Tag #7 ~ Spike & 12 Tags 2011

It seems life likes to add a curve ball now and then and I’ve fallen behind Tim’s 12 tags even further! I’m excited so I’ll just quickly share this one curve ball! I was planning to spend the day catching up on Sunday when I found out Saturday night that I need to be on my best behavior for a news camera crew. Someone got wind that a girl friend and friends are gathering goodies to give 30 families (105 peeps) hampers for the holiday season and cost us next to nothing! It was fun and a little nerve rattling having a crew follow us around but it’s for a great cause. If you’ve got a sec by all means, I invite you check it out the news coverage broadcast. We were tickled pink that it was shown on Monday’s edition of Canada AM!! Here’s CTV BC’s coverage. They’re also going to do a follow up story showing everything we’ve gathered up for the families

Now back to our regularly non-scheduled program! lol It is funny how things can throw a curve ball too! This tag was relatively easy only that I didn’t have the holly die to make the leaves, that stumped me until I got hit with the duh stick and just freely cut them out by hand! Ahhh..the things we used to do before we had our gadgets! (I tell ya, calculators have spoiled me too! lol) I enjoyed this tag as it’s got a great vintage feel.

I had a fun playing around with the alcohol ink technique on the Kraft Glassine to make the holly leaves. That’s just really neat stuff! For the full tutorial, Tim’s got it all covered on his blog be sure to check it out. Tim’s Tag 7 deets.

Here’s a close-up of the alcohol ink coloured baubles, they turned out great!

Thanks for dropping in today and have a fabulous day!

Love,

Tag #6 ~ Spike & 12 Tags 2011

One thing to keep in mind when doing the 12 tags is not to get frustrated when it doesn’t look like someone else’s. That’s what I keep telling myself! LOL

With this tag, it took me a little while to even get started on it. Again, I didn’t have something that Tim had used so I thought, “hey! I can rock this and pull away from what Tim’s looks like” and you try and imagine the possibilities with what you have. And also remember, you’re learning new techniques too that you can put to use for other future projects!

So here we go…I didn’t have Ranger’s sticky backed foil or the embossing folder. Instead, I took a piece of Spellbinders foil and used Be Creative tape to stick that onto a glossy piece of card stock. I had a few bubbles trapped between the tape and foil, I tried to pop them but wasn’t successful…they came out as tiny bubbles around some embossed areas. One thing I didn’t anticipate was that the foil picked up the tool marks on the embossing folder! (the scratches on it…very little came from my sanding) I don’t think I could have helped that!

My stumbling block was choosing which embossing folder to use. I finally settled on the Cardinal by Cuttlebug, it looked Christmasy enough The paint dauber colours I used are snow cap, bottle, red pepper, pool, terra cotta, espresso and sunshine yellow. At this point…I didn’t want to show it to anyone, it looked terrible!! (Painting outside the lines and uneven.)

After drying, I sanded…NOTE…sand lightly..I also chose to paint the embossed area (sticks up/out) so in some areas I sanded off more than I would have liked. Definitely a mental note for next time! I don’t know what I was expecting but I thought it would look good after sanding…nope, it looked worse! UGH! I was close to tossing it out and skipping this tag, then magic happened! YaY!!! I added on Vintage Photo Distress ink with a sponge and it gave the foil a totally different look, the sanded paint looked weathered and it toned down the bold acrylic paint colours. (lesson learned…be patient, that’s always a tough one for me!)

I added some baubles and used B Line Designs, Complete Rounds Cube stamp.

For the full technique, pictures and directions please visit Tim’s post for Tag #6.

Thanks for visiting today, have a great day!!

Love,

Tag #5 ~ Spike & 12 Tags 2011

You know when you have that gasp of excitement or in awe? Well this tag made me do that when I first saw it and then I jumped up screaming, I knew it, I KNEW IT, ah HA and I was clapping my hands with joy!!!!! Jeff thought I was off my rocker screaming on Sunday midnight! You would have thought that Santa made an early visit!

In anticipation of this tag, I thought…well, Tim hasn’t played with alcohol inks yet!! And sure enough that night, my wish was answered! WAHOOOO!!

