Sunday Snippets - December Tag

Evening Everyone,

Two posts in one day!!! Just got to take the opportunity when I find I have the time! Especially as, today, I have a snippet make for Di's challenge - Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #366.

This tag was inspired by Karen Letchworth, of 'My Cup Runneth Over', currently guest designer on Pixie's Crafty Workshop. It's a lovely way of using up scraps of paper leftover from other projects.

Scraps like these leftover from two scrapbook pages I made recently. Of course, any scraps left over would be ideal for Karen's tag design.

In this photo you can see most of the other supplies used in the making of the tag. The sheet of month rub-ons I've had quite a few years and yet the December still worked a treat. The square shaped punch makes creating the fish tails on the pennants easier than other ways I battled with in the past. You can see how it's done on this previous post here.

This was a really fun little make and one that I intend to repeat every time I'm down to just a handful of scraps leftover from other bigger projects. Hope you've been as inspired by Karen as I have. She's a very talented crafter and her blog is full of inspiration, especially on how to use our leftover scraps and snippets.

Take care and have a great week ahead.

Watercolour Poppy Tag

Afternoon Everyone,

I hope this finds you well and enjoying your day.

Here, the hatches are battened down and we are hunkering in just waiting out the storm. I can see the old sycamore from the window and it is being battered about really fiercely. So much so, I fear it may be just facing one gale too many this time. I hope it survives, not least because if it comes down it will be right on top of the EM's new shed!

So it's going to be a day of crafting for me or, more correctly, a day of tidying up in the craft room. There's so many odds and ends lying about, bits of my experiments, snippets of card, photos to be scanned, etc., etc., that I've decided it all has to be dealt with before I do anything else. Which brings me to this tag:

The grey textured base has been sitting in my 'to be used' box on my desk for, well, I can't remember how long. It could be as long as two years! It was part of an embossing experiment, you might have gathered by now that I like to experiment, a technique using leaves and flowers sandwiched in cardstock and put through the Cuttlebug. This resulted in some interesting textures, most of which I did put to good use at the time but I could never think what to do with this piece. I can't even remember what type of leaf this was but the card was white scrap which, after embossing, was inked with a grey ink pad, possibly Memento London Fog. 

Determined to use it in this tidy up and to try out my newest find, Poppy Field from Rubber Necker, a stamp designed to be used specifically with watercolours, or inks that can behave like watercolours, e.g. Ranger's distress inks. I've never tried this type of stamp out before so it was quite a revelation! The stamp comes in two parts, the first is for the flower part and the second is for the outline and stem part. There's a great set of YouTube demos on how to use these stamps - check out the Poppy Field one here. I used a selection of lavenders and mauves to colour the flowers, Ranger's Milled Lavender and Memento Elderberry, Lulu Lavender and Grape Jelly, and Archival Black for the stem section.

Once dry, I painted in some gold detail with Aquatint paint - better seen here in this photo. The sentiment, from the same stamp set, was stamped in Archival Black too. The butterfly was created using a snippet trimmed from the background, inked over with the Milled Lavender and Elderberry inks and inking the stamp, an IndigoBlu freebie, with the gold paint ... it's a thick paint so works quite well for stamping. Once dry it was cut out and attached to the tag which was then adhered to a base of mauve card - yet another scrap from the snippet mountain. Eyelash fibres and purple gems provided the finishing touch.

I'm submitting the tag to the following challenges:

Butterfly Challenge #16 - Butterfly with a Tag.

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 147 - anything as long as there's a snippet used somewhere

All Crafts Challenge October/November - Anything but a card

Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge - Challenge #18 - Layer It!

That's me done here for now but the storm is still raging outside. Despite that, the EM has ventured out, though only to the local shop in search of a newspaper. One of the plastic pails we use in the garden has blown into the long border, coming to rest under that sycamore tree ... it will stay there until I think it's safe to go out again!

I hope conditions are rather better where you are, but if not do take care and stay safe.

 

Whatever, I wish you, as usual, much Happy Crafting,

Let The Music Play

Evening Everyone

Here's definitely something I made earlier, and then forgot to make a post about it.

