12 Tags of 2015 - August

Hi Everyone

Here is my August tag and it is EARLY!  Yay me………don't mention the two I have missed ;-)

I had great fun creating this magical madness and I know the colours are a long way from Tim's original inspiration but if you watch the video you will be able to see the techniques and some of the elements are there in my tag too!

Tim used one of his found relatives on his tag and I used this found photo of me aged 18 and off to the ball - well now I am about to fly off on my new glittery wings!  Definitely a fun and vibrant tag from me this month.  I was hoping the hot colours might warm up the dull summer we are having here in the UK today.

As usual there is a video to show you how I got from Tim's inspiration to my interpretation and I hope you enjoy the journey!  See what I did there???! ;-)

I have also managed to catch up with one of my missed tags so I will post that video later on in the month.  I am going to be a bit quiet on the social media front this month as this is the holiday season but I will be back in September with a new and exciting project!  What a teaser I am hee hee!

See you all soon and thank you for popping by X

12 Tags of 2015 Tutorial - April

Hi everyone

Before I get to posting my April tutorial I just wanted to let you know if you don't already that I didn't make it on to the Graphic 45 Design team for this year.  I was a bit sad yesterday as you can imagine but I managed to stay away from the chocolate which is good!!!! ;-)

Today I just wanted to thank you all for the tremendous support and good wishes that you sent to me.  It means the world to me and you will be pleased to know you can uncross those fingers at last!  The good news is that I feel a renewed determination on the crafting front and you will see two brand new tutorials appearing on my ETSY shop shortly as a result of the work I did for the audition.

I do always have fun auditioning as I completely indulge myself and bury myself in all that lovely Graphic 45 paper.  On the plus side too I did get a step closer this year ;-)  I wish the new design team lots and lots of fun this year and I look forward to seeing what they create as always.  I especially want to say congratulations to Clare for her second term as the Graphic 45 UK ambassador.  Hopefully we will bump into each other again soon.

Here is the promised tutorial for this month's 12 Tags of 2015.  I hope that with the post yesterday and all the fun you can see I had with my tag on today's tutorial that I inspire some of you who are perhaps thinking about it to have a go in May.  Which reminds me I must pop over and see what Tim's inspiration is for this month.

and just for fun and a blast from the past here are a couple of other tag tutorials.  This from way back as I was just learning this videoing malarky and it is a review of the first year I played along with the 12 tags of 2012.

Here is a tag from 2013 for you to check out.

Way back in 2012 I also used to play along with the lovely Tag Tuesday group.  They are still going strong so if you check out this video and then click on this link you can see another group of lovely crafters who make tags every week!

I still have all my tags from Tag Tuesday hanging on my wall for inspiration! Many fond memories of a lovely group.

And last but not least a fun tag video I made when I was just starting out on my YouTube journey!  Please imagine me laughing away to myself as I edit the final shots in the video!

So that is it from me for today.  I hope you have fun watching some of my videos.  Don't forget to like and share them as it really helps me promote both my YouTube Channel and my Blog.  X

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend - we have a bank holiday weekend here in the UK so more crafting time for all ;-)

Thank you for popping by x

12 Tags of 2015 - April

Hi Everyone

Today I am posting my tag for April - can you believe we are a third of the way through the year already?!

As usual I am getting to my tag late so I will post the photos today and the tutorial tomorrow or Friday depending on upload times!  At least if I post the photos today I can actually join in the challenge!

For those of you new to my blog I thought I would explain what this tag challenge is all about.  Each month I play along with the Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2015 challenge which you can see if you follow this link.  Anyone who wants to play along can do so and we all link up over on Tim's blog.  On the first of every month Mr Holtz publishes a tag to inspire us.  There are always detailed photo instructions of how he made his tag and that always involves interesting techniques for us to try.  There are always lots of lovely products to see so plenty of inspiration every month…..oh and there are prizes to be won too!!!

Then it is over to you/us.  If you are a beginner you may wish to mimic Tim's tag and try out new techniques but nine times out of ten we don't have all that Tim has used so that is the fun part of the challenge.  That is our chance to give our tags our own unique twists.

