End of November Muse

November is almost over, and so too is the current challenge at Muse: ChristmasVisions. This week's muse is Cornelia Wenokor with this pretty tag: 

Since I have a goodly supply of tags already 😂 I translated Cornelia's tag into a card. I was inspired by the blue and silver colour scheme as well as the bells and large sentiment. Here's mine: 

The sentiment (with bells at two corners!) is silver-embossed on the navy cardstock and then spritzed with some sparkly mist. (IF I had a few stray specks of embossing powder, the sparkle would totally camouflage it. 😉) I mounted the navy panel onto silver pearl paper before adhering everything to the card base. CAS and elegant. 

Supplies: white & navy cardstock, silver pearl paper, Stampin' Up Christmas Postcard stamp, Versamark ink, silver embossing powder, MFT blueprints 24 stitched frame die, Tsukineko sparkle sheer shimmer mist

Tag, Day 26... on the 27th

Just for fun (!), there is a 26th day of the 25 Days of Christmas Tags! I took yesterday off, to celebrate a family birthday, but I made sure I made a tag today. I was inspired by the cool reindeer on Tenia Nelson's and Tracey's tags, as well as the beautiful sponged background on Tracey's tag. (I was inspired enough by the reindeer to pop over to the Stamplorations site to get my own! Sold out already, sigh.)  Here's mine: 

I started with an assortment of Hero Arts snowflakes from three different sets, clear embossed onto my tag. From there I sponged the background with blue and mauve distress inks. Of course I had to splatter some sparkly mist on it, too. I tried my funkiest reindeer stamp, but it was too small for the tag. So instead, I embossed this one in silver, fussy-cut it and popped it up on the tag. Silver ribbon and iridescent white cord was all this needed to finish it off! 

Supplies: white cardstock, Unity/Samantha Walker Greetings of Christmas & various Hero Arts stamps, Versamark & stormy sky & shaded lilac distress inks, Ranger clear & Wow white embossing powders, homemade white confetti Perfect Pearls mist, Papertrey Ink tag sale #2 die, May Arts silver ribbon & iridescent twine, pop-dot tape

UFO Sightings

You ever seen a UFO in these parts?

~Fox Mulder, The X Files

Today is the day for UFO sightings, and not just on The X-Files! The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers can guarantee it! 

U is for UFO — Unfinished Objects! The stamped image you coloured but then set aside, the background you stencilled that turned out not to work for the card you were making... you get the idea. We sisters came to the conclusion that we all have one or two (hundred) UFOs lurking on our desks or tucked in baskets awaiting future action. So we are challenging ourselves (and YOU) to get them out and use at least one of them! I was able to put together two UFOs for my project today: 

Of course I had every intention of photographing my UFOs before putting them together into a card... and immediately forgot once I got to work. UFO #1: the background panel. A couple of years ago, I was playing with the distress ink technique where you ink up a background stamp with various colours, mist with water, then stamp. This has been in my Christmas UFO bin ever since. All I did was cut it with a stitched panel die. UFO #2: the wonky rectangle die cut panel with sponging and white-stamped snowflakes. This is also from a couple of years ago, when I made a number of cards using this particular panel. This was an extra. On the original cards, the panel was paired with a cute little Christmas tree, but with this background layer, I went with a more elegant holly image. It, the vellum sentiment and the card base are the new components. 
For more UFO sightings, check out my snarky sisters' creations, as well as those of our current Queen of Snark and guest designer, Sue! Then dust off those unfinished objects and join us! 

Supplies: Craft Smith green cardstock card base, Stampin' Up pear pizazz cardstock, Strathmore watercolour paper, vellum, Hero Arts music collage background & assorted snowflakes, Inkadinkado Sketches Holiday & Cavallini Vintage Christmas stamps, Versamark, MFT black licorice, Colorbox frost white & assorted green distress inks, pirate's gold embossing powder, Zig clean colour real brush markers, Winsor & Newton iridescent medium, MFT blueprints 24 stitched rectangle & Spellbinders reverse wonky rectangle dies, pop-dot tape

Tag, Day 25!!! and a Card

Day 25 (!!!) of the 25 Days of Christmas Tags event! I have a generous selection of Christmas gift tags to choose from when I eventually get around to wrapping presents... of course, they have to be bought first. 
Today I was inspired by Kat Benjamin's kraft and polka-dot tag. Here is my version: 

