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

12 Tags of 2014 - November - Part 2!

Hi Everyone

Here is the link to the video for the November tag I posted on the last day of November!

Lots of frosty products used to make my shaker tag this month.  I have been fitting in my crafting in between starting to prepare for Christmas.

We have two Christmas trees in our house and the first is up.  Check out the lovely sunshine I had whilst I was decorating it:

Actually the photo doesn't look sunny at all!!!  It was though…..can you spot the ghost in my photo!  Here are the lights and beads going on the tree.

Opening the box of decorations - This box of Disney ornaments on the top is about 20 years or more old now.  I remember buying them each month for a year when my eldest son Damian was little.  It is always Callum's job now to put them all around the bottom of the tree.

As he is the tallest in the house at the moment so he also likes to put the stars on top of the trees too!

Here it is all decked out in jewel coloured baubles.  Most of them were collected when we lived in Germany.  I can spot a few fabric baubles that I made.  Did you ever make them?…….They were a bit of a craze all those years ago and there were classes being run for them all over the place.  If you look in the photo above this one you can see one that I made (bottom left with sequins) and one that one of my boys made! (looks like a pine cone in green and purple)  I remember sitting down with Damian and Ivan and getting them to make one each for prosperity!  My Mum made one too.  Callum was still a twinkle in his Father's eye then so now I come to think of it I will have to get him to make one.

I love all the traditions that families adopt or make at this time of year.  I know it is those traditions that we celebrate that my children (now not so small) remember fondly of Christmases past.  I will share some of them with you over the coming days as I like you prepare the house for the holidays.

What is your favourite Christmas tradition?

Oh…..and while I remember those of you guessing Advent Calendar on my 'Guess what it is' post the other day……correct!  I have yet to finish it so I have decided I am not late for this year but early for next ;-)   ho, ho, ho!

Have a fun week and enjoy the frosty tag video.  Thank you for popping by X

12 Tags of 2014 - November

Hi Everyone

Cutting it fine again this month!  I think I have been cutting it fine all year with my Tim Holtz tags!  I am going to post the photos today and link up with the challenge and then as soon as the video has uploaded I will post that too!  I am not sure the video will make it before Tim posts his final tag of the year!

This month Tim's tag was all about celebrating the colours of Autumn and I have decided to celebrate the colours of Winter as you can see….

…….and winter to me means frost and snow and the perfect project to get all your glitter products out and go mad!!!

Tim used corrugated cardboard which I have never tried before and I loved it!  What a great product to used on a project you want to look distressed!…….and it's FREE!!!!

Here is the link back to Tim's blog to see all the fun his November tag inspired.  I am off to take a peek myself and then it is back to putting up the Christmas tree!  I have to keep stopping because today it is actually sunny and I have a fluffy jumper so I am getting pretty hot in the conservatory and you can't see the fairy lights at all ;-)

See you again soon with the video of how I made this frosted tag for November.

Thanks for popping by X

12 Tags of 2014 - October

Hi everyone

Just a quick post to show you my latest tag.  I always love Tim's October tag because it is always deliciously spooky!

Of course that was the perfect excuse to do likewise!!!

I didn't' have many of the items Tim used this month but luckily for me I had the perfect chipboard elements from Tando!  Check out my video to see all the techniques that went into the creation of this tag.  I used my distress inks, distress paints and delusions sprays on this one!!!

I had a brainwave right at the end of the video and added a hot glue web onto the legs of the spider!  Genius!………...she says with a devilish cackle!!! ;-)

We are thinking of going to watch a scary movie a the cinema on Halloween …..if you like to join in with the spooky fun then I wish you a spooktacular Halloween.

If it not your thing I wish you a quiet night in where nothing goes bump!

Don't forget to pop along to Tim's blog (click on this link) to see what spooky creativity he has sparked with this month's tag…..is it really three years of this challenge almost?

Until my next post thank you for popping by X

12 Tags of 2014 - September

Hi Everyone

The year is rolling on and with the passing of each month comes a new tag from Tim Holtz over at the 12 Tags of 2014 challenge.  I loved this tag.  It looked clean and simple on the face of it and I loved the concept but there were lots of techniques to try too and it was great fun getting out my alcohol inks and creating my version of the September tag.

