Mixed Media Tag for A Vintage Journey Tag Friday

Hello and welcome! Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends! I hope you enjoyed a wonderful day full of reflection, family and good food! Because it's the 5th Friday of the month over at A Vintage Journey, where it is indeed already Friday, we toast the occasion with Tag Friday. 

Like fellow Creative Guide Alison always says, my tag has that now you see it, now you don't quality of shimmer. In the photo above, it looks like a big white blob to the right of the embossed leaf image and even some spider web thin lines lining the edge of the gold at the top left. Turned so slightly, it disappears altogether, and the background leaf stamping moves into view in the photo below.

I have no step by step photos as I actually made the bulk of this tag several months ago, when I first received my Tim Holtz Pressed Foliage stamps. Even then, the tag with it's hints of shimmer, came from my stash of mop up tags. So it's pretty much anyone's guess as to what colors went into it, except it's pretty obvious there's Evergreen Bough ink. Here are some closeups to show the detail.

Splatters of Picket Fence paint mingle with the various others colors picked up from leftover inks/oxides from passed projects. 

  The sentiment is stamped in Ground Espresso Archival and clear embossed. I backed the tag with a metallic envelope liner. ( I picked up a pack of these on clearance for pennies at a local craft store). After trimming the metallic paper, I sanded it, blended the edges with Ground Espresso ink and swiped on a bit of White Gold Prima Metallic wax before adhering it to the completed tag.   

I tried many times last night to duplicate the background, so I could make a second tag but I could not duplicate the shimmer with any of my metallic products, and I ended up just making a big muddy mess. So one tag will have to suffice. I suspect there may have been a bit of white gold wax on my mat when I was mopping up the other colors.

So there you have my version of the last Tag Friday of 2019. Be sure to visit the blog to see all the amazing tags my teammates created! Now I can move onto Christmas crafting; I think I may have to make New Year's cards instead.  How about you? Have you completed your Christmas cards? In any event, happy crafting! Hugs! Sara Emily

Challenge shares:

Country View Challenges November 2019 - Hand Stamped

We Love 2 Create at Polkadoodles Challenge #11 - Anything Goes Mixed Media

Crafty Cardmakers #246 No Patterned Paper

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Anything Goes

Steampunk Christmas Ornament

Hello and welcome! Have you ever had something in your possession that almost drives you to re-make it? I've had an ornament in my bin of things to 're-make someday' for years now. When I saw the Recycle challenge at Simon Says Stamp, I felt a little sad I didn't have the time to play along. But I allowed myself a couple of sinful hours to play in my Closet this afternoon, and I pulled this from the top of the bin. How it worked it's way to the top is beyond me, but I do believe it was calling to be re-cycled into steampunk decor from the moment I picked it up.

Here's the drab ornament as it started. My original thought was to give it a quick face-lift with a wreath made with die cuts and a cute Tim Holtz deer. But when I removed the existing wreath and tag, and I saw the maker's stab at RUST. From there the ornament practically re-made itself. I was just a person with the mixed media goodies and the hands to put them on it.

  I pulled out my long neglected gears box, and it chose which ones it wanted to be decorated with.

And a little baggie of mini's salvaged from God only knows what spilled out, and it chose a few items to add.

A little over an hour had passed, and it helped me magically transform this ho-hum ornament into a Steampunk stand-alone decor piece. Prima's rust pastes and some other paint in my stash provide the background for it's chosen elements. I also re-cycled a link from an already rusted length of chain to hang my altered bell with a rusty nail I found in my toolbox. The bell was altered with black crackle paint that doesn't crackle anymore, Steampunk Copper paint and antiquing cream. I used the antiquing cream throughout the design to pull all the random pieces together.

The cog die cut from Tim Holtz Gadget Gears Bigz was leftover from a project I did several years ago, and I don't remember what I used to alter it. The little brass toned instruments were removed from the broken dangly ornament in the mini's baggie and altered with black gesso and more of the copper paint. Merry was a die cut scrap of Metallic Kraft Stock I found in the Holiday Words #2 envelope. I probably used the letters for another project, and thought this might come in handy some day. I embossed it with the Foundry Folder, sanded it and used Rust Alcohol ink and Smolder Alcohol Pearl to color it.

Here's that foursome of tiny nutcrackers from the mini's bag all lined up along the bottom. You can see I backed the ornament with a scrap of Abandoned paper stash I had on my desk.

