SEPTEMBER TAG; The 12 Tags of 2014

    What better day to post than on the 13th Anniversary of the very subject of my SEPTEMBER TAG; 9/11? I knew that whatever theme or technique Tim Holtz came up with for his Tag challenge for this month, my own take would involve some kind of remembrance for this date. September cannot get too far from it because of too many other reminders: the 49 years of my ChiefHubby's parents' marriage on September 1st, 1962 (before his Mom's death in Feb 2011), his Mom's ties as the 2nd highest-ranking Civil Service on Grissom AFB for 30 yrs (she loved the RW&B dearly), and not least at all: the ChiefHubby's own birthday on Sept 15th, 1962 (due on his parents' very 1st Wedding Anniversary, no less).

      No real 'instructions' for this one other than; Practice, practice, PRACTICE! with those alcohol inks, stencils and this technique!!! And most importantly: you simply CANNOT do this tech right unless you have that particular alchohol paper. It just will not work right with any other kind of cardstock if you want to achieve the same results Tim got with his. My own colors are muted down with darker-shaded inks for my own preferences. I do love the burst of colors his Tag got, but it wouldn't have made the right impact with the theme I was using. 



The detail of the tag's ribbon is to suggest a kind of bandage for 'healing'. 

I simply ragged-out strips of cheesecloth for this. I think it added the perfect touch. 



Of course, I did color, cut, fold, and glue enough stars for a few Besties who also have special days in September...



...and of course, I also added backsides to each. One of my Besties is married to one of our former GVFD Firefighters, and another Bestie used to BE a GVFD FF- yep, a GURL !!!



      And just because today invloves all Firefighters; here's a special SNEAK PEEK for a post coming out tomorrow!



If you don't know who these two guys are...you grew up AFTER the 1970s.
Apologies for the Big Red. I wanted to make a Squad, but I hadda put some kinda 'salute' to my own ChiefHubby in here, somehow. Mayyyybeeee a Squad added soon...??



      Yes, I know this is gonna call for another of my "Johnny & Roy" captioning jokes because it is SURE to get a comment and eye-roll look on his face. Which, in turn, causes ME to have an Oh!-I-thought-you-were-having-a-seizure-again kind of look on MY face. hehe! 

     There are so many ceremonies that mark this day. So many memories that comprise one single day of tragedy. We live each day of our lives so differently than we did the very day before September 11. To say watching it, living it, and remembering the horror of that day...contacting our sons' schools (Elem where they were- where I was headed in to work that day, turning on the early news to check out the weather and seeing the first plane hit- and the HS just blocks away) to tell them to get the TVs on inside the office and not allow any children near it...contacting my ChiefHubby's parents to make sure they were watching and both ok...taking turns watching the kids in the classrooms as Teachers took a break to see the updates and cry if they needed a minute to regroup... knowing our lives were changed in mere moments of some other evil person's (or group of people's) desire for revenge that had nothing to do with any action done to them by the children in our life, our own school, our own home...sitting alone watching the events unfold, and realizing that in order to even CONTACT ANYONE- I'd have to try to use the hearing loudspeaker telephone that was all I had at that time- I WAS DEAF. Deaf and ALONE. Even now, it is very hard for me to describe that feeling. Sure, I knew I was deaf as a doorknob before that. I'd lived it for most of my life; since I was 11 when they'd figured out I'd gotten ill the first time with Scarlet Fever and Rheumatic Fever. But there's no stopping life or living...unless...and mine went ON. Without my hearing. And frankly, I had alot of help- mostly from David- and friends or others just took it along with ME. It came as baggage if you wanted to talk to me. AND...it never really bothered me, nor stood totally in my way. Until THAT DAY.

       Now, I see things differently. I see that GOD is way bigger than anything bad that could ever happen in this world. Am I saying that HE caused 9/11 to happen? NO! Of course not! But HE did allow it for whatever reason. And One Day when Judgement comes for us all- and it will- HE will let us all know the reasons behind everything. Until then, we gather...we laugh...we cry...we pray...we love. TOGETHER.

Try as I might....the doggoned thing just would NOT turn the right way. I even redid the entire photo THREE TIMES.
I give!!! *sigh*
This is what you will find on Tim Holtz's blog for The 12 Tags of 2014- September Tag.

