WOYWW #130

This week has been busy in more ways then one around the hacienda! The cabinet men came and finished installing the cabinets in the laundry room and put the cornice moulding around the kitchen cabinets. Today the rain gutter company came to finish up the new guttering we had installed on the house. I have tried to do as much as possible in my craft room and managed to get some Christmas tags made that you can view in the previous two posts if you would like to see them. Thought I would get a jump on Tim Holtz and make my 12 tags of Christmas then see if I could follow along with his tag making extravaganza starting this Thursday at midnight. I also have been busy making card front for a swap on Splitcoast Stampers that have to be mailed out tomorrow. I will post those tomorrow or Thursday.

My desk this week is a mess! I need to stop and straighten up a bit before I start another project because there are bits and pieces of paper, embellies, and other stuff lying about. My table behind my chair has been piled higher and deeper this week and I can't find a stamp set I know I had just yesterday. Guess I will make an effort to straighten tomorrow when I get back from the post office....grrrrr....I just want to play not work. Anyway on to my desk here it is in all its messiness. At the front of the desk is my desk is my Tim Holtz/StampersAnonymous Christmas stamp binder and stamps. I am going to make ATC's tomorrow and was looking at the stamps after finishing my card tops. Behind the binder is the three sets of 16 card tops that I made for the swap. I love these swaps cause you never know what you will be getting back and I get so many ideas and have so much fun with the challenges. I did and up close shot this weekend to cover all the debris I mentioned above.

If you would like to know what all this is about check our Julia's blog Stamping Ground where we gather each week in our journey around the world to check on one another's desks. Called snooping by some it is great fun to share projects and lives of other artists.

Hope everyone has a great week! I am going to put the tree up tomorrow (after I straighten up a bit!) and then try to do some blog hopping on WOYWW!

More tags!

Ready for a few more tags today? I am having so much fun in my craft room that it is starting to look like a tornado has blown threw it and scattered all my treasures to the four corners of the world! I don't know about you but I love having everything right at my finger tips and I also don't know how to put it up once I have finished using it especially when I am in a creative mood so everything just gets tossed here and there so I can just reach out and grab it. Anyway on to the tags...

This first tag is made using the Tim Holtz (TH) Tag die then embossed with the Snowflake Flurries texture fade. I used the Seasonal distress ink iced spruce and denim jeans. The red layer is the festive berries in on a strip of paper I embossed with a Sizzix embossing folder called Sheet music. The snowman from his Retro Holiday stamp set was stamped on Stampin'Up!(SU) Night of Navy card stock and white embossing powder was used. I cut out the snowman and pop dotted him on the top of the red layer. Snow flakes are made with the Winter Wonderland die from TH and Whisper White cardstock from SU! The bling is SU!



This tag is made from an ATC I had left over from a swap in December. I love the old vintage Santa from the TH stamp set called Holiday Collections and the green pine bough and calender are from Mini Holidays. I used gathered twigs ink to stamp the image then distress around the sides in the same ink. The ATC is made using the TH atc die, TH tag die was used for the tag and then it was embossed with a Sizzix folder. The tag is distressed with iced spruce and pine needles distress ink. I used some beads I had left from another project and crystal glaze to adhere them to the atc and a snowflake brad! Red and white ribbon and Real Red satin ribbon is from SU!



Lots of different dies and folders were used on this tag. Dies used were tag die, Vintage Cabinet Card, movers and shapers townscape, TH Christmas background and Sizzix music embossing folder. The Santa stamp is from the TH Holiday Wishes and was stamped in Basic Black from SU! and colored with Real Red on the hat! I used the Winter seasonal ink pads for coloring the various components.



I am off to the room of stash to play some more! I am having so much fun!

Tags!

I spent the Thanksgiving weekend doing some tags, card fronts, ATC's and having a good time playing by myself...Can't get in trouble that way. My husband came home from China on Saturday and it was just so comforting having him home again I think my Mojo went wild with excitement.

The first tag I made used the Winter Wonder and Snow Flurries edge die from Tim Holtz. The hat is cut out of the die and trimmed to fit. The snowman was coated with first white crackle paint then the rock candy crackle paint and allowed to dry. I used the new seasonal Distress Ink pads from Ranger ink to make most of the tags this weekend. This color is evergreen bough a beautiful blue green ink! The ticket is from TH ticket stamps and the red on the ticket is festive berries and I covered the 25 with Christmas Red Stickles. The fibers are from Lion Brand.


A second tag I made was cased from Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas 2010...day 12. I used the Carved ornaments, Movers and shapers, Joy, and Tattered Pinecone dies to make this tag. The ornament was colored with festive berries and then covered with rock candy crackle paint. The tag is from the season stash stack of papers and I used Graphic 45 paper to make the pinecones and greenery.

