TAG! TAG! TAG! TAGORAMA!

Greetings, dear reader!

As promised, here are the latest tags sent in for the swap! First, from Rosemary of Retro Rosie:



Ijust love the primary colors and that sweet, rosey cheeked boy!



BOTH rosey-cheeked boys! lol


THEN, I received a package from Lisa Whitlock...of Barncat fame:



She said she couldn't decide which image to use...so she used them ALL! I love it!



Next we have the (so far) largest entries of the swap from Tamera of The Stone Fence Cottage: She sent 6 tags in all! WOOT! Behold the mammoth goodness:



A cowgirl...wranglin a pig! How perfectly hilarious! I just LOVE the aqua color!

And then a rodeo in blue and red...how perfectly perfect! The old songs and the silver charms are wonderful personal touches!



And to add to the personal touches, a bit of an "artist bio" on the back of each tag!

As if those weren't enough, she also sent these...CRACKED ME UP! Just get a load of the singing fruit...cowgirl/cowboy! These are perfect Halloween images! The colors and the fibers just add to the "zing!"

These are my new FAVORITE Halloween images! LOVE!



THEN (by now I had heart palpitations...I kid you not!) I opened these from Erin of the Norman Five in West Texas:



Another first: Oval Tags! Aren't they beautiful? The images and flowers and embellishments are just all SO SWEET!





And, again, a bit about the artist on the back! Just gorgeous!



I am SO thrilled with all of the wonderful tags! I'm so glad I was selfish enough to ask for ya'll to make one for me too! More excitement as the drawing for the Cowgirl Quiltie happens today!

Hugs,
Paula Clare

WILD WEST TAG SWAP NEARS ITS END...

Howdy ya'll! I'm back from a restful weekend of camping and excited to see what might be waiting for me in the mail today and tomorrow! I've had a few gals ask for a bit of an extension...just a day or two. Apparently I'm not the only one who's summer has gotten away from them! So if it's alright with all of ya'll...I'll be mailing your tags to you around Labor Day weekend!

While I was away, I was working on your "thank you" tags for the swap:

This was a "multi-step" process, in order to make them appear old n ratty. Here's how I did it...



1. I bought a stack of regular manila office tags, and then made a mixture of strong coffee and vanilla extract. I soak the tags in the mixture (smells heavenly!) and then crumpled up some of them once they were good and soggy.

2. I laid the tags on cookie sheets in a single layer, and baked at 275 for about 15 or 20 minutes (til dry)

3. The reinforced hole dots came off, but I didn't care. Soaking and crumpling the tags restructures the paper fibers, and makes them appear and feel more like leather.

4. After this initial "treatment", I gathered my Route 66 stamps, chestnut roan ink and stamped each tag with a vintage image...


5. The next step is to add more images, ink and assorted ephemera.

6. And what would wild west tags be without denim and bandanas? I ripped some fabric into strips for the tag toppers...


Pictures of the finished product soon...meanwhile, I've got an armload of mail to go through! YEEEHAW! Back with pics right away!

Hugs,
Paula clare

SPEAKIN OF THE WILD WEST....

Mornin' buckaroos!

Just thought I'd share this fine piece o' the west with ya'll...I got it from the Altered Art Aficionados at Artella. It's an old Wild West postcard...




Enjoy! Hugs,
Paula Clare

'ROUND THE CAMPFIRE....

Howdy, pardners!

Just a quick note to let ya'll know that the hub, pup and I are campin' this weekend! I'll be takin my Wild West box and tags along to work on while I'm gone. Meanwhile, I have a couple of posts I've scheduled to show up in my absence! Stay tuned!

Happy trails!
Paula Clare

WILD WEST TAG ALBUM...ER, BOX...UH, WHATCHAMACALLIT

Howdy, pardners!

I have been feverishly tryin to figure out what kind of album to make for your wonderful Wild West Tags, and...when it was all said and done, I realized an album jist wouldn't do the trick. After all, I'm an ALTERED ART ARTIST not a scrapbooker...what would work better for my "over-the-top-and-embellished-to-death" style of creatin? A box! Yes! That's it, I'll use a box...

