APRIL TAG; The 12 Tags of 2015

    Oh my goodness, me! It's the END of April and although I've been finsihed with my April Tag since the middle of the month...here I am posting just in time once again. My usual, it seems, is never too far off its base. *sigh* While I could excuse myself with lots of things having gone on this month (including my absolutely way-2-wonderful ChiefHubby taking me to meet THE ONE-&-ONLY Randolph (Randy) Mantooth at FDIC in Indianapolis...post is currently in the works as I am making the resulting craft from the photos and story that came out of it all)...*taking a deeeep breath* :)   Tim's tag was really super this month! Although, is there ANY TAG he's made that HASN'T BEEN?!? It sure gave us all quite a bit of inspiration, and as I've seen on Pinterest; it also gave us many different ideas that were ALL just as inspiring to me! I chose to stick with his 'floral theme' even after seeing all those neat places that others have taken their inspiration to. And, I'll totally admit that the water-coloring is just not one of my strong points. Nonetheless, I gave it the 'old go' and I'm really rather pleased with my final look of the three tags I made- one for each of the girls in our family. My older and younger sons will have been made a tag by the time May is over with- in honor of their 26th (May 2nd for Brian) and 23rd (Brett's was on April 14th), so I wanted to make sure both their girls also were honored with a Tag Bookmark for their March and June birthdays (both 24 yrs) even if the tags didn't come up at the right month- that's the reason I've made each out of April Tag. I was thinking that we women wear just as many 'shoes' in the family as we do 'hats'. We not only help with finances (earning as well as spending, ya know... lol!), keep up with the house, and even if we don't cook the entire meal (all three of my guys are GOOD COOKS like both Grandpa Rush and Grandpa Larimore) - we still help with the side items and clean up. We keep the laundry and household going, and most of all; we're just THERE for our men. I'm not saying the men don't do as much, it's just....this time, it's about the ladies and our roles.

For the most part, I stayed true to all the steps Tim made in his technique. But since I always do a backside to all my tags, I've added those steps to my photos overall.  

                                                                        So here ya go....


I decided on a set of ROSE stamps that actually belong to my youngest DIL's collection that is being stored in the closet for her. The rose is the 'romantic flower' and fits just about every woman in some way- in every color. I added a few items from an old "Stampin'Up" set that matched in perfectly.




My cut ended up being a bit lower and thinner than Tim's- to fit right over the flower pot.



Then I went through ALL my marker/color sets....to make several matching shades of our favorite colors.



I don't yet own the newest of the CHA 2015 dies- except for the 50 States thinlets- so I went through the dies I DO have and found that I could closely match with the Sizzlits lettering "Yarn" from which I made each of our names.




In the first stages of coloring - as per Tim's instructions - I chose to use each of our matching colors to do the spritzing with. In the end, it looked very much like "girly Pixie Dust" falling from the roses! :)



I made the backsides from my TH Tag & Bookplates Die by using a ready-made paper for the background and adding the M&S Die "Family" into the mix. Then using Sizzlets Dies "Shoes, Old Fashioned" & "Frame, Vintage" from an older collection I have, I used the same one-color papers as the front side, and used matching Distress Ink shades and a Blending Tool to shape them out with depth. I printed out our latest family photo to add into the tiny frames. You can view this in the very last photos at the bottom and just zoom in.




Here, you see both sides already done and just needing the finishing sewing before being put together- using Glossy Accents. Man, I go through TWO TONS of that stuff; LOVE GLOSSY ACCENTS from Ranger !!!!



 

Just a cute note- my nail polish for April just happened to match up! hehe!



 

Finished Front Sides of all 3 Tags.



