Tim Holtz' 12 tags of 2015 - October

Tim Holtz's October tag for 2015 introduces his new Halloween dimensional dies. I've been eyeing them in the store but haven't broken down yet (it's bound to happen) but I tried to capture some of the elements he used in his tag with what I already have. I'm not totally satisfied with the "wrinkle-free" distress look for the background. Tim got beautiful splotches on his but mine worked out much more consistent. Since I don't have any of the dimensional dies I settled for his die cut heart which I inked and painted. It's popped up slightly to show the background tag colour. The rest of the embellishments are paint and rub-ons.

Materials:

• Distress inks: blueprint, hickory smoke
• #8 manila tags
• Dylusions paint
• Basic Grey rubons

May flowers

Sharing a few small projects that were inspired by the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge (May flowers).

A friend gave me a box full of chipboard shapes and included were about a dozen gift box shapes. I added gesso to 3 of them and used them as mini canvases. Although each turned out very different from the others, I actually used the same acrylic paint colours and many of the same stencils for each.

#1 Singing bird was finished off with one of Tim Holtz' birds and enamel musical notes.
#2 Friendship has hand-rolled flowers and a quote on friendship.
#3 Dandelions is my favourite as the white paint took on a silver sheen when added over black.

Acrylic paint - Dina Wakley - lime green, sky
Distress paint - Tim Holtz
Various stencils - Memory Box, TCW, Dyan Reaveley
Stamp - Tim Holtz - bird

You make my heart dance

Valentine's Day is coming and even though I have no one to celebrate with, I still made a Valentine's Day card. I just bought one of the new Dylusions stamp sets and couldn't help imagining pairing the legs with a heart.

I covered a die cut paper heart with crumpled tissue  and then stenciled over top with pearlescent paste. When I attached the legs, I cut the image apart so that the legs could be positioned more like a chorus line dancer. I love how flexible Dylusions stamps can be! To give the card motion, I added springs behind the heart and legs. The final touch was a slightly skewed background (again, to capture the idea of movement).

This was fun and simple to create and it just makes me smile.

Thank you to the following challenges for the inspiration:

• Mixed Media Card Challenge for the inspiration.
• Dies R Us Challenge - hearts
• Naughty or Nice Challenge - love/anti-love

The best things in life are not things

Yet another scrapbook layout featuring one of my beautiful nieces. This time the focus is my niece Alita - isn't she just beautiful?

I used up some stash (the papers are all from packs I had laying around) and also tried something new for a scrapbook page - lots & lots of layers. I found lots of inspiration for this page in the following challenges:

Stuck?! Sketches - sketch

CSI - Colour

My beautiful niece

My house isn't clean and my kids are going to run out of clean clothes any day now but I have been getting a lot of scrapbooking done... Today's layout is inspired by Scrap Our Stash Challenge and this month's page sketch. I've taken the sketch down to it's basic parts and made this page for my niece's most recent school picture. I used nothing but paper scraps (including the background paper which is a textured off-white) and the burlap ribbon and stickers are scraps too. The washi tapes have been in by stash for quite a while. The twist for the challenge is to use sequins and this was causing me some difficulty as I don't own any. But then I remembered a shirt of mine has a few sequins left on it. I'm not a sparkly person (in terms of clothing) so I had no qualms about removing the sequins and adding them to the heart on the layout. I used my Copic marker to make them black to mirror the black polka dots in the washi tape.

 Thanks for visiting my blog today.

A little bit of love

I'm working this coming weekend to bundle up Valentine's Day cards to donate to my local childrens' hospital (via Send A Smile 4 Kids - Canada). Here are 4 of the cards that I'll be including in the box.

I created these cards with scraps (cut into 1/4" strips and woven) and some leftover stickers. I really like how they worked out as there is lots of texture and with the kraft background these aren't too girly so could be given to a boy.

I'm entering these cards into the following challenge:

• Clear it Out Challenge - Valentine's Day / Flowers (2 of the patterned paper scraps had flowers in the design)

Breathe

Had a great day today with Jacqui as we spent hours playing with paint, paper and stencils. So nice to create just for the sake of creating. I finished off one journal page with my word of the year and am nearly done with a second page that I'll share later this week.

Materials:

• Dylusions Art Journal
• Gesso
• Dina Wakley paints
• generic acrylic paints
• TCW stencils - Flower Frenzy, Mini Dots
• Heidi Swapp stencil - Butterfly

I'm entering this journal page into a couple of challenges:

• DecoArt Create Dare - one word
• The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge - use something new to you (the flower frenzy stencil)
• The Mirror Crack'd - stencils

Bath-time for foster kittens

My family fosters 3-4 litters of kittens for our local animal shelter every year. Taking care of these tiny creatures is a lot of fun for my kids (a lot of extra work for me, grumble grumble) and living in a family home makes the kittens a lot easier to adopt.

I have to be honest and admit that, for the most part, I don't like kittens - they are messy, destructive, demanding, and there isn't a lot of personality. Yes, they are cute and adorable and watching their antics is better than TV. But young kittens are all pretty much the same and it isn't until after they leave our foster home that their personalities develop and they become individuals. 

