Positive Tags

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog space.  A very special welcome to my new followers, so lovely to have you here.

Sorry that I've been AWOL for a little while.  I actually didn't realize it had been so long since my last post.  I had some problems with my computer which, thankfully, are now fixed and I have been a bit busy creating  but unfortunately can't show any of that as it's mostly DT projects.  I now have a lot of blog visits to catch up on and all that is apart from things happening at home.  Nothing drastic thank goodness, but still things that had to be taken care of.  Anyway, now that I'm kind of back to normal I find that I don't have a lot that I can actually post about except for a couple of tags that I made a while ago for my Positivity Journal.

I had to make these tags fairly simple so that they will fit into the pockets so, basically, I've only used some stencils and stamps on them.

 I cut these tags from Prima's Ledger Pad Collection as it is quite thick and sturdy.  Inked the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and then stenciled with TCW's Mini Bricks Stencil and Tea Stain Distress.

 The stamps are both from Kaisercraft.  The butterflies are from their Tiger Lily Collection and I stamped it with Fired Brick Distress Ink and the quote is from the Blubelle Collection and was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black.

 The Washi tape with the script is from Tim Holtz, it is my absolute favourite, I use it all the time.  I have no idea who produces the other one though.

This next tag was cut from the same papers but then I used a technique from a tutorial shared by Jenny Marples on A Vintage Journey blog.  If you'd like to take a look for yourself HERE is the link.   It basically shows how to layer stencils and stamps etc. which I had done before but not quite in the same manner.   I didn't follow Jenny's tutorial exactly but I do like how this turned out.  

Painted the tag with gesso first and then edged it with gathered twigs D.I.  When dry, I used the Tim Holtz Doily Stencil with Crushed Olive Distress Ink and over that I used the Tim Holtz Burlap Stencil with Gathered Twigs.  Then it was stamped with a Prima script stamp and Walnut Stain D.I and Kaisercraft's Crackle Stamp and Black Soot D.I.

The die cuts are from Kaisercraft ...

... and the flourish was cut with the Hearts Swirl Die from Magnolia Ink.
As I said, these tags are fairly simple because I can't use anything dimensional on them, but I'm still pleased with how they turned out.
Slowly but surely my Positivity Journal is taking shape.  There is still a lot to do though, so it is going to take quite some time to finish, especially as I'm only working on it in my spare time.

Thank you so much for dropping by and for any comments you may leave.  I really appreciate you taking the time.

I do hope you enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care and God Bless.
Marg   oxox

More on the Positive

Hello again everyone, I do hope you are having a fabulous day!!!  I'd like to welcome my lovely new followers too.  So glad you decided to join me ladies, I really appreciate it!!

I'd like to share the next page of my Positivity Journal with you today.  

I have been doing quite a bit of creating lately but most of it is Design Team work so I actually can't share that with you all  just yet.  I was able though, to do a bit more work on my little Positivity Journal and that I certainly can share!

So, first of all, here is the next page!!

Started the background with some Acrylic paint which I mixed myself using Vermillion and White and then watered  down and poured into a sprayer.  Then I added some Walnut Stain Distress Re-Inker.  I simply popped a few drops on the page and then sprayed with water to make it spread.  Was quite pleasantly surprised that it worked so well and love how it turned out.  Once all that was dry, I stamped with Kaisercraft's Arty Stamp and Memento Fade Resistant Dye Ink in Tuxedo Black.

 Popped on some washi tape and a little tag and then added a Prima Flower and a KC diecut which I think came from their 'On this Day' Collection. 

 The chippie is a piece cut from Imaginarium's 'Moroccan' which was painted with white Acrylic Paint and then clear embossed.  The little blank was coloured with Crushed Olive Distress Ink and also clear embossed.  I'm not putting a lot of embellishment on these pages because I really want the backgrounds to be the focus.

And now the first of my tags.
With these I discovered I also couldn't add much in the way of embellishments.  As I want to put 3 to 4 Tags in each pocket they really can't be too thick  so I'll  have to keep the embellies down to just some stamping with perhaps the odd die cut or two.

