So many projects, so little time.....to blog

Where has all the time gone? It seems like I just posted something here yesterday and yet the last time I was here was August 24.

That doesn't mean I haven't been working on anything.  As a matter of fact, this post is very picture heavy (just a warning lol)

I am still in my Fall/Halloween mood. I just love the colors!!! But I have a couple other, non-autumn related items this week too.  :-)

To say I have been working on tons of stuff is an understatement. I even have a few things still on my camera.

Let's start with fun new ideas...
I saw this on Pinterest while looking for some Cuttlebug ideas. Using aluminum tape, you can created really cool backgrounds. I found this 50 foot roll of tape in with the duct work supplies at Home Depot. It cost around $8. I already have a great idea for my Christmas cards using this for the background (hope it turns out as great as I imagine lol)

I found that if I put the tape onto cardstock first, it was much more stable and easier to work with on my cards (but you can run just the tape through the Cuttlebug and it embosses just fine). I used plain index cards for the backing....cheap and an easy size to work with.
You can see that I was also playing with alcohol inks. :-)  I found that you can apply the alcohol inks before embossing like above or apply after embossing to just highlight the raised areas (but this was much more time consuming....still looks cool though)

So, after experimenting, I was ready to use this on a card. I put 2 strips of the aluminum tape onto an index card. I covered it with alcohol inks (a blend of reds, browns and golds...which don't show up too well in a photo because it is so shiny) then ran it through the Cuttlebug using the Fall Leaf background from Darice. The stamped image is from the Stampin' Up set Halloween Smiles.

And while playing around with the Cuttlebug, I pulled out my Jack o Lantern folder (part of the Happy Hauntings set) and tried applying ink to the embossed images.

I love how it turned out. This is Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink. I just rubbed the ink pad gently over the paper so the ink only hit the raised images. My only problem? I is just too bright and busy to work as a background with anything I have tried. So it is sitting in my stack of leftovers until I find a good match.
I used this folder again to make the background for a friend's birthday card (she is a Halloween baby)

I made the cupcake in fall colors and of course, chocolate icing lol The cupcake comes from Simply Charmed. I added shading with Prismacolor pencils.

And since I was still in Halloween mode, I pulled out the Teddy Bear Parade cartridge and made this little witch.

But then I couldn't decide what to do with her so she hung out on my desk until I put her on this doorknob tag. The spider web and 'Trick or Treat' are from October 31st.

But we are not done yet my friends.....I warned you that I was super busy! lol

I saw several ideas for Post-it note holders online and thought that might make a cute gift. I grabbed my Create a Critter and Teddy Bear Parade. I removed the eyes and mouth cuts from the worm using the Cricut Craft Room and resized him just a bit to fit my project better. His glasses are from Teddy Bear Parade, resized to fit his little head.

This paper was printed with the eyelet and striped edge. Since this was a practice project, I didn't want to get into layering papers and such. I just wanted to get my basic measurements down.
I used the standard 3x3 post-it. I cut the background paper at 3 1/4" x 6 3/4" so that I have about 1/8" edge around the post-it. It went together really fast. I think I might be tossing a few of these into my Christmas boxes.  :-)

I was able to leave the Cricut and Cuttlebug alone for a while this week :-)
I moved into tag mode.

This is what happens when I am bored and start watching Tim Holtz videos lol Using the technique where you rub your distress inks onto a non-stick craft sheet (or in my case a piece of foil) spritz with water and then rub your tag into the puddles....I got this.

The bumpy stuff down the right side is some sort of gel medium with glass beads in it. The stuff was so old that it had thickened to a very stiff mess but I rubbed some on...this was as smooth as I could get it....before I dipped the tag in inks. I had also added a couple lines with crayon knowing they would resist the ink.

I used some stencils and rubber stamps to add more visual texture (notice blue blotches in the upper left...giraffe spots I think. And faint trees in the center left)

This sat on my desk for a couple days until I added more images and added it to my art journal.

But this was not the only tag I inked up that day! I actually did 5 or 6.  Some have not yet been used. Others on waiting to be downloaded off the camera. :-)

I did manage to get one of them photographed AND downloaded lol

Again, using Distress Inks for the background, I added lots of stamped images. The birds and clock face are from Tim Holtz. The pumpkin is from Inkadinkado and the tree branch is actually just one branch from a very large tree stamp from Stampa Rosa.

I added eyelets and jute to the bottom left. The stars are brads. They were shiny silver and copper but I inked them with alcohol inks to make them dark.

Don't you love how it 'glows'? That is the Distress Inks and the Prismacolor pencils in his eyes. They are both products with rich, intense colors.

I guess I have bombarded you with enough this week! lol
Stay tuned for more of my Fall/Halloween goodness!  Be forewarned, I am trying to put together an Autumn Junk Journal lol

Happy Fall Y'all