Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Tim's Tags of 2015-September

Hello again

It's almost the end of the month already, and here I am, sliding in under the deadline for Tim's September tag. I had to make a few substitutions from his supplies list, but I had so much fun improvising (again!).



Tim's got a great tutorial on how to make this textural tag, so be sure to pay him a visit! Isn't this gorgeous?

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Changes from Tim's tutorial:  Perspective stamp,  Ranger Transparent Matte Texture Paste and Ranger Clear embossing powder, Mermaid, Sail Boat Blue, Snowcap and Silver Mixative alcohol inks, and Crinkle ribbon dyed with Evergreen Bough, Salty Ocean and Hickory Smoke Distress markers. I also used alcohol inks on the  Frosted butterfly body and on part of the wing that overhangs and added Salty Ocean Distress paint to my word band. Update:  oops!  Looks like I forgot the marker spritzer! I think I'll leave it just as it is!

Here are a few close up shots to zoom in on that funky texture and color--love this technique, and will move gloss Transparent texture paste to the top of my wish list. Frosted is a blast to work with, and a must have for any crafter.

  

 And a few last peeks...this little guy was hard to photograph!






I wish to enter this into the following challenges:
Eclectic Ellapu Purple Team Use Your Stash Which is 6 Months or Older--Alcohol ink paper, alcohol inks, brads and Crinkle ribbon all over 6 months old.
Thank you so much for visiting today and for all your lovely comments! Hugs and Blessings!
Sara Emily

So excited!


Saturday, September 26, 2015

Anything But Cute Sneak Peek

Hello everybody!

Here's a little sneak peek of a tutorial posted on Anything But Cute. I'll be Playing With Perfect Pearls Mica Powders, and I've got a few ideas for you to try on your upcoming holiday projects.


Want to know how to get this look for your Halloween or fall projects?  I'll show you how, and I have a few more tricks up my sleeve, too. So head on over and see how you can put those Perfect Pearls powders to use!
Hugs!
Sara Emily

Friday, September 25, 2015

Home, Sweet Haunted Home

Hello everybody!

It's been awhile since I've been able to join the fun at A Vintage Journey, and this month their theme is Home, Sweet Home.  When I think of home at this time of the year, my mind naturally wanders into haunted house mode.  The first year we lived in our current home about 20 years ago, a trick or treater asked me if our house was haunted.  Ever since that year, I've done my best to really decorate our home in the spirit of Halloween just for that one day. No kid has ever had to ask if our house is haunted since. Halloween just makes me HAPPY!

I'm also happy Inspiration Emporium has a challenge this month!  So I wanted to share with them how HAPPY I am that Halloween season has officially started for me!

Please be warned; there are a lot of photos--I have a lot of real estate to cover here. The photos are not the best quality; I had to take them indoors since it has been raining cats and dogs for days now. My camera tends to try and focus on the shimmer, leaving me with blurry photos.


So here's my take on Home.  I've taken Tim's October tag from 2012 as inspiration, using the technique he used on his tag and modified for my homes.  I started with these wood houses I picked up at a yardsale. I prepped them in the usual fashion with gesso and got started. These are meant to be viewed from the front only, so not much is happening in the back and side yards.


As Tim did, I used  Ideaology Postale Tissue Wrap as my base and painted it with various Distress paints and inks according to his tutorial..  I love how you can move this paint around and blend it so easily with a damp baby wipe. I added some stamping from Tim's Trick or Treat set and stenciling using Tim's Dot Fade and Splotches Layering stencils and Watering Can and Cobalt Archival inks. To get some Halloween shimmer, I spritzed with Perfect Pearls spray.




The bats and "Haunted" (Recollections) were heat embossed using Wow Black Glint embossing powder.



I mixed Rock Candy Distress Glitter with Black Soot alcohol ink for the shingles and the Tim Holtz black cat die cut. The Ironwork Gate die cut was given a paint job on this house. The other I left as is once cut from black cardstock for the contrast.





I added a few Seasonal Chit Chat  and Occasions Small Talk stickers, and a jac-o-lantern cut from Tim's new Regions Beyond paper stash, and covered them with Multi Matte Medium.  When dry, I went back and added some shadows with Black Soot Distress Marker.



The spider is from Tim's Wicked Alpha Parts, and I altered the ball chain from my stash with alcohol ink and Distress embossing powder for him to hang from. I also added a shadow for these.

Now for the side and back views.







As for those numbers...


That's it for my Home, Sweet Haunted Home! These will be my first indoor Halloween decorations of the season! So much fun to make, but easy-peasy!


I would like to enter my houses into the following inspiring challenges:

The Mirror Cracked Tic Tac Toe  Gothic/Steampunk , Layers, Free Choice
The Artistic Stamper "Things With Wings" My bats, just in case you're scratching your head--no birds, no butterflies, no fairys!
Inspiration Emporium/Journal "Happy" Happy Halloween!

Thank you so much for stopping by and for all your sweet words! Hugs and Blessings,
Sara Emily

Update: My haunted houses were awarded Top 5!!!!!



Update: Yippee!!! Top 5 again!



Oh, yeah!!!! Pinworthy Mention!!!

Woo Hoo!  September 2015 Home, Sweet, Haunted Home

Yeah! Top 5!

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Spooky--Ghoulish

Hello crafty friends!

I would like to say hello and welcome to my newest followers, and a huge thank you to all that have left wonderful comments on my blog!  Your sweet comments really make my day!

