12 Tags of 2016 - March

If you previously took a look here and saw the short post, sorry about that. I was in rush to get some things moving before I hit the road for work. Now I can expand a little bit. Here is my tag for this month:

Classic me, I didn't have a lot of the supplies I would need to follow Tim's example closely, but I made it work. The theme and wording is a little odd because I actually needed this tag to fit with a theme for a gift I gave someone so I had to be even more creative than usual.

Some highlights to this technique are cutting out a stamp with an exacto knife since I didn't have a small die that would work here. Behind that is a tag with thinlets from the butterfly/French stuff collection that revealed a nice pattern. Instead of the distress crayons, I just used a few layers of distress paint and water to get a similar effect. Here is Tim's tag for the full effect:

12 Tags of 2016 - February

Something odd happened with this tag. I waited until a little later in the month because I had other things to work on (like work... life... stuff like that) and so I found myself making a Valentine themed tag well after the actual holiday. It felt weird. Like I wouldn't make a Christmas card in January either. Just strange. But it still came out great haha. Here is my tag:

Some of the highlights here are the background, which turned out really well. I also really liked the contrast of the hearts on the blue. It turned out better than I had thought it would. When I added the lace to the top I mistakenly left it a little too wet and it made the top bleed--which turned out to look really cool! Yay for happy mistakes! I also finally bought some flashcard things and added my own script to make it a little more V-Day. I discovered my alphabet chips set is very light in the "L" department but finally found one. For the button, it was already zig-zagged and I added more texture paste and red and rust colored embossing powder to make a puffy heart. All over I opted to use a red to do the edge distressing instead of my usual vintage photo, which made for a nice contrast.

Here is Tim's tag, which this is based off of (including the same photostrip pic, even though I was sure I picked a different one...grrr...):

Get excited for the March tag next week, lovers!

-Steve

12 Tags of 2016 - January!

So this year Tim Holtz is doing a "remix" theme on his tag challenges where he takes two older techniques and remixes them together to create something a little new. I don't know if any of my readers are tag makers (or, like me, just do this challenge) but I have a ton of tags and nothing to use them for. Or so I thought...

Here is my tag:

Not only did I remix the techniques, but I took my thriftiness to a new level. Here are some fun facts on this tag:

• I didn't have any black paper, so this is a blue chalkboard. Get over it.
• People always jokingly ask if I'm going to reuse my holiday paper...I did. In fact, the person that gave me that present then received this tag made from the paper out of spite so I hope he noticed :)
• I needed a birthday card and also a way to make this wonderful tag disappear. So I turned it over, added some calligraphy paper and wrote a nice message on it. I then slipped it between the gift and some yarn. Ta Da! Birthday Card, One less tag, and no need for an envelope!

Here is the tag that inspired this:

Hope everyone had a great New Year and I'm excited to share a bunch of new things this year. I've taken up calligraphy recently so expect a ton of writing samples to randomly pop up.

-Steve

12 Tags of 2015 - December - AND MORE!

Okay first off -- HOORAY! I DID IT! I made a tag every month and even managed to win one of the months. YES!

Okay, with that out of the way. Here is my tag along with adorable snowglobe mason jar thing that Tim inspired.

12 Tags of 2015 - October

So this is a little awkward. I made this tag on the third or fourth day of the month and then waited forever to post it because I was traveling for work. Oops. Anyway, keeping it short this week. Here is my tag:

Edit: I WON! Figures that the post I sort of threw together would be a winner haha. I also seem to have a thing about October I guess ;)

To celebrate, I actually have two sets of the zombie dies so if you want one, comment below and in a week or so I will award it to a lucky commenter!

12 Tags of 2015 - September!

It's that time of the month! I just moved apartments and finally had time to clean off my desk and make some space to craft. So here is the quick snapshot of this month's tag:

It was based off of Tim's tag seen here:

More on the techniques after the jump!

BURNING MAN! Postcard Project

So this past week was the annual Burning Man event in Black Rock City, NV and tragically a lot of my friends went but I am in a transitional time in my life where I couldn't take the time or money to go this year. Next year. Next year is the year. (I say that now... we shall see..).

Anyway, I was super sad I couldn't go, but wanted to send a fun note along with another friend to meet my main camp folks. Ultimately she wasn't successful (Thanks anyway, Mikale! You tried!) but I will mail it to someone in the group and they will help share the wealth. Not picture is some stationary with our camp name (ElectroBrew) on it. You can see the stamp on the card though. Okay, let's take a look!

So this is the finished front, which will be explored further later. If you're on the main page, follow the jump to see more!

12 Tags of 2015 - August!

It's that time again! Here is Tim's tag for the month:

Some of the highlights of this month's tag is using the negative space from word die cuts, some fun ink tricks, collaging, and stamps! Here are some views of my tag:

12 Tags of 2015 - July!

Alright, here we go. I am going to include a whole bunch of projects on here because I was lazy and haven't uploaded in a while.

Here is Tim's tag for inspiration:

I always try to start using the inspiration as literally as possible and make a tag. So here is this month's tag:

I used my travel inspired blue print stamps to create this look and then liked it so much I didn't want to add any of the other flair aspects. This looked better nice and simple.

Then I used the same idea but different stamps to make a Get Well card:

I have to be honest, I am loving sewing paper together. it looks pretty awesome. So I made some more cards. Two were condolences cards and one was a thank you card.

So there you have it. One cool idea seen a bunch of different ways. If you have any questions about any of the tricks used for these cards, post in the comments below! One freebie though - I don't have the Distress Micro-Glaze and probably will never have it locally to pick up, but I managed to "waterproof" my stamping and coloring with petroleum jelly. A quick and cheap fix to not having all the same supplies!

