Tag You're It, Interactive Tag

It's 'new challenge' time once again over at Tag You're It!

The theme this time is 'interactive tags'...

Now, you might be looking at my design and wondering just how it's interactive?

Well, depending on how you 'tweak it' you actually have two options!


Option A:  Cut a rectangle shape to size, score and fold in half, open back up to add a die cut mini square window and then fold again and punch a hole in the top.
Result = As shown above.  It's like a mini picture frame/little open pouch so you could add a photo, a note, some money or a mini bag of sweets even.

Option B:  Same as above, but cut a longer rectangle to size and score it in to three equal parts so that when you fold and hole punch it you have an inner flap to write your message on.

I wanted to keep my tag simple in terms of design and spent ages choosing between a small red butterfly, a small blue butterfly or this bunny.

I just figured in the end that I could probably stick a butterfly on pretty much everything I make whereas this poor little guy doesn't get that much of a look in!

Hope you have time to join us!




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Donna
https://www.instagram.com/roominacupboard/?hl=en

Craft Consortium, Best of Friends, Mounted Tag on a Card...

Following on from yesterday's post I thought you might like to see one of Little Fawn's friends...

I've combined this new product range with a charm from the Winter Woodland collection.

I don't want to spoil the surprise of seeing the new charms...  you'll have to see that for yourself!

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Don't forget, this new product launch goes live at 2pm on Wednesday, 8th August, 2018 - on Create and Craft.

(Sky 683, Freeview 23, Virgin 748, Freesat 813, Apple TV, Amazon Fire)

I've got one more post to share with you tomorrow.

It'll be a different style to the two you've already seen! 

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Donna. x

Blue Christmas Jumpers, Tag, Rabbit

Christmas jumpers.

Whether you love them or loathe them, they exist either way...

...  and they just so happen to be my inspiration for Day 4 of Tracey's 25daysofchristmastags2017 event.

Want to see?

Here's my inspiration for today's tag...

As you can see, I stuck to the blue/winter clothes theme - just gave it a slight twist!

Enjoy your day...

Donna. x

Bunny In The Snow, Christmas Tag, Fir Trees

Apologies once again that I've been MIA...

I have started catching up with everyone again  - but it might take me a while!

...  and one other thing...

'Thank You' to those of you who were kind enough to stop by after reading my last Tag You're It post.  

Your kindness is appreciated far more than you will ever know.  x

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It's Tag You're It Friday time again, people.

Here's my cute little bunny stamp at use again today  :)

I had so much fun coming up with this little tag design, but I've got to say I'm not having a huge amount of success with Mirror Stamping.  It's not as crisp an image as I would like, and try as I might I failed miserably using one well known MISTI aided technique and resorted to another out of sheer desperation!  As I have never used a mirror image stamp before today, I would welcome any advice from those of you 'well seasoned' in the art.  Just because I'm on a DT does not mean I know it all, you know. X

Oh well, at least I got there in the end - as best as I could!



I am a huge fan of Loll's so I'm so happy she's our Featured Artist for this challenge.
(Thank you, Loll). x

Take a look at her tag...

It's easy to see where I got my inspiration from, isn't it?

The snowy Christmas trees, the torn edged snow, the stamping and the colour combination are all there - I've just stamped in black and changed the sentiment to a bunny.  Okay, yes...  I did sneak in a few stars, too...  and I changed the tag shape to circular.  But in all fairness her tag was half there already with that rounded top edge, wasn't it? 

And that's the fun of being inspired...

You just never know until you give it a go  :)

I'm not sure if the photo shows it, but if you look very closely you should just about see some very subtle blue water colouring in the background.  Just some simple scribbling onto an acrylic block, watering down as needed and then painting on with a brush.

I did also coat the bunny in a few layers of spray varnish (after cutting it out and layering it up several times) - just for some added shine.  

And the trees?

White acrylic paint.  I do have Gesso and Stickles, but any old white acrylic paint will do and as I have some - why not?

It's all about adding texture and visual interest whilst keeping a CAS look to this design.  That's why the bunny doesn't even have a hint of pink in its ear today  :) 

Supplies Used:

Stamp:

Clearly Besotted 'Woodland Kisses'

Die: 

Lawn Fawn 'Stitched Circle Tags'

MFT/Die-namics 'Stitched Circle STAX'

Impression Obsession 'Fir Trees'

Memory Box 'Cosmic Star'

Holtz/Distress Marker Pens:

Tumbled Glass

Stormy Sky

Other:

Ranger Stickles Glitter Glue 'Frosted Lace'

Acrylic Paint - White

Crafter's Companion 'Spray And Shine' Varnish

Ribbon - Hot Pink

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by today.