I hope you like my re-cycled project! Thanks for stopping by and have a great week ahead! Happy Thanksgiving to all those who celebrate! Sara Emily

Challenge shares:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Recycle

SanDee and Amelie's Steampunk Challenges: Winter Special Challenge

Bleeding Art November Challenge - Anything Goes

We Love 2 Create at Polkadoodles Challenge #11 - Anything Goes Mixed Media

Scrapy Land Challenge #126 Anything Goes  I used 2 Sizzix dies.

Vintage Christmas Cards With Tim Holtz Worn Wallpaper

Hello friends! I am over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique blog with a Saturday Showcase Tutorial on how I made these two vintage Christmas cards featuring Tim Holtz Idea-ology Christmas Worn Wallpaper and several of his Sizzix Thinlits dies. It  would be great to see you there!

I also made these four quick cards using the Christmas Wallpaper, Paper Dolls, Ephemera and Snippets packs. It's hard to discern from the photo, but there are touches of Stickles and Distress Clear Rock Candy Dry Glitter on each of the cards to up the holiday cheer.

I'd like to wish all of my American friends a joyful and Happy Thanksgiving! All will be quiet here, so I hope to take that opportunity to visit your blogs.Thanks for dropping in! Happy Christmas crafting! Sara Emily

Challenge shares:
Simon Says Stamp Christmas Card Day

Scrapy Land Challenge #126 Anything Goes  I used 5 Sizzix dies on my first 2 cards and a Sizzix die on my blue card.
Word Art Wednesday Anything Goes #414 - #415
We Love 2 Create at Polkadoodles Challenge #11 - Anything Goes Mixed Media
Double D YOUR CHRISTMAS STYLE Vintage/Traditional for me!

Vintage Christmas Card for The Funkie Junkie Boutique

Welcome friends and visitors! It's time for the start of a new challenge at The Funkie Junkie Boutique blog, and this time our hostess is the talented Jenny Marples. She titles her challenge 'Lovely Leaves', and this is how she describes it:

At this time of year leaves take over from flowers as the stars of Nature's display - the deciduous ones take on beautiful Autumnal hues before falling to the ground, whilst the evergreen ones keep our gardens from looking bare as we wait for new flowers to appear in the Spring. For this challenge make sure to add leaves (or even Pine Needles if you like) to your vintage or shabby chic projects.

As always, the winner will earn a chance to be a Guest Designer at a future date at The Funkie Junkie Boutique blog, and everyone who enters and follows the rules will go into the draw for the chance to win a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique. There are also Top 3 Badges for three additional outstanding entries, chosen by the Design Team. Please see the blog for details.

I chose to make a vintage Christmas card that features one of Tim Holtz Ideaology Christmas Worn Wallpapers, along with some of his more recent and some past released Sizzix Thinlits dies and Stamper's Anonymous stamp sets. Most of these products can be found in Linda's shop, and the links are listed below. 

You'll spot many types of  evergreens leaves on the Worn Wallpaper and lots of leaves in my dimensional arrangement made from die cuts from the Pine Branch, Funky Festive Florals and Festive Greens Thinlits sets colored with Distress inks and Oxides.

Tim's new Lumberjack stamp makes a subtle background for my Christmas message die cut from the Christmas Ribbon Thinlits set. I stamped some music scores from the older Music & Advert set. 

If you want to know more about how I made this card and another version using the same exact products,  I hope you'll join me for an easy step by step Saturday Showcase tutorial on The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog this coming Saturday, November 23, 2019.

That's all for me today, but I hope you'll pop over to see what amazing projects my talented teammates have made for you featuring some Lovely Leaves at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog. Then I hope you'll show us how you incorporate leaves on your own shabby chic or vintage projects and join us for a chance to win one of the great prizes! 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Sara Emily

 Sharing with:
Simon Says Stamp Christmas Card Day

These products were used on my vintage card and can be purchased at The Funkie Junkie Boutique:

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Christmas Worn Wallpaper

Pine Branch Thinlits

Christmas Ribbon Thinlits
Funky Festive Florals Thinlits

Festive Greens Thinlits

Stitched Ovals Thinlits

Tim Holtz Cling Stamps - Lumberjack

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Metallic Kraft Stock

Distress ink Frayed Burlap, Pumice Stone Old Paper, Walnut Stain, Forest Moss, Peeled Paint

Distress Oxide Pine Needles, Evergreen Bough Ground Espresso, Gathered Twigs

Distress Paint Ground Espresso

Distress Crayons Set #3, #5, #7

Distress Collage Medium Matte

Distress Collage Medium Crazing

Ranger Alcohol Pearl Smolder 

Stamp Platform

Sizzix Accessory - Chrome Precision Base Plate for Thinlits

'Tis the Season Tim HOltz Christmas Blueprint Coffee Lovers Card

I had to make one Christmas coffee card for the Coffee Loving Cardmakers Fall/Winter Blog Hop, and I only had a very short time to get it done. I was thinking about this all day at work and couldn't wait to get home to squeeze this one in before the challenge closed.

