APRIL TAG; The 12 Tags of 2016

    As I type this, it is the last 2 days of April. The time has flown past and the weather has finally been "Spring-like". The sad news is knowing our Dad/Grandpa Rush won't be here to enjoy it. He passed away almost 20 hrs ago and while I am glad his suffering is finally over (cancer REALLY sucks!), I am already missing him. I've learned so much in this past 7 months as I helped two of my older sisters care for our Dad. While it has not been easy by far; I wouldn't trade even one minute of that time back. What a BLESSING it has been to be able to care for that man- the one who finished raising me (and I think he did a pretty good job of it)!
     I guess you could say that both my parents have been on my mind a lot over these past few months. My Mother divorced my Dad when I was 15, and I was given a choice of who to live with. I'd have preferred BOTH in the same house still, but that's not how it ends up in divorce. Everyone gets hurt when a couple chooses to split up their marriage, and even more when only one chooses to split. But we all lived through it and I took am extreme dislike of the word "divorce" and vowed it would not happen to my own marriage. I was blessed because the guy I chose to marry feels the same way. And yes; he IS very much like my Dad in many ways (just as 'they' say a girl marries a guy who is like her Father).
  So with all this going through my mind daily, and Mother's Day coming up, I chose to "honor thy Mother and thy Father" for those upcoming holidays. I can just see my Dad now; getting in another 18 spectacular holes of golf on a truly awesome course, and that is what I keep my Hope for- that we'll see each other again after "long days in the land" promised to me for honoring both parents (Exodus 20:12). Tim's April Tag with the bird was truly beautiful! But I really wanted to make this one more 'tailored' to my Mother, who is a professional at fashion sewing. She started out very young making her own clothing uniquely for herself, and up to this day, is sought after for her skills from folks far and wide. So out came my TH Alterations Die "Sewing Room" and I whittled down a couple of dresses to fit onto the dressmaker's stand. The real technique was substitured with Gesso and Glossy Accents as I didn't get the chance to order the Kit Tim used. It worked well enough, and I am thrilled with the outcome, but I'd still lke to get my hands on the kit and give it a try also!
      Here are the photos and you can pretty much tell what is going on from them. So I leave you to them...
                       

Piecing the dresses took much more thought than I realized!

 

Adding some Black Soot Distress Paint to the dressmaker's stands and dressing up the spools of thread....

 

I added some stitching to the Tissue Tape for ribbons.

The TH Alterations Die "Tiny Tags" made some cute sentiments.

I found some heart-shaped buttons that went with both tags fabulously !

This shows the sheen from the Glossy Accents I got after buffing it up a bit, The Antique Photo Distress Ink shows up the dress colors nicely.

The backsides of the tags are embossed (TH Embossing Folder Sewn) and then stitched haphazzardly all around.

 

THANKS SO MUCH for checking in on my Blog Posts !!

I really had hoped to get this post up early since I'd gotten the tags done during the first week of April, but life had other ideas for me. I can't complain... it was worth it !

Till next time...

Stay Safe and Happy Blogging!