Nordic Blend Tag

Playing along with my first Tag You're It Challenge after seeing Tracey McNeely's awesome inspiration tag!

The snowflake stripes are from the Waltzingmouse Stamps "Nordic Winter" set.  They are stamped in Versamark, then heat embossed in white.  Blended Tim Holtz inks in Picked Raspberry, Faded Jeans, Peacock Feathers, and Shabby Shutters after embossing. I wanted to use the same colors as Tracey to make 4 stripes, so I just had to switch the green to be next to the turquoise so when I blended the colors, I didn't end up with brown!

The sentiment is from the Hero Arts Stamp and Cut "Holiday Tree" set, heat embossed with silver on vellum.

Added some sparkle silver twine with a jingle bell to keep with Tracey's theme.  I LOVE making tags, so I will be watching this weekly challenge in the new year...so much FUN!

Penguin Tag

A quick little tag made for a Secret Santa gift that my daughter is giving to a friend at her next Girl Scout meeting.  The gift she gave is penguin-themed so...

I used Waltzingmouse Stamps "Folded Tag" die because my daughter Claire's name had to be a secret on the inside :). The penguin is a retired wood stamp from A Muse. The pretty plaid paper is from DCWV.  It had red glittered lines so we made the heart reinforcer on the tag, and the penguin's beak and feet match. Stamped Sophia's name with Lawn Fawn's "Milo Alphabet"...my favorite alphabet stamp set EVER!  It really is easy to line up and I love that it's small and trendy, too!  I should make up some more to have on hand, the girls really liked this one!

Snowy Cabin Sketch

A fun one from Freshly Made Sketches by Cindy Lovell!  I used dies and stamped images from Papertrey Ink's "Tinsel and Tags" Make it Market kit for my card.

The snow is made with a Heidi Swap dotted stencil and some Wendy Vecchi embossing paste in white.  The little house is paper pieced with woodgrain and black paper, but I only stamped the coordinating image on the roof.  The little heart is die cut.

Such a great and versatile sketch!  Thanks so much, Cindy...this one is going in the "file."  :)!

Gingham Christmas

The Fusion Card Challenge has pinecones and GINGHAM  featured in their inspiration photo!  How could I not play along?

I chose to use just the photo for my card, although I really loved the stars in the sketch!

I stamped the label from Very Vintage Christmas by Waltzingmouse Stamps in Versamark, heat embossed it with white powder, then cut with a circle nestie.  The large pine bough is stamped and cut using the Festive Foliage set and pinecone dies, also from Waltzingmouse Stamps.  The mini pine bough and berries on the sentiment label are from Papertrey Ink's Tinsel and Tags Kit.

I spritzed the background snowflake embossed paper with Heidi Swap Shine in white and added some gingham ribbon and a rusty jingle bell.

A gorgeous photo and samples from the Fusion Challenge Team, can't wait to see what's in store from them in the New Year :)!

Clearly Christmas Wreath

I wanted to participate in the Curtain Call Challenge after seeing this inspiring photo:

I got out my favorite new stamp, "Color a Wreath" from Hero Arts.  (Still being inspired by Rosemary Dennis' original sequin wreath card seen here).

Here is my take on the challenge...

I stamped the wreath with Versarmark on vellum to give it that light and airy feel in the photo, then heat embossed with white powder. Chose sequins in clear, turquoise and aqua, and some gems in bright green to match the ornaments in the photo.

Underneath the vellum piece is a sheet of white cardstock embossed with a Darice striped embossing folder. The sentiment is from PTI's Holiday Button Bits set.  I stamped the bow on PTI's linen vellum and then embossed with white powder.  There are two of the bows stacked on top of each other.  The whole piece was layered on top of a scalloped white sheet cut with a Mama Elephant die.

So many gorgeous photos in the card gallery already...and the DT's samples were so fabulous!  I'll be back to play this challenge again soon, for sure!  :)

Vintage Christmas

It sure is fun playing along with the Merry Monday Challenge so close to Christmas!  This week, Deanne challenged everyone to make a Christmas card with a bird on it.

I chose a Pink Persimmon stamp set called "Holiday Hello" and it features this adorable vintage girl and sweet sentiment.

I paper pieced her coat, mittens, and the flower on her hat.  The background is stamped with Impression Obsession's Cover a Card background in Canvas.  Over the top I stamped the Filagree Snowflake Background (one of my favorite stamps of all time!) from Peddler's Pack.

My bird?  A sparkling dove!

The mini plaid bow is cut with a die from Mama Elephant Creative Cuts dies that is included in the "Basic Set."

This challenge is such a fun way to start a Monday!  Thanks for stopping by!  :)

Canvas Christmas sketch

I just loved Jen Brum's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week!

I used a new Hero Arts "Stamp and Cut" mini set called "Holiday Trees."  It comes with the tree die included!