Now as easy as this tag was to do…I warn you it’s a little more difficult than it looks. I had to redo it way too many times because the Black Archival ink wasn’t leaving willingly without taking the red alcohol ink along with it. That or it left a blacky/grey hue that I wasn’t happy with. Perhaps it was the acetate I was using, it’s the heavy weight acetate that Classic on Alexander carries and not the one that Tim recommended. I didn’t think it would make a difference but with the fine detail in the stamps maybe the small differences did matter. So…I put some thought into it…I didn’t have any yellow archival ink on hand but I did have Crimson and thought that may work better. What do you think?

Sorry it’s not a great photo of it either. I tell you, it’s difficult to photograph the acetate without glare but to also capture the subtle detail of the stamp. It’s one of those…yup, it looks much better in real life!

Be sure to visit Tim’s Blog for the technique, instructions and supplies!

Now for Spike’s alterations, I didn’t have the Lettuce colour paint dabber so I used Bottle instead. I liked the darker green anyways and used more of the Watermelon alcohol ink to make the red brighter to work with the Crimson Archival ink and um, *cough, cough* the Cranberry alcohol ink somehow leapt off my workspace and I couldn’t find it!
I had read from other posts that the Glossy Accents removes some of the alcohol ink which is why Tim used it on the edges to adhere the acetate to the tag stock. It was mentioned that Diamond Glaze worked better but I hadn’t have any on hand so I used Judikins DG3 Art Gel and just painted over top the alcohol ink. It worked with minimal ink removal unfortunately, I didn’t work fast enough as the art gel started to dry in patches but resulted in a cool uneven effect. I was happy with it

Thanks for visiting, checking out the tagavanza!

Love,

Tag #4 ~ Spike & 12 Tags 2011

When I saw this tag, it just felt like a winter wonderland! I was excited to try the technique with cutting the “25″ out of the snowman and filling it with Glossy Accents to give it that glassy look. I just love trying out new techniques that I’ve never done before!
For deets and instructions on how to make the tag, please be sure to visit Tim Holtz’s blog as well as leave a comment because he’s drawing for prizes too!

Now the things I did different with this tag was again mostly because I didn’t have the exact supplies as Tim used. I usually like making things exactly the same the first time around and changing it after. (That’s the way I like to cook if I’m using a recipe for the first time.)

I didn’t have the snowflakes on the Edge Die so I hauled out my trusty Scrollwork die instead. I cut out a piece of acetate and inked it with a Snow Cap Paint Dabber. I then took out my heat tool to have the ends curl up a bit to give it some dimension and finally gave it a couple of spritz’s with the Perfect Pearl, Perfect Pearl Mists. I got the pearlescent bug and misted the background too after I had stamped it. It still looked like it needed something and I just blinged it up with a string of rhinestones. Can’t get enough of rhinestones!!

Thanks for visiting today as the tag tribute continues!

Love,

Tag #3 ~ Spike & 12 Tags 2011

Here we go…Tag #3! Well in all honesty this is still a work in progress. Now I love the technique where you use the Cut n’ Dry Stamp Pad Felt and re-inkers to make your own customized stamp pad. Tim’s got detailed instructions on how to do this if you’ve never done it before, even if you have be sure to check it out again to brush up! This tag uses it with the huge word stamp from Season’s Silhouettes by Stampers Anonymous. It also uses the Sizzix Alterations Texture Fades, Christmas Background and Borders Set and fits perfectly with the stamp! It’s what I’ve been seeing lately industry wide with embossing folders or die cuts with matching stamps, it’s quite cool.

I’ve got the perfect background for a tag but again I don’t have the foliage die cuts. I thought about digging out the Slice or using punches or using other things but I haven’t found anything that I’ve liked yet. So it will sit in my craft space staring at me until I find something. I have a few projects that are in similar stages that are waiting for that “something else” and sometimes they come, sometimes they take some time and sometimes it doesn’t come at all! LOL It’s all good, if I do find something I’ll be sure to put up the finished tag.

Thanks for “tagging” in today! (ha, ha sorry bad pun!)

