Happy New Year...

If you are reading this post ... Congratulations ... as the old folks used to say " You made it over ! "
I don't know about you , but I have not made a lot of  New Years Resolutions ... I think I'm still going to work on some from last year LOL. I'm grateful to see another year, I'm excited to see what the New Year will bring. I've created this New Year Tag   Using my Ledger Script Stamp, Linen background stamp, Calendar Stamp  and Snowflakes from Mini Holidays 2 Stamp Set and  Tall Text Stamp Set. ( all Tim Holtz of course).

I used antique linen distress paint with the linen stamp for the base of the background; then used frayed burlap and pumice stone spray distress  stain drying with the heat tool between layers to get that cool effect. I stamped the script with black archival ink. The calendar was stamped with cornflower blue archival ink, and the snow flakes were stamped with  stormy sky and weathered wood distress ink. I used the snowflake stencil and blueprint sketch for the other snowflakes. I distressed the edges with the distress tool and walnut stain distressing ink. I added foil to the tag for highlights. The blue was a little brighter than I had envisioned but certainly added interest !

I'm praying that you will have a prosperous New Year; in your families, in your crafting adventures; in your personal lives. Whatever your desires are make the best of everyday  you have to spend with family and friends; and don't forget your " Me" time!

Invest some time in your spiritual growth; if you haven't met my Best Friend ... get to know Him in a personal way ... He desires a personal relationship with you and He's the Best friend you will ever have... He loves you unconditionally! :)


I have loads of projects now UFO from 2015 that I would love to see finished, this first month in 2016. And of course the Queendom is always a priority. If I left it to my husband I think the living room aka as the Queendom annex would be the first priority ... we shall see.

Whatever you do enjoy yourself... Have a Blessed Day ... Happy 2016 !

T'is The Season ... Anything Goes December Challenge

Now you all know I don't like to be left out ... Inspiration Emporium's  last Challenge of 2015... Let's do this...
So I made tags , with the intent of using them on a couple of packages... well I forgot I made them and sent the packages on ... duh !!

So I've decided to share them with all of you. I won a prize package from Ranger Inc. earlier this month so I decided to play with the stamps I won. Such a cool prize; Dylusions  Stocking Fillers  Holiday Stamp Set and Dina Wakley's Scribbly Holiday Birdies both autographed by the ladies themselves; And Holiday  Stickles!! Thank you again Ranger :)

Okay ... a little bit about my tags for  two of the  tags I used Dylusions ink london blue, vibrant  turquoise and after midnight ( I was trying out the color combo for another challenge project I love it!
The second  tag ( the lighter tag ) was a mop up tag; I mopped up excess ink on my craft sheet... very pretty isn't it ?? Using the snowflake stencil from Dylusions I stamped snowflakes on all three backgrounds ... it's cold outside I'm thinking snow :)  .

Tag #1 I used the Christmas tree stamp and the Merry Christmas sentiment from Dylusions.

Tag#2 I used  my Tim Holtz Flourish stencil with weathered wood distressing ink and then the Tim Holtz snowflake stencil ; I created snowflakes with the texture paste. I added Let It Snow  sentiment from Tim's Handwritten Holiday Stamp Set.

Tag#3 I used Dina Wakley's Scribbly Bird; added the cute little ear muff hat, which I customized with my plaid background stamp ... so fun ! I added the holly  and sentiment also from Dina's set. Then I thought I'd try my hand at some snow like Tim showed us at the Carson Stamp Show ... haha
too cute.

After completing the tags to this point I decided they each need a dusting of snow so I used Tim's splatter brush with picket fence distress paint... aaah perfect touch ! I further embellished the tags by adding ribbon and white fiber... burr it feels like winter !!!

Thank you Inspiration Emporium for another fun year of inspiration. Thank you Design Team for all you've done to keep us inspired  and motivated. Blessings to each of you in the coming year!

Dylusions December Facebook Challenge

I DID IT,  I DID IT !!! One of my goals for 2015 was to start work in my  Dylusions Journal.
I've been participating in other Challenges, doing blog hops , making cards, trying new projects, doing my 12 Tags of 2015 and caring for sick family members; doing a wedding, but I could never seem to get around to my Art Journal . Well December was here... Christmas gone ... it's do or die time... LOL !

I love Dyan  Reaverley's work and her stamps and have planned for a couple of years to "try" my hand at it. I've got quite a stash of inks and stamps... working on adding to the collection ... but I had a "light bulb" moment... you gotta use what you bought!!! So here I am ... December Challenge; use blue with snow flakes... I can handle that especially since I won the cute little Holiday Stamp and Stencil set from Ranger ! Woo Hoo
Do you ever get petrified just before starting something new ? I do ... it was like I never handle inks before ...hahaha (I'm A Tim-A-holic) ... anyway the start was very slow...