       Thanks for stopping by (and for all the NICE NOTES and COMMENTS on my other crafts)!! Please, don't forget to check in on Tim Holtz's Blogsite for all the other WONDERFUL TAGGERS who are also creating with Tim on the journey he leads us on with his '12 Tags of 2014'! See ya next posting, and...

                         HAPPY BLOGGING !!!

 

AUGUST Tag: The 12 Tags of 2014

      The August Tag was a challenge from T!m for all of us to let our muse lead us in creating a tag that we would enjoy just for the very sake of CREATIVITY. And my own muse is definitely spurred on with the help of my cameras! So instead of using the camera this time to do the work (using the photographs from the cameras), I decided to let the camera itself shine! And in my case; I have several cams (both digital and filmstrip stills, and VHS, &digital video) to choose from, but my favorite has to be my 'Big SLR' (each has a short Name so that my ChiefHubby -or my kids-  know which cam I am talking about if they end up helping me gather together my stuff to get out the door) which is a Canon Rebel XRT ...AND...any old camera of the past. The older; the better! I have a few oldies in my collection that came from different places we've been in the eastern half of the U.S.A.

        I basically used the same techniques T!m used on his tag. But, I chose to make two tags and use one for the front side, and -as I always do- make a backside; using the second tag. Like T!m, when he changed his mind with how dark his colors looked; I backed up, and changed direction a bit when I decided to re-stamp my main camera stamps in two of the upper layers (the larger TH 'Camera Blueprint' stamp again just before adding the layer of Medium, and the older small camera stamp after the layer of Medium so that it stood out overall). That took me a bit of time to achieve as I wanted just THE CAMERA again but not the background of the stamp (the blueprint markings). So I got out the temp tape and hid the background.

(As shown in several of the middle photos.)

        I cut my own stencil from the TH Filmstip strip die and used another self-made stencil of numbers dies I have, using both to make a filmroll going across diagnally, while the numbers represent the "Ready, And, 3, 2, 1, *finger-point*" countdown for "Action!" that is called out for filming.

       I used the same IdeaOlogy items: Pen Nib, MiniGears, Wire Pin, & Filmstrip Ribbon (on both front side and backside) that T!m used. But I also made up a few little wooden camera charms with Black Soot Distress Paint, and found another charm to pin to the top of the front with more of the same Tissue Tape used on the tag to begin with- film/theatre/cinema tickets, of course! ;) Using one of the photos taken on our recent cruise in July, I chose a photo of just myself (the one always behind the lense -for once- alone IN FRONT of it) to put into an IdeaOlogy CashKey Charm held to the Tissue Tape ribbon by a Trinket Pin. My ChiefHubby had me get that shot done on the boat while we were having lots of photos taken as couples and as a group with our friends taking the trip with us, simply because I am the one usually taking the pics. So it was PERFECT for this tag!  I finished it all up with stitching along the tag as if it were found and someone tried to 'fix it up' by sewing it in places. The 'rust' tech is one I use often on old keys I make out of layers of grungeboard made from TH Alterations Hardware Findings die. (You can see a couple of these made on a previous post titled: "Handcrafted Travel Journal" from Feb 2014.) I added the IdeaOlogy Word Key "MUSE" and some red hempcording tied around the tag after putting in some side-tabs with the 3 things photos & videos need: lights, camera, and action (a subject), tucked in between the 2 tags. The number 23 on the back is part of the TH Numbers Remnant Rubs....along with a few others randomly cut to put onto the Label. That actually is what my desk looks like as I am going through photos from a shoot I've done: a massive hodge-podge of numbers that represent the image shot number. You'll see tons of them on a scrap of whatever paper I find closeby, lined up and crossed through as I choose the best pics out of the hundreds I took and then one main number circled, underlined, and otherwise pointed out to be THE best main photo of the entire bunch. 

         What a FUN tag this was!! I actually had it all done early in the month, but again, forgot to blog and post it to T!m's blog!! ARGH!!! So here I am doing it till the wee hours before church, and leaving with the Ygr PURDUE NukeEngineerSon to head to Minneapolis, MINNESOTA for a job interview at the Nuclear plant up there!!! YAY!!!!! Of course, I'll be taking LOTS of pics!! Especially since the reason I am riding along is because everyone else has to work, or be at school (his PURDUE English Honors Wife's first day Student teaching at a local High School in our county....GO HollisterGurl !!!!!). So, ok....yeah, I prayed hard for California, or Texas, or Florida. And GOD answers with Minnesota. Go Vikings...?? lol!

