~sweet robin tags by Carla~

Carla is one of the sponsers in the fabulous giveaway over at Beatrice Banks

she creates gorgeous cards and tags like this

and this

and this

you can win a $20 gift card to Carla's etsy store, Cards by Carla

and there will also be a $20 gift card to my etsy store raggygirl

~$125 in gift card giveaways~

if you haven't signed up yet hop on over, there's still time!

Tracey

I've been tagged!!

i've been tagged!!!

thanks to Bridgette and Rebekah at All Thingz Related, be sure to check out their fantastic blog, I love all the great ideas I see there

happy days,

Tracey

sparkly french inspired tags...ooh-la-la

this is what I've been creating....

sparkly french inspired tags...

hand-stamped and embellished with glitter and rhinestones...

ooh-la-la!!

take a look here to see where I'm linking up to this week...

happy days,

Tracey

three reasons I'm a happy junker!

three reasons today was a totally amazing day!

reason no. 1: I got to go thrifting with "Rust and Ruffles" Janis for the whole day, that's right, the WHOLE day!

...and we found lots of treasures today, we almost couldn't see out the back of my van!

reason no. 2:  Janis greeted me with this gorgeous gift for my birthday, don't you love birthdays that just keep going!

(it was all nicely tied together but of course I had at it right away...)

yummy burlap sacks that I have so been wanting to get my hands on

this gorgeous necklace Janis made 'specially for me, I wore it all day of course!

this cute vintagey tile " I bought only two gowns in Paris"

(ha, ha, not likely)

all tied up with a little birdy tag

now is that a great way to start the day or what!

reason no. 3: I found the best chairs ever. I have been looking for around 6 months for kitchen table chairs. The ones we have we bought almost 20 years ago when we were first married (yes, I was a young bride), and one by one they are falling apart on us, or more like under us (hmmmm....)

anyway, I digress, we've gone from 8 chairs down to 41/2, and since there are 5 of us on a daily basis = problem

...but I wouldn't settle for just anything, I knew exactly what I wanted, something Queen Anneish,  but only had a budget of $100 for four chairs

so I found these, nice and sturdy and a compromise as I couldn't find exactly what I wanted in my price range

so bought the three for $30

well, wouldn't you know, the very next stop I found my dream chairs, four of them...

Me : Janis, I have a  problem

Janis: What??!!

Me: I just found chairs I like better than the others

Janis: Where?

Me: Here across the store, see, they're exactly what I want!

Janis: Well, you'll have to buy them

Me: We don't have enough space

Janis: Sure we do....

Well, we squeezed two in, (remember I already had three chairs and a ladder in there), I have to go back for the other two tomorrow, but aren't they beauties!!

look at those scroll backs and shapely legs

picture them white, with white upholstered seats....

sigh...

oh, did I mention they were on for half price!!!!!!!!!!!!

yup, so came in under budget

so now I have 3 + 4 = 7 chairs

what do you think bloggers?

I was kinda thinking 4 chairs + a bench

do you think I should mix and match them all, or return/sell the first 3?

of course, Mr Keeper hasn't actually been in the garage yet........

but for now i'm one happy junker!!

happy days,

Tracey

big brown box

i ordered a little something for me

that's right girls, a little love for mamma

and I've been checking the mailbox EVERY day

so imagine my delight....

it arrived!!!

 my big brown box

I ripped it open right then and there with my key

took in the layers of crumpled paper...

and there it was, squeal!!!!!!!!! (not really, I was standing by the mailbox, okay maybe just a little!)

my gorgeous french stamps, be still my beating heart

couldn't wait to get home and play...

*sigh*

happy days,

Tracey

tea dyed tags tutorial

today I'm going to share with you my tried and tested method for tea-dying tags. Over the years I have tried lots of different ways to tea and coffee dye paper and fabrics, with varying results...

but this is my foolproof method - it always works!!

I use the basic shipping tags available in most stationary stores. They come in several different sizes, I have two here

toss your teabags into a container - I use a largeish tupperware container and 5-6 teabags. Don't scrimp on the teabags - an extra bag or two is cheaper than a ruined batch of tags!

pour a full kettle of boiled water over the bags (sorry, I'm not very exact!)

let them steep for a couple of minutes

mine looked like this

now your tea soak is ready!

drop your tags in one at a time, use the next tag to submerge the previous one so you don't burn yourself!

You can get quite a few in a large container like this, but don't overdo it, you don't want them all sticking in a big clump

leave them to soak for around 10-15 minutes, remember, they are a paper product, so rescue them before they go too soggy. You will be able to see they have absorbed the tea color

now, lay them on baking trays. You may need to use tongs if the water is still really hot, but handle them gently. You can see in the photo markings where the tags have stuck together, don't worry about that, it makes them look even more authentic once they are baked

bake the tags at 350 degrees F for 5-10 minutes. Check them every couple minutes and take them out when they are dry and the color you like. It may be useful to set a timer if you're a multi-tasker like me, as you can see this batch came out quite dark!

you will notice all the little brown hole taggy things came off in the teabag soak. You can dry them and stick them back on, but I like this look better anyway

the finished product, lots of yummy vintagey tea-dyed tags

There are tons of different ways you can use your tags, here are a few I use them for:

bundled together and tied up with vintage lace...

for tagging items for sale...

make them into themed tags...

further distress the tags with distressing ink

(most products will be listed in my etsy store soon)

here's a last look at the ....

before

and after

I have a favorite way of using my tea-dyed tags, but I'll put that in a future post.

Now, if you use my tutorial to make some vintage tags I'd sure appreciate it if you linked back to my blog:-)

I'm linking this up to:

Look what I whipped up Monday at The Girl Creative

Metamorphasis Monday at Between naps on the porch

Made by you Monday at Skip to my Lou

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm

Tutorial Tuesdays at Hope Studios

Lucky Linky Tuesday at Lucky Star Lane

Do It Yourself Day at A Soft Place to Land

Toot your Horn Tuesday at A Silly Little Sparrow

Take a Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Craft Edition

Three or More Tuesdays at The Gypsy's Corner

Whatever goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts

Happy tea-dying and happy days!

Tracey