard so I stamped the guitar onto a piece of grungeboardish thick stuff that I had in my stash from working at the Arts & Crafts Center. It was shipped with diecut paper as a base to keep the paper flat. I used Frosted Lace Stickles since I don't have Picket Fence. I painted the chipboard swirl with the white paint and then added Crackle Accents over it. On the background of the tag, I did the stars from CTMH in black Staz On. I then stamped Stampin Ups French Flair in Weathered Wood. You cant really see the design much though. I didn't have the ink colors Tim used so I improvised on that too. I used Weathered Wood, Ancient Page Cobalt, black Staz On, and CS white.
I'm making these tags to hang on our tree this year. This one is for my ds who loves to play his electric guitar.

Ok, I know its been awhile...again lol

Ya know, sometimes life just gets in the way of...well...life. lol I intended to blog regularly all through surgery, recovery etc. We can all see that didn't happen. lol Anyway, its been a little over 7 weeks since my hysterectomy. Everything went great. I'm all healed and things are returning to normal. I's still tired but doc said that's to be expected and take it easy when tired. hhmm whatever. lol I am slowly getting back into a workout routine. My crafting life however is wonderful. Tim Holtz is doing his 12 tags of Christmas again this year. Check them out. He's AWESOME!!! I hope to post my tags for each day. Well, I'm off to decorate the Christmas tree. I hope everyone has a glorious, crafty day!!!