Because winter has arrived overnight in our parts, I decided to make a snowy Christmas card. I used two stamps I've never used before and a die set that's only been used once to make this cute little CAS Christmas card.

I embossed the Flurries stamp with white powder and blended the background with Tumbled Glass oxide. There were a couple of mysterious yellowish splotches, so I splashed it with Scattered Straw oxide to make it look like it was intentional. lol! And you can see there's a little shadow the snowman casts, too--that's a smudge of  Black Soot ink. An Occasions Small Talk sticker works for a quick seasonal sentiment.

 The snowman is inked in Black Soot Archival and colored with more Tumbled Glass. I removed his top hat and gave him a Santa hat from the Festive Things. I just used a scrap of white card and colored it with Candied Apple ink, as is his scarf, berries, and coffee cup medallion. Pine Needles ink seemed fitting for the sleeve and holly leaves and Frayed Burlap ink for the cup itself. I added dimension to the coffee cup and Santa hat.

So I guess that's it for my coffee cards for this hop! It sure was fun making! I hope you have a great weekend! Hugs! Sara Emily

Challenge shares:

Coffee Loving Cardmakers: Fall/Winter Blog Hop

Country View Challenges November 2019 - Hand Stamped

The Artistic Stamper November's Creative Challenge - Mix it Up I mixed up the snowman's hats!

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge: Anything Goes

Scrapy Land Challenge #125 Anything Goes I used 1 Sizzix die.

Thankful Coffee Card

There is something so fun about making coffee cards to me! I think it's because it gives me a chance to use some of my older things with my newer supplies and you just can't go wrong with a coffee cup. Am I right??

I cut Tim Holtz Fresh Brewed Bigz cup and sleeve from Prima's Amber Moon paper pad and the lid from a scrap. "Thanks" is printed on the paper and "a latte' (old Stampin' Up set) was stamped in Ground Espresso Archival and cut out with Gift Tags Thinlits. I attached it with a heavy thread to look like it's a tea bag label.

The leaves are Skeleton Leaves Thinlits die cuts, and they are blended with Old Paper and Vintage Photo inks. The little pumpkins are Tim Holtz old Mini Blueprints Happy Halloween stamps. The back paper and the pumpkins are colored with Ripe Persimmon Distress Oxide and stamped with Perfect Plaids in Black Soot ink. The wood patterned paper is Tim's Halloween paper stash from last year. I blended it with Black Soot and Vintage Photo ink and splattered with watery Picket Fence paint.

I'll be getting up early to enjoy a nice hot cup of Pumpkin Spice coffee and some visits to see some of the other coffee lovers cards at The Coffee Loving Cardmakers Blog Hop. Sounds like two great reasons to get up early in the morning! Thanks for stopping by! Sara Emily

Challenge shares:

Coffee Loving Cardmakers: Fall/Winter Blog Hop

Scrapy Land Challenge #125 Anything Goes I used 3 Sizzix dies.

Simon Says Stamp Monday Thanks/Thanksgiving

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Thinking Of You

Country View Challenges November 2019 - Hand Stamped

The Artistic Stamper November's Creative Challenge - Mix it Up

Snarky Fall Coffee Card

I've been seeing all the fabulous coffee cards for the Coffee Lovers Blog Hop, and since I AM a coffee lover, I felt I should play along with at least one card.

I used Tim Holtz Abandoned paper stash for the background, and a Tea Time Bigz die cut from kraft card. I colored it with Peeled Paint and Evergreen Bough oxides, and blended with Vintage Photo ink. The steam is from the Cauldron Bigz die; I cut it twice each from white card and a patterned paper scrap. Both are blended with Old Paper and Vintage Photo inks and layered.

I thought this gent from the Halloween Paper Dolls went perfectly with the Snarky Small Talk sticker.

