Holiday Leftovers...

The latest challenge at Jingle Belles is a fun one! Stephanie and Lauren want us to use "holiday leftovers"... images we've stamped but haven't used, leftover die cuts, and the like. This is a good one for me! I save everything, but don't always remember to actually use what I've kept. So I got out my leftovers, and made this: 

My cute little snowman was stamped at my friend Emily's eons ago. The snowglobe base is also from a die Emily had (but not anymore!). I coloured and glittered my snow guy and die cut him in a circle to fit the base. The sentiment is actually a speech bubble but I masked off the bottom portion before stamping and embossing. 
I'm not as thrilled with my second card, but it did use up an embossed panel that was left over from last year's card-making. The snowflake embellishment was, yes, cut at Emily's at least a year ago. 

Supplies: (let it snow) white & Stampin' Up real red & smoky slate cardstock, Echo Park Keepin' Cozy patterned paper, Unity snowman & Hero Arts Holiday Conversation stamps, Versamark & Versafine onyx black inks, Wow white embossing powder, Spellbinders circle & Amuse snowglobe dies, Spectrum Noir markers, Martha Stewart glitter, frosted lace Stickles, Hemptique bakers twine, pop-dot tape; (Merry Christmas) white, green & DCWV red silky smooth cardstock, Little Yellow Bicycle patterned paper, Unity Santas, Stocing, Candy Canes, Etc. stamp, Colorbox frost white ink, Wow white embossing powder, Paper Smooches large snowflake die, Gelli Roll clear glitter pen

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Naughty, Nice... or Snarky?

A belated Happy Thanksgiving if you are reading this in the United States! And now we look ahead to the next monster holiday lurking over the horizon... Christmas. And since I'm here today posting for the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers, we're not dreaming of sugar plums, but of a Naughty Christmas. ;) 

As is my wont, I went subtle with my naughtiness...

After all, who KNOWS what Santa witnessed? The cool dude Santa is the major reason I had to have this particular stamp set. The sentiment is an extra added bonus. I kept my card super clean and simple, adding an embossed red panel down the left side, and of course heat-embossing Santa and the sentiment. 
Make sure you go and see what festive naughtiness my sisters in snark have been up to, as well as our latest guest designer EVIL EDNA! I hope you'll join us in our naughtiness... you have until December 11th to do so. 

Supplies: Neenah 110 lb white & Stampin' Up real red cardstock, Essentials by Ellen Tis the Season stamps, Versafine onyx black ink, Zing clear embossing powder, Darice diagonal stripe embossing folder, Spectrum Noir marker, pop-dot tape

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And the 21st Tag...

And t's me, one more time tonight, with the final tag I managed to create for Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags event. Once again I was drawn to the clean and simple, and decided to focus on Kim Bell's tag. I was inspired by the red (of course) as well as the large snowflake and splattered background. Here's mine:

Instead of a die cut, I decided to use a large snowflake stamp and emboss it in snowflake tinsel embossing powder. (I really should try to remember that this powder is never quite as impressive as I think it will be...) I then splattered some white mist over the rest of the tag and added the sentiment. 
Even with not quite being able to manage three days of Tracey's event, I may just have more than enough tags for Christmas now! ;) 

Supplies: Stampin' Up real red cardstock,Teresa Collins Santa's List patterned paper, Stampin' Up Holiday collection stamp, Versamark ink, Ranger snowflake tinsel embossing powder, homemade confetti white Perfect Pearls mist, Stampin' Up scallop & Creative Memories corner rounding punches, Offray white ribbon, Twinery solid maraschino twine

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Tag, Day 20

On the 20th day of Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags event, I chose Tracey's gorgeous reindeer tag, clean and simple in red and white, as my inspiration. Here's what I came up with: 

This Dasher stamp is so classy! I paired him with a simple sentiment and added a little glitter gel pen on his antlers and the snowflakes. Equally clean and simple! 
One tag left to share... ;) 

Supplies: white & Stampin' Up real red cardstock, Stampin' Up Dasher & Studio G Joy stamps, Stampin' Up real red ink, Spellbinders reverse wonky rectangle die, FIskars threading water punch, Twinery solid maraschino twine, Gelly Roll clear glitter gel pen

