Surtex 2012-We’re exhibiting!

Posted on May 13, 2012 by Carla

Carla Schauer Designs is exhibiting at SURTEX 2012!  I’m incredibly excited to be showing my work in New York City this weekend at the Javits Center.  For those of you not in the art/design world, SURTEX is the most prominent art licensing show in the US.  While I have exhibited before, I have never exhibited at this show.

Surtex 2012 Carla Schauer Designs

 

While I was out of town with a family emergency last week, the opportunity for me to exhibit with Details of Design (a cooperative design studio I have been a part of for a while now) was presented.  So instead of walking the show and preparing for exhibiting next year, I jumped in.

So this will be a crazy week after the last crazy week, and I’ll be frantically preparing and packing and printing, making a list and checking it twice.  I am thrilled with the opportunity to show my art and meet up with creative friends as well!

I’m making appointments via email or the website contact form through Friday, May 18!

Until next time…
C.

 

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Free Mothers’ Day Printable Tag–Tag Tuesday

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Carla

Mother’s day is less than 2 weeks away, and to help you celebrate I’m offering a free printable Mother’s Day image.  Use as a gift tag or as part of a card design, or attach to a plant stake and pop into a potted flower.  Whatever you like.  Just right click, save, and print onto cardstock on your home printer.   The tag is a 2.5″ circle, so reduce the size by 50% when printing for best quality.

Free printable Mother's Day tag from Carla Schauer Designs

 

Please remember that all artwork is copyrighted, and is for personal use only.  Selling or sharing files and printed artwork is not permitted.

free Mother's Day gift tag by carla schauer

Thanks for stopping by for Tag Tuesday, and Happy Mother’s Day to you and all the important women in your life!

Until next time…
C.

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Tag Tuesday–Monogrammed in Minutes

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Carla

Today’s monogrammed tag couldn’t be easier, and still packs a big punch as a gift tag or scrapbook layout embellishment.    With a bold chipboard letter as the focus, the rest of the tag enhances the graphic feel.  Quick, easy, and cute!

Monogrammed gift tag by Carla Schauer

If you already have some plain tag shapes cut and set aside, this tag can be put together in less than 2 minutes.  (I have at least 25 of these tags on a ring already die-cut with my Sizzix Big Shot, ready to go when I’m in a hurry.  I highly recommend taking the time when you’re already cutting to make some extra.)

I used a 3″ scalloped oval craft punch with pink cardstock to create the scalloped layer, and glued it to the white tag.  *Tip:  I punched only a partial oval, so I didn’t have to spend extra time trimming off the excess.   My black & white chipboard letter is premade.  I wrapped and tied some lime hemp cording around the letter, attached it with dimensional adhesive squares, and added a black brad to the tag top.   Done!

Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time…
C.

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Upcycled Crafts for Earth Day

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Carla

Upcycling, recycling, and repurposing found or used items into craft projects is a great way to keep interesting items on display and out of a landfill.  Whether used in home decor designs or gift items, as focal points or as project bases, using rescued items helps save money, and the planet!

Just in time for Earth Day on April 22nd, I’m sharing 2 crafty projects featuring upcycled and found items.

upcycled shadowbox home decor by Carla Schauer
The first project is family home decor piece created from an upcycled shadowbox found at a flea market, and various bits and pieces of material scraps, flea market thread spools, window screen, and many other items. While I made this project in 2009, it remains one of my favorites ever.   Who would have thought it used to be this old battered box?

flea market shadowbox becomes home decor
The second project is a gift basket of homemade bath salts.   I placed each of the bath salt types in a glass jar that used to hold paper flowers for crafting.  The jars were the perfect size, and they didn’t have to be thrown away once the flowers were gone.  The fabric was a leftover piece from a previous project. While I used a purchased take-out style container, a spare clean take-out container could be used instead.  Find out more about this project here:  upcycled bath salt gift basket.

Homemade bath salt gift basket by Carla Schauer

I’d love to know what kind of upcycled or recycled materials you use for crafting.  Happy Earth Day, thanks for stopping by!  Also check out the link party my friend Jen Goode is hosting today at 100directions.com.

Until next time…
C.

 

 

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Tag Tuesday–Paper Banners from Scraps

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Carla

Paper bunting-style banners are showing up everywhere lately.  I used the paper banners in miniature form on today’s tag, using the tiniest of patterned paper scraps.   The end result is a mini tag that could be used on a scrapbook page or card, or by itself on a baby or wedding shower gift.

Paper Banner Tag by Carla Schauer

This little project began as a plain office supply tag, only 2.75 x 1.375 inches.  (These are great to buy in bulk and swap with friends to get a variety of sizes inexpensively.)

Small office supply tag for crafting

I cut 3 (.5″ wide) triangles from patterned paper scraps and glued them across the tag to make the paper banner, and added a rub-on sentiment to the bottom.    A button covered up the hole reinforcement to make it less “office-y”, and I replaced the plain white string with some green jute for extra color.

My end result was a tiny tag with a big impact.  The next time you want to experiment with a trend like my paper banner, try it on a tag!

Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time…
C.

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Tag Tuesday–Dyed Wood Magnet Signs

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Carla

I was recently working with some Rit liquid dye for an upcoming project, and since I was making several batches of dye in different colors, I decided to add some extra materials to the dye baths at the same time.  I usually have some extra room in the containers when I dye, so filling up some of that space with ribbon, extra fabric scraps, buttons, or other materials is a great way to refresh some supplies that may be just sitting around.  I used these extra pieces to make the dyed wood tags for this week’s Tag Tuesday.

Dyed wood sign tags by Carla Schauer

 

I started with small plain wood signs that I got in a big mixed bag from Pat Catan’s eons ago.  I’ll admit to having them in my stash longer than I intended, but adding them to a dye bath never occurred to me before.  *facepalm*  Here’s what they looked like straight out of the bag:

unfinished wood signs for dyed tag project

and after I removed the original wires and added them to the dye bath (Aquamarine dye, package directions).

Dyed wood signs by carla schauerMy other project involved painting the dye on another surface, so I just left the signs in the bath while I created it.  In general, the longer a material sits in the bath, the more dye is absorbed.  In the interest of full disclosure, frankly, I forgot I had the signs in there.  Whoops!  I’m guessing they were in there a little over an hour.  Since the dye bath is supposed to remain hot, I covered the container with plastic wrap and put it in the microwave for a minute to reheat and set the dye in the wood.  Once the dye had cooled a bit, I set the signs outside for a couple hours to dry completely.

I had added a few yards of thick cotton baker’s twine and some buttons to the other dye baths (Fuschia and Sunshine Orange).  The twine made it into the other project, but the buttons didn’t.  I really liked the fun ombre look they ended up with, so I added them to these wood pieces as well.    The twine rosettes were simple wraps secured with liquid glue.

I replaced the original wire with some pink and orange colored wire, and added some sanded, brown, label-looking words.  With some different words, they would make great gift or scrapbook tags.  I’ll be adding magnets to the back of mine for my studio goal board.

Hope you enjoyed my little hanging dyed wood tags!

Until next time…
C.

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Tag Tuesday–Stitched Cork

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Carla

Making cork gift tags is a great way to embrace the trend of using natural materials in crafting.  Cork is easy to cut with scissors or a die-cut machine, and is flexible, able to be stitched, and is easily glued to other surfaces.

Stitched cork gift tag by Carla SchauerI cut this cork sheet into the tag shape, and the glitter cardstock into the heart shape using my die cut machine (I use a Sizzix Big Shot).  I stitched the border by hand, using embroidery floss and a large needle.  Since the cork sheet is so easily pierced, I didn’t have to pre-punch holes.  I used some extra floss to wrap the heart for extra interest.

I attached the cardstock heart and the heart button using Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots.  Since I wanted some dimension, and the button needed to be raised to lay flat over the cardstock, the silicone adhesive worked perfectly.   I added some double-sided adhesive letters and white flocking to add the XOXO.

I’m planning to use this tag for a Mother’s Day gift, but it would be great for an anniversary, wedding shower, Valentine’s Day as well.

Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time…
C.

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Tag Tuesday–Die Cut Tags

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Carla

Be bold, and consider a different shape when making your next tag!  Sure, its easy to take a scrap rectangle, and cut the ends for a standard tag, but it can be just as easy to make a fun die-cut tag.  The next time you have your die-cut machine out, take some of that leftover cardstock and matboard and cut out a few random shapes.  Pop them in a sandwich bag and you have an instant stash of fun cut outs for gift tags!

Die Cut teacup gift tag by Carla Schauer

I made this teacup-shaped birthday tag using pieces of the XL Teacup Die by Eileen Hull.  I quickly ran the teacup shape through my Big Shot with an embossing folder to add the flower texture, and inked the teacup and tag with Seaglass and Aqua pigment ink.  I also added a bit of Lemon Grass ink around the tag edges as an accent to match the scalloped lace (also colored with the Lemon Grass ink) glued to the top of the cup.

The purple butterfly was an extra from a previous project (Hampton Art), and the “Happy Birthday” phrase is from my Lots of Thoughts Design Adhesive set, used with Plum Crazy foil on white paper strips.  The tag went together just as quickly as a standard-shape tag would have, but it looks much more special for my niece’s party next week.

My friend Eileen Hull (who designed the die I used above) is hosting a Scoreboards Linky Party to show off some fun spring designs using her die collections.  She’ll also be giving away the Fringed Flower Die as well!  Enjoy!

Until next time…
C.

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Tag Tuesday: Using Design Adhesives

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Carla

I am the guest designer at the Clearsnap blog this month, and today’s post features a card and tag set using my licensed Design Adhesive sets.  This tag was created using extra leftover pieces from the card (Love to do that!).

Gift tag using Clearsnap Design Adhesives by Carla SchauerI used the Design Adhesives from the “Tag It” and “Lots of Thoughts” sets on the tag.  For a tutorial, and to see the coordinating card, check out my Thanks a Bunch guest post on the Clearsnap blog today!

Enjoy the first day of Spring!

Until next time…
C

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Tag Tuesday–Acrylic Paint

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Carla

A piece of craft wood, some acrylic paint, and a small paintbrush are all the supplies needed to make this simple rectangle tag.

Acrylic painted birthday tag by Carla Schauer

I’m currently working on another painted project that needs 10–15 minutes of drying time before I switch colors.   Rather than sitting at my table watching the paint dry, I decided to use the supplies already out to make another small project between coats.

I had a thin piece of craft basswood also left over from the same project, and it made a great base without having to make any extra cuts.  I added the yellow frame and the black center to the tag after I used each of the colors on the main project, switching back and forth and letting one project dry while I worked on the other.

The name, flower, and dots were drawn freehand with a tiny brush and white paint to give the impression of a chalkboard doodle.  It was a great use of some spare moments!

Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time…
C.

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