Office Worker Leaving Card, Shirt + Tie, Personalised

One of my husband's work colleagues is leaving next week after a fair few years of service...  considering how quickly some of them leave by comparison, in any case!

He will be missed as he's worked closely with Hubby for years, so I wanted to make a very 'individual', personalised leaving card that included some of those elements that would have been part of his daily work life.

Whether this is inspired or insane, it's currently making its way 'round the office.

They seem to like it, at least!

Want to see?

It's an 8x8 huge beastie of a card...  

8x8's use to scare the pants off me, but now I'm less intimidated by them than I used to be.

You see, I'm a fan of Sheri Gilson's work...

Sheri is a woman who seems to instinctively know what colours, patterns, textures, embellishments and layers will work together and if you look at her work you will often see 'finished' panels that stand their own ground as fully finished pieces.

She somehow knits these panels into a bigger and always perfectly balanced design that's a real feast for the eyes...  and unbeknown to me, I think her influence in making these panels is beginning to rub off a little.

I will never hold a candle to her work, but that's ok.

I'm still grateful for the inspiration...

That's not to say that I enjoy making 8x8's yet though as I often hit a 'sticking point' towards the end and lament the fact that I should have chosen a CAS design!

(Yeah, like they're so easy...  

...  That's irony - just in case you weren't sure!)

Now before I forget I should also thank Marybeth for sharing a link on her blog a while back about these dollar bill 'folding shirts'.

Of course, being in the UK meant that an actual dollar bill wouldn't work for this design, but as Hubby has a stash I 'borrowed' one for dimensions and cut some thin paper to use instead.

(...  and I've kept the dollar bill for future craft use - obviously)!

So what 'work elements' can you see on this card?

The answer should be two business cards and two spreadsheet tables of sorts.

I've torn, inked over, partially covered and even butchered down to just a teeny tiny logo in one case, then covered one with Distress Collage Medium 'Crazing', one with the same Medium in 'Vintage' and one in 'Matt'.

These 'print offs' were not on the best quality paper (hence the Collage Medium treatment) so one was spray mounted onto a second piece of paper and the other onto thin card.  

(And if you're wondering why the butchered logo got the 'Vintage' treatment it's because the colour of the business card didn't work with the rest of my design).

A stamped image of a laptop would have been perfect for this, but alas I don't have one and had to make do with the pencil pot instead.

I'm thinking I should email Mr Holtz with a plea for a 'techie' line of this style stamps.

I need a laptop stamp, you see!

So what else have I used on this card?

Supplies Used:

Dies:

Marianne Design Collectables 'Tab With Text'

Taylored Expressions 'Little Bits - Neckties'

Poppystamps 'Classic Ribbons'

Holtz/Distress Inks:

 Stormy Sky

Black Soot

Pumice Stone

Spiced Marmalade

Vintage Photo

Other Ink:

Memento/Tsukineko 'Tuxedo Black'

Ranger Perfect Medium

Embossing Folders:

Sizzix Texture Fades 'Notebook'

Spellbinders 'Fabric Weave'

Stencils:

Holtz 'Splatters'

The Crafter's Workshop 'Coffee Splotch'

Memory Box 'Texture Line Up'

Stamp:
Stampers Anonymous/Holtz 'Schoolhouse Blueprint'

Distress Collage Mediums:

Crazing

Vintage 

Matt

Other:

Staple

Paperclips

Patterned Paper

Challenges I'm Entering...

Simon Says/Monday Challenge

(We've Got Your Number)
The numbers might be oh so very tiny, but they are there!

SimonSays/Wednesday Challenge

(Anything Goes)

Allsorts Challenge
(Week #142 - I Spy...  'B')
'B' is for Business Card, 'B' is for Brown

Mix It Up
(Just For Fun)

Make My Monday
(Challenge #44 - Embossing: Heat or Dry)

Thank you so much for brightening my day...

Donna. x

Circular Tag, Butterfly, It's The Little Things...

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

and that can only mean one thing.  A new challenge to create a tag based on the inspiration of our Featured Artist.

I hadn't made a small tag for quite a while, so I took the opportunity on this challenge to do just that.

How small is it?  Well, it's not tiny.  About 7.5cm.  That's about the size of an apple or small orange - wouldn't you say?  It's easily less than half the size of some of the tags I've made lately, but then I like that as the sentiment I've used ties in quite well.

Now, for those of you that know me... please do not adjust your monitors.  You really are looking at a black butterfly!

Yes, I know.  Pick yourselves up off the floor.

I'll show you our Featured Artist's tag and you'll soon see why I've chosen to do this...

Melissa has created such a sweet double tag, don't you think?
Pretty colours.  Dotty background.  Black focal sentiment.

I took the curve at the top and simply followed it right round - that's how I got the circle shape idea for my tag...  and I stuck quite closely to the colour scheme and also used flowers and leaves.
See how my flowers are quite dotty - like the back tag on Melissa's design?  I've even used three shades of pink!

I snuck in a bigger sentiment than the word 'smile', dropped the ribbon and made my black focal image a butterfly.  It's 'artistic license' as Melissa hasn't used one...  but my butterfly serves a secondary purpose that does still tie in.  You see, by taking a hole punch to it and threaded it on it's effectively now the smaller of two tags - making it a double tag, just like Melissa's.
(Don't you just love it when a plan comes together).

