Happy Card Make’N Take Tutorial

Feb 27, 2015

Happy Card Make’N Take Tutorial

Sorry I don’t have a bigger photo of this card but it was so popular during the Scrapbook Expo Grapevine event that I thought I would share the tutorial to create your own card. It’s the perfect card to create when you only have a few minutes of crafting. Supplies Used: Patterned Paper, Blank Card, Small Manila Shipping Tag, Maya Road DIY Kraft Note Envelopes, Maya Road Feathered Friend Resin Embellishment, Small Flower, Gold Metallic Leaf, Seam Binding, Alpha Stamp Set, Jet Black Archival Ink, Adhesive Tools Used: Paper Trimmer, Scissors Directions: Trim patterned paper so it is 1/4″ smaller vertically and horizontally than the front of your blank card front. Attach patterned paper to the front of blank card. Assemble Maya Road envelope, wrap a piece of seam binding around the envelope, tie...

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So This Is Love ~ Tag

Feb 11, 2015

So This Is Love ~ Tag

The star of this tag is one of my new handmade Penny Candy Dolls. I think she is the perfect accent for this tag and I must admit she is one of my favorites. If you want to recreate a tag for yourself or a friend I put together a step by step tutorial just for you. Supplies Needed: Manila Tag, Vintage Music Sheet, White Crepe Paper, Chipboard Heart, Dina Wakley Media Ruby Acrylic Paint, Maya Road Red Glitter, Platinum Stickles, Diamond Stickles, Small Red Flocked Flower, Brown & White Twine, 3 Crocheted Doilies, DoodleBug Rhinestones, White Embroidery Floss, Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue, Fabric Tac Fabric Adhesive, Ranger Multi Medium Matte, Martha Stewart Crystal Coarse Glitter, Handmade Penny Candy Doll, Small Alphabet Stamp Set, Jet Black Archival Ink Tools Needed: Scis­sors, Paper Trim­mer,...

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It is Love ~ Scribbly Bird Tag

Feb 3, 2015

It is Love ~ Scribbly Bird Tag

Since the birds are pretty happy Spring is coming and have been chirping non-stop outside my window and Valentine’s Day is just around the corner I decided to create this tag using Dina Wakley’s Scribbly Birds and Collage Hearts stamp sets. I think her stamp sets are some of the most unique on the market as all are created from images she has drawn in her art journals. This tag is layered with a Jenni Bowlin Stencil, Ranger Texture Paste, Dina Wakley Media Paints, Platinum Stickles, Book Pages, Washi Tape and of course stamped images using Manila Cardstock, Jet Black Archival Ink and Dina’s...

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Ranger Designer Challenge 2015

Jan 16, 2015

Ranger Designer Challenge 2015

It’s always so exciting to be invited to participate in the Ranger Designer Challenge. Basically how it works is Ranger picks a product line to feature, sends the designers a box of the products and you create a project using these products. This year the challenge was a canvas using Dina Wakley’s Media paints, stencils and stamps. Talk about a fun challenge. I also used some Tim Holtz Distress Stickles Dry Glitter Rocky Candy and of course Diamond Stickles. I have fallen in love with Dina’s Media paints. They come in a tube with a flip top and are heavy body acrylics that spread like butter! I already have her new colors Glitz, Sterling and Penny on my list of “Must Have Now” as well as Dina’s super cool new Media Fine Tip Applicator. These...

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25 Days Left To Bake Countdown Tray

Dec 1, 2014

25 Days Left To Bake Countdown Tray

I wasn’t kidding when I said I love countdown calendars as much as any kid… here is a countdown calendar for all you bakers. It’s perfect to place on your counter next to your cookbooks or placed on your kitchen island.  And this year, I’m all about using what I have so the holiday pick is from years past. Hobby Lobby has one with faux peppermints that is calling my name but nope I’m not gonna do it… I’m sticking with the, use what I have method this year. Products Used: Tray, Distress Paint Linen, Americana Chalkboard Paint, Holiday Pick, Vintage Wooden Sporks, My Mind’s Eye ~ Joyous Decorative Tag & Alpha Sticker Sheet, Coffee Archival Ink Tools Needed: Paintbrush, Craft Mat, Blending Tool & Foam, Hot Glue Gun, Hot Glue Sticks This tray is really simple to...

