June 4 x 4

In one of my yahoo groups, we're starting a new swap and it's 4 x 4 pages. I don't own many dies, but I've had my eye on the Tim Holtz Artful Dwellings die. I decided to go ahead and get one. The house is from the Artful Dwellings Die and I used the Tim Holtz Mini Openings Die to cut out the windows in the house. I glued scrapbook paper on to chipboard and cut that out with the dies. I used Tim Holtz tissue tape to cover the "roof" and the edges of the house. I used a green Copic marker around the edges of the house on the tissue tape. I also used the same green Copic marker to highlight the little windows. When you turn the page over, you can see some of the roof sticking up, so I covered the back of the roof with the tissue tape. The images behind the windows are from the Collage Stuff "Charmed" Collage Sheet. I put a mom, a dad, and 3 kids in the windows. The number five is cut from a vintage Flinch game card. The flowers are Prima craftable flowers that I colored with Copic markers. I used glue dots to secure them. I printed the words "home sweet home" at the Acme labelmaker website. For the background... I cut some scrapbook paper to 4 x 4 and used the same tissue tape around the edges. Now for the little black and white squares. I made a spreadsheet in Excel that is black and white checks. I print it out and try to cut in the middle of the checks. Since I have this in Excel, I can make whatever colors of checked paper I like, by changing the colors of the cells. I glued down my checks and put little brad flowers in the corners. The house is popped up a little as I used foam mounting tape to secure it to the background. I had fun making this little house 4 x 4" page. Thanks for stopping by!

Postcard Tag Swap Entries

The postcard tag swap at Collage Stuff is drawing to a close. I will be swapping the tags out this weekend. I scanned in one tag from each participant! Enjoy and many thanks to the participants.

Two more garden tags

Last weekend, I tried to make some new garden tags, but my muse was not cooperative. Yesterday was better!
For the first tag, I started out stamping the large text stamp from the Tim Holtz Papillon stamp set (Collage Stuff) on the tag using Shabby Shutters Distress Ink. I embossed with a Celedon embossing powder. I sprayed some of my homemade glitter spray in pink and green on the tag. The text background is a page from a Welsh-English vintage dictionary (available at Collage Stuff). I sprayed it with the same various glitter sprays and die cut it using the Tim Holtz Mini Ornamental Movers & Shapers Die (from Collage Stuff). I highlighted the edges with a bronze copic marker to make it stand out from the background. The flowers are from Victorian scrap (from Collage Stuff). The queen image is from a collage sheet that I bought on Etsy. After I had the floral and queen images glued down, I added the Pink Mesh Paper German Scrap (Collage Stuff) using Diamond Glaze (Collage Stuff) as the adhesive . I used thin red line tape to apply the May Arts Olive Leaves Trim (Collage Stuff). The jewel flowers (Collage Stuff) were glued down using Studio Matte Medium (Collage Stuff). The Studio Matte Medium will glue just about anything! I found the green butterfly at the Dollar Store and used a glue dot to adhere it. At the bottom of the tag, I applied 3 strips of the Pink Mini Dot Border German Scrap (Collage Stuff) using thin red line tape. The words "the garden is the mirror of the heart" were generated on my computer and after I cut them out, I used a pale green Copic marker to color the background.

The background for this tag is much the same except I used only the pink glitter spray. The vintage sheet music, Tim Holtz Tissue Tape, woman image, green butterfly wing, floral Victorian scrap, jewel flower and glass glitter are all available at Collage Stuff. I edged the bits of sheet music with Peeled Paint Distress Stain (Collage Stuff). This woman image is my very favorite woman image and she is from the Fabulous Faces Collage Sheet. The butterfly wing is from the Catnip Desings Wings and Things Collage Sheet. The construction of this tag was simple and amounted to gluing down all of the paper collage elements. I used red line tape to apply the pink/white ribbon. At the very bottom of the tag, I added Blush Glass Glitter using Studio Matte Medium. I found a few Paris Clock Buttons left in my stash and used the Studio Matte Medium as the adhesive. I added a little yellow color to the woman's hair with a yellow Copic marker. The jewel flower over the eye was also adhered with the Studio Matte Medium.
Speaking of the Paris Clock Buttons. I contacted my vendor and they have the Paris Clock Buttons available again in the nickel (silver) finish. I will order several gross of these and they will be available again at Collage Stuff soon! I really like the Paris Clock Buttons for little accents.
Thanks for stopping by!