It is a canvas board altered to fulfil the theme for the UKPC June Swap - music. I did write down all the materials used at the time but it's lost ... not surprising considering the amount of stuff there is in this craft room, sigh! 

Anyway, senior moments permitting, I'll do my best to remember.

I began by sponging Gentle Blends in pink, green and yellow on to the board, blending the colours in until I was happy with them.

Next, I dabbed silver Buff-It randomly over the surface and then stamped an Inkylicious music script stamp in black ink. Or was it the other way round? I can't recall! However, I do remember that to get the random effect I didn't put the stamp on a block but just held it in my hand and stamped here and there until I was happy with it.

The tag was made with white card, sponged with the same Gentle Blends and edged with Pebeo silver wax. The phonograph stamp is from the Artemio Office set. The embossed corners are from a set of craft stickers from Craft Works, they've been given the silver wax treatment too. Once finished I layered the tag on to deep pink card before attaching it to the canvas board.

The title was typed on to white card on my vintage typewriter, then cut out and edged with black ink.

I used shrink plastic and the phonograph stamp to create this little embellishment. All the lace, ribbon, spider web trim, twine and the button were found and liberated from my stash.

I'm amazed! I don't think I've done too badly remembering after all ... there's hope for me yet :)

Hope you've had as good a day as I've had and I wish you a good day tomorrow.

Thanks for taking the time to look.

Happy Crafting,

After The Storm

Hello Everyone

I'm back from my childminding stint. It was exhausting but a pleasure ... my grandchildren are lovely and the dog is cute. Call me daft but I took a fully kitted crafting tote with me ... needless to say it was never opened and no crafting was done. I was much too busy and then exhausted for that :)

However, just before I went, I did manage to complete this tag for the UKPC May Swap ... the theme was indigo ... to be interpreted any which way we liked.

As you can see, I opted to combine some IndigoBlu stamps, free with Simply Cards & Papercraft magazine, with blue inks.

I started with a base of white card, stamped the main image using VersaMark and Stampendous clear embossing powder. Next, it was sponged all over with denim blue Gentle Blends, by Pinflair and buffed up with a tissue to remove as much as possible from the stamped image.

The next step was to ink through a couple of Clarity stencils, Square Honeycomb and Circle Dots, randomly around the edges of the tag with Memento Danube Blue, and then stamp the meadow flowers along the bottom edge.

The dragonfly was stamped on to blue textured card (docrafts Papermania) which was then rubbed with silver gilding wax (Pebeo) and decorated with blue gems ... it's attached to the tag with glue gel to give dimension.

I've finished the edges of the tag with the gilding wax before adhering it to a base of the blue textured card - also edged with silver - and decorated the 'hair' on the image with blue gems. The fibres are from a very useful stash I have tucked away in the craft room.

The 'mis'quote - 'with grace in her heart, and flowers in her hair' is from a Mumford and Sons number, After the Storm, hence the title of this post. For those interested here's a link with the official lyrics : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWYG7lZBc6U

It's a sad number but beautiful to listen to despite that.

I've made myself late for Pointless so I'm off to see what's left. I'll be back later because I have a ton of catching up to do :)

I hope you are all well and having a good week so far.

Happy Crafting,

Compliments of the Season ...

... and Happy Holidays to you all too!

This is the last of the tags I've been making recently. Quick and easy and I've managed to use some more bits and bobs from the bun tray. I like the blue/brown colour mix - non-traditional but pretty all the same :) The Hero Arts, Wavy Stars, stamp used for the background is an oldie but a favourite, so nice to get it out again.

Quick and easy ... well, it has to be at this time of year, does it not?

Materials: a manila luggage label; Hero Arts stamp, Wavy Stars; VersaMark; Crystal embossing powder; Cardmaker's Delights topper; bronze glitter; blue buttons and embroidery silk; white bobble trim; brown pearls; blue/brown ribbon

Yesterday it was the opticians, today the dentist ... I don't think I stand much more excitement :))

Off to relax with a Alexander and Richard on the sofa now ... Pointless is one of my secret pleasures!!! Oops! Not so secret now :))

Hope you've all had a great day. Take care.

Happy Crafting,

Christmas Wishes - another Christmas gift tag

Hi Everyone,

It's another cold and frosty day here in Ayr today - and it is treacherous underfoot too. The EM has had to dig out the bag of road salt, from last winter, to de-ice the steps at the front and back of the house. I hope you are enjoying warmer conditions where you are.

Unfortunately, I had to venture out to pick up my new glasses ... I'm now trying to get accustomed to them and find myself testing the lenses out constantly.  However, it's great to not have to take them off when I want to read the small print, which is what I was doing with my old ones :)

I've been making good use of my bun tray full of embellishments and made another gift tag.

Same size label as with the one I posted - scroll down to check it out - but this time no stamping. Instead, I covered the label with a couple of snippets of paper from last year, or perhaps it was the year before! More snippets used up means another trip to Di's and her Pixie's Crafty Snippets #50 this week :)

The topper is matted with a scrap of silver mirri card and then edged with crystal Stickles. I've also emphasised the letter C with the Stickles - you can see the effect more in the first photograph. Just a tiny length of cream lace and lots of  cream button twine have been used as embellishment.

Materials: a manila luggage label from WH Smith; scraps of A Silent Night paper from Papermania; scrap of silver mirri card; topper from Cardmaker's Delights; Crystal Stickles; cream cotton lace, cream button twine and narrow green satin ribbon from stash.

I'm off to do a bit more WOYWW blog-hopping until tea time and after that I plan is to spend an hour or two in the craft room this evening working on a scrap page. 

Thanks for popping in and do take care.

Happy Crafting,

WOYWW 184

Hi Everyone,

I'm back ... couldn't skip another week of WOYWW. I had withdrawal symptoms after missing last week but I was just too overwhelmed with stuff ... life and all that ... that I knew it wouldn't be fair to you all. This week promises to be much less frantic so, whilst I can't promise to visit each and every WOYWWer, I will pop over to as many as I can.

What's WOYWW - it's the week's biggest and most enjoyable blog hop arranged, as ever, by the wonderful Julia Dunnit over at the Stamping Ground. If you've never tried it, you don't know what you're missing :)

Here's my desk today ... well, actually, last thing last night, so trust me it hasn't changed at all.

I've been sifting through the photographs we had printed yesterday ... looking for a half-decent one of me, good enough to put in a scrap layout for a challenge. The choice is very thin :( I'm the one that's usually behind the camera!

The bun tray is an idea I've pinched from Shimmelle ... saw her using it in a couple of videos recently - click this link to view one. Having a small selection of tiny embellishments nice and handy saves an awful lot of clutter, not to mention the effort involved in getting up and down every time I need to find some buttons, brads, card candi, etc. It's also encouraged me to use some of those small lengths of leftover ribbon, lace and twine I've been saving forever. I'll simply replenish items as and when required. It has already proved very useful when making the gift tags that are piled on top of our address book ... another absolute essential at this time of the year.

That's it for today ... keeping it brief because none of us has time to read reams just now ... too many other things to do in the run up to Christmas. That being so, I hope you all take care, have a lovely WOYWW and a good week ahead.

Happy Crafting,

Magical Winter Tag

Afternoon All,

I hope you are all well and happily crafting away wherever you are.

Yesterday, on my workdesk was a pile of bits and pieces that I was working on, including this tag which I finished off later in the day. One for Di's Snippet Challenge as I've used a couple of snippets in the making.

First snippet, I used a piece of the paper I'd stamped using bubble wrap and paint to cover this small tag. (I've decided that I must use these bits of leftover painty, inky, experimental backgrounds immediately instead of dumping them in a box just to be forgotten!) Then I stamped snowflakes here and there using VersaMark which was then heat embossed with white powder - hard to see in the photo but much better in real life. Second snippet, the lace border .. it's a stamp - again white embossing powder on VersaMark onto a snippet of turquoise cardstock.

The deer die-cut (a very welcome gift from a friend - I don't have the die ... yet, sigh) has also been stamped with snowflakes and, this time, embossed with crystal powder before inking with TH's Peacock Feathers ink pad - I think I've said it before, love this colour!  He's been placed on a piece of gauze ribbon which I think adds to the frosty feel I was trying to achieve.

The silver snowflakes are from some trim I have had forever - I'm sure I only bought a yard of it but it does seem to be neverending ... ditto the bobble trim!!! The green trim is washi tape - new to me and I love it for the colour ... it's patterned with chevron stripes which are 'so on trend' :) Final snippet. the sentiment is from the same stamp set as the snowflakes and only used a tiny oval of smooth white card.

Materials used: 

A manila tag #5; a snippet of white card for sentiment; strip of turquoise cardstock for stamped lace trim

White card stamped with bubble wrap in green (Adirondack Juniper dauber) and turquoise (Pebeo Bermuda) paints

Hot of The Press Vintage Christmas stamp set; VersaMark Watermark ink pad; White embossing powder; crystal embossing powder

Deer die-cut chipboard shape; Tim Holtz Peacock Feathers ink pad

White gauze ribbon trim and white bobble trim from Ribbon Carousel; 

Green zigzag patterned washi tape - an ebay purchase

Silver snowflake trim; turquoise/white bakers' twine; Anita's turquoise gem - from stash

It's lunchtime at Casa Worthington so I'm off to snatch a crispbread or two and a much needed cuppa.

Thanks for looking and if you leave a comment I'll be delighted :)

Happy crafting,

A little Christmas duo

Evening Folks

Well, it's evening in Scotland and it will be morning somewhere else - perhaps where you are. Wherever that is, I hope you are well.

Today has been a special day for me, as it has been every year of my life. It's the day I remember the fallen  and the heroes of two world wars - especially those in my family. My great-grandfather, who served in WWI - he survived but only just, returning home suffering from the effects of gas inhalation, and my two great-uncles who fought in WWII and, tragically, died. They have never been, nor ever will be, forgotten.

That said, on to what I've been up to in the craft room this afternoon.

It's not a lot - just a wee Christmas tag and matching re-covered notebook set which I thought would make a nice little stocking filler for someone.

The paper is a vintage design from Hot of The Press. I've trimmed each item with ecru cotton lace trim,  chipboard shapes from Docrafts, and poinsettias.

I covered the label, front and back, with the DP, inked the edges with red ink then added the embellishments to the front only.

To cover the notebook, I removed the original cover and used it for a template to cut out the DP, then glued it to the cover - this gives the cover extra strength - before adding the decoration.

List of materials used:
Manila label, size #5 (4¾"x23/8") 
Small memo/note pad - I found these in Asda.
Design paper, Hot of The Press, Christmas Vintage
Chipboard shapes from Docrafts Papermania's Noel collection
Ink, Tim Holtz distress ink, Festive Berries
Ecru cotton lace trim, red/white bakers' twine, Wild Orchid Crafts red poinsettias, gold edged red satin ribbon, red dew drops, tiny red/white alphas - all from stash.

Just a quick share - I'm off to have a cuppa and spend a bit of sofa time watching a film with the EM.

Thanks for popping in. Take care all, keep crafting, and I'll be back, hopefully tomorrow.

Inspire - An Oriental Themed Tag

Hi Everyone,

The lovely crafters over at Anything But A Card have, for Challenge #5, challenged us to incorporate black into our project. This tag fits the remit as black has been included in the stamping, embossing and there's even black ribbon.

The pattern on the paper used to cover this tag has a mix of red, light brown and black which I've overstamped with grasses in even more black.

I've been playing around with embossing powders and glitters, frantage style, again! The paper was leftover from a recent scrapping session and as the pattern was inspired by the Orient, I decided to go with the theme ... it gave me an excuse to use the preloved bamboo and wild grass stamps picked up at a car boot sale ages ago :)

For the topper: the bamboo was stamped out in dark green on hammered white card, inked with Tim's Old Paper ink to take the starkness of the white, and then some of the leaves were just touched here and there with Zig glue to be finished off with gilding flakes. Finally, the topper was edged with a gold leafing pen.

I also had a bash at trying out a technique seen demonstrated by Mel Heaton on TV recently to make the dragonfly embellishment. Basically, you melt UTEE in an aluminium dish, then drizzle it on to a heat-proof craft sheet, heat again and sprinkle a mix of glitters on top, this settles into the UTEE. For this one I used platinum UTEE and mixed in several colours of EP too. Finally, while it's still hot, take an inked up stamp and press it into the mix. Clearly, it needs more practice, but I was pleased with my first attempt :)

Lots of materials used - here is the list: 

Recycled cardboard for base; paper from BoBunny Serenity Collection; Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black; Versafine Olympia Green; Tim Holtz DI, Old Paper; VersaMark Watermark Ink Refill; Stamps: Rubber Stampede Inc, Wild Grass; Posh Presents, Posh Bamboo; DeNami Design, Dragonfly; Krylon Gold Leafing pen; Embossing Powders: Platinum UTEE; Midnight Black; WOW Blueberry Regular & Burgundy Red Regular; Glitters: Wine; Copper; Silver Heliogram; White Iridescent; Snippet of white hammered cardstock; Gilding Flakes: Frosted Leaves & a Zig 2-way glue pen; Charms: coin, key, leaf, butterfly; ribbons: red satin; black organza; burgundy organza; raffia; Tim Holtz Chitchat Verbiages Charla 'inspire' word; red gems

Having used and impressive number of snippets, leftovers, and even recycled cardboard from packaging, I'm popping this over to Di at Pixie's Crafty Workshop too.

Now I'm off to watch the end of Pointless but I'll be in the craft space later ... I'm working on another scrap layout.

I hope you are all well and that you've had as good a day as I have.

Happy crafting, 

Find Joy In The Little Things - A Birthday Tag

... and spotted! the first Christmas Tree

I hope your Monday has gone well folks ... and that despite the harsh weather conditions we are experiencing. The weather here is going from one extreme to the other, sunny and bright on Saturday, lashing down with rain all day yesterday, and today we have had fluffy white clouds polishing the blue, blue sky! It would not surprise me if it snowed tomorrow.

I've been working away in the craft space today but nothing to show you yet, so it's just as well that I have another project I made earlier that I can share with you.

I made this ultra feminine and OTT tag for a crafting friend's birthday. The base is another one of my inked, mica covered and embossed experiments - not that you can see much of it in the photo. Lots of trims, pearls and bling, doily and butterflies ... the little jewelled tile came from an old bracelet.

The topper is a Cardmakers Delight Pretty Perfume Bottle, the rose heart is recycled, and the digital sentiment is from Pink Petticoat's New Simple Sentiments.

And here's the Christmas tree - spotted it in the Scottish National Trust shop at Culzean Castle on Saturday - how early is that!!!

And it wasn't the only one ... there was another in the toy shop too, you might just be able to spot it inside.

I'm not sure what the connection is to the castle but the pirate is a permanent feature of the stable yard.

Scary looking too.

That's me lot for this evening. I'm working on another quite different tag and I'm still experimenting with heat embossing and creating my own 'frantage' mixes, so it's back to the craft sheet.

See you soon and in the meantime take care.

Happy crafting,

Dancing Meadow - A Very Green Tag

Hi Everyone,

Flying by the seat of my pants this evening - this is a late minute submission to Hel's Sunday Stampers Challenge - Week 220 - Green Tambourine.

Hels asked for green and some stamping and this tag has got both in spades. The sponge has been sponged with a combination of Adirondack inks, starting with Willow, adding Sunshine Yellow and then Citrus. This mix was a bit too bright so to calm it down a bit TH's Shabby Shutters DI was added before spritzing with water and dabbed dry to get a dappled affect.

A Crafter's Workshop template, Butterfly Meadow was inked through using mainly the green end of the Spice Big and Juicy, but adding a touch of deeper shades and there's even a smattering of the Sunshine Yellow. Next I stamped, using VersaMark, more meadowflowers, this time from Sheena Douglass's Silhouette Grasses stamp set, and brushed several shades of Perfect Pearls Forever shades over it - green, violet and red.

