some crafting has been going on...

I just haven't had much "crafting mojo" lately, but I have done a couple things. (I've got a lot of things half-finished; it's completing them that's the issue, as usual, but more so lately.)

I got out my collection of cigar bands again, and decoupaged them onto a glass saucer I scored at the thrift store. The saucer is only 6 inches across, but it still took a fair number of cigar bands to fill in. I stuck with a more limited number of cigar brands, to make a fairly symmetrical design with a somewhat more subdued color palette.

I started by printing out a clip art image from my computer for the center design, but our printer ink isn't water-resistant, so I had to change my idea. I like what I ended up with, though: two Indian Tabac cigar bands that I trimmed to fit the center part of the plate. These plates take a while to decorate, and are actually quite messy to do (I get gel medium all over everything while I'm working on them!), but I really like the way they turn out when they're done. This plate is for sale in my Etsy shop, so if you know a cigar aficionado who needs someplace to put paperclips on their desk, or something to corral their loose change on their dresser, this is a perfect gift for them!! (another reason to check out my Etsy shop: the site recently changed the formatting for individual shops, so it's been redesigned a bit to make the format wider, with larger pictures... the design isn't quite final yet, but I think it shows off the items nicely! And of course, all sales right now will go towards my 3-Day for the Cure fundraising for breast cancer!!)

These tags are part of a huge pile of manila shipping tags that I hand-dyed over the last couple weeks... I have a somewhat limited choice of inks to use, but these were made by mixing butterscotch yellow and a barn red, to come up with a nice fall-ish orange color. I stamped them with Pumpkin StazOn ink, then added a couple touches of vintage dictionary paper.

I love the glowing orange color; it reminds me of autumn. (Which isn't here in AZ yet, unfortunately- it's been hot and humid, with very infrequent monsoon storms. The storms don't even clear out the humidity.) These tags are also for sale in my Etsy shop- check them out, along with others, in the Tag and Bookmark section of my shop. Look for more crafting soon. if I can remember to post the pictures, that is... :D