I loved the alcohol resist technique that Tim shows us this month and it was one I had not tried before.  if you check out the video I let you know the things I learnt as I tried to get to grips with this one.  I love the subtlety of the resist and I have no idea why it works which makes it even more fun to try.

Tim used a rainbow of butterflies to adorn his tag but alas I do not have this die so I opted to go for Autumnal Shades and used a leaf punch as you can see……

You can also see that I loved this tag so much I made two versions and I show you how I got from Tim's inspiration to my interpretation on my You Tube video.

Does the image on the first tag look familiar to you???? ;-)  Yes your eyes are not deceiving you it is me!  I did not have a suitable stamp to add my leaves to so I came up with the idea to print and image on to my tag.  As I looked for suitable profile images I spotted my Blog icon and decided to drop it into photoshop to try to make it look like a drawing and lo and behold I found a filter called 'stamp' and hey presto my photo became a line drawing and I became a stamp!

I will definitely be using this idea again as I think it would make a fab set of family portraits!  So without further ado, as my dog is waiting to go for a walk along the river, I am going to finish off by adding my video link….

…….and of course don't forget to follow this link over to the 12 Tags of 2014 post to check out all the other fabulous tags that have been inspired by Tim this month.  I will be doing that myself once I am back from my walk so I will see you over there.

'til next time I hope you have a crafty week and weekend and thank you for popping by X

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

New Video and a Parcel!!!!!

Hi everyone

Firstly as promised here is the link (just a little late) to my latest video.  It is of my June tag for Tim Holts 12 Tags of 2014.

I hope you enjoy watching how I got from Tim's inspiration to my interpretation!  I have to say you really need to check out July's tag from Tim as it is a beauty.  My favourite so far.  I am not sure when I am going to get to play along but I do want to try to get hold of the lovely seahorse die first….Just a teeny tiny bit of shopping to do!!!

This morning I am happy to report a lovely parcel arrived at our house and Comet was napping in the garden so the postman managed to get it delivered!!!!  Comet is a lovely dog and wouldn't hurt a fly but he is big and he is noisy so I really don't blame the postie for not venturing in when he is out in the garden!  Consequently we always check when Comet barks (or at least we try to) especially when we are expecting mail.

I was having a coffee break in the garden with hubby when it arrived.  It was exciting unwrapping the lovely parcel that the Bibi from Rubber Dance had put together.  So many thoughtful touches - thank you Bibi it was a real treat.

Rubber Dance is based in Norway so check out those stamps I think I will keep hold of those!

Now I am going to be a bit of a tease and just show you a snippet of my parcel!!!!  ;-)  I want to keep you in suspense over the lovely images I am so lucky to be able to work and create with over the coming months.

If you can't wait for that and want to look at the beautiful stamps that I and my fellow Design Team members  will be creating with then why not follow this link over to Rubber Dance and check them out!

Wishing you all as much fun as I am having and thank you for popping by X
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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

12 Tags of 2014 - May Tag Complete…..and new storage!!!!

I have been having a whole lot of fun with my May tag.  I loved the look of Tim's embellishment quilt.  I was very eager to give it a try but here I am just about making it before the end of the month!  So without further ado here is my tag.

It was fun to rummage through all my embellishments to find the perfect addition to this tag.  Mo can you spot your contributions!!!!  They were perfect and I just had to use them x.

As usual I have made a video recording my journey from Tim's inspiration to my interpretation.  If you watch the video you will see I tackled things slightly differently to Tim's tutorial but I think there is no doubting the original inspiration.  You can see I got my micro sewing machine out again.  It is 'sew' cute ;-)

Here is a look at another angle:

You can just make out the dandelion wishes captured in my mini glass vial (courtesy of a Pinterest idea).

Here is the video tutorial:

If you want to play along with this wonderful challenge where you receive inspiration from Tim Holtz every month then please follow this link.  You will see all the wonderful work his challenge inspires.  It is great fun and the perfect excuse to get out all your stash!

