I have to be honest, I didn't like the 2015 June tag. I'm not exactly sure why, because I like coffee and everything related to it. Maybe it was the green color of the background, I can't put my finger on why, but I didn't want to make this tag. So instead, I looked back at the prior years and decided to make the June 2014 tag instead. I like the technique to make the background and had fun trying that out. I used an MFT flower stencil that I had and I like the outcome. I have the large distress ink pads so it was a bit of a challenge to get the ink onto the stencil without messing up my ink pads. I ended up using the rectangular sponges from inking tools and that worked just fine. It's always a surprise to pull the stencil off and see what you have!! I wish that I had stamped my sentiment a little more to the left so I didn't end up with an empty space between the words and the butterflies, but some vintage sequins from my friend, Kim, helped.
Thanks for stopping by :)
Janet
I couldn't wait to see what Tim Holtz had in store for us this month! It's only the 2nd of the month and my tag is already finished! Making these tags is really fun! When I saw the one for this month my first thought was, Yikes...there's a lot of stuff on this one! As usual though, once I got started it wasn't bad at all. I didn't have any old timey photos so I found one on Pinterest and printed it out and I didn't have any craft colored burlap so used the white burlap that I had and stained it with with Ranger Old Paper Stain. Here is how my tag came out...
I followed Tim's directions as best I could with what I had. What do you think? I never would have thought this one up myself. It's busy but I really like it! Here's a close up...
I printed the girl's picture onto white card stock and it didn't look right but once I distressed the edges and put some Brushed Corduroy ink on them, it looked much better. The cancellation stamp and signature made it look more authentic, too! Love that :) The expense list was cut from an old receipt page that my friend Wynema gave me. I sure wish I'd collected this kind of ephemera in the past, it is so cool! The Bliss disc came from another friend. I distressed it with some Ranger alcohol ink. The arrow is made from a Stampin' Up punch. I punched it out of black card stock 5 times and silver metallic card stock once and then glued them together.
I wanted the flowers to be small and soft looking so I cut 4 layers of white tissue paper all at once with the MFT small rolled roses die. It was kind of a pain to roll and glue because the layers separated but it was worth the effort. I sponged some color on the edge with Tattered Rose Distress Ink.
I LOVE the buttons on the pin!! Leave it to TH to think of doing that! It's a wonderful embellishment! The zig zag stitching is fun too!
I have another tag to show you because my friend Alita made one and let me take pictures of it! I can't give you all the particulars because I wasn't paying close attention to the colors she was using and exactly what she was doing but it is gorgeous and I'm so happy she let me share it with you! Here's her tag...
And here are a few close ups...
I hope you enjoyed seeing our attempts at this month's tag. If you haven't tried this challenge, you should. I think you would really like it!
Janet
Sorry for the delay, sometimes life gets in the way of my best intentions! I am loving doing these tags! The March tag brought some new challenges, e.g. using paint to make a swirly multi-colored background without getting mud! I didn't have any Tim Holtz Distress paints but I have almost 100 bottles of acrylic paint that I used years ago for tole painting. Since Distress paints are described as very fluid water based acrylic paints, I thought my tole paints would work just as well. What I found out is that although they did work and looked very nice, they weren't anywhere near as vibrant as Distress Paints. Here is my March tag...
See what I mean? Very pretty, but not as vibrant. Actually this photo makes the colors look brighter than they really are. I started by putting some pieces of Tim Holtz tissue tape here and there on the tag. Then I dropped random acrylic paint drops onto my craft mat. I spritzed with a lot of water and then mixed them a bit with my finger and dropped my tag on top. When I picked up my tag, there were some bare spots so I put those back down in the paint until the entire tag was covered. Once the paint was dry, I stamped the butterfly in black ink. The butterfly is from Art Institute Glitter. I used a stencil from thecraftersworkshop.com called Numbers and Dreamweaver stencil paste to add the numbers. I sprinkled gold glitter over the paste and embossed it before the paste was dry. I know TH said to wait for it to dry, but I couldn't! I was very happy when it came out ok! The next step was to add embellishments. I used a pin that I had in my stash and a key, a Heidi Swapp Ghost Letter M for March, a butterfly wishes ticket that I found as a printable on-line and a butterfly image in a tiny frame that I've had in my stash forever! I collect quotes and decided to add one to my tag. I thought the blue that I used around the edges matched when I made it but it isn't right. Despite that, I'm happy with how my tag turned out.
Here are some close up pictures...
Isn't the little frame cute?
You can see from this picture that the Dreamweaver texture paste works just fine when heated before drying. It didn't bubble up or distort at all. It may have something to do with the fact that my paste is a few years old. It was kind of stiff but still worked very well through the stencil.
A friend who was doing the tags with me used Distress Paints and the colors were much clearer, more vibrant and more transparent than the acrylic paints that I used. I bet you know what happened when I found that out. If you guessed that I needed them...you are right!! It was a no-brainer, especially when I found out that Joanne's had all of their paper crafting supplies 1/2 off that day!! Yikes, that was serendipitous!! I was a very happy girl! Once the tag was finished and everything was cleaned up, I went directly to Joanne's to take advantage of the great sale! Can you blame me?? I "needed" them right?
On this tag I learned how to make another beautiful background, this time using multiple colors and my craft mat...the color combinations are endless! I also learned that using texture paste with a stencil adds a lot of texture and dimension and that you can make it any color by using different embossing powders. Embellishing is my biggest sticky wicket. I never know what to use or how to combine things but doing the tags is teaching me to let go of the anxiety and just try things that I have on hand and that eventually...if I keep rearranging them, I come up with something that is OK!
If you have any suggestions or ideas on mixed media or collage that might help me or others, I sure would appreciate hearing about them!! I like blogging, but it would be so much better to be able to sit together with some coffee and have a long chat with you about all of the things we love!!
Thanks for visiting,
Janet