Finished Back Sides of all 3 Tags



         As always, I am VERY THANKFUL for the WONDERFUL COMMENTS on my latest projects! I don't always leave comments myself, but I somehow manage to at least SEE what everyone else is doing. I wish you could hear my exclamations of "OhMyGosh!! THAT is SO COOL!!!"  which (what my ChiefHubby claims) is heard aloud "ALL the time!" hahaha! Oh well! Impressions are hard for me to keep inside. :)  I have not been checking in as I get those comments straight to Email also!
        Thanks so very much, ESPECIALLY, if you just made the time to pop in here, Pin my project on Pinterest, or somehow are inspired by what is created and shared!!! It's what life is all about, and I am sure The LORD agrees that smiles are made inside the heart and shine out through the look on our faces. :)
            This is a bit late, but being posted to Tim's page in time- I hope!! We are off tomorrow morning up to #RedWing #Minnesota to visit the younger couple and they will get their tags then. If you're on Twitter- by all means- pop in and follow those hashtags for some epic scenery ! (PS- Minneapolis will be the scene of a huge ComicCon-like gathering of Hogwarts, so sightings of some are likely to be had while strolling along for some peace and quiet. I've DARED 'EM....hahaha!   If you're on Twitter...you'll know what I am talking about here. )
                                                          Be Safe and Happy Blogging!

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge #26- Bookmark for My Bookish Nuclear Engineer Son



     This challenge came just at the right time- our Younger Purdue Nuclear Engineer Son celebrates his 23rd Birthday today- his first one on the job at Prairie Island Nuclear Facility doin' the REAL THING! And, it's also his first birthday as a resident in Red Wing, Minnesota. Both are big deals for he and his lovely wife, Holli, and it's also a big deal for us 'Rents, too! We are very proud of all our kids and watching them get out there just living every day life is nothing short of pure joy for us to  see!         

         These thoughts gave me the chance to play with some of my very favorite stamps- some of which I made myself a few years back, and gave sets of them to all my Besties for CHRISTmas. (And I emailed a pic of all of them to Tim Holtz- this was just after the CoCVol I had come out and gotten very popular...and got me totally hooked on this look in crafts! He emailed back to say he thought they were great and knew my friends would love them. The neatest part is that this very kind of thing- making your own stamps from TH dies- came out in Vol II, after that!) Holli got a set of them, too, and I am sure she'll get a chance to use them at some point in her carreer as an English Teacher in Minnesota. She's got plenty of time! But these Gadget Gear stamps were made from the Tim Holtz Alterations Gadget Gear die and remind me very much of the things my three guys have done in life- My ChiefHubby and our OlderFFCaptSon, and Younger Purdue Nuke Engineer Son. It all comes together like this in my wayward mind. Both Sons are very good at Math (both were Honors Math) like their Dad, and also like him; their minds are always going 'clickety-clickety-clickety' ! I guess I used to be like that and still can be when I have a list to get done. But the second half of my life has been much slower moving, and I like taking some time to watch the world pass by on its way to....wherever!

So, Challenge #26 has been completed in the wee hours of Tuesday, April 14th, in honor of 23 years ago- 1992- when I was busy running around town doing errands before I went in to give birth to Brett. Ok, so I was not realizing I was supposed to have gone straight to the hospital, but this woman had things to get done, and an almost 3 yr old little Brian to also take care of, too. When Momma got things to do; don't get in her way. I set $$ out with a set of clothes for David to get something to eat after he got home from work and changed into clean clothes, and was set on getting our van picked up from the shop where it had gotten new shocks put on. My suitcase was in the van, and so was the baby seat, etc. So you can see I was just trying to get things organized. And yeah, I am sorry I gave Dr.B a massive heart attack- making him think the worst when I didn't show up at the hospital until four hours after I was supposed to, and was having labor pains 5 mins apart. BUT....I'd gotten everything done. :D  The only prob was that by then, they were trying to get hold of David because they didn't think he was gonna get there in time! No cell phone stuff yet then. Well, yeah...we had a car phone a bit later after that, but it was like carrying around a huge BRICK in your car, and not at all movable like they were sometime later.  



