12 Tags of 2012 - Tag#1

Tim Holtz has started a new thing on his blog. Instead of doing the 12 tags of Christmas, he is going to be doing the 12 Tags of 2012, the whole year, one per month. Sounds like a pretty good idea. I did put together a few tags this morning for my closest co-workers and although they are not exactly like the one that he made, I think they will suffice. What do you think? I white embossed the only Happy Valentine's Day stamp I have, down the side. Die cut the heart and the cupid out of different patterned papers I found in my stash. Added some bling and some pearls plus a baubble at the top, which was a silver heart that I had in my stash and a TH pearl attached with one of his pins. I colored some seam binding with the same colors I used on the tags and signed the back of them. I finished all three of them in one hour this morning before I went to work. That's really fast for me, I usually take 2-3 days putting something together, lol! I really think they turned out pretty cute. Hope you had a great Valentine's Day!!! Hugs, ~Jody

Happy Valentine's Day 2012

Hi peeps, have several things I want to share with you today. I have been pretty busy. First off, we had our Valentine's Tea Party last Sunday at the Milk n'Honey Tea Room in Tampa. Everyone was supposed to bring a valentine for each guest, there were to be 15 in all. These are the ones that I came up with... I first embossed the front of each black card with hot pink embossing powder and an old CTMH background stamp. Then I die cut the center out of it with Spellbinders scalloped hearts die. I was able to find some paper in my stash that matched the pink embossing powder almost exactly so I inked the edges of each square and put that on the inside. Then I made some little 'glass' hearts out of shrink film and some UTEE melted in the melting pot. Tim Holtz at his best, lol! I drug mine across a piece of aluminum foil and let them dry on there and it gave this really cool texture on the bottom of them. I then colored them with alcohol inks in three different shades of red. They each turned out differently of course, but each one was so unique, very pretty, and the tea ladies loved them. The table was all decorated with hearts and such and each person had all their Valentine's there as well. There were four different sandwiches, scones and lavender bread and several delicious desserts. We definitely did not go away hungry!!! Then I had to make some sugar cookies for work today, well I didn't have to but I do love me a good sugar cookie, lol and it's rude to eat in front of others so I made a whole batch! I frosted them with light pink frosting and then I cut another heart shape out of the Spellbinders die and some more shrink film, except this time I didn't shrink it, I used it for a template over each cookie and poured red sugar on each one. I think it made about 4 dozen cookies so I had plenty. I took some to my daughter, whom I got to see after the tea party. It had been a while and it was very good to see her. I had to sample a couple while making them of course and I gave a couple to my maintenance man neighbor. They were well received at all places, lol!

Long Time No Post

Yes, bloggers, it has been quite a while since I have been able to post. I have been so busy that at night I just end up crashing on the couch instead of posting about all of it. Let me start off by saying, buying a new vehicle is EXHAUSTING!!! I have been on the hunt for about 6 months now and had not found any body worth working with up until last weekend. I knew a few months back what kind of vehicle I was wanting. I just had to find the right deal with the right salesman for the right vehicle. I finally found all three wrapped in to one, YEAH! I am now the proud new owner of a black 2010 Ford Escape. It is just the perfect little truck for me. I traded in my old '97 Ford Explorer which was a bit bigger than this one is. This one is smaller, not by much, but lots better on gas. It still has cargo room in the back so I can haul 'stuff' around, lol. It rides very smooth and is pretty zippy. Have had to really watch the gas pedal AND the brakes, if you know what I mean. I looked at the Edge but didn't care for the white dials for speedometer and such and it didn't sit up as high as the Escape. The Explorer of course wasn't as good on gas so I decided on the Escape, I think it just perfect, for ME!!! So with out further ado............................................TA DA, here's is my new ride!!! Loving it ALOT!!! The seat adjuster works on the driver's seat, the seat belt works and the wiper fluids work, all three of which did not work any longer in my old green truck. I had to buy a $1 spray bottle at Wal-Mart and fill it with window washer fluid to squirt out the window while driving just so I could clean the window on the driver's side, lol. The other side worked just fine. Why is that always the case, the one you need to work goes out and the other side is just fine, lol!!! Or does that stuff just happen to me??? Anyway, that is a done deal and I am so excited. I had to make another calendar for a friend's birthday that was today so now I can start on some Valentine's Day cards. Have to have 15 for Sunday's tea party and wanted to get some cookies made too. We'll see how much I get done this weekend. Hope ya'll have a great weekend! Hugs, ~Jody

Calendar #2

I've just finished the second calendar. I think it turned out even better than the first one. I used some CTMH elements on it and some TH elements and I love how they are meshed together. I'm positive the recipient will adore this calendar. There is not another one like it anywhere in the world, lol! Hope you all have a great Saturday and GO BRONCOS!!!!! Hugs, ~Jody

Better late than never..................

