Let It Bee Tag

 

      My first project for Affordable Crafting is a large MDF tag, there is a pound coin in the photo for scale.  My efforts at mixed media are rather tame as I'm a 'less is more' kind of crafter, I struggle with adding lots of layers and bits and bobs, but I'm getting braver.

     

     I hunted high and low for some mustard colour paint I thought I had.....no luck, it's somewhere here I think!   So I chose a suitable paper as my base layer, this was stuck to the tag with a good PVA glue, brayered flat and left to dry.   Once dry I used an emery board to go around the edges and sand them off.

     Next was to hunt through my stash for anything Bee related, stamps, dies and odds. A torn strip of patterned paper added to one corner lifted the colour, then a die cut honeycomb gave it a more Bee related look. Using brown ink I stamped some hives in the other corner and coloured them in with watercolour pencils.

 

      Using a honeycomb stamp I added some pattern to the top corner but it was a bit too vague, so out came a stencil to add over the top, still not quite right. To add a stronger colour over the top I used another stamp that reflected the colour in the patterned paper on the opposite corner.....better.

     A couple of words stamped and embossed in gold lifted the whole look, just that splash of shine made all the difference. To frame the tag I used a Stix2 glue stick, dabbing the glue onto the tag with my finger, then dabbed the glued areas with gold foil, it gives a random distressed look when dabbed by hand.

     The big bee was stamped on cream card, coloured with the pencils and die cut before being shaped and stuck onto the tag with Glossy Accents, The button had a sting bow added before that too was stuck down with the Glossy Accents.

      I had the spotty mustard ribbon ready to add, a piece of the same string was lying on my desk but I couldn't find the right shade of narrow ribbon to pick out the rusty colours, then it dawned on me that I had white organser ribbon, so out came the Promarkers, result.  There is also a sting loop in with the ribbons so that the whole thing can be hung up.

     Please take a look at the Affordable Crafting website, you will find all manner of things to go with your stash making crafting exactly what they say, 'Affordable'.

I would like to enter this project in the following challenges:

The Paper Funday - #72 Anything Goes with paper

Creative Fingers - #292 Anything Goes

Pammies Inky Pinkies - #2502 Anything Goes

Snow Tag

     This months challenge at Christmas Craft Creations is to make tags or ATCs. 

     I started by die cutting some mountboard with a Bigz die, I like working on this because is thick enough not to distort when using wet glue or paint.

     I was going to use paint, but when I started rummaging through my stash I found a nice offcut of blue scrapbook paper, so I glue3d this to the board, let it dry and then sanded the edges smooth.

     I stamped several different snowflakes across the tag and embossed them in white. To make a pretty edge I used some silver gilding wax, I've found the best way to apply this is using the back of a piece of blending foam, it's firmer than my fingers so it's easier to get a good finish.

     A tiny gem in the middle of each snowflake added some shine but it needed sparkle. Using non shed glitter card I die cut some snowflakes and stacked them on thin foam pads and added it to the corner of my tag.

     A small length of silver organza ribbon finished off the tag. I like the simplicity of this, I could have added lots more to it but I think it's fine as it is.

I would like to enter this tag in the following challenges:

ABC Christmas - J~Jewels / K~Kids

Sparkles Christmas - #124 Use A Tag     (Spotlight Win)

CraftyHazelnut's Christmas - #541 Anything Christmas Goes

The Holly and Ivy - #94 Anything Christmas Goes

Merry Little Christmas - #34 Anything Christmas Goes

Lolly Stick Sledge

      With just a few weeks to Christmas my thought are moving from cards to decorations and with limited access to new stash I have been taking a much closer look at what I already have. This is my project for Not Just Cards, a challenge where cards are welcome along with any other hand crafted project.

     I have some wooden lolly sticks in a pot on my desk and after a quick look at Pinterest this is what I decided to do with some of them. I didn't think to colour the sticks before I stuck them together, so had to do it carefully after the glue had set, this left me with a rustic look. With the addition of a short length of string my sledge was complete. I set this aside while I started on my MDF tag.

     The tag was painted with white acrylic, then dry brushed with some blue paint, making sure to work in one direction only.

     Once the paint was dry I added some True Snow paste with a palette knife to add a little texture, while still wet I sprinkled some white bio-degradable glitter on it for a dash of sparkle.

     The sledge was stuck on with 3D PVA, it's a great strong glue that dries clear and seems to stick almost everything porous. I found some very small polystyrene balls in my stash so I stuck some next to the sledge.

