Tag Tuesday: Roses

It's just been far too long since I have posted. Life takes so many twists and turns, invites us to meet others, share joys, share sorrows, take on new challenges, and it seems to drag me along kicking and screaming sometimes. I certainly have missed so many of you; I hope I can make time to visit your blogs this weekend.

I have also missed out on a lot of Tag Tuesdays, but with Memorial Day over and Fourth of July around the corner, I got a little patriotic burr in my saddle!

I started with white card stock and spritzed a red ink and water mixture onto a stencil from Tim Holtz. Then I spritzed walnut ink to age it the paper. I stamped the rose in navy blue and colored with pencils. I really am happy with the patriotic, retro look of this tag! I will say though, it looks so much better in person!

I wish you all a good and blessed weekend.

Laura

Tag Tuesday: Africa

Wow, this one just about threw me, but after thinking on it for a week, I remembered some Africa-themed, clearance-bin cards in my stash and set to work.  I wanted this to look like a postcard, so I trimmed the card to a tag size, stamped the back, aged it a bit,  and added a Cape of Good Hope stamped image:

To change up the front a bit, I added a piece of transparent paper tape from Tim Holtz, which looks like newsprint, another Cape of Good Hope stamp, and a heat embossed image in deep red:

For starting with such little inspiration, I'm really happy with the result. I hope your recent creative endeavors have been fun and fruitful!

Laura

Tag Tuesday: Eggs

I am just barely keeping up these days, but hopefully I'll be "back in the blog" soon. For this tag, I combined the themes from last week and this week to make a "Fantastic and Strange" tag with an "Egg" in it!  I love to make these quirky paper dolls.  The woman's body is from Mad Rat Rubber, and the beehive is from Character Constructions. I stamped them, used watercolor pencils to give a nice tint of pastel color, and then trimmed. I finished with velvet ribbon and a piece of vintage tatting.

Wishing everyone a very blessed Easter!

Laura

Tag Tuesday: Keys and Locks

I'm so fortunate to have a very, very, creative thirteen-year old in my life. She always checks for the next Tag Tuesday theme and makes a tag alongside me. This week, I let her fly solo, and her tag was so darned cute and creative, it was good enough to stand on its own. Here is Montana's take on this week's theme:

Montana started with a black card stock tag. Would you believe that she just knew to rub orange and yellow chalk on it to make it appear rusted??? I would never have thought of that! I also love how she used a Tim Holtz pin for a keyhole! That kid is just soooooo creative!

When you open the door, here is the view inside:

I am so delighted to see the creative abandon that kids take with textures, color, and materials.

Blessings!

Laura

Spring Projects and Inspired Sunday Blog Party

Hi everyone! It's officially Spring!  We have had Autumn-like temps here, a wonderful break from 80s and 90s, and the tiny bit of gardening instinct I had kicked into gear, along with some Spring cleaning and shopping and of course a tag for Tag Tuesday with the theme, Spring Flowers. This was quick to put together with Prima paper flowers, an antique pearl button, preprinted Bingo card and touches of ribbon, including the leaves which I cut from the ribbon.

All week long I've spent the last hour and a half of daylight working in my flower beds.  I can't believe how quickly weeds take over!  Once I had the two beds in the front yard cleaned out, I bought plants that grow well in a western garden from Home Depot. Today's project will be to plant and mulch.  Here's where I am right now:

I will cut open and plant in these bags of potting soil letting the plastic provide weed barrier. This idea came from the U U of Missouri, found on Pinterest.

I'm trying columbine this year. I love its color and delicate, weedy look.

Geraniums love this spot, require very little water, and grow like weeds!

This theme of Spring Flowers and new life was blooming in so many of your posts as well.

Newcomer, Meg, from My Vintage Life,  shared her lovely collection of floral bridal headpieces--making a comeback with our teenage flower child population in So Cal! lol! Meg also shares gorgeous vignettes of fresh flowers and the beautiful Australian countryside.  

Brittany, from the Rococo Roamer, shared a post about Victorian furniture, which I love, but what really struck me was her wedding photos! So befitting this theme as two lives two join together to embark on a new life together, and find beauty all around! (And so rockin' the red shoes!!!!)

Last of all, some inspirational words from Debby Ray at My Favorite Things to launch the season:

Have a wonderful week!  

Laura

Inspired Sunday Blog Party

Link whatever you think would inspire us to beautiful living. Please link to my blog from yours, and post my button on your blog if you are featured. Thank you!

Inspired Sunday Blog Party: Almost Spring!

While most of the country is cold, cold, cold, we in Southern California are experience a perpetual summer!  (It was 93 today!) I think we are all ready for Spring--most of you for a warm up, but for us a cool down!

I've been trying to catch up on my tags for Tag Tuesday this week.  The theme of maps was the inspiration for my "California Dreamin' "tag. I used a piece of vintage map, a girl from Pink Persimmon stamps, and rhinestone stars to mark destinations in So. Cal. Does it make you want to visit sunny So Cal?

Next was a tag for the "Pretty in Pink" theme. I painted cardboard and coated with pink sparkly nail polish.  The light pastels and use of jute remind me of Spring flowers and birds' nests:

Many of you are ready for Spring as well. Penny from Penny's Vintage Home, is getting ready with a new potting shed complete with a gorgeous potting bench her husband made from a door. It looks too pretty to pot on! I want one! :-)

Sherry from The Charm of Home created a simple Spring wreath for her door utilizing faux greenery from past years and trimming with a bird's nest. So simple and inexpensive, but so beautiful!

Newcomer, Betty, at My Cozy Corner created this beautiful Spring tablescape for a luncheon using thrift shop dishes and napkin rings and grapevine wreath around the plates. I just love the touch of Spring that the grapevine brings. Great tablescape, Betty!

Thank you for linking up with the blog party this week, everyone. I wish you a wonderful week ahead, filled with love and beauty and more fresh breaths of Spring.  If you have been featured, please put my button on your blog.

Laura

Inspired Sunday Blog Party

Link up anything you think would inspire us to beautiful living! Please link back to my blog.

Porcelain Doll Tag and Inspired Sunday

Scroll down to join this week's blog party!  YAY!

When I was a young girl, I loved making paper dolls.  I remember passing away the hours cutting images out of catalogs and magazines and putting together motley little groups of paper people.  I also loved the little frozen Charlotte bisque dolls and dolls with porcelain heads.  They were quite out of the price range for my 6-year-old allowance, so I could only admire them in the cases of the antiques stores that my mom frequented.  

I was so happy to recently receive the Lottie doll stamp set from Pink Persimmon that let me combine my love of both into an adult creation.  I made the doll below for Tag Tuesday.  She hangs by a string and there is a blank space on the back for a message.  I printed a Prince Albert tobacco image for her body and so wished for a real Prince Albert tin to display with her.  I got the photos ready, ran up to my local thrift shop - a Saturday tradition - and what do you think I found almost immediately?  A Prince Albert tin!  So I reshot the pictures with the tin in the background.  I can't wait to make something with the tin!

 Thanks for stopping by.  Have a wonderful weekend, and please link up with the blog party on Sunday!  I've missed you!

Laura

I'm linking up with these great blog parties:

Thrifty Things Friday at The Thrifty Groove

What's It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants

Inspired Sunday Blog Party

The link hosting site is up, so let's party!  Share your crafts, decor, antiques, junkin' finds, or anything you think will inspire us! Please link back to my blog, and please leave comments for a few other bloggers.

Tag Tuesday: Christmas Card Tag

Happy New Year to my dear blog friends! We are visiting family in the South, and I took no supplies with me.  It was just killing me to miss Tag Tuesday this week, so finally I went through my sister-in-law's Christmas cards and set to work. (Love that I found one with a piece of ribbon and a sentiment so perfect for Christmas and the New Year!) I first cut a properly sized tag from one of the large cards. I fussy-cut the birds and the tree on the right from remnants of the card and added dimension with foam tape (hard to see in the picture). There is also a lot of sparkle from glitter, also hard to see.  The plaid strips were from part of another card. You can see the dried glue on the left where I detached the ribbon from the original card.

Wishing everyone blessings, joy, peace, and many more beautiful tags in the new year!

Laura

Tag Tuesday: Starry Night

This was a special challenge for me as it marks my first time using the "Christmas House" stamps as an official member of the Pink Persimmon Creative Team!  They have wonderful photopolymer clear stamps that cling to clear blocks and take ink amazingly well. I am so happy to be making projects with their fresh, vintage designs. (Two of my previous tags were made with these here.)

I envisioned this tag looking like a 1950s Christmas ad or ornament box design. The "gray" stars are really silver glitter that doesn't show well in the photo.  It was simple to put together, and here it is displayed with some Christmas boxes: 

 

And here is a higher-res version:

 

I also have a bonus tag to show you. My beloved job is to teach reading to dyslexic students.  Most truly dyslexic students are extremely intelligent and/or extremely creative.  The students I currently have are both, and they love my craft room.  My twelve-year-old student desperately wanted to make a shaker tag, and it had to be a French girl holding a bird, an Eiffel tower and stars--good thing my craft room is bursting at the seams!!!! :-)  So with only a slight bit of coaching, she made her idea into this tag, which I thought was perfect for the Starry Night theme:

She made it as my Christmas gift, which I didn't know until she had finished. I just love it!
Wishing you and yours peace, love, and joy in the simple delights this holiday season.

Laura

Tag Tuesday: Twelve Days of Christmas

For this tag, I chose "Two turtle doves."  It's probably more of an ornament than a tag, but my definition of a tag has expanded to include pretty much anything with a string! :-)  I would put this on a gift or hang from a gift bag, though.  I cut chipboard with my die cut machine (dies from Tim Holtz) and made use of  vintage book pages. All the pieces are mounted on a gold glitter wreath from the Dollar Tree.  Composition and construction were the main tasks for this tag.

