A Quote for Monday

Last week's Tag Tuesday theme was On the Ocean Wave, and I happened to find this perfect sheet of patterned paper in my stash, and then I thought of one of my favorite quotes. Isak Dinesen was an amazing writer--who doesn't love Out of Africa--and she's certainly worth quoting for a Monday.

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch

Friends with Flair Friday

Happy, wonderful Friday! I am linking up to Unity Stamp's Friends with Flair Friday for the very first time. It's a little last-minute, and I'm linking up a tag I made last week...most people make cards, and I certainly plan on making lots of cards this month. But in the meantime I was playing with an Itty Bitty Unity stamp for this gelli-printed craft tag. Fun! Have a great weekend.

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch, Stamp

Tag Art Creativity ♥

 Tag Art Recipe: Old file folders, a tag punch, and whatever you have in your stash to decorate! You can do anything with tag art. You can also buy a good supply of shipping tags and have fun--I do that too. And whether you have a tag punch, a tag diecut, or a pair of scissors you can make your own tags out of used file folders, old greeting cards, or even cereal boxes.

 When it comes to file folders, I try to re-use them as much as possible. But at some point the tabs wear out, and that's why I keep a tag punch at the office! Before I throw them away I punch as many tags as possible and keep them in my stash. The other day I was gelli printing, and all those upcycled tags were painted within minutes!

Gelli printing

Embossing and decorating little tags

They were so cute with all that variety of gelli printing. I added lots of things from my stash--vintage buttons from my Aunt sis, craft buttons, little sentiments, embossing, gelato on the edges, punches from scrapbooking scraps, and even some stitching on the sewing machine.

Hearts punched from old dictionary and music pages

Adding flower stitch to the bottom

My Aunt Sis' vintage buttons

Finally I decided to put most of them together in one art piece. I had some burlap canvases from Michaels. For the base I added washi tape to the top and bottom, and then a sheet of scrapbook paper from a vintage pack I really liked. I added hemp cord to each tag, arranged them, and glued them down. Each one has a little inspirational sentiment and altogether, it's tag art!

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch

A dressy stitched-up tag ♥

This is one for the tag book I'll make eventually, and it's All Stitched Up--the past week's theme over on Tag Tuesday.

I have a few dress patterns so that I can easily snip out a fun dress, or even a wedding dress for a tag.

Here's a wedding tag I made for a gift a couple of week's ago.

Now that I have a Big Shot, I need to find some dress dies! In the meantime, I started this week's fabric tag with scraps of fabric from a chair cover I made. I remember the day my husband and I went fabric shopping for this chair at a huge fabric store, and how it was so nice to have his opinion and his muscles to carry the bolts for me! I use upholstery grade fabric for so many things--curtains, pillows, tote bags and more. And it's time to go shopping again!

I sewed this tag on the machine and did a little hand embroidery with DMC variegated cotton floss.

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch Happy

Tag Tuesday - Eyes Are the Theme

I love cute birdies with crowns!

Visit Tag Tuesday right here to see all the tags with this week's theme - Eyes.

My tag celebrates the song, His Eye Is On the Sparrow. This classic hymn is inspired by Matthew 6:26--Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

I fussy cut (but not too fussy) my bird out of a plain paper sack, and used scraps of pretty scrapbook papers (always keep your scraps) for the crown, beak, legs, the tag itself, and punched flowers.

I found the perfect sticker words in the same paper bag color in my new Tim Holtz idea-ology pad--love that thing.

Last week I bought a bag of flower-shaped buttons and I already have a few plans for them. I used some green floss to sew a few onto my tag and did a stem embroidery for the flowers.

I love the idea that my little bird is a princess who is well taken care of, so she needed a crown (also fussy cut) but before I glued her down, she went through my Texture Boutique with the birdies embossing folder. I used a brown ink pad to make the embossing stand out a little. Tags are so fun and relaxing to make. I am purposely making all my Tag Tuesday tags the same size  because I have plans for a Tag book--but the beauty of tags are that you can make them any size and shape you wish! Happy Tuesday!

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch, Sing

Paint Chip Tag for Tag Tuesday

It's Tag Tuesday! Today the theme is "complementary colors." I tend to collect those fabulous paint chip sample cards you can find at paint displays in hardware stores--not only are they a great reference for the paint colors, but many of them have beautiful interior decorating ideas and talk about the meaning behind the colors.

I've used paint chip sample cards for scrapbooking and art journaling so it was fun to make a tag out of one. Now I want to make lots of paint chip tags!

Visit Tag Tuesday here.

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch, Paint

I'm on the Tuesday Tag Team!

Starting today--I've joined the Tuesday Tag team! I'm so excited to be a contributor to Tag Tuesdays, and to get buckets of inspiration and motivation.

Visit Tag Tuesday Here

Today is the letter "Y" -- so I am jumping in a bit late to the end of their alphabet theme days. So, "Y" not? I'll do Y, and Z, and then we'll be on to some fun new themes. See you there!

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch, and do it on a tag

Not Just a Graduation Card--Stitch Together a Graduation Tag

If you can't find the perfect graduation card, but you want something special and creative to house your cash gift--stitch up a tag!

This one came together with some pretty paper scraps and a white cardstock base. I like the white base because we were able to write our message on the back. I used glue dots to adhere a little homemade envelope for the cash above the message.

There are four layers glued together here to make the sandwich. The third layer, a faint peach print was punched to look like lace on the bottom. The fourth layer has a mixed-media style design, and I punched the corners with a star punch. Then, with lime green embroidery thread I machine stitched down the two long edges of the top pretty scrapbook paper here, using a fun little floral stitch. But, you could use a zigzag, or even just a straight stitch.

 







I stamped my niece's name at the top, and smeared dark pink gelato under the stamping. I added a self-stick chipboard flower and glued on a piece of ric rac for the stem, and then added a sticker word "happy day" and the definition of "graduation" torn right out of an old dictionary, with more gelato smeared underneath, and finished the bottom with a wavy stamp.

If you can find a library booksale--buy old dictionaries--they are great for mixed-media art, art journaling, and all kinds of cards. I got a huge dictionary recently with the gold-edged pages for 25 cents!

Before finishing the top of the tag, I inked all the edges with a dark purple ink pad.

The top is finished with a floral grommet, ribbons, more of the ric rac, and a key. It's like a little piece of artwork for a special artist!

Making tags are so fun--you'll want to make a collection for yourself! They are also perfect to add texture and interest to your art journal.

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch a Tag