From Tim's Inspiration to our Interpretation.  When you look at the tags of all the people that join in each month you will see the variety of tag designs Tim's original tag inspires.

I have been playing along for 3 years now and I love to see where the journey takes me - sometimes you can instantly recognise the original inspiration and you will definitely see that this month but other months you would have to look hard to see the elements I have taken from the original tag.

So without further ado here are my April tags and of course the matching 3" sample square.

One of this months techniques was using water colour paper and water colouring techniques.  You will see my colouring is a bit more vibrant than Tim's and if you watch my tutorial you will see how I achieved the look using both my Distress Inks and Distress Stains.

I decided to add a little decoupage element to my flowers and used my ink pads to create the two tone ribbon to match my project.  Tim used his Distress Markers to create an ombre effect on his ribbon and as I don't have many Distress Markers I did things a little differently.

Here is a close up of the sampler square:

I have four little squares now so I thought I would show you just how each month takes you in a totally different crafting direction.

I am looking forward to seeing what the whole sampler looks like when I frame it at the end of the year.

So I hope I have encouraged a few newbies to play along with this fab challenge.  Click on this link if you want to see all the different tags Tim has inspired with his April Tag.

I will post the tutorial of how I got from Tim's inspiration to my interpretation tomorrow - YouTube willing!!! ;-)

Thank you for popping by x

12 Tags of 2015 - March

Hi Everyone

Just a quick post on this very changeable March day today - I think we are getting into practice for the season of April showers today here in a very blustery Derby!!!

Today I am posting my March tag and if you have seen Tim Holt's tag already you will know that mine is looking a little different as usual!  I hope you don't think this one is a bit cheesy!!!! ha ha ;-)

The first change I had to make was which stamp to use on my tag this month as I didn't have the gorgeous butterfly Tim used and then the phrase 'Say Cheese!' came into my head and so it continued!  I made myself a cheese effect stripe on my tag using washi tape.

I had fun trying out the embossing powder technique that Tim had on his tag and I will definitely try that again as it gives an interesting extra texture to embossing paste.  You can see how I got from Tim's inspiration to my interpretation this month if you take a look at my video below.

Of course, as usual, I made my little 3" square sampler piece too and you can see at the end of the video how this contrasts to the first two I have made so far this year!  I may need to tone it down a little but I am going to see where the rest of the year takes me before I decide.

So that is it from me except to say if you fancy playing along with the Tim Holtz 12 Tags Challenge then please follow this link - April begins tomorrow so I am looking forward to seeing the new tag inspiration for this month.

I am off to do some of the dreaded H word ……..housework :-( !!!  We have visitors at the weekend so I better get on with it I suppose!!!!  We have two French Gymnasts coming to visit as part of an exchange programme so we are hoping for nicer weather than today!!!  It will be fun catching up with our friends from Chalons who we haven't seen for 4 years.  Last time we relied heavily on Google translate to get us through the weekend!!!……Though we did find that 'Shall we go to McDonalds for tea?' need no translation at all ;-)  I am thinking as one of our Gymnasts Thomas was quite good with his English back then, now he is 17 he may well replace the translator this year.

Callum is back on crutches so he will not be able to compete this weekend - I am wondering just how good sport is for you as he seems to go from one injury to the next.  Rugby and Gymnastics are not the most delicate of pastimes I suppose!

See you again tomorrow with another Video for the Rubber Dance Colour Challenge post.  Have a fun week if you are having an Easter Break over the coming days/weeks.

Thank you for popping by X

12 Tags of 2015 - February

Hi everyone,

Well the cold I mention in this month's tag tutorial has materialised!  I am feeling rough and topping up on the lemsip as I type!  I hate lemsip but it does the trick.  I need to feel a bit better as I am venturing out into the  cold to watch Callum play rugby in a bit!  Brrrrr.  I have my thermals on so I should be ok for the match!

Before I go just wanted to link up with Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2015.  Here is my February tag.

I am in love with this paper collage background technique!  A great way to use up paper scraps and it looks soooooo pretty!

