12 tags of 2013 ~ October

oh it feels good to craft again! it feels good to have the time to craft and to use my creativity!!! I have missed the last couple of months of 12 tags and I really wanted to create this Halloween project. tim offered some great inspiration this month. check out his tag here.

this was the first time I got to use distress paints! I used them along with distress stains that way I could use more colors (I don't have very many of either product). I liked the way the background came out. I used the cindy loo cricut cartridge for the frame and some chunky purple glitter. the moon, bat, and cat are cut from the paper doll dress up cricut cartridge. I used a silver pen and sharpie to highlight some areas on the cuts and then also some stickles for the kitty eyes and other little accents here and there. thanks for looking -- hope you like!

nieces and nephews birthday cards

these are the cards I made for my nieces and nephews birthdays this year. they were fun to make and I hope they loved them!

for cameron:

 

for brycen:

 

for kaylie:

for aubrey:

nieces & nephews birthday gifts

in my endless attempt to catch up on posting projects I am now sharing my nieces and nephews birthday gifts from last year (sigh). they are all within a few years of each other so each year I try to give them all something similar (these gifts also have to be mailed so I keep size in mind as well).
for 2012 I decided to decorate a container - up-cycled from crystal light containers - for each of them and fill it with goodies (markers, erasers, money, stickers, etc).
I chose papers and embellishments based on what I thought each kid would like and also a cricut cut then a got to work putting it all together...
for cameron:

for brycen:

for kaylie:

for aubrey:

 

thanks for stopping by and taking a look!



12 tags of 2013 ~ june

hello there friends! another month gone by and another awesome tag to create! i appreciated the coloring technique used in tim's tag -- coloring is something i love to do and haven't in sooo long! with so many crafts and so little time it's hard to find a chance to enjoy them all so i was thankful for this tag. i had a lot of fun coloring!

 i love love love this stamp. i used distress inks to color and ditress stains for the background. i also used a chipboard "dream" sticker and some purple and pink jewels just to give it a little "something".

thanks for looking! you can check out tim's june tag here

happy father's day!

in my house all the holidays are celebrated with full force and father's day is no exception. with four men in our lives to celebrate it can sometimes be difficult to whip up enough creativity for all of those masculine cards {my BIGGEST challenge}!!

however i do think i did a pretty good job this year if i do say so myself. hope you all enjoy ---

 for my dad

 for my step-dad

 for my boyfriend's step-dad

 

this weekend was full of activities and it was a lot of fun. but now it is monday evening and after a full day of work i am feeling the effects of all that fun! hope your weekend was great, too! <3

12 tags of 2013 * may

i am finding myself in my studio more these days which is good although i am not getting as much done as i would like. i don't understand how that happens ?? maybe sitting at my desk and wathcing old movies instead of actually creating has something to do with it!
either way i am glad to get in there more and have the chance to use my imagination and creativity. it truly is a blessed thing! <3

today i am posting my interpretation of tim's holtz's may tag. this is what i came up with:

 i LOVE this stampendous f.e. linus stamp! my hunny got him for me for christmas this last year and this was the first time i have used him. he looks like our kitty blaze which is double cool!

for the background i used some distress stains and inks as well as some glitter mist and little dots of glue and glitter. i also embossed some of the stamped images.

the flower is from the tattered florals die - cut from phone book paper and colored with distress stain - i used 3 of the flower sizes and added a jewel to the middle.

hope you like! check out tim's tag here

12 tags of 2013 ~ march & april

i SWORE i would get each of the 12 tags of 2013 done on time and submitted. alas, that was not to be. BUT before i started april's tag i did complete march's so here i am posting them both!

while tim used the new distress paints for his april tag i had to improvise and stick with stains and inks -- which is fine with me seeing as how i love these products (although the paints would be lovely to own!) i used some clear plastic for the birds wings and i really like my final product.

check out tim's april tag here

i was really excited about the march tag and i am super bummed i did not get to submit it. i used a butterfly punchout instead of a rabbit so it is more "spring" and not as much of an "easter" tag. i loved the tinsel technique tim used and i had fun creating my own. i also really love the grass idea. this is one of my favorite tags!

check out tim's march tag here

 

 i hope you enjoyed my creations! thanks for looking!

tattered floral challenge

the tattered floral challenge came at a great time for me as i was looking to make a project that would feature a flower ~ and it also gave me a reason {as if i need one} to buy crafting supplies!!! 

i love my craft studio but what i have really been needing lately is just some time relaxing on the couch. i got my jammies on, got my blankie and a pepsi, fired up the netflix, and got started on my project.

 what i have been making is vases / decorative bottles which are simply glass bottles wrapped with yarn and, in this case, embellished with some tattered florals.

for the flowers i used pages from an old phone book. i used about 4 of each size of flower to make it a little bulkier since phone book paper is pretty thin. then i got busy coloring them with distress stains and inks. i also sprayed them with water here and there and used my heat tool to burn them just a bit. the heat also changed the colors of the ink a little, lightening it in some places. i put all the layers together and used a button and yarn for the center.

 thanks for looking! and don't forget to check out tim's post and the tattered florals info here