Some Bunny Loves You Tag, Acetate Layer, Rabbit

I'm sure you've noticed that some stamps have a sentiment that just pairs with them so absolutely perfectly that they look like they were always meant to be together.

 You have noticed that, haven't you?

My tag for today's new Tag You're It challenge just so happens to be one of those pairings.  

I don't often do 'cute' images, but I just couldn't resist this sweet little bunny - it's so adorable :)

Here are two close up shots.  Isn't bunny just the sweetest thing? 

...  and if you look really closely at the last image you will hopefully notice my subtle embossing :) 

 Now at first glance I will admit that this tag of mine looks like it has nothing in common with our Featured Artist's inspiration tag for this challenge.

However, if you look you'll see that not only do Richard Breaks stamp and sentiment pair perfectly;  he's also only really used the one main colour - variations of brown with a few complimentary colours thrown in (artistically, of course)!   And he's also embossed his background.

Now I may not have used brown, or coffee, or gone for a heavy embossed look...  but I have included those key features in my own unique way :)

(This bunny sure does make me smile, have you noticed)? 

Now I don't know what you normally colour your images in with if you are using acetate, but I had a 'eureka' moment by accident whilst experimenting with this design.

You see initially, I wasn't sure if I was going to stamp in black or white, so I got out both of my Stazon Ink pads for a quick practice on scrap acetate packaging.

I had never used my Cotton White ink pad before and it did not go well...  and I followed the instructions on the packaging three times over!  

So being suitably unimpressed, and resigning myself to the fact that this was a bad purchase on my part that would have to be binned, I put this to one side and stamped with my black Stazon instead.

But then I got to thinking (it happens occasionally)!

What if rather than throw the ink pad away (if you know anything about this ink pad you will know that it comes as a dry pad with a separate bottle of ink that you apply yourself), I used the Inker bottle ink to paint with?  'Eureka' indeed!

So I applied two coats of ink to the back of the stamped images (with drying time in between), added a touch of 3D Gel Glue behind the bunny and then sandwiched the two tags together.  Then it was simply a case of adding a few bright and colourful embellishments...  and job done :)

(If you missed my post the other day you may be wondering how I achieved the deep pink look to my tag.  It was super easy as all I had to do was use some Crafter's Companion/Spectrum Noir Aqua Tint Ink.  Just wet your paper and splodge it on.  It really is that simple).

I hope my little bunny tag made you smile today, too :)

Why don't you have a go and see what design you can come up with?  Whether it's coffee or not or brown or not, my team mates and I would love to see you give it a try.  

So come and join us at Tag You're It :) 

Supplies Used:

Die:

Mamaelephant 'Tags A Lot'

Stamp:

Clearly Besotted 'Woodland Kisses'

Inks:

Stazon 'Jet Black'

Stazon 'Cotton White'

Other:

Crafter's Companion/Spectrum Noir 'Aqua Tint Inks' - Perfectly Primary

Acetate

Wooden Button

Micro Button - Heart Shaped

Green Raffia - Two shades of Green

3D Glue Gel

Challenges I'm Entering...

Simon Says/Wednesday

Anything Goes

Words 2 Craft By

W2CB#33   'Every Child Deserves A Champion'

(...  and what better way to champion your child than to remind them that they are loved)?

Tic-Tac-Toe

Challenge #18 - I chose Stencil, 3D Project, Back To School

(Can you imagine this in a school lunch box - maybe with a lollipop tied around it - just to remind your child that they are loved)?

Aud Sentiments

Challenge #165   'Anything Goes'

Out of interest, have any of you also had failings with the Cotton White Stazon ink pad or am I just uniquely blessed in that department?

Don't laugh...  I'm uniquely blessed in lots of ways!

Have a warm, safe and peaceful weekend...  and if you can't have all three, be safe at least.

Big hugs to you for stopping by today...

Donna. x

Corrugated Bird On A Branch, Christmas, Kraft Card

Some of you will know that I've started using my husband's photography equipment for my blog photo's...  which means I'm on a bit of a learning curve to say the least.

What doesn't help however, is when this card was all finished up, photo's were taken on Saturday morning for me to edit, I say to my husband that they look blurry, he says no they don't...  and so I edit them anyway.   And then I show him and he agrees with me that they look blurry!

I mean, seriously?

Do you have any idea just how long it takes me to edit?!!

So there's been a three day delay getting this card online (he went away the following morning for two days with his beloved camera)...  and truth be told it still kind of looks a bit blurry to me - even though I took a new batch of photo's and edited them just yesterday.  But this card is heavy on texture and glitter spray and camera's don't seem to like that shine so much.

Oh well...

Do any of you Memory Box fans remember the Twigs and Berries die set?  If you do, you'll probably see straight away that's where I got my inspiration from for this months Memory Box 'Stencils' Challenge.

