First attempt at Quilting?

Okay, so there was a contest and a sale at Joann's so I figured it was a sign that I needed to try something new. I have a friend with a sewing machine and I had some free time so all the pieces fell together and I got to try my hand at making a "quilt block." After some searching online for what the heck that meant and how to make a quilt and thinking about what I wanted to do, I got to work. I really wanted to use my die cut machine to do some shapes. So I made some coffee cups :)

Things I learned:
1. The fancy tools for quilting are probably really helpful.
2. Cut everything too big and measure a lot.
3. If you needed a 12x12 square and it comes out too short, just add a border.
4. Embroidering (maybe? Is that what I did? eh...) is actually sort of fun.
5. Buy good thread. My thread broke and required re-threading the needle like 50 times. Grr.
6. There are some cool tricks to make multiple squares at once. I made four extra triangle square things in case I don't win anything from this contest and then i can just turn this into a small pillow.

Here is the quilt block!

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 - November! - Turned Card!

Okay, I know last month was a really short post and I just quickly threw up my tag and won a shout out... but... I'm doing it again. Sorry. But this time I'm taking it a step further and I didn't even make a tag (??!!!). I made this Thank You card at the beginning of the month and then took a picture and mailed it out and then procrastinated on blogging again. I did preview the pic early though on my Instagram @CentaurOfAttn. But this month has been crazy fun because I have been putting together a really cool Christmas/Holiday gift that I will blog about later. I'm super excited about it and I'm sure the recipient will love it too.

Here is my card:

I really loved the way the ribbon felt, even though most people won't really notice the embossing. I also used a textured stamp that I was hoping would look like fabric but actually ended up looking like blueprint guidelines which...well... worked. Here is Tim's example tag:

Oh yeah, annnddd the winner of last month's giveaway is... Pigglet4822! Shoot me an email and I will work out the shipping so you can maybe make a Christmas Zombie? Or just save it for next year? Or re-gift it? Anyway, congrats! And thanks to everyone for the supporting words.

Stay tuned!

-Steve

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 - Card Edition

I have really started liking this process of making the tag and then using the technique to make cards that I can use later. As usual, here are the finished projects and Tim's tag. Details after the jump.

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!

Blog gets a makeover

Hey there,

If you're one of my two subscribers (haha) thanks for hanging out! I wanted to take a moment and talk about some of the changes I made to the blog. I got rid of Artist Trading Cards and Digital Designs. People weren't really coming here for that. I kept some of the designs though and just moved it to my "Other Stuff" section.

I have been making a lot of tags, so they get their own heading now. I also created a section for just general blogging. I never really BLOG in the traditional sense but I could also use a space to just vent sometimes so I created a secret journal section where I will actually blog from time to time in addition to just sharing all of my craft stuff.

That's about it. Thanks for reading and checking out my space.

-Steve

Door Decorations! Past Lives of Staff Members

So I wasn't going to make door decorations for my staff this year, but then I changed my mind and couldn't help myself. Here is the final set for my staff:

Here are some close ups of the different tags (I made some for our sister staff as well):

I don't usually make gender specific crafts, but I had a limited number of bottle caps and didn't realize until after I made the male tags. Not to worry... the tag here is how the female tags turned out. They have a distressed photo from a photo strip that was stamped and embellished, some washi tape on a stamped background, a small label made from a stamp, a distressed ticket, and some lace with a letter for the staff member.

The male version was pretty similar, except instead of lace I used a button and some tissue paper and instead of the ticket, I used a bottle cap and a piece of film.

I was really excited to give these too my staff :)

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

Retro Sketches : A Challenge #154

It's been a while since I tried my hand at this, but now I'm at it again. I needed to make a "Get Well" card anyway, so I used this week's Retro Sketches challenge as inspiration. Here is the sketch:

And here is the card I made:

I like this card because I got to use some scraps I had laying around (the daisy print, the blue, and the burlap) and I also just happened to have one button and some scraps of twine. Threw it all together and here it is!

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)

"Steven, will you be my Bridesman?" Acceptance Card

As alluded to in another post, my best friend Dani is getting married this summer! She sent me a pretty awesome box of fun stuff to ask me to be in her bridal party and I love having a good reason to send a card. The box had a fun "golden age of Hollywood" theme to it so I pulled together some film-inspired ideas and then got to work. I had intended to use a die-cut and make a small pocket for the tickets.

I sort of anticipated the theme so I had already planned what I wanted to do. But then the box arrived and it had some really cool blue paper and it was wrapped in a film strip so I ditched the die-cut idea and used that instead. There was also a fun reference to us finishing each other's sandwiches (a line from Frozen) so I took that idea and ran with it. So I did some fun stamping to make some vintage-looking tickets and then wrote a little something on the inside. Here is the result!

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:

Someone Got Engaged! A pop up card of sorts

My best friend, Dani, got engaged over the winter season and so I wanted to make a special card for her to celebrate! I got the idea from The Craft Spa through the wonders of Pinterest. You can check out that page for more of a tutorial, but for now, here is the card, the card folded up, and the card packaged with ribbon (which was then mailed):

Now I just have to be patient until the big day in June! See you soon Best Friend!

-Steve