The third and last tag for today is made using the Tim Holtz lamp post and holly die, Christmas Backgrounds and Borders texture fade, Winter seasonal inks, golden honey distress stickles, and the ticket stamp. I really like the way that the distress stickles seem to make the light glow!!




That's it for today! More tomorrow....

WOYWW #129

It has been an interesting week with Chuck gone to China and trying to get everything done that I need to get done by Thursday...finally gave in and realized that I had to be completely nuts to set such unrealistic goals for myself.



My desk is a mess...part of the goal setting for the week. I keep lists but it seems I keep getting side tracked and things keep piling up on the desk. On the right you can see a canvas I have created for a class at WLS next month. Here is a closer look at it!




This is made with Graphic 45 papers and a 12x12in canvas. I glued a piece of holly paper to the canvas then cut out the Santa and other paper bits from Graphic 45 paper. The Holly under the bow is using the Tim Holtz die and Stampin Up! card stock. I love glitter so I used Stickles to brighten it all up!







The tag towards the back in the middle is for another class in December and I am thinking about using it in a swap I signed up for.





I had started a second tag for that swap but I love the blue green color of evergreen bough in the Seasonal Distress inks from Ranger. The second tag has a red ornament but it just doesn't spark my follow through today. I love this Tim Holtz snowman die called Winter Wonder Bigz die from Sizzix paired with the Snow Flurries edge die! I used glitter on this piece too cause it seemed not as snowy without it! I am entering it in the Simon Says Stamp and Show...some tickets challenge this week!





I completed a candy tin also this week for gift giving and another class.
I used Little Yellow Bicycle papers and the Tim Holtz/Sizzix die called Tattered Pine Cone to make the flower and the pine cones! It took a little work to get the hang of making pine cones and after watching the video by the man himself I realized I could make the roses and the pine cones for this project.


A little different view of the flower and pine cones on the band that holds the box together!



Okay that's it for my book writing today. I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Drop by Julias Stamping Ground and check out WOYWW and do like I am doing grabbing a cup and snooping through the other blogs. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

WOYWW #128

UPDATE! I have so much ribbon I am almost embarassed by the comments left but I collect them when I can get them cheap and this way keeps them safe! I bought small curtian rods from IKEA that slide right through the center of the rolls and viola! instant organization!

Happy Wednesday! Today is the day that all bloggers at WOYWW look forward to with such anticipation and enthusiasm...what's that you say? It is a group of artist/crafters that get together and share there desks and projects. To find out more go see Julia at Stamping Ground! My desk is covered with stuff that I am digging out to use on a project I am planning on making tomorrow. I am using some Little Yellow Bicycle papers and a tin box with a window to make a candy box to give to a teacher, friend, or even the postman.

I spent the past couple days organizing my craftroom a little more to make things more accessible and handier to use. Having been gone on vacation for so long I guess my mind forgot where I hid stuff and I couldn't find half of what I wanted! I went to look for an embossing folder and couldn't find the one I was looking for and spent the next 5 hours finding all my dies, embossing folders, and letterpress plates.



I decided to put them in a plastic box with dividers for types and I even wrote the name of each folder on the folder...not too OCD! The dies I organized into place bins under the low table that sits behind my desk chair. Don't look at all the crud accumulated on top of the table...thats what happens when I start moving stuff around!!




I will leave you with a picture of an ATC that I made for a swap this week. The challenge was to use red and green...I did, barn door red and pine needles. The ATC seemed to be way to dark to me so I stickled the moon in and put some frost on the trees to lighten it up a bit! Hope everyone has a great week!

The Craft Barn

I ran across this blog candy advert while searching the web for a product that I 'need' to purchase to make my Christmas cards. Thought I would share it and get into the drawing for all the goodies that The Craft Barn is giving away. All sorts of fun "products such as Tim Holtz, Sizzix, Cuttlebug, Impression Obsession, Cosmic Shimmer, Dreamweaver DVD, some wooden goodies to alter, gilding flakes, tissue tape, embossing folders, dies, inks, paints, embellishments etc. etc. etc....." Now that makes me totally happy! Lots of awesome goodness here!
Hurry over and join the fun at The Craft Barn Blog!

WOYWW #127

Wednesday again? I know I say this a lot but it seems like yesterday was Wednesday and now here it is again!! I look forward to Wednesdays and What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday where artist and crafters from around the world join together to snoop around one anothers desks and meet and greet friends from their travels about. If you would like to know more about WOYWW check out Julia Dunnit's blog Stamping Ground and come join us in the fun!

This week I would like to share some tags I made for a class that I taught tonight at a local scrap book store here in Norman. I usually teach one tag class a month cause I love to teach, love to create these tags, and love to share that love with others who are like minded. The theme of the tags was Thanksgiving and I created 3 tags for the class using techniques from the Compendium of Curiosities by Tim Holtz.

