Month: December 2010

10 projects for Christmas: to/from tag

Tim Holtz always (and currently IS) kicking butt with holiday tags. I can’t compete with his brand of layered awesomeness, but I can let him inspire me to make my own (more interesting) tags this season. Featured here are some Kaiser Craft stamps, some Girls’ Paperie bits, and Tim Holtz stickles & distress inks.

If you haven’t been following www.timholtz.typepad.com then you NEED to. Seriously inspiring stuff over there in his annual 12 tags event.

WDW: a confession.

For the last week I’ve been somewhere special.

Somewhere in Florida where dreams come true and princesses roam. A place filled with magic, where I was last (very briefly) at when I was in my 3rd trimester of being pregnant with Elizabeth.

Disney World, I missed you.

How was the trip? Did we have fun? Do I have photos to share?

Well I’ve had my blog on auto-post… so as soon as I un-pack, do the laundry, upload the imgs, and take a few deep breaths I’ll be sure to share…

in the meantime: have a great weekend!

10 projects for Christmas: Echo Park gift box

I LOVE decorating sturdy little boxes for gifting. Done right, they become re-usable as well as unique and fun!

For this one I used paper as a ribbon, and loads of little paper strips to make a bow. This slides off the box easily so it too can be re-used.

I used lots of fun Echo Park Paper stuff as well as some glass glitter + tinsel trim. For the papers I used Crafty Power Tape and/or Tape Runner (By Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L) – there was no need to seal and/or get liquid involved.

The snowman was a sticker, but I turned him into a to/from tag. How? I applied a bit of PPA to the back and let it dry. This made the sticker part non-sticky (once dry) while creating a write-able surface. Acrylic paint might work for this too.

This is going to make such a fun gift – no matter what I stick inside!

Next time you see a box with a lid… think about converting it to become a fun gift box!

10 projects for Christmas: canvas with hearts

Start small. Feeling uninspired? Not sure what to do or where to go? Try a small piece. In my case, a 4×4 canvas.

Tim Holtz product used: rosette flower and flourish die, stamp, stickles, tissue tape, rock candy and tarnished brass distress crackle paint

other: aqua and pink mists, glossy accents, chandelier glimmer glam (Tattered Angels), PPA by USArtquest, StazOn in black, Making Memories rose

I want to get better at canvas and mixed media projects. One way I’m working on this is to take on SMALL projects that start with one large shape or object. In this case, a gold heart.

Then the layering started. Color. washed away. more color. blended. color. texture. playing. enjoying… finally adding some paper bits.

I used my Tim Holtz flourish die cut (the negative space) as a mask to mist in some aqua. I also just kept adding layers like crazy. At the end some clear (rock candy) distress crackle paint and some stickles finished it all off.

Now to decide if I can part with it as a gift, or if it becomes one of my own home decor pieces…