December "Person"

Sister sent me three photos, and she was “sure” that I would use the one of the limo. Yes, I was definitely interested in it, but I saw a lot more design possibility in the one that I chose (the little girl). I saw the bubble wrap in the picture, and knew immediately that I would use Tim’s bubble wrap stamp.  Rather than trying to imitate the girl’s dress, I used Tim’s dress form and cut out a pink, white and black dress from one of the (numerous) paper pads that I purchased at convention. I had just purchased the Cricut Graphically Speaking cartridge, and the word “girl” was included in it.  I cut it out of plain cardstock, colored it with Hickory Smoke Distress Ink and then added several layers of UTEE to give it a glossy shine. The dress form is mounted on an Action Wobble because I imagine that the little girl was all fidgety while shopping. Journaling on the back:  Sue thought I would use the picture of the limo. It did cross my mind, but I decided to use the girl instead. See the bubble wrap dots on the tag? They mimic the bubble wrap on the shelf. This was a fun one for sure!

Here is her original photo:

November "Place"

 

Sister found and photographed this place during one of her retreat trips (I think).  My name is Dodie, which isn't exactly a very common name.  It's one of those names from when I was a kid and always was disappointed because I couldn't find a mug or a cute necklace or one of those bicycle license plates with my name on it.  Lo and behold, though, there it was on the sign of a restaurant in the Dallas area!  I guess good things really do come to those who wait!

 

The "2" bingo piece signifies the two of us.  Now that our parents are no longer living, it's just her and me to represent our family.  The fibers for the tag holder have been living in my stash for at least four years.  I knew I was saving it for something special!

 

Isn't the alcohol ink paper gorgeous?  I love creating with it, especially since it is virtually impossible to make a duplicate!  What fun!

 

Throughout this project, it's been great to go "shopping" in my stash of handmade flowers.  These two flowers are no exception.  The larger one is made of crinoline, a technique I learned from Tammy Tutterow.  The smaller one is a cut from the Cricut Flower Shoppe cartridge. 

 

I added one of Tim Holtz's word charms ... the "found" is perfect because of how she found the restaurant!

 

I made a bow out of some lace in my stash and used more of the fibers to tie it.

 

And, finally, I added some of Tim's Chit Chat stickers with the sentiment that i love my sister. 

October "Place"

 

This tag was a real stretch.  You can see the logo for Merrill Lynch on the corner of the building.  As much as I love blue, the photo was almost totally blue.  Sister sure made it tough to make this tag!

 

Aren't the blue and green sparkly fibers adorable?  Sister gifted them to me during my trip to Texas in 2015.  They have been resting in my drawer, waiting for the perfect place to use them.  This was the perfect place!

 

I added quite a bit of stamping to the background, a background courtesy of Creative Chemistry 103.  I also added stamping to the photograph to give it some more interest.

 

I thought that the keyhole was a perfect addition to the picture.  (Shh ... I added it because the stamping didn't go all the way to the end of the picture.)  The flower was in my flower stash as was the blue fabric flower.  I'm really enamored with adding cheesecloth to the back of the photos.

Here's one last view of the bottom of the tag.  As difficult as it was to come up with an idea, it all gelled in the end.

 

September "Person"

 

Sister sent this photo of a little girl with ribbon tied around her foot.  Was it in place of a shoe?  I don't know.  There's a honeycomb decoration on the furniture behind the foot, and I knew that Tim's honeycomb on the edge die was a perfect match.  I cut it out of grey cardstock and added several layers of clear embossing powder to give it a shiny look, similar to the real thing.

 

I actually had to make a trip to Joann's to get the ribbon.  From the picture, it appears that it is a close, if not perfect, match.  The little girl's foot was so fancy-schmansy that I knew that a diamond flourish was a perfect addition!

 

See how the ribbon is criss-crossed on her foot?  I mimicked that on the card.  Cool beans!

 

 

My bow-tying skills leave something to be desired, so I went shopping in my stash for something inspired by the poufy bow on her foot.  The black organza flower that I made about two years ago was perfect!  And I had already embossed it with some really cool embossing powder ... the same stuff I used on the reinforcer on the top of the tag.  What a coincidence, huh?

 

 

 

August "Thing"

The August person/place/thing photograph that I chose was the "thing" one sister sent to me.  The picture is of a parking place at the Ikea store.  As soon as I saw it, I knew that this would be the photo I used!  I have had the male and female dies for forever, and this was a perfect use for it. 

 

I chose to use enjoy the journey because a trip to Ikea is certainly a journey. The fabric through the top of the tag's hole is Tim's Eclectic Elements fabric; it's hard to see in the photo, but it is a map, which certainly goes with the journey theme.  In fact, every time I go to Ikea (okay, it's only been twice) I feel like I need a map to navigate through it.

 

 

Yep, you are here alright.  I wonder if there are guideposts to help you when you get into the parking lot?

 

Finally, the number two goes along with the two stick figures and the two die cuts.  What a fun time I had creating this tag!

July "Thing"

 

Throughout this project, I have been stumped as to what to do with the photos.  Not this month!  As soon as I saw the picture, I knew exactly what I was going to do.

I wanted to make it appear as though the photo is part of the background.  I played around with the fence and the “hay” behind it.  Then I had the idea to cut trees to make the tag into a 3D scene.  I originally colored the sky with just shades of blue Distress Ink, but then I decided to add some yellow tones as well, making it appear as if the sun was shining behind the clouds.  The trees were cut using my Cricut Explore, and I colored them with Distress Inks as well as crumpling the paper to give the trees even more texture.

The “7” is colored with various alcohol inks, and I added a star on top of the star in the photo.  I used some copper glitter paper for the background and a copper “ribbon” for the tag tie.

What an idyllic scene … deep in the heart of Texas!

 

 

Here is her original photo:

June "Place"

In June, sister sent me a picture of the entry to "The Wild Nest," a store she frequents.  I cropped it down to include only the pot of flowers and the chevron design by the door.  I followed the theme using the colors and stripes in the photo. You can also see a heart on the wall which I duplicated and added to the tag.

Sister sent me some really neat fibers that had been fused together to create a butterfly shape.  I added those to the tag to give it even more bling.  The wire around the ribbon through the hole is one of Tim's tiny hangers, and this tag will hang from it on the Clip Carousel instead of using a clip.

Aren't these flowers just too cute?  Again, the pink and black theme played a predominant role.  The flower with the writing on it was one I made a few years ago using my Cricut and the Flower Shoppe cartridge.  Instead of clipping off the wire, I decided to twirl it around a skewer and then let it show. 

May "Person"

In May, I chose the person picture. I think that Sister said they are her feet up against her walking buddy's feet. However, I used some of my Photoshop skills to duplicate the feet with a flip as well.

 

I really tried to work from my stash of goodies accumulated for the past three years. In fact, the spray of pearls came from Sister when she was destashing her playground. The flowers came from my purchases way back in 2013 when I went to convention with her.  The zig zag on the sides?  Yep, another stash item!

 

 

Finally, another use of stashed materials, this time being the doily.  I topped it all off with some really sparkly rick rack that was ... you guessed it!  In my stash!

April "Thing"

Sister stopped eating chocolate on September 1, 2014, which she loves to tell everyone.  So it’s sort of funny that she gave me this photo for her April “place” picture since her name is Sue.

I started by selecting and feathering a portion of the photo.  Then I duplicated it a number of times and put them together.  I printed it onto tissue paper, glued it onto the tag, and added a light (diluted) layer of Picket Fence stain.  I didn’t like that it was still a bit too dark, so I added texture paste with the Gothic stencil.  Once it dried, I brushed the tops of the design with Salty Ocean and Rusty Hinge Distress Inks.  Next, I added some Ranger Foil Sheets to represent the foil wrapper on a Hershey’s Kiss.

I cut a strip out of the photograph to use as the main image; it just says Dr. Sue’s Chocolates.  I adhered it with two little brads with blue centers to pick up the blues in the tag.  I used Alcohol Ink to color two pieces to show 2014 as well as a charm that says Courageous because it is courageous to give up something that you love.  Since my birthday is 9/14, I also added a rub on for the 20 for 2014 so that she wouldn’t think it relates to my birthday. Finally, I added some Chit Chat stickers that say “I applaud your work” to show her how great she has done.

I attached the entire tag to a piece of brown cardstock (brown … the color of chocolate) and used some brown ribbon and a piece of hand died ribbon for the top of the tag.

Here is her original photo:

March "Person"

 

So, the March person tag is a bit odd.  My brother-in-law doesn't go by a name in the blogosphere.  Instead, he is called The Runner.  That's because he is a marathon runner.  I am in awe of his determination and work ethic. 

 

So, the photo shows him sitting facing the back of a chair at a restaurant somewhere in the Dallas area.  I think all of the chairs have some funny remark on the back.  Of course, she had to pick this specific chair!

 

During the summer, I participated in Tim Holtz's Creative Chemistry 103 class.  The background of this tag was one of my completed projects.  (See it here.)  Sister said she wanted it.  Little did she know that I had already used it for this tag.

 

 

I had originally planned to make the heading "The Runner;" however, I thought that the play on words (run) was funnier.  The letters are all Alpha Parts from my Tim stash.  I used various Distress Paints to color them.

 

For the picture, I chose to use my craft scratcher and some Distress Inks to cover up The Runner's face to spare him the "fame" he would get from this post (LOL).  I used some jute string that I unraveled a bit to frame the back of the chair.

 

I finished it off with a piece of burlap underneath another piece of Creative Chemistry 103 work.  All in all, I had fun creating this card, and I hope Sister and The Runner enjoy it.