I got this way cool box at a bookstore somewhere in Florida on one of our mad campin' trips. It already looked like wood, and was full of all kinds of papers, doodads and whatnots. I jist loved it and decided to bring it home and use it fer somethin special. Well this is it!

Here's the front o' the box. I had such fun makin it look all shabby and wild west! My too-spoiled friend Debbie made the "faux suede" letters for me"...thank you! I added denim (cause what is the wild west without Levis?) and bandana (cause I just can't see the one and not think of the other!) and then lots of old and new letters, papers, and such.

Here's the inside o' the lid...



This is a photo of a little mountain lady said to have traded her live bait to a passerby for a can of snuff (see her pocket)! As our Native American friends would say, "GOOD TRADE!" lol

And then the inside o' the box looks like peelin' paint. I just love this paper...came with the box!

Now I feel free to make each tag a page of their own! I can make pockets and cards on fabric and paper, and "doodad" them up to my hearts content! My only thought is, "I wonder if this box is big enuff?" lol

Happy Trails, cowpokes!
Paula Clare

EVEN CATH KIDSTON IS IN ON IT!!!

Greetings, dear reader!

Just a quick note to let you know that Cath Kidston (one of my fave designers from the U.K.) has her adorable cowboy print available as a digital download! You can give yer computer a little Wild West flair! Behold the print...



Behold the link to git yer own...or another of her fab designs:

Cath Kidston

Ya jist can't beat that with a stick! More soon! YEEEEEEEEEEEHAW!

Hugs,
Paula Clare

JUST A REMINDER...

Greetings, cowgirls!

I'm reposting my Art Quilt Giveaway to give more of you a chance to enter! The drawing is August 31st...so you can enter up to August 30 at midnight! Be sure to post your comments on this or the August 12 post! I will be using a random number generator to pick the winner, so even if you've won one of my contests/drawings before, sign up!

DING! DING! DING! WILD WEST MINI ART QUILT GIVEAWAY

Greetings, cowgirls!

As promised, this Wild West Tag Swap is gearin' up and gittin' good! I have an incredibly wonderful giveaway for one lucky pardner! Behold the art quilt:

A commissioned work created for me by the incredible Pam Snow of Treasures n Textures, the quilt is a mere 6 x 9.5. The message reads:

"In the East, a girl's gotta have charm, in the West, all a girl needs is a gun, charm can come later."

Pam's fabric Western Postcards caught my eye:





as well as her fabric Western book and quilt. Go here to see all the amazing photos of her work!

Leave a comment and a link about your favorite Wild West film, image or place on THIS POST, and I'll enter you into the drawing! Drawing will be held on August 31st, the day I mail out all of the tags in the swap!

YEEEEEEEEEHAW! Hang on to yer hats, ladies! A stampede of wild west goodies is comin yer way!

Cowpoke and Ranch Hand,
Paula Clare

DING! DING! DING! 2 MORE WILD WEST TAGS ROUNDED UP!

Greetings, dear readers!

Today's Pony Express brought two more tags to add to our fun! From first time swapper, Allison Westrup!

Ever'body grab yer gee-tars cause Allison's leadin us in a little song:



The little guitar image just pops out! Can't you jist hear our ol' pal Roy Rogers or Gene Autry croonin' this tune?


Accordin' to my cipherin...we have 10 folks who have turned in their tags. That means we have about that many more still to come! Isn't this as excitin' as a rooster in the hen house?

...until we meet again...
Paula Clare

WE INTERRUPT THIS WILD WEST TAG SWAP FOR...

A brief Halloween aside!

As many of you know, Elizabeth of Creative Breathing is creating a Halloween Garland, and has invited me and several others to participate! We are spelling the word, "H-A-L-L-O-W-E-E-N" ... I have one of the letters "E". Here is my contribution to the Garland:

I found an oversized "Ace of Spades" playing card (about 4 x 6) and then scanned it and changed the "A" to an "E" in the corners of the card. I then printed out the card on 110 lb. cardstock and glued it to the front of a 4x6 piece of thin chipboard.