This tag I call Give Thanks. I love the new seasonal distress inks and used them on these three tags because of their warm fall tones.
Materials:
Tim Holtz (TH): Tag die
Branch Tree die
Thankful Background and borders texture fades
TH Distress Inks:
Seasonal Inks: Seedless Preserves, Gathered Twigs, and Ripe Persimmon. Walnut Stain and
Vintage Photo
TH Distress Stains: Bundled Sage and Dried Marigold
TH Distress Stickles
Rock candy
Martha Stewart Leaf Punch
Stampin’Up! (SU):
Pumpkin Pie card stock
Soft Suede card stock
Very Vanilla
SU stamp set Give Thanks
SU Label punch
Various ribbon remnants



The second tag is called Happy Thanksgiving!
Materials:
Tim Holtz (TH):
Tag Die
ATC Die
Thankful Background and borders texture fades
TH Distress Inks:
Seasonal Inks: Seedless Preserves, Gathered Twigs,
and Ripe Persimmon.
Walnut Stain
Vintage Photo
TH Card stock:Seasonal Stash Paper stack
TH Ideology: Token and Tiny Pin
Stampin’Up! (SU): Pumpkin Pie striped ribbon
SU stamp set Day of Gratitude
Mulberry Paper Roses
Mulberry Paper leaves
Dew Drops



This tag is called Gratitude and it was definitely the hardest of the three! I loved using the new Distress Embossing Powder while making it.
Materials:
Tim Holtz (TH): Tag Die
TH stamp set Falling leaves
TH Distress Stain Old linen
TH Distress Inks:
Seasonal Inks: Seedless Preserves, Gathered Twigs, and Ripe Persimmon. Walnut Stain and
Vintage Photo
TH Card stock: Seasonal Stash Paper stack
TH Distress Embossing Powder: Spice Marmalade, Walnut Stain, and Peeled Paint
TH Ideology:Tiny Pin and Charm tag
Versamark Ink Pad
Stampin’Up! (SU): Old olive striped ribbon and Old Olive Cardstock
SU stamp set Day of Gratitude
SU Label Punch
Paper Flowers, button, and dragonfly
EK Success leaf punch



Several people asked me to post pictures of my trip to Spain but I haven't had time to do it yet on the blog. I do have pictures posted on my Facebook site if you would like to visit there it is www.facebook.com/vdoswell. There are a lot of pics to view.
Well thats it for me I am off to visit the kitchen for a cup of tea before I start visiting the blogs of the other WOYWWer's. Come join us...it's a lot of fun.

Twilight Tag

I don't know about you but I am a big Twilight fan and have read or listened to all four of the books (I don't consider Midnight Sun or Bree Tanners part of the series) multiple times. It angers me that someone let Midnight Sun out before it was published but Stephanie Meyers says that she is convinced that Edward deserves to have his story told and has left us with a promise to finish it. Bree Tanner is interesting but not an integral part of the series to me. The Twilight series is such a story of love conquering all that it gives me a sense of hope and renewal every time I read it or watch one of the movies. I have tickets for the second night of the Breaking Dawn part 1 showing this month and I can hardly wait for it to come cause it is Edward and Bella's wedding! Hooray!!

Here is the finished tag I promised that I would show you from the last WOYWW post.
I bought a set of stamps from ArtfulInkables called Fictionally Inspired several years ago that had a lot of words that relate to the Twilight books...all the characters names, statements about vampires, wolves etc. The second ArtfulInkables set is called Into the Moonlight. I haven't been able to find out what happened to the ArtfulInkables people or store but nothing has been on their blog or in the store since November of 2010 so it is like it just doesn't exist anymore.

Any way it is a simple tag with just names, words, etc pertinent to the books. Hope you like it.

Materials used:
Artful Inkables stamps: Fictionally Inspired
Tim Holtz Tag Die
Distress inks black soot, fired brick
Stampin'Up! (SU) cardstock, whisper white, basic black, old olive, always artichoke
SU Dazzling Details
SU cherry cobbler seam binding
DCWV Immortal Love Stack
Mulberry Roses
EK Success leaf punch

This is the 200th post on this blog. I am going to have to think of something to do to celebrate. Keep tuned...maybe some blog candy would be a good deal!

WOYWW??

I has been more then a few weeks since I last was able to participate in WOYWW and it has been missed I can tell you. Not that I didn't have great fun on my vacation in Spain but there is nothing like traveling around the world from the comfort of my computer chair! If you would like see what I am talking about you need to visit with the Queen of Snoop, Julia Dunnitt, at Stamping Ground and join in the fun.

I haven't been able to do much crafting/art and wasn't able to do any while I was gone so I have been in the craft room at my workdesk several hours a day since we got home last week. Today I am working on finishing up some tags that are for a swap. The fourth movie of the Twilight series is due to come out on Nov. 18 and this tag is to do with Twilight. I will post more on it later!

I am looking forward to visiting the blogs this week and hope to catch up on who is doing what and visit with friends far away. Hope everyone has a creative week!