My strawberry June Tag - Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2015

I'm playing along with the Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2015. The June 12 Tags tutorial made me thirsty!  

Love the plaid and the yummy looking drink that is perfect for holding a gift card!

Here's my strawberry take on the June tag.

I love the strawberry frappuccino, with the whipped cream, of course! I made my own strawberry frappuccino out of various distress inks on the cup that I cut from a manila folder. I was excited to try out my new Tim Holtz die that I found on sale at the local JoAnns! Yipee!

For my frosty drink lid I used a stencil and some texture paste on the back of the lid cutout I cut from plastic packaging. Then I put glitter sparkle goop on the back after the texture paste was dry. This swirl stencil is an ancient stencil from the 1980s. It still works great, you just have to wash the stencil after each use.

For the round circle I used 2 colors of distress paint. I stamped the strawberry onto some cardstock, colored it with markers, and added glossy accents for the luscious strawberry.

I printed my #berrycool hashtag on the computer. I inked up a piece of white burlap to match.

Now I'm so thirsty! Can't wait to go get a strawberry frappuccino at the local starbucks!

Thanks for checking out my yummy tag!

Faux cracked glass, Challenge #30, Compendium of Curiosities 3

It's been a few months!!! Where have I been! I missed my creative friends! 

So I am once again participating, and this time it's Challenge 30 of the Compendium of Curiosities iii Challenge on the Studio L3 blog by Linda Ledbetter. Challenge 30 was so tempting because we are using the faux cracked glass technique as found on page 54 of Compendium of Curiosities 3 by Tim Holtz. 

Challenge 30 is sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique who will provide a $25 shopping spree for the winner of the challenge, with more prizes courtesy of Tim Holtz and Mario Rossi for the fabulous Curiosity Crew's choice winner!

My cracked project is an old and mysterious jar of Wisdom. See how cool the cracked glass technique is. Makes the jar look straight out of Harry Potter or something! The faux cracked glass technique is so cool and it is so easy to get a nice effect!

I actually used an antique jar I got at a flea market a few years ago. I love the squatty shape of the jar. My daughter brought back the gargoyles for me from her Theater Study Abroad program to London long ago...to thank me for sending more money after she used all of her food money to buy theater tickets, which she promptly spent on more theater tickets. She lived off of biscuits for 2 months. She is a drama teacher today, which gives me many opportunities to make theater props...usually at midnight...in a panic...to help her...even though a long time ago she spent her food money on theater tickets...I still help her...because the show must go on!

Potpourri Stopper Tip

Here's an excellent tip for you. You know the bags of potpourri that have big pods and other seeds included? Well, my stopper is just an item that was in a bag of potpourri that just happened to fit the jar perfectly. I use potpourri elements for stoppers on bottles all of the time! At the end of the post I will include some photos of jars where I've created similar stoppers.

For my jar label, I found a label on the internet and photo-shopped my own words on the label. It says vics creations, Druggist. No. 2015  Dr. h.n. life. WISDOM. I put the label on the jar during the first step of the faux cracked glass technique. Go read about it in your copy of the Compendium of Curiosities 3 book!

So the past few months have been challenging and I haven't had much time to participate in the CC3 challenges which made me sad as I have loved participating this past year. So while I was thinking about this project I realized that even though things don't always go the way you expect or when you experience difficult or challenging events at work, home, whatever, that's when you gain that elusive Wisdom. Gaining Wisdom isn't always fun, and so I place my gargoyles to protect my Wisdom and to ward off any more events that may lead to Wisdom for awhile!

Back-off Wisdom, my jar is already full! If you look closely you can see my little pearls of wisdom peaking through the cracked glass on the back of my project.

Here is a close up of the stopper. On top of the potpourri seed pod wrapped around the hay-rope dealy, I slid an owl bead onto a very long pin. I topped the pin with the faux cracked glass technique as well.

I love how the cracks turn out differently on all the sides.  I thought it needed a little bling on the side.

The rope and the pod just happened to come out of the potpourri bag that way! Accidental creativity is the best! Gargoyle is so pleased!

Here is the original label I created for the jar.

I'm happy I was able to participate this time. It's been a fun experience participating in these challenges, the CC3C challenges, not the life challenges! Don't make me get some bigger Gargoyles!

Here are some jar stopper ideas! Mr. Skellington on the left was a large pod that was in a bag of white Christmas potpourri. I stuck a pin in the pod, and cut the head off the pin and stuck it into the cork with some added glue. I drew the face on with a pencil, then went over that with a black fine-tipped marker like a sakura marker or micron pen. 

The seed pod on the right was just the right size to fit into the spooky jar. 

Next time you are at a store where they sell bags of Potpourri, especially after Christmas, peek inside to see if there are any "cork-worthy" items!

Congratulations to the fabulous curiosity crew on your up-coming crafty cruise to Costa Rica in 2016!!! Talk about the ultimate Creativity Cruise with the experts of Curiosity...the Curiosity Crew! Wish I could go! Someday...