Take a look...

Here's a close up shot.  See what I mean about lots of glitter spray?

This card was such fun to make.

I've used three different Memory Box stencils (two current and one discontinued, but truth be told the discontinued one looks a lot like paint splatters anyway so it's easy to swap out if it's not in your stash).  Then I've cut out some circles, added a bird that I've made from corrugated card and covered in texture paste (the wing's from a Poinsettia die), added extra branches, lots of glitter spray, some berries (red enamel dots), torn paper edges, white acrylic paint...  and then basically I've just sandwiched the whole thing on to an embossed background that's been lightly Gessoed first (using watered down Gesso) with some 3D glue gel.  

It's a very 'me' style card...  kind of pretty but messy looking!

Speaking of 'me'...  When I told my husband that this was a 'me' style card, he said,  'I'm not surprised.  If you were a colour you would be brown'.

Brown with green accents, I think.  But I was very surprised by his astute observation...  Which leads me to ask the same of you.

If you were a colour, what colour would you be?

Get's you thinking, doesn't it?

Supplies Used:

Stencils:

Memory Box 'Leafy Stems'

Memory Box 'Sprinkle Dots'

Memory Box 'Splatter Spray'

Dies:

Memory Box 'Elodee Bird Background'

Poppystamps 'Small Luxe Poinsettia Background'

Memory Box 'Woodland Branch'

Memory Box 'Grove Branch'

Circle dies - I used MFT and Spellbinders, but any small ones will do.

Inks:

Tim Holtz/Distress 'Peeled Paint'

Tim Holtz/Distress 'Bundled Sage'

Tim Holtz/Distress 'Forest Moss'

Tim Holtz/Distress 'Frayed Burlap'

Tim Holtz/Distress 'Walnut Stain'

Tim Holtz/Distress 'Gathered Twigs'

Tim Holtz/Distress 'Black Soot'

VersaMagic 'Cloud White'

Other:

Texture Paste - White

Acrylic Paint - White

Enamel Dots - Red

Crafter's Companion 'Spray and Sparkle' - Pearl Diamond

Challenges I'm Entering...

Memory Box

Pixie's Crafty Snippets Challenge

Branch die cuts, bird and snow banks made from snippets)

That's Crafty

Christmas In September

Make My Monday

Challenge #31    'No Patterned Paper'

House Of Cards

Add a Bird and/or Colours

Sparkle Creations 

Challenge #42    'Anything Goes'

If you've been kind enough to stop by twice in one day (once for this post and once for the last post), then thank you so very, very much.  Your kindness means a lot to me.

Take good care of yourselves...  and don't forget to answer my question - if you can!

Donna. x

Ornamental Tag On A Bag, Christmas, Joy

Do you ever get weeks when you feel like you're chasing your tail and still not getting anywhere?

If so, I know exactly how you feel as craft wise, it's been a long hard slog this month!

Let's just say that more and more I'm beginning to realise the merits of CAS designs. 

...  Of course, this makes me think of dogs.  They have this thing about chasing their tails, don't they?

Anyhow...

I have a fairly simple offering to share with you today.  It's taken many detours and caused me many a headache...  until I eventually figured out that sometimes simple is best.

  It's been made specifically to play along with the latest Poppystamps challenge that's due to end today.

I've included a few close up shots so you can get a better look at the tag...

The challenge over at Poppystamps for this month has been to emboss, deboss or heat emboss.  I went with heat embossing and finally had my first playtime with my Stampendous Frantage Kit (which is what is covering the main body of my tag).  I basically chucked on a bit of everything so I'm quite pleased how the glitter particles have spread themselves out so nicely.  Not so pleased about that odd bit of whatever it is up in the top right corner, though.

At least it looks less out of place in reality.  Photo's can be very unforgiving, you know!

There's not too much to say about how this was put together.  As well as heat embossing the main body of the tag (and the clasp and peg) I've layered up the snowflakes at different heights, also added layers to the main body of the tag and clasp for extra durability, sprinkled on some glitter from the Frantage Kit for one of the smaller snowflakes and added on a sequin, gem and tiny pearl...  as well as adding the main snowflake embellishment to the centre of the whole thing, of course.

Then it was simply a case of making a quick bag from a sheet of ink splodged A4 watercolour paper, adding the JOY embellishment at the bottom, tying on some glittery twine...  et voila.

It's easy when you know how, isn't it?

...  And yes, I do know that technically the front of my tag is the back and vice versa.  But when's a little thing like that going to stop me?!