     The words were die cut using some Tim Holt dies and stuck on with the 3D PVA. To finish off the rather messy back of the tag I stuck on a piece of patterned paper, then sanded the edges off once dry. With the addition of some ribbon and a twine loop to hang by the MDF tag was complete.

Materials List   (available from your local craft shop)
S57447 - MDF Tag set of 3

S57433 - Bio-degradable Glitter - White

S57262 - 3D PVA Glue from Stix2

I would like to enter this project in the following challenges:

Fezziwigs Festive Frolics - Anything BUT A Card

The Holly & Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes

Crimbo Crackers - Anything Christmas Goes

Dragonfly Dreams - Christmas/Winter

Craft Rocket - Christmas/Winter

Shades of Grey

      This weeks tag challenge from Albright of Diss is monochrome greyscale, monochrome is shades of one colour so it could be blues or greens, etc. this one has to be black, white and greys only.

      It took a while to decide what to make, then I remembered an old Woodware stamp of a flower that looks like it's been zentangled.
      I stamped in Versafine black on to a white tag, then covered that flower with Stix2 masking sheet. The amazing part about this is the last time I remember using the mask with this stamp was July of 2017, the mask was stored on the back of the laminated stamp packaging, it still worked! It took a little time to gently peel it off the packaging but it was perfectly alright to use, now that has to be value for money when it lasts that long, thank you Stix2.

      I stamped the second flower and covered that with another stored mask, then I stamped a few separate leaves to fill in some of the blank spaces.
      With all masks removed I had to decide the best way to colour this. It is recommended that you stamp in Memento when using alcohol markers, oops, I had used Versafine. I left the tag to dry thoroughly and then started with my markers, it didn't run, phew! I have a full set of Graph It pens so I chose the Natural Grey set numbers 0-7, there are numbers 8 & 9 but they're very dark and as this was stamped in black I thought it would be dark enough without them.
      My colouring is pretty basic, I am not very confident with these pens but I have tried to get some shading in there and as I'm bashing my stash then I at least have to try. The small background areas have been coloured with the palest grey so that any white areas on the flowers stand out more.
      I know it's meant to be shades of grey only but I had to sneak a tiny hint of silver in there to lift it a little, this I did with a Stix2 2in1 glue pen and some cold foil. The ribbons are both organza, one silver and the other coloured black with another alcohol pen. It actually looks better than I had hoped, imagine putting that on a red card blank for a striking greeting card.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:

Crafty Gals Corner - Flowers

Lemon Shortbread - Anything Goes

International Art & Soul - No Focal Image

The Artistic Stamper - In The Garden

Leaf It Out

     Through all this chaos us crafters seem to be pulling together very well, an example to others I think. There are lots of Facebook Live videos, the craft channels are still broadcasting and lots of wonderful independent shops are hosting challenges or posting tutorials. The only thing I would like to see is a few more blog posts for those not on Facebook.
      This tag was made for a challenge set by a local craft shop, the theme this week was leaves. It's just a bit of fun and a nice way for us to stay in touch, but it's only on Facebook. For those of you out there that are not all over social media I would heartily recommend trying some of the blog challenges you can find listed on Paper Playful.

     This tag started as cream card, die cut with a Sizzix Bigz die. Using Distress Inks I coloured the tag with three shades of green and one brown. The droplets were stamped in Versafine black over the Distress Ink, then using a water brush I lifted the colour out of the droplets to lighten them.
      I ran the tag through a leaf vein embossing folder while still a little damp so I would get crisper creases. To get the gold across the veins I used gilding wax applied with the back of a blending foam square. Two things I learnt when doing this were the hard foam gives a great cover on raised areas only (thanks Dot) and if it does get on the card in the wrong place a glue eraser will get it off.
      The foliage was die cut from dark green card to go with the tatty white daisy, the centre of which was made using Flowersoft. I was going to put three daisies on but that didn't look right as the tag is quite short.
      Each tiny droplet has a white highlight spot added with a gel pen, I thought it looked alright at that point but still a bit flat, lightbulb moment, then I added Glossy Accents to each drop and now they look like real raindrops. The raindrops on a leaf is something I have had floating around in my head for ages, the first one didn't look too good so that's been filed for resurrection at a later date, throw nothing away unless it's a total disaster. To finish off I coloured a length of cotton ribbon with the same Distress Inks, dried it with a heat gun and added it to the top of the tag.

Time to Bash The Stash.

Materials List    Mostly available from your local craft shop
Sizzix Bigz die 38-0946   (very old)
Distress Inks - Sage, Olive, Moss, Corduroy.
Stamp - Water Effects 1 Designs By Ryn
Stamp Press
Versafine Onyx Black
JND118 - Tatty Daisy die
Creative Expressions - Evergreen Branches
Flowersoft - yellow   (also very old)
Strong PVA Glue
Embossing folder - Leaf Vein 8x8 Crafters Companion
Glossy Accents
Pebeo Gilding Wax - Empire Gold

I would like to enter this tag in the following challenges:

Stamping Sensations - Spring Florals

Use Your Stuff - Spring

Creative Fingers - Anything Goes

Southern Girls - Anything Goes

Tags To Die(cut) For

     At Christmas we need tags and for those special gifts we need special tags, what could be more special than handcrafted tags.

     These tags are pre-cut Kraft tags ready to be decorated and measuring 4.75 x 2.5 inches they are just the right size for some die cuts.
     For the snow I have used the white fabric spray paints, working outside I sprayed from about 18 inches above the tag to get the snowfall effect.   
    The village scene is a new die from Sizzix, cut in Stardust card with D/S sticky sheet on the back, one die cut will fit two tags. The greetings are also Sizzix dies and they are cut from Silver Tinted card stuck down with PVA glue.
     To get the silver edge I used a Stix2 2in1 glue pen, running it along the edge and smudging it with my fingers to make it random. The next step was to go over the edges with silver transfer foil which sticks perfectly to the glue.
     All that remained was to find some ribbon to add a splash of colour to a very neutral tag. These would look good on parcels wrapped in plain brown paper stamped with a very simple tree image and tied up with red and white bakers twine.

Materials list - available from your local craft shop
Stix2 Anything -    Stardust Card - White
                             Tinted Card - Silver
                             Shiny Transfer foil silver
                             Kraft Tags
                             2in1 Glue Pen
                             PVA Glue
                             Fabric Spray - White

Other items -        Sizzix Thinlit Dies - Landscape Border, TH Holiday Words
                             Ribbon

I would like to enter these tags in the following challenges:

Southern Girls - Tag, You're It

ABC Christmas - S for snow/T for teal

The Holly and Ivy - Anything Christmas

The Male Room Symmetrical Challenge

    This fortnights challenge at The Male Room is all about symmetry, there are some great examples over on the blog from our DT.

      I started with a white tag which I coloured with red Distress Ink, making the edges much darker than the middle, this was dried off with heat. The next step was to add some pattern to the background, using a stencil and Distress Oxide Hickory Smoke I worked the pattern on to the tag, this was also dried off with a gentle heat. The next layer was to go over the whole tag with the same grey Oxide ink to dull it all down a little, to finish the tag was spritzed and flicked with water.

      Using a Sizzix die I cut the Dapper gentleman in black card and then the bow tie and hat band in dark red. The black card was taped to the tag to use as a guide because I wanted to use the cut out parts, this helped me place the die cuts in exactly the right place to build the picture.
     Once removed the black card can be used to make another project, it could be a card to match the tag for a birthday.
     I have kept the ribbon simple by staining some cotton ribbon with the same Distress Inks used on the tag.
     Please come and join us at The Male Room with your masculine symmetrical projects, we would love to see what you make.

I would like to enter this tag in the following challenges:

The Paper Girls - Masculine Birthday   (F)

ARTastic - Black, White and one other   (M)

Seasons Greetings From The Male Room

     This will be our last challenge of the year at The Male Room, you have almost three weeks to link up your masculine project this time.

     I picked up a box of kraft tags with a reel of twine and a bunch of mini pegs at a bargain price. They came in a neat little box with an acetate lid and a little card sleeve cover. I have ditched the cover in favour of a coloured twine wrap to be added when all the tags are decorated.
     Each tag has either a die cut shape, a stamp or both, in traditional colours and edged with brown ink. They can be used as gift tags or pegged to the twine to form a hanging decoration.
     The Male Room will return on the 3rd of January with a brand new challenge, have a very happy holiday season.

I would like to enter my tags in the following challenges:

Christmas At Sweet Stampin' - Anything Christmas Goes   (M)

A Snowflakes Promise - Anything Christmas Goes   (M)

CraftyHazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes   (M)

The Holly And The Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes   (F)

Male Room Fossil

     Our new challenge at The Male Room is mixed media, you can make a card or any other project as long as it's masculine mixed media. I didn't want to use a canvas so I die cut a tag from mount board for my base.

     Using some stencils I added Henry and a couple of ammonites with texture paste, Then the tag was coloured with Distress Oxide in Fossilised Amber, Broken China and Vintage Photo. I used a wet stencil to remove some ink, which doesn't show all that well, then spritzed and flicked to get more variation.
     The edges are darkened with Distress Ink in corresponding colours but Henry is coloured with Black Soot because he just didn't stand out enough, I rather like the pale lines around him as it gives him a feint glow.
     Using the Distress Inks I have stamped a pebble texture type pattern to add interest to the background, there is also a fossilised fish stamped above Henry's head.

     The word 'dig' is die cut in dark brown card and stuck on near Henry. There are also some interesting beach finds stuck to the tag, the stone may or may not be a fossil, but it looks like it could be so that's close enough for my tag.
     The label is die cut from the same mount board, inked dark brown and then covered with gold gilding wax and polished. I did have a dictionary definition but I messed it up, so had to type this one instead, it's on white card stamped with a craze pattern and covered with acetate.  All that remained was to add some twine to the top and Henry's tag was finished.
     Our challenge runs for two weeks, so hopefully that will give you enough time to come up with a masculine mixed media project to show us. Please have a look at the DT inspiration for a few ideas.

I would like to enter this tag in the following challenges:

2 Sisters On The Blog - Beach   (M)

Delicious Doodles - Beside The Sea   (M)

Eclectic Ellapu - Seaside or Summer Colours   (M)

Take A Word -Sea Creatures   (I hope fossilised ones count)  (W) 

MHK Designs Monthly Inspration

     This month we are celebrating all things seasonal so I have chosen to make a special tag for a special gift. For this tag I have used two image sets, Season's Greetings and Deck The Halls, along with a paper set Christmas Past.
     To begin I covered a tag with a paper from Christmas Past and coloured the edges, then printed the stocking from Deck The Halls and Father Christmas from Season's Greetings. The stocking I die cut tag shaped, coloured and then used embossing powder to decorate the edge. Father Christmas was die cut on a circle and mounted behind a die cut frame.
    Father Christmas was stuck flush on to the large tag but the small tag was stuck on using foam pads, making sure the holes lined up. To finish I have added ribbons, twine and a gold bell.

Season's Greetings

Deck the Halls

   

Christmas Past

     Don't forget our challenge gives you the chance to win some MHK Designs sets and you don't even have to use our images to enter!

I would like to enter this tag in the following challenges:

Merry Monday Christmas - Summer Link Up  (Aug 31)

Christmas at Sweet Stampin - Anything Christmas   (F)

Try It On Tuesday - Tags   (F)

MHK Designs June Challenge

     For MHK Designs challenge this month we have a seaside theme so I have used Sea Creatures to make my tag. You do NOT have to use an MHK Designs image to enter although we would love it if you did.

       This tag was made using an image from Sea Creatures overlaid on a paper from Country Farm. The images have had a colour change using my photo package.
      I used to think digi images were just print and colour in but once I started palying around with them in my photo package I realized they can be so much more. Change the colour, the size and the orientation making them suit you project.

     In this picture you can see that all of my DT projects for today have had a seaside theme, with all but one using MHK Designs images and papers. All of these projects are a series of small gifts for family and friends to enjoy during the warmer weather.



      Remember you do NOT need to use an MHK Designs image to enter our challenge but just by entering you could win some, so come along and join us.

Sea Creatures

Country Farm

   







 

June 2017

I would like to enter this tag in the following challenges:

Crafty Sentiments - Not A Card   (W)    winner
The Paper Shelter - Digital    (W)
Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps - Anything Goes   (W)

A Proper Gent

     When making my project for The Male Room last week I made this tag as well with one of the new Woodware stamps.

     Starting with a blank Tim Holtz Sizzix die cut tag I used Distress Oxides and a TH stencil to create a tartan style background, making sure I used the colours that would match the patterned paper I planned to use for the waistcoat.
     I also stamped a few circles over the tag just to break up all those straight lines.
     The waistcoat was stamped and embossed in blue on some patterned paper, then the inside of the waistcoat was coloured blue with an alcohol marker before being cut out ready for the tag.
     I stamped and embossed a greeting on a Stix2 kraft tag and after a little trim added it to the main tag using thin foam pads, making sure the hole was directly over the large tag hole. There are three lengths of twine in various shades threaded through both tags.
     With the addition of a little gold relief to the buttons the waistcoat was ready for mounting on the tag, this was done with thicker foam pads so it sits on top of the small tag. A little gold ink added around the edge of the tag completed the look, it's now ready to add to a gift.

I would like to enter this tag in the following challenges:

Cuttlebug Mania - You're Tagged    (2W)

Die Cuttin Divas - All About Tags    (W)

My Time To Craft - Masculine   (2W)

Send A Smile 4 Kids - Dads or Special Males   (2W) 

MHK Designs - Hoppy Easter

     This is the second of our new releases at MHK Designs for this month, getting ready for Easter.
     As most Easter eggs come packaged in a nice fancy box I thought I'd make a tag to add to that box so I can add a message to my gift.
     I started with a cream tag and used a stencil and some ink to colour the background. I wanted to add some decorative eggs to the tag so I printed off some papers from Egg-cellent Easter and die cut them, once die cut I coloured the edges with co-ordinating colours and stuck them flat on to the tag.
     The image from Hoppy Easter is printed on off white card in brown and then die cut. The edges are coloured with a brown ink to add to the vintage look. Using thin foam pads the image egg is added to the tag as the focal point.
     For the greeting I printed on white card, die cut and coloured while still in the die, this is also mounted on thin foam pads. With the addition of some ribbon the tag is complete.
     We have some more new sets to show you later in the month and lots of inspiration on the MHK Designs blog, so please pop over and join us. You could also win one of the new sets, just by following the simple instructions on the blog.

Hoppy Easter

Egg-cellent Easter

     

     I would like to enter this tag in the following challenge:

Cards and More - Pets or Other Furry Friends

MHK Designs Christmas In July - Deck The Halls

      MHK Designs Christmas in July is showcasing Deck The Halls today, for this project I've teamed it up with the paper set by the same name.

     I have printed four copies of the tree, two are in reverse so they can be matched up to form a dimensional tree. All four have been coloured the same with a mix of markers and glitter, then scored down the middle and folded. Each folded tree is glued to the next, there were a few tiny white edges so they have been coloured with the same pens to hide them.
     The backing design was printed on thick paper, then stamped with Versamark using a multi-lingual Christmas greeting stamp and finally brushed with gold mica powder. The edges are coloured with a little gold metallic paint.
     Once dry the backing was stuck onto a large white tag coloured green with Distress ink. The tree was stuck down on the right so a mirri card die cut greeting could be added on the left.
      To add a little more interest to the tag there is a die cut bauble carrying a greeting from the stamp set stuck on with foam pads over the bakers twine from the ribbon adornment, this was coloured with Distress ink while the die was still in place to get that even white border.

Deck The Halls

Deck The Halls Paper Set

     There are more Christmas releases to come from MHK Designs so please pop over to the MHK Designs blog for some inspiration. If you can't wait to see what the releases are then head over to the MHK Designs Etsy shop to see the full release.

I would like to enter this tag in the following challenge:

Holly Jolly - Inspired by a Song  (Trim up the tree, How the Grinch stole Christmas)

MHK Designs Christmas Silhouette

   Today sees the launch of another gorgeous digi set from MHK Designs, this one is called Christmas Silhouettes. To see more inspiration pop over to our Facebook Page MHK Designers and Friends.

     I made a tag rather than a card this time, I'm going to need a few of these so this will help build my stash.
     The silhouette image is printed on to a dig backing paper from MHK Designs set called Christmas Past. I've mounted the image panel on black to make it stand out a little more.
     To continue the star theme I embossed some red card with stars, added a gold star brad and stuck it onto a plain tag so I can still write on the back of it.
      The greeting is from the silhouette set printed on white card and die cut with a label die, coloured while the die was still on the card and mounted on foam pads. There are two ribbons and a bakers twine through the hole, one is plain green and the other is red with Merry Christmas on it.

      Both these sets are available from MHK Designs Etsy shop, along with many more non Christmas digi's.

I would like to enter this tag in the following challenges:

Hiding In My Craft Room - Christmas Colours

A Gem Of A Challenge - Anything Christmas

Holly Jolly - Embossing

Sweet Stampin' Christmas - Stars