I also made my little 3" square in the same style and I am looking forward to seeing how the finished sampler turns out at the end of the year.  I am repeating a couple of elements in each square so they look like they belong together.  I am adding the date and a stitched border with my usual mat and layered frame.

……..before I don my coat and scarf here is the link to the video tutorial where you can see how I got from Tim's inspiration to my interpretation in the month of February!  Click on the link to check out all the lovely February tags over on Tim's Blog.

Hope you are having a fab weekend.  Thank you for popping by X

My first New Year's Resolution - Failed!!!!

Hi everyone

I promised myself time and time again last year I wouldn't be one of the last to play along with the Tim Holtz 12 Tags challenge and so I decided to resolve to do better in 2015…….and here in February is my January tag!!!! ;-)  Oh well back to the drawing board…..

This year I decided to make something a little extra as I play along…..I am not sure what to call it yet but I am thinking 'Sampler'.  The idea is that at the end of the year I will mount and frame all 12 of my 3" squares and turn them into a home decor piece to remind me at a glance of all the fun I had during the year.

Here is a close up of the Sampler for January:

Now there is a story to tell you about this one.  As you can see I decided to include little resolutions as the word strips on my tag.  I showed hubby a couple of days later what I had been creating and he said, "Well then?" in an expectant tone……….I replied, "Well then what?"……."Haven't you got something to tell me"………."N"…….(penny drops!)…….."Ivan, I reaaaaally Lurve Yoooooo!

I think there is room to add the word strip 'When I remember" ;-)

Here is a close up of the tag:

I am doing ok with the 'Eat less Chocolate'……so far anyway.  As usual I have a video taking you on my creative journey from Tim's Inspiration to my Interpretation.  Check out all the fun I had making the background.  I think I am calling it the throw everything at it technique!

February's tag is made so just the editing to do!  Might actually be early…..ish at this rate ;-)

Thank you for popping by X

First Post of 2015 and a Challenge Reminder

Happy New Year Everyone!

I hope you all have a fabulous year with of course plenty of time to craft!!!!  I am getting back into the swing of things with a tutorial inspired by the colour challenge over on the Rubber Dance Blog.  This months's colours of shades of blue and silver with the additional prompt of frosty if you want to follow a theme too.

I was inspired to make two frosty frames and used my Rubber Dance Stamps to make all the embellishments that decorate my tag frames.  On the tutorial I show you how to make frames like mine and there is a recipe for making your own texture paste too!

It was a bit tricky taking a photo of this project because of the reflection in the acetate.  I think you can make out my hand on the tag on the left!

Don't forget if you love a challenge and want to play along then follow this link over to the Rubber Dance Colour Challenge for January…….oh and while you are over there why not check out all the lovely stamps you could win if you play along!  You could get these fabulous Winter Wonderland stamps which I hope you can see can easily be used for lots of different crafting projects.

Here is the tutorial:

I have lots more ideas buzzing around in my head and a fairly tidy craft room to play in too!  I took advantage of the time my computer was away to set to and have a good sort out!  I still have a few areas left to tackle but over all it is looking very spacious!!!!

Once again Happy New Year to you all.

Thank you for popping by X

My Last Post of the Year and my Last 12 Tags of 2014 video!

Hi Everyone.

Made it!!  Here is my final tag offering of this year…..I love this challenge and I managed to get all my tags made each month even if some of them were down to the wire!!!!  I have enjoyed playing along with this challenge so much.  If you have watched any of the videos in this series you will know why.

Love that the sugary glitter has created a really snowy feel in this photograph.  I will have to check out all the tags posted by my fellow Tim's Tag Artists on hubbies laptop as my Mac is off to the menders tomorrow - all I have left to do is copy my files and then wave bye bye…..I have a feeling I am going to feel a bit bereft!

One final video before I go though of all the fun I had creating my last tag of the season.  I kept Tim's Winter Wishes phrase but created it a little differently.  I had fun creating my own frosted film using old acetate packaging……It will keep me going until the real product arrives over here in the UK and I didn't have the lovely Reindeer die that Tim used to finish off his tag so I stamped, frosted and decoupaged my snowman instead.  Check out all the fun I had on my video.