I had nothing similar to the polka-dot paper tape that Kat used, so I stencilled a thin layer of embossing paste on a manila tag, instead. (I actually sponged white ink through the stencil first, but didn't like the look.) I used some die cut pieces to embellish it as well as some sheer green ribbon. 
I also have a card! Jingle Belles' last challenge of the year is a beautiful photo inspiration: 

I took inspiration from the white fireplace hung with stockings and the quatrefoil rug to get this: 

Making this card was a bit of a comedy of errors; there were a couple of times when I considered being inspired by the rack of wine bottles beside the fireplace and forgetting about cardmaking! The photo immediately reminded me of this fireplace stamp set that I ordered but didn't get in time for last year's cardmaking. I started by stamping the fireplace and the extra mantle, only to discover these were the two images that didn't have dies! Being used to the Tim Holtz Sizzix dies, I fussy cut the fireplace very closely to the outside lines. Then when I cut the stockings and evergreen garland, I discovered that these dies leave a white margin. So I stamped and cut another fireplace. (By this time, I had decided I didn't need the separate mantle piece.) The background panel comes from the pattern of the rug in front of the fireplace. 
I may just take the day off tomorrow! Besides, family obligations beckon. 😊

Supplies: (tag) manila tag, Kaiserkraft Turtledove die cut pieces, Heidi Swapp polka dot stencil, Dreamweavers glossy white embossing paste, May Arts green ribbon; (card) white cardstock, My Mind's Eye All is Bright, Echo Park Be Mine & (?) patterned paper, Stampin' Up Festive Fireplace stamps & dies, Versamark smoky gray & Colorbox evergreen inks, Ranger clear embossing powder, watercolour pencils, Spica silver glitter marker, Spectrum Noir clear glitter marker, fun foam

Guesting at Tag You're It!

I'm excited to be a guest designer at Tag You're It! Today's challenge is brought to you by featured artist Loll Thompson with this beautiful tag: 

Beautiful background sky, white silhouette trees, snowy landscape and lots of sparkle. More than enough inspiration for me! Here is my tag: 

I started by sponging my sky with green and blue distress inks, although I didn't manage as much green in my sky as Loll did. (My first attempt, with more green, was not a success...)  For the snow, I used a toothpick to dot acrylic paint all over. I used a border punch for the first layer of landscape, then ripped white cardstock for the second. While I would have loved to have the Stickles on my tree look as artistic as Loll's, it wasn't working for me, so there is an overall glittery coat instead. 
All the details for how to play along with the Tag You're It Challenge can be found here. I hope you'll join in the fun! 

Supplies: white cardstock, Prima North Country stamp, tumbled glass, mermaid lagoon & twisted citron distress inks, MFT blueprints tag builder 4 & (?) tree dies, Claudine Hellmuth Studio blank canvas acrylic paint,  EK Success alpine trail border punch, icicle Stickles, May Arts twine & scrap ribbon

Tag, Day 24

It's the 24th day of the 25 Days of Christmas Tags event! What will I do with all my free time once this is over? 😂 In the meantime... I decided to pick Jeanne Jachna's pretty tag as my inspiration today. Going with a snowman and a snowy background, here's my version: 

I hadn't played with my watercolour powders for what seemed like a long time, so after clear-embossing a flurry of snowflakes at the top of the tag, I used a blue powder for my sky. While that dried, I stamped, embossed and watercoloured this little snowman. I die cut a couple of snowhills and layered them at the bottom of the tag before adding my snow guy. I really need to remember that Stickles are water-based and really don't work well when I've watercoloured something. 🙄 A second coat of them on the hat trim minimized the bleeding. 

Supplies: Stampin' Up real red cardstock, Strathmore watercolour paper, Hero Arts Snow Much Joy, Decorate You & Get Merry stamps, Versamark & Versafine onyx black inks, Ranger clear & Wow white embossing powders, Zig clean colour real brush markers, Magenta Nuance cerulean blue watercolour powder, Papertrey Ink tag sale #2 & MFT scenic safari dies, Lawn Fawn mistletoe hemp cord, May Arts ribbon

Tag, Day 23

It's me again, back with yet another tag for the 25 Days of Christmas Tags event! Just for fun, I asked my husb to pick which tag I should interpret today. That was possibly too much pressure, as he gave me a shortlist of three. From those, I went with Tracey's cute moose tag, and came up with this: 

Of course I had to go with a sweatered reindeer, and one of the trees that comes with him is very much like the one Tracey has on her tag. I felt like sponging a background sky, so I did. To echo the die cut topper, I dry-embossed some red cardstock and cut it to fit. A couple of gold jingle bells and gold and white twine finish this off. 