      But they have family on her side up there already, and they are excited to get a state THEY like...and her fave color is purple. Good thing, I guess. ;) ChiefHubby says we DRIVE up for the first visit over a Holiday they can't make it home for. Uh-huh. I give it ONE TIME before he comes home with FLIGHT TIX for further WINTER trips. hehehe! 6 feet of...snow....longer winters than even INDIANA.... Yay. :/

                      

THANX! for checking back in....and HAPPY BLOGGING!!!

Those Special Days Just Keep Coming In Our Life!

August brings with it, another special day in our family's life...the 1st Wedding Anniversary for our Purdue couple! It's hard to believe it's been a full year already, but I can clearly remember our own First Anniversary in 1985 when I thought it was a HUGE milestone. Not everyone felt that way- but then, they'd been married several years and thought our 'big first' was such a tiny dent in time...and it WAS. But it was no less important, and I feel the same way for our own children's timelines. While this past year has had many changes for this young couple (and everyone in both sides of their families as well), we still hold fast that GOD has a special plan for each of our kids, and HE's working on those plans each and every minute they live! This very moment I type, has the couple just arriving back from Minnesota, where Brett was offered to interview for a job. What a wonderful chance that is for them, as Holli has family living there! No matter where our kids all end up; we hope they will always know that home is indeed where the heart is!

My ChiefHubby and I just celebrated our 30th Wedding Anniversary in July (which I have yet to post on here... yeah, yeah, I know). And all I can think of when I look back on our own wedding photos is that our love has grown deeper, surer, more fun, and that "mystery" of GOD's LOVE that He puts into a marriage -if you allow Him to- just gets better and better. This is what our hope is for each of our sons and their wife, and wife-to-be: that they never let go of that wonderful love they had during the moment they made those vows to one another.  And that they someday see how much GOD has blessed them.  Whenever I look at our children... I know The LORD has blessed US when He gave us these beautiful gifts!

 

Thanks for allowing me to share, and HAPPY BLOGGING!

JULY TAG- The 12 Tags of 2014

     How could it be?!? The end of July is here already. Kind of sad in a way, but...the summer is really NOT over yet. So let's just NOT go there for now. I was SO excited to see Tim's idea of the July Tag turn out to be the same I wanted to do: ocean-minded! And since we ended up spending quite a bit of time near -or on- the ocean, it was perfect. I was totally happy to get home from our 30th Anniversary cruise (taken with four other couples close to us) to find the "Sand and Sea" Alterations Die got here safely in the mail while we were away. :D  I'd looked forward to finding that in stock since it was shown at CHA in January! So, of course, in making my tag; I kept pretty close to the same techniques Tim used....PRETTY close.

       One of the things I did differently, was to use REAL items on my tag- a few seashells, dried coral sponge, and sand- brought back into the US from the Bahamas. I'd spent a few hours combing the shallower waters for the tiny seashells to put into IdeaOlogy Glass Vials (the same of which we saw, filled with sand and a tiny shell or two, for sale on many tables through the towns while shopping). And in the deeper water to find larger shells for the tags. I knew I'd be making more than one- for giving to each of my Besties who were able to make the trip with us this time. I sifted the sand first, getting it smoother to work with, then mixed it with some white emboss powder, white distress glitter, and Glossy Accents. It stayed very well- and hardened FAST. Knowing GA dries quickly, I worked one tag at a time on the sand mixture. Then I took a big pinch of just sand and sprinkled it on top- just for the look of crusty sand. I also used the dry mixture on top of the paint on the sand dollar and the starfish. The white embossing powder gave it a touch of brightness.

       And I also really like making detailed items on my tags, so I went further to make it look more realistic and colorful by using some bright Copper Distress Paint, Olive, Sage, & Vintage Photo Distress Inks on grungepaper cut from the Movers&Shapers Leaf and Branch die, and the leafy wreath of the Alterations Die "Regal Crest" into copper sea coral and green sea weed. I cut a long coil of hemp cord, stained it with the greens and Vint Photo Distress Inks, then cut it into smaller pieces for the floating 'strands' you can clearly see through the water while we parasailed, jetskied, boated, and swam.