Tag #2 ~ Spike & 12 Tags 2011

It is that time of year, where Tim Holtz inspires many with his 12 tags of Christmas. If you haven’t seen it before, Tim makes a tag a day for 12 days. He starts at 6pm CST making the tag and taking pictures as he goes. At 12:01PST, his blog post goes live with the tag along with instructions. It’s quite the task and he does it as a thank you.
This is my second year making the tags as he goes. It’s always a fun and welcoming challenge and a great time to pull out the craft supplies and get all inky!

Now you are reading correctly! As of yet there is no Tag #1, Tim used a few die cuts that I must admit I had been drooling over but it never made it to the check out and it so happens that I have no supplies that he used on that tag. (I know…the horror!) But it’s always encouraged that you don’t go run out and buy a wack load of supplies and use what you already have. Well inspiration is waiting to hit me over the head for that one!

Soooo, on to tag #2!

I’m not going to go into too much detail as Tim has done a fabulous job with his directions but I will tell you what I used that was different. Unfortunately, I haven’t had a chance to get my hands on the picket fence distress stain yet so I just used some watered down white acrylic paint and found that worked quite nicely.
I used the Scrollwork on the Edge die and pulled out some holly ribbon that I found last year. I felt that the tag needed something sparkly so I used Xmas Red Stickles for holly berries.

And I knew I should have picked up a couple of the Christmas muse tokens when I saw them so I’m just using the regular ones instead.

I’ve got a few more tags done and they’ll be following shortly. Thanks for dropping in today!

Love,

Life takes us in interesting directions…an update on Spike

With the last post, I left you, my wonderful, readers…Jeff and I were going to Vegas to get married. We did! It was quite the adventure and a few mishaps along the way but we made it and Elvis walked me down the aisle successfully!

In June, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Copic II intermediate certification workshop in Calgary with Sherrie. To Calgary and back by car in a weekend was fun! I stopped there and back to have a quick visit with Peg!

In July, procrastinating didn’t pay off. My domain name, spikescreativeside (dot) com was bought out from under my nose when it came available when I didn’t renew it quick enough. I never thought anyone would want to snag it but they did! That’s been frustrating trying to untie myself from it. **note to domain name owners out there, don’t let them expire!**

In August, I went to Seattle for a seminar and Peg had a great idea to tag along! Ooops…sorry Jeff! Peg and I met Sparkle, the wonderful owner of Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps and the ever so fabulous Suzanne, editor of the Sparkle Creations e-newsletter. We checked out a great craft/stamp store in Seattle, it’s always lots of fun to see the different things they have!

In September, trying to gear up for work and paper crafting…I got some life changing news. I was diagnosed with stage I, endometrial cancer…and within weeks, I was getting a laproscopic hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy in English…they were taking all the plumbing out. It was traumatic trying to realize I had the big C and also trying to terms with the hysterectomy, etc as it wasn’t on my bucket list. The surgery went well and I was taking things really easy. You don’t realize how many movements require abdominal muscles!

In October, I was just recovering, there wasn’t anything that I could really do. I couldn’t sit up straight to do any crafting so I caught up on some fave TV shows and managed to knit a scarf for Jeff.
Got great news! The tumor was not only a Stage I but also type 1A, which means it hadn’t gone anywhere so I wouldn’t need any further treatment ie. radiation. Phew!
Later in October was the Copic II Intermediate Certification in Langley and Peg came down from Salmon Arm and Sparkle came up from Seattle to take it. It was wonderful to see them again and I had the pleasure in meeting one of Sparkle’s friends from Vancouver, Tan.

In November, well…that was a blur. Sooo many mixed emotions…as I had to fully heal before going on hormone therapy so the brutal effects of surgical menopause just hit me hard. I was happy to have the weather cool down!

One thing I had going was couponing. I had been “extreme” couponing for many years (actually this is how Peg and I first met) but had slowed it down until I saw that TV show. I knew that couponing would change as I know it because of the show and I wanted to get back into it to do some good. I needed to give. Times are tough for many people so I had been couponing to help out. I had donated boxes and boxes and boxes of toiletries, etc to the Transition House in Chilliwack before my surgery. And after the surgery, I could sort and put together coupons without too much stress. I do enjoy it, it gets the math brain going!

