A 'bright' tag while eating crow....

Ok...this is for my coworker and friend Laura..  I HATE glue sticks....hate them, loathe them, despise them....As a scrapbooker, my past experience with using a glue stick was an epic failure!  The first scrapbook I ever made was put together using a glue stick....And, I have had to fix it a few times using GOOD adhesive since it was completed...  Glue sticks are horrible and I give Laura crap about loving them so much!  (She's addicted to them....LOL)  So I passionately hate glue sticks....Well, until the day  my boss stumbled upon a inky technique using the Collage Glue Sticks from Ranger.

This technique was featured in an e-mail newsletter that my boss received this week and is from, what is now, one of my new favorite blogs:  The Little Shabby Shed

This technique is so cool!  So cool, that I bought two Collage Glue Sticks....(Did you hear that thud?  That was Laura falling out of her chair...LOL)

Love this technique!  It kind of gives the effect of bleaching, but is much easier!!  I also finally got to use those pesky light bulbs that I've had for what it seems like years!  Love the bulbs, guess I just needed the right project for those light bulbs.  I got an industrial vibe once the tag started taking shape!

I also stamped and dyed the crinkle ribbon in this tag.  I learned my lesson from the last time I dyed the ribbon not to spray so much.  My hand is actually its normal color today!!  LOL  Off to go work on another tag.  Feeling like playing with some green ink and listening to some loud music!

Laters...

Another mixed media board....

Hi again!  It's been really cold this weekend, so I have been able to stay in and craft!  I'm getting my fingers really inky!!!

This is another mixed media board done on 1/4" plywood.  I stained the plywood using Tea Dye Distress stain.  Then, using Mod Podge, I added a torn piece of Melange Tissue Wrap, leaving a few wrinkles to give the background a little more texture.  I'm becoming really fond of the tissue wrap because you are able to see color through the tissue.  Then, using a stencil, I embossed the bricks in the upper right side of the board.  Using a different stencil and Distress Ink, I stenciled a strip on the bottom right.  While the ink was drying, which isn't very long, I spritzed a doily with Meadow Color Wash and heat set it.  After the doily was dry, I adhered it to the board.

In the upper right corner, I used adhesive pearl strips in three lengths.  (These are the Kaisercraft champagne pearl strips.  You get like 200+ pearls in a pack.  Such a great deal!!)  The butterflies are Studio Calico wood veneer pieces.  They were stained using Metallic Brass and Fired Brick Distress Stain.  Then, more pearls were used to create the body of the butterflies.  A 7Gypsies ephemera card was distressed with an Edge Distresser and inked with Walnut Stain.

This wouldn't be one of my projects if it didn't have a little twine on it somewhere!!  So the ornate plate from Tim Holtz Idea-ology was tied to the board using the twine.  The stamped sentiment, stamped in Olive Archival Ink and inked with Antique Linen, is from Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous stamp set CMS100: Odds and Ends....

Happy Mail and and the resulting tag...

Hi all!  It's FREEZING here in Ohio....brrr... It was 6 degrees this morning.....And we're supposed to get 3-5 inches of snow this weekend.   At least I don't have to go anywhere...

I came home from work today to a happy package full of some new Distress Stain colors and masks. I was really looking forward to receiving the mask from Studio Calico.

I've been wanting this chevron mask ever since I saw it when it was released.  And then, one of my crafty buddies used it in an art journal and I was hooked!!

I used Peacock Feather Distress Stain to do the background of the tag, softening the color with some water.  Then, I took the Chevron Mask and inked over it with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

The doily was colored with Picked Raspberry stain and dried with a heat gun.


I really love the color of the Picked Raspberry with the Peacock Feather!!!

Twine was then wrapped around the tag a few times and was threaded through the center of the doily, tying a bow after threaded.  A trinket pin was then glued on top of the bow.  (I realized after placing the pin that the bow/pin combination resembled a butterfly or dragonfly.  After inking an adage ticket and attaching it with pop dots and adding my favorite twine at the top, the tag is finished!!

Happy Crafting!!

--LouLou

A wooden tag this time....

At my work, Cupboard Distributing, we specialize in wood pieces for crafting and painting.  Since I don't paint, I've always been trying to incorporate my paper crafting with the wood.  And when the Distress Stains came along, I had my answer.

This tag is fairly simple, but it demonstrates how easy and handy Distress Stains are.  This tag was coated with Dusty Concord stain.

It literally only took about a minute to cover this tag with the stain.  And after I had coated the tag, I wiped off the excess with a paper towel and dried it with my Heat It tool.  (Drying is necessary, especially if you have intentions of working with embossing powders.  If you do not dry after distress ink of any type before you use embossing powder, your powder may stick to any 'wet' surface.  So to prevent unwanted embossing, take a few minutes to dry the project.)

I heat embossed a stenciled image on top of the stained tag.  Adding some finishing touches of adhesive pearls, ribbon, and a philosophy tag for good measure.

The ribbon is the Idea-ology Crinkle Ribbon.  I colored the ribbon with purple ink spray and crumpled it before I dried it with the Heat It tool.  Make sure you use gloves when crumpling the freshly inked ribbon.  (I should have listened to my friend Sherrie as I have a purple left hand at the moment!  LOL)

The sentiment is another from one of my favorite Tim Holtz sets: CMS 132 Words for Thought.  It was stamped on some scrap manilla tag I had and inked with some Stormy Sky Distress Ink.

Thanks for stopping by!  Hopefully will have some more new projects this weekend!!  I have BIG plans for a piece of plywood!

