Valentine Tag Day #14 - The Final Tag

The 14th and final tag - the last two weeks went so quickly! I have enjoyed the daily surprises that I did for my SIL and best friend - it definitely gave us something to look forward to! I hope that you enjoyed the journey, as well, and that it inspired you to do something special for someone in your life!

Today’s tag features Crackle Accents Medium (Ranger), Cuttlebug embossing with brayered Choc Chip ink (SU) and partially melted UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel).

A few of the steps: (a)the background was created using Basic Grey Blush paper that was embossed with Cuttlebug Textile embossing folder, then brayered with Choc Chip, (b) the Dandelion (Hero Arts) was stamped with Soft Sky & Choc Chip with Pretty in Pink sponged around the edges - the entire image was covered with the Crackle medium and allowed to try - the cracks appear like magic! (c) the #14 tag was created with heart chipboard, covered with Blush paper, stamped, VersaMark over the entire heart and cover with UTEE - to get the “dew” or “rain” effect only partially melt the UTEE and only use one layer.

The Tag:

Close up of the Crackle image:

The #14 - I love the “dew” effect:

The Gift

Today’s gift was another labor of love… What do you do with the 14 tags? Well I thought they should be stored in something beautiful so that 20 years from now we can look at them and remember - The result is a Tag Book.

Some of the steps: (a) the best thing about this cover is the REAL drawer pull - yes I shopped a Lowes and found the best one that matched the Grungeboard treatment! (b) the Grungeboard is altered by an effect that I call the Drunken Scotch - I’ll be posting a tutorial about this technique in the next few days (c) Cuttlebug emboss and Copper EB and sewing (see the close up) (d) book is covered with Wanted (Comso Cricket) paper (e) the perfect title from All Holidays (SU) - to get the "&" blue I water colored from the lid of my Soft Sky stamp pad.

The cover of the book:

A side view so that you can see the drawer pull - I just love it! Drawer pulls come with screws too long to be used for scrapbooks - while at the hardware store buy 8-32x½ screws - they work perfectly:

Close up of the Drunken Scotch technique on the Grungeboard:


Close up of sewing, Cuttlebug emboss with Copper EB and copper finish letters with “Friends” and Ro and my nick names:





Inside of the book are pockets for the tags. I will be posting pages from the inside of the book over the new couple of days.

I hope you enjoyed the 14 Valentine Tags and thanks for stopping in!

KAT

Valentine Tag Day #13

Yesterday’s gift was a no go *insert sad face here*! Because of the weather the class that was gift #12 was canceled - So an IOU to Ro to take another class… Something to look forward to!

Wow, it’s day 13, only one more day left of the 14 days of Valentines!

Today’s tag is emboss resist with misters and my first use of Inchies (is this a real word?). I don’t know the name of the stamps that I used on this project - they come from a huge set of clear stamps (maybe Basic Grey) that I removed the packaging.

A few of the steps: (a) ink direct to paper with SU Soft Sky & Pretty in Pink, VersaMark the image, emboss (b) mist with Zia Color Wash Jewel Mists, remember when misting keep your arm moving in a sweeping motion- your goal is not to drown the paper in ink but to get a soft mist of color on your project :0) , when dry wipe embossed image with paper towel to remove any excess mist (c) the Inchies are chipboard scraps that I adhered pink Basic Grey Blush paper and then followed steps (a) and (b) above, there are Bella Baubles in the center of each flower (d) it’s hard to see but I misted the stamp with Walnut Ink (TSUKINEK) and stamped the right side of the tag under the Inchies

The tag:


The two parts so that you can see the detail:

The friendship quote:

The Gift

Three "beach" themed stamps and one Doggie Diva stamp.

Thanks for stopping in to see today’s tag!

KAT

Valentine Tag Day #10

Tag # 10 - we are officially in double digits….

Yesterday was great at the acrylic album class… I always worry when I go to a class sight unseen - but this album was beautiful, the instructor was fun and upbeat and we completed it in the 3 hour timeframe for the class. I will “try” to take a few pictures of it and put it on the blog for everyone to see.

Now on to today’s tag. Since I was using so much of the preprinted acetate from Hambly I thought I would create a simple tag from acetate since the other tags I overlaid that acetate on to the office tag. I do like the transparent look of this tag.

A few of the steps: (a) stamped the flourish from SU Baroque Motifs in Timber Brown Stazon, “sprinkled” randomly copper EB (I did this because I did not want a full embossed image - I was trying to make the acetate look distressed) (b) the outer edge of the tag was sponged with Stazon © I put holes thru that tag to run the ribbon to keep the friendship quote on the tag (d) melted the organdy ribbon (love the look)

The completed tag:




Thanks for stopping by on day 10! I would love to hear what you think!

KAT

Valentine Tag Day #9

Day 9 already!

The tag for today is pretty straight forward (I was running out of ideas and I think I made this one late at night…) So this one is simple, simple, simple. The one part of this tag that I want to draw your attention to is the triangles - they are a 2x2 embossed square from my Cuttlebug. I embossed them on the bug, cut it in half diagonally, embossed them with Copper embossing powder. Then I thought they were too “new” looking so I sponged on some Timber Brown Stazon.

A few other details: Paper Peabody (K& Company) Wanted (Cosmo Cricket), #9 is Grungeboard with SU Soft Sky, the flourish from Baroque Motifs was stamped on the printed friendship quote

The completed tag:

A close up of the embossed triangle:


The Gift



Today RoRo and I are going to our local Cord Camera to take an acrylic album class. We have not worked with these before but, of course, we’ve bought a few just waiting for us to do something with them. Personally I am a class junky and I love going to paper crafting classes!

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful Saturday!

KAT

Valentine Tag Day #8

Going to the movies yesterday was a lot of fun - we laughed for the entire movie and we “re-found” a Chinese restaurant that we thought have moved out of town when the Walgreens purchased their land… $10 for two tickets to the movies, $30 for yummy Chinese food (plus dinner for my DH and no dirty dishes), time with my best friend - Priceless!

Today’s tag is a book tag. There is a front page and a back page. I used my sewing machine to sew them together (I glued it first since I was worried that the acetate would move during sewing).

Some of the steps: top page (a) SU Pretty in Pink direct to paper, stamped Butterfly and flourish in VersaMark, embossed, brayered SU Choc Chip over tag (b) front tag is overlaid with Swirl Acetate (Hambly) (c) #8 is chipboard from Archiver’s $1.99 spot covered with Samantha Walker (creative imaginations), bling (hero arts) bottom page (a) SU Soft Sky direct to paper, (b) more Samantha paper and outer edge of Boho (making memories), scraps of SU soft sky, key 7 Gypsies


Picture of top page of tag assembled:







Top page before it was assembled - the preprinted acetate is beautiful:


The bottom page of the tag - I like the way the key ties into the last line of the quote:







Paper from Making Memories used for the brown accented paper on the bottom page:









Thanks for stopping by!


KAT

Valentine Tag Day #7

HALF WAY THERE!



Tag #7 is embossing on a purchased charm to either change the look of the metal or to make it look more distressed. My goal for this tag was to do both. You’ll notice that I did not cover the charm all the way because I thought it added to the distressed look.


Some of the steps: (a) Rub the Charmed Plaques (Making Memories) with VersaMark, add copper EB and heat (b) tag was covered with SU Choc Chip ink direct to paper (c) the brown and white “medallion” is cut out of Samantha Walker paper (Creative Imaginations) (d) #7 Grungeboard is embossed with copper EB (e) the SU paper piercing template was used to get the perfect straight line of copper brads



Other: Butterfly (Stamps by Judith), Pink paper Boho (Making Memories)





The tag:







Another view to see the dimension:







The Creative Imaginations paper that I cut the “medallion” from:







Today’s Gift: Seven boxes of the mini dominos from Target $1 spot and we are going to the movies to see 27 Dresses.




I hope you enjoyed today's tag! Thanks for stopping by!



KAT

Valentine Tag Day #6

Day 6 - we’re almost half way there… Today let’s get frosted, well, at least remove some frosting. Today’s tag features embossing on Frosted Memory Glass (Ranger), faux metal and a beautiful copper tree.

Some of the steps involved: (a)use VersaMark and clear embossing powder to “reverse” the frost on the memory glass - remember to use your embossing buddy to prevent any embossing crumbs on your glass - the glass it trimmed with copper tape (Ranger), (b) faux metal is a really easy technique, just add several layers (here I used 3) of embossing powder, remember to heat in between, on your last layer while still hot stamp with your inked image (I used Stazon ink on the stamp)

General: Stamps -> Country Blessings (SU), Large Tree (Rubber Cottage), Inks -> Soft Sky, Old Olive, Choc Chip (all SU), Timber Brown Stazon, Library Clip (SU)
The Tag:

Close up of the embossed Frosted Glass - see how the embossing removes the frosting:

Faux Metal #6 - this was made on a scrap of card stock:

They friendship saying - a perfect match to the tree image:

This was my first time using the memory glass - it was easy and the effect is beautiful.

I would love to hear what you think….

KAT

Valentine Tag Day #5

Do you wanna play - with Dominos? The tag for Day #5 is stamping and embossing on Dominos… You can get these almost anywhere just make sure the back of the domino is plain. Also, if you were lucky - Target had domino games in their $1 spot that were miniature - I can’t wait to play with those!

Stamping on dominos is like stamping on acetate - you need to use the right type of ink (I used Stazon) and don’t press too hard or you get a smudge. One of the nice things about dominos is they are forgiving. If you have an oopps you can rub it off if you are fast enough. Talk about fast… as soon as you stamp the image put on your embossing powder! If you could feel this domino the words are all raised!

Some details: My dominos were stark white so I used Timber Brown Stazon to antique it, Paper is Cosmo Cricket, Office tag has SU Choc Chip, Soft Sky and Pretty in Pink and I stamped French Script over top, keys were adhered with Crystal Effects, musical acetate by Hambly

The completed tag -notice the sheet music paper? This is the actual music to “Thank you For Being a Friend“, I printed this off the internet - I think this is a beautiful touch:

The tag before assembly so that you can see the detail:

The paper office tag underneath the acetate:

A side view so that you can see the dimension:

A close up of the Grungeboard #5 - the Grungeboard is inked with Choc Chip, added UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamal) and then slightly heated:

The Gift

Starfish Document stamp from Stampington & Company - the Starfish has five points, hence gift #5:

I hope you enjoyed the 5th tag… I would love to hear from you!

KAT

Valentine Tag Day #4

The tag for Day 4 was an interesting technique that was inspired by one of Tim Holtz's 12 Christmas tags. To see Tim's tag and tutorial click here -> http://timholtz.typepad.com/my_weblog/12_tags_of_christmas_tag_6/index.html

This is the first time that I have used misters and I found them easy to use but remember to spray in a sweeping motion to give a light/airy effect and really cover your work surface - this can be very messy (and who likes to clean - yuck???)!

I used the same basic technique that Tim used to achieve this lighter look. I did not "sprinkle" extra water on my project after I misted - I skipped that step to keep the tag cleaner. Basic steps (a) cut flower/leave design from Basic Grey Perhaps paper (b) place the cut out on the tag and mist with Zia's Color Wash Jewel misters (c) use color blender to add the Pretty In Pink and Soft Sky colors to the blank area left from the cut out (d) stamped tag and doodled on part of the cut out image (e) embosed, flicking off a lot of the powder before heating to give it a "pebbled" look.

The finished tag:

The tag parts before assembly so that you can see the detail:

Friendship saying - notice the "pebbly" effect on the saying... It adds a nice texture to your project:

Sample of the paper that I cut the flower/stem image from (one word to the wise... just lay the cut out on the tag - my 1st attempt I used repositionable tape and it left debris on the paper and the ink would not cover it):

The gift for Day 4 is Hero Arts Cat Portrait Stamp Set:

Enjoy your Monday and thanks for stopping by! Leave a comment or question - I would love to hear from you!

KAT

Valentine Tag Day #3

RoRo (my SIL and best friend) left me a comment on Tag #2... :0) - she makes me smile!

Let’s BLING right into Day #3. This one is my favorites so far -unfortunately the picture does not do it justice - the embossed definition would just not photograph well for me - bummer. I love the bling doodads (check out that dragonfly) and the brown glitter paper!

The “you” definition from SU says: “ you: the one and only; the one I value as my friend and love each day. The person in my thoughts.” I like that sappy definition!

On the tag paper I sponged the colors randomly, inking the edges with Choc Chip to give it that older look. The “you” definition was stamped on the graph acetate (isn’t that awesome stuff!!!) with Stazon and clear embossed. The collage effect on the acetate was created using a number of stamps with Stazon. Stamping on acetate is easy, you just need a steady hand and don’t push to hard or you will skid *wink* across the stuff! To make the saying stick out more I placed a scrap of pink cardstock behind it.

The tag (I pushed the #3 to the side so that you would get a better look):

My feable attempt *arrrggggg* at capturing the definition on camera - as you can see I am not a photographer:

Picture of the Graph Acetate - love the stuff!:

Tag under the acetate:

Technique: Stamping and Embossing on Acetate
Stamps: All SU - Garden Silhouettes, Define Your Life, Print Pattern, Baroque Motifs, French Script
Ink: SU: Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, Pretty in Pink, River Rock; Timber Brown Stazon
Paper: Blank Office Tag, Grid Acetate (Hambly), scrap Pretty in Prink (SU), Brown glitter paper *pretty* (Smitten by K&Company)
Doodads: WeRMemory Makers extra large brads, ribbon scraps, Chipboard 3 (Archiver’s $1.99 spot), Pink Flower (Target $1 spot), Pink Bling (Hero), Dragon Fly (Prima), Scrapper’s Floss (Karen Foster)
Tools: Crop-a-Dyl, Heat Gun, Basic Grey Precision File Set

Other: Clear Embossing Powder (EB)

The Gift

The gift for Day #3 is an altered journal from the Michael’s $1 Spot. I made this journal for RoRo so that she can keep track of websites, ideas and stuff she needs for rubber stamping all in one spot.

