R.I.P. Witch Hazel...Or Not!

Won't you take me to... Funkie Town?!?  You know what that means everyone! This time I am hosting the challenge over at Frilly & Funkie, and I want to see a tag, but not an ordinary one...no way no how! Show us A Different Kind Of Tag (Plus A Theme).  I love making tags and there is sooo much you can do on a tag, BUT sometimes I need a slight change up. So this fortnight show us a tag, BUT alter it somehow. Change it's shape, cut it up, add several to make a book, flip it upside down, whatever, just don't let us see a regular tag. Repeating..."No regular tags this fortnight!" Let's see how creative you can be, AND use Autumn or Halloween as your theme.

If you need some altered tag inspiration, check out the other F&F DT's work.

 Linda Coughlin - The Funkie Junkie

Marjie Kemper - She Who Stamps and Scraps 

Teresa Kline - Paperie Blooms

Terry Horrall -  Terry's Work In Progress 

Sue Carrington - Stamping Sue Style 

Rebecca Deeprose - Paper Primrose

This is not exactly how I envisioned this to come out, but that is how it goes. I wanted to have Hazel pop up every time you open the coffin (Thus, not resting in peace!), but I just couldn't finagle it. I've been a bit under the weather lately, got a little better, but now feeling pretty yucky, so maybe that is why Witch Hazel is so ugly...she matches how I feel! The coffin really needs more grunge, but my swollen tonsils and feverish head keep telling me to get back in bed.

Hazel was made by stamping Tim's skeleton in Adirondack Snow Cap Pigment Ink onto black cardstock, then heat embossing it twice using Ranger's Sea Foam Embossing Powder. Below are the steps to make the coffin out of three tags.

I'm always saving packaging from unusual items. This one is from a double dose of Smooch Spritz. It work's perfectly with a #8 Tag. I traced it onto a kraft tag, and used dotted lines just inside the traced lines so I would know where to cut.

I glued these two tags together so that my tags would be stronger, but I did not add glue to the traced out area, so when I cut it out, I had two complete pieces to use for something else.

I glued the plastic into the cut out hole between the glued tags. This will be the bottom of the coffin.

Using the third tag, I measured at 1/2 inch from the top in as well as the bottom, at 1 1/2 inches from the top down, and from another 1 1/2 inches from there, doing this on both sides. I drew dotted lines to connect all these points. This will be the top portion of the coffin.

I cut on the dotted lines, and this formed a coffin shape. I placed this tag on top of the glued tags with the plastic piece, and then trimmed around it.

I found some strips of pressed Balsa Wood on sale at Hobby Lobby. Using only Tim scissors, I trimmed it to go around the perimeter of the bottom part of the coffin. Be careful...this stuff is sort of like fiberglass...it's itchy, so wear gloves.

I embossed the top part of the coffin as well as the left over center pieces from the bottom portion, using Tim's Wood Texture Fade from Sizzix.

I inked them in Rusty Hinge and Walnut Stain Distress Inks, then dabbed all of them with Claudine Hellmuth Studio's Multi Matte Medium. By dabbing it on, it made great raised texture parts. After it was all dried, I used the same inks over it again.

Using those two extra tag strips of wood, I cut them into 3/4 inch strips, and glued them onto my Balsa Wood pieces. I used Rust and Pitch Black Alcohol Ink to give my hinge and lock the worn and buried look, and then attached one side of the hinge onto the bottom of the coffin, directly into the Balsa Wood.

I had some scrap red velvet, and I glued it into the coffin. I trimmed around it, and gave it a good inking with Walnut Stain. I attached the side part of the lock into the Balsa Wood on the opposite side of the hinge.

I stamped only the Witch Hazel portion of Tim's stamp, using Jet Black Archival onto the door of the coffin. I stamped Hazel's eye portion from her face stamp onto Specialty Stamping Paper, colored it in with Distress Markers,cut it out, and adhered it to the back of the tag's hole, so Hazel had a peep hole.

I attached the top portion of the lock onto the door, and then attached the hinge onto a scrap piece of kraft paper. Then I glued the scrap paper onto the coffin door where it needed to match up to the bottom portion of the coffin. I needed to cover all of this up, and I didn't have anymore velvet or white silk, so I used white tissue paper instead. Everything received a coat coat of both Rusty Hinge and Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

To make Hazel's broom, I used a Starbuck's lid stopper (I don't know what you call it!) and colored it with the Alcohol Inks as well. Then using some pulled strings of jute, I cut them and glued them onto the bottom of the stopper. I also used the jute as Hazel's hair after I colored it green with Peeled Paint Distress Ink. Hazel's wand is just a piece of twig from my oak tree, and her hat is just black cardstock.

  

 

Supplies:


I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!

September ATC's Received!

Happy mail!!!! These are from the All Things Tim Yahoo Group, for September's ATC swap for a Fun Halloween theme!  They are amazing...might be my favorite group yet!

