8x8 Card, Layered/Mixed Media, Butterflies

If you saw my last post, you should (hopefully) recognise this tag.

If you did but you don't, then...  well...  I can either go crawl back into bed and have a good cry or decide that you've had a very long day.  

And if the latter's the case, maybe you should go crawl back into bed and take a nap, or sit down for a bit with a good book to read.
Or...  or...  what do you like to do when you are tired?

My challenge for myself was to take this layered/CAS tag and to turn it into something not CAS at all.  Yet overall, there's still a 'clean' look to this design. 

Let me tell you what I've used...

Supplies Used:

Dies:

Mama Elephant 'Tags A Lot'

Lifestyle Crafts/Quickutz 'Clock'

Poppystamps 'Theo Butterfly'

Sizzix/Holtz 'Tiny Tattered Florals'

Papertrey Ink 'Wet Paint Cuts'

Memory Box 'Peaceful Butterfly Wings'

Embossing Folders:

Spellbinders SCF-002 'Fabric Weave'

Crafter's Companion/Textures 'Wood Grain' (8x8, 5x7)

Crafter's Companion/Textures 'Hessian'

Crafts Too 'Cherry Blossom'

Cuttlebug 'Butterflies 3x3 Tag Team Combo Set'

Holtz Distress Inks:

Frayed Burlap

Walnut Stain

Bundled Sage

Stencil:

Crafters Workshop 'Ferns'

Other:

Crafter's Companion 'Spray and Sparkle' - Pearl Diamond

Ranger/Holtz 'Distress Collage Medium' - Crazing

Pebeo Gilding Wax - Silver

Dew Drops - Clear

Crocheted Lace

Paper Tearing Rulers x 2

Raffia/Thick Paper String - White

Silver Twine

Tonic/Holtz Distress Tool

Paper Punch

 I may have beaten my personal best for how many different elements to incorporate into just one card - and trust me when I tell you that this was not a labour of love, but of sheer grit and dogged determination.  

(Now there's a phrase I'm going to have to try and remember to look up).

I hate being beaten by a card that refuses to 'play nice' - Don't you? 

And I hate how my lace strip in the photo looks like a badly drawn straight line...  which it isn't.

It's as perfectly straight as straight can be.  There are just some very strange optical illusions at play - mainly caused by where the white raffia wraps around the card, I think).

Grrrr...  Maybe my card got it's own back on me after all!

Challenges I'm Entering...

Simon Says/Monday

(Handmade Flowers)

Allsorts Challenge Blog

(Week #406    'Ladies and Girls')

CAS-ual Fridays

(CFC169    'Off The edge')

Use Your Stuff

(#255     'Dry Embossing')

Just Us Girls

(Trend Week #384     'Use A Stencil')

Wishing you a 'Happy' day, wherever you may be...

Donna. x

Butterfly Clock Tag, Textured + Layered, CAS

This is an exceptionally simple, but textured/layered CAS tag, created for the new challenge starting today at Tag You're It.

I don't think you can tell from the photo, but there are two layers of glitter varnish on the base tag - sprayed on and left to dry between coats to build up that sparkle that so many of us know and love.

I have to confess, I'm not much of a glitter girl at heart, but this spray gloss varnish with added glitter had me hooked as soon as I saw it being demoed on a UK craft channel.  

It's subtle...  just the way I like it.

(And I just so happen to know that the company that make this product launched into the US market last year).

My tag was inspired by this very pretty creation by Marion Vagg...

It really is quite beautiful, isn't it?

I wanted to stay true to the beauty and the texture and the layers...  but in a simpler, more CAS form.  So I've kept the clock face (mine's die cut and embossed rather than using texture paste), swapped out the layered flower with that pretty central focus for a butterfly with a central feature and swapped out the foliage for the clock hands.  

Many, many thanks go to my oh so very lovely friend Pam who very kindly sent me this butterfly die - along with a few others to play with.  

I actually didn't know that I liked this die at all until it arrived in the post and I used it.  I'd looked at it so many times in 'die' form and discounted it as not for me.  

How wrong was I...  and how right was Pam.

It's actually turned out to be just what I needed and one of my favourites, too.

(Seems she knows my craft tastes better than I do)!

But in my defence, I am still learning...

(Don't be surprised if I still use that excuse in five or ten years time).

Shhh...  Don't tell! x

So what exactly have I used to make this tag?

Let me tell you...

Supplies Used:

Dies:

Mama Elephant 'Tags A Lot'

Lifestyle Crafts/Quickutz 'Clock'

Poppystamps 'Theo Butterfly'

Sizzix/Holtz 'Tiny Tattered Florals'

Embossing Folder:

Spellbinders SCF-002 'Fabric Weave'

Holtz Distress Inks:

Frayed Burlap

Walnut Stain

Other:

Crafter's Companion 'Spray and Sparkle' - Pearl Diamond

Raffia/Thick Paper String - White

Think of this as Part 1 of a two part post, as next time I'm planning to show you how I used this tag to create an 8x8, Clean and Layered/Mixed Media card.

And why do I want to show you?

Because I'm hoping to inspire you to play along - I'm not going to lie about it!

