How lame am I? I JUST got around to making my first of the 12 Tags of Christmas. Ah well...this was really one of my favorites this year anyway. All of Tim's stuff is amazing, but when it comes to Christmas, I like elegant and sparkly a little bit more than shabby vintage. I can't help it.
Anyway. Since I had the advantage of having read the entire 12 Tags Blog series prior to starting my craft, I think this tag is inspired both by tag 1 and tag 3. This ended up as a Christmas card for a dear friend of mine at work.
Supplies:
Cordinations KraftCore No. 17
Plain Kraft paper - Archivers
Tim Holtz Texture Fade Flourish
Snowflake Embossing Folder - Cuttlebug (discontinued)
Stampendous Shabby White Embossing Enamel
VersaInk Embossing Ink
Distress Ink in Broken China
Distress Stain in Broken China
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Snow Queen
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist inPearl
Ribbon in gold and black
Felt snowflake ribbon - Michaels
Acrylic snowflake cutout- Archivers
Sanding block
Silver paint dabber
Tim Holtz Tag and Bookplates Diecut
Cricut Cartridge Winter Woodland
Basically, I followed Tim's instructions for the preparation of the base of the card, including the cutout, embossing, enameling and sanding of the card. I put more enamel across the top (I dipped my fingertip in versaink and applied it directly to the tag to give it a smudged look) and because I used the shabby enamel, a lot of it distressed itself, so my sanding was pretty light. You can see in the picture that the outlines of the snowflakes embossed much better than the background, but it came out pretty cool. While the tag was cooling and before I sanded it, I cut out the letters "NOEL" using my cricut and the font on the Winter Woodland cartridge and using kraft paper. I painted the letters using the silver paint dabber and set them aside to dry. Then I took my acrylic snowflake and ran it through the embossing machine using the Flourishes texture fade, which I then misted with Snow Queen glimmer mist. That took a long time to dry, but it came out kind of marbley looking and I like it. Anyway, since I was all about coloring accents at this point, I cut some strips of felt snowflake ribbon. One I misted with Pearl glimmer mist and set aside. Then I misted another ribbon with the same glimmer mist, and then swiped my Broken China distress ink over it. For the final piece, I dabbed all over the ribbon using the distress stain. The felt absorbed the stain in some funky ways, and I decided not to mist it and leave it kind of blotchy looking. (Note: all of these coloring techniques are available on Tim's blog.)
Once my silver letters were dry, I distressed them and the tag itself using the sanding block. I played with the positioning of the phrase for a long time before settling on the blocked format. I adhered the felt ribbon using gluedots and tiny attachers, and then I tied the acrylic snowflake using gold ribbon. To finish, I added black and blue ribbon across the top and attached my scrap felt snowflakes using a jeweled pin. Voila!
Friday, December 23, 2011
The Truth about Cardcrafting?
Oh, lists...they're so important sometimes.
I don't take people off my card list if I don't hear back from them, but I also am pretty selective about who I send them to. I think its because I make them all, so I'm not just investing the cash to buy some pre-printed ones and then the time to sign and address the cards, I'm also investing a little piece of me into each card that says "You are loved, don't forget it!".
Of course, then there are all the OTHER lists we make. Its good to stay on most of those, too. :)
I don't take people off my card list if I don't hear back from them, but I also am pretty selective about who I send them to. I think its because I make them all, so I'm not just investing the cash to buy some pre-printed ones and then the time to sign and address the cards, I'm also investing a little piece of me into each card that says "You are loved, don't forget it!".
