From Leftovers to Tag

I am sharing a tag made with an Inspired Stamps His Little Ones and Hymn Line Wings stamp today but you might be surprised to learn that every piece came from my "leftover jar". 

The moment you start crafting, you will find you have bits and pieces left over. Then you feel guilt about wasting $ if you throw them away. To solve the dilemma, I keep a jar on my desk that I throw the bits in to.  I let it fill up and when it won't hold another thing, I dump it out and start making tags, cards, etc.

The stamped image was one I deemed "unworthy" for a card because I didn't like how her face turned out after adding too many freckles. But she's perfect for a gift tag that will be barely glanced at as the recipient rips it off with the wrapping paper! The Hymn wings were just extras from a day of card making. The tag, trim and tinsel were also in the leftover jar. I wanted to stamp a word on the bottom of the tag but was limiting myself to a strictly "leftover" project.  The recipient's name could be written at  the bottom as well.

Please look at the rest of the Design Team's creations at the Inspired Stamps Blog!

  Have a Merry Christmas!

Inspired Stamps Tag

I had not made a tag in a while so this assignment from Inspired Stamps was fun!  I started with a manila tag, used a stencil and a Heidi Swapp spray for the background.  The adorable 

Scripture Holder Girl w/Curls is holding one of my favorite scriptures Isaiah 40:8 from the versatile Flowers Value Pack. The "ribbon" is actually a piece of washi tape folded over a twist tie so it can be curled.

Inspired Stamps Christmas in July Blog Hop & Coupon

Welcome to the Christmas in July Blog Hop with Inspired Stamps (check out the awesome coupon below)! If you arrived here from Jenn's wonderful post then you should be at the last blog of the day!

My Christmas tag is not in a traditional tag shape but the cartridge labeled it a tag so I'm going with it!  I made a gift tag for a special someone and wrapped it with ribbon around a pillow box.  The beautiful Christmas scene is from the lovely Inspired Stamps Vintage Christmas Stamp Set.  This set is a must have for Christmas cards! The "to and from" as well as the tiny star are from the equally versatile Blessed Little Christmas Stamp Set.

I love how my rosemary bush mimics a Christmas Tree!  All of these Christmas tags now have me in the mood to get busy on Christmas projects-you know it's barely over 5 months to the big day!  Thanks for joining us on our Christmas Tag blog hop!  Be sure to visit the  Inspired Stamps Blog and leave a comment! But first, I have a surprise-become a follower of my blog (if you're not) and then leave me a comment below and tell me when you start your Christmas projects.  I'll have a drawing and send an Inspired Stamp to a lucky someone!  Be sure to leave me your e-mail as well for contacting the winner.

 

other supplies used: Close To My Heart Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge for all cuts, glitz, ink and sparkles. paper and ribbon from my stash

If you started here and need the links to the other blogs on this hop, here's their links and the order of the hop-just click on a name.  Blessings!

Kary

Gabrielle
Jamie
Chere
Jenn
Belinda
Inspired Stamps Blog

Inspired Stamps Christmas Tag Blog Hop

 

Welcome to the inspired stamps Blog Hop!  This week the inspired stamps design team was asked to make a tag.  I went ahead and made 2 because they are just so stinkin' fun to do.  This month has been crazy busy so I made SIMPLE tags.  Thank goodness, inspired stamps make that so easy to do because they are so adorable, they make any project shine!

The top tag started with a manila tag I covered in yummy papers.  The "joy" is wooden sparkle letters I found at Michael's all ready to go.  Of course, the star of the tag is the gorgeous His Little Ones "Christmas Girl".  She's all dressed up and ready to sing in the Christmas pageant!  I colored her with Copics and gave her sparkly shoes and collar with Glitz gel.  I also sparkled up her holly berries with red stickles.

I finished the tag off with a length of rosette ribbon and lots of Glitz glitter gel.

The 2nd tag uses the same girl PLUS her brother "Christmas Boy". The sentiment is fromBlessed Little Christmas.  

 

For some more Tag goodness be sure to head over to Chere's blog right away -she has a gorgeous project ready for your pleasure!

Glitter Christmas Tag

The last challenge this month at www.heart2heartchallenges.blogspot.com is to create and item that uses sentiment stamps and no other type of stamps.  I decided that a fun tag was in order.  I went through my stamps and found several appropriate words to use to fill this little tree.  The tag was cut out using the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge.  I masked the white dimensional tag underneath and stamped the words.  I glittered the green tag using our Prisma Glitter then mounted it on the white tag. 

I outlined the tree using Liquid Glass and twine.  The star was one I had in my stash and I'm pretty sure it was cut with the Cricut.  I finished the tag off with a cheerful red and white twine bow.  Ink colors are Vineyard Berry and Ponderosa Pine from CTMH.  All stamps are CTMH and come from several sets.

H2H stitching

This week's challenge at www.heart2heartchallenges.blogspot.com is to make something using stitching-faux or real.  I am in the middle of creating prototypes for my Christmas workshop and so I made one of the tags to fit the challenge. 

