The Ticket 2 Thankfulness....

 Like most churches, The Church of Christ at Logansport has a group just for the women, and young ladies. Our group is called The Ladies Friendly Circle, which meets just once a month. Each of us tries to take a turn hosting unless there is a visit planned to one of the three area nursing homes, or we plan a special event for others. Since those things take up half the meetings, that leaves only 5 or 6 other months to host.

   While not everyone can make it to every meeting, I try to get to all of them, and I always like hosting one of the fall months just so I can do something special for these 'sisters' of mine. This year, I got the help of a Co-Hostess, and while she helped IMMENSELY by making half of the supper planned, she had other events going on with her two younger sons, and I gladly took over the rest of it as I already had a little item planned for each lady. I'd just gotten a new Alterations Die- Big Ticket- for my birthday in October, and I was eager to use it. I kept thinking of the smaller TH tickets I have on my metal "Receipt Holder" that I keep four of my most recent or fave Tags of the 12 Tags. The tix were colored brightly and kind of 'too small' for using on my idea, but I went ahead and scanned them off, sized two of them together, touched up the coloring, and ended up with a CUTE big ticket to which I added the title "Ticket 2 Thankfulness" and also the words "ADMIT MANY" as a play on listing as many thankful things as there were left days of this month after our meeting. Since the night of the meeting fell on November 11th, I set the theme also with red, white, and blue balloons inside some wooden 'post' pumpkins that one of my "Besties" (also a member of our group) had made for my birthday gift. With a pan of hand-picked raspberry pie from this area earlier this summer... it fit in nicely with the Italian casaroles and salad.

In keeping with our work for others, we prayed for our United States Servicemen and Servicewomen - past, present, and future - and for the leaders of our nation; that they fulfill The LORD's will even if they are unaware they are doing so. We know GOD is in control, no matter what. 

 So, while I am thinking each day of how many BLESSINGS I am thankful for, I happened to read another friend's Blog (she's actually a very active writer, with several blogs), and was surprised at something she's thankful for that I admittedly have over-looked...she wrote that she is thankful for the ability to READ.

  I guess you could say, correctly so, that kinda 'hit me right between the eyes'! Being deaf, I depend on reading more than the average person. Texting, Closed Caption use on television and (HOPEFULLY SOON it will be ALL) internet videos, (and PLS!!) radio interviews and many other things that hearing people just don't stop to think how many of us are unable to hear and depend heavily on...is the written word. So, YES, I agree WHOLE-HEARTEDLY!!! And I'd like to give a #SHOUTOUT to Tena Carr in Arizona for making me (and hopefully everyone else) aware of a seemingly 'simple' thing that I have DEFINITELY taken for granted! You truly 'WOW!' me, gurl! ;)

May we all be as 'open-eyed' and aware of many other BLESSINGS we may have missed in our hurried, everyday lives. And may GOD's protection and blessing be on YOU, my readers. I give thanks for YOU and for being able to BLOG with you all!!

Happy Thanksgiving, and Happy Blogging! 

NOVEMER TAG: The 12 Tags of 2014

   Tim's November Tag with the leaf is actually one of my faves of his out of the year. It lends itself to the tones & shades of color I love using. I probably use them way too much, and need to practice getting outside my own colorbox now and then. And,I actually ran into a 'problem' since Tim's leaf theme was the same theme I chose to use as my take on his October Tag. (I like his better, too.) So, that left me a bit stumped, but as Tim would have it: I let my "LylaMuse" lead me, and once I got going I ended up with not just one, but THREE different tags. That number actually ended up totalling 8 since I was planning to give out 5 of them. I am short on time this month since I used a good 2 weeks for my "By The Sea" project, and we are leaving for Minnesota to join the YgrPurdueNukeEngineerSon's Wife (PurdueHonorsEduDaughterIL) on a trip up to be with him for Thanksgiving. So I needed to get my Nov. Tag done and posted since we won't be back until after Decemeber's Tag is posted.

