October TAC Specials

Wow! There is a lot going on at The Angel Company this month! Are you ready?
First, it's DOUBLE rewards month for hostesses and customers! Hostesses earn double FREE hostess sets and twice the number of 1/2 price items! This is the perfect time to host a FUNshop (think of all those Christmas gifts you still want to make and/or give!!) and get lots of great deals!! And, for customers, with every $30 order you will receive TWO free Gift With Purchase stamps!
Also, during October is a returning customer favorite...TAC Grab Bags! These are bags that are filled with miscellanous stamps and they each come with one sheet of cling to attach the stamps to. These are fun, fun, fun but are only available during October while supplies last. And, if you host a FUNshop during October, you'll receive a FREE GRAB BAG with a $250 show! WOW!!!

The Fall Supplement is here! If you are looking for fresh Christmas, Halloween or Autumn stamp sets, look no further than the Fall Supplement! I LOVE the new "Ornamental Snowflakes" set! It is gorgeous! And, check out these "Trendy Tags" (pictured below). This is a fun way to dress-up your Christmas packages!
Here is the October Stamp of the Month:

It is called "Days Like This" and is a set of 5 for only $5.95. It is available with a $30 purchase.

Also, new this month is a new promotion called "Vintage Sets". Each month, in honor of TAC's 10th birthday, a new set will be released that was a best seller in a previous catalog. This month's set is called "Mini Bold Posey" and is only $2.95 with a $30 order.

And, there's still MORE!

There are several sets of the Designer paper packs on sale for 50% off while supplies last. They are Fingerpaints, Country Cottage, Metropolis & Lap of Luxury. This makes these packs of 36 8x8 pages only $3.50 each!!

And, last but not least let me present the "Crazy for Color" promotion!

This is an awesome special! During October, let autumn return in a rainbow of colors! You will have the opportunity to create brilliant, vivid projects from a rainbow assortment of printed papers! This kit includes 3 paper packs (Kaleidescope Brites Soar With it Collection, Kaledioscope Girlz Wing it Collection, Kaleidoscope Boyz Wing it Collection and a fun, exclusive word stamp set that is only available as part of this collection during October. This kit can be yours for only $34.95! If you love to scrapbook this is perfect for you! Or, if you like bright colors, you'll love this kit!

Mini Scrapbook Coaster Magnets

Here is a super easy project that I made to demonstrate at a couple of Funshops. This is a mini scrapbook page attached onto a chipboard coaster and the back has a magnet glued on to it so that you can hang it on your fridge or file cabinet or desk, etc... These are so easy to make with The Angel Company's beautiful paper packs. You already have the coordinating papers and tags and all you have to do is cut the paper to size and add a few embellishments and you're done!

(The first coaster uses the paper & tag from the Kamalaht paper pack.)

The stamp sets that I used on all of the coasters are TAC's "More Abundance" which is absolutely perfect for this project and great for other scrapbooking projects as well. I also used "Running Stitches" on the bottom of the tags to give the tags a little extra embellishing. I inked the stamp once and stamped it onto the tag and then without reinking, I stamped the same stamp twice more. This is what gives it the fading look.

The second coaster uses the paper & tag from the Hemingway paper pack.)


On the corners of each coaster I stamped one of the images from "Artsy Elements" (LOVE this stamp set--it is SO versatile!!) in Noir Palette ink and then used another one of my absolute favorite products--Souffle pens--to add the colored dots. The dots just give the scrapbook page the little extra color that is needed to finish it off. The tags on each coaster are attached on pop dots which give the page dimension. I also went around the edges of each coaster with Noir Palette ink to give the edges a little color as well.

(The last coaster uses the tag & papers from Mia's Cottage (tag & striped paper) and from Sands of Time (background paper.)

See! I told you it was easy!! It makes a great gift for a family member or friend also!!

Altered Photo Frames

I am having so much fun playing with these photo frames! I bought the frames from various places like Michaels or Dollar Tree and then painted them white and altered them. How much fun is that? These are for a craft fair that I have coming up in just a few weeks and I'm frantically trying to finish projects to have for sale!

I also want to say that some of the frames that I bought at the Dollar Tree were absolutely HIDEOUS!! They were so ugly, but only $1 and once I sanded them down and painted them, and then covered them with paper, you would have never known what they looked like when I originally bought them! So, even if you can't find a plain wood frame to alter, look at Goodwill or the Dollar stores or even garage sales for a frame that you can make into a beauty!!

The latest frame that I altered is shown above. I used paper from the Catelynne collection--one of my favorite paper sets in the TAC catalog! I used flourishes from the "Curls & Swirls" stamp set inked in Burnt Umber Palette to create the swirls and then sponged ink on the sides of the paper. The bookplate is chipboard that TAC sells and is from the set called "Essential Elements". There are so many things that you can do with this chipboard set! I used Burnt Umber & Landscape Palette ink to color the bookplate and then embossed it twice with Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel. The flowers are another one of my favorites and they are the Assorted Bitty Blossoms that are also in the TAC catalog and I just tied a ribbon through the center of each flower.

The chipboard in the middle is to be replaced by a photo and when it comes time to sell this one, I will probably put the price on that piece.

I should also add that I saw a frame similar to this one on another blog and fell in love with it and this is my version of that frame. So, I cannot take credit for the original design of this frame--I just altered the design to fit with The Angel Company products! Thanks to Christina Fischer for her awesome design work! If you would like to see her frame, you can click here.

I will try to upload some other frames that I've made later on. I hope that this inspires you!!

The Evolution of a Card & Chalk Pencils

Sometimes when you are trying to make something it just doesn't turn out like you had hoped. That's what happened when I made this card. I took the layout from a card Gwen had made but when I put the scarecrow image on it, it just wasn't right. And, looking at it in retrospect, I think that the main reason that I didn't like it was because of the scarecrow's black nose--which could have easily been changed!

Anyway, since I was trying to work on a card to make at a FUNshop, I tried again. Earlier in the month I had made the "Swirly Seasons" card pictured above for a swap (the dots on the pumpkin have been paper pierced) and I really liked the layout so I decided to see what it would look like with a scarecrow as the main image instead.

I was starting to like the card more but I felt like the first circle that I had stamped with the TAC "Circle Sampler" set and then punched was a little too big for the card so I added a center circle popped up with a pop dot. I still didn't have it quite right. The circles just overwhelmed the card a little too much for the purpose I had in mind. So, I tried again and this is what I ended up with:

As you can see, all of the cards are very similar but by changing just one or two elements, I was able to get it just right. Then, I decided to use the same layout again and use a totally different theme and color scheme and see what the card would look like. This was for an example of how you can take a layout from a card that you previously made and use the layout again to achieve a totally different look. This is a great tip when you are in a hurry and don't have time to design a card from "scratch". Here is how that card turned out:

Just by changing a few elements, like the paper and stamp sets I was able to create a card that had a totally different look and feel to it and it took a lot less time to put together than the other cards that I was trying to design as I went.
The scarecrow and baby cards were all stamped with the "Everyday Events" set from The Angel Company which I just love. The images were colored in using Chalk Pencils. These pencils are a lot of fun to use and give you a very vibrant colored image. They are acid free and archivable and very easy to blend. If you would like to know more about how to use chalk pencils and the different techniques that you can do with them, click here and you will find an article that I wrote telling all about them.
I hope that you enjoyed these cards. Sorry that this entry was so long!! Thanks for sticking with me until the end!