Tag! fairy jar!

Oh I had such a cool idea!!!! I had to make a tag with the theme On the Wing.... I have this really cool mason jar Sizzix die that has matching embossing folder. I had previously cut & embossed several in clear packaging.

And I had this fabulous dragonfly woman that fits perfectly inside.

I had the cool tag from the other day done in similar colors. Best yet , a recipe for fairies in a jar!



Gosh I had hopes this was going to work, but the glow ran out of juice! Cheap stinking dollar store glow sticks .....









The mason jar was suppose to glow like this:



Pretty sweet hey??? You cut up glow sticks in a jar with Diamond Dust glitter & shake!

Sigh.. It would have been so cool if it would have held its glow long enough to get to Minnesota ....


Items used in this Tag:
Dylusions Sprays, Acrylic Paints, The Crafters Workshop Stencil, Rubber Stamps, Sticky Back Canvas by Ranger, Gelli Arts Printing Plate, Glitter, plastic packaging, Sizzix Bigs Die & Embossing Folder, Twine.

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Tag time!

Today I spent part of the day trying to get back in the creative groove, and finish up some swaps.

I tried REALLY HARD to focus on ONE thing! So it was TAGS and the theme was a favorite quote. The plan was to use Einstein's "Imagination is more important than knowledge" quote, but the inspiration that came was actually from this one by Stella Adler.

"Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one."





What's funny is how this tag came about. I began with the first tag on the left (shown below). I did the tag on the right, and then worked on the middle tag. I typically will work several backgrounds at once. As long as I'm 'making a mess...."

Well Tag in the middle was becoming it's own disaster. By the time I got to that tag, the stencil was wet, the acrylic black was bleeding ( watered down by cleaning off the stencil, the green/teal circles were a nightmare.... THEN I used the DOTS stencil from Dylusions... Oh that did not make it all better I guarantee you..... I just KNEW at the time I should have taken a picture! I always tell people the beauty of collage is that you can usually cover or hide your mistakes. This one is proof. The background is very similar to the tag on the right, but think MORE train wreck....












As I worked layers of teal acrylic, and rehydrated the Dylusions spays it really came to life. The woman stencil is from The Crafters Workshop, and I used it to preserve some of the 'good' part of the train wreck by masking it off & going around it with acrylic black. When I removed it, I used a white Sharpie Poster Paint pen to highlight inside the black line.



I made a necklace from yellow brads to add a pop of another color. The hand is a masonite cut out from Michaels. The flower is a paper type, sprayed with Dylusions. in sunshine yellow and the new pink.


There's some washi tape that adds to the yellow accents as well. On the hand, I used the small flower boarder from the Dylusions DOTS stencil with my white Sharpie. I had painted the hand with Snow cap white Dabber, then let the pink spray run down it spritz with water to lighten.  I dapped it in the end in extra puddles on the craft sheet.


I have to admit, I LOVE how the tag turned out. But I am still going to send it out. I'll know it's journey, and hope it's new home will appreciate it's transformation into art.

So my lesson to remember today, is things aren't always as they appear.

With art as with life, you need to push past the bad and keep at it. Sometimes a train wreck isn't a train wreck after all...
(yes I made that up. I better not see that wise-ness show up on a stamp... LOL!)


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More Gelli girl

I love it when the idea pans out. ESPECIALLY during a class or demo! Like I said in my previous post, I was working for 4 hours, and never once cleaned off my Gelli plate. Or brayer. Which was developing a skin! I had to stop myself from 'peeling' it off like old nail polish.... BUT I digress....



POINT BEING, there is quite a bit of residual paint on the plate from previous prints.
I used a 12x12 Crafters Workshop stencil called Botanicals. Brushed paint into the open are of the stencil, removed the stencil & pulled my print.