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A Tag for Day 19

I have fallen a little short of my personal goal of creating a tag for each day of Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags event, but I'm here this evening with my last three tags, starting with Day 18. I picked Kay Miller's tag to CASE (copy and share everything) — because it has a frame but it's not a shaker tag! ;) I was also inspired by her use of kraft and green. Here's my version:

I cut the ornament tag out of white twice and kraft and patterned paper once. I die cut the trees from green, then cut one of the white tags with the base of the tree die for snow. After cutting a scalloped circle from the kraft layer, I adhered all the ornament layers together. Then it was a matter of adding the little snowman and a sentiment. Some ribbon, twine and a couple of jingle bells finished the tag. 

Supplies: white & Stampin' Up kraft & garden green cardstock, Studio Calico Wonderland patterned paper, Hero Arts Snow Much Joy & Holiday Conversation stamps, Versafine onyx black & Stampin' Up garden green inks, Papertrey Ink tag sale #4, Spellbinders scalloped circle & (?) tree dies, Prismacolor pencils, frosted lace Stickles, green Divine twine, Affray white ribbon, $ store jingle bells, pop-dot tape 

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A Tag for Day 18

This is my second post of the day! For my Guest Designer post

with Muse: ChristmasVisions, please click here. 

I'm starting to fall behind! Here I am, a little out of sequence, with my tag for Day 18 of Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags. Today's inspiration is courtesy of Lisa Elton. I looked at the overall design of the tag, her fancy die cut top panel, her use of silver and the cute little penguin. Here's my take:

I used the bottom of a wine tag die to cut a fancy base to my top panel, then ran it through my regular tag die to properly shape the top. My penguin is watercoloured with distress markers.
A short post this time from me — thanks for stopping by! 

Supplies: white cardstock, Strathmore mixed media paper, Stampin' Up silver glimmer paper, Little Yellow Bicycle patterned paper, Hero Arts Decorate You, Christmas Reindeer & Holiday Conversation stamps, Verafine onyx black & Memento London fog & pear tart inks, Zing clear embossing powder, Papertrey Ink tag sale #2, Avery Elle cheers, & Paper Smooches borders 1 dies, distress markers, frosted lace Stickles, scrap ribbon, pop-dot tape

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25 Days of Christmas Tags with Muse: ChristmasVisions

Welcome to Muse: ChristmasVisions #30! MCV is sponsoring Day 24 of Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags event... and I'm thrilled to be a guest designer with the MCV design team for this special post. The entire MCV design team is playing along today. The theme is red and green with a tree element. I had yet to use one of my favourite Christmas tree stamps this season, so the time was ideal to ink it up, I thought.

I started by masking the edges of my tag and sponging some white chalk ink in from the edges. Leaving the masks in place (my husb will never see his roll of painters tape again, you know...) I tried stamping a small snowflake in the same chalk ink. It was barely visible! So I switched to my trusty pigment ink for the random flakes. While the pigment ink was drying, I embossed my little tree in gold. In a mixed media frenzy, I used green Twinkling H2Os for the tree, a distress marker for the trunk, and a gold gel pen for the star. While the tree dried, I embossed the sentiment in red sparkle embossing powder. An attempt to show some of the shimmer and shine: 

Extreme close-up also shows off how blobby my final step, liquid pearls for the Christmas ornaments, turned out. (I was going for 3D, but maybe not that 3D...) Luckily, I don't think the tag recipient is likely to be examining it quite that closely. ;) 

Have you participated in Tracey's tag event yet? The tags each day are so inspiring. Plus, there are even prizes! You can read about the event, and link up your own creations, here. And remember to link up at Muse: ChristmasVisions as well! 

Supplies: Stampin' Up kraft cardstock, Strathmore mixed media paper, Hero Arts Snow Much Joy & Christmas Reindeer stamps, Versamark, Hero Arts snow, Colorbox frost white & Memories passion red inks, pirate's gold & red sparkle embossing powders, Papertrey Ink tag sale #3 die, Twinkling H2Os, distress marker, gold gel pen, ruby red liquid pearls, Hemptique red & green twine, pop-dot tape

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Tags for Day 17

For the 17th day of Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags, I was once again inspired by the event hostess herself. I was taken by Tracey's clean design and her big red star as focal point. I didn't have a cool star-sentiment combination, so I improvised just a little bit:

I stamped the star in red before embossing a sentiment over top in silver. I liked it so much (and it was so easy to make!), I made another! 

