Halloween Tags 2020

 Just a few little tag creations to use up some scraps and old tags!

Enjoy!

I'll be doing more Snarky Cats for Christmas because I just can't get enough of them!

Wear a mask and stop the spread!

-Wy

Inktober Tags 2019

I've been doing the Inktober Challenge this year. It's the first time I've done it. It's an art challenge where a prompt is provided each day for the whole month of October and you have to "ink" something that is related to it. I put "ink" in quotes because it's mostly about doing something every day but mostly sketching, drawing, or otherwise using ink. I'm posting this now so it will be in my October posts but I don't have them all completed yet. I do like to do it day by day even though I know what all the prompts are. When I finish up the last ones, they will be added here so check back next week for the complete set.

I decided to do tags (#5 size) because I had a whole bunch that are already colored with backgrounds and such; I just never do anything with them. So I figured this would be a good way to use them. For some of the challenges though, I started fresh. Some prompts are also tag-teamed with others but I tried to only team up ones that were consecutive.

Not much description for these as there are too many but a few notes on the ones that may need a voice. I also got tired of arguing with Blogger about how my photos should appear so they are one after another, you'll be scrolling for a bit.

Day 1: Ring

Day 2: Mindless

Day 3: Bait  I did this one on a little post-it note at work because I had forgotten about it. I used the idea from Despicable Me 3 where the little girl dumps a bunch of candy on a rock to bait in a unicorn. I decided I liked this so I just glued this onto a tag.

Day 4: Freeze.  This blue painted tag was perfect for Snow Miser.

Day 5: Build

Day 6: Husky  I was a little intimatdated to try to draw a particular breed of dog so I went with this. I used a bunch of stickers from a Dylusions back chat set. My instagram feed on this day didn't have the whole picture so the saying at the botttom, "You are always enough." got cut off. I wanted the negative things we say to ourselves everyday to lead to the affirmation.

Day 7: Enchanted. Cheated a bit here as I used a stamp image but doctored it a bit. I figured it was still ink! The stamp image is a girl with her horse but I made it into a unicorn. I particularly like how well the white pen details stand out. The stamp image is from Unity Stamp Co., artist Phyllis Harris.

Day 8: Frail

Day 9: Swing.  My original thought was a garden swing but as my mind wandered into Tarzan swinging in the jungle, this scene from Star Wars came up. I wasn't sure I could draw it but I figured if it looked shitty, I could fall back on the other ideas. While it ain't perfect, I'm damn proud of this one. It looks decent enough to me and I got my Star Wars fix.

Day 10: Pattern.  Another small cheat with a stamp image. This tag had this stencil pattern on it that I highlighted and it reminded me of peacock feathers. Stamp by Unity Stamp Co.

Day 11: Snow.  While Snow Miser would have fit perfectly well here, the word "snow" in October is a four-letter (curse) word where I live. I live in an area where it's not unheard of to go trick-or-treating with a huge parka over your costume. So this had to be the image for this prompt. Stamp image again, Katzelkraft stamps.

Day 12: Dragon.  I was kinda wishing I could do better. But it was a busy weekend with family visiting so I don't think my head was into it. I like it, though.

Day 13: Ash.  I was thinking about pairing this one with the previous prompt but...see note above. My head wasn't in the game for this one.

Days 14 and 15: Overgrown and Legend. I wanted to do something more for Halloween. Most of my stuff hadn't really reflected the reason I love October so much. Teamed up the two prompts for this Headless Horseman scene.

Day 16: Wild. Proportions are off but I get to say I attempted it.  Tyger, Tyger burning bright...

Day 17 and 18: Ornament and Misfit. I liked the idea of teaming up my favorite misfit with the Christmas tree ornament. I liked the idea of the red bulb on the tree making Rudolph feel a little bit better about his shiny red nose.

Day 19: Sling.  Ok, so I missed a day! I simply could not get to this one.

Day 20: Tread

Day 21: Treasure.  Today was my birthday!

Day 22: Ghost.  Ghosts are some of my favorite Halloween characters but in general, they never turn out the way I want when I attempt to free hand them. I did this simple depiction of The Great Pumpkin's trick-or-treating scene because I love it.

 Day 23: Ancient. On a blue tag, I began to draw a tree. That was my idea until the tree turned out quite ugly. (Really. Ugly.) Jackbear Stamps had done a great rendition of an Egyptian tomb to span the last three prompts and I was inspired to think more globally. I had the thought of drawing something like the ancient Greek gods or ruined columns. That lead my thoughts to the carved statues of Easter Island, the Moai. I was pretty sure my drawing wouldn't look great but I would attempt it anyway. I can NOT believe how well this came out. I am super happy with this tag. One of my faves!

Day 24: Dizzy   Time for another quick doodle session. This tag already had a bit of a spiral imprint so I just jazzed it up some.

Day 25 and 26: Tasty and Dark.  The answer is chocolate! A depiction of Apothecary Chocolate, the brand I make for Five Elements Living. Yes, I handmake each batch and wrap it myself. Mmm.

Day 27: Coat.  Was feeling a DAR vibe.

Day 28: Ride. The midnight ride of Paul Revere. Just couldn't get my horse to look like it was in motion. Ah well.

Day 29: Injured
Day 30: Catch
Day 31: Ripe
Did these all at once as it was already November. I just wanted to complete the challenge. I do like the way Injured and Ripe came out though. In fact, my apple benefitted from my dried up markers.

So now the collection is complete!
I only failed to do one of the prompts and did have to scramble to finish up but I had a pretty good time. I do like trying to do each one on the day so I don't feel rushed to get them done. That's when you feel too pressured to do anything.

-Wy

Halloween Scraps

A few more little things made with scraps.

Enjoy the weekend!
-Wy

Halloween Tags

I'm working on smaller projects this year, just trying to use up some of my stash. Budget is tight this year so I am still resisting all the new seasonal goodies the craft market throws out there at this time of year.

I did up a few tags and more will probably be on the way later in the month. Enjoy!

Carve the Night Out!  I just liked the graphic design of the old movie posters.

 Dead Dry Bones:  This tag was just laying in my stash and I couldn't believe how well the color matched this skeleton image. It was serendipity that they came together on the messy art table at just the right time.

Nosferatu:  This isn't a tag but an index card. I don't do many index cards but this green and purple background had been staring at me all summer. So I creeped it out.

Thanks for stopping in! More Halloween artwork to come.
-Wy

It's Thursday! Tag!

February is always a rough month for me. It's STILL winter, it's still cold (usually), it's always gray, and it's always when I second guess everything. It doesn't help that it contains Valentine's Day, a useless holiday for me. (I'm not a romantic.) From February, Spring is still pretty far away and all I really do is plan for upcoming months. It's hard to keep my head in the moment when it's February.

Despite that, I love the amethyst birthstone and the fact that it's the shortest month of the year. In February, I also get pretty fed up with any disorganized messes I have and scrap piles that have been accumulating. I get the mood to "use it or lose it". It's the only month of the year that I get the urge to throw stuff away without regrets.

So it may not come as a surprise that I got something accomplished this week. With my mojo lacking (because it's February...duh...), I decided to just use stuff on my desk. I had a pile of tags awaiting some form of artwork so I went to work. I pulled every little baggie and box that held some kind of torn paper or ephemera.

Here's what I came up with:

 This bird is not quite finished. I don't know what it needs but it needs Something.

I'm trying to find a way to use the Back Chat stickers from Dyan Reaveley. I love them but I'm not a planner girl so I have to use them in art journaling and such. The bird just seemed to be throwing up his wings in frustration.

This butterfly tag is my favorite of the lot. I may not be able to part with it.

Ok, so I've had these minion notes on my desk for ages. My niece gave them to me,  I think. This one was just for fun.

Wow, can you believe the crap on my desk? I didn't even make a dent in it. I still have tags, too. Guess I'll have to wait for another day to play.

Have a great weekend!