Here is the link to Tim's blog so you can pop by and see all the fun you too could be having next year…..mind you you still have time for this year if you are quick!!!!   I am hoping that Tim is playing again next year!

I posted a really long video yesterday and I have been thrilled by your response and how many views it has had already.  All the lovely comments have really fired me up to get designing and bringing more projects to you very soon.

That is it from me though this Year so I would like to wish you all a Fabulous Festive Time and I look forward to sharing more crafting with you in the New Year.  Sending you all virtual hugs and kisses and a hug thank you for joining me on my creative adventures.

Thank You for Popping By X

The Rubber Dance and Sisterhood of Snarky Sisters Blog Hop!

Hi Everyone

Welcome to the Rubber Dance and the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers Blog Hop.  I am very excited to be taking part in this fun hop and I had a ton of fun creating my Blog Hop project.  As you will already know if you are a regular visitor to my blog Rubber Dance is a rubber stamp company and the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers is a fun challenge group so it is sure to be a hop full of inspiration and attitude!  The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers set us the challenge to create an ATC, Card or Tag using one of the phrases from the Rubber Dance Sarcasm Superpower Stamp Set!

So without further ado here is my project and of course a tutorial to go with it!  I had fun making a trio of tags so starting with a photo!

I loved teaming up these fabulously naughty phrases with my Rubber Dance Stamps and I really hope they make you chuckle!

I made these tags as a set and I videoed the whole process of the I'm not anti-social, I'm pro-solitude tag to make a tutorial for you.  The video will give show you how to make the main elements of the tag trio including making your own patterned ribbon.  

Here are a couple of photographs of the other two tags starting with the 'I'm sexy and I know it!' stamp. I just had to pair this with the Mona Lisa stamp that is very new to my collection!  I definitely think I have come up with the true reason for her enigmatic smile….ha ha!

I have covered all my tag bases with some lovely book paper (a gift from Bibi of Rubber Dance Stamps) and a strip of black and white patterned paper I coloured with my Distress Inks.  All the stamping is done with a Perfect Medium Stamp pad and embossed with a Cosmic Shimmer Detail embossing powder.  On the video I show you how to use a glue pen to turn the phrases into thought bubbles!!!!  I also used my picket fence distress paint to make my stamping stand out from the book print.

On the video you will see how I customised a length of cream American Seam Binding so that it matched my tags perfectly.  I decided to gather it across this tag to add texture.  It is best to use a strip of strong double-sided tape for this and then I punched lots and lots of little flowers to cascade around my tag and added sparkly gem centres to them to finish this tag off.

Then it was on to tag number two…..

So as you can see a similar process!  Now I have to say that this lovely stamp actually looks like this…..

….see no horns and flowers top right!

I masked off the flowers as I inked my stamp and then replaced that area by over stamping with the diamond stamp and there was a flick of a paintbrush to remove some embossing powder in the shape of horns before heat setting the embossing powder.  Then I drew the horn tips in using a glue pen which is also what I used when I drew my thought bubble around the sentiment and then I heat embossed once again.

I felt a little bit 667 myself as I vandalised Bibi's lovely Resting Woman collage stamp to make her a little less innocent and a little more devilish ;-)…still no stamp was hurt during this process tee hee!

As you can see here I finished off tag number two with a couple of larger flower embellishments and this time a made a ribbon frill for the bottom of the tag (on the video!)

So that is it from me….I hope I have inspired you to look at your stamp collections a little differently and I definitely hope you follow the hop trail as you too could be using these fun phrases to come up with projects to make people smile….

……...Because of course no blog hop is complete without a fun prize and this one is no exception!  In order to be in with the chance of winning the fabulous stamp set pictured above you must visit each of the blogs on the blog hop trail below and leave a comment on each of the posts you visit.  Couldn't be easier and I know you are going to see some fun projects inspired by the challenge we were set to create either and ATC, Card or Tag using at least one stamp from the Sarcasm Sentiment Stamp Set.  You have until midnight (CET) on the 29th of September 2014 to join in the fun and to be in with a chance to win!!!!  Good Luck.