       There'll be a post soon on a few of our trips that I have yet to go through photos with- it's good to finally be back at HOME, again. We've been gone longer than two months this year....so far. (My hearing pup looked at me like "Who the heck are YOU???" when the ChiefHubby got her in the door from the Doggy Hotel this last time.) But, you KNOW I just HADDA use a couple of good group pics on the tag since they were designed to be shared. And everyone not only went along with the idea of group photos, but we had matching shirts I made up for them to wear for the first pic...and on the boat- WOW!: tons of pro photographers with lots of setups and backgrounds for each night. We had a BLAST with it!!! The ChiefHubby GENEROUSLY shelled out quite a bit for some FABULOUS PHOTOS of us alone together- and as a group. You've probably seen a few of them already floating around on my Twitter and both of our FB pages, as well as the rest of the couple's pics alone. I used two of my faves of us as a group and used the Movers&Shapers die "Family" with an Americana background paper tucked behind it.

       One thing I did do that Tim didn't; I wanted a bit of ocean foam at the top (something we saw alot of throughout the cruise). So I used some China Blue Distress Paint on my craft sheet, and scraped the top of BOTH sides of the tag (*I was not only using the plastic top part, but I like to make a 'backside' of all my tags and that meant TEN tags to do to form five July Tags as gifts.) back and forth through it, coating it in a VERY UNperfect lumpy form. Then dipped that lumpy form of paint into some white embossing powder....VIOLA! A foaming wave at the top of each tag. 

       The plastic was an interesting bit of creativity. No time for a trip to the store and no "bubbles" embossing folder. What to do?? Oh well. I'll just make my own thing. So I used a Sizzix die cutter of circles from any old cardboard leftovers, glued them randomly on a tag-sized cardboard piece, then ran each plastic tag-die-cut through my BigShot just like it was any other embossing folder. It didn't do as NICE a job....but it WORKED! I saved that little cardboard for some odd future use as a background with some kind of medium coating....after I find the new "Bubbles" folder set Tim has out. :D

       So here they all are on my studio table- packaged up, appropriately tagged with some Americana hemp and tiny tags (some of the tags I make yearly and shown in a previous post), and ready to give out as gifts. They took me a week to do- a little each day- so I am a BIT later than I wanted to be in getting this out and up on Tim's Blog. But there's nothing like a DEADLINE to make you bust yer buns. :D

       THANKS for checking in again, and I hope to make some time to get into alot of the Blogs I've missed out on looking through while gone. Just because I don't leave a note, though, doesn't mean I wasn't THERE and SAW IT. I am AMAZED at all the FANTASTIC TALENT out there in BlogLand!!!

           See you next posting, and Happy Blogging!

      

HAPPY INDEPENDANCE DAY, AMERICA!!!

While on our trip to Grundy, Virginia, where we worked at Mountian Mission School, we happened  to arrive on June 14th- Flag Day. I was simply awed by the sight of the sunny, clear, bright blue skies as a beautiful backdrop for the huge green mountains! As I looked around upon first getting out of the car, I joined my ChiefHubby while he began taking pics with his cell phone of the breathtaking scenery all around us. My eye settled on the American Flag- which was peacefully at rest next to the State Flag of Virginia also resting at her poleside. I took several pics of the Flags that day. And just before leaving, The grand Red,White, and Blue was showing off her colors as only she can- flapping in the wind with the sun shining behind her. Then, as I rechecked one photo in my Canon's screen...I noticed Old Glory had chosen to make an S for me. I didn't think anything more of it until I began going through the 1,000 or so pics taken in those 5 days of our stay. So here they are- using just three photos and doubling two of them....Old Glory herself spells it out for us all. :D  May America choose to seek the face of GOD, our Father and Creator, and in turn (as Biblically stated); may GOD Bless the USA!

Have a SAFE and HAPPY 4th of July Holiday Weekend, everyone!!  

JUNE had such BERRY good reasons for picking raspberries!