        I was pretty pleased with the outcome because NovTag#1 was my original idea; using my own WLYLA "LEAF BREAK 2014" photos on a puzzle-cut. As soon as I got the die cut using Sizzix #654992 Puzzle Maker #2 (retired)...it didn't look like I was going to be doing any coloring of the tag itself. So I put aside that one set of cutouts to see if I could use it later for anything. After I got the other two done, I went back to this set and played around with it. This is what I came up with:

  



It's my love for photography- and GOD's wonderful outdoors - that gets me going. It celebrates the world we live in; a gift we often take for granted. I came up with this idea a few yrs ago to share the season as it changes. I was noticing that the leaves seemed as if they 'changed overnight when I wasn't looking' and wanted to remember to ENJOY IT. So I started sharing it each week on my WLYLA as a kind of 'commercial break' halfway through the song choices. It's made me aware of how truly BEAUTIFUL it is up here in Indiana in the Fall each year.

That's our Creator GOD -the greatest Artist!



     Tag #2 was my next plan after thinking Tag #1 wasn't going to allow me to use all the techniques Tim was showing. I chose to use my Movers & Shapers Mini Old Glory Set, and changed only one other part; I didn't have any sticky embossing glue or tape product to use with the foil. My stand-by for this part was using a stiff brush to splatter some Ranger Silver Alcohol Ink. I didn't get the 'blunt' look of the foil, but it did get some silver sparkle that ended up looking just right for this Tag #2- along with some tiny buttons hooked into a Trinket Pin with a jumpring. Some scrap Americana cloth torn into ribbon topped it off nicely.

    Since the reason I chose to make this R,W,B theme was due to my strong feelings for the men and women who serve in our US Armed Forces, and honoring them from each branch of Service, in each era of our USA History. One of these tags went to our Older FFCaptSon's girl, Ahsley, whom we are VERY proud to say is U.S. NAVY. (So is one of her older Bros, and her Dad is Marines.) Since both the ChiefHubby and I have our Dads both served in the ARMY, along with just about all our Uncles, as well as several cousins in Air Force...Veteran's Day is more than just another holiday. So this Tag#2 will be my choice to post on Tim Holtz's Blog.

     

      And the last Tag, #3, is a bit of a joke the weather chose to play on us all. While I was getting out the cardboard, I found a stack of white ripple cardboard that usually comes as cushion for alot of the ChiefHubby's Fire Dept. items. I keep tucking it away thinking I'll use it for something, and that something hit me as the SNOWFLAKES FELL....literally! I also found some small wooden snowflakes that already had a cute finish of white with sparkles on them. I added 2014 with my  trustly little date stamper.

    Since I am lucky to already have a Sizzix Bigz Die #655545 Snowflake, I settled in making three of these; 1 for my own collection, 1 for a birthday gift, and the last will go into the drawing for the home-crafted CHRISTmas ornament trade we do each year in our church's Ladies group. It gets challenging to come up with a new idea each year and even those who admit to not being 'crafty' are giving it a try! 

By the time anyone sees this, TAG No.2 will already have been posted to Tim's Blog. But if you have a different fave of the three here; you are more than welcome to let me know! :D

Thanks for checking in and esp for reading through this long posting really meant for just ONE Tag for the month.

"I just have too many Tags!" said NO CraftGurl EVER!!! ;)

Happy Blogging!

By The Sea: a Configurations Book with a mix of 'Tim Holtz' and 'Graphic 45'!

Winter has apparently decided it needed to move in early, without a welcoming invitation to do so. At this typing, it is a mere 16* with a WCF (if you live in Indiana, you deal with this daily in winter- Wind Chill Factor) hovering at a slightly bitter ZERO...or just below. So with all that cold, mixes of ice and snow already covering the ground for a good two inches or more...time in the studio became available, & it warmed me up. What probably warmed me up was not so much the heat in the house as much as it was the craft I was working on: the Mini Configurations Book I'd picked up earlier this summer to use for our 30th Anniversary Cruise memories. The pics and items from the trip definitely took my mind off the bitter cold blowing outside the window!

I started out with a video explaining what I did to get the finished project, and added some photos below the video. This will give you a chance to see details both ways. Enjoy!

  



We both initially were on the jetski together, but after I did my donut thing and he ended up in the water. He let me go out alone after that. hahaha! (I had alot of practice on the first day of school every year- it took away the tears once everyone left me alone at home again...and made a couple of kids a wee bit jealous that Mom got to go out and play, hehehe!) Unfortunately, that was also the donut that caused me to forget I didn't have floaters on my Rx sunglasses. Good thing they were an OLD pair. I was smart enough to leave the new pair in my bag. After that- it was an all-out-race-the-waves free-flying alone out there; what a THRILL!!! And you could see all the way to the bottom of the water, too- BEAUTIFUL and well worth the $$ for that thrill !! 