The rusty hex bolts and washers are from the Steampunk Parts Bigz die, cut from Metallic Kraft Stock and painted with Black Soot paint and DecoArt Q-gold. To pick up on the metallic embellishment, I decided to mat the panel with black card and Metallic 2 Kraft Stock sanded and painted with the same colors.

Lastly a splattering of Carved Pumpkin to hint at my favorite coffee--Pumpkin Spice Latte. It seems I'm not alone in my choice of flavors. What's your favorite coffee drink?

Challenge shares:

Coffee Loving Cardmakers: Fall/Winter Blog Hop

Scrapy Land Challenge #125 Anything Goes I used 3 Sizzix dies.

SanDee and Amelie's Steampunk Challenges: Winter Special Challenge! I hope it's got enough industrial!

Fabulous Fall Thank You Card for The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog

Hello, and welcome! Thank you for all your lovely comments on my creative journey through the Halloween season! Whew! It'll be Christmas before you know it! But first, it's time for the latest challenge at The Funkie Junkie Boutique blog where the talented Ginny is our hostess. She calls her challenge 'Fabulous Fall', and this is how she describes it:

It's the wonderful season where the leaves are changing and the air is crisp and our thoughts turn to pumpkin spice everything.  For this challenge create a Fall inspired project.

As always, the winner will earn a chance to be a Guest Designer at a future date at The Funkie Junkie Boutique blog, and everyone who enters and follows the rules will go into the draw for the chance to win a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique. There are also Top 3 Badges for three additional outstanding entries, chosen by the Design Team. Please see the blog for details.

For my project, I made a super simple autumn themed thank you card. I don't have any step by step photos, sadly. It was one of those times I was just playing around with my products while waiting for the pasta water to boil.

That gorgeous background panel is water color paper on which I stamped one of Tim Holtz Perfect Plaids in Black Soot ink. After inking the stamp, I generously spritzed it with water before making the impression. I stamped it twice, side by side because this is a large panel. This is so easy to do using the Stamp Platform. I dried it with my heat tool and splattered it with watery Ripe Persimmon Distress Oxide.  Finally, I blended with a bit of Peeled Paint ink and inked just the side edges in Black Soot. I love this set of plaid images, and I can see them used year round, especially for fall and Christmas crafting.

This leaf stamp from Pressed Foliage really stands on it's own, needing little embellishment. I inked it with Picket Fence Distress ink and then with Versamark using the Stamp Platform. Using the platform ensures you will get a crisp image. I heat embossed with white powder and smudged the image with Distress Crayons for a hint of fall color: Peeled Paint, Dried Marigold, Spiced Marmalade and Vintage Photo. I love these detailed stamps--they are my favorite from Tim's fall releases. You can see other ways I've used the leaves in this Saturday Showcase tutorial.

The sentiment is a Poppy Stamps die I won from ScrapyLand (Thank you, ScrapyLand!), and I cut it out of a piece of scrap Metallic Kraft stock I cut my bats from for my Tombstone. I adhered it with Distress Collage Medium Matte. Before adhering this to the orange panel (colored with Ripe Persimmon oxide and Black Soot ink) I stitched it with my sewing machine--not 'sew' well, I'm afraid.  I'm still not familiar with the tension setting on my newest lightweight model. That's really the only embellishment this card needs with all the fine detail of the stamp and the busy base background.

We don't have much fall color here in my neck of the woods, going from green to pretty much brown fallen leaves with just hints of color.  We have one tree that will be blazing around Thanksgiving, and I'm looking forward to that.

I hope you enjoyed my simple card--now hop on over to The Funkie Junkie Boutique blog for even more Fabulous Fall inspiration from my talented teammates. Then, it's over to you! I hope you will join us for this challenge--I can't wait to see what you create! Crafty hugs! Sara Emily

 Challenge shares:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Thanks/Thanksgiving

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Anything Goes

Country View Challenges November 2019 - Hand Stamped

The Artistic Stamper November's Creative Challenge - Mix it Up

The following products were used and can be purchased at The Funkie Junkie Boutique:
Tim Holtz Stamp Platform
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Metallic Jewels Kraft Stock
Tim Holtz Cling Stamps - Pressed Foliage
Tim Holtz Cling Stamps - Perfect Plaids
Distress Ink: Black Soot, Peeled Paint, Picket Fence
Distress Oxide: Ripe Persimmon
Distress Crayons: Sets 1, 3, 5, and 7
Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium Matte
Ranger Embossing Powder - White Super Fine Detail
VersaMark Watermark Ink Stamp Pad