Dream, Inspire, Create Journal:

A close up of the Grungeboard hinge (some copper EB on the top):

Technique: Ink and Emboss on Grungeboard
Stamps: None (can you believe it)
Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU), VersaMark and VersaMark Pen, Dark Brown Chalk (ColorBox)
Paper: Timeless Collection (Deja Views), Dream, Create and Inspire is computer generated and printed on the same paper
Doodads: Hinges and Letters (Tim Holtz Grungeboard), Brown Brads, Organdy Ribbon
Tools: Slot Punch (Making Memories), Circle Nestabilities, SU Punches: Ticket & Spiral
Other: Copper Embossing Powder (EB),

I would love to hear you comments or questions!
KAT

Valentine Tag Day #2

Day #1 was received with surprise, shock, laughter and, yes, some tears (from both of us, but we’ll say it was just from my SIL :0)… It was a great day to surprise someone - snow, rain, snow, rain… the weather in NE Ohio is always unpredictable!

Now it’s time for Tag #2! This is a pocket tag with emboss resist. I put ink (Pretty In Pink) all over the tag using the direct to paper method (just run the tag over the stamp pad), let dry, stamp image using VersaMark, emboss, brayered Choc. Chip all over tag, wipe tag with paper towel…decorate. The blue swirls and dots are Grungeboard with Soft Sky ink.

Picture with friendship saying in the pocket:

Full picture of tag and saying:

Close up of embossing and Grungeboard (see the extra “spots” they are because I forgot to use my embossing buddy before stamping the image… but I think it adds to the distressed look so I left it as is):

Technique: Emboss Resist, Distress
Stamps: Swirls (Hero Art), 2 (TAC)
The sentiment was computer printed.
Ink: All Stampin Up (SU): Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, Pretty in Pink
Paper: Blank Office Tag, Wanted (Cosmo Cricket) - I just love this paper
DoDads: WeRMemory Makers extra large brads, SU eyelets, ribbon scraps, Tim Holtz Grungeboard
Tools: Crop-a-Dyl, 1 3/4 inch SU circle punches, Tim Holtz Distresser, Ranger Ink Blending Tool


The gift for Day #2 are two starfish stamps from My Sentiments Exactly:

Today's Friendship Quote:

"A friend is one of the nicest things you can have
And one of the best things you can be."
~Douglas Pagels

I would love to hear your comments or questions!

KAT

Valentines Day Tag #1

Hello - welcome to KAT Toys... Thanks for stopping in!

My first upload! I hope you like it *insert nail biting here*, I am just a bit nervous - but this project is an act of love and it will be fun to share.

This is Day #1 of the 14 days of Valentines for my sister in law (SIL) who, I am lucky enough to say, is my VERY best friend (yes we even use the term BFF). We have been friends for - well let's just say a long, long time so that I don't date myself! She had a very rough 2007 dealing with health issues and is a bit down. I thought I would cheer her up with something unexpected and give her something to look forward to during the dark, drab days of February in NE Ohio... So for the next 14 days she will receive a small gift from me along with a tag! I thought I would share this journey with you and maybe help to inspire you to do something unexpected for someone you care about!

The inspiration for the tags came from Tim Holtz - the distressing king himself. He did the 12 Tags of Christmas and is now having a "technique challenge" on his blog every month. January's tag was Distress Batik... This tag uses the same technique - check out his blog to see the tutorial: http://timholtz.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/01/january-techniq.html . He will truly inspire you! Oh, and because of Tim, you will see one of my favorite new products - Grungeboard - don'tcha just love the name! The material is different and awesome - kind of like leather! It's the #1 on this tag but you will see more of this Grungeboard in the next 14 days...

The technique is really simple - emboss resist, add ink and stamped images on top, remove embossing powder (EB) from your paper using a craft iron and basic white tissue paper (I didn't have the plain newsprint and the tissue paper worked great).... Enough jabber...

All tags started out as a blank office tag:

The Tag #1:

Another View:

The friendship quote:

Close up of the Grungeboard with SU Soft Sky rubbed on.

Technique: Distress Batik

Stamps: Agapanthus Long (Stampendous), 3140H (Penny Black, it's the brown blossom)
The sentiment was computer printed.

Ink: All Stampin Up (SU): Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, Pretty in Pink

Paper: Blank Office Tag, scrap of Soft Sky and Pretty in Pink (SU)

DoDads: WeRMemory Makers extra large brads, misc. buttons, ribbon scraps, Tim Holtz Grungeboard

Tools: Craft Iron, Crop-a-Dyl, 3/4 & 1 inch circle punches, Tim Holtz Distresser, Ranger Ink Blending Tool

General Note: I won't include basis tools, for example: paper cutter, ruler, non-stick craft mat, heat gun, adhesives ect...


I hope you enjoyed the 1st Valentine's Tag. I'm off to give the tag and the gift: DVD of Pretty Woman - the #1 Chick Flick in the US.

Let me know what you think!

KAT