These are the backsides- but hopefully, the only clue is from the direction of the topper ribbon. I was very careful to try and keep each of the four surfaces done exactly alike to make two tags with exact front and backs as closely as possible.



From the first, I guess we brainwashed our kids- definitely pointing them in the direction we saw their strengths lay. All good parents will point out the path and keep steering until their kid can keep the bike upright on their own. Each kid has their own strength, weakness, and personality- no matter if you dress them exactly alike, or not. (And this Mom always did- cause you can pick your kids out in a crowd instantly if they are dressed in the same outfits. Plus...ok, fine, I admit- it was cuter than two bugs on a rug!) Brian was the one who got along with anyone, anywhere, and kept himself in the background- like David was when he was younger. It took a loooong time for David to come out of that shell and speak in front of people. Whereas Brett was more like his Mom- just born ready to get up in front of anyone and do or say whatever came into his mind. I always thought each Son would find their own place in the world, and keep chipping at it until they fit into that place perfectly, and have a good, very happy and settled kind of life....no matter what kind of mish-mash is tossed in their ways.



2nd Grade together- both Honors Classes kids & best friends.





Brett...where the hole in his head came from. lol!





Brett begins his career as The Berber (carpet fro).






Yup- that's the same little girl from the 2nd grade pic!
Married his best friend on August 10, 2012.
She also has a fantastic FOOD BLOG...
"Tales of a Midwestern Wife" ...check it out!

 

The Berber's HS grad pic- Indiana's Top 75 !!! 



              I hope you enjoyed checking out the tag for our NukeEngineer, and as always- you're more than welcome to join in on these Challenges! The requirements are easy; own and use your own Compendium of Curiosities Vol 3 book by Tim Holtz, and don't share the details of the particulars. The neat part is there are prizes to be had: from Tim, himself, with Mario Rossi doing the sending (U just gotta love you some Mario!); and the two sponsors... Inspiration Emporium and Blog owner/Hostess Linda Ledbetter's The Funkie Junkie Boutique . (I've won a $25 shopping certificate on a random draw from the FJBoutique, and it's fabulous!) You can get tons of inspiration from the mega-talented crafters joining in on the CC3 Challenges, their blogs, and make some neat friends while you're at it!
              Thanks for stopping by, and thanks so very much to those who have left WONDERFUL comments ! I appreciate them so MUCH! Thanks to everyone joining in on all the Challenges who have shared tips, smiles, and encouragement to one another not just in crafting, but in life outside the studio!

                   HAPPY 23rd BIRTHDAY to our BERBER!
                                                    and
                        Happy Blogging to EVERYONE! 

Compendium of Curiosities Vol 3- Challenge #25...My "Thinking Garden of Words & Numbers"

       April...means Spring is really getting serious about sticking around now! The temps the past couple of days have been warmer than usual at this time. Unfortunately, it brings thoughts of tornado alerts and severe thunderstorms. Last Sunday was Easter and we took our 2 big FurryKids over to France Park Stone Quarry and did some major hiking on the trails all around the cliffs. There was not a whole lot of green to be seen yet, but it was warm and sunny and since none of our 2 couples kids would be with us- it was a picnic just for us two...er.....FOUR. ;) 

 Maybe I should make that FIVE...since the original purpose was to take FlatStanley with us and get a bunch of photos of him visiting the park. More on the flat-mailed-man in another post, but he's mainly the reason I've been AWOL from my blog. Sorry I didn't get your SWEET, and Oh-So-GRACIOUS comments published until now!

      

                     I took a bit of liberty with CC3 Challenge 25 this time, and added a few extra pics so you can get a better view of this project. It began with the thought of ....well...THOUGHTS! I was pondering over which kinds of flowers I'd like to put out this year in the front and back of the house, when it came to me that's exactly how to use my new Frameworks- a tiny garden of my own INSIDE.

