Thankful...

Yes, I am thankful. About a month ago, we had a terrible fire that burned our garage to the ground. The fire took the building and all four of our vehicles. Thankfully - no one was hurt. Thankfully - the firemen saved the house. Thankfully - we were insured. Thankfully - we can replace the "stuff." So yes, today, one month and one day later, I am thankful!

One thing that has gotten me through the pain of it all has been crafting. There were days that I picked a tutorial and just followed the steps through to completion. If it took me a day, great, because my mind was just so scattered elsewise. I have been wading through paperwork and phone calls and internet car-shopping (yep!), so the relief I found in creating cards, tags and art (love my Art Parts) was palpable. Now that things are settling down, I can breathe a bit again. But there is still art to be made!!

Here is a tag I made for Tim Holtz's monthly tag (Twelve tags of 2012). I didn't have some of the stamps n stuff he used -- I still need to resist the urge to buy every little supply for a project, lol!! I made do and had fun with this one - it uses a lot of the techniques we learned in CC101. It was nice to bring back old memories.

June Tag - Tags of 2012

I am cramming in these creations the last few days, and I am in under the wire finally getting to my June tag for Tim Holtz's tags of 2102. This month Tim showed us a technique to colorize a printed photo using the Ranger craft nibs. They are cool, and even better, they are re-usable... just rinse them out when you're done and they are ready to go again.

Thanks once again to the The Graphics Fairy for her free graphic--the vintage photo of the young girl holding some roses. I tried two types of photo paper to print on, but both smeared when I went to apply the ink. So I decided to print on Ranger's Specialty Stamping paper. Worked pretty good, only got minimal smearing, even though I dried it with my heat tool.

Anyways, I used Worn Lipstick and Forest Moss DI for the roses, Tattered Rose for the hairband, and Scattered Straw for her hair. I finished colorizing the edges of the photo with... what else, Vintage Photo, lol!! A few TH embellishments finish off my tag!

Goin' Whimsical

Here's a whimsical little card I made for the Inspiration Emporium's monthly challenge, entitled "Create A Little Sunshine." I took the challenge literally, as I have used a nice bright sun, stamped from a set from Our Crafty Lounge. I haven't had my Copics out in a while and I thought this was a chance to try them on the Ranger Specialty Stamping Paper. That paper is fantabulous!! Copics have a tendency to bleed through a lot of papers, as you know, but the Ranger paper holds up extremely well... takes stamped ink beautifully as we know, so stamping in black is a breeze. And then the absorption of the Copic ink is just right for blendability. Love it!!

Thanks to the Inspiration Emporium for the chance to win a $50 gift certificate!!