The 12 tags of 2012: updated 2.19.12

 

It is no secret that Tim Holtz is like some kind of stamping hero of mine.  I adore just about everything he creates.  I aspire to be as creative and most of all, I desire to sell my work as he sells his.  Every year he does the 12 tags of Christmas.  This is where he makes a speical tag every day for 12 days leading up to Christmas (duh).  It just about broke my heart yesterday when he announced that he was retiring the 12 tags of Christmas.  The heartbreak was short lived as he announced seconds later that he would be doing one tag a month for the rest of the year.  WHAT??? I get to make tags with Tim every month?  Oh how exciting!!!!!!!!!!!

This post will be leading into my first tag, which I will make this weekend.  Here is a link to Tim's post.

 http://timholtz.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/02/12-tags-of-2012-a-new-direction.html


I am hoping that maybe you too will want to embark upon this journey with me.  If you do, remember that this tag is YOUR work of art.  You don't have a supply?  substitute.  You don't like something?  Change it. 

If you have never experience Tim or his line of exciting products, what a great time to get involved.  If you are making your first purchase I recommend the distress inks.  They perform like no other ink pad.  My crafting has changed since I began to use them.  Experiment with them, you will be amazed.

You have those?  Then I say grab some of the embellishments.  They are unique, just like YOU!!!

This is the tag Tim made, how lovely.  I can't wait to craft along with Tim (and I have to get some of that honeycomb paper)!!!!!


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This weekend I finally had a chance to make MY version of Tim's first tag of 2012.  I liked the techniques Tim's used this month. I however have never seen honeycomb paper for sale and so I had to make my own.  It is not nearly as perfect as store bought, but I like the way it adds a homemade feel to my tag.  
I also did not have the heart or cupid, so I had to draw my own. I did draw them on grunge board and used the same techniques Tim did to color them.  The tissue paper is what I used for the tissue tape. I took a large piece of regular tissue and stamped words onto it.  Then I cut the tissue into strips. I applied glue to my heart and scrunched the tissue up onto the heart.  The ruffle is left over from another project, the wire is stuff I have lying around, the pearl is from my great grandmother's dress. The misting sprays are my own Michelle's Musings misting sprays. The letters, the picket fence paint dabber and heart charm are Tim's.

The stamped background is a bunch of stamps placed on an acrylic block.  This includes stamps from Inkadinkadoo, Stampin UP!, Hampton Arts, and stampology.


I am going to give the tag to my mom!  I love my mommy! 

Hey how did that bridge get there?

This could have been one of the worst bridge accidents ever. How lucky was our region that it was not?

If you don't know the story....this giant ship was traveling down the Tennessee River on January 26, 2012, when the ship struck the bridge. The next thing we knew was two sections of the bridge fell onto the bow of the vessel. There the decking of our Eggners Ferry bridge lay while the Kentucky Dept of Transportation did their investigation. The Delta Mariner is a vessel that carries parts for NASA and has navigated this river successfully many times over the course of ten years

What went wrong? That is still under debate. Speculations are strong to the locals....were the lights on the bridge working ( work was scheduled to begin the next morning to replace broken lights)? Was the water too high for the vessel this time? Did the ship try to travel under the wrong span? Was the captain under the influence of drugs, alcohol or even lack of sleep?

Time is going to tell. In the meantime check out these photos all of which were obtained from the Internet. Even though the wreckage is near my home I have stayed away.

St Valentine's Day

I am trying not to be into the whole obligated holiday thing.  It may be sweet for some, but we need our money for something else at my house.  I am excited about the “I love yous” on a daily basis.  Happy that my hubby loves me 365 days a year and not just on the one day.  Happy that my hubby provides for us, feeds us (even will go to the grocery for us), that he takes my son to ball practice, that he mows the yard, that he chases moles, that he is a good driver, that he is a great grill cook,  that he can stand my craziness, that he is a great dad and husband.  I guess I am grateful that he doesn’t need $100 spent on him on Valentine’s Day, he knows how I feel. 

That aside, I was very happy with the gesture from people that did NOT have to show me their love today. 

First is my beautiful teenage daughter, who at times I know would LOVE to claim that she was adopted!  She decided to take time out of her night last night to make her family a cake.  This was the first cake that she made all by herself from scratch.  It was a tasty cake too.  I am so proud of her!!!  She’s pretty wonderful!