The detail I forgot to mention: the bottom of this box is paper 'sand' with a cutout photo of our feet drawn as I photographed them inside a heart shape I drew onto the beach in Freeport, Bahamas, and then made ChiefHubby stand inside with me just for this 'flooring' idea. :)





This is what happens when you leave your Studio door open and a 2yr old Louisiana Catahoula pup decides to see if there's anything in there for him to play with. *slow sizzling burn causing SMOKE to come out of my EARS*

         Thanks so much for all the views, comments, and kudos! I have found so many of you fellow craft-bloggers to be VERY clever and also very sweet and supporting of each other. Once again, I wish you all HAPPY BLOGGING !!!

Handcrafted Organization Needs: The Tim Holtz Faded Cover & My Own Version of a Folio!

I'm getting somewhat 'caught up' on alot of things- and I'd like to say I've won the Leaf War of 2014 (current Battle Score being 3-2 with the Leaves ahead of me...simply because I conceded that 2nd battle when I slipped and fell flat on my....gludius maximus), I only have a little more touches of using the blower and being the confident, victoriously celebrant person I am; I think I can safely say I came out Tops.

So while the usual WET Halloween came and went, I did some serious cutting in my Studio with the Birthday Picks the ChiefHubby let me order from JoAnne Fabrics' great sale. I chose carefully over the stock because, while I am always on the lookout for Tim Holtz's new items, I am still currently filling a few of the discontinued items that just never seemed to make their way into Indiana. I've not been let down and was HAPPY to find a new one AND an old one....WEEEEEEE!!!! :D

Very HAPPY to find ALOT of these items now in stock in both JoAnn Fabrics and Hobby Lobby of Lafayette, IN ! I certainly complained to them enough on every visit with a huge *sigh* of "WHY can't I find anything NEW that Tim Holtz has out since it's all so POPULAR, but your store doesn't carry much." said with a lost puppy dog look. ;) And, thanksSOmuch! they have brought in TONS of it finally!  But there are still alot of the dies that they only sell online because of shipping costs. So I try not to waste any money on shipping myself and wait for that to be "FREE w yaddayadda Purchases" or special sales. Why waste money on S&H when you can get one more item for that same amount??

There was only one problem...in my searches to find the TH Folio, I finally came upon one. Not to dis' ya, Tim, but I was really disappointed with the SIZE of that Folio. I expected it to be larger, even though I did see the dimentions online. I thought surely it comes in a larger folder size so you can fit letter-sized items into the pocket?? But it was not to be. So while I set out to do the Faded Cover, I got to thinking "Why not make my OWN version of a Folio but just use all my TH cardstocks? So that is what I set out to do. Firstly, let's go to the Faded Cover pics, then the Folio.



Before we show the finished- I noticed that my inside papers seemed to be UPSIDE DOWN. Is this normal?? 



This is the finished front- the frame was made with Sizzix Die #656185 Bigz which I got on Clearance from the Sizzix.com site. My Besties all join together now and then to purchase dies in one shipment when we see alot of them go clearance that we all want. Saves alot of S&H fees while getting us all needed items to share.





I wanted the FC to stay in it's original form for the most part. I chose the "JOURNAL" Cover and decided to just embelish it. I got out my TH die Hardware Findings, and made some 'iron gate posts' to wrap over the edges and you can see from the pic above this one, how they secure UNDERNEATH the binder hinge clasp. I put a Hitch Post on the top for the key (made from Grunge Paper x5 layers of Hardware Findings Key using Glossy Accents to put together then 'rust' them with Vintage Photo Distress and emboss powder). The tiny tag is simply the 'try me out' tag that is on the outside of every Grunge Paper pkg! I carefully cut all the pkging away and keep the tag for use in a project. LOVE those little bonus tags !!!!





The inside covers were made from TH French Industrial papers. I chose to emboss the 'letter' and 'ledger' with similar TH emboss folders- just to stick out more. Then I used a few of the Found Relatives from the same papers, and made my own usual Cabinet Cards (on an earlier posting) to match with them. You can definitely tell which photo is of 'poor workers' while the others have a 'gold gilt' (TH Distress Paint) around the edges to make them look "wealthier".





