tag a la maile b., sorta (Ellen Hutson, Artful Delight, PDC, SSS)

If you haven't jumped on, you should.  The chalkboard bandwagon, that is.  I jumped on, thanks to some motivation from Betsy V. here.  And boy is it fun.  But I twisted it into a tag based on Maile B.'s tag for Day 10 of 12 Tags with a Feminine Twist over at Ellen Hutson's Classroom.


Now maybe not everyone gets into chalkboards.  Created by me, on a card, I'm a fan.  But let me tell you, in my stint as a teacher, chalk became my number one enemy.  First off, there's never a good sized piece at the board.  Second, some kids take pleasure in throwing it across the room.  Third, no matter how often you rubs your hands to get the chalk dust off, you always end up with chalk dust on your clothes.  And when you're fighting dry, chapped hands in the winter it's the last thing you need.  Nuff said.

May I say, however, that making a card with this technique is FUN.  Inky fingers are OK.

At first glance you might not "see" Maile's tag.

But it's there - the BG stamped with white images, the washi strip, the pink/green sentiment panel, the white ribbon.  My additions - a touch of bling and a gift card pocket on the back.  Again.

Playing at the Cafe again:

And at Artful Delight:

And at Simon Says Stamp - What's Your Favorite? cuz I love me some heat embossing.
Have a wonderful week before Christmas.

Supplies for You better not pout:

Paper: manila tag, black paper Bringmann, book page

Stamps: 7 Gypsies

Ink :  Versamark, Adirondack pigment, white pencil

Tools:

Other:  embossing powder, twine, washi, ribbon, bling

tag a la sharon h. (Ellen Hutson, Color Q, Craft Room, Catered Crop)

If you love new techniques and have a bit of time you really should check out the 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist over at Ellen Hutson's Classroom.  Ellen does a take on Tim Holtz's 12 Tags.  But there's lotsa pink!

My tag is inspired by Sharon H.'s tag on Day 1.  Hers is elegant and shiny and really girly.  Mine is... well mine.

I must thank this challenge for getting me to ink up my brayer (bought one awhile back - everyone has to have a brayer, right? - hadn't used it til now).  TIP:   Distress Inks are marvelous for lots of things.  Brayering is not one of them apparently.  Notice the spottiness to my BG.

I used the colors from Color Q #167:

Sorta.  Used DI Evergreen Bough cuz it's kinda green/gray for my BG.  Brayered it onto a Sizzix embossing plate and dry embossed the white CS.  See why I wouldn't recommend using DI for this???  Spritzed with copper Perfect Pearls mist to give it a little sheen.  Cut the top of the tag with a Spellbinders die for interest. TIP:  Don't do this if you plan to stitch around the edges.  Note the word "plan"...

Well the stitching happened cuz I decided to make this a gift-card-holder-tag (Ellen did this on her tag for Day 12 - Duh!  What a super idea!)  I had dry embossed a piece of red CS for the poinsettia petal strips and used the rest of it for interest on the front and a pocket on the back of the tag.

Got the idea for the poinsettia here at Basic Grey.  Obviously not mailable, but this is a tag.  It works.

Used two colors of green for the die cut snowflakes for the center of the bloom (and on the back pocket) and a cool brad too.  Mounted it on a die cut PTI green bloom for a bit more interest and "hold".  TIP:  Always have a bottle of Glossy Accents on hand.  It dries shiny (guess that's the point of "glossy" accents, eh?) but holds better than any other glue I know.

Whew, long post.  I'm joining the fun at:
Craft Room Challenge - Make a Tag
Catered Crop - Tag, You're It

Appreciate your visit.

Supplies for Merry Christmas:

Paper: CS TPC Studio, American Crafts

Stamps: sentiment 7 Gypsies

Ink : Distress Ink, Jenny Bowlin

Tools: brayer, dies - snowflakes Marianne Creatables, border Amuse, tag top Spellbinders, sewing machine, embossing plate Sizzix

Other:  pearl, sheer ribbon, glue dots, brad 

a little goes a long way (10 min Craft Dash, SSS, Dream Valley)

Nothing like a little stress to help a card along.  Promised DD I would make a Christmas card for her riding instructor.  Forgot.  Today she has riding lessons.  So I peel out from the dining table, head to my craft room and make a card.  And I did it in 8 minutes and 43 seconds.  Unbelievable!

OK, so I had the idea in my head all along.

And the embossing supplies were already out thanks to yesterday's tag.  When I had seen the 10-Minute-Craft-Dash challenge to use red I knew the sentiment would be heat embossed red goodness - thus the "a little goes a long way" title of my post.  Even made the decision to round the corner at the last minute - just did it without standing there contemplating it first ;)  Would have liked to add red glitter glue to the berries but didn't have time to go hunting for it and DD wouldn't have waited for it to dry.  She nearly killed me when I said I wanted to take a quick photo before she could leave... the joys of having a Mom with a blog, eh?

Also joining:
Simon Says Stamp - What's your Favorite?  (I love that Hero Arts branch stamp)
Dream Valley #47 - Christmas
Cupcake Craft Challenge #222 - Merry Christmas (that was my room number freshman year in college!)

Go make a card in 10 minutes or less.  You'll be pretty proud of yourself!  I have to go clean up my kitchen.

Supplies for Merry Christmas:

Paper: PTI

Stamps: branch Hero Arts, berries WMS, horse Artemio, sentiment 7 Gypsies

Ink : Versamagic, Versamark

Tools: corner rounder EKS

Other: embossing powder 

Happy Birthday to a great friend! (kissing technique)

You may have seen this photo from this post of mine.

I couldn't get the design of the tray (upper left corner) to work with my die cut birdies.  But the design was still begging to be created and when I saw the Kissing Challenge at Lily Pad, I gave it another try.  Also entering Simon Says Stamp's Anything Goes with this one.

I got to cheat  a little on the kissing technique because this stamp set from 7Gypsies has a couple birds with text on them.  I did texture up the solid bird by kissing the Feather Grasses stamp from Hero Arts.  Used pigment inks from Aladine for the birds.  Stamped the sentiment with Versafine and clear embossed.   Love it when a single-layer card works!

Here is the inside:

Hope the birds are singing in your neck of the woods.

Supplies:  Happy Birthday

Paper: Buttinette

Stamps: birds 7Gypsies, sentiments Hero Arts

Ink: pigment Aladine, black Versafine

Tools:

Other: embossing powder