Then there is Cassie Rogers.  She hasn’t known me for long, but in the time that she has known me she has embraced me and picked me up after I had been terribly hurt.  She has embraced my craziness and as a matter of a fact, I think she might be as crazy as me.  She doesn’t crowd me, she knows that I like my sleep, and she still accepts me.  She has done a few things for me that have shocked me; people just don’t do things for people anymore.  Once she bought me some hand gel because we were talking about it and well, she listened.  Another time, she went to the movies with me for 10 hours and she brought me a goodie bag and a Breaking Dawn pin (that I love).  And today she topped the cake, she came to school and brought me a Valentine!!! She did not have to do that!  How wonderful is that?  I don’t deserve it, but I gratefully accept it (it was yummy too).

My point?  Do I ever have one?  This time I think that I do..... just that I am grateful for all those in my life that love me every day and NOT just Valentine’s Day. 

Laundry fairy, where for art thou?

I thought that in the future we were going to have robots to do our laundry!  Wasn't that what was promised to us? 

My life this morning:

6:32am (we leave the house at 6:45)

son: mom, I don't have any underwear.
mom:  what do you mean you have no underwear, I just did laundry on Sunday.
son:  well I don't
mom:  did you look on your dresser? (because no one put clothes away anymore)
son:  there is not any underwear there. 

Ladies and gentlemen this is the story of my life.  The never ending laundry pile story.  I wash clothes almost every day, and somehow, somehow it keeps multiplying and I can't keep up.
 There is a girl at work, and I adore her in most ways, but there is one in which I am very envious.  She said "I only do laundry on Sundays".


WHAT??? Did I hear you correctly?  Just Sundays?  How on Earth do they do it?  I believe that if I waited until Sunday that would be all I did the entire day.  I washed 2 loads all ready today (and these are full loads people). 
My reality:

My dream: Yes in my dream the laundry is folded and put in ROYGBIV.

















Oh, and the underwear?  I found ONE pair on his bed.  I just hope they were clean.  What I can't figure out is how can we go on a week-long cruise and I don't have to do laundry even once and everyone has clean undies, but back in Western KY, we run out after two days?  What do we change underwear 4 times a day?  Are the undies hidden in the back of a drawer or folded up in the fitted sheet (this has happened to me)? I guess if I could solve this, I could solve all the world's problems...in the meantime bring on the Purex!!!!

Philippa Carr-Daughters of England book series

Have you ever read a book that changed your life?  I can recall the exact year that it happened to me and the exact book that did it.

Flash backward to 1989...Picture a high school student with long hair, tease to massive heights.  She is wearing a maroon trench coat and boots.  Her clothes usually consist of a Def Leppard or Bon Jovi shirt and pants (she never wears jeans).  She is too cool to read because, well, she is just too cool.

One day, she goes to her mom's friends house.  Her mom and her friend are talking and she is not really paying attention.  She is a bit bored!  There is a book on the floor entitled "The Adulteress".  Doesn't really sound like something she would do, either by the title or the fact that it was a book.  She picks up the book and begins to read.  Zipporah is the heroine of the book.  A good Bible name, she reads on.  Zipporah turns out to not be what she portrays herself to be (you knew that didn't you?).  Her cousin Dickon is on to her, he causes a terrible accident where her husband is terribly injured and he is a blackmailer.

Yes, this did it, she was hooked. She read this book in a couple of hours (God has blessed her with the ability to read swiftly and retain lots).  Then she had to know more. There was a family tree and she realized this must be a SERIES!

When she got back to Mayfield, KY she went to the library and realized yes indeed it was a series.  A series that began with a girl named Damask in the reign of Henry VIII and ended after WWII.  It followed a whole family of women that kept diaries of their life.  The lives they led were boring for some, but most had adventures that were well... building of a historical romance novel.

This girl began collecting the books in 1990 and currently has everyone.  Many she has had to replace because she reads them over and over and over.  She wishes they would put them on digital because she would LOVE to have them on her nook or kindle.

Her favorite is the story of Carlotta Main, a woman with violet eyes and TONS of problems.  A rich heiress that seemed to have no conscience. The book is appropriately named Song of the Siren.

If you have the time read the series.  Start with the Miracle at St Bruno's and go from there.

Here is a website that lists all the books and a little bit about each one.

This is the series that made one girl a reader and for that, she is grateful because this girl currently reads tons of books because of one woman named Philippa Carr.

Here is a photo of my Philippa Carr/Jean Plaidy (same author) bookshelf.  My Twilight books are also on here because they too are special to me.  This is my favorite bookshelf in my house.

Words of Wisdom to a new mom

In August I changed jobs and I have met many new people in the last few months.  Some have changed my life, my outlook on life and how I am.  I have grown close to people that I did not even know last July.  One of them has the office next to me.  There is just something about her.  Her whit, her strength, her drive, and her personality, as one student said “she’s off the chain”.  She is simply extraordinary!!