On a chalkboard

Wreaths from Dollar Tree

On a tree branch.

I hope your holiday season is going well!

I am entering this in the All Things Dollar Tree blog party at Debbiedoo's!

Laura

Tag Tuesday: Angels

I'm finally on time again!  For this tag I used an angel image from The Graphics Fairy. I adhered it to light-weight chipboard and cut it out. I stamped a large snowflake and cut it with a matching die.  The stars were glittered, punched, and strung together. I added lots of glitter and "mica" snow to make it very sparkly.

I guess this is as much an ornament as a tag! :-) The picture doesn't really do it justice - so much prettier in person when you can see all the sparkle and the dimension.  Please be sure to link up with the Inspired Sunday blog party here!
\

Laura

I'm linking this post with these great blog parties:

Creative Monday Blog Hop

Tag Tuesday: Proverbs

I've been so busy and creating my tags so much later than Tuesday, that dear hubby is now teasing me by callling it "Tag Next Tuesday, which is nearly true! Wise guy!  I chose a proverb that is very pertinent to my life right now: "Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold." I have several dear friends who are moving out of state in the near future, which makes me sad.  But I have to keep thinking about the new friends I've made and how to cultivate deeper relationships with them while cherishing my old friends and planning wonderful trips to visit them.

I decided to make this a bit rustic, so I drew and hand cut the hearts on chip board rather than using a die cut machine, and I painted and scuffed the edges. I hand-wrote the proverb.  A new technique I tried was embossing foil in plastic embossing folders, which worked really well. Here is the whole tag. It's kinda long, and I had a really difficult time getting a good photo:

Hope you have a wonderful weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

Laura

Inspired Sunday Blog Party and Halloween Afterglow

How many of you are like me in that the best time of a holiday seems to be after it is over?  The decorations are still up, fond memories have been made, there is leftover food or candy, and you can finally relax and just appreciate it all.  That's how I felt on November 1st, and 2nd, and even today.  I am enjoying the few decorations that I managed to get up and the tag I made for Tag Tuesday this week:

I am relishing the way my colleagues at work put together their best creative efforts and turned our suite into a Wild West town after work hours the night before Halloween. 

                                                                    Our food table:

  Our candy bar:

A very clever cookie with a melted
witch and her broom.

We thought my pumpkin "carving" might win
the pumpkin carving contest, dea, but alas, it did not.

I am smiling deeply at how our art director friend and his wife transformed the whole front of their house and yard into a Western town  (love that the Wild West happened to be everyone's theme this year).  

I went as a bawdy lady of the evening. I was really tired by Halloween evening, and decided just to look as er, um, "authentic" as I could, so ... hmm... gotta have a little bit of fun, huh?

So rather than cleaning up really quickly and moving on to the next holiday, I like to reflect, and smile and enjoy the creativity, friendship, and fun that was shared this week.  I am lingering in Halloween afterglow.  Are you?

Laura

We had some wonderful posts at the last blog party, I hope you found much to enjoy.   Susan at Eclectic Shorebird seemed to be lingering in the last bit of beauty that summer had to offer.  Julie, at Creating this Life, also seemed to be lingering a bit too, gathering bits of green branches and other "yard clippings" to bring indoors for lovely arrangements.  And because I'm still lingering in the Halloween afterglow, I browsed through Jann's post at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olsen and enjoyed so much her clever witch's tea.  The fantasy and decorations are so much fun! Being a paper crafter, her Witch's Travel Guide had special appeal for me:

I hope that you will link up your inspired posts this weekend.  Please link back to my blog from your blog.  I can't wait to see what you're up to!

Tag Tuesday: Autumn

One of the joys of creating is starting with nothing and working with form and color and texture and size and just seeing what results. This tag came about with nothing in mind, and just created itself as though a gust of magical autumn wind whirled the elements together and produced this with a poof! Aaaahhh... the happy surprise that resulted!

The bee hive is from Oxford Impressions, and the leaves are French Foliage from Stampin' Up. I'll have to update the company for the French post card.  I die cut the leaves and glued them between the front and back papers. The dictionary shreds are from a very old volume. 

Here's a closer view:

Are you finding some autumn inspiration?  If so, please share with us in my Inspired Sunday blog party.

Laura

Tag Tuesday: Shoes

Wow, this was a difficult challenge for me!  This tag had a mind of its own, and it took me on a journey with ink and paint and hairspray and stamps and punches and glue and die cuts and dictionary pages and ribbon and buttons and a paper frame (whew!) and ended up looking very typically Victorian. Overall, I liked it once I hung it on a bottle and mounted it on a cast-iron stand. The flowers were tedious creations (read "pain in the rear") made from dictionary pages, and did you notice the shoe words dictionary page inside the frame?

 Laura