See you soon!!


(PS  The wood tags are available for purchase from Cupboard Distributing at the following link: Wooden Tags)

Another day, another tag....

Okay, so I've been busy lately.  I think this my favorite one I've done this year.  I'm predicting a lot of Paris or London themed  projects this year as this is the year of my European vacation.

The background was created  using Squeezed Lemonade, Peacock Feathers, and Shaded Lilac; the summer seasonal Distress Ink colors.

The images are all from the same Tim Holtz stamp set: CMS 106 Paperie.

I also used some Idea-ology pieces; pen nibs, hanger, film strip ribbon, and some tiny attacher staples.

Here's a close up of the tag:

A pattern you might notice in a lot of my projects is twine or hemp.  Depending on what effect I am going for, I have a thick and a fine hemp or jute twine.  I love using the natural color because it goes with everything.  I do have the fine in 4 other colors, but I definitely use more of the natural color.  I love using hemp or jute because it is a relative inexpensive embellishment.  I think it cost me $12 for the roll that had 400 yards on it.  What a great deal!!

Happy crafting!

European Vacation trip, 5 years in the making...

Finally, after years of talking about going on my European vacation for about 5 years!  It's happening this summer!  I cannot begin to describe how excited I am!!  Not only do I get to see loads of family that I haven't seen since I was twelve, I get to do touring in England that I never had the opportunity to do when I was a child.

I'm going on this adventure with my bestie, Alicia, and my sister-in-law, Dawn.  We leave on June 28th, a little over 5 months away and this date can't come fast enough!!

We fly into Dublin for a short stay.  We're planning on touring the Guinness factory in Dublin, visiting the Temple Bar (which is the smallest pub in the world), and then taking a day bus tour up to Blarney Castle to kiss the Blarney stone.  And, a new experience for me:  we're staying in a hostel in the Pub District of Dublin!  (Not sure that being in the Pub District is going to be a good idea...haha)

Then, after two days in Dublin, it's off to England via ferry and train.  We will be staying with my Aunt and Uncle near Banbury for a little over a week.  While in England, we plan on doing lots of touristy things; Buckingham Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral, British Museum, and Madame Tussauds (where I finally will be able to get up close and personal with Robert Pattinson, be it a wax figure of the man...LOL).

We're also planning a ride on the London Eye, trips to Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Parliament, Windsor Castle, and of course, the Harry Potter Warner Bros. studio tour.  We're all VERY excited about the Warner Bros. studio tour as the three of us are all Harry Potter nuts!! LOL

Outside of London, we're going to check out Stratford-On-Avon, a place that I visited during one of my summers in England as a child.  Because I was so young, I don't think I fully appreciated the visit and the history of the area.  And, of course, no trip to England will be complete without a visit to Stonehenge.

After a week or so in England, we're going to take the Eurostar to Paris.  We've rented an apartment in central Paris for a week's stay.  We've got a HUGE list of things to see in Paris; the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Napoleon's Tomb, Moulin Rouge, the Louvre, Musee d'Orsay....the list is endless.  And the funny thing is that I think we're all most looking forward to the food.  I'm probably going to gain 10 pounds during the week in Paris!  I cannot wait to eat crepes and pastries!!  YUM!

The next major thing I have to do is buy my plane ticket next month and then make it through about 5 months of waiting!  We're planning on buying a lot of the tickets in advance so that's one less thing to worry about!

How will I make it???  LOL

Off to do some housework....  YUCK!

A bright tag....

Just got home from a crop at work.  Finally got around to playing with the seasonal Distress.  And I've discovered that some of the seasonal ones are my favorite ones yet!  Especially Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean, and Squeezed Lemonade.

Below is a tag that I completed. Again, I won't go into much detail other than the colors used as I will be teaching these in a class in March.

I absolutely love the seasonal colors!!  The seasonal colors were originally in sets of threes and are now available individually.

Spring: Shaded Lilac, Squeezed Lemonade, Peacock Feathers

Summer:  Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean, Picked Raspberry

Autumn: Ripe Persimmon, Seedless Preserves, Gathered Twigs

Winter: Iced Spruce, Festive Berries, Evergreen Bough



On this tag I used Squeezed Lemonade, Picked Raspberry, Shaded Lilac, and Salty Ocean.  (And before all the embellishments, the background reminded me of a rainbow tie-dye shirt..LOL)

I also used a little bit of Dylusions Ink Spray on the tag.  The Dylusions colors are absolutely stunning and vivid!  I was so happy to hear that they released 6 more colors at CHA this year!!!


This is the close-up of the sentiment.  This is one of my favorite Tim Holtz stamp sets from Stampers Anonymous. (CMS 132: Words for Thought)

This sentiment was stamped with Salty Ocean and coated with some Rock Candle Crackle Paint.




It's definitely nice to have my crafty mojo back after it's 6 month hiatus!!

Off to finish watching some Adam Levine on SNL!!

Until later!

Back to inky fingers....

Apparently, I have been on a hiatus from crafting.  Between family things with a sick relative, work, and illnesses, my life has been crazy.  And, not to mention, planning a European vacation with my bestie and my sister-law, also monopolizes a lot of my time...

So now we're back to inky fingers....and the returning of my crafting mojo....and I've decided to dabble in some more mixed media.....

This is done on a 1/4" piece of plywood and could possibly be a class I teach later on this year.  I really enjoyed just 'playing' with the ink, stain, markers, and embossing powder..

Tomorrow, I will be getting really inky at the crop at work.  Got to get some more samples done!!

Until later....