You see, a few of you very lovely people (you know exactly who you are)! keep telling me that you don't make tags - yet you make very lovely cards or I wouldn't stop by for a visit.

So I've decided to come up with a few ideas as of late that show how to use a tag in a slightly different way.  In other words - you've inspired me to try and think 'out of the box' - even if it's only just a little bit.

I've made a bookmark, a CAS tag on a CAS card...  and so this time the obvious choice was a CAS tag on a non CAS card.

You see, there's a perfect logic to what I've been doing!

Make a CAS tag, play along with the challenge...  and then spend time making it into a card.

Like I said, perfect logic...

(If you could see me now I would have a big grin on my face at this point)!

So if you can, come and play.

And if you can't, thank you for looking/for stopping by/for sharing your time with me.

Because either way, it's people like you who make people like me very happy to be a part of 'blogland for crafters'.    

Bye for now...

Donna. x

Engagement Card, Pears, Congratulations

 I love my Memory Box and Poppystamp dies.  But you already know that, don't you?
They take up well over three quarters of my collection and get used a lot...  but I'm not brand loyal to any one company (is anyone..?) so if I see something I like, I buy it.  Simple as...  My only caveat (other than can I afford it?) is that it has to compliment my existing collection OR I know that I will use it a lot.

Speaking of simple, there's just something about the old Quickutz dies that I love.
Yes, I know...  they aren't trendy or popular and most of you probably have a neglected stash somewhere or other.  But I haven't been crafting for that long compared to most of you and missed the boat when these may well have been 'in'...  so I'm making up for lost time with a collection that currently totals about fifty.  And I still have a few more to go!

As I'm trying to 'use' rather than just hoard my stash, (I've borrowed this phrase from the very lovely Jeanne Jachna), I've paired this Lifestyle Crafts/Quickutz 'Pears' die with a ring I made from a tiny Poppystamps die, a sequin and a gem stone.
One other die for the hearts, one for a decorative strip running left to right, an embossing folder for the bow, a stencil, some watercolours and shaving foam (used to create a very 'clean' looking marbling technique), 3D glue gel, the use of a paper tearing ruler, a stamped and heat embossed sentiment...  and this card was done.

I've included a close up or two of the ring as I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.  Using embossing powder on the band makes such a difference, don't you think?  I so love adding dimension...

Now I'm seriously not a fan of messy techniques, so playing along at CAS Mix Up this month was a real challenge for me.  As it is, I've already been working (again) on my issue of using black for this challenge...   AND I've started using my husband's very intimidating looking camera for my blog posts.

(Still a long way to go on that one)! 

Baby steps.

This works for me.

Recognising what I don't like to do (craft wise), then just giving it a few teeny tiny tries.  I guess it's a bit like aversion therapy although seriously, it'll never work for me when it comes to spiders!

We had a HUGE, sprint running beastie in our house the other evening.  My poor husband gets the honour of depositing them outside.  Don't laugh, but after he's caught them I make him take them out the front door and across the road!  It may well be ridiculous, but it makes me feel better!

So...  a 'clean look' marbling technique with minimal shaving foam and paint it was.  It won't win any prizes, but at least I gave it a shot.  

 Do you think I would prefer it if I bought some alcohol inks and floated them in water instead?  Maybe I should investigate that thought before buying as I refuse to buy what I will never use...  which is obviously very different to bought but just haven't got around to using yet!!!

I'm sure you understand...

Oh, and just before I forget...  I should probably mention that although you can't see any evidence of it in the photo's I did actually use two black inks on the stencil.  Bottom layer Brilliance 'Starlite Black' and top layer Tsukineko/Memento 'Tuxedo Black'.  By putting on a thick bottom layer and dotting on a second lighter layer you get the depth of a darker black with some added shine from the Brilliance Ink underneath.

Supplies Used:

Dies:

Quickutz/Lifestlyle Crafts 'Pears'

Poppystamps 'Paper Chains'

Paper Smooches 'Tiny Hearts'

Impression Obsession 'Tied Line'

Stencil:

Crafters Workshop 'Butterfly Collage'

Ink:

Brilliance 'Starlite Black'

Tsukineko/Memento 'Tuxedo Black'

Ranger 'Perfect Medium'

Embossing Powder:

Ranger 'Liquid Platinum'

Stampendous 'Clear Detail'

Embossing Folder:

Spellbinders/Celebrations 'Fabric Weave'

Other:

Crafter's Companion/Spectrum Noir AquaTint Inks 'Essentials'  - Black and Gold

Stamp from stash

Sequin

Gem Stone Embellishment

Shaving Foam

Paper Tearing Ruler

3D Glue Gel

Challenges I'm Entering...

CAS Mix Up

Pixies Crafty Snippets Challenge

(Large scrap of white used, plus tiny snippets on pears, ring and hearts).

Curtain Call Challenge

Aud Sentiments

Challenge #163   'Anything Goes + A Sentiment'

Allsorts Challenge

Week 380   'Anniversaries and/or Special Occasions'

CAS-ual Fridays

CFC #156 Dimension & Bling

Enjoy your weekend...  and thank you so much for taking the time to stop by.  It really is appreciated far more than you know.

Donna. x