Supplies: white & red cardstock, Hero Arts Christmas Reindeer stamps, Colorbox espresso & tumbled glass distress inks, Ranger clear embossing powder, Zig clean colour real brush markers, Darice diagonal stripe embossing folder, May Arts gold & white twine, $ store jingle bells, pop-dot tape 

Tag, Day 22

Happy Tuesday! Yep, it's another day and another tag for the 25 Days of Christmas Tags event! Today I'm using the layout and predominant colour of Lisa Lahiff's sweet tag for my inspiration. 

I sponged the bottom of the tag lightly with some tumbled glass distress ink. I grabbed the marker of the same colour plus a red one to colour my little bird. After I popped him up on the tag with a square of foam tape, I of course had to add Stickles to his hat. 😉 

Supplies: white cardstock, Paper Smooches swanky snowdudes & Simon Says Stamp/Kelly Purkey Tis the Season stamps, MFT black licorice & tumbled glass distress inks, distress markers, MFT stitched squares & Technique Tuesday this is tag die, frosted lace Stickles, small hole punch, May Arts ribbon, pop-dot tape 

Tag, Day 21

It's the final week of the 25 Days of Christmas Tags event! If I'm beginning to tire of tag-making, I can just imagine how Tracey feels! LOL!) 

Today I went with being inspired by Tracey's cute Santa in pyjamas tags... when I first looked at them, I thought, I have none of the supplies to make a tag like that. Well, if that's not a challenge...! 

I gave Santa a jolly belly by using a round tag. A scalloped oval die cut started the beard. Some textured black cardstock and a small piece of silver glitter paper with two slits cut in it added the belt. Won't this be a fun tag on a child's gift? 

Supplies: white, red & Bazzill textured black cardstock, American Crafts silver glitter paper, Papertrey Ink tag sale #4 & Spellbinders scalloped oval dies, Hemptique red & silver baker's twine

Tags, Day 20

There is an embarrassment of riches on Tracey's blog today for the 25 Days of Christmas Tags event! With two sponsors today, there is more than enough inspiration to choose from. I went with Sunny Studio's owner Mendi Yoshikawa's cute CAS tags with toppers. Since they were relatively simple to make (and with today's high winds, our power went out, so there were lots of other things I couldn't do, darn) I went with a tag set again. 

I went through a few stamp sets and found some small images that would be fun and easy to colour. My Prismacolor pencils have been sadly neglected lately, so they came out for colouring. None of my tag dies have toppers, so I grabbed a couple of border punches to fancy up the patterned paper scraps I picked. Next came both black and clear Wink of Stella markers to add a little sparkle. Ribbon and twine added the finishing touches. 

I really need to make more cards. 😝 But tags are fun! 

Supplies: white cardstock, assorted patterned paper scraps, Hero Arts Decorate You, Lawn Fawn Toboggan Together & Craft Smart stamps, MFT black licorice ink, Prismacolor pencils, black & clear glitter Wink of Stella brush markers, Paper Smooches stitched tag die, Stampin' Up scallop & Fiskars threading water punches, scrap ribbon & twine

Tag, Day 19

Although I could have made several tags today, based on the inspiration of the designers at the 25 Days of Christmas Tags event today, I held myself to just one. 😉 After much thought, I chose to be inspired by Melissa Bickford's pretty-in-plaid tag. After all, I already had some plaid paper out from yesterday's tags! 

My plaid is not as pastel as Melissa's, so I have a red topper with the white bottom. Instead of layered snowflakes, I used a wood veneer tree. For my hole reinforcement, I punched a small star and adhered it before punching a hole through all the layers. White ribbon and a little red metallic cord finish this off. 
And since the plaid paper and white cardstock were already out on my workspace, I'm adding this to Shopping Our Stash's Front and Centre challenge. 

