Tag 1 Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas

  Ok, so now I get to play and share a few of the projects I learned from Tim Holtz fabulous 12 Tags of Christmas! I just love all the techniques he shared this season and it's the first time I have been able to play around.
     This first tag had some great techniques including some new ones as well as some I always love to use. I cut my own tag using Art Philosophy @ 6.25" which is the equivalent to the manilla tag Tim sells.The first part is to emboss the tag first with a dry embossing and then to add some embossing ink and white opaque embossing powder. The effect is a nice pearled sort of background. Of course that is followed by distressed inking Antique Linen) after a little distressing. I love Tim's sanding grip. It seems to give you nice control and is easy to apply just the right amount of pressure without sanding away too much of the paper. Oh I forgot to mention I used the snowflake embossing folder from the cuttlebug.
     I thought I would use the "Let It Snow" phrase from Winter Frolic so I cut it @2.25 from some glittered card stock I had. I also cut the shadow from a metallic silver card stock from my stash, lol.The snowflakes are also from the Frolic cart.
     The challenging part about this cart is the pinecones. I searched all over to find this die of Tim's but to no avail. So I searched my cartridge "library" and settled on a cut from the gypsy font. I need a LOT more practice,lol. After some distressing inks and shaping, I added some Martha Stewart crystal glitter and some of Tim Holtz' snow cap paint to the edges. Although I am not too happy with the finished product, I know with some practice I will do better.
   I forgot to mention I used a strip of Tim's Seasonal Pack for the music sheet and also distressed the edges with Vintage Photo ink. The final touches were a few leaves cut with martha's leaf punch and some bling and pearls to jazz it up!
     I completed the tag with a nice ribbon and a snowflake brad. I can't wait to do more of his tags!




  
    

 

Best Hand Made Soap Ever!

  Since the weather here has been so cold and dreary lately and since I have several gift occasions coming up (thank you's, house warmings, and just thinking of you gifts) I decided to make some home made gifts. OMG! My cyber friend Audrey had this recipe for home made soap so I thought I'd give it a try. This is so wonderful and easy to make. You can find the recipe here: http://cuteandsome.blogspot.com/2011/04/its-earth-day-gabys-happy-birthday-blog.html.
     Not only was it fun to make, it made the house smell wonderful! I decided to package up the first bottle as a Thank you for a friend of my daughters. I watch 3 of my grand children 2 days a week. The oldest one is in school so I have to drop him off in the morning and pick him up in the afternoon. The morning isn't bad because it's a drive through however, in the p.m. you have to go into the school to retrieve him. It's not bad but in the beginning of the year the baby was still in an infant carrier so it just killed my back. This kind lady offered to get Mattie so I wouldn't have to take the other 2 inside. I jumped at the chance since this winter was so brutal it certainly made my life easier. Anyway I wanted to give her a small token of my appreciation so, what better way than a nice personal gift.

     Audrey's recipe gives you the option of adding fragrant or not (it really doesn't need it) but I had some soap fragrances so I did add some. This particular one has an almond fragrance but some have a Lily of the Valley essence. I also added a silk flower stem to the bottle while filling it. After i hand wrote this tag I found a stash of Wilton tags that you can print on the computer so the others have a printed tag. I added a nice sheer fabric to the bottle top and decorated with silk flower.
     Now that I have my Imagine back, I made a Thank You card using Lori's Garden. The background paper is also done on the Imagine using Imagine More cart. ( Hint, I used this pattern on the wedding invitations I am dying to show you, lol).

     Finally I put it all together in a cute little gift bag. (or so I thought!). I had picked up a package of 12 bags for $1 @ the dollar store. They are so flimsy. I make much better ones using my cricut and my own card stock. Somethings you just shouldn't skimp on, lol.
     As a side note: I had a little soap left over but not enough to fill a bottle so I put some in a heart dish near my sink. When my grandson saw it he asked to try some. He must have washed his hands ten times just so he could use the soap. His verdict: "wow Mema this soap makes your hands so soft and it smells so good !". He actually asked to take a bottle home. Looks like I'll be making more soap in the future. Gotta love those 7 year olds!!!
  

Puuur-Fect!

     Isn't this just the cutest Kitty? Talk about a Diva! I told you that my favorite new cart is Paisley. This cat is a puur-fect example. The die cut has her sitting on a pillow and she has a crown on her head. Its a super simple cut. All the layers were cut @ 3.5" .  The shadow is rather large in proportion to the rest of the cut so I decided not to use it. Of course there had to be some stickles to add the bling factor so Added some to the crown in gold. I also used the lavender stickles on the pillow.
     If the green background paper looks familiar, it should. This is a scrap of the paper by Anna Griffin that was used for the engagement card I made for the Cricut Circle card contest that I won! This paper makes the cat really stand out and gives her a regal look. The other pink papers are also scraps from Anna Griffin. It still needed something so I grabbed a piece of white scrap card stock and a Martha Stewart paper punch and made some "lace. These rhinestones are not Creative Charms, if they were they would sparkle more!

Joan's Gardens week #1 Challenge

   Well with all the snow we got today (18" +) it was a great day to do some challenges. After the laundry was done, cookies baked and supper over with it was time to set about a challenge. Joan's gardens has some beautiful projects over there and I finally have the confidence to enter their first challenge of the year. First it had to include an animal or bird (check) had to use a floral back ground (check) a die of some sort ( check) and something out of your comfort zone (UGH!).

   One of my personal goals this year is to use up some of my stash of scrap paper. This background paper seemed to be perfect for the background paper. I also had this negative image leftover from  another scrap project. At first I was going to use a Spellbinder die but I really loved how this sort of looked like a sign so I went with a simple stamp "There's a song in the air".
   The easy part was to use an image from my cricut library French Manor for the bird and birdcage. Now came the hard part: something out of my comfort zone. Okay so I have a confession: I'm a hoarder. Yup it's true and one of the things I've been hoarding is anything by Tim Holtz.  So it was finally time to pull out the grunge paper and gold dabber paint. I love how this came out! What a great dimension this paper gives! Everything was inked with Ranger distress ink antique linen.

   I also decided to use a Martha Stewart punch for this beautiful butterfly. Of course the front would not be complete without bling so I added some pale blue rhinestones.
   I also love to complete the inside of my cards so I used the Spellbinders Labels Ten (3 1/2") size stamped the sentiment and then shaded embossed area with blue chalk.
   Not bad for a card made out of scraps! Great start to the New Year!!