November tag!

I can't believe this year is almost over!!  One more tag to go in 2013!

But first, here's my November tag:

Materials/tools used:

 - Ranger Inkssentials Black Craft Tags

 - Ranger Distress Ink: Pumice Stone

 - Ranger Distress Embossing Ink

 - Ranger Archival Ink: Jet Black

 - Ranger Embossing Antiquities powder: Frosted Crystal

 - Maya Road Twine Cording: Blackberry

 - Ranger Heat Tool

 - Ranger Inkssentials Mister

 - Ranger Inkssentials Foam Blending Tool

 - Tonic Craft Scissors

 - Stamps by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous: CMS136, CMS155

 - White cardstock, white chalk, glue dots, foam tape from my stash

Notes: 

 - This was my first time trying out the chalkboard technique, and while I think it's a lot of fun, and looks awesome, it does take some practice.  Just getting the embossing powder cured in all the places, without being overcured in some of them, takes a lot of practice!  But I'll be continuing to work with this one, and eager to see what results I get with coloured chalk as well.

 - I noticed that the white of my chalk didn't look as bright as Tim's example, but I was using the no-name teacher chalk I found at the office supply store.  I'll likely try again with RoseArt or Crayola and see if that makes a difference.  :-)

 - As much as I am intrigued by Tim's new stamp & die collections, they haven't found their way into my budget yet, so in the meantime, I used some blueprint stamps I already owned, and fussy cut them.  Same effect, a little more work.  But totally doable without laying out for new stamp/die combos, and the magnetic platform.  :-)

More views:

I'm looking forward to a nice long weekend (I'm off work beginning at noon on Wednesday, and continuing through the weekend), and spending a lot of it in my studio.  Still have a couple more posts planned in November.  What are your creative plans for the holiday?  :-)

BAC

A quick pick-me-up for a Fairy Princess...

A certain young letterboxer I know recently underwent a rather unpleasant oral surgery procedure, so I decided to make her something pretty to cheer her up.  :-)

She loves fairies, and her dad mentioned that her favourite colours are blue and aqua (girl after my own heart!), so this is what I came up with:

Materials/tools used:

 - Ranger Inkssentials Manila Craft Tags

 - Ranger Distress Ink: Salty Ocean

 - Ranger Distress Stain: Broken China, Evergreen Bough, Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean

 - Ranger Stickles: Lagoon, True Blue

 - Tsukineko Staz-on Ink: Azure, Teal Blue

 - idea-ology Crinkle Ribbon

 - Ranger Heat Tool

 - Ranger Inkssentials Mister

 - Ranger Inkssentials Foam Blending Tool

 - Sentiment stamp by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous: CSS30188

 - Fairy stamps carved by me

More views:

I can't wait to hear how she likes it!  :-)

A quick challenge! (7gypsies: A Very Vintage Christmas)

So, this morning when I woke up, I checked my Facebook feed, and noticed an update from 7gypsies: "LAST DAY to enter the Very Vintage Christmas challenge on the 7G blog!"  I had missed the original challenge announcement (I blame my RSS reader, which has been wonky lately!), but I decided I'd give it a try anyway!

Here's the challenge (for me, at least!):  My local stores carry some 7gypsies products (indeed, I own some of their papers and stamp sets), but I didn't have any of their Christmas papers, and I wasn't sure if I'd find any.  After work today, I went out on the hunt, and managed to find a few sheets at Joann!  Success!  That, and a well-chosen gypsy pack, led to:

Materials/tools used:

 - Ranger Inkssentials Manila Craft Tags

 - 7gypsies Gypsy Pack: Vintage Market

 - 7gypsies Calender Tickets

 - 7gypsies Santa's Journey Collection: Santa's Trunk

 - Maya Road Twine Cording: Tomato Red

 - Dymo label maker

 - Tonic Craft Scissors

 - Single-hole punch

 - Double-stick tape from my stash

It felt really weird for me to create a tag without any stamps on it anywhere, but I have to say, once I figured how my layout, it sure came together fast!  Hope you like it!

'Til next time!

BAC

Challenge: "Alcohol Inks"

Back again with another project I completed within a private challenge group.  This challenge was a fun one, using alcohol inks (which I fully admit I underutilize, given how many I own!).

Here's my finished tag:

Materials/tools used:

 - Ranger Inkssentials Black Tags

 - Ranger Alcohol Inks: Citrus, Denim, Meadow, Slate

 - Ranger Archival Inks: Cobalt, Deep Purple, Jet Black, Olive

 - Ranger Glossy Accents

 - Ranger Alcohol Ink Blending Solution

 - idea-ology: Tissue Tape (Hobgoblin), Pen Nibs

 - Ranger Heat Tool

 - Ranger Alcohol Ink Applicator

 - Tonic Craft Scissors

 - Xyron 2.5" sticker maker

 - White glossy paper, double-stick tape, foam dots from my stash

 - "The Raven" text stamp by Impression Obsession

 - Pen Nib & Bird stamps by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous: CMS167, CSS30195

 - Poe stamp carved by me

You had to know I'd do another Poe tag this year, right?  :-)  Overall, I had a LOT of fun doing this tag, and like it a whole lot better than the other tag I did this month.  Not sure there's anything at all I'd change about it.  I enjoyed challenging myself to use the alcohol inks on the various elements of the tag, from the text background, to the raven cutout.  Even the pen nib got some treatment with the Denim alcohol inks before I glued it on.

A couple more views:

Overall, this tag was a fun reminder of why I need to use my alcohol inks more frequently!  :-)

It looks like November will be a slightly calmer month for me than September and October were.  I'm looking forward to being able to show you more projects than just the monthly tags!  We're overdue for a Product Spotlight, too, so I think that'll be next!  