From Julie Case (How mischievous is this witch? Love her, and all the fibers...cool!)

From Pamela Preston (The cat's meow! Love her eyes and that background is so cool!)

From Claudine Criner (Scary cool...the skull in the mirror! Love the brick wall and 31!)

From Sue Bockrath (I love this! The little witches are so cool on this fab background!)

And here is mine again.

I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!

Winner, Winner, Winner!!!

Again....I felt like it was my birthday, and I think I smiled all day on Thursday! Thanks a million everyone...holy cow WOW...thanks a billion! I look forward to another year, and many more after if it's in the creative cards!!!
I wish I could do this live on stage with a mic, with you all in the audience! Come on down!!!

The winner of the Spring/Summer Package goes to...

#57...Kathy/North Carolina!!!

The winner of the Halloween Package goes to...

#18...Bonnie Irvine!!!

The winner of the Christmas Package goes to...

#49...Naomi!!!

And...because I couldn't stop playing with the very addicting Random Number Generator, the winner of the Thank You tag is...

#10...The Yorkshire Fox

Please email me your addresses winners, and I will get these out Monday morning! Thank you ALL for your wonderful heart felt comments....thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!

Dylusional Fun Fall???

First, thank you for all the comments yesterday...WOW!...and welcome to my new followers!  Thank you so much everyone! You made me cry lots, blush too, and laugh so hard. I felt like it was the best birthday party ever! I've replied to those I could get a hold of, but to those I couldn't, please know I truly am blessed by your words! Be sure to check back tomorrow to see who gets the loot!

I occasionally get the personal nice email about a project I've made, but after the Choose To Shine At School Layout I made last week, which was the first layout I've done in two years, I was swarmed with them...15 in total, and have even been asked to teach some classes...WOW! It filled me with joy to the max, that so many of you took the time to tell me your thoughts, and it seems that every single one of you loved the Scrap-booking/Art Journal combo, and that it was unique to you. I'm sure there are many people out there who already incorporate Art Journaling into their scrapping, but it's new to me, and to some of you, so I've decided to do many more...every once in a while anyway...and call it Artful Scrapping! Now maybe I can get some long overdue albums completed, after all, scrap-booking is what got me started doing paper craft. So, thank you for your wonderful emails and comments! 

Here is a layout I will teach in a couple of weeks. Since there are so many leaves in this outdoor scene...hehehe...I am submitting this to Simon Says Stamp & Show's challenge for "Leaf-spiration", and to the Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog challenge for "The Natural World".

 I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!

The Big One!

Today is The Day!!! WOOHOO!!!

Hels wants to know "What Makes You Happy" over at the Sunday Stamper. All of you make me happy!

18 months ago, it was only a dream to be able to create something everyday, much less talk about it to anyone who would listen. Then, after being fortunate enough (Thanks Hubby!) to attend Tim Holtz's last cruise (no brown nosing here people!) and hearing his words of inspiration and motivation (heard before but never stuck), and seeing (really seeing) the joy he gets from creating and teaching (Thank you Tim!), I was lit on creative fire and knew what I had to do...learn html language...well somewhat learn it. It took a week to get the blog up. I read everything I could and downloaded mounds of tutorials on how to blog (sort of a nerd), and still cried like a baby when I couldn't make my pictures line up (still can't). There was no cooking, cleaning, very little mothering and wifeing (;D) going on, and I had about 16 hours of sleep that week (yes, I counted). I stole as much space as I could from the family room, and started building my cave, instead of repeatedly ruining my kitchen table with inks, glues, scratches, that sort of thing.
It's been a year...A WHOLE YEAR! I still don't know squat about html language, but I've done my best, and with a lot of help from some of you. This creating/blogging thing really blows my mind, and I can't believe I am still waking up every morning ready to go again, even after this, my 200th Post.

If you will allow me a little more rambling time please, what I really have to say to you all is ...SO...

So many projects have been made...some I like and some I don't, yet you all keep coming back!
So many swaps have been done, and my collection runs a muck...yay! I love receiving your work!
So many opportunities opened up...being on DT's for fab people (Artistic Outpost, Our Creative Corner, Frilly & Funkie)...WOW! I still get nervous over every single project!
So many goals have been made. Me a Ranger Educator? Me teaching? WOW! I still pinch myself!
So many viewings have been logged in. I keep wondering, there's gotta be a mistake!
So many people are following me, and I am humbled! Why would you do it? I hope I don't go over a cliff!
So many comments have been written, and none have been unkind, not one single one. WOW!
So many of you have me listed in your sidebar! I am SO honored, truly!
So so so cool that people pin my work on Pinterest! Say what??? I'm blown away by that!
So much weight has been gained sitting down at this computer. I have to start exercising...yikes!
So many friends have been made, and I treasure each one, truly!
So many blogs have been discovered, and I learn from each one of them every single day!
So many countries have been visited. Art is the language we all share!
So many talented people have enriched my life and opened my eyes to the ways of Art!
So much inspiration, oodles of it, has been given to me and is felt in my creative soul!
So much love and kindness has been seen from these eyes, and I feel so fortunate to see it every day! 
So many blessings have been given, and I could never list or count them all!

