My Mind's Eye Blog

Holiday Tags

Hi everyone Laurel here.  I love making tags (I don’t always use them, but I love to make them !)

 

Having handmade tags to attach to a gift just gives a gift that special touch.  But don’t stop there.  I like to add them to my cards and scrapbook pages too! 

 

Supplies:  Sleigh Bells ring: 6 X 6 pad;  Chipboard Frames; Cardstock Tags; Mixed Bag

 

Having tags on hand is just a good idea. 

 

 

I used the Sleigh Bells Ring collection as I love the warm homey feel of it.  The check, plaid and touch of black... sigh!

 

As always, I layered them up, adding bits and pieces here and there.  A bit of a challenge on such a small area, but I like a good challenge.

 

 

I have added these tags to my tag drawer, an upcycled sewing machine desk drawer, and they are currently on display in my home. 

 

 

Laurel

Thanksgiving Gift Bags

Hey there, everyone!  Lea here today with some decorated gift bags just in time for Thanksgiving.  Whether you want to create little treat bags for your guests, or want to bring a thank you gift to your host....these bags are beautiful & easy to create, and are perfect for tucking a little something nice into them.

 

Supplies: Necessities - Wood 6x6 paper pad, Metallics 12x12 vellum (stripes, confetti, triangle), Metallics decorative tape; Jubilee - "Tangerine" 6x6 paper pad, "Mint Julep" 6x6 paper pad; Other - glassine bags, ribbon, sentiment stamp, brown ink, clothespin, steel dies.

I've combined some metallics & woodgrain from the Necessities collection with papers from Jubilee "Tangerine" & "Mint Julep" to give me that Thanksgiving feel I was going for.  Aqua blue has become a staple Thanksgiving color for me...I think it pairs perfectly with the traditional reds, oranges & yellows of the season!!

To create the tags I diecut some of my favorite steel die tags that I have in my tool stash, but you can also use your Silhouette electronic cutter if you have one.  After stamping the sentiment to the smaller tags, I layered them together, then added the ribbon hanger & bow.  After that I diecut the leaves from the gold printed vellum in the Necessities line (you could also use your electronic cutter for these as well).  I stitched down the middle of each one, then layered them together to the top of each tag.  After that I accented each tag with decorative brads.

To give the clothespins a little extra something, I covered them in gold dotted washi tape.  After clipping the tags to the front of the glassine bags with the clothespins, I felt like they were still a little plain.  So, I cut a couple blocks of woodgrain paper, & tucked them underneath the tags.  That definitely looked better to me, so I put a little bit of adhesive to the paper to make it stay in place!

I kept the tag removable, so the recipient can take it off the little bag, and put it somewhere in their house decoration if they so choose!  I never expect it, but so often when I give a handmade gift or card...I will find it somewhere in the house of the person I gave it to!!  That always makes me smile a bit.

I kept the bags empty in order to photograph easier, but there are so many little gift ideas that you could put into them.  You could bake some nice sized cookies, wrap them in some cellophane & tuck them into the bag.  You could create a flat notecard set with envelopes, or pick up a pretty notepad & matching pen.  You could even slip a nice 4x6 frame into the bag (with a photo in it, of course).  The possibilities are endless...as long as they are fairly flat.

I hope that you enjoyed my Thanksgiving glassine bags today!  And I hope that you think to break out your MME goodies when creating for this holiday season! 

Lea

Halloween Tags

 

Hi there! It's Ronda here today to share with you three boo-tiful halloween tags.  

I love this time of year and especially love creating tags for this season. Tags are a great little project to get your creative juices flowing. I like to hang them up together as decoration and then use them either on my layouts or all together in a mini album.  

Supplies:  Frightful: Frightful Words Paper, Mixed Bag, Decorative Brads, Chipboard, Other: Ranger Ink Wakley Media Paint, Golden Paints, Uniball Vision Black Pen. 

On the Little Monsters tag I painted the background purple. I like using pops of color with the typical orange & blacks.  Purple is definitely one of my favorites to pair with those colors.  Once my background was dried, I layered the frightful words paper on top, ripping the bottom edge to expose the purple.  I added some burnt orange paint to the paper and then began layering my elements.  

 

Those witch legs are so stinking cute paired with the banner! I wanted to bring some of the black color to the top so I added the little monsters banner along with the 31 pennant and two chipboard bats.  The pumpkin brad looks great as the final pop of color.  

  Supplies:  Frightful: 6x6 Paper Pad, Decorative Brads, Chipboard, Stickers, Other: Golden Paints, 

On this 31 tag I also started with a pop of color, a dark turquoise.  I mixed the turquoise with a little bit of white paint to break up the dark color.  I grabbed my 6x6 paper pad and picked out this frightful piece of patterned paper to layer on top.  The white against the turquoise really stands out. 

 

I didn't think this tag needed much more so i just layered a few pieces here and there.  The sticker arrow to the top is paired with the fun spider.  

Did you notice there are three around the page? Three is always a good number in design.  I adore the giant sparkling 31 chipboard frame so I made it my focal point of this tag.  I love that it echoes the design of the patterned paper.  I finished the tag with the chipboard "October 31," adding that touch of white to the bottom.  

Supplies:  Frightful: 6x6 Paper Pad, Mixed Bag, Decorative Brads, Chipboard, Stickers, Enamel DotsOther: Ranger Ink Wakley Media Paint, Uniball Vision Black Pen. 

The Boo Crew tag is all about pairing patterned paper.  Again I went to my 6x6 patterned paper pad and pulled out a few sheets.  I wanted an orange base without too busy of a pattern so this orange chevron was perfect.  Next I layered the same pattterned paper in three different strips across the top of the tag.  By using the front & the back of the paper plus adding some purple paint, I really changed up the look and stretched my paper.  

I created a rosette "flower" out of patterned paper in a simple white & black design.  I added the brad circle on top changing out the small brad for a larger one. Don't be afraid to change up these fabulous brads to suit your design esthetics. I then added another brad element and a sticker circle design to the background before adding my rosette piece on top.  

The enamel dots around the page add that perfect pop of color and reinforce my circle elements around the page.  

Happy Halloween!

Gift Box + Matching Tag and Card

Hey there, everyone!  Lea here today with some projects using the new Jubilee "Sherbet" collection.  There is a special little lady in my life who is turning 1 this month, and this paper collection actually matched t
he cute outfit that I got for her perfectly!!

 

So for my projects today, I covered & decorated a gift box, then created a matching tag & card that is personalized for her!  I know a one year old isn't really going to care about what it looks like, but her mom will love it!! :)

 

 

I chose a gift box that was square in shape, and it was just a little larger than 12x12.  I lined the top edges with teal washi tape before adhering the 12x12 paper to the top of it.  I then added a paper block to the bottom, and added a strip of glitter washi tape over the seam. 

 

After that I diecut a large bow from patterned paper, assembled it & added it to the top of the gift box.

I then made a matching tag using a journal card, chipboard shapes & alpha/word stickers.  I punched a hole in the top & strung twine through it, then topped it with a decorative brad.  After finishing the tag, I added it to the top of the gift box.

Then I made a matching card to finish the gift set. I layered some 6x6 paper blocks to the front, then accented with a diecut journal card & some embellishments.  I also added a strip of glitter washi tape, and a washi tape bow.

In order to make the washi tape bow, I covered a strip of white cardstock with the silver dotted washi tape.  This way it would be rigid enough to run through my diecut machine.  After diecutting the pieces, I assembled it & gave the bow some shape before adhering it to the card front.

I think it is so fun to use my scrapbooking product to create fun gift wrap, & this one is extra special.  You only have your first birthday once, so why not go all out?  Thanks for checking out my projects today...I hope you've enjoyed them!!

Lea

Supplies: Jubilee “Sherbet” collection: 12x12 paper (Happy, Pretty, Enjoy), 6x6 paper pad, chipboard elements, rub-ons, decorative brads, enamel dots, mixed bag, & journal cards.  Now& Then “Milo” and “Dorothy” collections: alpha/word stickers. Necessities“Teals” and “Black & Greys” collections: washi tape. Other: bow dies, envelope liner die.

Product Spotlight | Necessities:Wood

Hi! Valerie here with a double page layout featuring the Necessities Wood collection. This is one of my favorites from the Necessities collection. It's totally versatile and perfect for mixing and matching with Now and Then and other past and present collections. It can be masculine or feminine depending on what you pair it with.

I wanted to share a lot of words and a lot of pictures, so it was a no-brainer to make a double page layout about the camping trip we took last summer with some friends. The Wood collection can't be beat for outdoorsy-type camping layouts. It's perfect!

Supplies:Necessities-Wood: "Light Wood" paper, 6x6 Wood paper pad, Wood dots, & Wood "Veneer" paper. My Mind's Eye Market Street "Ashbury Heights" chipboard elements, Now & Then Dorothy "Celebrate" chipboard elements, and Milo "Documented" chipboard elements. Other: Silhouette Cameo, Thickers, embroidery thread, pen.

 

When I saw the wood veneer paper, I knew the first thing I had to do with it was try and cut it with my Cameo. It might be advised to avoid cutting unconventional material of a different brand with your cutting machine, but I'm a bit of a daredevil when it comes to crafting supplies.

 

And I know you're curious about how I did it, right? I used the corrugated paper cut settings (blade depth on 8, speed 3, thickness 33, double cut). Since the veneer paper is a bit fragile, I used a light hold cutting mat, but you could also get away with using a well-loved regular cutting mat that isn't "brand-new" sticky.

 

With these settings, I did have to gently separate the positive area from the negative area, but maybe if I put the blade on a 9 or 10 it would pop right out. 

I already love the texture of the wood veneer paper, but thought it would be fun to embellish it even further by stitching on top of it. Pierce your holes first and then stitch just as would through paper. Although, I recommend not piercing holes too close to the edge of the veneer or the hole might split and extend all the way through the edge.   

 

So what will you be using the Necessities Wood collection to create? I hope you found some inspiration here today. Thanks for stopping by!

Vintage Christmas Gift Tags

Hi everyone,  Laurel here with some more gift tags for you.  This time around I used the Vintage Christmas collection to create a set of gift tags.  I love making tags as they go together so quickly, use up some scraps and are such an easy way to dress up a package.

 

Supplies:Vintage Christmas: 6 X 6 pad, Chipboard Accessories, Faceted Gems, Layered Stickers

 

I just layer bits and pieces of paper until I am happy with how they look, add a bit of stitching and then finally the embellishments. 

 

Once the tag is complete I like to back it with some plain card stock.  This serves a couple of purposes: it hides the stitching and staples, makes the tag more sturdy and gives a place to write a special note to the recipient. 

 

 Happy Holidays to all!

 

Laurel

 

Happy Haunting Halloween Tags

Hello Ronda here today to share with you some SPOOKtacular tags featuring the Happy Haunting Stamps.  I love doing tags for Halloween.  There are so many different ways to use them. 

I like to do a Tag Display leading up to Halloween as decor.  You can make them with your kids and they look great displayed.  After Halloween take the tags down and turn it into an adorable mini album.  Let's take a look at a few of the tags I created. 

Stamps can be a great way to create accents on tags.  I started this Spooked Tag by painting the background with orange and purple paints.  I then stamped the spider web three times around the tag.

After placing the chipboard down, I realized I needed to stamp another spider web stamp so it would be visible. 

Supplies:  Happy Haunting:Chipboard Accessories, Decorative Stamps, Decorative Brads; misc: Ranger Archival Ink, Ranger Distress Paints

I love how the spider webs hang out in the background accenting my chipboard piece.  The decorative brad "31" looks great stacked on the chipboard skull.  I added more brads and chipboard pieces to the stamped webs, along with the brad word "spooked" which became the title of this tag.

Stamps are also great as focal points.  On this tag, this stamp becomes the star.  I love the "Labels" Paper but stamping on it, the image would become lost. 

So I could use this paper, I simply added white paint to tone down the paper.  Now when I stamp the image, it holds up against the paper and takes the lead. 

Supplies:  Happy Haunting:Chipboard Accessories, Decorative Stamps, Sticker Accessories, Decorative Brads; misc: Ranger Archival Ink, Ranger Distress Paints

I love the way the skeleton stamp is the focal point on the patterned paper.  I sprinkled some black paint around the tag and added a purple swipe of paint to the top of the tage.  I hung the decorative brad above his hands, like he was holding it.  The final touches are the chipboard piece and sticker at the bottom of the tag.

Stamps can be used to create a stellar background.  On this tag I painted it with three colors and then scratched into the paint using a fork. 

Supplies:  Happy Haunting:Chipboard Accessories, Decorative Stamps, Decorative Brads; misc: Ranger Archival Ink, Ranger Distress Paints

Next I stamped all over the background using black ink and the happy haunting stamps.  I then added the bat brads, pulling up their wings to give them dimension.  I added the chipboard sticker at the top as the final piece. 

I hope you found some ways to add stamps onto your tags!

October Sketch Challenge!

Hello everyone.  It's Ronda here today bringing you the October Sketch Challenge.  Today's sketch is about stacking photos to take center stage of your layout.  By layering patterned paper on the center you really ground your photos to make them the focal point. 

Create some interests on that center design by stacking three layers of the same patterned paper in strips.  Journaling in a square around the center design brings it all together.   Remember the one photo can be a larger photo than I have here or even turned into two photos bring the total up to three photos.  

Supplies:  Cut & Paste: Charm  - Sweet: Bits & Pieces Stickers;  Charm -Bliss: Decorative Stickers; Charm-Smile: 'Shine Paper,' Enamel Dots; Charm-Hey You: Buttons; Charm- Carefree: 'Label Stickers; Chalk Studio- 'Lettered' Paper, 'Pictured' Paper, 'Moments' Paper, Tags;  Misc: Golden Fluid acrylic paints, Black Pen, Fiskar's border punch, ranger black ink

On my layout I used photos from my kid's family birthday party.  They are 20 years old & 17 years old and still want to celebrate together.  It warms my heart greatly to seem theme so connected.  I started with a neutral background from the Chalk Studio Collection. 

I layered various "B" sides of the collection to create my center collection.  I love how other MME collections coordinate so well with Chalk Studio.  I love the pops of aqua and mustard with the neutrals. I like the aqua so much I hand stitched around the main patterned paper frame. 

For my title, I decided to layer a Chalk Studio Tag with a Cut & Paste Charm sticker.  This doubles for my Title for the layout.  The colorful chipboard button also helps to draw your eye to the sticker title.

Underneath the center stack I added tiny paint splatters in black & mustard.  I layered the same patterned paper in strips under the left side using a border punch and ink to really show off the layers.  The colorful banner brings all the colors of the layout together.  You could use leftover strips of patterned paper to create your own unique MME banner.  I love accenting with enamel dots or buttons, or even better BOTH.  The black stitches add that final touch to the page. 

So now it's your turn to take this sketch and make it your own. We cannot wait to see how you interpret it!

A random winner will be chosen and shared with our next challenge on November 1st . You have until the end of the day on Thursday, October 31 to share your project.

Please link your sketch via the InLinkz tool at the bottom of this post. Your layout must feature MME products. Only one entry per participant, please. The prize is any MME collection.

 

Tag! You're It! Week with Valerie

Hello! Valerie here with you today. I've been tagged, so off we go with the final tags for the week. I decided to make tags in various sizes that can be used as embellishments on layouts or maybe in a mini album. I played with the Cut & Paste Collection and picked out coordinating items that would work for a baby girl themed project.
 

Supplies: Cut & Paste Collection— Flair "Snapshots" decorative buttons, Flair "Small" enamel shapes, Flair "Small" enamel shapes, Flair decorative tape, Adorbs "Loved" Devoted paper, Adorbs "Be" Thrive paper, Adorbs "Loved" True paper, Adorbs "Loved" True paper, Adorbs "Hello" Call paper, Adorbs "Hello" decorative brads, Adorbs "Hello" enamel dots, Adorbs "Special" decorative stickers, Adorbs decorative tape,  Charm "Bliss" decorative stickers,  Charm "Sweet" tiny word stickers,   Lime Twist—Happy Go Lucky "Together"  alphabet. Collectable Collection—Unforgettable "You Are" tiny word stickers. Chalk Studio Collection—decorative tags. Find Your Wings & Fly—alpha & word stickers. Other— shipping tags, vellum, punches (EK Success & Martha Stewart), Silhouette SD.

The smaller the tag, the simpler I like to keep it. With the bigger tags, well…they can hold more "stuff". To make the large tags, I simply traced a shipping tag and then cut it out and punched a hole at the top.

MME's tiny word stickers are one of my favorite things and I think tags like this are the perfect home for them. I love how great they look filling those quote bubbles on the Adorbs "Hello" Call paper.
I love playing around with the negative portion of a die cut like in the "sweet little one" tag above. I used my Silhouette SD and the font "Days" to create the base of the tag. Next I added some decorative tape and strips of patterned paper from Cut & Paste. It's hard to tell from the photo, but I did back the cut title with vellum (also did this on the butterfly tag too). Hardly any tag can be considered complete without at least one enamel dot. 

What a great week it's been focusing on tags. I've really enjoyed the variety and inspiration from the other oh so talented ladies. Now it's time for me to reach out and yell, "tag…YOU'RE IT!" 

Thanks for stopping by!

Tag! You're It! Week with Tina

Happy Thursday everyone. This is Tina.

I LOVE tags!  Tags are little canvases that can be used to try new techniques, try new product and can be used to create little works of art!  Tags are always super fun and I could spend hours creating tags of all kinds.

I used several tag sizes in my projects today.  You can find entire ranges of sizes at online stores or at your local office supply store.  My tags range from  8x4 inches to 5x2.5 inches and are even layered on top of each other to create a great look!

My favorite way to use tags is by experimenting with new products or by trying out new techniques.  They are a relatively inexpensive way to fulfill your inner 'artistic expression'. 

I keep all of my experimental tags and when I am looking for a special, one-of-a-kind embellishment, they are ready to use. The 3 tags I am sharing today all started as a blank canvas, but by adding sprays, inks, embossing powder, and paste, I transformed the ordinary into something unique and special.  I finished each tag by layering patterned paper, layered stickers, and chipboard embellishments.
My first tag was created by layering 3 different sized tags on top of each other.  I created the background for each tag in a similar way, by adding embossing paste, distress stains and water to a blank tag. 

What a great way to add texture, dimension, and pattern.

My second tag was created by covering a blank tag with a piece of 6x6 paper and cutting it down to size.  No need to pull out your digital cutting machine, just adhere patterned paper to a tag and cut around the edge!

I added embossing powder to the background of the paper to add more glitz and glamour to the tag.

The background on my third tag was created by embossing trees and a sentiment over the entire background, then spraying with mist. I removed the spray from the embossed areas to reveal the beautiful embossing below.

Next time you feel an urge to experiment with a new product or try out a new technique, try creating a tag. They are the perfect little canvas that can reveal your inner artist!

Thank you for stopping by!  Have a great week!

Supplies:Vintage Christmas:Chipboard Accessories, 6x6 Paper Pad,Decorative Brads,Layered Stickers,Decorative Tape,Faceted Gems, Decorative Buttons, Stamps,  Stickers Accessories;Collectable-Remarkable:Decorative Pins;Misc:Tags:  XPress Tags Distress Stain: Ranger Gesso:  Liquitex Inka Gold Metallic Rub Stencil:  Crafters Workshop Ribbon: Tim Holtz Embossing Powder: Lindy's Stamp Gang
Adhesive - Scor Tape, Tombow (tape runner), Tombow (wet adhesive), Imaginese (foam tape) Stamp: Market Street Stamps