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Altered Art Journal Tag 1

Aug 29, 2014

Altered Art Journal Tag 1

When you find your arty style art flows like a leaf floating downstream but gosh when you try to force it, it’s all upstream and darn near impossible to create something you love. I’m so happy with the style I’ve finally discovered as it has taken me a long time. But in the end all the trial and error paid off. This art journal tag measures 4″ x 8.5″ and is covered in layers and layers of paint. I still cannot get over that I’m using paint and getting my hands messy. On my Art Journal Page 2 blog post I shared with you a quick image transfer technique and today I’m going to share with you an image transfer technique that gives you a less distressed image transfer and a more defined image transfer. Image...

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Tin Necklaces

Jul 15, 2014

Tin Necklaces

Not only have I been making cuff style bracelets but I’ve also been making some cute simply stated 24″ necklaces. This necklace is what I call a dressed up version of a dog tag. Since I like my items to have a distressed feel before stamping my word I gave the metal tag several whacks with my brass hammer. Once I the silver metal tag was banged up a bit I metal stamped the word smile onto the silver metal tag using what is now my favorite letter stamp set 3mm Newsprint lowercase by ImpressArt.  I applied some Mustard Seed Distress Paint with my finger into the stamped letters then instantly wiped away the excess with a paper towel. Next I wire wrapped some beads to create a charm and BAM just like that I was done....

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Weekend Fun

Apr 7, 2014

Weekend Fun

Since Terri and Laren live right in the heart of Deep Ellum, Saturday Alan and I headed down to see them, grand dog Lola AND go to the Deep Ellum Arts Festival. Laren’s parents came down too so it was a super fun afternoon. First we walked over to Pepe’s & Mito’s to fill up on their awesome Mexican food. After we were all stuffed we started walking the streets. The festival had some great bands playing and we had a wonderful time walking, talking, laughing, dodging rain drops and seeing some amazing art. I was so busy looking at art that the only photo I took was of this band. I can’t even tell you who they were but they were good. All the photos of Lola were taken by Laren’s mom, Michelle. I was...

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Doggie Name Tag

Mar 11, 2014

Doggie Name Tag

After caring for our grand dog Lola last week, I decided she needed a girly name tag and collar. She gets called a HE way too many times. The hardest part of the entire creative process was hammering out the dime I used for the name tag. If you want to make one for your dog here is a quick tutorial. If you  missed my “Stamped Penny Charm” tutorial you might want to check this tutorial out as well. It’s a fun one. Supplies & Tools Needed: ImpressArt Bench Block ~ Brass Hammer ~ 2 Hole Screw Down Punch ~ Metal Letter Stamps ~ Stamp Straight Tape ~ Half Round Pliers, Dime, Jump Ring, Maya Road Pearl Bead Chain, Maya Road Iridescent Rhinestone Trim Instructions: Place dime on bench block and hammer until flattened. Metal Stamp your dogs name onto your disk. ImpressArt has...

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Hearts of Red, White & Pink

Feb 5, 2014

Hearts of Red, White & Pink

I LOVE tissue paper and creating tissue paper garland is one of my favorite things to do. Tissue paper is cheap and the garland is simple to make. You can make your garland as long as you wish or just a small amount that is perfect to accent a card as I did in the photo above. The center of the tissue paper heart is a calendar card by Jenni Bowlin. I accented the center of the calendar using brown ink and crackle paint. Creating texture and dimension is something else I love doing. Pretty much all my projects have some kind of texture and dimension. This embossed heart is an accent on a tag. The heart is embossed, painted and glittered and surprisingly does not take much time at all to create. The doily...