So...thank you everyone (hubby and children included)...seriously, THANK YOU!!! To know a little bit of you is a treasure, and I want you all to know, I cherish every single one of you and the time you give and take for this wonderful thing we all call Art. You all make it SO worth while, and I SO love what I do!!!

You don't have to be a follower to win, but if you decide to, that is HUGELY appreciated...just leave a sugary comment! ;D And, I had so much to give to you, that I decided to break it down into 3 giveaways! SOOO, stop by on Saturday morning to see if you are one of the lucky three that are randomly drawn. Cyber hugs to you all!

Spring/Summer Pack

Halloween Pack

Christmas Pack

I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!

A Wendified Halloween Tag

***Two more days until my 1st Blogiversary and a major giveaway to one of you!

Simon Says Stamp celebrated "Stamp"tember like none other.  One of the days last month, they highlighted an Artist who inspires me immensely by the bucket's full. Her products, especially Art Parts, are to me like Lego's are to my son. I just want more, and more time to play with them, and don't ask me to clean them up. It's my creative crack so to speak! Of course you know that I am talking about the amazingly talented Wendy Vecchi!

I am also proud to be apart of the Everything Wendy Vecchi Yahoo Group, and I try to participate as much as I can. They...or should I say Lori...hold Making Art (appropriately named) Challenges (MAC) about every two weeks, and this challenge, #51, is to use a product that I've only seen Wendy utilize. She has many techniques for using it, and I've been fortunate enough to see her demonstrating with it personally. She is a genius people! You can watch  Wendy's video using Ranger's Adirondack Lights Snow Cap Pigment Ink from her Simon Says Stamp Guest Spot, where she demonstrates one of her techniques using this ink.

I decided to basically copy her steps, but use a Halloween theme instead, and of course, lots of Art Parts. 

For the first time ever I gathered everything I thought I would use in my plan, and I used it all, and everything came together. That has never happened.

I stamped the Wendy's footprints and the scroll, which will now be a wing, in Adirondack Pigment Ink in Snow Cap. I made a mask for the wing and stamped over it again with another to make the opposite side. I dried this with a heat gun. I used Distress Markers to color and blend the wings and feet. This was also dried. I then stamped the sentiment that the witch will be saying in the Pigment Ink as well.

I used Antique Bronze Metallic Distress Stain to stamp Tim's Halloween script. I used this to edge the border of the tag as well. I used his Splatter image (fly poop) to make random splotches using Brushed Pewter Metallic Distress Stain. My images were sort of lost after all this, so I outlined my wings using a silver pen, and gave the feet some Rock Candy Stickles.

I stamped Wendy's images in Jet Black Archival onto their coordinating Art Parts, put instead of using the man's face, I used Tim's skull.  I colored these with Distress Markers. I also stamped the skull on Ranger's Specialty Stamping Paper, cut it out, and adhered it to Skeletor. Both of them received the Stickles treatment, and some Black Glaze Pen highlights.

I used a small Residence Art Part to cut into a witches hat. I inked this with Black Soot Distress Ink and gave it a little Stickles bling, and attached it to the Hazel's head.

I used a small Art Part Hand, cut off the 3 lower fingers and thumb. I adhered the thumb to the reverse side of the hand, inked it all with Black Soot, and drew on the bones with a white pen. I added a coat sleeve made of scrap paper to the hand, and adhered it to Skeletor. I used a scrap piece from the hat, and made another finger. I glued it onto the 3 fingered part, inked these, and drew more finger bones.

I stamped Wendy's Love Potion image onto Tim's Label, but left the number part off. I drew in a 31 with an Orange Glaze Pen, and used it to trim the label border. I gave it a little Walnut Stain Distress Ink, and trimmed it to fit Wendy's Blossom Bucket Bottle. I colored it green with a Distress Marker and dried it, but it didn't stay very well. I inked the top part with Jet Black, then added a little Glossy Accents potion drippage. I adhered the 4 fingers on this and added to Skeletor.

I copied Wendy's technique for coloring Blossom Buckets. The bird is so shiny and wicked looking. I adhered it to Skeletor's sleeve. He also got a top hat.

Seam binding was colored like tie dye with Purple Twilight Color Wash and Antiqued Bronze Metallic Distress Stain, and used for the tags ribbons. I also stamped the main sentiment in Dusty Concord Distress Ink and heat embossed it with Ranger's Fine Clear Embossing Powder. I inked the edges in Black Soot, and attached it with foam tape.

I am also submitting this to The Blogger's Challenge for "Countdown To Halloween", and to Inspiration Journal's monthly challenge of "Spooktacular Halloween Decor".

Supplies:


I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!