I stamped and die cut the trees in shades of pink and brown.  Then stamped the card background using Impression Obsession's Cover a Card "Canvas" Background in A Muse Studio's Latte ink.  The sentiment is from Waltzingmouse Stamps "Frame-It" set.

The background behind the trees has the Canvas background stamped in lighter ink (A Muse Studio Pebble).  I then stamped a print from Waltzingmouse Stamps "Nordic Winter" over the top in pinks and brown.  A really simple card with only one cotton twine embellishment :).

Thanks so much for stopping by...can't wait to see Wednesday's sketch!  I'm getting so much inspiration for Christmas cards!

12 Kits with Kim...Christmas!

It's almost CHRISTMAS, and Kim sent us the most festive, fun Christmas kit filled with different Santas, snow-themed items, and beautiful stamped and die cut sentiments in fancy fonts.  The papers were fabulous in trendy shades of black, red, white, gray, green, with some silver and gold additions like jingle bells!

Up first is a beautiful sleigh die cut with this "Believe" in shiny silver.  The scrolly font fit with the scrolly sleigh perfectly :)!

Love that beautiful gingham ribbon topped with a silver bell to match the sentiment!

Next this cute Lawn Fawn bunny...

I also used my Stitched Hill dies from Lawn Fawn and this happy sentiment which I sparkled up with a Wink of Stella pen.

For my next card, Kim sent us a "Let it Snow" die cut in red.  I used my Hero Arts "Chalkboard" background stamp on black paper with white ink.  I then inked up a Sizzix Snowflake embossing folder with white ink, too, and ran it through my Cuttlebug.

When I added the red "Let it Snow" over the top, it was getting lost on the paper.  So, I painted it white...which kinda made it look pink!  So I glittered it up with white glitter (still looked pink), which made me think of the pink vellum snowflakes from Renee's kit that I have hoarded since LAST January, and they were a perfect fit!

Last, the other Lawn Fawn critter that Kim included in the kit was just calling to me.  So Winter Owl is perched on my last tag.  I thought his smug expression matched the funny sentiment, said in his best wise owl-y voice, of course...

So there you have it, a nice set of Christmas items all ready to go...can't believe they will be used in almost 25 days!  Where did the time go?!  Thanks so much to Kim for her generous kit!!!  Be sure to check out all of the fab festive cards from the 12 Kit members HERE.  You can always head over to Facebook and Pinterest for past kit ideas, TOO!

Papertrey Ink Blog Hop...Snow!

I am participating in Papertrey Ink's "Snow" Blog Hop today!  I am showing the first mason jar I have tried using the Tinsel & Tags Kit, as well as Melissa Phillip's past Make It Monday mason jar painting tips!

Here is the lid I made for the mason jar top.  I didn't have my Trimmings Kit yet and sweet Renee Lynch had sent me some cute houses!

I made a mistake on my first stamped one, so decided to paint it with white crackle paint to "save" it!  The roof was then covered with Martha Stewart's clear coarse glitter.  I left the die cuts white and added some of the kit snow.

I had a terrible time trying to photograph this big mason jar, hee!  You will see that I painted it a soft blue using Martha Stewart's Multi-surface Acrylic Paint in the color "Cloud."  Added a grey gingham bow around the top edge and will add tags off of the little ornament hanger at the edge of the snow globe dome.  These are going to be filled for the girls' teachers and bus driver with peanut butter balls :)!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

PS...We were just about 30 minutes out of the range of the BIG Buffalo storm last week, but we still got some of the real white stuff, although it melted yesterday in the 69 degree weather we had!

Red bells

I am playing along with my first Merry Monday Christmas Challenge!  I had to after seeing this inspiring photo here...

It made me think of my Folk Art Christmas Additions set from Waltzingmouse Stamps.

I stamped a plaid background using the Cabin Plaid Background from Cornish Heritage Farms.  Added a sentiment from Verve Stamps.

The die cut bow is from Mama Elephant and the stitched rectangle from Papertrey Ink.  So many lovely festive samples in the gallery for this challenge, you should go take a peek!

Don't stop 'til you get enough!

...and ANOTHER with Hero Arts "Color a Wreath" stamp!

This one has a sentiment made with Lawn Fawn's "Milo's Alphabet" stamped in PTI white on vellum.

Most of the papers are from Authentique's "Bundled collection.  The kraft circles are patterned paper from Simple Stories "Handmade Holiday" glued to little wooden disks and sanded at the edges.  Also some wooden dots, glittered dew drops, and mini pearls.

I may put this wreath stamp aside today to try some challenges, but it will be difficult :)!

...and another!

Still having fun with my new Hero Arts "Color a Wreath" stamp!  This time I added some buttons and Studio Calico wood veneer stars (painted white) instead of sequins.

The sentiment is from Hampton Arts (thanks, Jessica!) and I used denim paper for my bow...my last snippet of that kind :(...  The red gems are from Michael's.  All this inspiration from Rosemary's original card HERE.  I am having so much fun with this stamp!

