Yearly tag swap!

I belong to a group on Yahoo groups called CreativeBlock-Stampers Anonymous!  We make all sorts of fun tags and stuff for group swaps.  I love all the tags and cards I have received in swaps over the years!  The moderator gives us a prompt each month to make whatever and we send them to her and she swaps them out and mails them back.  The only requirement is that you use Stamper Anonymous stamps on your items but sometimes I forget.  Every so often Stampers Anonymous sends Sandy some of their stamps to give out to the group.  I have received several wood block Tim Holtz stamps from the swap.

I just made up some tags to swap and not only did I forget I had to make 12 tags but I also I forgot I was suppose to use SA stamps!!!  I don't know how many years I have participated in the calendar tag  swap and that was a first!  I am going to blame it on my really poor memory caused by the anoxic injury from the surgery!!!

Be Thankful!

I thought I should share a group photo too!  They are all so pretty grouped together!

I don't remember the name of the technique but I took a piece of Cut-n-Dry stamp pad felt from Inkssentials and stamped the mandala on it in archival black ink.  To get the variegated ink I used a combination of Tim Holtz Distress inks and Stampin' Up! inks and dripped them around the stamped image making a variegated stamp pad I can use again and again.

Products Used

Stampin'Up!:
Day of Gratitude stamp set
Petal Palette stamp set die
ink refills in various 'fall' colors

Inkssentials Cut-n-Dry

Ranger Ink:
Distress Ink in various 'fall' colors

Out of my stash:
fall leaves
bling
gold pumpkins
fall wash tape

#8 Calendar Tags...April Showers

I joined a swap on Creativeblock-Stampers Anonymous(a Yahoo group) this year to create calendars made from #8 manilla shipping tags.  The group is a restricted to using primarily Stampers Anonymous stamps on the projects and shares what we make.  While this can be a little restricting it promotes sales and use of the Stampers Anon stamps and products.  I own quite a few sets of stamps by SA in the Tim Holtz and Dylusions ranges and started buying them because they are so well cut and I like the subject matter of the stamps...  I have been in a good number of swaps on this group and love the work and interaction with many of the artists in the group.  Check it out...

This swap was for 12 like tags and you got to choose the month that you wanted to make.  I got to the game a little late in signing up and the month of April was the only month left but I think I did fairly well with what I came up with....

Now you probably don't need an enlarged view of one tag to get the gist of the project but if you have old eyes like mine you probably need it to see the sparkles in the hair, the buttons I covered with Glossy Accents, and the details of the little things I did to the tag...I used mainly Ranger inks and Dylusions to create these tags.   Dylusions (c) is an group of awesome products designed and created by Dyan Reaveley who owns a teaching studio and store in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, UK.  To say Dyan is eclectic would be missing the boat by a few minutes.  IMHO she is to funky art as Tim Holtz is to grunge.  Her products are bright and quirky and a lot of fun to use and create with.  Dyan has a mental illness that she brings out in most posts because she wants people to know that it is an illness not a limiter to arts.

The details...

I used a stamp set by Dylusions called Ruby Rainbow...don't you just love that name... to stamp the image on a white #8 shipping tag with Archival Black ink.  I used Distress Ink Markers Barn Red, Vintage Photo, Scattered Straw and Stormy Sky to color most of the girls clothing and umbrella.  The skin and eyes are done with Spectrum Noir alcohol makers,  Sharpie Fine Marker in black, Signo Uniball White pen for highlights.  The back ground was distressed in Stormy Sky and water spritzed to give image of rain.  The vine was then stamped on in Mowed Lawn and flowers are made using Liquid Pearls.  I used Stickles Red glitter glue to make the hair beads and Glossy accent to pop the buttons up.  Ribbon is Stampin Up!

I decided to name this tag April Showers...appropriate don't you think!

WOYWW February Art Journal Calendar

Well always an hour late and a dollar short but I decided regardless of how late I am I will still join WOYWW this week and make it around to as many desks as I can before next Wednesday.  Hey! You gotta give me an A plus for effort!  What is WOYWW?  It is a group of folks/artists that enjoy one another's company and snooping around one another's desks each Wednesday.  Go check out Julia's blog Stamping Ground and she will fill you in on the details.

My desk today...yeah I know it is a mess but you should have seen it earlier!!

I have been working on journal pages and lessons and paint is everywhere.  I am going to stop a minute and clean up and get ready to go again tonight! 

My February calendar for the Art Journal Calendar Challenge is finished and I really like the way it turned out.  I mixed up my own sprays for this and was surprised how well the Tim Holtz Barn Door and Festive Berries reinkers worked mixed in water.  I think they turned out pretty bright for the background.

Next I punched out the date hearts with a scalloped 1 1/2" heart punch and then used the "punch holes" as a stencil for the sides and a stencil for the back ground.  I used a Close To My Heart swirl stamp set for the background in Vintage Photo.  The month and year are cut from Stampin' Up! whisper white using Cricut Plantain Schoolhouse cartridge.  I don't remember where I got the vintage Valentine paper that I cut the Valentines out of and collage on the background but I wish I had more cause it is such a cute paper pattern.  I also found some candy hearts stickers in the stash that I used to fill in here and there. 

My next project was some tags for a swap on Creativeblock StampersAnonymous a Yahoo Group.  In the group we use only StampersAnon stamps and make tags each month from a prompt given to us by the group leader Sandy.  This months prompt was Steampunk Valentines. 

I used shiny silver cardstock to make the tags then ran them through the Vagabond using the riveted metal folder of Tim Holtz.  I brushed some black soot distress paint over it dull it down a bit.  The stamps are from the Odds and Ends and the Time Travelers sets.  I used all sorts of bits and pieces from my stash an most of it is from the Tim Holtz Ideology line. 

Hope you like my desk and art work today.  I had a lot of fun making them.  I am hoping to hop around to several desks this week and if you like what you see leave me a comment!