Supplies Used:

Dies:

Poppystamps 'Lavinia Snowflake Ornament'

Poppystamps 'Costello Ornament Background'

Memory Box 'Alphabet Tile Letters'

Punch Board:

We R Memory Keepers Gift Bag Punch Board

Embossing Powders:

Stampendous 'Frantage Encrusted Jewel Kit' - White

Ranger 'Liquid Platinum'

Other:

Crafter's Companion/Spectrum Noir 'AquaTint Inks - Perfectly Primary

Silver twine

Snowflake Embellishment

Sequin

Gem

Pearl

Raffia - White

Craft Peg

Challenges I'm Entering...

Poppystamps

Simon Says/Monday

Powder Power

Simon Says/Wednesday

Gift It

That's Crafty

Christmas In September

Make My Monday

Challenge #31   'No Patterned Paper'

I'll be back later on today with another post...  and then again on Friday!

See you, then...  if you have the time, of course :)

Donna. x

Engagement Card, Pears, Congratulations

 I love my Memory Box and Poppystamp dies.  But you already know that, don't you?
They take up well over three quarters of my collection and get used a lot...  but I'm not brand loyal to any one company (is anyone..?) so if I see something I like, I buy it.  Simple as...  My only caveat (other than can I afford it?) is that it has to compliment my existing collection OR I know that I will use it a lot.

Speaking of simple, there's just something about the old Quickutz dies that I love.
Yes, I know...  they aren't trendy or popular and most of you probably have a neglected stash somewhere or other.  But I haven't been crafting for that long compared to most of you and missed the boat when these may well have been 'in'...  so I'm making up for lost time with a collection that currently totals about fifty.  And I still have a few more to go!

As I'm trying to 'use' rather than just hoard my stash, (I've borrowed this phrase from the very lovely Jeanne Jachna), I've paired this Lifestyle Crafts/Quickutz 'Pears' die with a ring I made from a tiny Poppystamps die, a sequin and a gem stone.
One other die for the hearts, one for a decorative strip running left to right, an embossing folder for the bow, a stencil, some watercolours and shaving foam (used to create a very 'clean' looking marbling technique), 3D glue gel, the use of a paper tearing ruler, a stamped and heat embossed sentiment...  and this card was done.

I've included a close up or two of the ring as I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.  Using embossing powder on the band makes such a difference, don't you think?  I so love adding dimension...

Now I'm seriously not a fan of messy techniques, so playing along at CAS Mix Up this month was a real challenge for me.  As it is, I've already been working (again) on my issue of using black for this challenge...   AND I've started using my husband's very intimidating looking camera for my blog posts.

(Still a long way to go on that one)! 

Baby steps.

This works for me.

Recognising what I don't like to do (craft wise), then just giving it a few teeny tiny tries.  I guess it's a bit like aversion therapy although seriously, it'll never work for me when it comes to spiders!

We had a HUGE, sprint running beastie in our house the other evening.  My poor husband gets the honour of depositing them outside.  Don't laugh, but after he's caught them I make him take them out the front door and across the road!  It may well be ridiculous, but it makes me feel better!

So...  a 'clean look' marbling technique with minimal shaving foam and paint it was.  It won't win any prizes, but at least I gave it a shot.  

 Do you think I would prefer it if I bought some alcohol inks and floated them in water instead?  Maybe I should investigate that thought before buying as I refuse to buy what I will never use...  which is obviously very different to bought but just haven't got around to using yet!!!

I'm sure you understand...

Oh, and just before I forget...  I should probably mention that although you can't see any evidence of it in the photo's I did actually use two black inks on the stencil.  Bottom layer Brilliance 'Starlite Black' and top layer Tsukineko/Memento 'Tuxedo Black'.  By putting on a thick bottom layer and dotting on a second lighter layer you get the depth of a darker black with some added shine from the Brilliance Ink underneath.

Supplies Used:

Dies:

Quickutz/Lifestlyle Crafts 'Pears'

Poppystamps 'Paper Chains'

Paper Smooches 'Tiny Hearts'

Impression Obsession 'Tied Line'

Stencil:

Crafters Workshop 'Butterfly Collage'

Ink:

Brilliance 'Starlite Black'

Tsukineko/Memento 'Tuxedo Black'

Ranger 'Perfect Medium'

Embossing Powder:

Ranger 'Liquid Platinum'

Stampendous 'Clear Detail'

Embossing Folder:

Spellbinders/Celebrations 'Fabric Weave'

Other:

Crafter's Companion/Spectrum Noir AquaTint Inks 'Essentials'  - Black and Gold

Stamp from stash

Sequin

Gem Stone Embellishment

Shaving Foam

Paper Tearing Ruler

3D Glue Gel

Challenges I'm Entering...

CAS Mix Up

Pixies Crafty Snippets Challenge

(Large scrap of white used, plus tiny snippets on pears, ring and hearts).

