Tim's 12 of 2015 Tags - August 2015

Before I get into the Tag I want to shout out to all my followers & friends that we need a bit of help over at Challenges for Days.  We are looking for someone to handle the management of the Monday list and all you need is about an hour a week, a computer and a Blogger account.  If you are interested, please email Zoe at zoechaos@icloud.com if you can help ~ Thanks! Now, on with the show!

Tim's Tag

This month I decided to capture the essence of Tim's tag and go completely out on a limb and just let pure inspiration guide me.  I actually love the way this tag came out! As always, you can go to Tim's blog and see how he created his August tag by clicking here.  Here is my take on Tim's August 2015 tag:

What I Used to Make my Tag:

Tag, 8" x 4" (I needed a big one for this!)
Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations Alphanumerics  #660056
Tim Holtz Sizzix ShadowPress Debossing Folders, Documented Set, #659856
Tim Holtz Stamp Set, Time Travelers, #CMS157
Tim Holtz Stamp Set, Playful Journey, CSS27812 (small clock)
Tim Holtz Stamp Set, Life's Possibilities, CSS25870, (large clock)
Tim Holtz Idea-Ology Small Talk Stickers, TH93193
Tim Holtz Idea-Ology Loop Pins, TH93200
Distress Markers in Blueprint Sketch, Broken China, Salty Ocean, Pumice Stone, Tumbled Glass, Walnut Stain & Vintage Photo
Glue 'n Seal
Distress Ink in Faded Jeans
Distress Crackle Paint in Rock Candy, TDC26686
Embossing Ink & Black Embossing Powder
Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black
Marker Spritzer
Maya Road Chipboard Circle
Water Brush
Old Map
Other Trinkets & Lace from my stash

(I am not sure why this text is darker than the rest of the blog. Well, I have an idea why, but I have no idea how to fix it.Sorry!)

OK, I am going to try to remember how I made this, step by step (yes, it's been a while!).  If something in my description doesn't seem clear, or you have any questions, feel free to contact me or leave me a comment.

Step 1

The first thing I did was cut the words, I decided on adventure & time travel, out of the tag using the Alphanumerics dies - this is fabulous set of Sizzix dies. There is 121 pieces and at 3/4" tall there are tons of possibilities!  I was able to cut out all of the words at once. I used the word "Remember" out of the debossing folders set Documented along the side of the tag.  Then I took pieces of an old map I and adhered that behind the word cut outs. 

Crackled Clock

I stamped the large clock, using Faded Jeans distress ink, above the time travel cut out.  I stamped one of the men from the Time Travelers' set on vanilla card and embossed him with black embossing powder.  I painted him using distress markers and a water brush then fussy cut him out.  Set him aside. 

I stamped the small clock onto the chipboard circle using Jet Black ink and I dotted some other colors around the clock since it was so drab. Then I crackled it using the distress crackle paint in Rock Candy, set that aside.  While my clock was crackling, I tore bits of the map and glued them onto the background where there was no stamping.  

Close-Up

I used the marker spritz tool to spritz some of the blue markers on the background and 
then I outlined the debossed word with Pumice Stone.  Didn't exactly come out as I intended, but I like the fuzzy quality of the word.  I covered the tag with Glue 'n Seal.

Close-Up

Once everything was done drying, I glued the man where I wanted him and chose two phrases, that I felt fit the theme of my tag, from the Small Talk Stickers to adhere over him.  I then adhered my crackled clock and a few other clocks I had in my stash.  I finished the tag off using some lace that I had colored with Walnut Stain distress marker and hung another clock a using Loop Pin. I'm thinking this is quite a manly tag, don't you agree?

Another month down! I have to say, I am very impressed with myself that I have stuck with this challenge.  It's a great excuse for me to buy more Tim Holtz goodies <grin>.  I hope you enjoyed my short tutorial & I hope you'll consider joining me on Tim's Tags journey ~ fondly, Christi  

Another look :)

I would like to enter my tag in the following challenges:
Tim's 12 Tags of 2015 - August
Use Your Stuff - (runs until 9/5) #189, Anything Goes, entry 2
Oh La La Creations - #187, One for the Boys
Vintage Stamping Challenge - #35, Anything Goes
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - #16, Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp - Work it Wednesday - Die Cuts

Summer Fun!!