The flourish was  stamped with embossing ink and then clear embossed.  This stamp and the butterfly are from KC's Tiger Lily Collection.  After embossing I coloured this corner of the tag with Distress Ink in Wild Honey and then with Fired Brick .  Love the way the stamp just stands out.

The butterfly was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black.  I was going to colour it but decided I liked it just the way it is.  The sentiment stamp is from KC's Blubelle Collection.  

The backs of the tags will be left blank  so I can do all my Journalling there.

I may have said this before but I'm really enjoying working on this Journal since I started over.  The pages are so much easier to work on and the tags are a much better size as well.  Am loving this!!

Thank you so much for visiting and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.

Take care and God Bless.

oxox Marg

2Crafty Chipboard Design Team

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog!!!

I have some awesome news to share with you today!

The new Design Team has been announced at 2Crafty Chipboard and I am so happy to say that I am on it!!!  Woo!! Hoo!!

I am so thrilled to be a part of this awesome Team and I would like to thank Vanessa Tiberti for including me and also Di Garling for her support.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart ladies I really appreciate it and can't wait to get started!

Congratulations to all the other ladies on the Team as well.  I am so honoured to be amongst such talented company!!

To check out all the details and see the full list please go to the 2Crafty Blog HERE.

Thank you so much for visiting and I hope you will come along with me on this amazing journey.
Take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg

A 'Correspondence' Anniversary Card

Hi everyone!!!  Thank you so much for visiting.   I'd especially like to welcome my latest followers, so pleased you're coming along for the ride ladies, I hope you will enjoy it.  I'd also like to thank those of you who take the time regularly to leave me such lovely comments.  You have no idea how much I enjoy reading them and how much I appreciate your support, so,  Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!

It is my turn again at Meg's Garden so here is my latest DT project.

I have a card to share made with the new 'Correspondence' papers designed by  Kerry-Jean Watson.  I was very privileged to be one of the first to have the opportunity to use these papers.  They are so pretty and a real dream to work with.

The papers I've used on this card are all from the mini paper pack and the only alterations I've made is to distress the edges and add a little doodling.

 Did some stitching around the edge and added some stamens and small twigs between the layers.  I've also added a few pearls here and there.  The metal heart was recycled from an old necklace that was no longer being used by it's owner and I was lucky enough to be given some of the pieces.

 The flowers are mainly from Kaisercraft except for the berries which  are from my stash.  The gem spray is from Magnolia Ink.

 The wreath is the Memory Box Bramble Circle Die and the small sprigs were punched with Martha Stewart's Autumn Branch Punch.  In the lower left corner you can see I've added a few Micro Beads.  The greeting was printed on my computer and simply matted on some cardstock.

 The inside was decorated with some strips of the paper which was border punched with M.S. Doily Lace Punch ...

... and here is the full frontal!!!   

As I said at the beginning of this post, I was very privileged to be one of the first to use these papers and I thoroughly enjoyed creating with them.  I know for sure that I will be making many more projects with these lovely papers.  

Thank you so much for visiting the blog today and do take a minute to check  out all the gorgeous products Meg's Garden has to offer.  Believe me, you won't be sorry.  HERE is the link.

Take care and God Bless.

Marg oxox

Positivity Journal - Revisited and Recycled

Hello everyone!!  So pleased you're here for a visit and hope you are having an enjoyable day!

At the beginning of the year, Astrid Maclean from Astrid's Artistic Efforts posted about a Positivity Journal she had started to create.  The purpose of this Journal was to record one positive thing that happened each and every day.  Just little things like someone opening a door for you or giving you a smile.  I thought this was a wonderful idea!  To have a little journal with just positive things in it so that when we get a bit down and think that life is just a bitch, we can look at this little book and see the positive things that do happen to us each day.  If you'd like to visit Astrid's original post on this project you can find it HERE.  My Journal became a little different from Astrid's in that I actually record events in mine.  Things like going to the movies, or a family picnic or even going to lunch or dinner with a group of friends.  Simply recording ordinary activities that we thoroughly enjoyed and want to remember.  So, I created my book and posted about it and started creating the pages for it and it did start out looking good.  Unfortunately it turned into a bit of a disaster!!   The book was too small!  After inserting a half a dozen tags it was bulging at the seams and, each time I created another page  using a wet medium everything just leaked through all the pages.   I was tearing my hair out and actually gave up working on it.  Anyhow, the other day I was cleaning up my Craft Space (Shock!! Horror!!) and came across an old Manilla Folder and I had an Epiphany!!!  Instead of throwing it away  I could use it to make a new Positivity Journal.  So that's what I did and here it is!!