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Valentine’s Day Tag

Jan 14, 2014

Valentine’s Day Tag

I’m getting a jump start on creating some Valentine’s day tags and thought I would share this one with you. I think my little Handmade Kewpie Doll fairy looks adorable holding her “I Love You” vintage heart pick. Her wings are altered using white ink and Diamond Stickles. The red iridescent rhinestone trim is gorgeous against the red satin pleat trim. It’s hard to tell in this photo but gosh, I promise it’s so pretty. To top off the tag, I covered the chipboard center heart with silver ink and fine silver German glass glitter. Swoon! And you are in luck if you want to create a tag just like this as I have a limited supply of kits listed in my Etsy Shop. I even include easy to follow step by step instructions...

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Super Simple Holiday Gift Tags

Nov 21, 2013

Super Simple Holiday Gift Tags

Here are two holiday gift tags that take just a few minutes to create and during the busy holiday season sometimes all you have are a few minutes. This time of year is filled with family gatherings, company parties, baking, shopping and decorating so if you find yourself in a crunch to create a quick gift tag here are two you can complete super fast. These tags are just ordinary 2.25″ x 4.75″ office tags and are covered with patterned paper scraps I’ve been saving for just this type of project. Apply adhesive to the front of your tag and cover with patterned paper. Cut a piece of patterned paper to 1.5″ x 2.25″, trim the top and bottom edges using scallop decorative scissors, attach to tag as shown. Using a distressing tool or...

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Just carving, he said…

Aug 15, 2013

Just carving, he said…

Several weeks ago while working in my studio, my nephew Brittain, who is now living with us while  attending college came in to chat. Well all of a sudden he started working away on something that involved a knife from my work table and a chopstick. While we were chatting he was intensely busy cutting small pieces from the chopstick and using some Tim Holtz Distress Markers. I asked him what he was doing and he said, just carving. Oh if you are wondering why I keep chopsticks on my work table… well, I keep one on hand when soldering. FYI… Using chopsticks to steady pieces when soldering is an awesome tip my soldering instructor Trisha Conlon-Perkins shared during a class. She has saved my fingertips on more than one occasion with this wonderful tip. After a...

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Textured Background

Jun 26, 2013

Textured Background

Okay, so remember last weeks post, Stencils aren’t just for mists & ink and how I said you could learn how I created the background (shown above) for the tag shown below by going to Ronda’s blog only, I had the day wrong and well, since she is out of the country yadda, yadda, yadda you know how it all went down, whew.  Well TODAY is the day Ronda Palazzari is featuring my background technique tutorial so hop on over to her blog and discover a few of my secrets to create this awesome mixed media background....

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Take Your Dog to Work Day

Mar 15, 2013

Take Your Dog to Work Day

This morning started out with a Starbucks stop and while Kristy and I were waiting for our coffee I noticed Starbucks had a new coffee called Tribute Blend. After getting the low down on this new blend from the very informative coffee guy, which of course I cannot even remember now due to the fact that I had zero caffeine running through my veins. But I am happy I was aware enough to snap a photo because after reading the little tag line underneath the name of this new coffee blend I thought hey, this pretty much describes me with one simple little word change… “Full-Bodied with Complex Disposition”  Gosh, I could really have fun with this tag line. When we arrived at the photography studio “Lars” the cutest, sweetest little dog was standing...

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Maya Road Sneak Peek ~ Wood Bird Cages

Jan 8, 2013

Maya Road Sneak Peek ~ Wood Bird Cages

In between book projects, I squeezed in a little creative time to make some small CHA projects for Maya Road. I must say, I’m LOVING the new Wood Bird Cages (page 1 in the catalog) and 4″ x 6″ Card Sentiment Words Stamp Set (page 4 in the catalog). This tag was fun and pretty quick to create. I started with an Inkssentials #8 Manila Tag and covered it with Pink Paislee patterned paper. I then used the Maya Road Ornate Feathered Friends 4″ x 6″ stamp set as a background stamp (page 15 in the catalog). I then machine stitched a straight stitch all around the inside edge of the tag and distressed and inked the edges. Tip: I leave the stamps on the clear sheet as the come when purchased then ink the stamps with...