    And, I've wanted to do one of those sets of tags that are put together with 'hinges' that allow the tags to fold slightly and stand up on their own. So I began with making the outside- making it look like hinged gate boards by using an embossing folder in a DEbossing technique, added some Matte Medium (Thanks for the tips, Candy!), and used some shorter fasteners onto a pair of hinges I've stashed away from an old box that fell apart.

  Then it was on to the flowers! This is where I really began to parody my idea of "Thinking Garden of Words & Numbers" because you can clearly see the Dictionary wording on the ground flowers using the TH Alterations Tattered Florals Die; the smallest bloom, then outlined in Mustard Seed Distress Marker and shadowed in the back with Wild Honey Distress Stain. I used Tim Holtz's idea of a Long Fastener putting those together to "stems" of IdeaOlogy Wire Pins. you can clearly see the numbers in black and white that I used on the vine's blooms. I'd freehandedly cut those and used some Distress Paint in Spun Sugar and edged them with Aged Mahogany Distress Ink on a blending tool, put together with shorter fasteners in black for the fuller, larger blooms and white for the two smaller blooms near the top. The "vines" were simply different shades of green stock cut very thin on a long paper cutter, then inked up with various green shades of Distress Inks to give them a little natural 'depth' look. Then I followed the instructions for the Challenge's Frameworks and made a really COOL background with it, and pieced together some of the insides for the "grass" growing on the bottom, and then more for the vine trellis before filling the trellis up with all the vines by just weaving them all in and out and curling the ends. Then gluing on all the blooms, and lastly...I followed Tim's March Tag technique and made some very cool "BRICKS" !! I even layered them up like real bricks -my Grandpa Raymer would be proud of me learning along-side him while bricking not only our kitchen wall, but the rocks he'd done on the front of our house to match the ones I watched him do on his own house, too !  Yeah, that kinda took a bit longer than I thought and I was worn out that night, but the overall look is way too cute!! I went one bit further and made a little board sign and hung it up- cause THIS little thinking garden is only big enough for just me...and GOD. The very last touch was a little butterfly. Ok, I admit, the rest of the CC3 ppl are butterfly-happy and it's grown on me a wee bit. ;) I used a different odd-shaped clockhand and stuck a diamond on for his head, and used the same heart punch to make his wings out of mirror-shiney cardstock. If you'll notice- all the leaves are heart-shaped. The ground flowers' leaves are hearts cut in half and the vines have smaller hearts scored in half and green inks Distressed with a blending tool. The entire tag set is about an inch thick out to the front, but it gives it a realistic look.  

 





    I hope you've enjoyed looking in on this project and perhaps it's got you thinking of joining in on the Challenges from Compendium of Curiosities Vol 3 ! You do need to have your own book because we cannot share the techniques of each Challenge, and we've been getting two weeks to finish them- which I find is a good amount of time for completion....except for the Folio! That one was a toughie! And the best part of all: PRIZES!!! Some come from Tim Holtz and his BTS all-around-hilarious-handiman, Mario Rossi; and there are shopping certificates from both Inspiration Emporium , and the fabulous Linda Ledbetter's Funkie Junkie Boutique (from where I've already won a gift certificate.... and used it for the States Framelit Set on my previous post of "2015 Americana Album") !!

           Thanks so much for checking in on this posting, and for any comments you've left - they totally are SWEET!!!!  I hope to be back on with another post very soon for the 12 Tags of 2015: APRIL TAG.

Until then;

                                  Be safe, and HAPPY BLOGGING!!

An Americana Tags Album For 2015...

                                                    This is a project that has been waiting in my "to be crafted" basket since December. Thought it was high time I get it put together. Came out a bit bulky, but still beautifully exactly what I wanted! And that's all that matters, huh?

Here's a video of the finished album, as well as a few outside photos after that....

 

  Thanks, as always, for checking in to view this post! Feel free to check out the rest of my projects, and also to try out any of the items if they inspire you ! It's not any fun unless it can be SHARED! Be safe, and...
                                                            Happy Blogging!