Tim's Tags of 2013:March - Friday 22nd March

Tim's Tags 2013 - March

Hello Friends!

Well, my social media training day went really well yesterday...it was great to actually sit through a workshop and be encouraged to use our smartphones and tablets to tweet!

My friend and colleague from a partner Volunteer Centre, Kim was a great help - she loves doing all the foodie stuff for events, which is my pet hate - so I looked after the organising of the trainer and participants and Kim did all the food: what a perfect day!

I didn't think I was going to get my tag made this month, but I did! This is Tim Holz's Tag for us to base our creations on: you can find the details here

And this one below is mine:

Mine was totally a 'based on' as I didn't have the dies and stamps that Tim used, so I just had to 'adlib'. I had really been hoping he would use the new Easter Blueprint stamps as I have that set, but alas he chose a bunny die...but heck, I still went with the blueprint bunny!

I stamped the bunny on black card with Indigo Blu Flitterglu and then covered it with Yorkshire Dales megaflakes...it's a shame that the photo doesn't show the effect so well. I then die cut a frame using Spellbinders Labels Four Small and glued the bunny to blue glitter card before sticking it to the back of the frame.

I used a #10 Tag,which I  backed with Tim Holz Ideology Seasonal (Easter) paper, not really intending to cover it up so much, but never mind! 

Tim used a die to create the grass, but I cut mine freehand using Coredinations paper, which I sanded and to which I added a little Mustard Seed distress ink for highlights.

Before fixing the framed bunny to the label, I tied the pink ribbon around it and then tucked it in behind the grass. Finally I used some die-cut and punched flowers to decorate.

The sentiment is by Creative Expressions, die-cut using Spellbinders Fancy Tags.

Thanks for stopping by!

Love,

Carole X

TAP Tutorial - Thursday 21st March

Good Morning Friends,

A scheduled post today, I've been organising a big social networking training event at work and today's the day- thankfully, much as I enjoy social media, I don't have to teach it - we have a real expert for that - but, with the help of a colleague and friend from another Volunteer Centre, I have to make sure it all runs smoothly!

Welcome to my new follower and thank you very much for choosing to join my little corner of crafty blog-land!

Here is the mini tutorial I promised, showing the technique used to make my stamped bag

This is to create a project with a stamped image, but you can use TAP with your inkjet printer, remembering to print in mirror image mode if your artwork contains words, or freehand drawing.

As well as a hot iron (with steam turned off), these are the basic materials and tools you need:

Your stamp(s) of choice (try to avoid too much writing if stamping, as your image will be reversed); TAP paper; stazon ink, distress inks or your choice of colouring tools - pro markers, watercolours.whatever you like, but don't make your paint medium too wet as the paper can tear; you can transfer on to card, material, canvas..anything that will take an iron.

Stamp your image on to the white side of the TAP. This paper is expensive; it works out at about £2 per A4 sheet, but I have used those cheaper Tee shirt inkjet transfer papers in the past to make Tee shirts and I really can see the quality in this. The images really do look like they have been printed, it's amazing. You just have to remember to use it with care. The bag I made was big but I managed to make the whole project with one sheet. You could of course stamp direct on to some materials, but stamping on to TAP, makes colouring the image much easier, cleaner and vibrant.

Once you have stamped the image, colour as you wish.  I used a mix of distress inks blended with a little water for this project.

Using a hot iron place the TAP on your surface with the image face down and iron evenly all over. I only did this small image for about 10 seconds, but if you peel away a corner  slowly and it shows the image transferred underneath, you should be fine. If not, put it back and iron some more.

Here is the finished bag, the white line is only showing around because I put a piece of card inside, it's not actually on the bag. This image has a little writing, so I added some colourful tulips over the words. As you can see, I also made one earlier, which I framed and also added a few butterflies. TAP is available from quite a few places, I got mine and the bags from Crafty Individuals.

Thanks for stopping by!

Love,

Carole X