Gardening with Groundhogs and a Man Tag

Gardening with Groundhogs

I thought I would share a view of my garden from my backyard deck. My amazing hubby, over at CY Innovations, put up the fencing and more raised beds for me this past spring. I am growing:

• red onions
• sweet potatoes
• strawberries
• blueberries
• blackberries
• red raspberries
• basil
• oregano
• mint
• dill
• peppers
• cabbages

Last year, my cabbages and tomatoes were eaten by some unknown creature. If you have a garden you know how maddening it can be to pour your time and money into a project just to have some free loader come along and eat all your hard work.

Despite installing new fences and chicken wire around the perimeter, something is still getting in and eating my cabbages. My hubby caught one groundhog in my garden already this year so I installed bird netting around the cabbages. That evil groundhog is now gnawing holes through my bird netting and demolishing my cabbages. There goes my dreams of homemade sauerkraut and dill!

What are your suggestions for keeping out unwanted creatures? I am thinking barbed wire and electricity?!

On a happier note, here is a masculine tag that I created.

Creating The Tag

For the background, I used a Christy Tomlinson Unity Stamp. I embellished the sides of the image with stamps and that is pretty much it. Simple, huh?

Happy weekend!

 

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Memories Are Time: Mixed Media Tag

It has been a while since I sat down and made a tag just for fun but that is what I did this week. I was inspired to work with my new Eye Lattice Stencil by Stencil Girl. They sent me a few stencils for a guest post later on in the year but I couldn’t resist playing around ahead of time.

I reached all of my goals for this project by using my lattice stencil in the background, Sassafras stickers (that I have had for years!) to embellish and a few die cuts that have been sitting on my desk. It feels great to use old stuff up!

Well, this is a short post. Hope you have a great week!

Kate

Challenges Entered:

Tag Tuesday: Anything Goes

 

 

Corsets: The Price of Beauty; Mixed Media Tag

Mixed Media Tag

I always enjoy layering items together and this tag was no exception. I really love how the background came out and how all the little elements tie together. My favorite part about it though is the color combination. Vibrant and bright!

Corsets VS Comfy

I have to say, corsets can be a thing of beauty. What woman doesn’t love the idea of having the ideal waist measurement, magically achieved all due to a piece of clothing. When shopping for clothes I have found myself wishing I lived in a time when intricately hand crafted dresses and hats were made specifically for a individual and not mass produced. The fabrics and details are definitely lacking in today’s clothing industry. But…

I love my comfy jeans (that are not really jeans) as they are stretchy and they fail to leave pressure marks on my abdomen. But I also love being feminine and dressing like a lady. Wearing dresses with tight undergarments to “suck it all in” seem to always make me a little more confident and in turn make me feel prettier. Or perhaps that is just the Spanx keeping me from my usual slouching position.

Every time I see a movie or photograph of women from the previous eras, I cannot help but admire their clothing and at the same time think of all the damage these women did to their bodies in the name of proper etiquette and beauty.

Here are a few such health issues:

• deformed ribs and spines
• blood presure elevation, uterine prolapse, constipation, skin irritation, headaches, nerve pressure
• reduced pelvis size, digestive issues

Although I love the clothing of many historical periods in history, I am thankful to God for placing in this century. Clothing, sanitation and medical practices have come so far and I know that I am enjoying the benefits of all of these advancements. I also know that God made each each one of us unique and individual. If he wanted us all to have a 20 inch waist he would have cut us all from the same mold. Aren’t you glad he didn’t?

Above is a picture of a corset dress by Angela Clayton. She makes all her period costumes. I have spent a lot of time browsing her site and watching her YouTube Videos. Believe me…if you like period clothing her blog will be pure eye candy.

Challenges Entered:

That’s Crafty: Outnumbered

A Perfect Time To Craft: Anything Goes

Take It Make It Challenge: Anything Goes

Altered Eclectics: Anything Goes

Hop into Spring with Mixed Media Tags

Mixed Media Easter/ Spring Tags

 

Here are a few more Spring tags. The backgrounds are made using stamping, ink sprays and Distress Inks. The roses were made using the Tim Holtz Pine Cone Die. I used a few die cuts and some tissue tape in the background as well. All the items I used are below.

This tag has a bit of vintage lace in the background that was sprayed to achieve the colors I wanted.

More Spring Project Inspiration on My Blog.

Click on the picture to view the Spring themed Project.