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Queen Bee EnviroTex Resin Charms

Jan 7, 2013

Queen Bee EnviroTex Resin Charms

This year, Aunt Brenda spent Christmas with our family. This is the first Christmas I can remember having her with us at Christmas since I was a very little girl, somewhere around the age of 3 or 4 years old. It was fun and she made my mom and dad the best heirloom ever, which I will share on another blog post. It’s amazing! I decided to create two different styled charms for her this Christmas. Aunt Brenda sews a lot and has created some beautiful quilts and remember, she is the one who made my “Traveling Apron“. You can read about it in my “Everything Has A Story” blog post. So I thought I would create her a textile style charm using a Maya Road mini canvas tag for the base and hand...

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Inspiration for a Crafty Weekend

Nov 30, 2012

Inspiration for a Crafty Weekend

Since I am cleaning out and reorganizing my craft room, this week, which is total torture but thankfully I have an awesome neighbor, Jennifer who is helping me and keeping me on task. I just keep telling myself once I’m finished it’s going to be so awesome working in it once again. These are just a portion of the empty boxes I had to go through, empty out and put stuff away. Caroline Lau is to blame for LOTS of these boxes. Anyway, I thought I would take a break and go through my blog post Archives and find some weekend inspiration for you. I plan on making all my Christmas gifts this year and if you are as well, well there might be a few things to inspire you. Sometimes it good to...

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Metal Gift Tag

Oct 18, 2012

Metal Gift Tag

This year, I plan on using what I already have on hand to create name tags for all my gifts. All you need are a few punches, alcohol inks, metal stamps, rhinestones and twine. This tag will adorn my niece Madelyn’s gift this Christmas. This gift tag was super hard to photograph so sorry for the brightness. My camera was not happy with it’s shininess at all but the good thing is the tag is really easy to create. I’m also determined to make most of my gifts this year. These past few days I’ve been experimenting with Resin and Polymer Clay and talk about fun! I have lots of projects in mind to create. The full step-by-step tutorial can be found HERE in my Tips, Techniques and Tutorials online workshop....

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Artistic Journey 2012 ~ French Couture

Oct 4, 2012

Artistic Journey 2012 ~ French Couture

I’m really excited for this weekend. I will be teaching at Artistic Journey in Waxahachie, Texas along side Dina Wakley and Angella Peardon. This weekends event is held at The Crafty Scrapper and is filled with loads of fun. It starts off Friday evening with three fun make & takes, a tag swap and dinner. Then Saturday morning bright and early all three of us teachers begin teaching our exclusive classes. I’ll be teaching an assemblage class that has the attendees altering a dress form. As you can see they are going to be busy, busy, busy during class. But once they finish their dress form they’ll each have a beautifully altered dress form to display in their home or give as a gift. So now I’m off to pack, check my to do...

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The Scrapbook Page

Aug 20, 2012

The Scrapbook Page

This Thursday, August 23rd from 2:00 -5:00 I will be at The Scrapbook Page in Barboursville, WV signing my latest book “Delight In The Seasons“. After the book signing I will then show you how to create the tag below. This make-n-take is free but supplies are limited so don’t miss out. RiverPlace Plaza 6007 US Rt 60 E Ste 202 Barboursville, WV 1 (304) 733-9414 When creating your make-n-take tag you will use products from Maya Road and Ranger and the “Perfumery” stamp set from my stamp line Antiquated Collection. We will be stamping, inking and glittering. It’s gonna be fun. See ya there....

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