As I sit here in Colorado we have had our afternoon thunder storm, thankfully with no extras such as tornado warnings or hail, and I am still sweltering.  I'm not much a beach person, I prefer pools for many reasons (the most important is I can see the bottom!) but this little girl wading, in what I think is the ocean, may have actually cooled me off a bit.

What I Used to Make my Card:
Wheat Colored Card Base
White Cardstock Panel
Darice Clouds Embossing Folder
Young Girl Stamp - SU! Seaside Sketches, #103555 (discontinued but available)
Pebbles/Ikandee Chalk Set in Basic Brights
Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black

This idea has been swimming around in my head for quite sometime.  I wanted to use my cloud embossing folder as clouds in a "scene", a little deeper than just background for rain or snow.  I wasn't sure it would work so this is my experiment.  I took a piece of white card, trimmed it slightly smaller than typical A2 size and used the embossing folder on only the top of the card.  I knew that part would work, I wasn't sure about how I was going to handle the crease left behind and the perspective issue.  After I embossed the paper, I stamped the young girl wading.  I was relieved to see that the perspective wasn't too far off and decided to proceed with the design.

I used watercolor pencils to color the girls dress and hair and all the rest is chalk.  I edged the clouds with some blue chalk, both to enhance & pop the texture, and then just kept going. I used a slightly darker blue to sort of put the edge where the clouds meet the "water" at a different color, then just used shades of blue to fill out the water.  I haven't used chalks in ages and it was so much fun! The shading and mixing of the colors gave me the exact soft, wispy, windy day effect I wanted it to.  Looking back, if I do this again, I think the birds will be masked off, but all in all I am very pleased with my card.  I edged the white panel with Distress Ink in Gathered Twigs and then attached it onto the card base and I was done.

I haven't used chalk in ages (I've had this pallet for many, many years) and it is always fun to revisit an old technique or medium for me.  I forgot how much fun it is to get back to basics sometimes, and the ability to blend is one of the best things about chalk, at least in my opinion.

While this is a bit off topic, me & two of my good friends have started a NEW Challenge Blog called Twofers, where the idea is to make 2 of anything as long as the project meets the rules, and there is plenty of time to enter the current challenge, which is weddings.  So get your create on, make some wedding goodies and join in! Honestly, you have an excellent chance of getting at least top 3 <wink>.  

Thank you for stopping by ~ Fondly, Christi

I would like to enter my Summer Fun card in the following challenges:
Through the Craft Room Door (Aug 18-24) Anything Goes (entry 2)
Tuesday Throwdown - #258, Texture
Lawnscaping Challenge - #112, Embossing  

Timbro Scrapmania - #111, Summer (ends Sept 14)
Fashionable Stamping Challenge - #102, Seaside or Beach (ends Sept 12)
Daring Cardmakers - Textures
FairyTale Challenge - #124, Summer Vacation
Fussy & Fancy - Lazy Summer Days
Country View Challenges - (August Challenge) Summertime

Where did I find all these fabulous challenges?!?!
At Challenges for Days ~ come take a peek!

CELEBRATE with Anything But a Card's Final Challenge

It's with mixed feelings that I write this post.  I'm thrilled to have been on the Design Team for Anything But a Card since November of 2013; it was my first design team ever and due to my fellow teamies and Susan Brown's encouragement, humor, help (lots and LOTS of help) I have been blessed with designing for a few more manufactures and such.  I have always loved making things other than cards and this experience definitely enabled me to learn, experiment and grow as a person and a crafter.  So, before I get started on my project I want to shout out to all my fellow DT's, both past & present and to all the beautiful creations that people have entered! Now, as you see, the theme for this last month is Celebration.  I hope you can make a Celebration project and join us. You still have until September 6, 2015 to whip something up and join us (and keep checking the Anything But a Card blog, I hear there may be some surprises in the works!). My favorite holiday is Halloween, so I made this wall hanging to celebrate my favorite holiday:

What I Used to Make my Project:
White Memory Tray - postcard sized squares (I painted it black)
Graphic 45 Papers in Steampunk Spells & Rare Oddities
Rare Oddities Journaling & Ephemera Cards
Retro Art Cafe - Pumpkin pods, paper skeletons, skull cameo, chipboard feather, acrylic black cat & bat 
Prima Resin Frames #572372
Tim Holtz Sizzix Small Bird & Cage Die Set #657207
Tim Holtz Simple Sayings Set, #CMS155
Blood Drip stamp is from Viva Las Vegas!
Potion Bottles from The Porkchop Show
Plastic Bone, Black Cat Kittens & Fiber (stash)
Distress Ink in Frayed Burlap (colored embossed bone & edged sign)
Wendy Vecchi Archival Ink in Potting Soil (colored resin frame)
Ranger Embossing Powder in Rich Red
Homemade Embossing Powder (SU! Black & Hologram Highlights mixed, used on feather)
SU! Antique Ivory Embossing Powder (on the bone)
Clear Embossing Powder

I figured it would take me too long to explain this piece step by step, plus, I worked on it for about 3 weeks (on and off) and can't recall them all, so, I am just going to explain some of the embellishments.  Every square uses either Steampunk Spells paper, Rare Oddities paper or Rare Oddities Journaling & Ephemera Card for the background. 

Square #1 "Ravens" - I used a piece of flower stem from my backyard for the tree & mixed my own embossing powder for the feather. Also, the Raven Feathers advertisement is a Rare Oddities Journaling & Ephemera Card.

Square #2 "Cats" - I think the little blood drip is awesome. I admit, I was nervous that I would mess the paper up (I hoard Graphic 45 papers like crazy), but it came out fine. Whew!

Square #3 "skull" - I antiqued the Prima frame with Frayed Burlap ink, but I was concerned about it drying, so I threw a bit of clear embossing powder on it. 

Square #4 "Happy Halloween Sign" - it took me forever to get the plastic bone covered with the embossing powder, but I am really happy how it came out.  I had originally wanted the sign to hang freely, but the fiber was creased, so the sign is glued to the background. This is what the bone looked like when I started next to the finished bone. 

Square #5 "Potions" and Square #6 "Skeletons" are fairly self explanatory.  I loved making this to celebrate Halloween - it's never too early to get your freak on! 

Another Look

Thank you so much for stopping by & please consider following me. I am on a mission to get 100 new followers in the year 2015 (i'm almost there!).  I hope you have many reasons to celebrate! ~ Christi

I am entering my Halloween Wall Hanging in the following challenges:
My Sheri Crafts - #163, Show Me Your Decor
Simply Create, Too - #92, Anything Goes
Simply Papercraft - #11, Anything Goes
Quoth the Raven, Nevermore - #47, Pick Any 3
Decorate to Celebrate - #106, Anything Goes
Crafty Gals Corner - #32, Any Holiday

Weddings at TWOFERS!!

For challenge #2 at Twofers, Jane has chosen the theme of WEDDINGS.  Now, at my age, most people are done getting married so I honestly don't have much occasion for wedding cards.  I made these sort of generic, so I could use them for other possibilities.

As I did with the first challenge I am going to name the two cards to make it easier to tell which card I am talking about.  Introducing my Roses and Best Wishes cards:

ROSES
What I Used to Make my Card:
Pastel Pink Card Base from Core'dinations 
Memory Box Pennington Rose Die #99143
KaiserCraft 6x6 All that Glitters Paper Pad
ColorBox Petal Point Ink Pad Enchantment
Clear Embossing Ink
Globecraft & Piccolo Embossing Enamel in Cranberry Wine
Wink of Stella Clear
Stampin' Up A Greeting for All Seasons set #100999 (discontinued)
Pre-Made White Bow 
Scrap White Card for Congratulations

If you enlarge this picture you can see the sparkle on the roses

The Roses

I actually conceived this card when I was looking at the KasierCraft paper pad. Now, those of you who know me know I am not fond of the color pink AT ALL and the fact that I made a card with lots of pink is absolutely amazing.  But these papers spoke to me, so I used them.  I first located a pink ombre paper and die cut all the roses - the die cut is just the outline of the flower.  I then used paper that had nothing on it but roses and die cut the bottom piece of the die.  Then I attached all the bottom roses to the outline roses.  I noticed I got some glue outside the lines, so I colored all the insides of all the roses with a Wink of Stella in clear.  After gluing all the flowers to the card, I embossed the greeting with Cranberry Ice Embossing Enamel, trimmed it, and attached it to the card.  