Another Garden Postcard Tag

This is my third garden-themed postcard tag for the swap I'm hosting at Collage Stuff. Usually I make all of the items for a swap the same, but this time, I'm trying to do them all different. I can do this IF my muse cooperates! I sprayed the tag first with a gold-brown Glimmer Mist and than came back over it again with one of my homemade Perfect Pearls mists in green. I stamped a text stamp with brown Archival Ink, but it's almost all covered up. I glued down the bits of scrapbook papers next. I printed out one of the girls from the "My Favorites" collage sheet as a transparency. I attached her to a 1910's Flinch game card. I went around the edges of the Flinch card with Vintage Photo Distress Stain. I'm liking the Distress Stains more all the time. I also edged the whole tag with the Vintage Photo Distress Stain as well as the part of the vocabulary card (bloom; flourish). The floral Victorian scrap is available at Collage Stuff. The crochet trim is May Arts crochet trim that is available at Collage Stuff. I sprayed the words "bloom; flourish" with the same glitter sprays that I used on the tag. It looks very different as the tag was a manilla color to begin with and the vocabulary card was white. If you would like to join in this swap, the details are at the Collage Stuff yahoo group. Thanks for stopping by!

New Postcard

Here's a new postcard that will begin shipping with Collage Stuff orders in a few weeks. It's named "3 Dandy Lads." I wanted to do something different than my usual Paris themed or cemetery angel themed postcards. I've been on the road some for work lately and have thousands of images on my laptop, so it's easy for me to pull something together for a postcard, even when I'm not at home. This does help to pass the evening hours in another hotel room and it's less costly than online shopping! Thanks for checking in!

Mother's Day Card

Here's a quick, easy and fun Mother's Day card idea. I have some precut greeting card blanks with envelopes. For this card, I dabbed some Spun Spugar Distress Stain on the edges of the card base front. The Distress Stain is watery, so you have to be careful not to overdo. The Spun Sugar is just a hint of pink and I like it! I cut a piece of scrapbook paper to 3.75 x 5.25" and used it as the base for the collage. I tore two pieces of green scrapbook paper - one piece at the top left and one at the bottom. I glued down a nice Victorian scrap rose bouquet and stretched some pop-up glue dots out to attach the "To Mother" German scrap embellishment. Some pink ribbon with white dots across the bottom and a cheery little gold German scrap butterfly complete the design. Before I glued the collage down on the card base, I did swipe some Peeled Paint Distress Stain around some of the edges. I'm liking this Distress Stain more, the more I use it. (German and Victorian scrap items + Distress Stain available at Collage Stuff!) On a side note, when I compare this photo to the real thing, well, they're different. Photos and the lighting seem to wash things out. Thanks for stopping by!

Second Postcard Tag Sample

Here's another postcard tag sample. I should have applied the Peeled Paint Distress Stain first, but I ended up applying it much later. The background is made of several scrapbook papers and vintage sheet music. I used the Tim Holtz Tissue Tape in 3 places. The Victorian scrap roses, gold round German scrap frame, and gold German scrap butterfly are available at Collage Stuff. The girl is from the Collage Stuff Fairy Song Collage Sheet. I colored her with Copic markers. The lace is Prima Alcenon Lace available at Collage Stuff. I sprayed a Walnut Gold Glimmer Mist over parts of the tag. Two samples are enough in preparation for this swap. Thanks for stopping by!