Ghostly Treats

Its time for my October tag Tim Holtz Style & Halloween is a given in October. Going back through Tim's old tags on his blog, I decided to use his technique, 12 tags of christmas-day 5 from 2008 which is a shabby chic paint resist.  The left tag is my decorated tag & the right is my technique tag which is stored in my idea-ology worn binder notebook for future reference.

I followed Tim's instructions by painting a #8 manila tag with black soot paint, smoothing it out with a sponge then letting it dry.

The images from classics 1, classics 3 & classics 4 were stamped with embossing ink, sprinkled with clear embossing powder then embossed using a heat tool.

Cracked pistachio paint was smoothed over the black soot with a sponge & dried until tacky.  Using a damp cloth, some of the cracked pistachio was wiped off to create this cool shabby chic look.

Again I followed the steps outlined on Tim's blog (link above) using a #10 manila tag which was painted with black soot & twisted citron paint.  I stamped & clear embossed a large spider web, script and the trick or treaters.  I don't think the twisted citron is bright because I may not have gotten the black paint as dry as it needed to be.

I used the same technique on another tag using black soot & picket fence paint then popped up 3 die cut ghosts.  There's a small piece of black CS behind the eyes & mouth.

I painted these mini numerals with black soot then dabbed them with antique bronze paint.  I love how they turned out!  I also did this to a halloween token (photo below) that says trick or treat which is hung under the ribbon.

This is one of my favorite parts of the tag...an interactive spider!  I tied the spider at the middle of the black thread.  After making 2 holes in the tag, I put each end of the thread though them & tied the thread at the back, leaving a tail.  Since the spider is tied in the middle of the thread, all you do is pull the thread up & down on the back of the tag!  Cute, huh?














Instead of a ribbon I used tulle tied with 2 colors of twine.  Once it was in place I melted it with a heat gun!  It give it a really spooky look.  I then added the token using a loop pin.

Hope you enjoyed my Halloween tag...TFL!!

Wicked Birthday

Last night the Giggler's celebrated Mary Ann's birthday.  Of course when you have a birthday in October chances are you love Halloween (& she does) plus she loves tags so I made this spooky guy & he lights.  

The background was done using Hickory Smoke, Stormy Sky, Wilted Violet & Peeled Paint Distress Ink on a #10 tag then spritzed with water.  The skull (on white CS), spider web, birthday sentiment & pumpkins were stamped in black Archival ink on another manila tag.  The pumpkins were colored with a detailer water brush using Dried Marigold, Carved Pumpkin & Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink then fussy cut & layered.  The skull was lightly inked with Hickory Smoke & fussy cut.  "Wicked" was done by coloring white embossing paste with a few drops from a Twisted Citron re-inker & applied over the stencil.  The words at the bottom are remnant rubs & the bats at the top are die cuts.  I also spattered black ink over everything before adding the spider which was attached with a piece of thread.    

The tag has 2 layers.  The bottom layers holds the copper tape, battery & LED light.  On the top layer, I cut a hole where the eye is & placed the skull over the light.  I also cut a hole in the top layer & placed a pumpkin over top (it's being pressed) so the battery could be changed.  The top & bottom are held together with two layers of foam tape.  The SU Wisteria Wonder ribbon was added last.

TIP:  My friend, Shannon suggested replacing one of the layers of foam tape with Velcro so the battery could be changed.  I think that's a great idea & next time I'll give that a try.

For details on how I make light up tags you can visit my blogl plus there are many YouTube Videos.

Thanks for looking!!

Aww, nuts

My SIL, Pam & I collaborated on this recipe card for The Craft Shack's September Recipe Class. Pam had this yummy peanut butter icing recipe & she wanted to use her Inky Antics Scented Smiles Peanut Stamp Set and Scratch 'n Sniff Stickers.  The set has the cutest stamps with scented stickers.  We placed a clear sticker over the peanut butter jar so when you scratch it you can smell peanuts! After Pam picked out the papers, I found a recipe card by lorie64 on SCS & using her basic layout this is what we came up with.

Other supplies - Maja Design Denim and Friends12x1 Paper, SU Night of Navy & Very Vanilla, Copics, SU Oval punches, Twine, Wooden Button, twill ribbon.