I was limited to paint colors this day. Red, Yellow, 2 blues, white, black, 2 ochre like colors, and a very deep purple. The orchre and yellow with the deep blue, created the greens. I knew that was going to happen (really, I did).
This is a second generation print. What I find ESPECIALLY when I'm demoing and yapping away, the paint is drying on the Gelli plate. So now I keep a mister of water handy & I spritz the paint, wait a bit to let the paints rehydrate and pull another print. I've gotten some really cool prints using this method!
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Getting my Gelli Girl on!

I was so THRILLED to demo the Gelli Art's Printing plate again at Artist and Display for their 2x a year Make Your Mark event! Always a great time!

I worked with the Gelli plate, Golden Acrylics, Catalyst Tools, The Crafters Workshop Stencils, some homemade die cut stencils, rubber stamps and other mark making 'tools'. Buttons, bubble wrap, punchinella, a credit card.....
For the most part, I used Mixed Media paper by Strathmore, which I love, tags, canvas cloth and a tee shirt.

Over the course of 4 hours, I made a TON of prints, but I'm just going to post some of my favorites!

With this piece, I used Akua Printing Inks (by Speedball). The red & yellow are the Akua. I used a rays stencil (not sure of the real name), brushing in the yellow & red. There is A LOT of residual paint that popped thru the teal , but love how that just adds so much depth!  

This is the second generation print. You can see how strong the Akua paint is!

 

I just love this piece. It is SO cool in person, if I do say so myself!

I wish I would have taken a picture of the Gelli plate, but that's tough to do when you're demoing to a crowd, and you're hands are full of paint!

After the previous prints I pulled, I had again, had residual paint. I demoed for 4 hours and never once cleaned the paint off the Gelli plate. Or the brayer, paint brushes or tools. I just cleaned up stencils along the way. SO, with this print, I basically made marks with paint (white teal yellow black) and 'tools' like bubblewrap, a button, mesh... Then laid the stencil down & brushed some paint into the open areas. Removed it and pulled this great print!

 

The residual ink from that printing was used on the tag below.

 

This tag, started out as a piece, that was a 2nd generation print, that really didn't have a lot going on. It 'needed' layers & depth. So while working on the RAYS piece above,

I used residual paint remaining on the Gelli plate, to add depth. I introduced one of the newer CW stencils as a mask to the plate (Sally Carly), and brushed black paint around it.

Removed the mask, and wa-la! I LOVE this one!



Here's a little close up. You can see the red rays, and all of the pattern from previous Gelli prints.

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Getting my Gelli Girl on with the Umbrella man….

 

Sassy! This turned out as a ‘finished’ (more or less) piece right off the Gelli plate!

I had made a stencil AND a mask from the Umbrella Man Die by Tim Holtz & have used the pieces on numerous Gelli prints. I die cut it using stencil material by The Crafters Workshop. You can by 12x12 sheets of their very material!

 

The word IMAGINE was done using another Tim Holtz Movers & Shapers die, cut out of Co-ordinations cardstock. The cut piece was a little boring and needed some paint anyway, so a perfect use!

 

I also used a piece of punchinella, which is where the fun bubble design on the Umbrella man comes from.

 

I laid the cut stencil onto a mildly clean (ok, there's some residual paint) Gelli plate.

I used my brayer to ink his hat & shoes black, the umbrella red and a bad mix of deep green & blue for the rest of him…

I then covered the stencil with the punchinella & brayered white over the top of the Umbrella man.

 

The cardstock IMAGINE, I laid face down onto the Gelli plate, and then brayered red paint onto the backside, trying to keep the paint inside, where the letters were. You can see the texture of the cardstock surrounding the word.

 

Since the brayer had cool design from the white brayered punchinella, I ran that around the plate slightly to frame the piece.

I removed the stencil & puncinella, then I did laid my clean white cardstock onto the plate & pulled it off.

The color on the right was from a second pressing into Distress Stain I had put on the Gelli plate from another pressing. It just added a little color to the edge.

 

These 2 were done using residual paint & pressings from other inkings.