-Wy

ABC Tags of Halloween: Part 2

Happy Halloween!

This is the last post for my Halloween Projects Month. It's the second half of the alphabet tags I was making. So here's the end. To see the beginning of the alphabet, go to this POST. Remember these are mop-up tags mostly and I'm trying to use them up!

N is for Night:  Those galaxy backgrounds are all the rage. And why not? They are flippin' awesome. Makes for a great background for my silhouetted tree. The colors were mostly there so I just needed to darken the edges and splatter some white gesso.

O is for Owl:  Here's another thing that's trending: owls. This stamp is from Dare to B Artsy and the owl comes with three "costumes". He's just fun.

P is for Poe:  I had a few choices for this letter but how could I not do Edgar Allan Poe? I stamped him onto a a piece of patterned paper and cut him out. Stamp image is from Carmen's Veranda.

Q is for Queen (of Halloween):  Difficult letter. So I went with Queen of Halloween and that is obviously a witch. Tim Holtz rubber stamp image over my large orange dot background. I like that she's hanging off the edges as it makes her feel like she's flying.

R is for Robot:  I had other ideas for this letter but I'm a sucker for the old handmade robot costume at Halloween. Stamp by Tim Holtz again and I am reminded that I don't use these stamps enough. I really do like them.

S is for Skeleton:  This might be a Tim Holtz triptych or something. This stamp is also from one of his sets. I debated about this background but I really think it works. That stencil in the background is also Tim Holtz.

T is for Tombstone:  The background on this tag also would have made a good start to a galaxy but it makes an even better Halloween sky. The tombstone is a stamp I carved and I went with the crescent moon in the sky. I was going to add the letter in a circle like the others but the tombstone cross resembled the letter so I just let it lie there.

U is for Undertaker:  I admit that I almost (almost, almost mind you) printed out a picture of the Undertaker...the wrestler for this tag. But I got a little lazy and wondered if I could turn that Tim Holtz stamp of "the chemist" into a passable undertaker. I think I did ok. Rest in Peace.

V is for Voodoo:  While vampire is an obvious reference here, you'll recall that for my letter "D" I did Dracula. So I went with this one and I admit, it might be my favorite. The tag was merely stamped with that bubble background (Lost Coast Designs) so I added some Distress inks over the top for deep color. I wasn't sure I could draw a voodoo doll so went into my Lawn Fawn stamps to find something that might be turned into a pincushion. This little scarecrow stamp really fit the bill. I stamped it without the face and then just penned in my own. I also added the pins then cut it out. I like this transformation.

W is for Werewolf:  This image is from a collage sheet found at Joggles.com. I liked how he isn't too scary but not whimsical either. And I adore the fact that the shirt he is wearing says, "I *heart* cats.".

X is for Xbones:  Any alphabet is difficult to complete if you don't take liberties with this letter. So "X" is for Crossbones. I used this sweet little stamp on a tag awhile back and fell in love with the tag. It has the same effect here. That stamp was embossed with Prima Donna Purple from Lindy's and it's fabulous.

Y is for Yellow:  Another difficult letter but I went with a color. October is a month of yellow where I live. The trees turn yellow, the sky turns yellow, the moon turns yellow. Throw in touches of orange and red and it's a season for spooky adventures. I went with a cornfield because those dead stalks make whole countrysides that autumn yellow.

Z is for Zombie:  Naturally, I guess. I'm not a huge zombie fan as most are too gory for me. But this zombie wasn't too bad and is from a collage sheet from Joggles.com. I faked the fussy cutting but coloring in the white space with a marker that matched the background. You can tell if you're looking but overall, I like the way it blends in. The white space would have bugged me.

So I hope you enjoyed the second half of the alphabet!

This completes my month long Halloween Blog Extravaganza! I hope you'll come back again and see more stuff that I make. I post about my Art Journaling and usually canvases that I create. And I'll even put up a greeting card now and again.

I appreciate your support and all the page views. Please feel free to share these projects with friends or pin them to Pinterest.

Have a Happy Halloween!
-Wy