      It's Summer!!!...how I just LOVE summer!!! And this Summer of 2014 has nearly zoomed by me as we traveled southward several times already this year. So, I was kinda holding my breath while waiting to see if there was going to be any time to do my usual JUNE activity- the picking of Black Raspberries. I shouldn't have worried though, because due to all the excess snow from that awful-never-wanna-go-through-another-winter-like-THAT-again-anytime-soon Winter 2014, plus all the extra inches of rain, topped off with extra-humid, hot days Indiana has had - before & after - June 21st (the 'Official' 1st day of Summer)... well, I'm rather surprised we haven't been purple-blotched to death (remember 'The Killer Tomatoes") by those VERY large Black Raspberries lurking around along the roadways, creeks, and just about anyplace where other kinds of plain old weeds grow.

    My earliest memories of picking Black Raspberries are of being with my Maternal Grandmother- for whom I am named (we shared the same middle name). I spent alot more time with my Gr&Gr Raymer than most normal kids spent w their grandparents because my Mother was single with three older children aside from me. So I spent my weekdays with them on their farm before going into Kindergarten at almost 6 yo in October of 1971. So I can remember picking raspberries with her when they lived on the farm up in Fulton County, and in the patch that grew in the backyard on the grounds of the home they purchased in Logansport when I was 7. That property had been the home of a boy who was in my 1st grade class, and I excitedly told him "My Grandma & Grandpa bought your house!" which caused him to burst into tears. Our Teacher had to explain to me that he was sad to be moving away; leaving his school and all his friends there. Little did I know how soon after that, and how often, I was going to end up moving myself. My Mother had just married a man whom she was destined to leave and divorce, but he ended up being the man whom I was destined to keep as my Dad- and a Grandpa to my Sons. So during the years to come, my Grandparents' Logansport home and all the gardens full of flowering trees and fruits became my sanctuary. I ended up mowing that sanctuary each week as a teen for my Grandpa (my first paying job with help from my Dad who made sure to drive me over there each Saturday morning to slave away a good 3 hours for whole $5 while he relaxed chatting with Gr & Gr over coffee) and I loved helping Grandma pick apricots, strawberries, garden goodies, apples, pears, and black raspberries. She'd always have some vanilla ice cream for us to sprinkle the berries on top of for a snack. I made sure my own two boys got to know their Great-Gr&Gr Raymer and took them with me (often having time when my ChiefHubby/their Dad as working at his paying job, church or Fire Dept work, or finishing homework from his Seminary 2yr education) making time to walk them through the then-dwindling gardens.  Over the years, trees & vines die, and end up being cut down or torn out. The garden Grandpa kept became smaller as he got older, until he no longer kept one at all. The grass grew back, and trees that previously gave copious amounts of good fruit, began dropping wormed fruit because noone was spraying killer in anticipation of a harvest, nor harvesting. My visits became entirely inside-the-house talks with Grandma or with Grandpa inside one of his 3 connected garage/woodworking shops he'd built himself over those years. We'd even have the boys get Grandpa to help them cut their Cub Scout Pinewood Derby cars each year just to savor working with him in his woodshop the same way I did while growing up. 

      In 1987, after our first 3 years of marriage living in a rented apartment in the bottom half of a very old house situated on one of the two main thoroughfares dissecting the city of Logansport, David and I took the plunge to purchase a home (this same home 27 yrs later) in a subdivision of an area where I'd lived and attended school during all those moving-around years my parents were doing. I ended up having to stay home after our second Son was born, and thus began my walks around the Lake here

to introduce our kids to GOD's beautiful creation of the outdoors! By the time they were 9 & 6, and in school full time, the visits to my Gr&Gr's house - as well as theirs out here to us at least once a month as we all could - it'd been awhile since anyone had picked any berries together. David & I tried ekeing out a garden here, but the land is clay on our property, and is better used to MAKE BRICKS with. *sigh*  But, that summer our older son, Brian, was headed on to the 4th grade, and he was offered his first paying job by a neighbor down the road. So, that first afternoon of no-school/all-sun-summer-days, he'd dutifully gotten up early, rode his bike down to the neighbor's house, helped dig, remove brush, set bricking in to form a wall, then flew home on his bike with his first pay in hand, just in time for lunch. I saw him coming....and then flying PAST me...with......PURPLE???.....covering his hands and the bottom half of his face. He'd yelled out (my kids grew up with my deafness, so they are pretty darned good at helping me hear what they say to me): "GOIN' TO GET MY FRIENDS!! WE'RE PICKING BERRIES!!!!"

