25 Days of Christmas Tags: Day 3

It's Day 3 of Tracey McNeely's 25 Days of Christmas Tags! Everything you need to know about this fun and festive holiday event can be found here. Today we are welcoming guest and sponsor Newton's Nook Designs.

Sadly, the company's namesake, Newton,
died earlier this year at the ripe old age of eighteen.
When a favourite furry companion is a part of your life for so long,
it's hard. (I hope they still have Hobbes.) 

Newton's Nook generously offered the tag design team a selection from their recent release, and of course I had to pick the one with cats. ;) 

Meet Newton's Christmas Kittens! This feline family is big enough to be the focal point on a card, but just right for a tag, too. I stamped and embossed them on watercolour paper before painting each one just a little differently. (Calico is HARD, but I did my best. :D) After fussy cutting the image, I found a tag long enough that I had room to add a sentiment, as well. As far as I'm concerned, I've got our cat Duncan there on the lower right, and our former cats, Cricket and Jasper, as the parents. (Of course, they could also be Hobbes and Newton, but I think I've got him down on the lower left.) It's not showing up in the photo, but I used a metallic gold for the parent's collar tags, and an iridescent paint for the tissue paper in the box. 

You'll see a wide variety of sweet tags (a lot of them don't even have cats, I can barely understand :D) on Tracey's blog today! Want to play along? Make a tag inspired by one you see today, and/or comment on each designer's post - either will put you in the running for a sweet stamping prize! 

Our fabulous sponsors!

This is my second of three posts for today!

I'm back later with Happy Little Stampers

ATC Challenge, and earlier today I posted

for the ABC Christmas Challenge. 

Supplies: red cardstock, Canson watercolour paper, Newton's Nook Designs Newton's Christmas Kittens stamps, Versafine onyx black ink, Wow clear gloss & clear sparkle embossing powder, Gansai Tambi watercolours, CUTplorations manila tag die, Hemptique red & silver baker's twine, scrap white ribbon, foam tape

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ABC Christmas Challenge: W and X

As the year is winding down, so is the alphabet at ABC Christmas Challenge - we are all the way to W and X! I am hosting the challenge this month, and if you pop over to the challenge blog, you'll see the little prizes I have on offer for two participants this time. 

We have a classic for the first theme: W is for WREATH. I have a favourite wreath set, but managed to pull out a different wreath set that I haven't used as much: 

This is my kind of two-step stamp image... once you stamp the wreath, there really is no wrong way to add the ornaments! Of course I had to emboss them with sparkly red embossing powder. After fussy cutting the wreath, I combined it with stamps and dies from two other companies to complete my sentiment. 

Somehow, the *other* wreath set ended up out, too! :D I tried to do something a little different than I usually do, at least: 

This too is a layering set, with three levels of foliage. I stamped the base layer, then went right to the top layer, inking it with Versamark and adding clear-with-gold-sparkle embossing. It still seemed to need a little something, so I added some sparkly gold crystal ornaments, too. (Obviously I stencilled the light grey bricks first.) 

Our second theme this month is X is for fauX! I don't use a lot of faux techniques, but remembered one from Jennifer McGuire for faux textured metal and used it for a snowy winter look. 

The metallic sheen that the combination of distress inks, Perfect Pearls and snowflake embossing give seems to be impossible for me to catch properly in a photograph. It's quite pretty in real life. 

Adding snowflakes to my card means I can enter it in the current Christmas Kickstart challenge: snowflakes. 

Lots of inspiration to be found on our challenge blog - there might even be a faux technique or two you'll want to try! Time to be inspired and join us! 

This is the first of THREE posts today! I'll be back soon

with Day 3 of 25 Days of Christmas Tags! 