I also managed to get my tag storage for this years tag finished.  I decided to use a technique I learnt playing along with this challenge.  It was featured on Septembers 12 Tags of 2012 and here is the link incase you love it and want to try the technique for yourself.

I love my new storage because it is mobile!  I know you can now picture me wheeling this around my desk!!!! tee hee.  It is filling up nicely and May's tag joins the other tags on the rail.

If you want to make this project because you are a tag maker like me then please follow this link to my ETSY shop.  There you will be able to purchase the online workshop with full video and written/photographic instructions.  I will step you through the construction of this project so you to can display all your lovely tag works of art.  Alternatively you can purchase it from my side bar by clicking the Paypal button.

All purchases gratefully received ;-)  I am busy working on two other workshops one is a versatile mini album.  If you love Graphic 45 or Halloween you will love this workshop.  The second is one I have been working on for ages and have no idea why it is not already in my shop!  I think I keep interrupting myself with all my free videos!  I will never make a cut throat business woman.

If you want more ideas for the workshop above there are lots on this blog or over on my You Tube Channel and I will share more Tag Storage fun on my next post.  For now I am off to have a very late breakfast and to make sure my son is up and about!

I wish you all a creative week and thank you for popping by x

12 Tags of 2014 - April

Can you believe it is a quarter of the way through the year already?  Here is my tag for the 12 Tags of 2014 Challenge.  I have also been playing along since this challenge was launched in 2012……time definitely flies when you are having fun making tags!

I had loved making all the pretty flowers and am really happy with how the faux bluebells turned out.  They are a favourite flower of mine.  They are just starting to show signs of flowering in my garden.  You can't beat a walk in the woods at this time of year when you just happen across a patch of beautiful bluebells.  

Here is another shot of the tag - this time against a different background.

I used a pretty Graphic 45 Ladies Diary paper as the inspiration for my flower arrangement.  I loved how the faux garden trellis turned out too with it's mirror inserts.  It wasn't the die Tim used but I think it works.  This was definitely a 'pretty' tag from Tim!  He made fab roses with his pinecones die for his tag.  Click on this link to check out what else Tim's tag inspired from everyone that is playing along with the 12 Tags of 2014 challenge.

Here is how I made mine:

I thought I would share another tag video with you today as I was thinking about all the tags I have made over the years and I remembered the fun I had making what I think was my first tag video.  I hope you enjoy it as it really made me chuckle as I edited it!

Hope you are having a creative day.  Thank you for popping by x

12 Tags of 2014 - March

Three months into the year already.  Can you believe it?  The weather here has been very changeable in March and before I post my tag for Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2014 I wanted to share a photo I took yesterday.

You can imagine the downpour!  How cool is that?  You can see how bright the sunshine is against the white walls of the houses and how black the rain clouds are - and not one but two beautiful rainbows.  Definitely worth the rain!!!

This months tag technique was smudge stamping and let me tell you before you watch the video I made a few mistakes!!!!  I couldn't seem to do right for doing wrong!!!  First I didn't have the lovely stamps Tim used so I struggled choosing suitable ones from my collection and it took me a few goes until I got a composition I liked.  The technique involved making a second generation stamped image and I kept forgetting and automatically reinked my stamp on several occasions……..then I didn't read Tim's tutorial correctly and I thought he only smudged the second generation images……wrong and then I made a mistake and smudged the first generation of stamping and got cross as I had to redo the tag and when I edited the video I realised that I didn't need to redo the tag I should have just carried on smudging!!!!!!  What a palaver!  It did make me chuckle though so I didn't cut it all out of the video so I hope it makes you chuckle too!!!

I got there in the end as you can see…..

I think I got there in the end!!!!  I really enjoyed turning my tags into luggage labels using Kraft Glassine to make faux leather.  Instead of putting strips of tissue tape to adorn my tags the way Tim did I decided to make rosettes with the tissue tape and my new Custom Fasteners made the perfect flower centres as you can see……..

I really hope you like the tutorial and that your weather brings you rainbows as spectacular at the ones we had yesterday.  Don't forget to pop over to see what all the other tag artists got up to this month over at 12 Tags of 2014.  After you have watched the video of course!!! ;-)

Have a great week and 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!