Spring Time in Arizona

In Arizona we plant the "spring flowers" in October so they will bloom early and beat the heat (we expect it to be in the high 90s by the end of this week). The Sweet Peas I planted in the Fall have been bloomed and have a wonderful fragrance:

I have a vase that was given to my by a dear friend that is perfect for a bouquet of Sweet Peas...the neck of the vase has a small opening  that flairs out ...that way the flowers don't flop about in the vase.

The flowers may only last a few days, but the memory of their fragrance last forever.

Happy Easter

World Traveler Mini Album

At one time I was a semi world traveler...London, Paris, Edinburgh, New York, San Francisco... now I just travel between home and work.  But I can create a World Traveler mini album complements of Teresa Collins and her great "World Traveler" patterned paper...

The front cover of the mini album was created with Teresa Collins patterned paper that looks like the inside of a passport..all those great custom stamps that check you into a country...my passport was never this full.

 The tabs give the mini album that "Journal" look...

Pictures can be added to the "film strip" areas...does anybody  use film anymore?

Plenty of room for journaling...

Love the brad embellishment...

Do you see the tag pocket?

There it is.

All part of the journey

A trip to remember. Maybe not a world travel, but a great weekend or a nice day trip.

The best part about this mini album is it's  in my Etsy store.


.

Shamrocks, Glitter and Faeries

Here we are  already into March...have you gotten use to writing 2012 yet?

It is rapidly approaching "WEARING O' THE GREEN" day...yes you may decorate your house with shamrocks, Irish lace and leprechauns and pour green food coloring into all your baking.   

In honor of St. Patrick's Day  I have created three new tags:

Talk about "bling"... this GLITTER LACE tag is  covered entirely  with extra fine glitter using a resist technique. Embellished with a large glitter covered shamrock, green Stickles and green rhinestones.

 The background of this tag is patterned paper that has the appearance of Celtic Knots.The vintage image of this little Irish Lass is embellished with flowers, distress ink and green Stickles to give her a bit of sparkle.

Ireland folklore is full of faeries of all kinds. The faerie on this tag has butterfly wings, embellished with black, crystal and blue Stickles,  green rhinestones, gold braid and flowers.

You want to come play "tags" with me? I will be teaching these St. Patrick's Day tags this week at Scrapbook Barn. Friday March 9th  10:30am to 12:00 noon and  5:00pm to 6:30pm. You can call the store and sign up for either class.

Happy Valentine's Day, Happy Birthday Arizona, Happy Tuesday

I had planned to post a vintage Valentine's Day and a souvenir Arizona postcard in honor of...Valentine's Day and Arizona's Centennial which both  are on February 14th,  to celebrate the days occasions. Instead I'm going to share the Valentine card  my Tucson sister made and sent to me. It combined both celebrations... 

  For those of you not familiar with the Arizona State flag there is a  copper color star in the center of the flag...for Valentine's Day TS replaced it with a heart...very clever!

Distres Ink, Goodwill and Collections

My obsession with Tim Holtz Distress Ink started out simply enough...
I remember my first color... Old Paper. 

I was working on a Heritage Album and needed to give the pages an aged look.  Then I got braver  and added two more Distress Inks, Tattered Rose and Frayed Burlap ...once you have three of something it becomes a COLLECTION!

Gradually I was adding more and more inks to my COLLECTION.  When I started teaching the Heirloom Tag Class it gave me the licenses to really add to the COLLECTION.

Not only had I become a Distress Ink HOARDER, but how was I going to store all these ink pad?  I needed  easy access because I ink everything and I needed them organized because from the side and bottom they all look the same! Looking for just the right container became an ongoing search.  

Until the day I spotted the perfect storage container across the aisles at Goodwill!

There is sat just waiting for me to grab it...an index card file drawer. I grabbed it up and walked quickly to the check out...IT WAS MINE!

I printed out labels and adhered them to the sides of the ink pads....

And organized the inks by colors in to the two drawers...with plenty of room to add many more!

The file drawer sits next to my work table...I pull out a drawer and can find the exact color I need. A nice neat COLLECTION!

I think it's time for Tim to come out with some new colors!

Here comes another one!

Here we are two and a half weeks into the New Year and it's already time for another holiday... we have 27 days until VALENTINE'S DAY. True, it's not as big a deal as Christmas...but one that needs your attention anyway. Cards, candy, flowers, and decorations.

In honor of VALENTINE'S DAY I created three tags to teach at Scrapbook Barn. I have never gone for the traditional red and white color scheme...these tags are  a bit on the wild side.

I like the vintage look of the  Frances Brundage harlequin children images. The background of the tag is a collage created of different rubber stamps.

I have wanted to design a tag using a cup cake for a while now. Valentines Day was the perfect occasion. I asked my friend Wendy, and her husband Bill, owners of Leaky Shed Studios if they would create a chipboard die cut of a cup cake that could be covered with festive patterned paper  and embellishments. I used the Ranger Liquid Pearls in White Opal to frost the top of the cup cake and finished if off with a  large red heart rhinestone.

THANK YOU WENDY AND BILL!

The background of this Cupid tag was done using a Sizzix Embossing Folder and a mixture of 

Perfect Pearls and Distress ink re-inker...very shimmery. The Cupid was embellished with Stickles and hot pink rhinestones.

Let's face it...LIFE IS ONE DARN HOLIDAY AFTER ANOTHER!