Supplies: (joy) Neenah white & Stampin' Up real red cardstock, Stampin' Up real red glitter cardstock, Basic Grey Aspen Frost patterned paper, Winnie & Walter In Bloom: Hollie's Festive Florals & Papertrey Ink Wonderful Words: Joy stamps, Memento bamboo leaves & Memento Luxe love letter ink, Wow clear gloss & (?) red sparkle embossing powder, Lil Inkers Jingle Joy dies, foam tape; (warmest wishes) Neenah white & Stampin' Up garden green cardstock, Hero Arts Color Layering Wreath stamps, Versamark, Stampin' Up garden green & hickory smoke distress ink, Wow clear gloss & clear gold highlights embossing powder, Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous bricked stencil, Studio Katia gold sparkle crystals; (merry) Neenah white & (?) blue cardstock, Winnie & Walter In a Word: Merry stamps, Versamark, tumbled glass, salty ocean & chipped sapphire distress inks, Wow white embossing powder, Poppy Stamps jumbled Merry Christmas die, PTI (I think?) snowflake impression plate, Perfect Pearls (in perfect pearl) 

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25 Days of Christmas Tags: Day 2

Here we are at Day 2 of Tracey McNeely's 25 Days of Christmas Tags event, and today Ellen Hutson is our generous sponsor. 

Ellen Hutson sent Tracey's Tag Team the Essentials by Ellen Hard Candy Christmas stamp set and dies. Despite my lack of affection for making shaker tags or cards, I knew, sadly, that this is what I wanted to do. 

For the candy jar, I die cut one solid base, then four others where I also cut out the centre section. The sides of the candy jar are just too thin for any foam tape! And while I did try cutting it out of fun foam, the foam stretched in cutting just enough that it wouldn't cooperate. So layering and gluing it was. I cut two more solid jars, one from acetate, and one of cardstock that I stamped and embossed in silver before cutting the centre out. I also stamped and die cut several silver-wrapped candies. After much careful gluing then weighting with my Oxford dictionary for a while, I tied the silver cord around the lid handle and the tag was done.

Of course by the time I had done all that, I'd realized there was a WAY easier version I could make: 

Candy patterned paper! Sandwiched between a cardstock base and an open top layer, this took much less time and energy. :D 

Be sure to check Tracey's blog for delicious inspiration from my Tag Teammates and members of the Ellen Hutson team. Remember to visit the main post and link-up for all the guidelines. There are prizes to be won both for commenting and for creating tags inspired by today's creations! 

Our amazing sponsors!

Supplies: (shaker) Neenah white cardstock, silver pearl paper, Lawn Fawn patterned paper, acetate, Essentials by Ellen Hard Candy Christmas stamps & dies, Versamark, Versafine onyx black & Catherine Pooler rockin' red ink, Ranger silver embossing powder, silver elastic cord, Offray red ribbon

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25 Days of Christmas Tags: Day 1!

It's here! The 25 Days of Christmas Tags event is officially underway! Is there a better way to get prepared for holiday gift-giving and be in the running to win a crafty prize at the same time? Check out this amazing line-up of sponsors: 

I am so honoured to be once again in the company of these lovely people:

And of course the mastermind behind all of this is none other than Tracey McNeely. Now in its ninth year, this event grows bigger and better every year. 

Onto Day One! Our sponsor today is Altenew. 

Altenew generously offered Tracey's Tag Team their choice of stamp sets, and I chose the beautiful Modern Poinsettia. I knew I wanted to go elegant with this set: 

After stamping and embossing the poinsettia with gold tinsel embossing powder, I trimmed  it closely. For the tag base, I've used Altenew's Create-a-Wreath - cutting the oval wreath shape, covering it in Versamark, and heat embossing it with two coats of the same embossing powder for a perfect match. I stamped the sentiment in red for a pop of colour, then found red raffia and gold cord to finish the tag. 

If you are new to this fun event, or just want a refresher on how to participate, visit the main post and link-up for all the guidelines. There are two ways to participate: make and post a tag or tags inspired by any of the designers' tags; or comment every day on Tracey's blog as well as the designers' posts. Or do both for more chances to win a prize! Hope you will play along. 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, vellum, Altenew Modern Poinsettia stamps, Versamark & Versafine crimson red ink, Wow clear gloss & (?) gold tinsel embossing powder, Altenew Create-a-Wreath dies, red raffia & gold twine

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Two for Tea!