Supplies: white & Stampin' Up real red cardstock, Echo Park Christmas This & That patterned paper, Paper Smooches All Yule Need stamp, Versamark onyx black ink, Hero Arts clear sparkle embossing powder, Studio Calico wood veneer tree, small star punch, scrap white ribbon & red metallic cord

Tag (Set), Day 18

Happy Friday! Lots of inspiration once again at the 25 Days of Christmas tags event! Kathy Schweinfurth's cute tags caught my eye today. I don't have the same die sets she used, but I do have a Christmas stocking die set. Once I started cutting, I may have gotten a little bit carried away...

Yep, six tags. And I have a nice little pile of stockings and toppers should I decide to make more. But now that I've got all six made, I think they might make a cute little hostess gift should we happen to be invited anywhere over the upcoming festive season. I like that they're all a little different, but obviously related. And what a great way to use some patterned paper scraps! 

Supplies: white & Stampin' Up kraft cardstock, Echo Park Holly Jolly Christmas, Winter Wishes & Christmas This & That patterned paper, white felt, Unity/Jillibean Soup Christmas Eve Chowder & Gourmet Rubber Stamps Love & Joy Labels stamps, MFT black licorice & Ranger lily pad & classic cherry inks, Paper Smooches stockings, stitched tag & zig zag tag dies, assorted scrap ribbon & twine, $ store jingle bells

Tag, Day 17

I squeezed in enough time today for a quick (except for drying time) tag for Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags event! (Friends for dinner tonight = a lot of kitchen time today... 😉) 

I took my cue from Angel Rivera's tag today. I used a thick layer of embossing paste through my stencil, then smushed some glitter in for a bit of extra sparkle. When that was dry, I embossed the small sentiment in white and sponged the edges of the tag with white ink. Cord and ribbon and it was back to the kitchen! 

Supplies: green cardstock, Unity/Jillibean Soup Christmas Eve Chowder stamp, Brilliance moonlight white ink, Wow white embossing powder, Papertrey Ink tag sale #2 die, Lawn Fawn mistletoe hemp cord, scrap white ribbon

Possibly the Perfect Challenge

This week, the Shopping Our Stash challenge is asking us to use some of the bits and pieces that have been accumulating on our workspace. Images started and put to one side, die cuts that didn't get used... you get the idea. Considering my recent tag frenzy, things have been definitely accumulating. So here's my card...

What was on my workspace? Several cardbases, lots of stamp sets, a sparkle marker, my adhesives... and this tree in the two parts. I die cut it a few weeks ago when Emily and I had a play date. A few days later, when I needed to fill in a few minutes while something dried, I sponged the base layer. And then... there it sat. So when I surveyed everything today, I thought it was a perfect time. Since it was right there, I took a minute and coated the faceted top layer with my glitter marker. After I adhered the two pieces, I tried it on different cardbases, and loved the cool modern look of the grey. From the stamp sets sitting around, I found this sentiment that seemed to fit the modern vibe. 
Did you see my tag post this morning? Technically, I didn't need to make a tag today, but what if I lost the momentum of the 25 Days of Christmas Tags that I have going? So I CASEd regular Muse: ChristmasVisions designer, Cornelia. 

Angel (although Cornelia says hers is a devil...) plus vellum clouds = inspiration! I watercoloured the background with Twinkling H2Os, and added some pearly H2Os to the wings for shimmer, as well. The sparkle marker went on the ribbon, bow and halo. And then, just in case there wasn't enough sparkle, I sprayed it with shimmer mist as well. 
Tomorrow is another one of those days when life may get in the way of my tag ambitions... wish me luck! 😝

Supplies: (card) white & Stampin' Up smoky slate cardstock, Technique Tuesday Jingle All the Way stamp, Versamark & peeled paint distress ink, Wow white embossing powder, Essentials by Ellen Geo Tree dies, Spectrum Noir clear sparkle overlay marker; (tag) Strathmore watercolour paper, vellum, Hampton Art stamp, MFT black licorice ink, Memory Box cloud dies, Twinkling H2Os, Zig clean colour real brush markers, Tsukineko Sparkle Sheer shimmer mist, May Arts sparkle twine

Muse: ChristmasVisions and Tags, Day 16

I am thrilled to be playing along again this year with the Muse: ChristmasVisions team, who are sponsoring Day 16 of Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags event.  

