12 Tags of 2012 - September and My New Craft Space

Yay!!! I'm back on line and in our new house.  I can't tell you how much I detest moving but at least it is done for the next to last time.  Which means, I have a new crafting space!  It's fabulous for me as it is right in the middle of everything but still all mine so no need to clean up if I need to leave what I am working on.  It's right next to the windows so it has great light and it has been Kiminated - overly organised for those of you who know me.

Here's what it looks like:

Of course with a new space, I had to give it a try.  Oooooooohhhhhh....heaven!  The right amount of space with everything close at hand and just a few steps from the cabinet of goodness that protects all my stash from 3 year old hands.  And being that I am inflicted with "Tim Holtzitis", my first project in the new space had to be a Tim challenge.

This month is an industrial look (see Tim's tag here) and it required me to improvise a lot, which was fantastic.  I have been watching videos and listening to podcasts while waiting to get back into it and the one saying that has really stuck with me was "What If I...".  I heard it on the Paperclipping Roundtable podcast that Tim was recently on and it was from an amazing crafter, Laura Denison.  Do yourself a favour, check her blog out.  You will be blown away.

So, with "What If..." in hand, I began my tag!  I didn't have foil tape or the right colour alcohol inks or steel wool or even any of the embellishments that were used on Tim's tag but I wasn't going to let that stop me!  Here is what I came up with:

I used aluminium foil to replace the foil tape and instead of alcohol inking it, I used black acrylic paint. I  found an old scratchy dish cloth under the sink and used that to rub the paint off and scratch up the surface a bit.  I used the pen technique from Tim to create the rivet look and my pick for the holes.  The "stitching" was created using my bone folder.

When it was time to embellish, I had to think hard because my Vagabond hasn't been replaced yet and I have no die cutting machine (so many dies and no way to use them!).  I don't have any really industrial stamps but for some reason iron scrollwork popped into my head and I remembered some Kaisercraft stamps I had.  I had actually picked out a bird but in the end, the dragonfly spoke to me more.

I stamped it using Staz-On ink onto silver foil card and embossed it with a glitter embossing powder.  Then I used the ginger alcohol ink to colour it in.  

I had a message in mind when I pulled out the word band and key.  But where to find the words "the" and "is"?  As I rummaged through my stickers, I came across the DCWV Once Upon a Time chipboard stickers and there was my "the".  Still looking for the "is"... and then it hit me!  I have had the grunge blocks for ages and barely used them.  I could try a modified version of rusted grunge as I have no Distress Embossing powders!

So, it's not exactly what I was in my head but it is close and I like it.  The blocks were inked with Black Soot Distress Ink and then I dusted silver embossing powder over the top.  There's a lot more black showing that this picture suggest.  The letters were inked with Vintage Photo and then embossed with clear powder.  Before I heated though, I ran my fingers over the letters to remove patches of powder.  Then I inked the top with Black Soot.  I got a pretty decent speckled look.

Overall, I am extremely please with my improvisation!  I hope you had fun looking and that you too will think with "What If I..."!

xoxo

Kim

Jan 2012 Color Challenge for Paper Secrets

I promise to not bother you again today!  I have been a busy little girl.  So, as promised, I have a scrapbook layout for you.  The challenge was to scrap a page, card or altered project using Gold or Silver on it.  I chose silver as I had this great picture of Indy from the south coast that I turned black and white and then added the colour back to her eyes.  So here it is:

Heaps of silver here!  Although it's not easy to tell in the photo, even the paper has a silver metallic running through it.  But the most notable silver features are the photo mat, the letter squares and of course, the butterflies.

The photo mat was cut with a Time Holtz on the edge die and the letter tiles are grunge blocks.  I embossed the squares with silver and then inked the letters with Stormy Sky Distress Ink.  The paper is Die Cuts With a View (all of it except for the glitter paper), most from the Luxury Premium Stack.  The butterflies are Go-Lo specials as are the flowers.  The rub-on is from Stampin' Up  Eastern Elegance.  The bling and brads were stash items.

Hope you like it!  We just love Indy and we are so happy to have made her part of our family.  I can't help but give the rescue agency another plug - ABR - Arctic Breed Rescue.  The people there are wonderful, knowledgable and very friendly.  They get to know the dogs well and will match you perfectly with one of their beauties.  The dogs are all Malamutes, Huskies, Samoyeds and any other Arctic breed you can think of as well as crosses.  Look into one of their rescues before buying a puppy - these dogs deserve to be loved!

Off my soap box now...thanks for looking again today :0)

xoxo

Kim