I call this my "Cover Page Tag" or just an example tag of some I make with my very fave stuff! Actually, this tag was supposed to be the one that fit into the sliding under the plastic front frame. But guess what- yep, I started it and it 'went too far' so to speak. I just kept going and going. My original plan: to use up any leftover stash items that were 'oddball' like....leftover stars made from September Tag. Leftover top post light from last year's...whatever I made with those!! Leftover topparts of the Hardware Findings Gateposts from the Faded Cover's outside binder. You get the idea here. I started it with the intention of the "lock" fitting in with the "key" for the outside. Eventually, I put a ChitChat Sticker inside the lock that says "artful" and THEN I did the BACKSIDE to this tag....





...And by the time I got done after I'd originally only intended to use up the leftover number 8s I had....I went on to make it into a real year so to speak of 1888 making extra 1 and 8 with odd other items of TH papers, Ideaology items leftover and you can see the leftover top of the second HFgatepost....which I added LongFasteners like I did on the front to make it look like the tag was 'hinged together' even though the hinges do NOT match up the same place. But It took on EXACTLY what I wanted.....THEN IT DID NOT FIT INTO THE PLASTIC !!! ARGH!!!!! *sigh* That's whatchagit for being artistic and havin' lotsa fun!




Here's the backside of the Cover Page Tag out of the plastic so you can appreciate the details I did to each number. The odd items just make the third 8 look like it was 'working' into an 8. ;)  Sorta the way my MIND works in that sudio....??





And here's the front of the CoverPage Tag wo the plastic. I have to say: THIS is THE MOST FAVE TAG I'VE DONE- EVER!!!! Your eye can follow all the way around and it looks almost as if the man's cane is turning the blue star- turning the wheel; which is turning the red star, which unlocks the lock, which turns on the light, which turns the clock hands, which makes the photo reel, which makes the image of the MAN.....COOL !!!! I LOVE IT!!!!




And to add a cut of my new TH Die "Big Ticket" which the ChiefHubby GENEROUSLY paid for my Birthday Pkg...
Here' the catch with the dates; notice the First is missing? I used a heart-shaped handpunch to take it out. WHY??? Well, the entire reason behind this Faded Cover book is to carry Tags which I end up making as gifts for others. I often found them somewhat crushed or bent when I tucked them into my backpack to take with me to give to the intended recipients. So my thought was to use this book to tuck them into the pages and THEN give them in the plastic protection bags I normally use to 'wrap' them for giving. Problem SOLVED- no more crushies or bendies!!  :)
So the punchout of the FIRST DAY stands for the dates that TIM puts out his 12 Tags for that month. I always look VERY FORWARD to his newest challenge and creations on that day!!!  Notice the ChitChat Sticker I put under it?? It says "us"...stands for ALL of us who are looking forward to that Tag that day!





THEN, *breath* I ended up making ANOTHER Tag to slide into the top of the outside frame- and this time, I kept it SIMPLE. Just a cutdown of the Found Relatives from the 12x12 TH paperstash and a cabinet card made larger on my computer than the smaller ones shown on the inside of the covers. SWEET! :)



    And here is the "Folio" I crafted....

I basically just stuck to the same main idea of a folder

with an extra-long outer cover. Using 12x12 TH cardstock paperstash for all of this, I also put a little fold-over edge with some paper string to close up the main folder, and you can see how much thicker I made the entire thing just by adding more room in between the normal creased edges. I got the idea of using the one page of letterpress into the spaced places to tape little do-dads (tickets to "Yesterday- The BEATLES Tribute Band" Concert that was also for my birthday from the Chiefhubby, and Bday cards from some special fave ppl that were sent in the snailmail to me. (Like my namesake Grma Raymer- I enjoy getting paper cards still!) and I'll have plenty of extra space to keep all those little things that pile up on my desk because I can't bear to just toss them, but they just gather dust or trash the drawers.

These two crafted items are not really NEEDS, but they will help UNclutter those little things that seem to gather on my Studio table each month. And every little bit of organization helps.

THANKS for checking in on this WINDY post, & HAPPY BLOGGING!