Monday 27 July 2015

Design Team make..The Tag with a Tale to Tell


As it says in the title..this is a tag with a tale to tell. Tag art has really taken off in the crafting world and I have to say I love it. Many people would love to try scrap booking but are daunted by the size of the blank pages. If you fancy having a go..why not try telling a story on a tag.My tag is one that I put together in memory of my Grandmother and I began by going through my stash and finding things that reminded of her. I first covered the tag with a sheet of paper from the Craftworkcards..Shabby Vintage paper pads which is available from Julie here at JB Crafting-Supplies. I have two of the packs..one is pink shades and the other is blue and there are 12 papers in the pack. The one that I chose to work with is covered with sewing related pictures. As my Grandmother was an avid seamstress, I thought it would be a perfect start. There are many items on the tag which relate to her life..buttons,and lace because her sewing room always had them. I remember reels of lace and her button box. The button box was a treasure trove to me as a little girl and in fact I still have it. I only have to open the lid and am transported back to being a little girl. I put the banner on because my Grandmother was always involved with the carnival and everyone would gather at the farm to make the float. The saying always reminds me of her and her advice to trust in what you were doing and it would always be okay. I have added roses to represent her rose garden which she tended with great love but also a daisy to highlight her love of nature. She taught me to recognise all the wild flowers. I added a gardening glove and fork to tell of her time spent gardening. The two final items are the butterflies and the pearl strand. She loved butterflies and moths and I have her collection of reference books. And finally is the strand of pearls..she always wore a set no matter what she was doing..from digging in her gardens, working with the animals or cooking. They sit on my dressing table as a daily reminder of her love.
I know you may find it odd for me to write about all these memories on my design team make but I wanted to share with you my thought process while I was creating this tag. I intend to frame it alongside a photo of my Grandmother, And then I intend to work with the blue papers and make one for my Grandfather. I thought that they would look good together as a pair. Why not have a go yourself..you could do one for your grandchildren, your pets, your house or your hobbies. Tags also make great books. Cutting hols in the side and using some rings, you could add as many tags as you need.
Well I hope that you made sense of it all. When I make the one for my Grandfather, I will share it with you. For all your crafting needs please take a look at Julies shop. As I always say it is an Aladdins cave of crafting goodies. So until next week..take care and happy crafting.

Monday 6 July 2015

Design team make featuring Stampendous Stamps


Hello everyone ..Genny here. For this weeks design team makes, I have been lucky enough to work with this stamp of a giraffe from the wonderful team at Stampendous Stamps. I thought that for this weeks makes I would use the stamp as an embellishment on a card. In the next few weeks Iwill work with the stamp as the main feature. What I'm trying to do is to look at the many different ways that you can use a stamp and therefore get more value for your money.

For the first card, I had this amazing image of the two giraffes from Pollyanna Pickerings World of Wildlife cdrom. I thought that the stamp would provide the perfect embellishment. Because the main image has lilac tones, I decided to stamp the giraffe using my distress ink that also has a lilac tone. The great thing about Stampendous stamps is the clear image that you get despite how detailed it is. I have had many stamps in the past that look as if they have lots of detail but that doesn't relate to the stamped image. Some I have never been able to get a clear image no matter what I try. As is the case, many times in life..you really do get what you pay for and with a stampendous stamp..you are buying something that you will be able to use for years.

For my second card I stamped the image using my distress ink..vintage photo and you can clearly see in the photograph just how much detail there is. On this card the photograph is from an old Joanna Sheen cdrom..Animal Antics. It has been retired but I just loved this photo.




You may think that a giraffe stamp is an odd choice but I have found it perfect to add my collection. I have friends who go to feed the giraffes at a local zoo..so they would love this card. It also would be perfect for scrapbooking their day and that's just my first thought. I also have a lot of friends who travel on safaris and again this would be perfect to either send them a bon voyage card or to scrap their holiday photos. And besides everything else..giraffes are just so cute...lol

I hope that the weather is being kind to you where ever you are. Here in the mountains it's pouring down...just the perfect weather to be indoors crafting..lol. So until next time take care and happy crafting