Random Thoughts and Gettin' Messy Again!

Hello Everyone! Hope you are all well. I've been quite busy with Miss Lola who is now 4 months old. I haven't had a puppy in sooooo long I forgot how time consuming it is - in a great way. She fills a huge void since I lost Simba (the best dog EVER) last December. The house training is a long process for us and it's getting better but we're not there yet. Teething is still difficult but I seem to have the patience for that. The accidents in the house is when I lose my cool! The drawback of having this adorable creature is less creative time. I haven't created anything in the mixed media realm in awhile so I'm trying to add that back into my creative schedule. Still trying to add gym time but haven't figured it all out yet.
I'm realizing something creative has to go or get condensed - between project life, maintaining two planners, trying to keep up with SSS Card Kits, work and the puppy, my studio time is so limited. Plus it's summer and I want to be outside. At one point I thought I wanted to keep three planners going: one for everyday life, one for blogging and Design Team stuff and a third for fitness. That was fine when I was out of work recuperating from my surgery (no puppy at that point). Now I realize, that's not gonna happen. I want to continue with the two planners I have going now because I've put a ton of time and $$ into them. Starting next year, I'll use one planner for everything. A vertical style would be perfect - one section for everyday life and appointments, one sections for DT stuff and a third for fitness/meals. Simplifying planning will allow me more time for Project Life and Mixed Media. I need to decide which planner will be the best for that - there are so many great planners out there - I've experimented with many this year. So, lots going through my head at the moment.
I have missed Mixed Media so I jumped back in and created Tim Holtz  August 12 Tags of 2016. Here's Tim's Tag.

I went with a beachy color scheme and used a stamped shell as my focal point. Here's my tag.

I used what I had in my stash. I don't have the Wildflower Thinlit Dies yet and was going for a beachy theme, so I stamped a shell image on watercolor paper and water colored the shell with distress ink. Here's some close ups. The image alone looked small on the tag until I added some cheesecloth behind it. I colored the cheesecloth with Antique Linen Distress Spray Stain. The quote is fitting as I'm slowly getting back to mixed media.

I love how these Distress colors blend: Salty Ocean, Mermaid Lagoon and Mowed Lawn. 

The honeycomb die was fun to use. I cut the frame from burlap and filled in the open spaces with corrugated cardboard, cork paper, canvas and scrapbook paper scraps. 

This was a fun tag to create and I love using what's in my stash. 

Thanks for stopping by and I'll return next week with more projects! Happy Friday! 

Supplies Used:

• #8 Manila Tag
• Frameworks Honeycomb
• CMS194 Nautical Blueprint Stamps
• Distress Inks: Scattered Straw, Mermaid Lagoon, Salty Ocean
• Distress Stains: Salty Ocean, Mermaid Lagoon, Mowed Lawn
• Distress Paint: Picket Fence
• Distress Spray Stain: Antique Linen
• Distress Sprayer
• Distress Splatter Brush
• Distress Watercolor Cardstock 
• Archival Ink: Jet Black
• Alcohol Ink: Mushroom
• Linen Ribbon
• Small Talk Stickers
• Vial Labels
• Mirrored Hearts
• Multi Medium Matte
• Mini Ink Blending Tool
• Mini Brayer
• Paper Distresser
• Water Brush - Detail Tip
• Heat Tool
• Scissors
• Bigshot Plus
• Textured Surfaces
• Paper Scraps
• Cheesecloth