   Ahhhhh!! So. Young-Older Grasshopper finally learn Black Raspberry secret.  ;)  And he had alot more on his FACE than I think made it into the bowl that came home with him from that neighbor's house. But, like his Mommy; he'd learned about how to pick berries from someone other than his own parents. PROUD MOMENT for Grasshopper Mommy. :D

    And the RE-start of what is now my 17th consecutive year back at picking. Our Grandma Raymer went Home to JESUS - and her little boy, Gilbert Dwight - in January 2003. And Grandpa just followed JESUS to go Home finally, in March of last year (2013). Within those same years began a long, hard road of illness...and somewhat recovery - with the help of a handful of meds 2x a day, plus shots & 'immunity-killers' on Monday nights. Each time I fill my bowl, I know Grandma Raymer is smiling and I am thankful to both of them for filling my LIFE - and my HEART- with so many GOOD things all around!

As of earlier this evening of July 2nd, I filled what will be the 7th gallon bag and placed it along with the 6 others alongside the bags of SHROOMS from my earlier hunting escapades. I still had 7 cups of black raspberries leftover which will make a nice double-layered huge pie with some BLUE vanilla ice cream to melt on top of for a Red/White/Blue dessert for the cookout/swim we are having on July 5th for our ChurchBuds&Besties and their fams. While there are still TONS of the berries all around our area, I am simply out of time for picking. The ChiefHubby will be off early as of tomorrow and that will begin his Summer ShutDown Vacation- including our planned Anniversary Bahamas Cruise with these same Buds/Besties mentioned above. Plus, I still have a few photo blogs....With lots of cool pics... & less TYPING! lol...that I would like to share also. I've always felt that being a Homemaker in itself is a CRAFT that requires alot of detail and attention to creativity in EVERYTHING. Cause it's the little things that end up counting the most.
           THANKS FOR CHECKING IN AGAIN !!! See you next time, and Happy Blogging!!

JUNE TAG- The 12 Tags of 2014

June, at long last! The first day of SUMMER in just a week from now...and I've already had the first midnight swim in the pool- before May even ended! DOUBLE YAY!! So with more things to get done outside and more trips to make  out of state, my time has become short for crafting right now. I had to hoof it to get June done, and now I am hoofing it to get this posted before we head back out East in just a couple of hours. Yes, this is another midnight-oil-burner. No surprise there. I can sleep allll the way over. :D

I'll make this post short&sweet.

Truth be told; I dislike the butterflies. I mean, I DO like butterflies that are alive and flying in the yard and around the decks, but frankly, I don't care too much for crafting with them. Or birds for that matter. My BudderCup kitty goes a bit too far with her dislike: she's a well-known Butterfly KILLER. And sadly, a bird killer, too. (For which I generally beat her little butt for, but she barely notices my reprimands.)

So, of course, I had to change the June Tag to something I enjoy...SURPRISE. And since it's usually with my photo work included, this month celebrates 32 years since the ChiefHubby asked me out on our first date June 16, 1982. And since our 30th Wedding Anniversary is also coming up on July 14 (1984) along with BAHAMA CRUISE with a bunch of our besties...I decided to add in a puzzle of photos collaged together of us over the years. You'll notice a February 24, 2002 photo of us with our kids when we had a ReWedding for renewing our vows for our 17th Anniversary that year. Our close bestie (whom we just spent two weeks in Florida with so far this year) was the presiding Minister for that. Plus- our kids got to be in it with us and that made it all the more special to me. I even got out my wedding dress....and GOT INTO IT! Whoa! Another bestie couple (who are going on the cruise with us too) took the professional pics that day...and she's always very GOOD. Bonus for me! ;)

So here is my JUNE TAG....

 

The above photo -which is the front of my tag- comes out right side up when uploaded...but the photo to the left absolutely REFUSED to budge, no matter how I cropped or turned it...go figure. So since we are ready to leave, I gave up so I can get the post up on Tim's Blog. Here's wishing everyone a HAPPY FLAG DAY- and a reminder to fly that Red,White,&Blue Old Glory in all it's pride...and to enjoy the first actual day of SUMMER coming up next week!  Thanks for checking in again, take care, be safe, and HAPPY BLOGGING!!