Origin of Love Tag

Working with a 12x12 stencil from The Crafters Workshop, Archival Ink, Distress Ink in Ripe Persimmon & Mustard Seed, along with Distress Stain in Peeled Paint.
This tag is simply done as to not overpower the background . I love how that turned out. I accented petals of the flower and word borders with a very fine marker.





The hand cut heart features a LOVE stamp from Inkadinkadoo.



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Art lives tag

I know ANOTHER tag!
CALLING ALL ARTISTS.....
Too much??? I just had to use that phone! I love that the 'dial' because I made it look like a paint palette! Clever? I think so....





Admittedly, there is A LOT going on with this one. And it 'could' have been left alone without the phone. But a girl dosn't always know when to STOP....
So the telephone is one of Tim's new Alterations Die. In another post, I make a card with the phone. Which is HUGE!





Once again, I stamped JUST the cap from the ink bottle into Rangers Metal Foil, while the jar is done one Matte-Krome paper.

The Circles stencil in the background is a Julie Fei-Fan Blazer design for The Crafters Workshop. Done up with, the new SPRING LIMITED EDITION DISTRESS INKS ( IN STOCK at Red Rubber!!!).
The harlequin stamp is a Dylusions, but all the rest are from Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 sets! EXCEPT the little pencils. Those are from the Secretary Pool set by Artistic Outpost. See how everything just works so well together?



Wendy says it all with this little phrase....
 
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Stencils

You know I LOVE my Crafters Workshop stencils!

This is one of the new ones, Aspen trees!

I did some faux watercolor with my Distress re-inkers and Niji water brushes . I found it was easier to use the waterbrush to push the inks (lightly watered down) into the stencils than using ink blending foam & tools. I worked on Strathmores Mixed Media paper (SO AWESOME).

I used Vintage Photo first to add the bark. Then Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, Peeled Paint and Fired Brick for the leaves. This was to have a 'fall' feeling to it.

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Tag PEACE

The back ground on this tag is done with a stencil from The Crafters Workshop, Distress Ink and Solar Gold Radiant Rain.

The image is from a collage sheet from Altered Pages called Christmas Angels.







A gold doily, Die cut Banner (Tim's Alteration die) and stamped with music.

The word PEACE was stamped from a Hampton Arts stamp.



I lightly coated the image with Rock Candy Stickles for a bit of shimmer!


And, HELLO RANGER, if you're reading my blog, can Rock Candy Stickles be made in a larger VAT?

Please?

Tag stencil & modling paste

This tag was more about the background.
I used a stencil from The Crafters Workshop along with Golden modeling paste.

After the paste dried, I spritzed it with Periwinkle Radiant Rain and used Distress ink in Broken China to fill in the gaps and smooth out the inking.





I cut cardstock using the Carved Ornaments #2 Alterations die. I inked it with Weathered wood and oversprayed it with Pewter Radian Rain. Then adhered an image from Altered Pages that I had inked Vintage Photo on the edges. It's also coated with Rock Candy Stickles. The finished piece has Vintage Mica Flakes surrounding the image.



And the boing-y things?
Some AWESOME 'tinsel' I found at Steins at the end of last year!

Tagfest continues....

Dies and ink and stains and images and modeling paste, stamps and stencils and...

This one started out as a tag with modeling paste over a Crafters Workshop stencil. NOTE TO SELF: ink tag before applying modeling paste. OR add pigment to the modeling paste. Not a necessity, just something different to try.

I had gotten out my palette knife and paste and just did up a bunch of tags at one time. A great way to add some texture!

WHICH btw, did you know there is a 'clinical' name for texture addicts?

Thank you Mr. DeMeng for putting a name to my issue......

This image, I just love! I'll have to find the artist/source to give proper credit. I did alter it in PSE with snowfakes, but that was a year ago, and well, I forget.... It is covered with Rock Candy Stickles!