-Steve

BONUS: 12 Tags of 2015: June... Turned Card!

I was a crafting maniac last night and in addition to making my tag, I also made a second tag with the intention of making my dad a birthday/Fathers Day card. The two holidays are close together so I figured making a combined card would be a fun challenge. As usual, I will start with my project and Tim's inspiration:

My Tag/Card:

And Tim's tag for June:

12 Tags of 2015: June!

What?! So early?!?! Yep, I'm going on vacation for a sizable chunk of June and I wanted to a) make sure to do my tag and b) use the techniques to make a card for my Dad for his birthday/Fathers Day (see later post). So as always, let's start with showing my new tag and Tim's tag that it is based on:

My Tag:

Tim's Tag: 

#12TagsOf2015 for May!

I got this one done early, which is really unusual for me. I normally wait until the last day to do it because I get trapped in the routines of life and never make time for it. Well I made time this time! Here is my created tag:

And here is Tim's tag:

The important elements of design that I took away for this month include using burlap as a primary surface, using stencils and texture paste, use of layering, coloring old photos and using remnant rubs to spice it up, distressing small flowers (made probably my best "old rose" ever), and then a few other  little techniques. Here is my tag in less fancy lighting:

Over the summer (YES! IT'S SUMMER NOW!) I hope to finish Creative Chemistry 101 and also try out some new ideas like designing on canvas. But for now, I have to get ready for some Memorial Day fun with friends. Until next time!

-Steve

Tim Holtz Tags of 2015 - April

I waited until the last minute but I did finish this, so I'm going to keep this short. Next time I will get this going sooner.

Here is Tim's tag:

And here is mine!

12 Tags of 2015 - MARCH!

Phwew, I really got down to the wire on this one. Here is Tim's awesome tag that this month's tag is based on:

The main pieces I took away from this tag was the blending of paint over tape for the background, inking with a mask, and using embossing powder on texture paste. So with that said, here is MY contribution this month:

I haven't been posting much because this month has been a crazy whirlwind of events at work. I hope to do some updates later this week on some of the cards I've made recently, including the cards that I sold at the NASPA Annual Conference Silent Auction that helped support the NASPA Foundation.

Until later,
Steve

Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2015 - February

It's that time! The Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2015 Tag for February!

He used some really cool techniques like the ephemera pieces, sewing felt to the tag, and lace and such. Of course, as usual, I only had some of things I needed, so I improvised (though I DID manage to go to the store and ask the lady for a foot of lace. Just a foot. It's all I wanted). I used some burlap, texture paste, and ink in Spun Sugar and Faded Lilac. Here is my final tag! (Click to enlarge)

Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2015 - January

This year I decided that my New Year's resolution would be to commit to doing these tags every month. I like easy and accomplishable goals. So this month, my tag came out pretty cool:

3 "Quick" Holiday Crafts

So over a few days I had to whip out some crafts as gifts or just for general decoration. Here are three things I made in various levels of easy and how you can do it to!

I found some paper that looked nice at the store. Ran it through a tag die-cut and TADA! I accidentally made a really nice tag with the tiny "love" on it. I added a nice red ribbon and now it's a tree ornament. Inked the edges because it's me.

This next one is sort of a silly level of easy... I took a pipe cleaner and made a circle.

 I added some glue (glossy accents here) and some glitter. I then tossed it around in a bag to remove excess.

 Then I added a little ribbon, a dot of hot glue that I painted and added a pin back. TADA! It's a really REALLY easy festive lapel.

This next one isn't quite AS easy, but the components are really simple and it LOOKS really hard, making it a pretty cool gift for someone needing some wall or office decor. Here is the front:

This was literally made from scraps and things I had laying around (the bottle cap was removed from the soda I was drinking while making this...). Take a burlap panel (any craft store has something like this) and then start laying things on it to see how the space works out. After I decided where everything was going, I cut and inked paper to fill the space nicely. The top right is a "found relatives" card from Tim Holtz (not actually someone I know... that would be creepy. Or is this creepier?). I think my favorite parts of this design are the bottle cap that I added alcohol ink to for an aged effect and the key that is glued down, but "taped on" with tissue tape that I have recently become obsessed with.

I also had some other scraps and stamp samples laying around, so I used them to make a nice baking for the project. It's very "Steve."

This project took about an hour and half after I figured out what I wanted to do and rearranged everything a million times. It doesn't help that my craft space is a wreck. Sigh... Maybe in the new year I will do a "craft space before and after" post. Get excited! Or scared...

-Steve

12 Tags of 2014 - December!

So my resolution for 2015 is to do all of the tag challenges over at Tim Holt's Blog. But before I get excited about what is to come, I wanted to share my creation this month!

As usual, I was lacking some of the items (but some are really cheap it seems so I will invest soon), but I took the best of it and made it work. First, here is Tim's creation. Definitely go check out the tutorial to see how he made this awesome tag (I'm a fan of the green version he made too):

12 Tags of 2014 - November! (A "micro" challenge)

It's that time again!

Time for the monthly Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2014 challenge. As you may have noticed on the right hand side, I entered for October as well... AND WON! I was listed first on this month's challenge which helped bring a bit of traffic here. Well I'm at it again but this time I had to be even more resourceful than the last time. 

Ocular/Optometrist/October... you know, "O" things.

So this week I tried something new and COMBINED challenges I found on the net (whoooaaa adventurous). So what were the challenges you ask?