Sequin Wreath

I've had this sequined wreath card HERE on my Pinterest card inspiration board for just about a year.  It was made by Rosemary Dennis of "Hey There...rosigrl!" I finally saw the Hero Arts "Color a Wreath" stamp at Michael's on Friday afternoon, carried it around, but eventually put it back...only to come home, bring up the card on Pinterest, and desperately need the stamp.  So back I went on Saturday, only to find it was GONE!  I asked them to call another store, and dashed 20 minutes further to get it!

I recently discovered how to use a "Stamp-a-majig."  While I've been shown before, for some reason it just ELUDED me!  It's given me a whole new outlook on my wood block stamps :).  The sentiment is from a Hero Arts clear set called "Banners and Messages."

I think I need to work on getting some 10 mm sequins because I think the gold ones are more like 8 mm... but I finally made a version of Rosemary's card!  Thanks so much to her for this inspiring design.  Can't wait to see what else I can fill those little circles with ;)!

Ombre Background Tags

I finally got to participate in a Papertrey Ink "Make it Monday" this year!  Just had to try one of Laura Bassen's stamped ombre backgrounds!  I used the O'Tannenbaum stamp set for my Christmas tags...

I didn't have any solid background stamps from PTI, so I used a thin plaid strip from another company and used shades of blue and lilac pigment inks.

The first tree was stamped with Versamark ink and heat embossed with diamond embossing powder which is like a combination of clear mixed with glitter.

It's very sparkly in person because  I also sprayed each ombre piece with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in "Glacier" before stamping the trees.  I tied this tag with Lavender Moon and sheer ribbon.

This tree was stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with white powder and I added a sentiment. Tied it with some Blueberry Sky ribbon.  Both tags are cut with WMS Stitched Tag die.

I will definitely try this technique again, thanks so much to Laura for her amazing tutorial!

Tags with Tracy McNeely!

I am thrilled to be participating with the 12 Kits of Occasions Team for Tracey McNeely's 25 Days of Christmas Tags!  She has such an incredible line up of participants this year!

If you haven't seen the tags so far, you can visit Tracey's blog HERE to see all of the previous entries, and those still to come.  You will want to, because there are PRIZES to be had from these wonderful companies: Reverse Confetti, Clearly Besotted, CAS-ual Fridays, Neat & Tangled, and Paper Smooches! Enter the main prize draw HERE.

But...if you leave a comment here today, one randomly selected name will be sent to Tracey to be entered into her big prize draw on November 28th!  You have until November 26th at 11:59 PM EST to leave a comment here on my blog.

Now on to my tags!  I have been trying to show some love to my older stamps and die cuts by combining them with newer, trendy products.   I came across this adorable snowman die from Sizzix.  I got it on sale Black Friday two years ago for 75% off! (I distinctly remember that I practically skipped to the register because I was so excited about it)!  It's a Sizzix Bigz die by Basic Grey called "Snowman & Stocking." So I set to work decorating him (or her, depending on the fashion) for Tracey's special tag event!

Up first is a snowgirl decorated with patterned paper, a paper flower made with My Favorite Things Mini Rolled Rose die, a ribbon scarf (courtesy of Jeanne Jachna!) and some PTI buttons!

She was sprayed from top to bottom with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in the color "Glacier" both before I started to decorate...then I got brave and added more to the hat and mittens afterward, too!
So glittery in the sunlight :)!

Next is a manly snowman.  He's my favorite one...by a rustic, country mile!  He was stamped with the Hardwood Background from Stampin' Up.  His hat is cut from woodgrain patterned paper by My Mind's Eye.  I also added some wooden dots from MME, a Studio Calico wood veneer star that I colored red, a burlap ribbon scarf from Papertrey Ink's "County Fair" Make it Market kit, and some Pure Poppy felt mittens.

Last is another snowlady stamped with Cornish Heritage Farms Houndstooth Background, a hat and mittens stamped with Impression Obsession's Cover-a-Card "Screen" background, mini holly leaves cut with the Papertrey Ink holly die, a ribbon scarf from the Make it Market "Tinsel and Tags" Trimmings Kit, pink and silver sequins, and a glittered jingle bell!

These tags actually have four layers.  The decorated top, a thin cardboard piece, small pieces of white paper to cover the holes so that I could add the eyes and noses, and then a white backing piece.  On the backs of the tags I stamped the "To" and "From"  from Waltzingmouse Stamps "Nutcracker Sweet" set.

I'm telling you, these were like playing with paper dolls!  So much fun...I found myself happily sifting through scrap and ribbon bins and embellishment boxes to see what would be the perfect fit for each snowperson.  I will definitely be making and posting more for the holiday season!

Thanks SO much to Tracey for including me in her wonderful yearly tag-making tradition.  I look forward to seeing the rest of the tags for the year!  Don't forget to comment today so that you have one extra chance for her prize drawing.  Good luck :)!!