April arrived pretty fast, don't you think?? Especially after such a L-O-N-G, cccold, sssshhhhnowy winter 2014! I am happy to say that I have already been outside getting up stray leaves from around the house (No, that does NOT mean they won the LeafWar13.) and getting them out of the pool. Thus I have already started the tan....and even a burn. Hmph, it was so WINDY that day, it very well could be just WIND BURN. lol! Anyway. Let's get to the TAG for April!
T im Holtz has a bunch of new Alterations Dies that I can't wait to get my hands on! When I first saw the ones he debuted at Winter CHA in Jan, I saw just a few that I REALLY LOVED. But now that he's showing off some of them, I think I'll be adding to my Wish List! This one he used for a 'trellis' is really ADORABLE! But, alas, not only are the dies nowhere around my area (Logansport has NO CRAFT STORES AT ALL since JoAnn Fabrics left. Grrrr!!!), but I already had an idea for April that would somehow, in some way, be for our younger PURDUE Nuclear Engineering Son. Brett graduates on May 18th, and hopefully will be getting situated in whatever part of the country-or world- where a company will hire him. Our prayers are still being sent up after he's been through just three interviews. My thoughts along the line of my tag would be his four years at school in which he went from a young KID....to a MARRIED MAN. For this Mom, I will always still see their "baby face" when I look at them. But I am SO VERY PROUD of both my Sons and the wife one has- and the other will choose! And when I started looking through dies for ideas, my thoughts kept going back to all the photos I took -or MADE HIM take...hehe!- during that time. So I finally decided. And here's how it went:
I started out with choosing dies that would fit the photos I wanted to use. I ended up with three different sizes of 'filmstrip' available if I included some of the tiny filmstrip ribbon. I wish I had the Mini Filmstrip/Mini Tickets Strip Die, but I made do. My plan was to use everything I had, but match the techniques Tim was using. 
I next began choosing colors and materials for my plan. I will say that at this point, I'd already decided to make my Tags (one for Brett & a duplicate for myself to keep) in a larger-than-usual size. I noted someone else did that on another blog, so that helped with the size of photos I wanted to print out copies of. I chose the size to be a little smaller than half page (4&1/4 in wide x 5&1/2 in tall), and then cut two sides for each so I could do both sides AND put a pocket into the middle of both for excess photos. By now, let's not kid around...this Mom takes PHOTOS. TONS. :D
S tarting on the backside of the tag, I cut out letters to a colored (Black Soot) grungepaper. Added some Rock Candy Crackle Paint over it to make it look as old as Purdue really IS- 1836! Then I started cutting out gears from grungeboard also. Using my alcohol inks and distress paints for color, then scratched/sanded them, and rubbed Distress Inks.
T his is where I tend to get a bit 'chaos-driven' working on it in bits and pieces until I figure out exactly how I want my plan to work. It also involves moving from one area to another- if I get hungry or thirsty. ;) The photo work takes the longest- choosing, crop & edit if needed, print, cut apart, and then glue all the photos into their designated frames.
T hen start putting it all onto the Tag sides and get ready to put the sides together. I made my own pockets out of Kraft brown resist paper because the waxiness of that paper allows the photos to slide in and out easily. I'd already chosen my IdeaOlogy items for each tag, so just putting them on was a cinch. Then the ribbons- black and gold, of course.
In case you don't 'get it', the IdeaOlogy in the photo with the Word Key is supposed to stand for all the things "Nuclear"= as in SECRET (Word Key), ELEMENTS (Trinket Pin),Knowledge (Muse Token), and the top-most Muse Token is for the EXCELLENCE Brett kept up while at PURDUE! He's only missing "Distinction" on his Bachelor of Sciences in Nuclear Engineering by almost 1/10 point. I think that's pretty great- for a kid who had to take four out of five of THE toughest classes in the entire PURDUE UNIVERSTIY curriculum- and better than just PASSED !!!
The tickets,below, were made on computer using the Print Artist Gold program. Just remember to measure the die, then use your measure guides on the program. Print, and line up the die where the printed tickets are, and cut as usual. Don't forget to SAVE your tickets how they are arranged on the screen- so you can use the same pattern over and over for other designs of tickets.
THANKS for all the KIND comments on my Blog!!!
And, THANKS once again, for checking in and reading!
HAPPY BLOGGING!
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