How to Make Inexpensive Tags for your Tim Holtz-i-ness

Greetings!  Today I want to share with you how I made some tags SOOO much cheaper than buying them ready-made.  I bought some manila folders and cut them myself.  I used "heavy weight 3-tab file folders" that I found at Staples.  I should stress that the heavy weight variety makes all the difference here.  I should be able to cut at least 10 #5 tags from one folder.  I paid $2.00 for a pack of 12 folders, so I can make at least 120 tags (4 3/4 x 2 3/8 inches) from this pack.  That comes out to less than 2 cents per tag, instead of 20 cents per tag.  Wowza!  To make the tags, I just used my paper trimmer and then snipped off the corners and punched the hole with my hole punch.  Super easy.  If you want the hole reinforcers, you can find them at Target, or Tim Holtz has his own super-cute ones (of course!).  Peace.

the journey is the destination

I made this card for my nephew's 16th birthday.  Last summer, he went to Philmont Scout Ranch for a scouting trip, and he brought back a map of Philmont for his uncle Phil.  I copied a portion of this map onto matte photo paper for the card background.  I stamped the ticket using the Tim Holtz "Odds and Ends" stamp set and inked it with distress inks.  I created the compass at the top of the card using a Tim Holtz Fragment charm.  I used alcohol inks to add color to the charm then stamped a compass image on white cardstock and glued it the charm using Glossy Accents and then trimmed the cardstock to fit the fragment.  I fastened the compass fragment to the card with a brad.  Finally, I stamped a botanical stamp at the bottom of the map to add a bit of interest.  I really like the way this card came out!  Peace.

*fun*ky!

Hey y'all.  Here's a card that is a little funky, but fun too.  I used the "Tattered Florals" Tim Holtz Sizzix die.  I cut out the flower pieces with some printed vellum, and again with some heavy duty aluminum foil (yeah, like from the kitchen).  I actually cut it a third time with plain white card stock and adhered that to the foil pieces to give them some substance.  Then I dry-embossed and cut some foil leaves out of the same kitchen foil using my new Walnut Hollow metal embossing kit.  This kit was a semi-impulse buy at Hobby Lobby.  (My 40% off coupon was burning a hole in my pocket and I have been wanting to try this for a while anyway.)  I assembled the flower alternating the foil and vellum pieces and finished it with a shiny silver brad.  Then I stained the leaves with some alcohol inks, put it all together and added the stamped sentiment.  Like I said, FUNKY FUN!  Peace.

Baby Shower

What a great day to be in SA!  Today the weather here was just stunning.  I love these blue-sky-bird-chirpy days.  Anyway, here is a card commissioned by my sis-in-law Cindy for a co-worker's baby shower.  She has chosen the "Team Safari" theme for the nursery, which consists of cute jungle animals who are into sports!  Peace.

Aloha and Mahalo!

Here is a card I made using a fabulous stamp that my BFF Debbie gave me.  It's from the Rubber Stamp Plantation company in Hawaii (http://www.rubberstampplantation.com/store/quiltstamps.htm).  The stamp is from their quilt collection and is called "Large Ulu Quilt."  I wanted to use it right away so I made her this Mahalo (Hawaiian for Thank You) card.  I created the background using glossy cardstock and Tim Holtz Adirondack alcohol inks.  The technique is to put a little of the inks and some alcohol ink blending solution on the felt applicator, then tap the applicator on the glossy cardstock until you are happy with the look.  Then I took some additional blending solution and dropped it directly on the cardstock.  For this background, I chose Sail Boat Blue, Sunshine Yellow, and Citrus.  I love how you never know what your alcohol inked background will look like, but it always looks really cool!  I stamped the "thank you" swirly stamp with Archival ink.  Because I am a sloppy stamper, I had a little bit of a smeared image.  Ergo, I punched out a butterfly, and voila, You would never know there was a smear under it.  Hee hee.  Peace.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I had so much fun making Valentine's Day cards this year!  I used art from the Tim Holtz Seasonal paper stack as the focal point.  Other elements include paper doilies, and die-cut hearts (Sizzix Hearts - Tipsy), and Tim Holtz tissue tape.  The card background is inked with Antique Linen and Worn Lipstick distress inks.  First I applied the Antique Linen using the ink pad directly on the cardstock.  Then I used the foam applicator to add in the Worn Lipstick.  I inked the white paper doily, the die-cut hearts, and the tissue tape with Tea Dye distress ink.  For the hearts, I copied some text from Romeo and Juliet and printed it in a nice script font on my printer and then ran it through my Sizzix Big Kick.  I inked the edges of the hearts and the vintage clip art with Vintage Photo distress ink.  Finally, I used a Tim Holtz flourish stamp with Versamark ink and embossed it with Zing Gold metallic embossing powder.  I love the collage look.  It's so forgiving!  And as Tim says, "Embrace Imperfection!"  Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!  Peace.

Copic Froggie

Hi everyone!  Today I wanted to share this Froggie birthday card with you.  It features a kraft card base, some Nestabilities label dies, a Copic colored image, and a bow made with the Bow-Easy.  Also, I finally broke down recently when Hobby Lobby had their punches on sale for 50% off and bought circle punches.  Now I own circle punches in quarter-inch increments from 1 to 2 inches.  It makes my life much easier than cutting them with the Cricut.  I really love the color combination here.  It just makes me happy!  Peace.