Curtain Call Challenge

Aud Sentiments

Challenge #163   'Anything Goes + A Sentiment'

Allsorts Challenge

Week 380   'Anniversaries and/or Special Occasions'

CAS-ual Fridays

CFC #156 Dimension & Bling

Enjoy your weekend...  and thank you so much for taking the time to stop by.  It really is appreciated far more than you know.

Donna. x

Circular Tag, Butterfly, It's The Little Things...

It's Tag You're It Friday time again, people...

and that can only mean one thing.  A new challenge to create a tag based on the inspiration of our Featured Artist.

I hadn't made a small tag for quite a while, so I took the opportunity on this challenge to do just that.

How small is it?  Well, it's not tiny.  About 7.5cm.  That's about the size of an apple or small orange - wouldn't you say?  It's easily less than half the size of some of the tags I've made lately, but then I like that as the sentiment I've used ties in quite well.

Now, for those of you that know me... please do not adjust your monitors.  You really are looking at a black butterfly!

Yes, I know.  Pick yourselves up off the floor.

I'll show you our Featured Artist's tag and you'll soon see why I've chosen to do this...

Melissa has created such a sweet double tag, don't you think?
Pretty colours.  Dotty background.  Black focal sentiment.

I took the curve at the top and simply followed it right round - that's how I got the circle shape idea for my tag...  and I stuck quite closely to the colour scheme and also used flowers and leaves.
See how my flowers are quite dotty - like the back tag on Melissa's design?  I've even used three shades of pink!

I snuck in a bigger sentiment than the word 'smile', dropped the ribbon and made my black focal image a butterfly.  It's 'artistic license' as Melissa hasn't used one...  but my butterfly serves a secondary purpose that does still tie in.  You see, by taking a hole punch to it and threaded it on it's effectively now the smaller of two tags - making it a double tag, just like Melissa's.
(Don't you just love it when a plan comes together).

To stamp the leaves on this tag, I used the MISTI.
Why?
Because although it might not seem obvious, I've actually used two colours.
The first 'layer' was stamped using Antique Linen Distress Ink.  Then I went back over with a second layer, using a Tsukineko/Memento 'Bamboo Leaves' Marker and lightly misting before stamping.


Now before I stop to give you my list of supplies used...
How's your week been?
Me?
I've been ill in bed with a heavy cold most of the week.  My Steamer Cup, Olbas Oil and Balm Tissues have been my best friends...  and they still are as I'm only just 'on the mend' and haven't crafted all week - except for a very brief mess around with some die cuts that I may use in a future design.
So if I normally stop by and leave a comment on your blog...  I haven't forgotten you - I promise I haven't.
I'm hoping to catch up with you all over the course of this weekend...  and then maybe I can make a start on playing along with some challenges from Monday onwards.
That's my plan, anyway.  x






Supplies Used:

Die:
Memory Box 'Snow Globe' - Large

Punch:
Holtz/Sizzix Butterfly - Large

Stamps:
Penny Black 'Nature's Gifts'
Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous 'It's The Little Things...'

Inks:
Ranger 'Perfect Medium'
Holtz/Distress 'Picked Raspberry'
VersaCraft 'Cherry Pink'
Tsukineko/Memento 'Rose Bud'
Holtz/Distress 'Mustard Seed'
Holtz/Distress 'Antique Linen'

Marker Pen:
Tsukineko/Memento 'Bamboo Leaves'

Embossing Powder:
Ranger 'Liquid Platinum'

Other:
Twine
Flower Beads from stash
Hole Punch






Challenges I'm Entering...

Pixies Crafty Snippets Challenge
(All snippets)

NBUS

(I had hoped to create something especially for this challenge, but as I've been unwell and didn't want to miss out I'm sharing my NBUS tag instead.  Both stamps used are from my NBUS collection).

Words To Craft By
W2CB #32   'A Single Step'
The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.  ~~ Lao-Tzu
(I think that learning to appreciate the little things in life is just as important as celebrating the big milestones...  and a journey worth taking.)

Shopping Our Stash

SOS #267   'Learn Something New'

(I had been watching YouTube video's where they share stamping an image lightly in Antique Linen before using watercolours - to create a no line effect.  I wanted to see what would happen using the same principal just for stamping, so did one layer of leaves in Antique Linen Ink before using a Green Marker Pen and Misting for the second layer.  Result?  Slightly mottled, gentler image than just stamping with the marker pen, and the Antique Linen does peep through in places).

Aud Sentiments

Challenge #163   'Anything Goes + A Sentiment'

Addicted To Stamps Challenge

Challenge #130   'Not A Square'

I'm off to get a drink of water before I link up my tag to these challenges...  then I think I'm back to bed for a bit with my hot water bottle.  'Moosey' (My hot water bottle cover is a moose.  Much loved and another of my firm friends when I'm not well) will be calling for me soon, I think!

Have a lovely weekend, and take good care of yourselves...

Donna. x