So now here we are at the beginning of December. Got the okay from the Doc, got a path for therapy…it’s time to get back up on my feet!! I thought if there’s anything that could jump start my mojo, it would be Tim’s 12 tags! Well let’s give it a go!

I know many of you have been worried, especially when I wasn’t on the slate to teach at all this fall. Thanks for listening and being there. And thank you for your love and support during those dark and tough times..you know who all you wonderful people are

Much love,

PS. If you’re reading this from my tutorial blog (spikestutorials), it’s because I had to re-direct the feed burner feed away to something that was still mine and it kept redirecting to the old url. Please go to http://spikescreativeside.wordpress.com/ to subscribe to my blog via wordpress, under “Don’t Miss an Issue” close to the right.

Drunken Stampers Challenge #68 ~ Vegas Wedding!

Well when we think of these great Drunken Stamper challenge ideas, it tends to sound much better on paper than actually putting nose to the grindstone to do it! hehe

In all honesty though I didn’t have time this week to figure out how to capture a Vegas Wedding on a card! That’s because well…I’m putting my money where my mouth is and getting hitched in Las Vegas this weekend!
Fellow Drunken Stamper Peggy is standing by my side making sure I go through with this! hehe (with all the fun in hand…the Las Vegas stamp store IS on our list!!)

I do have a picture for you which does embody the Vegas Wedding Challenge!

This amazing creation was done my dear friend Shannon who I met through Classic Scrapbooking! She is a scrap booker, card maker and now cake maker! She said that this was her first time using fondant!! The top layer was chocolate (for me) and the bottom layer was vanilla (for Jeff). And it was absolutely delish!!

Here’s a close up of the topper!

She is such a dear and we are sooo lucky! Thanks so much Shannon!!

Please visit the Drunken Stampers challenge blog to see what the gals have done with this challenge!!

I hope you all have an amazing long (for our friends in Canada) weekend!
I think next week we’re going to our regularly scheduled program??

Thanks so much for dropping by!!

Lots of love,

Drunken Stampers Challenge #67 ~ By the Numbers

With this week’s Drunken Stamper’s Challenge we’re doing some number crunching! Use numbers in your project
I just love working with Tim Holtz’s collage stamps so this project was a pleasure to do!

Be sure to visit the Drunken Stampers Blog to see what our lovely Diva’s have come up with!!

I apologize for keeping this short, I’ve got a few things on the go…the big day is coming up pretty quick! SQUEAL!

Thanks so much for dropping in today!! Have a fantastic weekend!

Love,

Drunken Stampers Challenge #66 ~ Playing Cards

I just can’t believe how fast this week has gone! Is it flying by fast for you as it is for me?? I just wish it would warm up just a little more! It’s been really cold here where I’ve caught a cold…yuck! I don’t like being sick

No worries though! It’s always fabulous to have Drunken Stampers challenges to look forward to! It gets me up and creating and thinking!

So for this week’s challenge, it’s use a playing card sort of theme! Yup, it’s just a little different but isn’t that what challenges are for? To get you to think a little out of the box!

We’ve got partial decks of playing cards around the house so it’s no problem finding cards to use. Although it was tough to find an Ace card…hmmm….I wonder who’s keeping an extra Ace or two up their sleeve???!

The paper is from Reminisce called “All In”, isn’t it fun??? I was hoping to find an adage ticket with Winner on it but I settled on PLAY instead! It was fun to do and I know Jeff can use it for a friend of his who loves to play poker!

Please visit the Drunken Stampers blog to see how the other gals did with this challenge. I tell ya, their creations are real winners! Better yet, come play with us this week!

Today is National Scrapbooking Day!! Are you doing anything scrap today?? I’m demo’ing from 1 to 3pm today using the ever so fine detailed La Blanche Stamps, the super fun Kraft Glassine Paper and Distress Stains. Not necessarily in that order and not necessarily together! LOL Come by and visit us at Classic on Alexander!

Thanks for dropping in and visiting today! Have a wonderful weekend!

Love,