I'll be spending the weekend taking the rest of my photo's for Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags.

It's the last day today, but thankfully she's extended the deadline so those of us playing along can get everything posted that we need to.

I know that Tracey puts a lot of effort into this challenge, and for me...  it's the only thing that's kept me going this past few weeks.

So 'Thank You', Tracey.

I've thoroughly enjoyed supporting you in this. x

Have a lovely weekend...

Donna. x

Some Bunny Loves You Tag, Acetate Layer, Rabbit

I'm sure you've noticed that some stamps have a sentiment that just pairs with them so absolutely perfectly that they look like they were always meant to be together.

 You have noticed that, haven't you?

My tag for today's new Tag You're It challenge just so happens to be one of those pairings.  

I don't often do 'cute' images, but I just couldn't resist this sweet little bunny - it's so adorable :)

Here are two close up shots.  Isn't bunny just the sweetest thing? 

...  and if you look really closely at the last image you will hopefully notice my subtle embossing :) 

 Now at first glance I will admit that this tag of mine looks like it has nothing in common with our Featured Artist's inspiration tag for this challenge.

However, if you look you'll see that not only do Richard Breaks stamp and sentiment pair perfectly;  he's also only really used the one main colour - variations of brown with a few complimentary colours thrown in (artistically, of course)!   And he's also embossed his background.

Now I may not have used brown, or coffee, or gone for a heavy embossed look...  but I have included those key features in my own unique way :)

(This bunny sure does make me smile, have you noticed)? 

Now I don't know what you normally colour your images in with if you are using acetate, but I had a 'eureka' moment by accident whilst experimenting with this design.

You see initially, I wasn't sure if I was going to stamp in black or white, so I got out both of my Stazon Ink pads for a quick practice on scrap acetate packaging.

I had never used my Cotton White ink pad before and it did not go well...  and I followed the instructions on the packaging three times over!  

So being suitably unimpressed, and resigning myself to the fact that this was a bad purchase on my part that would have to be binned, I put this to one side and stamped with my black Stazon instead.

But then I got to thinking (it happens occasionally)!

What if rather than throw the ink pad away (if you know anything about this ink pad you will know that it comes as a dry pad with a separate bottle of ink that you apply yourself), I used the Inker bottle ink to paint with?  'Eureka' indeed!

So I applied two coats of ink to the back of the stamped images (with drying time in between), added a touch of 3D Gel Glue behind the bunny and then sandwiched the two tags together.  Then it was simply a case of adding a few bright and colourful embellishments...  and job done :)

(If you missed my post the other day you may be wondering how I achieved the deep pink look to my tag.  It was super easy as all I had to do was use some Crafter's Companion/Spectrum Noir Aqua Tint Ink.  Just wet your paper and splodge it on.  It really is that simple).

I hope my little bunny tag made you smile today, too :)

Why don't you have a go and see what design you can come up with?  Whether it's coffee or not or brown or not, my team mates and I would love to see you give it a try.  

So come and join us at Tag You're It :) 

Supplies Used:

Die:

Mamaelephant 'Tags A Lot'

Stamp:

Clearly Besotted 'Woodland Kisses'

Inks:

Stazon 'Jet Black'

Stazon 'Cotton White'

Other:

Crafter's Companion/Spectrum Noir 'Aqua Tint Inks' - Perfectly Primary

Acetate

Wooden Button

Micro Button - Heart Shaped

Green Raffia - Two shades of Green

3D Glue Gel

Challenges I'm Entering...

Simon Says/Wednesday

Anything Goes

Words 2 Craft By

W2CB#33   'Every Child Deserves A Champion'

(...  and what better way to champion your child than to remind them that they are loved)?

Tic-Tac-Toe

Challenge #18 - I chose Stencil, 3D Project, Back To School

(Can you imagine this in a school lunch box - maybe with a lollipop tied around it - just to remind your child that they are loved)?

Aud Sentiments

Challenge #165   'Anything Goes'

Out of interest, have any of you also had failings with the Cotton White Stazon ink pad or am I just uniquely blessed in that department?

Don't laugh...  I'm uniquely blessed in lots of ways!

Have a warm, safe and peaceful weekend...  and if you can't have all three, be safe at least.

