Of Bonnie Scotland And Robbie Burns

Hello and thanks for stopping by.  I'm sharing a postcard today that I made for the SPA (Sunday Postcard Art) 'Robert Burns Night/Scotland' challenge.

Earlier this week, on January 25th, all good Scots, no matter where they were around the world, partook in Robbie Burns Day and celebrated as the haggis was piped in and Robert Burns' poem 'Address To A Haggis' was recited.  While I do enjoy a good haggis (it tastes pretty darn good amazingly enough) I wasn't up to making a postcard featuring one as they are not the prettiest things to look at!  So I chose a fragment of the poem 'Tam o'Shanter' by Robert Burns to feature in my postcard and here it is.

The background of the postcard is the official Robert Burns tartan pattern and I also included a picture of the great man himself as well as a painting of the house where he was born in Alloway, Ayrshire, Scotland.  The thistle is the national flower of Scotland and the poppy image was added for the first line of the poem's stanza '...pleasures are like poppies spread, You seize the flower, its bloom is shed...'  The signature fragment on the bottom is Robert Burns' signature from a letter that he wrote to a fellow poet in 1786.

I love the beautiful imagery evoked by these lines, don't you?

So drink a wee dram of whiskey in honour of Rabbie Burns and if you aren't familiar with his work, head on over to the official Robert Burns site and read a poem or two, you'll be glad you did.

Thanks to SPA for a fun challenge this week and I'll be back in a few days with a few more finishes that I have in the works.  Have a great weekend everyone and happy creating!

Deb

January 12 Tags Of 2015

Hello!  Hope that all of you in the East have either managed to dig yourselves out or, if you are in the Maritimes, that you are hunkered down safe and warm inside your home.  The predicted Nor'Easter didn't perhaps live up to all of it's hype but many of you got more than your fair share of snow.  Hope you all made it through safe and sound and had plenty of creative time as you watched the snow fall.

I am embarking upon a new project this year; those of you who know and love Tim Holtz will be familiar with the '12 Tags' series that he has been doing for several years now.  I have always looked at and admired his tags, and have occasionally tried a technique or two, but I've never committed to making a years worth of Tim tags.  Well, this year is the year I am going to throw caution (and fear!) to the wind and dive in and try my hand at all of Tim's tags.  In the end, they may not look too pretty or look anything like Tim's tags but I am going to embrace the imperfections (as Tim always encourages everyone to do) and give them a try.  It's only through our mistakes that we learn so here we go!

Tim's first tag of 2015 is all about numbers and the New Year, here is what Tim said:

this month’s tag was all about the new year! a time to reflect on the past, while aspiring for new and exciting opportunities ahead. my love for numbers took center stage surrounded by words that inspire me as i hope they inspire you too – let the 12 tags of 2015 begin…t!m

Here is the beautiful tag that Tim made for January:

And here is my interpretation of Tim's tag:

As will often be the case throughout the year, I didn't have all the supplies that Tim used, so I had to improvise as I went.  I stamped some white tissue paper with some letter and number background stamps and adhered it to the tag and then covered everything with acrylic paint in colours of blue green and taupe.  A spray of Gathered Twigs distress stain came next and then I went to work on the numbers and words.

I used the Sizzlits Tim Holtz Idea-ology 'Boardwalk' decorative strip die to cut out the letters for the word 'TWENTY' and also for the numeral '15' that is on the bottom of the tag as pictured above.  The dies were then covered with copper glitter glue for the word twenty and with gold paint and Clear Rock Candy distress glitter for the number 15.  The large number 15 in the center of the tag was then added, using the Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Collection 'Worn Text' stamp set, with distress Clear Embossing Ink and copper embossing powder.  While the embossing powder was still warm, I gently distressed it with a sanding block to knock back the shininess a bit.  I didn't have any chit chat stickers, so I typed out some random words and cut them out to use instead.

Tim had used an arrow adornment on his tag and to evoke the same feeling, I decided to use some clock hands I had in my stash and I attached them with a small Tim Holtz Idea-ology custom fastener.  I left the hands moveable so that they could be positioned to point at any of the inspirational words or numbers that struck your fancy on that particular day!

I did have a mirrored star (yay!) like Tim used on his tag but didn't have any of the index labels, so I used a Funky Junk label by Cathe Holden under the star instead.  Tim had used a Distress Marker in black soot to outline his chit chat stickers but as I don't have that colour, I used a Recollectons Blender Pen dipped in my black soot distress ink and it worked wonderfully!  I'd never used the blender pen before but now I will be using it all the time as it can turn any of my distress ink minis into temporary distress ink pens, love it!  Finally, I spattered the tag with white acrylic paint and tried to spatter it with some gold metallic paint.  The gold metallic was coming out in big blobs (yikes!!) so I ditched it and did a couple of sprays with some Antiqued Bronze distress spray instead.  I definitely overdid it with the splatters and sprays but live and learn, right?!  The Antiqued Bronze distress spray also got spritzed on a piece of crinkle ribbon to finish off the tag.