And one more, this time in gold. (Personally, I prefer the silver.)

I added my twines and cord and considered myself done. Then I looked at Tracey's example once more and thought, hmm, sequins. I did like them plain, but I'm glad I added the trio of sequins to each one. 
Tomorrow I'll be back with an extra-special tag post! :)

Supplies: white cardstock, Stampin' Up Holiday Collection & Unity Greetings of Christmas stamps, Versamark & Stampin' Up real red inks, silver & pirate's gold embossing powders, Paper Smooches zig zag tag die, assorted sequins, Hemptique red/white/silver bakers twine, gold elastic cord

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The 16th Day of Christmas Tags

I'm all the way up to Day 16 of Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags event, and this time around, I'm inspired by Samantha Mann's adorable tag. I looked at her night sky, her full moon, the sprinkling of stars and of course the cat! Here's mine: 

I had such fun making my sponged background for my thirteenth day tag that I decided to make another one. This time I masked off the bottom portion of my tag so my cat would have somewhere to sit. After I punched a small circle out of yellow cardstock, I sponged a little orange ink around the edges for a bit of depth. I added three teeny tiny stars in silver ink and have now misplaced the world's smallest star stamp. Sigh. ;) 

Supplies: white & yellow cardstock, Strathmore mixed media paper, Hero Arts Decorate You & Paper Smooches Birthday Buddies stamps, Memento luxe grey flannel, Memento tangerine, Colorbox silver & salty ocean, blueprint sketch & seedless preserves distress inks, Zing clear embossing powder, Paper Smooches stitched tag die, distress markers, EK Success 1" circle & alpine trail punches, scrap ribbon, pop-dot tape

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Muse ChristmasVisions

I have been honoured by getting a shout-out at Muse: ChristmasVisions for the first two times I have played there! So I shall just have to press my luck and play along again this week. ;) The current Muse is Betty Wright: 

I was inspired by the red, white and gold colours Betty used; the large main focal cluster of images; and the curved die cut main panel. Here's my somewhat simplified version:

I'm CASEing (copy and share everything) myself a bit too, with a card I made earlier this month. Since I didn't have the stamps and die cuts to replicate Betty's beautiful image cluster appropriately, I went to this stamp instead, and again embossed in gold and coloured just the sentiment in red. The white panel is popped up on a textured red card base. 

Supplies: Craft Smith textured red card base, white cardstock, Stampin' Up Christmas post card, Versamark ink, pirate's gold embossing powder, Paper Smooches borders 1 die, red sharpie, pop-dot tape

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Christmas Tags, Day 15

Our first serious snowfall of the season started last night, so what better time to be making tags for Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags? May I present Day 15: 

I actually started this tag several days ago. (In tag-making, I'm not very far behind Tracey, it's just the blogging...) I chose Danielle Walls' pretty tag as my inspiration. I was inspired by the masked and sponged panel, the predominant green colour and her use of vellum. Unfortunately, the vellum didn't go quite the way I had planned. ;) Let me explain...
I started by masking the top and bottom of a cardstock panel. I could have used the same distress ink Danielle did, but no, I had to go with peeled paint, instead. After I sponged, I laid a vellum panel over top and realized my sponging disappeared too much with this colour. Sigh. So I set my tag aside and moved on. The next day I went back and added the branches (also in peeled paint) and the ornament, stamped in gold. This time it was the gold that kind of disappeared. Hmmph. The tag was now set aside for several days. Eventually it drifted into my brain that perhaps I could use vellum to stamp just the ornament on! So that's what I did today, plus added the sentiment. Now I have a tag I am happy with. :)

Supplies: white cardstock, vellum, Hero Arts Decorate You & Prima North Country stamps, Versamark, Brilliance galaxy gold & peeled paint distress inks, pirate's gold embossing powder, corner-rounding & small hole punches, gold elastic cord

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STAMPlorations November Challenge, Part 2

Here I am, back already, with the sketch portion of this month's STAMPlorations challenge! 