READY TO  HOP!!!

Lee

Chris 

Lyndsey

Jessi

Michelle

Lynne

Karen

Donna

Helen - YOU ARE HERE

Katy

Gabriele

Majo

Bibi

Thank you for visiting me - enjoy your hop!!!!

Helen X

Stamps Used: Mona Lisa - Da Vinci Stamp Set (DAV1-L), Bug Stamp - Bold Beetle (A1-3B), Resting Woman Collage Stamp - (CO4-2E),  Diamonds (BK1-3E) and of course Sarcasm Superpower set (SES3-M)

12 Tags of 2014 - August

Hi everyone

This post is a little earlier than my last couple of 12 Tags videos where I have posted on the last day of the challenge!  This month things were a little different as Tim told us to follow our creative muse!  My creative muse took me to a twilight world of fairies and secret gardens………

I love the colours of this tag.  Tim used his Distress Stains on his tag so I decided to do likewise and used Picked Raspberry, Seedless Preserves and Squeezed Lemonade.  My gorgeous fairy stamps are from Lavinia Stamps and with a touch of magical glitter I had great fun capturing this enchanting scene on my tag this month.

Here is a little close up on some of the detail - I love how the Distress Stains have combined to make such magical blends of colour.  If you want to see how I made my tag here is the  link to the video:

If you want to see what Tim's tag for August inspired then click on this link and follow me over to his blog!  I can't wait to see all the different places everyone else's creative muses took them too!

I am off to get a jumper and socks on as it is chilly in my craft room today and then I am going to do some blog hopping - coffee in hand!

Hope you are having a wonderfully creative week and thank you for popping by X

12 Tags of 2014 - July…..the video!

Hi everyone

Here is the video I made for my July tag.  It it a bit late but I got there in the end!  It has been a bit hectic in our house so I have struggled a bit to get into my craft room to edit this one.  But here it is…

I had lots of fun (as usual) making my tag as you will see.  If you want to see the whole tag click on this link to take you back to my previous post.

Here is my tag stored with the rest of my 2014 tags.  My tag storage is filling up nicely now….how the year is flying by!

If you want to make this Tag Storage I have a tutorial for sale over at my ETSY shop…just click on this link!

I am going to share another couple of links here…..a little bit of a trip down memory lane!  Way way back in 2012 when I was a newbie blogger and I first found Tim Holtz 12 tags of 2012 and I made this romantic Valentine tag….

In fact I made two as I decided to make my first ever photo tutorial too!  Click on the link to see how I made this tag.  This was way before I had ever heard of You Tube!!!!

The following year I decided to give this tag to my hubby for Valentines day and by then I was making Video Tutorials!

Even if neither of these projects are your style it is worth taking a peek at the tutorials as there is a great fun image transfer technique explained in both tutorials…photo or video!

Hope you enjoy taking a look at these tutorials from the archives.  It is fun to look back from time to time.  This blog is packed full of fun tutorials and craft projects so please take a look at my archives…..you never know what you may find to inspire you…..

If you want to be a bit selective in your search of my blog then why not try using the labels.  If you scroll down and keep looking at the left hand side bar you will see after my workshop items there is a labels list.  I have grouped things together here - you could look at layouts, cards, or Graphic 45, etc.  Just click on the category that interests you and it will bring up a list of all the posts that are under that label…..easy peasy!

Hope you have fun exploring and I look forward to sharing more with you soon.  Thank you for popping by X

PS  I just noticed Rubber Dance have posted a fun birdhouse tutorial by my team mate Katy.  Click on this link to see what she has created!

12 Tags of 2014 - July

Hi everyone

As you can see I have left it until the last minute to post my tag again this month!  I did hope to get my hands on the lovely seahorse die that Tim Holtz used for his tag but no luck so once again lots of improvisation for my tag but I really like how it turned out….hope you do too!!!

I printed my seahorse from an image on the Internet and had every intention of following Tim's tutorial on colouring and crackling my sea creature but when I saw the black and white image against my tag suddenly a whole new colour scheme sprang into my head.