The pages measure 6 x 3.5 inches and, although there are only 5, each one is a pocket that will hold 4 tags.  So I can actually keep 20 reasonably sized tags in this booklet which should give me plenty of room to record on.

 I found some scrap designer paper to use for my pages and will simply decorate each one before sticking them into the booklet which means, no more leakage!!!  Woo!!  Hoo!!

 For the first page I used Chipped Sapphire and Walnut Stain Distress Ink on the background and also gave it a quick burst with Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst Spray in Cape Cod Coral.  I then used KC's Crackle and Flutter stamps with Memento Tuxedo Black Stamp Pad.  The butterfly and the grass stamps are from a free set that came with a Get Stamping Magazine.  Both were coloured with water colour pencils and the tufts at the end of the grass stalks were created with Flower Soft Citrus Crush.

 The little bit of texture was added using TCW's Mini Tile Texture Stencil and some home made texture paste.  The little frame is Imaginarium's Brackets on Oval Frame which I simply coloured with acrylic paint and then lightly swiped with Versa Color Gold.

 On this page I've used Broken China and Walnut Stain Distress Inks.  The paper is actually a yellow base and so the blue of the Broken China turned greenish.  I love it!!  The background stamps are from Prima and the Washi Tapes are my favourites from Tim Holtz.

 The clocks are a free printable.  Unfortunately I cannot give you the Web Site because it's been closed down.  I stamped them with KC's Script stamp and mounted them on some paper board to give them a bit of dimension.

 Cut the heart from another piece of designer paper,  mounted it on paper board as well and coloured it with Fired Brick Distress Ink.  Used the Mini Tile stencil again and hand drew the small hearts with a white gel pen and coloured those with watercolour pencils.

So, my new Positivity Journal has been started.  As you can see I still have more pages to decorate and also still have to make the cover and the tags as well, so there is quite a bit to do on it.  This will be a project I will work on in between my card making for a bit of relaxation.  I loooooveeee getting messy with inks and stuff and this will be just for me so I can do whatever I want and not worry about pleasing someone else.  Fun!! Fun!! Fun!!

Thank you so much for visiting and I hope this post wasn't too long and that I haven't bored anyone.  Hope you all enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg

A Little on the Shabby Side #2

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog, so pleased to have you here.

Well, I am back again to show the second of my little Shabby Cards.  Don't think I mentioned this in my last post, but this is my favourite of the two.  Once again I've used Pion's Flower Frame Papers and of course I've just ripped and torn and curled them as I did on my previous card.

As you can see the composition is quite different from the previous card but it is still only a fairly basic card and yet the tearing and curling of the papers make it look just that little bit more special.  

A mix of flowers with some added stamens and a gem spray.  The small blue rose was originally white, but I felt the cluster needed a little extra splash of colour so I used some Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink mixed with water and painted it blue.  I also added a little of the colour to the grey flower as well just to give it some extra shading.

Here is a better view of the blue rose.  The colour turned out a little uneven but I think that also adds to the interest.  The two flower clusters are basically the same.  

As in the first card, this one was also simply lined with strips of the same papers.

The mesh underneath the layers was actually a flower meant to be made into a Fascinator.  I'm not sure what it is made of but it feels a bit like straw although it is quite flexible.  I simply pulled it apart and ended up with lots of bits of mesh to use for texture.  The belly band is made up of paper with some gauze stretched over the top and then tied up with some twine.

I am really happy with the way these two cards turned out but this one is definitely my favourite!!  Hope you like it too!!

Thank you once again for visiting  and I would love it if you could leave a little note to let me know what you think of my shabby little cards.  I treasure each and every comment made and really appreciate you taking the time.

Hope you enjoy the rest of your day.  Please take care and God Bless

oxox Marg