It Begins With a Vision:Wendy Vecchi Mixed Media Tag

Mixed Media Tag Using Wendy Vecchi Stamps

I don’t pull out my Wendy Vecchi stamps often but when I do, I wish I played with them more. This tag is not a recent make but as I am working on some new things I thought it would be nice to bring back some older projects. The background was made by blending Distress Inks: Broken China, Tea Dye, Lindy’s Stamp Gang Starburst Sprays and stamping. The main stamp set I used was An Eye for Art. I stamped my images, colored them with distress inks and sprays and then layered my elements. Some time ago I made another tag, Be Yourself Wendy Vecchi Tag, using a different set of Wendy Vecchi stamps.

Wendy Vecchi Stamps

Here are a few inspiring Wendy Vecchi Stamps that are on my Wish List.  Aren’t they beautiful! I just love all the vintage lace and such.

Mysterious Lady: Mixed Media Tag

 

PaperArtsy Tag

I really enjoy making tags as they are fast and small. It has been a while since I made one but I thought I would share this one today. You can view my step by step tutorial HERE over on the PaperArtsy blog. The Hot Picks stamps over at PA are really fun for anyone that loves vintage style stamps. My favorite part of any project is usually making the background and for this tag I enjoyed adding the tag to the bottom with ribbon.

Lynne Perrella Tag

 

Just Chit Chat…

I forgot how much I missed blogging. Football season is the perfect excuse to hop on the computer while hubby is busy. I don’t much prefer football so I find it the best time for crafting or catching up on other things.

This week I am focusing on making personal lists. Since I am all about lists I am working on creating a bunch of ‘TO DO’ lists for my art goals. I love the new year because it gives me the chance to start over on all those uncompleted projects. Of course that means I am a year older this time around but that can’t be helped.

The Tag

So, on to the project. Lynne Perrella is one of my favorite stamp artists. She never disappoints when it comes to her new releases over at PA. I made this tag for PaperArtsy using a beautiful Lynne Perrella stamp and a few other goodies from PA. I have a step by step Tutorial over on the PA blog.

If you didn’t answer my topic poll. I would love to hear your opinion. It is in my last post. Take a sec to fill it out so I can start implementing a few more interesting topics into my posts.

Kate

Santa Tag

A tag for Artistic Outpost using the Toy Emporium stamp set. Thanks for looking!

Dream Big

   Welcome to this month’s product focus for Artistic Outpost . The theme is Masculine, perfect for the upcoming Father’s Day.
  

    I chose to work with the new Wander and Dream stamp set, perfect for our theme. I made a tag pouch and tag using patterned paper and paints. The vines are stamped from the Hayride set. The script stamp in the background is from the new Springtime set.
   For more masculine themed projects and inspiration please hop along to each Designer’s blog. Thank you for looking!

Tracy

Gerrie

Terry

Kate – you are here

Shari

Lisa

The Baker Tag

   This tag goes in the tag pouch I shared here. I used a new stamp, The Baker from Artistic Outpost as my focal image. In the background I used a few elements from the Skating Emporium and the London Underground stamp sets.

Christmas Tradition

        Hello! I am sharing a Christmas tag using some flowers and leaves from I Am Roses. I used the curly pedaled gardenias (a favorite), a lilly, mini roses, and fern leaves.
     The stamps are from Artistic Outpost. I used the stamp sets Ephemera Backgrounds and Generation Redux.
      Have a great week!

Christmas Wonderland

    Welcome! Today is this months challenge over at the I Am Roses Challenge Blog. I made a Christmas tag using some gorgeous flowers. I used stamps by Artistic Outpost from the Christmas Chalk, Serenity, and Wonderland Collage.
      Check out the blog to see more inspiring Christmas tags.

Steampunk Tag

Tags

Steampunk

    This month’s challenge over at the I Am Roses Blog is all about Steampunk. Check it out to see all the Design Team’s creations and the chance to win some beautiful flowers!

    My grandmother has been gone for a few years but I made this tag as a little remembrance.
  Thank you for looking!

PaperArtsy Guest Designer Day 2

        A sneak peek of Day 2’s project over at the PaperArtsy Blog. Head on over to see the whole project.

Butterfly Angel

     Hello! I made this tag for a dear friend for her birthday. I used some Graphic 45 stamps that have been sitting unopened in the package for a year. The flowers and leaves are from I Am Roses.

     My background has been stamped an sprayed before adding my embellishments. Thank you for looking!