*hint* The next Product Spotlight is a product I used on this tag!

'Til then!

BAC

October tag...

Hello all!

It's been a crazy month, but I did have a little time yesterday evening to hit my studio and catch up on some projects, including my October tag!

Materials/tools used:

 - Ranger Inkssentials Manila Tags

 - Ranger Distress Ink: Black Soot, Brushed Corduroy, Peeled Paint, Stormy Sky, Walnut Stain

 - Ranger Distress Glitter: Broken China, Mowed Lawn

 - Ranger Distress Paint: Broken China, Mustard Seed, Peeled Paint, Picket Fence, Spiced Marmalade

 - Ranger Archival Ink: Jet Black

 - Ranger Glossy Accents

 - idea-ology: Crinkle Ribbon, Grunge Board, Vial Labels

 - Ranger Heat Tool

 - Ranger Inkssentials Mister

 - Ranger Inkssentials Foam Blending Tool

 - Stamps by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous: CMS120, CMS167

 - Sizzix Movers & Shapers Dies: Mini Apothecary Bottles

 - Sizzix Big Shot

This month's technique was really about familiarizing yourself with the Distress Glitter.  I have to admit, I'm not really a "glitter" person.  I get too easily frustrated by the way it sticks to everything, and you continue finding little pieces of it in various places months later.  When I need sparkly, I usually use Stickles.  Consequently, I only own 4 colours of Distress Glitter so far, so my options for the tag were a little limited.  If I had it to do over, I'd probably choose some different colours, but at least I spent some time playing with them.  I DO have to say that cleaning up after this glitter wasn't that difficult.  It wiped up easily, and washed off my hands easily, so that was cool.  I was a bit frustrated though, when trying to ink over the top of the glittered pieces, that I wound up with glitter sticking to my blending foam and ink pad.  It's an interesting technique, but probably not one I'll use on a regular basis.

But it's good to try new things, right?  :-)

I'll have another Challenge project to share, either later today or tomorrow morning.  

'Til then,

BAC

September tag!

Two posts in one day! Either I've been really busy the past few days, or I'm a procrastinator! (It's possible that both are true.) :-)

Here's my September tag:

Materials/tools used:
- Ranger Inkssentials Manila Tags
- Ranger Distress Ink: Black Soot, Salty Ocean, Walnut Stain
- Ranger Distress Marker: Black Soot
- Ranger Distress Paint: Picket Fence
- Ranger Distress Stain: Evergreen Bough, Festive Berries, Shaded Lilac
- Ranger Archival Ink: Jet Black
- Ranger Glossy Accents
- Studio 490 Embossing Paste: White
- idea-ology: Halloween Muse Tokens, Wire Pins, Jump Rings, Crinkle Ribbon, Chit Chat, Pen Nibs
- Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous Layering Stencils: Bubble, Burlap, Clockwork, Honeycomb, Rays
- Ranger Heat Tool
- Ranger Inkssentials Mister
- Ranger Inkssentials Foam Blending Tool
- Tonic Paper Distresser
- Plastic Palette Knife
- "The Raven" text stamp by Impression Obsession
- Poe stamp carved by me

This month was all about playing with layers, and Tim's fun new layering stencils. I picked up the awesome Raven stamp at my local stamping shop a few weeks ago, and it'll be getting a lot of use in the coming weeks (including on some projects that show the text itself better). It includes the full text of the poem on it, and matches perfectly with the Poe bust I carved for an ATC a few months back. (Have you figured out yet that autumn is my favourite season, and Halloween is my favourite holiday?) :-)

This was my first time playing with Studio 490’s embossing paste, and it was a lot of fun! Easy to use, and dried quickly to a very unusual texture. I'm excited to play with it again, and even more excited to experiment with the jar of clear embossing paste that I ordered at the same time!

More views:

Well, that's it for now!  Have fun and get inky!  :-)

BAC

Challenge: "Color Pattern Blocking/Patchwork"

Hi everybody!

This project was for another challenge in a private group. The theme this month was "Color Pattern Blocking", and Patchwork backgrounds a la Dyan Reaveley.

Here's my tag:

Materials/tools used:
 - Ranger Inkssentials Manila Craft Tags
 - Ranger Distress Ink: Salty Ocean
 - Ranger Distress Markers: Broken China, Chipped Sapphire, Dusty Concord, Faded Jeans, Mowed Lawn, Peacock Feathers, Peeled Paint, Pine Needles, Salty Ocean, Shabby Shutters, Stormy Sky, Victorian Velvet
 - Ranger Archival Ink: Cobalt, Deep Purple, Olive
 - Ranger Inkssentials Foam Blending Tool
 - idea-ology Chit Chat
 - Maya Road Twine Cording: Blueberry, Celery Green
 - Sharpie pen: Black
 - Stamps by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous: CSS25870, CSS25887, CSS30195

I started out by making big swirly doodles on my tag, and colouring them in with my Distress markers in various shades of green, blue, and purple (aka Liz colours :-) ).

Well, actually, I started with a much more complicated doodle, that I was colouring in with Dylusions in a waterbrush.  Got about halfway finished, and accidentally spilled an open bottle of Dylusions over it. :-( Decided it was time for a new gameplan.

But I liked the background I got with the Distress markers, and it's a new background I've never tried before, so that's cool! :-)

More views:

And just for a good measure, a pic of my previous doodle, before I started adding colour:

I'll likely do a similar one again soon, but didn't quite have the heart right after spilling Lime Green Dylusions all over the first.  :-/