I used my Distress Inks to colour my seahorse and my shells….can you spot the two lovely Rubber Dance shell stamps I used?!!!!!  They were perfect teamed with the two starfish which I also sourced from the Internet.

I will post the video tomorrow when you will see all the things I didn't have and how that led me from Tim's inspiration over at 12 Tags of 2014 to my interpretation this month.  I had loads of fun creating this and I hope you pop by again tomorrow to check out that video.

Here is a close up of the beach area of my tag.  That netting once contained six onions!!!!

Well I don't have long to wait for next month's tag that is for sure!  I wonder how close Tim leaves the creation of his tag each month to the publishing deadline?!!!  If you love tags make sure you pop along to 12 Tags of 2014 to check out all the lovely creations that have been made this month.

If you like me love those shell stamps then pop along to rubberdance.com.  These two shell stamps come from the Beach Sentiments set.

Until tomorrow……thank you for popping by X

PS Here is the tutorial……better late than never x

3 Little Rubber Dance Tags…all in a row!

Hi Everyone

As you know I am now a proud member of the Rubber Dance Design Team and I have decided to make a fun extra project which I thought you might like to see the beginnings of.  I have decided as the lovely Bibi sent me a handful of tags to play with when she sent me my Design Team Package I would make some little tags to document the fun I am having as part of this lovely team.

Each one is inspired by the stamps I have used so far and when I am finished I am going to make a scaled down version of my Tag Storage Project to keep them in!

All the techniques I have used on them are the same as the ones I have explained in my Rubber Dance video tutorials.  The Hot Chilli Pepper tag uses the Hot, Hot, Hot stamp sheet and there are card ideas and tutorials coming your way in August so watch out for those!  One of them will be shared over on the Rubber Dance Facebook page so please pop along and like the page to be sure you don't miss out! 

I will share these little tags as I make them.  I hope you are having a great week and thank you for popping by X

Helen

12 Tags of 2014 - June

By the skin of my teeth this month.  Just realised that June is a short month ;-) !!!!

I thought I would explain here today to any new visitor popping by what this tag challenge is all about. This is my third year of playing along with Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 20….14 this year.  Each month Tim posts a tag to inspire the folk that want to play along.  Each month there is always a technique or three to try you hand at and lots of lovely inspiration to spur you on to create your own unique take on his tag.  What I love about this challenge is that it doesn't matter your level of expertise nor the size of you Tim/Ranger stash just make a tag.  If you follow any of my links back to the challenge site you will see lots and lots more examples of what one tag can inspire.

Here is Tim's Tag for this month's inspiration:

and here is my interpretation…..

So you can see what I mean about interpretation here are the elements that are in both our tags.  Starting at the top I followed Tim's instructions to create a Paula style bow for the top of my tag.  I decided to try the main technique which was using distress inks to colour a stencil and to create a print with it for the background of the tag.  As you can see I used a heart stencil as I do not have the star one yet.  I also used my distress paints rather than ink as I do not have the minis and I found the smaller applicator of the paint easier to handle.  I have switched my wording to the opposite side and have used stickers rather than a stamp and as I do not have the lovely butterflies I went with the roulette wheel which actually was my starting point and led to the colour scheme and theme of my tag this month.  Ta Da!

I will post a video tomorrow sometime with all the details of exactly how I put this together as this is so late I need to get linked up now!!!!!

I really hope if you haven't heard of this challenge you will follow this link to 12 Tags of 2014 to see all the fun you could be having!!!!

You could also pop along to my You Tube channel and look for the 12 Tags of 2014 playlist you will be able to see all the tags I have made this year!  There is a link in my side bar on the right to my You Tube Channel.

Here is my tag all neatly stored away in this year's storage!  If you want to make one of these for your tags then I have an online workshop for sale where I show you how.  There is a purchase button on my side bar (left) or click here to go to my ETSY shop to see all of my workshops as well as this one.

Until tomorrow ……You Tube willing!!!!! Video is up so I am adding the link now!

Thank you for popping by X

My very first Video Tutorial

Hi Everyone

I am going to start this post with a little catch up photo on the status of the pond:

Loving how the rocks have turned out at the back I just need to plant up behind them…..back in the water for me it is then!!!  The pipe you see poking out of the rocks is going to be attached to piece of copper pipe or maybe an old tap…….that could be quite interesting.  I need to re-do the edge of the pond that runs along the wall - that is why the pebbles are there.  I was going to try and do that today but it has just started raining so maybe tomorrow.

Once those two jobs are done we are going to empty out the pool…which I think is going a bit green and I need to look that up to see how to prevent that.  Fish out any debris I have dropped into the pool during construction! and then refill ready to add plants and eventually fish….again need to read up about this as we have never looked after a pond.  We want to create an area for the birds to get to the water and the frogs to get out too….almost there.

I was having a bit of a clear out or my video files.  They are quite big and even though I have a huge hard drive they soon fill up my memory so I have an external drive to store the video files and then I can make more!!!!  So where was I?…..Oh yes I found the first video I ever made and remembered it was never posted.  At the time it was too long and I was only allowed to upload 15 minute videos and didn't know how to change that as I was new to You Tube as well.  Way back in September 2012 everything was new to me!

At the time I was an avid participant in the Tag Tuesday Challenge and these were two of my creations resulting from different themes that are posted each week.  I really enjoyed making the blackberry and sugar stick embellishments and thought it would make a fun tutorial.

So today I am posting that video - I was tempted to re do it but then decided it was a fun record of my You Tube journey and is still a useful little tutorial.  Have a look….I really hope it makes you smile …..it made me chuckle as way back then I didn't know how to do voice overs and I remember my brain whirring like crazy and trying desperately not to say Ummmm too many times ;-)

Before I go I also wanted to share a link to my friend Annie's blog…….I recently shared a mixed media canvas tutorial and I was pleased as punch to see what it inspired.  Here is my original piece:

The video I made was aimed at trying to break down the process of creating the canvas into easy steps to encourage newbies to have a go at mixed media….Follow this link and you will be amazed at what Annie has created.  I love how fabulous Annie's page looks with all the zingy colours.  Please follow this link and check it out!  There is also a surprise creation that will make you smile that goes with the journal page.  I am looking forward to seeing more …….oh can't say too much or I will give away the surprise!

I just want to finish up by saying if you are new to my blog don't forget to subscribe if you like what you see…..there is tons and tons of creativity to check out so please have a really good look around!

'Till next time thank you for popping by X

Christmas - Starting Early!

I know, I know the C word already!  I wanted to share something with you and give you something to think about that is a fun project to make for Christmas 2014!

As you may know I have an online workshop for a Tag Storage Project (see my left hand side bar).  At Christmas I taught a workshop that used this design to make a fun advent project.  There is a free idea tutorial on my You Tube Channel that assumes you have purchased the workshop so you can make the Tag Storage Unit in Christmas papers and then I show you how to make the Advent Tags on the free Video.

I taught this project in a real live workshop at the end of last year and I was delighted by the gorgeous tags that were being turned out.  I want to share with you the work of two of my friends and to show you their fabulous Christmas Advent tags so you can have lots of inspiration if you decided to purchase this on line workshop and make a Christmas Tag Advent Calendar for yourself.

The first photographs are of Deb's tags:

Look at all that gorgeous detail.  I love the jewelled baubles and the cute Christmas tree!  This was a Tim Holtz style tree cut in half!

Deb's tags are going to look fab every year and I know her Grandchildren are going to love seeing them each day.

Here is Julie's Tag storage unit all finished and looking gorgeous!  I love the beautiful lace trim she has used and I am definitely going to look out for something similar so I can do the same!

Here are Julie's lovely tags - each one a mini work of art!

Those mittens on strings are soooooo cute!

My friends have now inspired me to add some more Christmas loveliness to my tags too!

When I saw Julie's and Debs finished projects I knew I just had to share them with you all.  I know you will forgive me mentioning the C word now you have seen what my friends have created.

Thank you Deb and Julie for letting me share your Advent projects I love them and you have inspired me!

