Hi there
Thanks for popping in. Thought I’d shed a little light o a cool TV show this evening. No, not the Pottery Throwdown! That was last night on Channel 4. Actually, the young curly haired lad Cellan is from the pottery Studio I attend down here! Very excited for him. He is so clever. 23 years old. Cheering for him !!
The TV Show in question is on the Craft Store. What time? 6pm. Who’s the star ? Paul Church! He who also had curly hair once! This is what working at Clarity does for you! Anyway, we were chatting this morning, and yesterday’s lost mojo blog came up. The simple chop-it-up idea. Then it occurred to me that another thing I personally use when I hit a creative wall, and cannot move past it is the EXACT product that Paul is showcasing this evening! Our nested Tag and Plaque dies!I suppose they also chop the art up into neat shapes for you, don’t they? I often find myself looking at something I’ve stamped up, and then not knowing what next! I’m sure I’m not alone there! But as with yesterdays’s abstract cuts, the dies also break the images down in to smaller, arty pieces for you.
Let’s look at a Christmas piece I made, which was very nice, but no use to man nor beast the way I had stamped it up! It was an old NEC demo where I was showing off the 2-way Christmas bauble stamps, and clearly I was saving paper and thinking more about the technique than the output!
I’ve got loads of these (4-days worth of NEC demos! in fact!) and I’ve never thrown them away, because I felt they deserved to be remodelled. And this morning was the morning they had their makeover!
So let’s tackle this little technique from that Lost Your Mojo angle. Or that don’t know what next angle. You can do this with ANY artwork – especially something that you maybe threw in the “Not feeling the Love yet” pile. We all have a pile of stuff we aren’t sure about, don’t we?! Tell me I’m not alone!
Work out which tag you like, and then shuffle the die round on the art until you like the angle and the chop. Again, don’t overthink it!
Which size tag is up to you. They all work beautifully. In fact, you can use 2 or 3 different sizes on the same chop if you like..and you can cut them out at the same time too..
The thing is, if you’ve lost your mojo, or your creative path with a project, the dies are a mechanical bridge, an arty way to chop up work and reload.
They also give such a crisp professional finish. I love the debossed edging!
But let’s flick a little finishing wand at these pieces, and you will see how easily you can make great cards from scraps…
Edge the tags with a black Sharpie pen, to make them stand out, and add the hanger from the bauble if it needs it.
Thread a little twine and attach to 5×5 inch matching cardblanks. The Kraft card sits well with this colourway. Stamp a festive message to the right…
And you‘ve even got matching tags! After all, that is what they are: gift tags….
I can’t believe it! I’ve made two Christmas cards for next year already! Never been so well organised! Complete with matching tags. I was in Paperchase before Christmas, buying tags and wrapping paper. Nicey but Pricey. Decided to make my own tags for next year too.
Hahaha. All the best laid plans….
The point of the blog is to show you the usefulness of the tags and plaques – especially when you need a gentle little nudge forward. For me personally, the nested Doodle Dies and the Tag dies rank with the essential shape nesting dies. And the same rules apply as yesterday with your missing Mojo:
Don’t overthink the tag chopping. It works, it really does.
Oh! And one more thing! These Dies are all HALF PRICE this evening at 6pm! So be sure to tune into the Craft Store and watch Paul work his magic with the tag dies and some superb little scenic dies. Just beautiful.
New year, new ideas. Get a stash of cardblanks, get some tape runners, get going! By October you’ll have a wonderful stash of cards good enough for a pop up shop on ETSY or the the local Craft Show. Why not? We’re an Angel Company. You‘re allowed to get some return on your arty investment, you know! Perhaps during the coming weeks I can shed a light on the business of art, and how to sell your work. I bet there are a number of you who would like to know about that. I’m no expert. But then again, when it comes to making and selling, perhaps I am.
Love always
Barb xxx