A little bit ago, she had a baby.  A precious little baby with the most adorable hands!  We are about to give her a shower at work and I thought, what would I have wanted when I was a first time mom?  It hit me……. When I was a about to become a mom I got plenty of advice on how to do things, like caring for the baby, but no one mentioned that I would be a soul provider.  What a HUGE responsibility that is!  Even to contemplate that, well it’s a little overwhelming. 

This is the advice I needed and did not get.  This is the advice I wanted to pass on in my baby gift to my new friend.  I decided to make her a canvas with one of the greatest little prayers that I have read.  

the canvas after the inking

the finished product

c

cherish tag

close up of cherish tag

Kind of sums it up…Parents love their kids in good and bad.  And on a larger scale……God loves us when we screw up, when we do right and just us in general. 

14 years ago, I began the road that my friend is now traveling down.  It is a road that has had some bumps, happiness, tears and some wonderful adventures.  I hope my friend is showered with many blessings on this new journey she has undertaken.  My prayer for her house is that her journey is as great for her as mine has been for me and that her child knows above all God is SOOOOOO good!! 

thanks Gingersnap Creations for this challenge, thanks to God for all else.  

http://gingersnapcreations.blogspot.com/2012/02/c137-chestnut-theme-challenge-words-of.html

 products used:
Cherish tag (copper), fragment, and all inks by Tim Holtz (broken china, frayed jeans, chipped sapphire)
bear and star beads and white ribbon by trinkets
jewel from the Christmas clearance aisle
Bingo chips thingys by Maya Road
Prayer from an old children's book
Angel and baby die cut and stars/moon from things I have collected from yard sales
Blue tag (featuring baby stats) by Technique Tuesday
Cherish silver tag by Joann's
paint used for angel by American crafts

Glorious Greens: GC136

Green can mean so many things:  spring, fresh, healthy. It can be calming, earthy, or even exciting.  To me, green is relaxing, cozy and happy.  A challenge based on glorious greens is not only inspiring but fun.  I ran with the line in the blog post that mentioned getting away from the blahs of the greys of winter.  This card does just that for me...I have an escape from winter and the dream of the spring that lies ahead.


Products used:
flowers by prima
patterned paper from a CKC kit (a scrap)
inspire metal by Tim Holtz
yellow wire I have had forever
fragment by Tim Holtz
paper on back of fragment by prima
all inks by Tim Holtz (distress inks in peeled paint, tea dye, iced spruce, and evergreen bough)
rhinestone by Jolee's
 button by Making Memories



thanks to Gingersnap Creations for another GREAT challenge!!!!

http://gingersnapcreations.blogspot.com/2012/01/gc136-color-challenge-glorious-greens.html

Designer Scraps

It happens to us all, there is a piece of paper that we are willing to pay $2.00 for and then we try to use it in every possible way that we can think of.  This happens to me a lot.  You have to save the scraps of that paper and use it until every single centimeter is gone.  Here is one that I bought at CKC in Nashville, TN in 2009.

A single sheet of paper that I bought at one of the booths and wish that I knew who made it.  I believe it was the paper loft.  If you know differently please tell me then maybe I could fine another sheet.





This is actually 2 sheets that I am featuring here.  A green/brown/tan stripe and a brown leafy page. Both which are very very great.  The stripe is the real one that I love. It's a subtle print with the perfect shades of those colors.  All of the inks used are by the one and only Tim Holtz.  Dusty Concord and Walnut Stain.  Every bit of the paper used is from my scrapbin.  The thinking of you rub on, stand by me rub on, and girl chipboard are also from the leftovers box.


The stand by me card is a bonus.  I used some of the same set, but most of this card was created for a golden anniversary.  It features gold paper, gold mulberry paper and a golden butterfly.  The green strip on the bottom of the purple is from the above mentioned paper.  Everything else is from my bin.

I am hoping to wipe this bin out by the end of the year.  It's February and I feel I have made quite a dent in that little blue box. 

Mojo Monday 226-I don't need a reason

Sometimes you just want to say HI or drop a note for no reason.  Today I HAD to make a couple of cards for just NO REASON.  Collages seem to be my new favorite thing and who would not like to get one on a card?  Both cards can be used for a multitude of things.  Here's how I got the look:

I cut the square and circle shaped bases that the Mojo Monday folks wanted.  With the square one, I just took my blending tool and blended in a little dusty concord.  On the circle one, I did that, but then I spritzed water into my hand and threw it onto the card.  This is one of my favorite techniques.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE the way the water makes the ink look.  While it was still wet I misted on some of my very own creation of a shimmer ink.  I just can't get enough of this look.