The little Sleeping Kitty (Stampendous) was stamped in Versafine Vintage Sepia and the quotation, also from the Silhouette Grasses set, was stamped in Versafine Olympia Green. I've used two shades of gold Rub n Buff around the edges, Olive Gold and Autumn Gold.

Finally, the flower is made up of several dismantled silk flowers, sponged with green ink and hot glued together and the little wooden butterfly was sponged with green ink too, then it had violet Perfect Pearls brushed down the  body part and autumn gold Rub n Buff added to the wing tips.

And the reason why I'm very much last minute?! Well, this is the second attempt at this tag. I dropped the stamp on the first and ruined it completely ... hey, ho, them's the breaks :)

Must dash - got to submit this to Hels before 9pm.

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend and wishing you all happy crafting.

HANDY HIPPO THURSDAY! - WEEK #8 - A Caged Bird Tag

Hello Everyone,

And a happy Handy Hippo Thursday to you all. I hope you are well and having fun.

This week, as promised last week, I've got something a bit different to share with you - I seem to be having a bit of a thing with tags at the moment. They are fun to make and can look lovely hanging up on a wall.

I've used the Sizzix Tim Holtz Caged Bird die as the main feature and two gorgeous sheets of patterned paper from K & Company’s Flora & Fauna collection . The birdcage is cut from gold mirri card and then distressed with white, silver and blue embossing powders to achieve an aged and distressed effect. Butterflies, gems, ribbons and lace embellishments complete the tag. Here's a photo of the back of the tag.

The back is the perfect place to write or stamp a greeting - this one has been left blank until a recipient is decided upon.

As usual materials used for this project are available from Handy Hippo and if you would like to make the same project then simply click on the magic button below and it will take you directly to a shopping cart that contains everything you would need to make it. Once there, you can simply and easily remove any of the items that you already have in your craft stash.

It’s easy to add to your basket any other purchase that you might like and if something is temporarily out of stock you can request to be emailed once it is back in stock.

Here's how I made the card:

• The dimensions of the tag are as follows: height 6½"; width 3½". Cut the base for the tag from white card, and two pieces from two sheets of the patterned paper, one silver blue embossed and the other a blue/brown floral, as shown in the above photograph
• Shape the 'shoulders' on the white card base by marking the length at 5¾" and ¾" in at the top - draw a line between these two marks and cut remove the corner 
• Adhere the first patterned paper first to one side of the white card and trim the 'shoulders', then adhere the second piece to the other side of the base and again trim the 'shoulders'
• Using the Stormy Sky DI sponge around the edges on both sides of the tag, then lightly sponge with the Vintage Photo
• Using the Caged Bird die, cut out the bird cage in gold mirri. Cut two birds, one in white card and the other in the brown reverse side of the blue/brown floral paper. Cut two wings, one in white card and the other in silver embossed blue paper
• Glue the brown paper bird shape to the white card one and, similarly, the blue wing to the white one
• Adhere a clear gem to the bird in the eye position
• To distress the cage, rub VersaMark randomly over it and sprinkle white embossing powder and heat. Repeat the process with the blue powder, and then again with the silver powder. If you are not satisfied with the effect just add more of any of the powders until you are satisfied.
• Whilst still warm from the heat embossing, wrap the cage round something rounded to shape it - I used an empty jam jar and fastened it on with a couple of elastic bands - it's best to leave for an hour or so to get the rounded shape
• Punch out three butterflies from the brown patterned paper
• Attach a length of the extra strong sticky tape to the base of the side of the tag that is decorated with the silver embossed blue paper and then pleat the white organza ribbon on to it and trim.
• Adhere a row of the cotton lace and then a row of aqua ribbon above the organza frill, glue a small bow made from the aqua ribbon in position
• Adhere the bird's body to the tag and then, using silicone glue, the cage in position over the bird. Add the wing in position on top of the cage. Decorate the base of the cage with a selection of blue and clear gems
• Punch a single hole top centre and thread a piece of aqua ribbon through it
• Shape the butterflies wings and then adhere them randomly around the top of the tag

This tag could be made using any of the lovely papers that are available from Handy Hippo - I just happen to like this K & Company Flora and Fauna collection but there is a wide selection to choose from if this isn't your particular style.  