It's now November, and the anticipation of the cold and snow ahead has me feeling a bit snarky - luckily it's time for the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers to begin a new challenge! 

T is for Tea! Despite (or hey, we're snarky, so perhaps because of) most stampers professing their love for coffee on card after card, I do believe the majority of the sisters prefer tea - including me! I have a nice big mug of it in front of me as I sit typing this. Besides, something needs to fill the time before cocktails. ;) 

My first card has no snark at all. Instead, it celebrates the perfect union of tea and books. 

That, younger readers, is a library book sign-out card in the background. Back in the Palaeozoic era (pre-computers), a library patron would take a book to the check-out desk, write his or her or their name on the card, and the librarian would stamp the date the book would be due on a slip attached to the same pocket where the card had previously been residing. At least I think that's how it went - it was a long time ago. :D 

Before the library card was added, I stamped and embossed the tea cup and covered it with a heart-shaped mask. I then used Versamark to stencil my stars before blending a night sky with distress inks - the Versamark alone creates a more subtle resist than if I had heat-embossed the stars. Taking the mask off, I stamped and embossed the sentiment. The tea cup was floating a little bit too much like a strangely shaped UFO, so I grounded it with a pale grey Copic. 

Since we're talking tea, I made a second card! Still no snark, but at least it's punny: 

Snarky sister Jo had shown the rest of us a photo of this in our group: 

Since I have an R2D2 stamp, how could I resist? I think there is just enough shading on my droids to qualify for Day 2 of Kathy Racoosin's The Daily Marker 30 Day colouring challenge. For the tea cups, I inked in blue, then *kissed* the stamp with an uninked heart stamp to lift some colour and add a design to each cup. The sentiment is added with an alphabet set.  

Whether you prefer tea or coffee, grab a beverage and head over to the challenge blog, where my sisters and our Queen of Snark and guest designer Laura all have creations to inspire you. 

Supplies: (late nights) Neenah white & Recollections black cardstock, Pinkfresh Studio Late Nights & Papertrey Ink Library Card stamps, Versamark, Versafine onyx black, Memento Luxe love letter, PTI fine linen & tumbled glass, broken china & faded denim distress ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Simon Says Stamp falling stars stencil, Winnie & Walter Katharine cutaways & QuicKuts heart dies, Copic marker; (R2Tea2) Neenah white, Recollections black & (?) blue cardstock, The Ink Road Droid Please & Lawn Fawn My Cup of Tea & Claire's ABCs stamps, Simon Says Stamp & Brilliance Mediterranean blue ink, Copic markers, foam tape

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Are You Ready for 25 Days of Christmas Tags?

Halloween is now behind us, and Christmas is rapidly approaching! Fortunately, Tracey McNeely is once again coming to our rescue by organizing another year of The 25 Days of Christmas Tags! And I am excited to say I am once again part of Tracey's tag team! 

 
All four of us - Carol, Kim, Joyce and me - are back for another year of tag-making, hoping to inspire you to create your own collection of festive tags. It all begins on Monday, November 4th. In the meantime, I've made a tag just to remind you how much fun they can be! 

To make this tag, I combined supplies from two of our continuing sponsors, Hello Bluebird and Paper Smooches. I thought the gift-giving mouse and the "aww, for me?" penguin were a perfect pair. They are coloured with Copics for Day One of Kathy Racoosin's The Daily Marker 30 Day colouring challenge. I kept things simple by using a blue cardstock tag base instead of creating my own background sky. 

You have the weekend to get ready... The 25 Days of Christmas Tags event begins Monday! 

Supplies: Neenah white & (?) blue cardstock, Hello Bluebird Snow Play stamps & dies, Versafine onyx black ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Copic markers, Paper Smooches stitched tag & borders 1 dies, scrap ribbon & cord, foam tape

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