On both cards I took wire and twirled it in many directions to make something interesting.  The brown flower was made by me, the pink flower by Prima.  The "28" was from Maya Road...the Destiny metal tag and green fragment (I colored it with Ranger alcohol ink to get the green) by the great Tim Holtz.  The domino by 7 gypsies, the "smile" metal by JoAnn's.  The green and white button made by my mom and the moon and yellow flower gemstone from a child's outfit.

Spicy Supply Challenge-Ribbon Valentine's Day

I love to send cards to people I card about.  I guess the tradition started with Valentine's cards in Elementary school.  I remember getting the cards at school and just glancing at them, but then when I got home..I would go through them one by one.  Looking at who gave me which one.  To me I felt like the sentiment on the card was directly meant for me by the sender.  I realize now that probably my classmates most likely slapped their name on a card just to get it done.  

Fast forward 30 years later, I am making my own Valentine's Day cards.  These were inspired by a challenge on one of my favorite websites Gingersnap Creations.  The challenge was to use ribbon on your project.  I decided to use ribbon in every way that I could think of using one sheet of 12x12 black Bazzil paper, one 8.5x11 open stock from Hobby Lobby pink paper and the rest of the papers/embellishments were from my scrapbin.  This includes the ribbons.  These ribbons were used previously in a project and I hated to throw away the leftovers.  

I have no idea who made the rub ons, I have had them for years, but the stamp featured on the giggle card is an inkadinkadoo stamp.  All the rosettes were made by me using my incredible Martha Stewart scoring board.  That thing was so worth the $20 I spent on it.  

Colored pencils used were all Prisma Watercolors, all ink was made by the one and only Tim Holtz.  

Thinking of you...

 I decided to make 2 more cards with this weeks CR84FN challenge colors.  One was so I could use my brand new Technique Tuesday harlequin stamp.  I also had this great piece of scrap paper with a red vine on a pink background.  The red is flocked and so awesome.  I could not part with it, but had no idea what to do with it.  This was perfect.  I paired it with a tile from Technique Tuesday, a thinking of you sticker and a Tim Holtz fragment.  Everything else on this card came from my scrapbin.  I just love it when I get my money's worth!!!

The second card was for the Mojo Monday challenge. I love color blocking and thought this one would be perfect.  It has a steampunk vibe, but a simple version.  I used stamps from Hampton Arts (the large gears, key and key hole) and Technique Tuesday (complex gears and phrase).  All pieces of paper came from my scrapbin.

Pretty in Pink (Light Blue and Red too)

I just have to say first hand, I LOVE THIS COLOR SCHEME!  Oh, yes, these colors make me very happy inside.  When I am happy I cannot but make things that make me happy.  Today's cards do just that.  One is a generic card to say HELLO!!  I wanted to use these beads that I had in the colors of red, blue and white...so I got me some silver wire, strung some up and then had to figure out how to use them on my card.  Everything that I used to day was stuff from my scrapbin.  This is full of stuff that I either had left from another project or stuff I had salvaged from another object.  The ring that holds the ribbon used to be on a key ring.  I just loved it so I cut it off the key ring.  The chipboard is from an old card kit I got years ago, and I just didn't use this piece.  

 I liked the scheme so much I decided to make a tag for a friend of mine.  She is a special lady about to celebrate her 40th birthday.  The items here are also from my bin.  The tissue flower is a piece of tissue that came in a gift. I stamped it and spritzed it with some of my inks and then fashioned it into a flower (using Tim Holtz's flower from tissue technique).  The chipboard and harlequin stamp are from Technique Tuesday, the jewelry is from a kids necklace and the girl stamp is from Hot off the Press and I wish I knew where the priceless stamp was made. I bought it at a yard sale. 


Since the tag was made in layers, I wanted to use it for a challenge on layers. I love layers so I HAD to do this challenge.  And the color scheme is perfect for a layering challenge.


Thanks to both CR84FN and Crazy 4 Challenges for keeping us all fresh and on our toes. I for one LOVE what you do for all of us crafters!  

My Mind's Eye Card Challenge

This was fun as well...again I got to use my favorite paper in the world wide world. Actually these are the scraps from my large layout, you can't throw away any Bohemia paper. Get my look: All patterned paper is Bohemia by My Mind's Eye Green paper is recollections from Michael's Punch is by Stamping UP!! Black pen by Sharpie Pink paper by Bazzill Glue by Scotch Lyrics by Lennon and McCartney Thanks for letting me play.