Big hugs to you for stopping by today...

Donna. x

3D Tag, Happy Birthday Bunny, Male/Female

It's going to be a beautiful, hot sunny day here in the UK...  maybe!

  We've already had a few false starts here where first thing it looks like it's going to be a lovely day... but within the space of a few short hours the clouds loom and the rain falls down.

Anyhow...

Tag You're It are starting their new challenge today...  and I do so love making tags, you know.  I think it's got something to do with creating on such a small space as I love making mini cards just as much.

Here's my tag... 

I'm still trying to decide if this suits all age groups or just children.  

What do you think? 

This is the first time Bunny (retired Stampin' Up 'Forest Friends' set) has come out to play since I acquired him, but as you may know...  my stamps stay hidden a lot of the time!!!

None of this tells you how I came up with this design though, does it?

Well, let me confess...  Anja's design stumped me for a while initially.  

Just because I'm honoured enough to be on a DT does not mean my brain doesn't need time to stop and think for a while first, you know!  

Here's Anja's tag... 

What I noticed first was the way that the tortoise was stamped with half it's body on one tag and half on the other.  I also noted the size difference between the tags, that their shapes did not match, two sets of different masking/stencilling techniques (if I count the design on the card rather than the tag itself), two sets of twine and a red hat that I knew would have to feature in my design somewhere...   Oh yes, and some text.  That's a lot to pack into one tag!

So what did I do?

I used a birch tree stencil (Creative Expressions) with some Memento (Tsukineko) Olive Grove ink on the biggest of the two tags and dry embossed my smaller oval tag (Crafter's Companion) with the Memory Box stencil 'Rings and Puddles'.

After giving it some thought I decided that my little bunny could be stamped as a 'whole', cut out and then glued on to the small tag whilst overlapping the bigger tag a little.  

But my bunny had no hat...  and I NEEDED something red.  

No problem :)

Anja's tag says 'let's party', so I decided that a 'Happy Birthday' theme would suit and substituted a red balloon instead.  After all, the balloon's string nicely echoes the second set of twine I needed to stay true to Anja's design.

A completely different colour palette, a very different look...  I wonder what you will come up with if you decide to come and play?

As Simon Says Stamp and Simply Create Too (Challenge #91) are both hosting an 'anything goes' challenge this week, I figured I would include this little tag.  Might 'meet' some new people along the way, you never know :)

Thanks for stopping by...

Donna 

Grand Madison French Doors, Garden Theme, Rabbits, Nature

I haven't made a card like this before.  I needed a card with the spine 'face up', but didn't want it to fall over from the weight of the design or to do the 'splits'.  So...  I've scored twice along the bottom and folded in, then out to create an inward 'v' shape, gluing the two end flaps together and then securing them into place.  Seems to have worked so that's me happy :)

Here's the finished design...

I've used the Impression Obsession Distress Brick/ Cover a Card Background, stamped it with Brilliance Pearlescent Chocolate ink and then used a Tim Holtz Paper Distresser to roughen the edges before 'ageing' with a mix of Distress ink (Peeled Paint) and Memento (New Sprout).

The tree is a McGill Dimensional Lever Punch called 'Tree Branch'.  I had great fun punching out and gluing all the different pieces needed for this cute little tree.

I cut and glued together 3 of the Poppystamps Grand Madison French Doors to give some strength to my open window, then aged it with a mix of Walnut Stain and Vintage Photo Distress Ink before mounting on foam pads.

One of the bunnies is a punch by Martha Stewart (Sitting Bunny).  The other (Impression Obsession, Rabbit Set) is sitting in the inverted cut out from the Poppystamps Grassland Border.

I've used the Poppystamps Meadow Leaf and the leaf from Memory Box Fabulous Phlox as the foliage, adding some shading to the Poppystamps Garden Pots and Buckets to give the card some added dimension.

Some plain white butterflies from Martha Stewart (Pop Up Butterfly Punch) and Memory Box (Peaceful Butterfly Wings), plus one very big white flower (McGill Star Flower/Paper Blossoms Punch) and I was done.  I did try adding various embellishments to the centre of the flower and tried all manner of colours, but even plain white just seemed to clutter it up.

Here's the same card from a different angle...

...  and the back...

I just LOVE making 'window' cards.  Can you tell?

This is my final entry for the latest Poppystamps Challenge...

Update...  21/10/2015

Added some clear Morning Dew Drops that I didn't have (or even know about) at the time.

Here's the new picture...