Our theme is vellum — to qualify this week, your project must be a tag and it must include vellum. There are prizes to be won at both 25 Days and at MCV; please check out each blog's post today for more details. 

Here is my inspiration for you today: 

I wanted my vellum to be front and centre, so used a snowflake background stamp and embossed it in white. I cut a navy tag to back it and act as a night sky. Of course, I also had to put a white backing on the navy, since eventually it needs to be written on. ;) 
I'll end with a collage of the amazing sponsors Tracey has gathered for this tag event. I'm sure you'll want to play along! 

Supplies: navy cardstock, veluum, Local King Rubber Stamp Snowflakes background & Technique Tuesday Jingle All the Way stamps, Versamark, Wow white embossing powder, Papertrey Ink tag sale #2 die, May Arts ribbon

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Merry Tag

Continuing on my papercrafting roll, I have a tag for Day 15 of the 25 Days of Christmas Tags as well as a card for Merry Monday! 
Tag first... there are many cute, shaped tags on the post today, so I went along with the trend and made a round one too: 

I cut my tag out of watercolour paper than added some Twinkling H2Os in blues and mauve. While that dried, I got the front part of the tag ready. The deer is stamped in brown and embossed; the sled in black and embossed; while the trees are embossed in verdigris embossing powder, which is one of my favourites. The deer and sled are watercoloured with Zigs. In hindsight, I really didn't need to add embossing paste snow to the tag base, since only a few are left showing — and it meant another drying wait time. I found a teeny blue tag and even a sentiment that would fit on it! Finally, some cord and jingle bells to finish off. 

Onto this week's Merry Monday challenge, to make a card using gray, white and red. Last week's card would have almost qualified! But it's a new week and a new challenge and a new card: 

I used a little bit of black ink for my bird — I hope it's allowed! I did try him in gray, but he just didn't look right, more like a blob than a bird. The birch trees were kind of lost directly on the patterned paper, but a simple white circle solved that. He looked like a singing kind of bird, so that's how I decided on the sentiment. 
I'm back tomorrow with a special tag post! 😊

Supplies: (tag) Strathmore watercolour & mixed media paper, blue cardstock, Lawn Fawn Toboggan Together stamps & dies, Gourmet Rubber Stamps Love & Joy Labels stamp, Versamark, Versafine onyx black & Memento Luxe espresso truffle ink, Zing clear, Wow white & PSX verdigris embossing powders, Simon Says Stamp falling snow stencil, Dreamweavers glossy white embossing paste, Twinkling H2Os, Zig clean colour real brush markers, Papertrey Ink tag sale #4 & Sizzix small tags dies, Lawn Fawn mistletoe hemp cord, $ store jingle bells, pop dot tape; (card) white & Stampin' Up basic grey cardstock, Webster's Pages patterned paper, Paper Smooches Swanky Snowdudes & Simon Says Stamp/Kelly Purkey Tis the Season stamps, Memento Luxe love letter & Versafine onyx black inks, Zing clear embossing powder, Paper Smooches birch tree, MFT wonky stitched rectangle & Spellbinders circle dies, fun foam

Mid-Month Reminder

 

Middle of November ALREADY... and that means you have ten days left to play along in the current Naughty or Nice Challenge: Don't Pull Your Punches! Dust off those crafting punches, or we'll take die cut work too. I pulled out one of my square punches to make this (again, not naughty) card:

I picked this snowflake as it fit nicely in the square, and embossed it in silver, copper and gold pearl. A hint of the shine:

I was happy to find this sentiment matched the size of the squares, although I masked off the bottom line (with love from me) to make it fit just right. 

With three different metallic embossing powders, I'm going to add this to the current Just Us Girls trend challenge to use metallics. 

Lots of room to interpret our current challenge, so I hope you'll come and play along! 

Supplies: white & Stampin' Up basic black & grey cardstock, Teresa Collins Tinsel & Co patterned paper, Hero Arts Decorate You & Simon Says Stamp/Kelly Purkey Tis the Season stamps, Versamark ink, silver, copper pearl, pale gold pearl & Wow white embossing powders, MFT stitched square & Blueprints 24 stitched rectangle dies, EK Success 1 1/4" square punch