But every once in a while there will be a special kitten or litter that does stand out. Late last year we fostered a litter of orphans who stood out, although not for their personalities. These little monsters were eating on their own - barely - but this involved them swimming in their food. Every meal, every kitten needed to be bathed. This went on for almost 2 weeks. 

This month's major case file challenge at Color - Stories - Inspiration (CSI) used a grumpy cat image for inspiration and I immediately thought of this bunch of kittens for a layout. So here is my entry:

I used scrap papers from a couple of Basic Grey collections and the filmstrip is a digital stamp. The layout and colours come from the CSI inspiration board:

Another challenge that inspired me:

• Love to Scrap! Challenge Blog - use a stamp (digital photostrip) and use at least one item starting with blog initials. L(ayers) - T(iny kitten) - S(tripes) - C(omputer journaling) - B(asic Grey papers)

It took 70 years to get this awesome

Today I'm sharing a layout that I just completed celebrating my father's 70th birthday. Although I'm not thrilled with the final page, I keep reminding myself that it's better to have finished pages than perfect pages. LOL.

I used a piece of green cardstock for the background but added watery paint to create a watercolour effect. I also used paint (Tim Holtz Wild honey) to edge all the papers and drag across the background for more texture. The rub-ons and pattered papers are all scraps from Basic Grey Lime Rickey.

I found inspiration in many places:

• Sketch N Scrap provided the sketch 

• CSI provided the colour scheme and prompts 

Corset card

Today's project is a combination of card and gift packaging. I got my BFF a necklace and wanted to wrap it in a special way so I pulled out my brand-new Lace It Up diecut from Tattered Lace, did some research on the internet for styles and then created this corset card.

I had such fun making this. The corset itself is patterned paper over textured white cardstock that is wrapped in silver patterned ribbon. The laces are cut from a shiny silver paper and I made the ruffle from netting which I recycled from some packaging. The last step was punching a couple of holes so that the necklace could be strung through the card. I'm so pleased with how this worked out!

I'm entering this into the following challenges:

• Cute Card Thursday - use something new (the Tattered Lace diecut)
• Card Mania - make it sparkle
• Love to Scrap - use an item beginning with at least one letter of our challenge blog initials (L, T, S, C, B). I used Lace, a Tattered Lace die cut, and made a Corset.
• The Paper Girls - sparkle

Cards for boys

After completing the scrapbook layout I shared in my last post, I decided to try and finish off the rest of the paper pack since it was down to scraps. I made a half dozen boys' cards (using sketches from the Scrapbook.com January Sketch Challenge) and then turned the rest of the scraps into Father's Day card kits for the Childrens' Hospital (via Send A Smile 4 Kids Canada). I'm happy to say that I've used up all but two sheets of the Sassafras Robotics paper collection! Yippee me!

I'm entering these cards into the following challenges:

Clear it Out: Anything goes using stash
Creative Card Crew: For a child
Scrapbook.com January Sketch Challenge:

• Sketch #1
• Sketch #3
• Sketch #4

My handsome sons

I'm really going to try and scrapbook more this year (and post photos of some of the more successful projects). My first completed layout of the year is this one of my son's current school photos.

I was inspired by the following challenge:

From my stash, I used T(wine, on the chalkboard sign) - W(ave, shape across the page) - I(nk, my journal pen) - N(umbers) - E(yelets, holding the chalkboard sign). I also used up quite a bit of scrap paper from a Sassafras pack that I had. Yay me!

I used a sketch from SketchSavvy but can't for the life of me track it down to link it here. I found it through Google search and printed it off for reference. But now I can't find it online anywhere (not even on the SketchSavvy blog). Urggh. But if you love sketches be sure to check out http://sketchsavvy.blogspot.ca/. Her sketches are really wonderful!

That's all for now. Have yourself a creative day!

Stickles carrying case

I love, love, love my Stickles. So, of course, I had to make a special carrying case for them (something as special as glitter glue shouldn't have to be carried in a boring plastic container). I picked up this lunchbox-style case at the dollar store - ugly design but with the addition of several Basic Grey patterned papers (all from the "Lime Rickey" set) and some decoupage'd tissue paper, a fabulous & fun case was born.

 

The original (ugly) box

Completed, altered box - isn't it bee-u-ti-ful

Holds all my Stickles with room to grow

Challenges:

Craft My Life - anything goes
Not Just Cards - anything goes

Christmas tag inspired by Tim Holtz

Inspired (OK, pretty much scrap-lifted in its entirety) from one of Tim Holtz's 12 tags of Christmas. The tag doesn't photograph great but looks really awesome live because the snowflake embossed clear plastic front sparkles.

  

Challenges:

Craft My Life - anything goes
Not Just Cards - anything goes

Storage for baker's twine and ribbon

I have to give credit to Amber at damask love for the idea and instructions on how to create this absolutely wonderful hanging display & storage unit for baker's twine. Amber's tutorial is really clear so I won't bother explaining anything about how this was created except to point out that instead of painting the wooden frame I decided to cover it with patterned paper. I used a sharp blade to trim around the designs and then sanded all the edges. It was finished off with a couple of coats of Mod Podge. It was a lot more work than painting would be but I'm pleased with the result.