I was stuck on this sketch until I decided to ignore the overlap at the bottom of the sketch. Oh, and the little flowers. Stripped down like that, this is my version: 

Hadn't used my cardinal yet this year, so he came out for some watercoloring. I may have wandered a little from the original intention of the sketch, but I like the end result! 

Supplies: Stampin' Up kraft cardstock, Strathmore mixed media paper, Teresa Collins Santa's List patterned paper, Rubber Stampede Cardinal & Stampin' Up Winter Wishes stamps, Versafine onyx black ink, Zing clear embossing powder, watercolour pencils, pop-dot tape

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STAMPlorations November Challenge, Part 1

This month, the theme challenge at STAMPlorations is "Stamps & Newsprint", plus a sketch. 

Previously I have combined the sketch with the theme, but I just couldn't seem to do it this month. So first up, a card using the theme:

I looked through my various papers, and found this one, complete with the snowflakes in the corner. The teeny print amongst the snowflakes reads "It's the most wonderful time of the year". I haven't even tried to read the newsprint. ;) I stamped and embossed the large sentiment, then found a snowflake that matched the paper to put in the middle of the "O". Since I knew I didn't have ribbon in this deep a shade of red, I used another strip of patterned paper instead. There's a little bit of bling in the centre of the stamped snowflake, and dots of Stickles in the paper ones. 
Since I didn't combine them, I have a card for the sketch part of the challenge coming up... 

Supplies: white cardstock, Teresa Collins Santa's List patterned paper, Technique Tuesday Jingle All the Way & Stampin' Up Holiday Wishes stamps, Versamark & Simon Says Stamp schoolhouse red ink, Zing clear embossing powder, Stampin' Up basic rhinestones, Icicle Stickles, pop-dot tape

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Day 14 and Curtain Call

Happy Saturday! Today's tag comes to you courtesy of inspiration by Tracey McNeely herself. 

And since Tracey's tag was inspired by the current Curtain Call challenge, that must mean I am too. 

From Tracey's tag, I was inspired by the left hand/right hand placement of the sentiment and fox. Of course, I could have used any image, so keeping with a fox comes from the Curtain Call photo. I've never actually used this cute Paper Smooches fox before! I stamped him on watercolour paper and coloured him with distress markers. While he dried I stencilled the tag with some snow and cut the snowy hill. A sentiment with some matching twine and the tag was done! 

Supplies: white & Stampin' Up kraft cardstock, Strathmore watercolour paper, Paper Smooches Chubby Chums & Unity/Jillibean Soup Christmas Eve Chowder stamps, Versafine onyx black & Colorbox evergreen ink, Zing clear embossing powder, Paper Smooches stitched tag & borders 1 die, Simon Says Stamp falling snow die, Dreamweavers glossy white embossing paste, distress markers, Hemptique green twine, pop-dot tape

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Lucky 13th Tag

It's the halfway point, for me, of Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags. Today's tag is inspired by Michelle Short's awesome sponged background on her tag. 

Michelle was even nice enough to say which colours of distress inks she used for her background. I changed it up just a bit, using tumbled glass, mermaid lagoon, faded jeans and seedless preserves. (Partly because I totally forgot I have a mini blueprint sketch!) I also splattered some shimmer spray over the sponged tag.
I was so very happy with my background, I hated to cover any of it with a snow hill! So instead I went for a reindeer, since he could reasonably be flying through the sky. I found some hemp twine that matched the blue perfectly. 
That's all from me tonight... hope your weekend is shaping up to be a good one! 

Supplies: white cardstock, Unity Greetings of Christmas stamp, Versamark & tumbled glass, mermaid lagoon, faded jeans & seedless preserves distress ink, silver embossing powder, Paper Smooches Stitched Tag die, Perfect Pearls confetti white mist (homemade), Hemptique twine, pop dot tape

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On the Twelfth Day of Christmas Tags

I'm up to Day Twelve in Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags event! Today I'm inspired by Marybeth Lopez's sweet tag. I focused on the colours, the (faux) stitching and the trees. Here's mine:

Just one die cut tree for me. Also I took the easy route and cut from patterned paper  rather than ink-blending my own. No stamping!
Since this is my third (!) post today, I'm going to leave it short and sweet. Thanks for visiting! 