The big blue snowflake behind the tag is from Sizzix. After applying the modling paste and allowing it to dry, I inked the tag with Distress Ink in Broken China and Stormy Sky the heat set. Next sprayed the whole thing with Pewter Radiant Rain, let setup a bit then heat set. It gave a really nice shimmer! The snowflake in the back is done in the same manner, then cut in 1/2 and adhered to the back.

The silver tinsel garland is from Target last year. I LOVE what happens when I hit it with my heat gun.....

This tag is done again with modling paste and the tree bark stencil from Crafter's Workshop.

I inked the tag with Twig Distress Ink, and oversprayed it with Copper mist.

The ornament is a Sizzix die, stamped with acrylic gold Dabber over a Peeled Paint Distress Stain.

And NOEL is a new Tim Holtz die, cut out of a heavy glitter paper  by Recollections. This stuff has great weight, so dosn't need to be propped with another layer for support!

And it's 'sparklelishous!'

Which you could see here IF blogger would JUST ALLOW me to rotate the image (it is right in my camera phone).... frustrating. Just please tilt to the left until I correct this....

This tag uses the BRICKS stencil and modling paste. I wanted it to look like a framed picture over a fireplace.

How'd I do?

The image is from a Christmas collage sheet from Altered Pages.

The 'mantel' was done using Picket Fence Distress Crackle Paint.

The 'wallpaper' is stamped with one of Tim Holtz' new Christmas Silhouette stamps, and outlined with a Sharpie White poster paint pen.

Finished off with holly garland, German Scraps I got at Artist and Display and mica!

More tags!

"SOMEBODY" must be getting excited about the upcoming  
2 Tags of Christmas!

I have a count down app going on my smarty-pants phone! 

BUT what also started the craze, is my demo from Saturday. Working with Distress Inks and Stains along with Stencils from The Crafters Workshop!


Well I'm continuing my 'quest' with the new Winter Limited Edition Distress Inks (AVAILABLE AT Red Rubber Paper and Ink (email me))! WHITE, Tea Dye and other colors of Distress Stains! EVEN a couple masks from Tattered Angels!

This tag uses my new Punchinella Stencil!


And the Lovely If You Believe You Can You Will stencil. You'll see I managed to just use the word BELIEVE as well! GREAT for Christmas!




















See the paper tape from Cavallini? It's so COOL!







These are mostly Tattered Angels Snowflakes, but over the top is one from The Crafters Workshop. Something about TILES.... I love these kind of Stencils!

TAGS! Beautiful backgrounds and more!

SO, just what do you get when you combine a bunch of great products???
The answer is: a really fun week of playing!!!!

On tags, I was challenged to work with stencils from The Crafter's Workshop, Distress Inks & Stains, Radiant Rain and Vintage Scraps....

Firstly, I HAVE to say using the words CHALLENGED and WORK, well lets just say I need a synonym. Or is that antonym? Better ask the 10 year old....
I loved it!!! I just couldn't stop. BUT the good thing, I'm getting into Christmas Holiday themes! I used Photoshop to create the word phrases for the bottom. YES I could have used a Microsoft program, but I REALLY need to practice more with PSE!

IF ONLY the shimmer of the Solar Gold showed as well...

Hey, guess what I did? Made my own 'tissue(less) tape'! Need to work on that....

Count down to Christmas is what I call this one. That would be the one up there. Above....

See the goldish-tanish one? With the brocade design. It looks almost embossed IRL. Tough to see in pictures.

I got wise this time. 

I'll wait for the laughter to subside.....

Done yet?

I actually wrote on the back of the tags, steps I took & colors!

No more relying on the ol' memory!

Pretty smart hugh?

These 2 on the left are a 2 stepper. First you mist the tag. THEN using the ink & spray that's left on the stencil, you STAMP onto the 2nd tag! WHO woulda thunk?

And one of my favorite techniques, Vintage Photo. But this is done with a brocade twister!

If I tell you, I'd have to kill you.... 

LOL

No really.....

Just come see me at the demo. I'll let you in on the secret!!!!