The embossing powders come in a huge range of colours and the Verdigris and Copper shades would give a very authentic rusty look to the cage.

I hope you like the tag and will want to make one for yourself.

See you next week with something different again.

Happy Crafting,

Mother's Day Tag - a photo frame tag + a cautionary tale

Evening Everyone

As I write this it's early evening, still light and bright and very spring like here in the west coast of Scotland ... I hope you are all enjoying equally pleasant weather wherever you are.

Apologies for not posting for a couple of days. I've been around but been busy with all sorts of stuff, some of which I can't show you at the moment.

However, I can show you this tag now that my niece, Louise, has received it.

As it was Louise's first Mother's Day I wanted to create something that she would keep and could use over the years. I've incorporated a frame into this tag which consists of a panel of decorated card overlaid with the die-cut fairy ... I have Jude to thank for the fairy, it was included in the candy I won from her some time ago.

The photo tucks into the decorated panel and behind the fairy's head. Louise can change the photo as Arihanna grows. Here's a close up of the fairy detail.

As you can see I've used my favourite flower stamp, Penny Black's Aspire, and clear embossing powder before inking her with Tim Holtz DI, Victorian Velvet.  The stars are sparkling with Stickles, Fruit Punch from my stash ... it's one of those colours that, like a magpie, I just had to have only to find I rarely matches anything I'm working on.

The design paper, from S.E.I., Chocolat Papillon, is an just a single one that I picked up on a visit to a craft store sometime last year ... I now wish I'd bought two sheets of it because it is so beautiful. Here you can see the reverse side.

Apologies for the quality of this shot, but I think you can see that it has lots of pink butterflies on a chocolate brown background. There's more stamping with Aspire and Victorian Velvet too.

Teeny Alphas by Glitz spell out the word 'mother'. The pearl trim, frilled velvet trim and large rose are out of my birthday kit from Funky Farm Scrapbook Barn. The roses decorating the top are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the pink heart-shaped doily ... well, only half of the doily ... was from Poppy's Cabin. All the other embellishments are from my stash.

I've never used proper shipping/luggage labels to make tags, simply because I've never found a size I like. I don't like my tags to be too flimsy either, I like a good bit of weighty strength in them because of all the embellishments I have a tendency to add.  I've figured out my own template, made out of cardboard, which has served me well since I started crafting. For this tag I drew round the template and then cut the base out of thin cardboard, from a cereal box, painted it with white gesso and then covered both sides with the patterned paper. All the edges are inked with the Victorian Velvet DI.

That's my share for you today - I hope you like it as much as Louise does. She has some lovely photos of Arihanna taken just after she was born and the blanket she is wrapped in is a perfect match for the tag ... how serendipitous is that :))

A cautionary tale:
I mentioned in an earlier post that my two youngest grandchildren are not very well - they have a nasty virus which has really made the children very poorly. Now my baby great-granddaughter, Rhian, has it too, made worse because her ears are affected too. She took ill at the weekend when the doctor's clinic was closed so her mother, Jenny, phoned the NHS line for advice. After much questioning she was advised to go to the chemist and get some Calpol to treat Rhian's high temperature and see the doctor Monday morning. Jenny went straight to Asda, to the chemist there, to buy the Calpol as advised and, the point of this story, they refused to sell it to her because she is under 25 years of age!!!!

Jenny's troubles were not over by then, Monday morning came and nobody was answering the phone at the doctor's - they were all on a training day! Jenny finally decided she would take Rhian to the hospital where she did get seen by a doctor and she is now on appropriate medication and is on the mend.

I'm still stunned that the chemist refused to let her have the Calpol for her poorly baby ... if she is old enough at 20 to be a mother, I would have thought she would be considered old enough to buy a commonplace medication for her baby.

Rant over! Thanks for staying to read this far :)

I wish you all a good evening, I'll be in the craft room beavering away but hope to see many of you tomorrow for WOYWW.

Happy Crafting.