For the Birds (week 2 CR84FN)

I needed to do this challenge one more time, why?  Because I need to learn to use YELLOW more.  People like yellow, yellow makes them happy. I need to overcome my hatred and please others.  This layout was inspired by all of the birds that I saw at the St. Louis Zoo in 2011.  The birds in the 1904 bird cage were very thrilling to watch.  I was watching  the white one and thinking about a NOVA show that I watched once on the birds of the Everglades and how some were almost extinct because they were hunted and killed so their feathers could adorn ladies hats.  The feathers were so lovely, that I could imagine why they were sought in the 1930's.  I even had to do a close up of the wispy feathers.

To go with my birds, I painted some of my favorite birds from the day at the zoo.  I painted that white bird (I have no idea what he is), the flamingo (whom I love to view) and the wonderful little owl.

All of the patterned paper used is Creative Memories (sold to me by Kim Davidson), and the pink paper is Bazzil brought from Archiver's.  The dock was made and painted by me, from brown scraps that I keep in my bin.  The birds were also painted on scraps.  I notice now that I did not draw the white birds neck long enough, but I am NOT redoing it.  Maybe his short neck gives him character.   

Have a great week, can't wait for CR84FN next week...I have my fingers crossed for something PURPLE!!!

Weather and the SS Princess Sophia

This latest ship sinking takes me back to yet another sinking that I like to read about.  I remember the first time I heard about the SS Princess Sophia.  I was on my first sailing to Alaska (very close to where the ship sank).

Our lecturer (this was a lecture on the Alaskan Inside Passage and moments in its history) was mentioning that this was one of the greatest disasters, but of course, it is overshadowed by the Titanic.

This great ship ran aground between Skagway and Juneau in the most beautiful waters along the Lynn Canal (which is actually the deepest fjord in North America---and simply gorgeous).  It had just a little less than 350 people on board.  Weather played a MASSIVE part in the story of Princess Sophia. The weather may be the major cause of the ships doom.  The weather in Alaska is wild and unpredictable.  I have experienced that first hand, but we had modern equipment.  The ships mentioned in this terrible story had none of that, just their basic Alaskan weather history and their brains.

I am not going to type the story for you, you need to google it or click on the links I have provided.  I am just going to show you some pictures that I saved after I got home from that Alaskan cruise in 2008.  I just found them on the internet.

And if you want to purchase a book about the sinking:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/739967.The_Sinking_of_the_Princess_Sophia

Dreaming I could use Yellow

I am not really a fan of yellow, so it is very hard for me to be creative with a color that I do not like.  I thought that I would use the colors to make a LOVE card and maybe a generic card.  Can you ever really have enough generic cards to give away?

I used Hampton Arts stamps on the LOVE card, also a bunch of things from my bin of stuff I don't use anymore.  I thought I would never use the heart rub ons.


The Journey card is my favorite of the two.  The Journey stamp is from Technique Tuesday, oh wait the flower stamp is too.  The flowers on the card are painted with watercolor pencils and the flowers on the yellow "ribbon" are done with watercolor crayons.  I actually made those at the Technique Tuesday class at CKC.

The RMS Titanic

This is a story that has been told many times. It is one that you will probably hear about a lot again this year.  April 15, 2012, marks the 100^th anniversary of the Titanic.  711 people were saved and over 1500 perished in this massive sea disaster. It is a story worth repeating

The what-ifs have been told over and over.  The story has been glorified in a fantastic movie, but all in all many people died because of mistakes. Mistakes that can never be corrected.  100 years later then Titanic still stands out as a marvel of a ship and a very sad sailing. 

The Titanic started my love of big cruise ship liners. I remember the first time that I read “A Night to Remember”.  I was mesmerized by the story, taken aback by the loss of life, and wishing I could find the wreckage.  I remember September 1, 1985, well.  Tom Brokaw announced on the news that Dr. Bob Ballard found the ship.  And then new details of that fateful night April 15, 1912, began to emerge.  The stern and bow were in separate pieces and facing away from each other,  there was a large debris field lying on the bottom of the ocean and then got some insight on exactly why the ship sank. 

If you are not a Titanic person, you may get tired of the news. I expect there will be many events commemorating the ship.  I know there will be a celebration in Belfast, the Titanic movie will be re-released, and some ship is sailing the course was taken and the course that should have been sailed.  If you can check out one of the Titanic museums they are a wealth of knowledge, and very interesting.

 

I have made this layout for the 100 anniversary.  I am sure this is just my first of many.  This one is pretty logo intensive because these are logos that are important to me.