So there it is, my first tag of the year inspired by the amazing Tim Holtz.  Thanks to Tim for a wonderful inspirational challenge and I can't wait to see what February's tag will be all about.  Thanks so much for stopping by, have a creative day everyone!

Deb

Enjoy The Journey Tag

Hidey-ho neighbour, hope you have had a fun and creative weekend.  I've been working on an altered hang tag to submit to Unruly Paper Arts' current readers art quest, 'Global Traveler', and finished it today.  Come on in and take a peek!

The prompt this month at Unruly Paper Arts was:

Our theme this month is Global Traveler inspired by the New Year which often sees us making plans to travel and see the world.  As always it's open to your interpretation and we have provided some further inspiration for you by way of a photo and color combination.

 

 

I decided to make a tag for the challenge (I know, I make way too many tags!) but they are such a versatile format and easy to store and mail as gifts.

 

 

This time I used a larger #8 sized kraft coloured tag and started out by embossing it with the 'Postal' Texture Fades embossing folder.  I lightly covered the embossed lettering with 'Old Paint' distress paint and then coloured the tag with distress stains in 'Salty Ocean', 'Iced Spruce', 'Peeled Paint' and 'Vintage Photo'.  I did a little spritz and flick and then wiped back the embossed areas with a baby wipe to remove the distress stain from the lettering.  A global map was stamped onto the top of the card with jet black Archival Ink and then embossed with clear embossing powder, using a clear stamp from the Forever in Time 'Timepieces' stamp set.

The 'Enjoy The Journey' sentiment and the old truck image are from Tim Holtz's 'The Journey' clear stamps set.  The truck on the tag is not as pale or as bright as it appears in the photo in real life.  I had covered the distress stain stamped image with clear embossing powder, and it was difficult to photograph due to the shine.  The truck is much darker 'in person' and not really shiny at all.

I made the film strip using the Sizzlits 'Mini Filmstrip and Mini Tickets' decorative strip die and some white tissue paper and Idea-ology Elements Remnant Rubs.  I love the look of the Tim Holtz Idea-ology 'Film Strip Ribbon' but don't have any so decided to make a reasonable facsimile of my own.

It was pretty easy to make, I cut out the film strip die from kraft coloured cardstock, backed it with some white tissue paper and then GENTLY rubbed on the remnant rubs.  That was the hardest part of the whole operation LOL!  I then trimmed off the excess tissue paper from around the film strip and cleaned up the edges with an emery board.  I'm sure someone, somewhere has already done something similar but I love being able to add the 'pictures' to the film strip.  The possibilities could be endless with this technique, you could print or stamp any images that you'd like onto the tissue paper and frame them with the filmstrip.  Love how the tissue paper is slightly translucent so you get some of the coloration from the background of the tag through it.  Think you'll be seeing more of this technique in the future from me.

I then stamped out the 'Always take the scenic route' sentiment from the Stampers Anonymous Classics #16 stamp set with distress embossing ink and sprinkled it with sterling pine embossing powder.  It was fussy cut and then edged with walnut stain distress ink.  The Eiffel tower die cut was one that the generous folks at the Funkie Junkie Boutique sent to me with my last order, so I coloured it with Iced Spruce and Walnut Stain distress ink and then gave it a spritz of Biscotti Perfect Pearls spray.

The compass hang tag is from Vectoria Designs (it is in their Travelers Paper Pack) and the subway ticket is from a Crafty Secrets Typograph CD.  I attached them both to the tag using a Tim Holtz Idea-ology Custom Fastener and then added a little secret message to the underside of the tag with a remnant rub :O)

I distressed the edges of the entire tag with walnut stain distress ink and added a piece of distress stain dyed crinkle ribbon and called it done.

Thanks for stopping by today and thanks to Unruly Paper Arts for a fun reader's art quest.  Have a great week everyone and happy creating!

Deb

Feel The Rain

Hello, how's your Saturday going?  It's raining here again today which is just fine by me.  While it might be a little grey and a little damp, the warm (for us) weather is a welcome respite from the usual January deep freeze.

I made another postcard for the Sunday Postcard Art blog challenge (just squeaking it in under the wire!) and the prompt this week was:

Quotes

Who amongst us doesn’t love a good quote or two? So this week we’d like to see your postcard depict a favourite quote…..

Now perhaps the weather had something to do with my choice, but when I saw this quote it really resonated with me and Tim Holtz's 'Umbrella Man' stamp seemed to be the perfect accompaniment.

 

The original quote has been attributed to the musician Roger Miller ( he of 'King of the Road' fame), and there are a couple of versions of the quote out there, but this seems to be the original quote according to Quote Investigator.

Thanks for stopping by today and if it's raining in your neck of the woods, get out there and feel it!  Happy creating,

Deb