Faux Metal Trinket Box

This was one of the presents I made for my friend, Pauline. I will blog the other item tomorrow probably. It is a sort of sampler in that I used a range of different embossing folders for each of the panels, inside and out. I also used a range of different StazOn colours but the pink seems to predominate. I finished it off with black sequin trim.

Accordion Christmas Card

I thought that now everyone has received their cards and homemade items from me for Christmas, I would blog a few things, starting with this accordion card. I did this type of accordion card for Crafts Beautiful a couple of issues back and it can be adapted for all sorts of occasions when you want the Wow factor on the mantelpiece. My students liked it so when we start classes again in January I thought we could do some different designs and colourschemes for Valentine and Mother's Day and special birthdays. It's a good design to have up your sleeve for special people.

I was making it for someone who is not overly fond of Christmas so I chose the bird stamps from Crafty Individuals  rather than more traditional imagery. They do a set with four small ones, and also a single larger bird, and I had intended to use the bigger one on the front, but in the end I used a small one on the front and left the last section free for a pocket with a tag in it for the greeting.

I used Papermania papers to go with my blue theme, and a white embossed flourish (Crafty Individuals) on the front to match the scrolls on some of the bird images.

I used the StazOn technique for the bird images, with faux metal frames, and finished it off with teal organza ribbon and teal adhesive gems.

Tim Tags Blog Candy

Just a note to say that it is the last day for Jennie's Tim Tags Blog Candy entries on her Artistic Stamper blog here http://www.theartisticstamper.blogspot.com/

Happy Christmas!

I hope everyone is ok and happy and coping in the difficult conditions caused by the snow. I just wanted to say, I know Christmas can sometimes be a bitter-sweet time, missing lost loved ones, and reflecting on the past year, with both good and bad memories. I would like to send my blessings to anyone out there going through a difficult time, and to wish you a safe, healthy, and peaceful Christmas, surrounded by family and friends.

2009 has been a year when I have made some wonderful new friends, who along with my dear 'old' friends have enriched my life. I hope you know how precious you are, and how much I value you.

Happy Christmas!

And the Final One!

This is my final Tim Tag, and was a shameless vehicle for Grungepaper roses, which I love. They were stamped with the large plain flower from the Artistic Stamper Flower Power set, which is such a useful plate, and the blue one was then stamped with the Dots Background, and finally I added some leaves. The roses dictated the colourscheme, which was Worn Lipstick, Broken China and Faded Jeans, and I liked the pink and blue with the bright white of the metal garland. I used Artistic Stamper Holly and Snowflakes and a bit of water flicking as before. The music script in both corners was stamped on greaseproof paper, which came about as Alison turned up at my house and said, 'do you have any plain vellum', and I said 'no, only greaseproof paper', which was meant as a joke but actually it works ok.

I then added the Fragment Bauble and Wish sentiment used on previous tags, quite simply because they were left overs and were sat on my workdesk, and I would only otherwise have put them in the Christmas box in the attic until next year, so they needed to be stuck down on something! I think as a result I have overdone things a bit but I'm not going to be too hard on myself because I learnt such a lot by having a go at these tags. Tim packed such a lot of techniques and design features into each one, and it took me out of the confines of my normal style to try them, and I found it so rewarding to feel more comfortable with the projects than I thought I would. As a result, it has given me some ideas for the coming year.

And another one!

This little boy is wishing for a shiny green car from Santa this year, hence the Thought Bubble. It's the Mabel Lucie Attwell 'Jolly Day Out' stamp from the Artistic Stamper, on shrink plastic, and I was surprised how well it combined with their traditional Christmas stamps. I used grungeboard and an oval fragment for the bubble, again from the Artistic Stamper, along with the Christmas definition stamp, snowflakes, and holly, from their Christmas Greetings 2 set. I used slightly different distress colours this time, more bluey greens to go with the car, and just a blush of Fired Brick to give a suggestion of a red Santa's cloak. The Santa is again from Christmas Plate 3. I don't have the Tim Holtz flourish and I felt this Crafty Individuals one was quite similar, so I used it with Brilliance Moonlight White as I like a touch of bright white against Distress Ink backgrounds.

I used a smear of neutral glitter glue over the holly, which seems to really bring out the colour, and another piece of DIY 'German Gold Scrap' at the top. The whole tag is much paler than the previous ones I have made. I am so frustrated with myself that I started on the tags so late, as I am enjoying them so much now, but maybe next year .......

Various Tim-Style Christmas Tags on a Snowy Day

It is still a very snowy world out there, but a perfect backdrop for Christmas tags. These are no longer replicas of Tim's Tags but most definitely 'inspired by' as I got to the party so late, as usual. It always takes me a while to latch onto a trend - I am still wondering if mobile 'phones are going to catch on! So I went through all the tags he made and jotted down the components and techniques I fancied and made a few more, to upload over the next few days. Jennie at the Artistic Stamper is still kindly giving away blog candy for Taggers.

These two are quite similar and I couldn't decide which to upload, so I went for both, as one has the Ticket on a Clip idea of his, and the other one his Faux Negative Strip. The '25' is in Grungeboard, inked with Fired Brick and smeared with Distress Stickles. The Santa is from the Artistic Stamper Christmas Plate 3, and the Holly and Snowflakes from Christmas Greetings 2, which is a really useful set. The inks are Distress Inks so just about everything is from the Artistic Stamper. I didn't have any Tim Holtz Christmas stamps and I found these ones just as great, for this purpose. I used the water flicking technique again as Alison and I had fun doing that so I think I will be doing that a lot.