Back-to-School and August Tag(s) of 2013

As a retired teacher, I can't break the habit of anticipating the start of school at the end of each summer. When I saw Tim's August Tag on his blog, the techniques he used were really appealing and I especially liked his tip about misting the tag before running it through the stains; it seems like they blended better than usual.  I made quite a few that were okay but didn't really seem that special, so  I thought I would look through my stamps for inspiration and realized that school was still on my mind. 

Below are some tags I made at first, but most of them look kinda dirty rather than vintage which is why I really muted the intensity of the background stamps on my school tag.  All the tags began life using Pumice Stone and Frayed Burlap stains, and all had the focal stamps applied using a combination of black StazOn and Ranger Archival Ink.  I masked the main images - and I might add that I detest the fussy cuts needed to create the masks for them - before I overstamped.

I like the general effect of this overstamping but think I overdid blending the Distress Inks in the background.

I tried some of my Asian stamps here and added a couple of Chinese coins.  It's pretty ho-hum plus I have no idea what it even says.

Here's another less-than-stellar attempt even though I love the little girl clown stamp.  The mask wasn't tight enough so there's too much empty space around her.

Another set of stamps that are favorites are the Oxford Impressions Civil War set. The mask used on the cannon again wasn't tight enough, so the overstamp was too far away.

Another unsuccessful masking job.

Overall it's been a fun challenge!

A Birthday, 2 Anniversaries, & 1 Whatever

There were quite a few cards I wanted to make last month for special occasions. I wanted to make something bright and cheery for for my sister-in-law's birthday. I love a cupcake theme, and  I have plenty of stamps and stickers to choose from.

Both of my sisters-in-law have August anniversaries and I wanted to incorporate their wedding photos into their cards. The first card has the photo inside (and I forgot to take a picture of the inside :), but the outside uses squares and a heart that were embossed with a variety of embossing folders.

The second card used the wedding picture on the card cover. I used my new Cricut to create the photo frame layers and edged strip across the bottom. I embossed the bottom frame layer and used Distress Ink on the raised pattern. The rosette was cut using my TH rosette die and topped with an enamel embellishment.

This last card used my favorite vintage child photo once again. I stitched around two of the papers with the battery operated, hand held "sewing machine" I found at Good Will. I layered the stitched papers on top of the background paper and added the photo mounted on a paper doily. The flowers were made from a combination of silk and cardstock petals.