To stamp the leaves on this tag, I used the MISTI.
Why?
Because although it might not seem obvious, I've actually used two colours.
The first 'layer' was stamped using Antique Linen Distress Ink.  Then I went back over with a second layer, using a Tsukineko/Memento 'Bamboo Leaves' Marker and lightly misting before stamping.


Now before I stop to give you my list of supplies used...
How's your week been?
Me?
I've been ill in bed with a heavy cold most of the week.  My Steamer Cup, Olbas Oil and Balm Tissues have been my best friends...  and they still are as I'm only just 'on the mend' and haven't crafted all week - except for a very brief mess around with some die cuts that I may use in a future design.
So if I normally stop by and leave a comment on your blog...  I haven't forgotten you - I promise I haven't.
I'm hoping to catch up with you all over the course of this weekend...  and then maybe I can make a start on playing along with some challenges from Monday onwards.
That's my plan, anyway.  x






Supplies Used:

Die:
Memory Box 'Snow Globe' - Large

Punch:
Holtz/Sizzix Butterfly - Large

Stamps:
Penny Black 'Nature's Gifts'
Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous 'It's The Little Things...'

Inks:
Ranger 'Perfect Medium'
Holtz/Distress 'Picked Raspberry'
VersaCraft 'Cherry Pink'
Tsukineko/Memento 'Rose Bud'
Holtz/Distress 'Mustard Seed'
Holtz/Distress 'Antique Linen'

Marker Pen:
Tsukineko/Memento 'Bamboo Leaves'

Embossing Powder:
Ranger 'Liquid Platinum'

Other:
Twine
Flower Beads from stash
Hole Punch






Challenges I'm Entering...

Pixies Crafty Snippets Challenge
(All snippets)

NBUS

(I had hoped to create something especially for this challenge, but as I've been unwell and didn't want to miss out I'm sharing my NBUS tag instead.  Both stamps used are from my NBUS collection).

Words To Craft By
W2CB #32   'A Single Step'
The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.  ~~ Lao-Tzu
(I think that learning to appreciate the little things in life is just as important as celebrating the big milestones...  and a journey worth taking.)

Shopping Our Stash

SOS #267   'Learn Something New'

(I had been watching YouTube video's where they share stamping an image lightly in Antique Linen before using watercolours - to create a no line effect.  I wanted to see what would happen using the same principal just for stamping, so did one layer of leaves in Antique Linen Ink before using a Green Marker Pen and Misting for the second layer.  Result?  Slightly mottled, gentler image than just stamping with the marker pen, and the Antique Linen does peep through in places).

Aud Sentiments

Challenge #163   'Anything Goes + A Sentiment'

Addicted To Stamps Challenge

Challenge #130   'Not A Square'

I'm off to get a drink of water before I link up my tag to these challenges...  then I think I'm back to bed for a bit with my hot water bottle.  'Moosey' (My hot water bottle cover is a moose.  Much loved and another of my firm friends when I'm not well) will be calling for me soon, I think!

Have a lovely weekend, and take good care of yourselves...

Donna. x

Apple Tag, Stamped, Thanks

If you've seen my previous post you'll see the similarities between this tag and that one immediately.  

Same colours, same stamp...  it's just that this time around I've used hammer card rather than flat, matt card.  It really has made a huge difference, hasn't it?

 

For those of you who haven't seen the previous post, I've used a Tsukineko (Memento) 'Lady Bug' and a Stampin' Up 'Gumball Green' Marker Pen, scribbled onto an acrylic block, spritzed with water and stamped directly onto hammer card.  

Once dry, I simply stamped on the image (Stampers Anonymous Schoolhouse Mini Cling Stamp Set) with Stazon Black Ink, added a sentiment from Inkadinkado, three clear sequins and some twine :)

I may try and squeeze one more tag design in before the deadline.  I've had a bit of a blitz on them recently, have you noticed?

Yet another entry for the latest Tag You're It challenge...

Hope you're having a good day :)

Donna.

Apple Tag, Stamped, Thank You

With the end of the final school term fast approaching, I realised I needed to make one final apple tag for a man...  So this seemed like the perfect excuse to try out the apple from my newly acquired Stampers Anonymous Schoolhouse Mini stamp set :)

As I've also been wanting to try out a very quick and simple technique I read about many months ago that involves scribbling onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and then stamping onto card, I've combined the two into one.  Trouble is...  I couldn't decide on what kind of card I wanted to stamp onto, so I've ended up with two tags (other shown on the next post)...  both very different despite their similarities.

I've used a Tsukineko (Memento) 'Lady Bug' and Stampin' Up 'Gumball Green' Marker Pen for my apple colour combination and paired that with the 'Thank You' punch by Martha Stewart.  Can you see that I've layered a black layer over white to create a shadow effect?

I wanted more black in this design, so I added a plain black second tag (with a second white layer glued behind for writing on) and some black and white twine.

Quick to make...  and it will look good tied around a bottle of Whiskey for my daughter's SENCO :)

I'm also adding this tag to the current Tag You're It challenge.

'Bye for now...

Donna.