The Main Feature

The Craft Barn has revealed the next letter in the
  Alpha Challenge,
which runs throughout 2013.

The next alpha is F,
but the word had to be between Fe & Fr in the dictionary.

I selected Feature as my word.
I have printed a journal,
with the main feature on the inside.

Inside Feature 

by daisy

The Craft Barn

reveals all amid concerns

that the twist imposed

will restrict the word

options available.

See inside for our full and exclusive report.

It measures 3½ cm by 4½ cm when closed
& is secured to the front of the tag
using Tissue Tape (elements) by Tim Holtz.

The four images used to create the newspaper
were supplied by The Graphics Fairy
(face, french document
& title on the front cover
& french newspaper inside).

I used patterned papers Life's Journey Pansy by K & Company
& Distress Ink (antique linen).

To see all the tags made in this series, click here.

Tate Collage Postcard

I was privileged to visit both the
Kurt Schwitters
& the
Roy Lichtenstein
exhibitions at the Tate in London last week,
one at Tate Britain, the another at Tate Modern.

Although more than just a river separated them,
through my eyes they had much in common.

This is a postcard collage as a memory of my day,
which will be placed in my journal.

If you were able to see either of these exhibitions,
know either or both of their works,
I hope you will enjoy this piece.

Photographs from the day can be seen here.

The Schwitters closed yesterday,
but the Lichtenstein is open until the end of the month,
so there is still time to visit if you can.

The Key

The Craft Barn has revealed the next letter in the

Alpha Challenge,

which runs throughout 2013.

The next alpha is K & I selected Key as my word.

As the definition given was so large I wanted to make it the feature of the tag,

without overwhelming it,

so I used an image transfer technique, using double sided adhesive.

The transferred ink is sandwiched between the patterned paper covering the tag & the vellum.

You can see the floral patterned paper & read the words through the vellum.

This is the reverse side, together with another part of the definition.

I have used patterned papers Life's Journey Pansy by K & Company,

silk screen printed vellum by Papermania,

a key image cut from one of Tim Holtz's old printed paper collections

& Distress Ink (antique linen).

I am creating a tag for each letter of the alphabet & you can see more detail here.

Connecting through Art

If you saw my Liberate your Art postcard tribute last month, you may be wondering what happened to

all the postcards that Kat Sloma received & sent out.

Together with her helpers, Kat sorted through 1290 postcards from 216 artists from 11 countries.

If you visit the link below you will be able to see an amazing, inspiring slideshow of all the postcards,

together with links to the responses from the participants.

Resist with rub-ons

I decided to leap in & take part this month in the Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2013. 

His inspirational tag can be seen here.

So adapting his design to fit my own supplies, this is the end result.

I used 300gsm acrylic paper for my tag base & Bonjour rub ons by Kaisercraft.

I only have Distress Inks, so I used these to colour the background

(fired brick, broken china, peeled paint, mustard seed & spiced marmalade).

I overstamped with a few of Tim's Mini Muse stamps (CMS063), with Jet Black Archival Ink

(embrace imperfection, filmstrip & bingo card).

I used a domed glass embellishment from Eco Green Crafts (Glass Glintz) over some words cut

from my English Dictionary that I use in my craft projects (a charity shop purchase).

I added a brad over the top of the dome to give a similar look to Tim's faux enamelled tag

& some coloured fibre through the top.

Now to tidy up ...

The Author

The Craft Barn has revealed the next letter in the Alpha Challenge, which runs throughout 2013.

The next alpha is A.

This is the front of my tag.

This is the reverse side.

I have used patterned papers Life's Journey Pansy by K & Company, Distress Ink (antique linen) & an image from The Crafthouse Press.

I am creating a tag for each letter of the alphabet & you can see more detail here.

Words

The Craft Barn has revealed the next letter in the Alpha Challenge, which began in January 2013.

The next alpha is W with the added twist of circles in the design.

This is the front of my tag.

I choose word as my word & added the dictionary definition.

I already use a circle for my capital letters, but added two more cut from the word definition. There are also circles from the postal cancellation stamps. There are also wings on the postal stamps.

This is the reverse side.

The word is mightier than the sword

I have used patterned papers Life's Journey Pansy by K & Company, Distress Ink (antique linen) & a pen nib.

I am creating a tag for each letter of the alphabet & you can see more detail here.

2013 Journal Update

Time to catch up with my 2013 journal, in which I take time to reflect each week

& document a memory of a new experience, a new place I visited,

a new recipe (whether successful or not)

& recording those surprises that delight along the way.

So a quick update on my February pages,

starting with the finished spread for early February,

when I visited an art exhibition & joined a walking group.

The small copies of the instant camera style photographs are taken from my photography blog.

Then we celebrated Valentines Day & made Carrot Muffins.

I have started to reinforce some of the pages with tape,

using Nostalgic tissue tape by Tim Holtz from the idea-ology range,

which combines function with beauty.

I resisted buying his tape for so long

& finally gave in when I saw this set which was perfect for this project.

And I love it.

Then I had the lovely surprise of an envelope arriving from

Buckingham Palace

& attended a First Aid course.

The little pocket contains a copy of the Certificate,

which adds an interactive element to this page.

March started with a visit to a new coffee shop ...

& Banoffee Cupcakes, then we celebrated Mothers Day.

The recipe tag is held in place by a band of grosgrain ribbon.

The picture below shows the reverse side of the tag

I attended an art class with Andy Skinner

learning how to get the best out of the Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate,

which was great fun getting messy with paints.

A trip to somewhere new came next.

You can call it a memory keeper or a scrapbook,

as it does contain little pieces (scraps) collected,

you could call it an art journal,

as I am using it to try out new ideas or record new techniques learnt,

but I just call it

my journal.

Listen to your Heart

The final page in my monoprint journal.

The patterned papers were created using a Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate.
I have also used Rangers gel medium (Studio multi-medium matte),
charcoal, chalks & black pens.

The acetate butterflies are from Crafthouse Press.

Dare to Dream

Another page in my monoprint journal.

The patterned papers were created using a Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate.
I have also used Rangers gel medium (Studio multi-medium matte), charcoal & black pens.

The head image was from Michelle Ward.