Thursday, June 28, 2018

God Bless America, Land That I Love


Sara Emily Barker http://sarascloset1.blogspot.com/ God Bless America, Land That I Love tag #timholtz #ideaology #rangerdistress #sizzixalterations

Welcome! It's almost the 4th of July in the USA, and it just happens to be one of my favorite holidays. It also happens to be the 5th Friday of the month in the UK, so that means it's Tag Friday at A Vintage Journey. Any time there are 5 Fridays in a month, the Creative Guides get to create a tag with no constraints of themes or products--yippee! If you haven't been over to the blog yet, I urge you to--there are some amazing creative tags created by my talented teamies! You can see another 4th of July card I made here.

Sara Emily Barker http://sarascloset1.blogspot.com/ God Bless America, Land That I Love tag #timholtz #ideaology #rangerdistress #sizzixalterations

I started with a black #8 tag and trimmed out the edges with star themed Industrious Stickers. Some were colored with Heavy Metals and then Distress crayon, and some with just crayon.

I had just trashed a panel I embossed with my new Mechanics 3D Texture Fade. I made it for another project, but absolutely hated it after throwing way too many mixed media products at it. When I saw it laying there on top of the trash, I thought it looked like fireworks, so I found a way to salvage it just for this tag.

Sara Emily Barker http://sarascloset1.blogspot.com/ God Bless America, Land That I Love tag #timholtz #ideaology #rangerdistress #sizzixalterations

I really can't remember what products I originally used on the panel, and now I can't even remember what it looked like. I just know there were embossing powders involved, and I think Distress oxides and crayons.  Anyway, I gave it a couple of thin coats of cheapo gesso and allowed that to dry while I worked out my collage. I actually  started to like it! Thinking it needed some color to tie all the bits together, I swiped the raised areas with Faded Jeans oxide, and I loved it. I cut the panel to size and layered with a downsized Pocket Card, Labels die cut, and Paper Doll. 

Sara Emily Barker http://sarascloset1.blogspot.com/ God Bless America, Land That I Love tag #timholtz #ideaology #rangerdistress #sizzixalterations

I used  one of Tim Holtz' Christmas Cling Foam stamps and Picket Fence ink for the 'fireworks' in the background. Some vintage seam binding, dyed seam binding ribbon, and Jute String, a gift from my good buddie, Autumn remind me of a tattered flag.

Sara Emily Barker http://sarascloset1.blogspot.com/ God Bless America, Land That I Love tag #timholtz #ideaology #rangerdistress #sizzixalterations

I am very proud to be an American and so thankful for this wonderful country and the freedoms we still have. I do pray that God will bless America, this land that I do so love.

Sara Emily Barker http://sarascloset1.blogspot.com/ God Bless America, Land That I Love tag #timholtz #ideaology #rangerdistress #sizzixalterations

Challenge shares:
Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #49 – "Wrap it Up!" I've wrapped my tag's edges in stars! My Paper Doll has a wrap of some sort around her.
Image may contain: text

These products were used on this project and can be purchased at The Funkie Junkie Boutique:

Celebrating the 4th!


Sara Emily Barker http://sarascloset1.blogspot.com/ Celebrating the 4th! Vintage patriotic card #timholtz #timholtzideaology #timholtzrangerdistress #timholtzstampersanonymous #timholtzsizzixalterations

Can you believe it's almost the 4th of July?  I've been having some fun with my Stacked Postage dies and thought they would make for a great patriotic card. I recently used these versatile dies on my Vintage Airmail Collection Folio. You can also see my other festive tag posted later this evening.

I made the monoprint background on Distress Watercolor Cardstock using the Stars Layering Stencil and Faded Jeans Oxide ink. Tim Holtz has a great tutorial for this technique here. After the print was fully dry, I replaced the stencil, being careful to realign it. I used my blending tool to blend Distress Microglaze through the star openings, wiped the excess with a clean cloth, and removed the stencil.

Sara Emily Barker http://sarascloset1.blogspot.com/ Celebrating the 4th! Vintage patriotic card #timholtz #timholtzideaology #timholtzrangerdistress #timholtzstampersanonymous #timholtzsizzixalterations

I inked up one of the Ornate Trims stamps with Fired Brick oxide and spritzed lightly with water. The image is resisted by the microglaze, making those stars really pop among the stripes. I blended the panel with Frayed Burlap Distress ink, and finally blended microglaze over the entire panel to bring out the color and to protect it.

The frame was left over from that Mail Folio project. At first, I applied oxide color to the reverse side and applied Distress Resist spray to give the frame a polished look like Paula Cheney shows in her tutorial. I noticed the stars on this side, and decided they worked better than the airplane blueprint design on the reverse. I colored the 'frame' with Fired Brick oxide and Candied Apple ink,  and noticed the Resist spray boo boo. I decided to go with it anyway, and applied some  Tarnished Brass Distress Crayon to balance the shimmer on the Mirrored Stars I adhered in the opposite corner.

Sara Emily Barker http://sarascloset1.blogspot.com/ Celebrating the 4th! Vintage patriotic card #timholtz #timholtzideaology #timholtzrangerdistress #timholtzstampersanonymous #timholtzsizzixalterations

The Mirrored Stars were colored with Adirondack Snow Cap Mixative and Distress crayons in Faded Jeans and Tarnished Brass.

Sara Emily Barker http://sarascloset1.blogspot.com/ Celebrating the 4th! Vintage patriotic card #timholtz #timholtzideaology #timholtzrangerdistress #timholtzstampersanonymous #timholtzsizzixalterations

I cut apart and colored a Found Relative from the Occasions pack, added an altered Numeric and Milk Cap and chose one of the Occasions Small Talk stickers for my sentiment. I had to add the bits of Christmas Fringe to stand in as a bunting--just added a little blue ink and a spritz of Tarnished Brass Mica spray to take it from Christmas to 4th of July! Or you could use the plain white fringe. I love this stuff, and can't wait to get it in white.

Sara Emily Barker http://sarascloset1.blogspot.com/ Celebrating the 4th! Vintage patriotic card #timholtz #timholtzideaology #timholtzrangerdistress #timholtzstampersanonymous #timholtzsizzixalterations

I used some hoarded Nostalgic Distress card stock for my blue postage frame and mats. A little added ink brings everything together.

Sara Emily Barker http://sarascloset1.blogspot.com/ Celebrating the 4th! Vintage patriotic card #timholtz #timholtzideaology #timholtzrangerdistress #timholtzstampersanonymous #timholtzsizzixalterations

Sara Emily Barker http://sarascloset1.blogspot.com/ Celebrating the 4th! Vintage patriotic card #timholtz #timholtzideaology #timholtzrangerdistress #timholtzstampersanonymous #timholtzsizzixalterations

I hope you enjoyed this post, and if you celebrate it, I wish you a Happy and safe 4th of July! Thank you for stopping by!
Hugs and Blessings!
Sara Emily