I have a creepy place in my backyard where the faucet for the outdoor garden hoses is located. This area has really been neglected over the summer, and it's getting a little spooky. It seems that it's  gotten way too much moisture there, and creepy fungus  and moss grows, and the garden spiders make their home there. I was going to show you a close up of one of the big ones, but you might really have night mares tonight!  So I was inspired to make this Halloween tag for you today. This was very hard to photograph, probably because all the shimmer, so in some photos, it's difficult to see the "spider web". Click on any photo for some great detail.




I cut a tag using Tim Holtz' Tag and Bookplates die out of manila card.  The background is made using Hickory Smoke Distress spray through Tim's Shatter Layering stencil (I knew this would be the perfect Halloween shade!), sprinkled with Perfect Pearls Powders, spritzed with water, then blended with Vintage Photo and Cracked Pistachio Distress inks.


I used Hickory Smoke Distress ink through Tim Holtz' Halloween Layering stencil and highlighted this with a Galaxy Marker.


The metal faucet handle is Tim Holtz Ideaology treated with Vintage Photo Crackle paint and Perfect Pearls Powders.



The drops are made using a Prima stencil, texture paste, UTEE, and Perfect Pearl powder.  The spiders and toadstool are from my stash, and I painted them with alcohol inks, Perfect Pearls Powder and Distress paints.Credits to my husband for cutting my toadstool in half so perfectly!




Not a stamp in sight and lots of ghoulish Halloween/fall colors!  I'm in my happy place! Here's another look at the tag.




I would like to enter this into the following inspirational challenges:

Try It On Tuesdays "Add Some Metal" I used a metal faucet handle and metallic colors throughout!
SanDee and Amelie's Steampunk Challenge "Tag It!"  So excited to be able to join in again!
Eclectic Ellapu Purple team Use Your Stash Which is 6 Months or Older Everything but Hickory Smoke and Cracked Pistachio Distress inks and spray used on tag is way over 6 months old! The Pearls are some of the first craft products I purchased, and the toadstool is from the 70's!
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Love This Technique Stencils with spray, dusted with Perfect Pearls,and Grunge! Yippee; what could be better?
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Die Crazy Tim's Tag and Bookplates--a favorite!

Thank you for stopping by today, and for all your wonderful comments!   I read and appreciate each and every one of them!  If you would like to see some step by step instructions on how I got this texture and some new ways to incorporate Perfect Pearls Powders into your projects, be sure to stop back next week! Hugs and Blessings!
Sara Emily



Friday, September 11, 2015

Craft Stamper Guest Designer "Take a Stamp"

Hello friends!

Today I have the honor of being Guest Designer at Craft Stamper; I am so thrilled! A big thank you to the Design Team for having me and for choosing my card as the July winner. I have a  sympathy card I made for a dear friend to share with you.


For my back panel I used a Recollections sheet music image inked in Jet Black Archival ink.  I distressed the edges with Frayed Burlap Distress ink. For the next layer, the light colored tag,  and the framed panel I used Stampendous Agapanthus Thanks images. For the large panel, I inked up the stamp with Gelatos, spritzed the stamp, and stamped  the image repeatedly on a lightly misted card stock.  I added some Tim Holtz tissue tape, and gave it a wash of gesso. I added leaves using a TCW stencil and hand colored texture paste and distressed the edges. The framed piece uses additional images from the set, and I did this in the same manner. The images on the tag are stamped on misted watercolor paper, again using Gelatos, and misting the stamp before making the impression.


The textured flourish layer was created using a Recollections stencil and Crackle texture paste and Distress inks and is layered on some photocopied and distressed sheet music.  The Ornate Frame (my favorite die right now--because I can use this on any type of card or project, and it always looks different and it always makes great cuts)  (Tim Holtz) was also treated with Crackle texture paste and Distress inks.



I cut two tags  using Tim Holtz Tiny Tabs and Tags die.  The Wishing You Comfort sentiment is from Stampendous, and the Bible verse is from Stampin' Up. I used Watering Can Archival ink. The seam binding was hand dyed using Distress inks.


Greenery is from Tim Holtz  Spring Greenery die, and the flowers made from Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die.  I dipped some grapevines from my yard in gesso to finish off my flower arrangement. A final spritz with my marker spritzer to give this card it's vintage look.




I would like to enter this into the following inspiring challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Stamp and Punch/Die Cut Die cut: Tiny Tabs and Tag with stamp and inside of Ornate Frame with stamp, both sentiments from Stampendous.
As You Like It Favorite Die and Why Tim Holtz Ornate Frame is my favorite (for now).  I've been using it on a lot of projects lately, and it goes with anything from vintage, to shabby to goth.  Very versatile die and it can cut thin to thick panels-here I've used heavy cardstock and corrugate board!
Clear It Out Challenge Blog Anything Goes My old stash item is my seambinding--I picked it up at an estate sale over a year ago. the paper layered under the stenciled layer is sheet music I photocopied, well, a LONG time ago!
 Please pop over Craft Stamper to see all the great inspiration this talented team has whipped up!  

Thank you for stopping by and for your lovely comments!  I read and appreciate each and everyone of them!
Hugs and Blessings,

Sara Emily

Update:  I'm so honored this card is a Top 5 pick!
Have you been in our top 5?

Update:  I'm honored again! I'm a winner at