I've hung the frame in my work area and just love how accessible the coloured twines and narrow ribbons are now.

Challenges:

Artistic Inspirations - anything but a card
Creative Craft Challenges - alter it
Hotshot Crafts - anything
Paper Crafting Journey - monochromatic
Unstampabelles - anything but a card

Gotta Catch 'Em All

I'm thrilled with the card I'm sharing today as it worked exactly how I wanted it to. My son had a birthday party to attend on the weekend and the card just had to be Pokemon based. I decided to try creating a card that looked like a Pokeball and opened up to show the birthday greeting.

Creating the Pokeball was actually very easy. I cut 3 circles using my Grand Calibur Circles die cuts in red, white & black. The red & white circles were cut in half and then 1/4 inch removed. I trimmed the black circle so that just 1/2 inch in the middle was left. The "ball" opens using brads as the hinge. The centre black & white circles are popped up separately and then I added a large padded brad in the very centre.

My son was thrilled with the card - especially because I found an image of the newest Pokemon starters to print off for the inside. While making the card I created an extra to donate to the Childrens Hospital as well. The only difference between the cards is the top section of the extra card is left blank.

 

Challenges:

2 Sisters - fairytale or fantasy

Deep Ocean Challenge - for a boy

Dutch Dare - for a boy

Eclectic Ellapu - for a child

Papertake Weekly - anything goes

Pause, Dream, Enjoy - for a boy

Pile It On - birthday

Send A Smile 4 Kids - for the boys

 

Boys cards can't be beat

As a mother of 2 boys, I always need cards for males, so I'm really happy to have 3 cards to add to my stash for later use. Each of the cards uses Basic Grey "Oxford" papers and embellishments plus kraft card blanks.

 

Challenges:

Basic Grey Challenge - anything goes

Here Come the Boys - lots of layers

Eclectic Ellapu - masculine

Daring Cardmakers - hot chocolate (totally inspired by the colour

Lollipop Ladies - nerds

Inspiration:

Card #1:  Feeling Sketchy - sketch
Card #2:  Tuesday Morning Sketches - sketch
Card #3:  Seems a Little Sketchy - sketch

Inspired By - picture inspiration (picked this set of papers/embellies because of the school supply inspiration)
 

 

Easter bookmarks

Still desperately trying to reduce my stack of supplies so that I can walk through my dining room again. I think I managed to use up about 1/2" worth of scrap paper by creating a stack of corner bookmarks (the book page slides in behind the bunny face so the ears are sticking out). These are my favourites - super easy to create, but cute as can be. I've made enough to use them for school Easter goodie bags. If you want to try making your own corner bookmarks there are a tonne of tutorials available online but my initial inspiration came from Positively Peaches Monster bookmark.

Challenges:
Allsorts - animals
One Stop Craft Challenge - for the kids
Hotshot Craft - anything but a card
Creative Belli - hearts
Deep Ocean Challenge - "B" (for bunny, bookmark & brown)

What a Hoot

Another project created from some of my BFF Jacqui's stash. This time she gave me a page kit from Lickety Split and even though the page layouts included in the kit were adorable, I decided to instead convert it into a mini album.

I included both chipboard and acrylic pages but otherwise kept the album design simple since the papers were so busy. All of the embellishments (flowers, leaves, brads, die cuts) came from the page kit - all I added was some cardstock and the album pages. Oh, and instead of binding the pages with rings, I used ribbon from my own stash.

 

I can't get over how quickly this album came together. So easy when all the papers & embellies are together. And even though I didn't use the page design provided in the kit, it really helped to give me ideas. Also so much easier when I just sit down and do it instead of over-thinking the process!

 

Challenges:

Glitter n Sparkle - anything but a card

Allsorts - things with wings

Alphabet Challenge - anything with wings

Hotshot Craft - anything but a card

 

 

Making card kit projects unique

I picked up a card kit at my LSS (on sale!) and spent an enjoyable evening putting the cards together but I really wanted to adapt the cards and make them more unique and personal to my style. I decided to take the finished card kit cards and use them as toppers on larger cards with additional layers & embellishments. This worked great since the kit cards were quite small and there was plenty of leftover paper.

The first card is based on a sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches (see below). I rotated the sketch and used the kit card as the central "image". I chose to have lots of white space to avoid having the final card be too busy as well as keep it looking fresh & crisp.

Challenges - "Merry & Bright" card:

Crafty Hazelnut's  - Christmas card without snow
Pal's Paper Arts - colour combo
Tuesday Morning Sketches - sketch

The second card is based on a sketch from Cupcake Craft. Again, the central "image" is the kit card with additional paper and ribbon elements added. Instead of stretching the ribbon across the card, I tried looping it - I really like the extra dimension and interest. I added some red Stickles to the tree and the corners of the "celebrate" banner - after all, Christmas cards can never have too much glitter!

Challenges - "Celebrate" card:

All that Stickles - Xmas red stickles
Cupcake Craft - sketch

 Pretty Little Ribbon - anything goes
Tuesday Throwdown - anything goes