I found a piece of festive paper for the back of the card (the candy corn) and glued it to the chipboard. I used walnut ink to stain the edges of the card, front and back.

I then went about finding 2 of the most adorable Halloween images I could find.



Last year I purchased a Vintage Halloween CD of images from Ebay, and I found the two images on there. Elizabeth told me that the top of the card is "free space" where I could add an element that sticks out or pops off the card. Because I LOVE embellishing things "to death", I was glad to hear that I could include an additional image as an embellishment.

The cards will need holes punched on both sides, so I had to keep the embellishments to a minimum ( I would have added black ricrac, or fun pom pom trim if the space had been afforded me. However, instead, I chose to add stickles to the little girls to give them some pizzaz!

I always use a paintbrush when using Stickles...you use far less and the coverage can be more precise...

I used two different "colors" of Stickles on the card: the pumpkins, and candle are all done with Diamond (has a golden iridescence). The vest and shoes are "Star Dust" (has a blue iridescence). It makes such a difference, don't you think?

I used pop dots to adhere the large image to the card (used a generous amount, especially at the edges to keep the image from bending or curling), and then just glued the little girl with the pumpkin "hat" to the back of the card. I used a sticker to cover the bottom part of the shape (the Happy Halloween sticker). I then added tickets that were stamped with a Halloween message, another sweet little image in the center, and paper flowers with rhinestones to complete.

The most time consuming part of the process was tediously cutting out the little girl images...however, I think the results were well worth the effort...what do YOU think?

Back to Wild West album and tag making!

Hugs,
Paula Clare

WILD WEST BONANZA!

Greetings, dear friends!

Just moseyed out to the corral and found not one, not two, not three, but FOUR packages full of Wild West goodness! It's a BOnafide BOnanza! YAHOO!

First to be ripped from their packaging, are the tags from Meri of ImagiMeri's! Complete with chunky turquoise and mattress ticking background!



Meri also included a FABRIC image of the REAL Wild West: A Saguaro Cactus Forest!



And on the back, a history of the Saguaro! Love it!

Next up: Two tags from Pam Snow of Treasures N Textures...do you recognize the cowboy on the left? Our first "presidential" wild west tag! Also, Wild Bill Hickok...both actors, and both more Hollywood than real "cowboy" (visited Wild Bill's ranch/museum in Nebraska...he was quite the showman, but not so much the authentic cowboy. And Ronald Reagan? Well, his home was in Dixon, IL...a far cry from the Wild West!) But I sure love the tags! The fringe KILLS me!

And then our Michele Kaplan sent in two tags...a young whipper snapper (the tag says, "A Man's Gotta Do What a Man's Gotta Do") HILARIOUS! And then a shapely cowgirl in a stylish pink outfit...obviously not giving up fashion for function! The bottle caps and beads on the bottom (of the cowgirl tag) are a wonderful personal touch!

Our next set of tags comes from Missy of Little Messy Missy. Two more gorgeous pinup cowgirls...and hand quilling...jute rope, and a hand drawn honeycomb background. How COOL is that?!



Yes, indeedy! A veritable wild west bonanza in today's mail! Be sure to check out the final swap list a few posts back...we are at an even 20! WOOT!



Git ready for another contest/giveaway! You'll just LOVE this one!

Keep ridin' cowgirls!
Paula Clare

WILD WEST TAGS GIT GIRLY!

Greetings, dear reader!

Today's mail brought me these in yet another installment of the Wild West Tag Swap from Stevie of My Art Canvas:



Pin up cowgirls! Just look at the pink and aqua! SO girly!



Look at the sparkling, fabric roses! LOVE!



And she threw in some extras as well! The Deputy tag is my absolute FAVE! The denim just kills me!



Our collection of Wild West Tags is becoming the things legends are made of!



Thanks, cowgirls! Keep em coming! SO EXCITED about this swap!

Paula Clare