If you want to purchase your copy of the Tag Storage project you can either do so from my Left Hand side bar or you can follow this link to my ETSY shop if you would prefer.

Here is the link for the basic Advent Tag Video and if you share what you come up with don't forget to let me know so I can send other Advent Tag folk over for even more inspiration.

Have a lovely evening and I will see you tomorrow with a Card Tutorial that started out as a design for the boys and ended up as one for the girls too!

Thank you for popping by X

12 Tags of 2014 - February

Don't Faint!!  Yes I have manage to do my February tag and video early!!!  It seemed silly to tidy every thing away when I could just carry on tag making as Tim posted his February tag the day after I posted my January one!

This one is definitely romantic.  Once again I didn't have some of the products Tim used - I do not have the heart stencil yet but is is on my list for when it is available in the UK!!!  In the mean time as you will see on my video I had a go at making my own heart stencil.  I decided to go with pinks rather than reds as I only had Spun Sugar Distress Glitter.  It almost looks good enough to eat!  I still don't have the embossing powder to do the chalkboard technique but I had a go at recreating the look my way.  I hope you think it works.

Even though the Spun Sugar Distress Glitter is fab my favourite is definitely the Pumice Stone.  I love the minky tones.  I am sure I will be using this one a lot!

I know chalkboards don't come in ribbon shapes but I needed to exercise some artistic licence to make my design work!

If you want to see how I got from Tim Holt's inspiration to my interpretation then please feel free to press play on the video below!  Don't forget to subscribe if you like this video as I will be making one video for each of my tags again this year.

All that is left for me to say this evening before is that if you like making tags or want to make tags or if you love a challenge then you really do need to pop along to visit Tim Holt's blog to see what everyone that plays along gets up to each month.  I can't believe it is the third year of this challenge already!!!  Time Flies when you are Creating!!!!!

And one final photo of the mess I made!

Have a lovely day and thank you for popping by X

12 Tags of 2014 January Video

Hi everyone.  Hope you are having a fun Sunday.  We have had a lazy morning and are thinking about having some brunch.  I thought I would post this as it finally uploaded to You Tube last night.

Here is the video to go with my January tag for 12 Tags of 2014.

I hope it inspires you to play along with this fun challenge.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and thanks for popping by X

12 Tag of 2014 Begins!

This is at the very last minute for the last day go January!  Talk about cutting it fine ;-)  So here is my version of Tim Holtz's January tag for the 12 Tags of 2014 Challenge.

I have had a lovely time getting inky and painty!  Tim's original tag had a pocket watch as the main element - I did not have the die or the embossing folder so as you can see I have improvised.  I substituted these little clock charms for the die and I have kept the pocket watch idea and as you can see my pocket watches are flying out from a pocket!  I love using Ranger Foil so I had to include that element which I embossed and then painted with Distress Paint before taking the sand paper to it to reveal the metal and the embossing.

I have included a photo of Tim's original on the back of my tag like I did last year, in addition to that I am going to use the little logo to make a tag charm to attach to each of my tags showing the month of the tag as you can see in this photo.  The Glossy Accents is still drying!

Tim used rub-ons to add numbers to the side of his tag and I have followed the layout but have used letter stickers that I have had forever which were the perfect shade of brown and had the look of a rub-on too!

Now where is the video I hear you cry????!  It is still on the memory card at the moment!  I finished the tag but not the video…..oh well better luck next month with my time management!  I will post my video later on tomorrow so please pop back if you want to see what I did to make my interpretation of Tim's inspiration.

For now I will leave you with one last photo of the lovely mess I now have to tidy up…..well actually I must confess that I will probably do that in the morning!

Don't let my mess put you off if you are thinking of playing along with Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2014.  It really is a great way to try out new techniques, to put on your thinking cap when you don't have all the products, and of course, to go shopping if Tim uses something you absolutely cannot live without!!! ;-)

Hope you like my tag and thank you for popping by X

PS Thank you to everyone that has been subscribing both here and on my You Tube Channel I look forward to sharing more creativity with you all through the coming year.

PPS I look forward to seeing Tim's February tag tomorrow!