Of course, then there are all the OTHER lists we make. Its good to stay on most of those, too. :)
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Hero Arts 2012 Catalog
So, I finally got to check out the new Hero Arts 2010 Catalog online and (wow!!) I am very impressed. I think the new Frame Cuts are going to be a new and unexpected favorite product of mine. Frame cuts are very thin die cuts (think Spellbinders or Sizzix) that can be positioned anywhere on a page to create beautiful windows and shapes in sizes perfect for card crafting. In addition, they coordinate with a range of new stamps for precision trimming of images. In fact, I've already got Enchante and Le Journal on my list. I smell a beautiful line of cards, gift bags, and tags in my future. I have to be honest...in the past, I was not a huge fan of Hero Arts, mostly because (as you've probably noticed) I prefer a more vintage look to my work. I think this year's catalog blows my previous biases away, and I'm so excited to work with these new products.
Also, in a huge shout-out to an innovation I hope other stamping companies follow up with, Hero Arts now offers digital die cut files that coordinate with their existing stamp lines! For example, check out this flourish background cut! I think the stamp itself is rather average and common (how many variations of this image have you seen?) but add it on top of a cut-out lace background...oh heavens. Gorgeous. I can't wait to get crafting again.
**Note: in the first part of the post, I linked to the awesome Simon Says Stamp page because that happened to be the page I was shopping from at the time. I tried to link the rest back to HeroArts.com itself.
Also, in a huge shout-out to an innovation I hope other stamping companies follow up with, Hero Arts now offers digital die cut files that coordinate with their existing stamp lines! For example, check out this flourish background cut! I think the stamp itself is rather average and common (how many variations of this image have you seen?) but add it on top of a cut-out lace background...oh heavens. Gorgeous. I can't wait to get crafting again.
**Note: in the first part of the post, I linked to the awesome Simon Says Stamp page because that happened to be the page I was shopping from at the time. I tried to link the rest back to HeroArts.com itself.
Friday, December 9, 2011
Christmas Cards!
I've had these posts ready FOREVER but I wanted to get Christmas Cards out in the mail before I posted anything.
My primary christmas card this year is a religious theme. I found this gorgeous Inkadinkado stamp at Archivers last year...I'm a big fan of the Mindscape line. I stamped the image using crushed concord distress ink and white card stock, and then polished antique gold perfect pearls onto the wet ink. I mounted the image on gold glimmer cardstock, and then pop-dotted the image onto the card. I stamped the sentiment using versamark clear and embossed using the new stampendous shabby white embossing powder. (This is totally another favorite product of mine. I actually bought the sampler kit so I got the shabby white, pink, blue, gold and silver...love it!!) I used pre-done purple cards and envelopes I found on clearance at Hobby Lobby for the card base, so that saved some time! You can't see it in the photos, but I stamped a sentiment inside the card as well using the distress ink. I finished the card with a tiny gem in the center of the star. Simple, but elegant. I am particularly pleased with the gold shimmer of the image and the hint of purple behind it.
(photos will go here!)
My primary christmas card this year is a religious theme. I found this gorgeous Inkadinkado stamp at Archivers last year...I'm a big fan of the Mindscape line. I stamped the image using crushed concord distress ink and white card stock, and then polished antique gold perfect pearls onto the wet ink. I mounted the image on gold glimmer cardstock, and then pop-dotted the image onto the card. I stamped the sentiment using versamark clear and embossed using the new stampendous shabby white embossing powder. (This is totally another favorite product of mine. I actually bought the sampler kit so I got the shabby white, pink, blue, gold and silver...love it!!) I used pre-done purple cards and envelopes I found on clearance at Hobby Lobby for the card base, so that saved some time! You can't see it in the photos, but I stamped a sentiment inside the card as well using the distress ink. I finished the card with a tiny gem in the center of the star. Simple, but elegant. I am particularly pleased with the gold shimmer of the image and the hint of purple behind it.
(photos will go here!)
Thursday, December 1, 2011
White Truffle: Gift Guide in Black & White by JBM Designs
Gorgeous designs and awesome gifts. I've ordered mine already!!
White Truffle: Gift Guide in Black & White by JBM Designs: Gift Guide in Black & White by JBM Designs
White Truffle: Gift Guide in Black & White by JBM Designs: Gift Guide in Black & White by JBM Designs
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