Tag Swap

I entered a tag swap for this new yahoo group I'm in.  It's a great little group of experienced artists, that I was fortunate and honored to be invited to join.  The first swap of the group is a tag swap, and since I've been so busy with classes at Michaels (besides my home classes), I haven't done a swap in a loooong time.  Since I quit, and have all this time on my hands now, I figured this was as good a time as any to jump back in!

First, I have to give a shout out to my art buddy, Eileen (she does art everyday, and posts to her blog here).  I met her on a couple of the Tim Holtz cruises, and she lives fairly nearby in the Bronx (unfortunately, I haven't seen her since the last cruise, but I will at an art retreat next month!).

Anyway, she was randomly selected to send me her swap, and here's a pic of her cool work:

It's a really cool backgroud, and I love how she made the hands of the clock using keys.  You can see details of this tag on her blog (see link above).  She also sent me a little goody package of brads!

Thanks Eileen!  Anyway, even tho we have til the end of the month to send our tag swap, she inspired me to get working on it last night.  And, my daughter, Kelly, joined me and created an awesome tag too!  Here's mine that I'll be sending out to Jason later today:

I had some leftover colored background paper I created and used for a scrapbook layout (more on that soon), so I decided to use some of it for my tag.  I used Broken China, Tea Dye, Walnut, Shabby Shutters & Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks.  I distressed the edges and swiped them with more Broken China.  I then stamped with my Stampin' Up! Basic Black, and one of my favorite Wendy Vecchi background stamps from the Dimensional Rose Art set.  I then colored some sticky back canvas with Wild Honey and inked the edges w/Vintage Paper and stuck it to the bottom.

I added some Clearly For Art flowers I'd made a few weeks ago (sorry, can't remember the colors) by cutting some white CFA using the Tattered Florals die.  I think the buttons are Stampin' Up!, and I put some yellow hemp through the button holes.

I wanted something to 'pop' on the card, so I decided to emboss the words with white embossing powder.  Wow!  A little too much pop!  Kelly suggested I add some white somewhere else, so I wrapped some of Stampin' Up! white Bakers Twine around the bottom.

For the butterfly, I used a new stamp I just purchased this past weekend at The Ink Pad in NYC.  It's a Julie Fei-Fan Balzer set called Butterflies.  The script words came from this set as well.  I used the foam applicator and added some Wild Honey ink to a piece of Whisper White cardstock, then stamped the butterfly in black and carefully cut out.  I covered the whole thing with Glossy Accents and when dry, I adhered it with different heights of Dimensionals (for these pics, I just laid the still-wet butterfly on top).  Added some fun fibers and wa-laa!

Now, onto Kelly's awesome tag--this is her first tag where she wasn't using one of Tim's as an instructional starting point.  It's all her:

She really liked the background paper I made, so she used some as well, but she stamped the background using my Stampin' Up! Paisley stamp--love this look!  She then used a smaller piece of sticky back canvas near the bottom (don't know which Distress Ink color she used), and wrapped it with black hemp and added a heart button.

She then used one of the rub-on's from Stampin' Up!s Cherished Memories pkg.

With all the punches I own, I didn't have one to fit this circle, so we used my Circle Cutter.  She opted to just cut a circle layer by hand from some Bravo Burgundy cardstock.  She said I tend to "overthink" things.  lol

She added some red paper flowers I had in my stash with a little clothespin.  She then punched more of my background paper with the Stampin' Up! Boho Blossoms punch, and added spots of Bravo Burgundy in the centers w/Glossy Accents on top.  She popped a black large eyelet in the hole, and don't ask me where she found the paper twist she knotted at the top!  I've so much stuff here, I have no idea what I've got!  lol