I used Close To My Heart's wonderful cardstock in Ponderosa Pine to cut the tag.  I trimmed it with a bit of paper from the fabulous, soon to be released  CTMH Mistletoe pack, the berries were enhanced with a bit of red stickles.  For the curly stitch and the straight stitches, I used CTMH stamps from the "Togetherness" set and Martha Stewart gold pigment ink, embossed with gold embossing powder.  The beautiful ornament comes from the soon to be released CTMH "All The Best" stamp set.  I again used the same gold ink and powder on CTMH Holiday Red cardstock. I crowned it with a red rhinestone from  my stash.  The sentiment is from the same set and I stamped it with Versamark and used red embossing powder-"All The Best" actually shows up better in person.

The final touch was to press the piece of colonial white ribbon in gold ink and tie a knot!  All the Christmas CTMH papers and stamps will be available to customers starting Sept. 1st and can be purchased on my website: http://belindak.myctmh.com

High School-Amazing

No artwork today.  Just a post about my mom feelings!  Today my youngest son begins high school!  That means we've seen one all the way through those years ( he is now married and doing great ) and 1 halfway through and  we're now beginning the journey with another.  I know everyone says this, but I just don't know where the years have gone!  I vividly remember skipping (ok, maybe only inside of me!) down the hall of his elementary so very happy that my last little bird was on his way out the nest.  I laughed at those first timers who were crying over leaving their little darlings with the teacher!  In my opinion, once they got a taste of a few hours of freedom, they would be skipping along with me.

Fast forward 9 years and I can no longer skip physically due to spinal cord damage and multiple sclerosis that was diagnosed a couple of months after dropping off that kindergartner.  In fact, that year was the only year of his life that I could walk with him to the first day of school.  He only has very vague memories of a mom who could walk.  I wish I could go back in time and tell that carefree me to not rush things.  To live in the moment.  To cherish every little second she had with those little boys.  I feel like I lost so much of their growing up years in the hospitalizations, therapy and medical chaos that ensued.

God has been so good through the years and I know He filled in the gaps in their lives that a sick mom couldn't.  He also has allowed me to have many years of relative stability and the ability to ( almost ) fully participate in all they do, despite my disability.

Now, my last two babes are well on their way to being grown men who will no longer need their mommy.  I am not skipping inside today but I am filled with thankfulness that  my God has allowed me to see them to this point and with His grace I will be there for the remaining milestones in their lives.  There is no higher calling and no greater honor than to be mom to my precious sons. 

Tag Challenge-mini album

You guessed it-another challenge entry for www.heart2heartchallenges.blogspot.com.  This week's challenge was to make a project using a tag.  I used 3 tags in my mini album inspired by the talented Tresa Black at www.fabulouslyartsy.com.  I had wanted to make one of these for a while and when I heard my bro. and SIL were headed on a 3 month RV trip through Canada, I decided it was the perfect time to make one and use the Journey collection of papers and stamps from Close To My Heart.  Throughout the album I used the Journey papers LV1 and LV2 as well as the My Stickease sheets.  I also used the CTMH stamp sets Live Inspired and Happy Journey.  I used lots of Chocolate Ink to age/distress the elements.  I love how it turned out and have 3 months to look at it until they return from their journey.  I hope I don't decide to keep it instead!

Technique Tag

The challenge this week at www.heart2heartchallenges.blogspot.com is to make anything using any technique.  I was in the process of making tags for a swap that I am in and thought it fit the bill perfectly.  The cage and bird were cut out using a new Tim Holtz Sizzix die.  There are several techniques involved in this project.  How many can you spy with your little eye?

1.  I used paper from the CTMH Felicity Collection and attached it to a cardstock tag.  I then used a sponge and CTMH Brown Bag ink to age the edges-a technique I use almost all the time. I also used the same ink and sponge to color the title tag at the top.
2.  I used a dark brown textured cardstock to cut the cage and then sprayed it with a homemade spritz.  In a mini mister bottle, I mixed a dab of CTMH Create-a-Shade Pearl Paint mixed with a few drops of Stormy Sky Distress Ink (you can also use CTMH reinkers) and filled to the top with water.  I shook it WELL and sprayed away.  This gives a shimmery, aged  metal look to the cage.
3.  On the bird cut out, I used a sponge to dab on CTMH Brown Bag ink on the legs and branch.  I dabbed on two layers of  ink on the bird and wing using CTMH Crystal Blue and Indian Corn Blue.  A black marker provided his eye.  The paper I used for the bird was from the CTMH Veranda Collection. 
4.  This one's a little hard to see in the pic but to make the bird a little stronger and give it a feathered look, I put a little CTMH Liquid Glass  on it and spread in one direction with my finger.  Love this product for so many reasons!

Remaining supplies were pearls and a brass brad.  Hope you enjoyed my tag as much as I enjoyed making it!

Tag Display

I was in a swap earlier this summer and we made tags with different themes.  They were such great miniature works of art that I just couldn't give them away or hide them in a book so I made frames using the $1 wood ones from Michaels.  I dabbed black paint on them and then used copper and currant alcohol inks to color in the rest.  I wanted the tags to stand out, not the frames.  I then mounted the tags on black cardstock and hung them on my storage doors in my scrap room.  I will change out the tags throughout the year so that I can enjoy all that I received.