I would like to enter my ROSES card in the following challenges:
Through the Craft Room Door (Aug 11-17) - Anything Goes
In the Pink - Anything Goes. . .with Pink
Wednesday's Creative Inspirations - (ends August 25) Flowers! 
Creative Card Crew - Sparkle!
Paper Creator's Crafts - (August) Dies and/or Punches

BEST WISHES
What I Used to Make my Card:
Vanilla Card Base
Printed Designer Paper Gold Leaves (have NO idea where this came from)
Gold Paper
Best Wishes from SU! Sincere Salutations Set (discontinued but plenty to be had)
Embossing Powder in Gold
Clear Embossing Fluid
Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 14, #S4-290 (not sure if this is discontinued, but there are lots available)
Memory Box Dianna Border, #1029
Scrap Vanilla Card for die cut & sentiment

First I stamped the Best Wishes on vanilla card and embossed it with gold embossing. Once that was cool, I die cut the sentiment, the designer paper with the gold leaves and the Dianna border.  Then all I did was attached the gold paper (after I trimmed it) to the card base and layered everything else on the card.  Super easy, but I think it looks a bit elegant.  

I would like to enter my BEST WISHES card in the following challenges:
Use Your Stuff - (runs until Sept 7) Anything Goes
Everybody Art Challenge - Emboss
Sweet Stamps - Anything Goes
The Artistic Stamper - (August Challenge) Anything Goes
Creative Ladybug Creations - (August Challenge) Anything Goes

Another look

I do hope you will pop by the Twofers blog and consider making and entering   your own wedding projects ~ just remember, you need to show us TWO pieces of art. While you are there please take a peek at what my wonderful teamies Jane & Zoe made for this challenge.  Also, I would appreciate it if you'd following me, I am trying to get 100 new subscribers in 2015 and I am really close!  Thanks SO much ~ Christi

Bloomin' Hello Card for The Card Chain Challenge Reveal July 2015

This month I won't be home to take a picture of the card I've received from Deborah (the CCC Queen), but I am sure it is positively fabulous, and you can pop over to her blog to see what she made for me.  I went with the friendship theme this month as I wanted to make a card that was exciting but mellow.  This is what I concocted and sent to Christy in California:

How I Made my Card:
Core'dinations Pastels Cardstock
Silhouette Cameo
"Hello Circle" cut file, #28237, from Silhouette Store (cut 2x)
Memory Box Vignette Floral Branch, #98973
Corner Rounder Punch

The very first thing I did was cut the Hello Circle design twice using my Silhouette Cameo - I chose the Wisteria & Scotch colors and just used the bottom panel of the Scotch to oomph up the Wisteria.  Then I decided I needed to make the Hello Circle stand out a wee bit more, so I used a square of Tranquil Blue, corners rounded, and mounted the element onto the square.

Then I had to choose what I was going to do with the background.  I think the card would of been fine without the additions, but, I had just gotten the Vignette Floral Branch die and I was dieing to use it (sorry about the pun - well, ok, not really).  So I chose the colors of Aruba and Salmon and die cut one floral branch out of each color, making sure they faced opposite ways.  I tucked the Hello Circle into the Salmon floral branch and placed the Aruba one under the sentiment.  Lastly, the card itself is made from the color called Rose Embroidery.  Glued it all together, leaving some of the die cuts unglued for a bit of dimenton and I was done!  Honestly, it took me longer to choose the colors for everything than it did to assemble the card.  I hope Christy likes it!  Thank you for stopping by for my CCC Reveal ~ Christi

I would also like to enter my Bloomin' Hello card in the following challenges:
Addicted to Rubber Stamps #155, Inspirational Photo 

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge, Anything Goes
Creative Inspirations, #332, Flowers
Southern Girls Challenge, Anything Goes 
Through the Craft Room Door, Wk of 7/28 to 8/3, Anything GoesThe Cat's Pajama's - 295, Anything Goes

Two Many Cats? Never! Introducing TWOFERS!!