I have finished the first four tags of the Tim Holtz 12 tags of Christmas. Ya, a little behind but who cares. First up is the Noel. I changed the color of the glitter to a turquoise blue. I thought that his white glitter didn't stand out much from the whiteish back ground of the snowflakes. My pennant is a little bigger also so I added another pine cone up in the top left hand corner and more festive greenery. I also used the bigger banner because of the size, as well. So pretty! Second up is the Deer. Looks pretty much like his except I had to run the decorative banner up one side as opposed to his being across the bottom of his tag. My wreath is actually a sparkly pipe cleaner. Added just that little bit of sparkle that was needed. Next up is the Christmas one. This is actually a stamp that has an embossing folder that matches it. It was a little tricky to match them up. Tim said to shift it down about an eighth of an inch but that didn't work for mine. I had it dead on and it seemed to work better for me. I like the heirloom glitter spray that this was sprayed with, very vintage looking, I think.Tag #4 is very festive. Love the feather in the hat along with the pearls. Forgot to add that when I took the first picture so had to go back and add it. Adds a lot, I think. The '25' cut out is very fun too. Those mover and shapers that he has are quite cute, will need to get some more of those. Even the plastic packaging that we cut out of the flurries die turned out great. Will take time out to make a few more calendars first but I will be back with some more tags in a few days. Thanks for stopping by. Hugs, ~Jody

My Latest Creation

Took a break from the 12 tags of Christmas to make a calendar for my craft room. Got the inspiration from Anne's Paper Fun blog and added a bit to make it my own. It turned out so well, I dearly love it. I used the bottom of a CTMH box (cardboard), covered most of it with Ranger's Distress Crackle paint-Picket Fence and let it dry. I printed the calendar days on my computer and distressed them with vintage photo and a few wrinkles of the hand. Then I placed them as evenly as I could, lol, on the cardboard and went to town embellishing. The hanger I made from a regular wire hanger, improvised. I didn't purchase anything, I just used stuff that I have in my stash. The '2012' is black embossed with a CTMH stamp on to grungeboard and cut out. Too, too, cute!!! Is that not the cutest calendar you have ever seen??? Now to make a few more for gifts! Hope your 2012 is going well! Hugs, ~Jody

Although...............

Christmas is over, I still have a few things I wanted to share. I have been out of town a bit so didn't get to these things until now. The card I made for my daughter, she dearly loved! It was the only one I got made this year, what with the Annual Christmas Tea Party and then leaving town so soon after. I even tried out the new pine cone die from Tim Holtz. It makes the cutest pine cones. Not bad for my first try. I will making some more of these for the 12 Tags of Christmas which I started yesterday. Almost have my first one done. I will try to post it later today. I also tried my hand at the little tree TH made out of the rosette die. It is just the cutest thing, LOVE IT! Enjoy, Hugs, ~Jody

So have you seen the TH Trinket Box........

they are just the cutest things. It's about 6" x 8" and has three latches on it. One on each of the two sides and one on the top where the handle is.

And then when you open it, both sides come down to reveal these little trays that can hold all your ideology findings and some other stuff too, lol!

Then when you pull out the trays, they stairstep out and you have four little trays to fill up too! And then there is the bottom, which is the full width of the whole case, so, you like have a big space down there, as well!

There was so much space, I had to go get more stuff, lol!!! Just love this little thing, it is so compact and it fits perfectly on my shelf between all my inks and stains. YEAH!!! Maybe you should put this on your Christmas list, hugh? Hope you get everything you want! Hugs, ~Jody

Ok, now we're talking..............................

Have you been following Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas? I have but so far had not been too impressed. The first one was great but it went downhill from there for me. Liked the snowman one too but it was basically the same color as the first one. I guess I'm in to colorful things, lol! Anyway, I really like the vintage look too, so that would probably explain why I REALLY like Tag #7. I will be doing most of the tags, maybe all of them but I had a few other things to get finished up first before I started on these. I am trying to not leave any loose ends this Christmas season. Too many times I get started on something and SOMETHING ELSE catches my eye and I end up leaving some of those ideas behind (and a trail of items too). Hopefully this coming weekend, I will be free to start doing tags. Hope you are having a joyous Christmas season. Hugs, ~Jody

Just a peek.....................

at some of the decorations for the Annual Christmas Tea Party. I have all the tags done and the menu is planned, just need to do a little grocery shopping. I will be putting up my house decorations today and getting that all ready. It's getting kind of exciting around here, lol!! Love, Love, Love the Christmas season! Hope your holiday festivities are in full swing and you are loving every minute of it! Merry Christmas! Hugs, ~Jody