Supplies: manila tag, white & Stampin' Up real red cardstock, Basic Grey Evergreen patterned paper (plus small scrap of woodgrain), Paper Smooches stitched tag and stitched & Lil' Inkers Holly Jolly dies, Lawn Fawn mistletoe cord, pop-dot tape

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Reindeer Can Be Arty...

My second reindeer card today (my first one is here) has an entirely different feel from the previous one. 

Oh, and also impossible to photograph. :D The grey day is not particularly helping, but here's a closeup to maybe prove you can actually see the reindeer: 

This is my *arty* reindeer card. I've had this card pinned forever, although you can tell I didn't go back and look at it again before I made mine. ;)  I started by adding some glitter to a little embossing paste and using a snowflake stencil. Before the paste was too dry, I realized that I likely couldn't stamp on top of snowflakes, and scraped them off the bottom right corner. You can see the glittery ghosts of snowflakes past just a bit, which is fine with me. After the embossing paste dried, I did my arty thing with blue watercolour paint. More drying time. My reindeer is embossed in snowflake tinsel embossing powder. 

It wasn't planned, but this card fits in the same challenges as my cute reindeer card! Merry Monday, Just Us Girls, and Simon Says Stamp. 

Next up... a tag! 

Supplies: white & Bazzill metallic textured blue cardstock, Strathmore 140 lb. watercolour paper, Stampin' Up Dasher Stamp, Versamark ink, Ranger snowflake tinsel embossing powder, Memory Box tiny snowflakes stencil, Dreamweavers glossy white embossing paste, Stampin' Up dazzling diamonds glitter, Kohinoor watercolours

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Reindeer Can Be Cute...

I have two cards to share today for the latest Merry Monday Christmas Challenge: 

Reindeer! I have, um, a few reindeer stamps. In fact, I have one somewhat similar to the image in the challenge badge. I didn't use that one. ;) 

I thought I'd show off the *cute* card first: 

Despite already having reindeer stamps, I couldn't resist this Lawn Fawn set. In my defence, the set has penguins, too. Oh wait, I probably have more penguins than reindeer. ANYWAY. The reindeer, sled and Santa hat are all watercoloured. The sky was sponged with distress inks before I stamped and embossed the trees. Verdigris embossing powder is one of my favourites, and I can't believe how long it's been since I last used it! The trickiest part of the card was stamping the gold sled-pull, but I didn't think I'd like the look of it as much with a white die cut halo. I also edged the main panel with the same gold ink. 
Since I kind of like how my little reindeer look, I'm also adding this to the current Just Us Girls challenge to use watercoloring. Also to Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Christmas challenge. 
I'll be back in a bit with a different style of reindeer card! 

Supplies: white cardstock, Strathmore mixed media paper, Lawn Fawn Toboggan Together stamps & dies, Paper Smooches borders 1 die, Versafine onyx black, Versamark, Stampin' Up real red, Brilliance galaxy gold & tumbled glass & milled lavender distress inks, Zing clear & Personal Stamp Exchange verdigris embossing powders, distress markers, pop-dot tape

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Eleventh Day of Christmas Tags

Why yes, I have another tag today for Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags event. For Day 11, I chose Jane Taylor's homespun Santa tag. I was inspired by her mostly neutral colour scheme, her main Santa image and her use of a double tag. 

I die cut two tags, then moved one tag in the die so it would trim a bit from the bottom. On the shorter tag, I stamped and coloured my Santa, then sponged some distress ink around the edges. On the bottom tag, I simply stamped the small sentiment. I thought about sponging this tag, too, but decided I liked the contrast. Some jute twine tie the two tags together. 

Supplies: Stampin' Up naturals ivory cardstock, Cavellini Vintage Christmas & Unity/Jillibean Soup Christmas Eve Chowder stamps, Versafine onyx black, Stampin' Up real red & old paper distress inks, Papertrey Ink Tag Sale #4 die, distress markers, May Arts jute twine

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