Yes, today is the beginning of a brand new challenge blog - TWOFERS! As the name suggests, you will be required to make TWO of whatever project you desire (within the rules) and then simply link them up!

Since I got to chose our first theme, I chose cats (which, if you read my blog shouldn't come as a surprise) and I had a blast digging out some very old stamps to play with; since I have so many cats stamps, it was difficult to decide which ones to use.  Both the stamps I used have been in my possession for years, but I haven't had the occasion to use the cat in the basket, so this is it's first time on a card (and, of course, when I went to go search for the stamps so I could link to them, almost all of them have disappeared.)   In order to differentiate which card I am talking about I am going to give them separate names.

Here are both my cards

How I Made my Women and Cats card:
Cream Card Base
The Kitty Art Rubber Stamp by The Stampsmith
Sentiment Stamp (company unknown)
White Glossy Card
Document Stamping Ink (like Staz-On ink)
Die-Namics Stitched Oval Stax
Spellbinders Labels Fourteen S4-290
Colorbox Metalextra Gold Rush Ink
Clear Embossing Powder
Background Paper (company unknown)
Small Gold Metallic Bow

If you are a regular blog reader you have seen me work with these fantastic photo stamps made by The Stampsmith before, but for those of you who are new to photostamps The Stampsmith has an awesome FAQ page for them and you can find that here.  Anyhow, I stamped my Kitty Art stamp on glossy paper, using the Document Ink, and set it aside to dry.  I can never get a good picture of these stamps, but trust me, they truly look like photos in person.  While kitty was drying, I set about figuring the background, how I was going to present the sentiment and other design details.

So I decided to cut the picture and some embossed foil paper using the Stitched Oval Stax. I then stamped the sentiment with gold ink on glossy paper and embossed it with clear embossing powder. I then used the Labels Fourteen to die cut the sentiment. Set those three things aside and sized my gold polka dot background paper, then attached that to the cream card base.  Played with the placement of the ovals and sentiment for a bit, then settled on the final design. Topped the card off with the cute little bow.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How I Made my Your Every Thought card:
White Card Base
Cat in Basket Rubber Stamp (made by Cat Dancing Designs, out of business)
Sentiment Stamp (Limited Edition, bought by Hampton Art, couldn't find stamp)
Tim Holtz Sizzix Labels, #660060
Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black
Background Paper
2 Black Brads

I've had this stamp for SO long - I purchased it at a stamp convention in NY.  I love how the cat is slightly menacing peeking over the basket - one of my current kitties, Bud,  is a Box Cat.  He will literally try to fit in ANY box, no matter how small. And if the box is too small, he will scratch it to pieces trying to make it bigger! OK, I could go on about my cats for hours, so lets move on.

As usual, the first step is to stamp everything - in this case on white card using the Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black. I had found the background paper in my bin that holds all my kitty stuff but there was no manufacturer information.  I liked the little hints of paws.  After I cut the paper, I attached it to the card base and then went through my scraps to find a piece of red that matched so I could mount my sentiment on it.  I sized my sentiment and adhered that to the red paper, put the brads in and set it aside.

I took the Tim Holtz Labels die cuts and used one to cut out the cat. I centered the image, attached that and attached the sentiment.  Easy peasy!

A lot of my friends are cat lovers and now I have 2 cute cards to send out when need be.  You have two whole weeks to get your stamping on with your cat stamps, so please consider joining! Thanks, Christi

I would also like to enter my cat cards into the following challenges:
Brown Sugar Challenges - #157, Animals
Sister Act - #117, Anything Goes
Card & Scrap - M #101, Anything Goes
Creative Ladybirds Creations - M #6, Anything Goes
Use Your Stuff - #200, Anything Goes (runs until 9/7/15)
Artistic Inspirations - #136, Anything Goes