My background was done with  London Blue,  Vibrant Turquoise and After Midnight ink sprays. I was so giddy when I saw how it came out ... yay background done now what ... hehehe ... I knew I wanted to use Pondering Petunia and I knew I had snowflake stencils  from Stocking Fillers Stamp set my pages sat for almost three days. NOTHING was coming to mind except me pondering... I stamped the snowflakes ... I gotta tell you I was NOT impressed... oh man how difficult can snowflakes be... they were ugly ... smudgy, lacked definition... what did I do wrong... I turned the stencil over and did another set ... well better. Sooooo I left it alone for two more days, then I decided to use the stencil with texture paste ... yay cool snowflakes; decided to use (from my prize package) Stickles I used Wonderland and Frozen ... well I liked them at first ... then NO !! Okay so those other ugly snowflakes needed help, I used my Martha Steward stylus set  and created designs on some of the "mushy "  snow flakes that bought some life to them ... oh well clock is ticking I need to wrap this snowflake mess up (NOTE to self :Look up instructions for this stencil ... AFTER New Year ) hahaha!! What came to mind as I was doing this was "You gotta believe you can do this, believe in yourself ... this was applying to my project at hand and to my real life situation with my brothers illness " ... So I added BELIEVE to my page ( from Word Love Stamp Set) ... hahaha another story in itself! I added evergreen branches ( from  Christmas Accessories) that I stamped with black archival ink and then decided to stamp over them with  Mowed Lawn Distressing ink as that was the color I used for Petunia's dress and leggings.... I'm liking the look I added Christmas balls from the Christmas Asscessories Set also. I was beginning to like the look. Okay ...  snowflakes NEED some snow ... using my Picket Fence Distress Paint and that cool splatter brush  (Tim Holtz) I created snow ... oops ... I got too excited I got a little flurry towards the bottom ... hum not to worry it fit right in. My thought at this point was  WALK AWAY FROM THE PAGE NOW... DO NOT DO ANYTHING ELSE... there you have it my first Dylusions page ever !

As I worked on this page I reflected on the "season" my family and I are in with my brother's illness (stage 4 cancer). More so than ever before I'm wanting to make the most of every opportunity that I have; it means pressing beyond my limits, exploring.  There's times of knowing what to do, not knowing what to do; wondering if you did the right thing, or enough ... you are angry, frustrated, sad... you have silly moments, lonely moments. I think my page encompasses ALL of that . I'm believing my faith will carry me through whatever lies ahead and that I have a faithful ever loving God (represented by the evergreen) who will be by my side every step of the way;  through the ugly, the indifferent and the beautiful !  I'm ready for 2016 ... How about you ?? Happy New Year !

12 Tags of 2015 December Tag

Wow ... it's December 26th ! Hope you all had a Blessed Christmas with your families and friends.

Well here we are the last tag of 2015. What an amazing tag journey this has been. Don't know about you but I've been pretty pleased with how I've been stretched this year. Tim is just so amazing and his creativeness is over the top awesome. Some of these tags have been tedious ( with great results); some have been intimidating ... almost quit on two of them! But I'm HAPPY to say I stuck with them all.
The December tag... OMG ... when I looked at it I thought WOW, that is so cool ... OMG ... don't know if I want to do that one ... TEDIOUS X3 came to mind! I've said it on previous tags I'm sure, I'm HAPPY to be finished with it, but I'm amazed that I got it done...LOL! STRESS TEST...

Now that background absolutely LOVE it ... it was so easy and it looks so great; I've got a new love for stencils and burlap ... so elegant looking. That wreath... I'm still scratching my head... WOW... REALLY TIM? I started out with just one of those punches and was going to make due using other dies ( leaves from pinecone die and greenery die) ... BUT looking at the tag again I WANTED WHAT TIM USED hahaha .sooooooo I bought the other two punches !! Once I harnessed my dyslexia ( I'm not really dyslexic but sure seems like it at times... as long as it takes for me to figure out how something is done) the wreath started to take shape. Nails are not always a plus with small pieces... sometimes they work for you other times they work against you. I was almost in tears; then I figured out it wasn't the tag ... just overflow of emotions from caring for my brother.
Back to the tag... how brilliant to work out a dimensional wreath !

My favorite part had to be the splatter... with that new small splatter brush Tim  did ... it goes so well... such a cool touch with that picket fence paint !
That's it for 12 Tags of 2015... Thank You Tim for another amazing year. Can't wait to see what 2016 holds for us.

Have a safe, healthy New Year !

 

 

 

Christmas Wish

I am always so busy this time of year ( not the shopping either); I always have such great plans to make my Christmas cards; have them done and in the mail Dec. 1st. Never happens, there is usually a death or illness that takes me out of commission. This year is no different. I frantically worked on cards between rehearsals, family obligations etc....BUT I didn't want to rush through them... so I guess next year I'll finish them. Does that happen to anyone else ?
I am however going to share one with you. I so love how it came out.

I used a Kraft card base and Pink Paislee Merry & Bright Collection. I so love the colors and prints of this collection. I chose the adorable green with tiny white polka dots paired with a Christmas floral. I cut out a black and white sentiment  from one of the papers and cropped it on a black and white print.  I used my  Tim Holtz Mini Reindeer & 25 set and cut a cute Reindeer from the green polka dot ( way cute ). I added red to the bottom of the card using a cute reindeer washi tape from Recollections. I furthered embellished the card with red bling on the reindeer's nose and a black and white bakers twine tie.

 

 

 

 

 

My sentiment was Peace, Love and Joy ... that's what I'm wishing for each one of you and your families  during this Christmas season. May you know and feel God's peace and love; and may you experience His  joy as you anticipate the New Year .

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !