Tags to Touch the Heart!

It seems like eons ago when I started making ATCs and swapping with new friends online. Then I was introduced to tags -- and I fell in love!

There's something about the size of a tag -- bigger than an ATC (as big as you like to make them, I suppose!), smaller than a card.

It can have purpose -- a piece to hang, a bookmark, or (what a concept!) use as a tag!

These are a few of the recent ones. There's a little love in the air...

A nod to the cat friends in my life...

A nostalgic look back at childhood...

A glittery branch from one of the trees up north...

Homage to a favorite children's book...

And, of course, Paris!

Look for Paris posts -- coming in May to The Marmelade Gypsy! Meanwhile, check out Chopsticks and Strings for my latest book posts!

Creating "With Friends"

My annual art sale was this past weekend. I didn't have the inventory I usually do, but I did have some new things and thought I'd share a few of them here.

I love this piece of ephemera -- I use this little mermaid all the time!

I use this guy all the time, too! He may be a tabby and not orange, but he reminds me of a Gypsy I know! The lace (a huge box of lots of different kinds) came from my friend Mary Jane, who gave me a huge box of her mom's craft supplies when she was trying to pare down her house.

This lady was kind of pretty, too. The ribbon is very old ribbon from France, sent by my friend Jerry.

I made a number of journals in various sizes. This large one sold the first night. Some of the pieces on this and other journals I did were courtesy of Linda (Shoreacres) who sent me a lovely package filled with beads and earrings and keys, perfect to glue on things! Thanks, Linda!

Here's another I like with pink vintage bits. I bought the dragonfly at Artiscape.

And these are smaller ones. More for a purse than deep recollections. The square bit near the top came from an earring I bought at a Jane Rosemont yard sale before she moved to Santa Fe. I miss Jane and her fabulous yard sales! You'll see more "Shoreacres" jewelry and naturals from the lake and Myrtle Beach.

Then, the birdhouses!

These were two of the new ones. Loved the holiday feel of the red and white one. The mushrooms and birds were from the Mary Jane box!

Then I started pulling papers I'd made in a Jacqueline Sullivan "Artiscape" class for this one. And a Shoreacres key! The glass firefly was from my San Francisco friend, Cathy.

Meanwhile, this one was nice and rustic. Can't beat cinnamon sticks for steps! A Mary Jane bird, a "Shoreacres" key,,,

Then I got on a "bottle kick." You'll note more Shoreacres earrings on the tops, with cork stoppers from my friend Kate!

I was just fond of the pretty holiday feel and I really loved the vintage tinsel, which I bought last year in Arizona.

As you can see, part of the joy is in the making. But in almost every piece I do, there is some personal connection with a friend, a holiday, a special surprise or a vacation. That makes all the things I do so meaningful to me. Other people might not know or care. But for me, the art of creating is also an opportunity to think of people I love!

Bird Song Swap

Whenever Karla hosts a swap, I want to be part of it. She puts her whole self into it, with wonderful tag book covers she paints herself, sometimes very complicated. And she attracts a wonderful group of swappers, so all the tags are lovely.

This summer she hosted the Bird Song swap. I'm finally sharing the beautiful books she coordinated and -- when available the links to those who created those tags.

As you can see, Karla's cover was complicated and beautiful, with the glittered bird cage, a wee charm and feather, all from her original painting.

The next tag was by Marie Entwistle of Homespun By ME.

Becs of Rebecca Rose Designs came up with this beauty. The use of trim and a fabric rose really set it off.

Donnalee of Dixieniche had the next tag in the book. "It's Owl Good," she says -- and it is!

I'm not sure who did this tag -- it was signed. I bet Karla had a tough time figuring out which side was which -- they were both lovely.

Dawn doesn't have a URL, but I did like her tag! The bird is lifted off the background to give it some dimension.

Kathy Lowry of Country Chintz brought style to her tag with a freestanding birdcage (almost -- it's attached at the top with a brad) over a printed page with a nest on it and a bird charm and button.

Cindy Mayfield of Yapping Cat offered this lovely woman and the words "Birdsong makes me smile." I loved the thread that surrounded her card.

The last one is by me. I always make an extra tag so that I can add one of my own to a book. Pretty simple.

Even the backs of the tags were lovely, so no matter how you look at the book, it works.

Here are a few of the tags that I did for the swap. I don't put as much stuff on them as some folks do -- I guess that's my style.

When I get these wonderful tags back, I think I should do more than a bit of naturals or a button.

On the other hand, one of the reasons I love the tag book swaps that Karla pulls together is that every artist has their own style, their own way of using materials.

The books end up quite unique -- and there are no two alike!

Thanks to Karla for hosting the swap! I'm sure these are so huge and overwhelming (over a hundred swappers, I think) she won't do them often. But I love it when she does!

Getting Creative

Don't let that smile fool you. I've needed a good dose of creativity lately to handle more than a little stress at work and elsewhere.

Fortunately, my friend Dusty has been organizing creative workshops here. This week the topic was making fabric flowers.

I loved doing this -- it was simple and no sewing was involved. Here's a pin I did with three felt flowers glued together. (Gotta love the hot glue gun.) In the two hour workshop, I did six flowers altogether. Never did master the larger flat roses or the fabric ones, but I was rather pleased with the bud-sized felt ones and will make some more!

Last weekend I finished a sample of the collaged recipe book I'll be teaching next month.

This one has several dividers and I did it as simply as possible so that it would be doable and easy to explain in a two hour session to people who may (or may not) have done collage.

These dividers were made with 4x6 recipe cards. That way they are the same size or a little larger than most of the standard cards one would put in them.

After I finished, I punched holes in some of my older recipes. I was rather pleased with the diner-floor background, images from Vintage Workshop and using red grosgrain ribbon adhered by running it through the Xyron stickermaker. I kept the theme of black and red but added to the vintage style with black buttons.

I'll offer participants the opportunity to make either the recipe-card size or the tag book size, which I've shown here before.

Really looking forward to it! Wonder what next weekend's project will be?

In My Sweet Little Alice Blue Gown

I recently participated in Karla's "Alice" swap -- she received hundreds of tags from around 80 participants and sent us each a book with six tags and a wonderful cover she created.

I loved the "Drink Me" bottle she sent along with each, so we could tie it on!

After I got my book, I added a couple of tags I had made while making others for the swap. None of my tags came back to me, so now I have some included in the book (below, the sepia one).

Many of the artists did not sign their books. I'm so sorry. But soon I'll be contacting those who did to say how much I loved your tag!

Some put quite lovely embellishments on theirs!


Which reminds me, I'm late! So enjoy the photos!