12 Tags of Christmas: The Little Drummer Boy

Another tag for Ellen Hutson's The 12 Tags of Christmas challenge! Day 2 features the song The Little Drummer Boy. I knew right away what I would use! 

Since I had already used this image for the 25 Days of Christmas Tags, I wanted to make a completely different tag this time. I embossed the drum set in gold on black cardstock. The two patterned paper circles are from an ancient Echo Park patterned paper pad - this drum might be a little truer to the song. ;) Since I like things clean and simple, the only other addition is the gold cord. 

Supplies: Recollections black cardstock, Echo Park This & That patterned paper, Essentials by Ellen Twelve Days stamp, Versamark ink, pirate's gold embossing powder, Technique Tuesday This Is tag die, circle punch, scrap gold cord

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Ellen Hutson's 12 Days of Christmas... Tags?!

Hey! It's been an entire week since I last posted a tag! And while you would think I would have had my fill of tags in November, I couldn't resist making a tag for Day One of Ellen Hutson’s 12 Tags of Christmas 2020 Challenge. Each day, there will be a Christmas carol or song to prompt tag-making, along with inspiration from EH designers. Day 1's song is "Silver Bells". I went for both the title bells and the "Christmas time in the city" lyric: 

I had already made a cityscape mask for this card earlier, so I used it again to blend a city glow and night sky on a circle tag. Some homemade Perfect Pearls mist dots added snow to the sky. The sentiment is from one of the first Essentials by Ellen sets! My jingle bells are trying to look gold in the photos, but they really are silver bells. ;) 

Will I make more tags? Time will tell... :D 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, Essentials by Ellen Tis the Season stamp, Memento tuxedo black & Catherine Pooler sauna, stone blue & juniper mist ink, Avery Elle circle tag & MFT skyline border dies, white confetti Perfect Pearls mist, Offray navy ribbon, American Crafts white twine, $ store jingle bells

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ABC Christmas Challenge: Y and Z!

This is it! December has arrived, and that means we are at the last two letters of the ABC Christmas Challenge alphabet: Y and Z. Let's begin with Y for Your Favourite Things: 

I picked a couple of real life favourite things - the colour red, cats, and two favourite cardmaking things - heat embossing and watercolouring. This Penny Black stamp is an oldie but goodie, and provided a large Santa hat for my red. I used an alphabet stamp set for my ho ho ho - much easier than trying to mask a one piece ho ho ho stamp! 

Our second prompt this month is Z for Zzzzz... This seemed like the perfect theme to combine with the current Christmas Kickstart challenge: Twas the Night Before Christmas! 

Oh look, another cat! I did actually consider a sleeping dog, but he was a little too big for the rest of the scene.  The scene is made up of stamps from two different MFT sets, and the background and sentiment are patterned paper. A little Copic colouring and everything came together quite easily. 

I'm also entering this into the current The Library Challenge - it's The Night Before Christmas, but I'm inspired by the theme, not the book cover. (And we librarians know it's really called A Visit From St. Nicholas...) ;) 

Perhaps the two letter prompts and the beautiful work of the rest of the ABC design team will be just what you need to get those last few cards done! You have right until the end of the year to join us. 

Supplies: (ho ho ho) Stampin' Up garden green cardstock, Ranger distress watercolour paper, Penny Black Jolly Xmas Kitty & Lawn Fawn Claire's ABC stamps, Versafine onyx black & Memento Luxe love letter ink, Hero Arts sparkle embossing powder, Gansai Tambi watercolours, Spectrum Noir clear sparkle pen, Glossy Accents; (twas the night before) Neenah white & Recollections dark red cardstock, Pink Paisley Snow Village & Teresa Collins Santa's List patterned papers, MFT Merry Christmoose & I Knead You stamps & dies, Memento tuxedo black ink, Copic markers, icicle Stickles, Spectrum Noir sparkle marker, foam tape

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Color Hues: Blue and Magenta

Welcome to a new Color Hues challenge! Our latest colour duo is BLUE and MAGENTA. I'm finding this challenge is quite educational! I know what colour I think of as magenta, but when it came time to plan my card, I decided to double check, and magenta can be quite lighter in hue than I would normally think it, and also darker, closer to a purple. But then I discovered I had an ink called magenta, and I was all set! 

Since my magenta ink was a Colorbox pigment ink, I now also know how nicely pigment inks blend! I used magenta and peony, along with two blue distress inks for my sky. Originally I was going to make a birch tree scene, but then at the last minute totally changed my mind and created this paper-pieced, hot-beverage-drinking bear. (His cheeks and ears aren't pink, they're just a really pale shade of magenta... :D) Even the not-blue stripe in my plaid paper worked! 

There is a gorgeous array of blue and magenta creations on the Color Hues blog - some are Christmas (it is December now, after all) but there are a few other occasions represented, too. Feast your eyes, and then I hope you'll join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, Koh-In-Oor smooth Bristol paper, Echo Park Winter Wishes patterned paper,  MFT Cool Day & Bitty Bears stamps, Versafine onyx black, Simon Says Stamp extreme black, Colorbox magenta & peony, & faded jeans & chipped sapphire distress inks, Hero Arts clear sparkle embossing powder, MFT diagonal stitched rectangle die, icicle Stickles, foam tape

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The Snarky Sisters are Elfish

Happy Saturday! No tags from me today, since it's time for a new Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers challenge: E is for ELVES! I dug deep in my stash, found an elf, and this card resulted: 

This elf is stamped on a light grey cardstock. Why? I don't know, because it was originally stamped by my friend Emily, and when she didn't use it, passed it on to me. So colouring was a bit of a challenge, but I think he looks okay. Sparkle never hurts, so I sparkled the present as well as the holly leaves I added to his hat, along with glitter cardstock berries. Some patterned paper, a sentiment, and I've added another Christmas card to the box! 

Lots of elves over on the Snarky blog, from my Sistahs and our guest designer and current Queen of Snark, Natalie! Be elfish and join us! 

Supplies: Papertrey Ink (?) cardstock, scrap red glitter cardstock, Craft Smith red card base, Studio Calico Magical patterned paper, Paper Smooches Enchanted Elves stamp & die, MFT Sassy Pants Holiday stamp, Versafine onyx black & Memento tuxedo black ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Copic & Winsor & Newton pigment markers, MFT blueprints 29 stitched rectangle & Memory Box small holly dies, Spectrum Noir clear sparkle pen, Gelly Roll white & silver gel pen, frosted lace Stickles, foam tape

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Inkspirational: Photo

Happy Saturday! It's time for a brand new Inkspirational - and look at this sweet photo we have for you! Lots of elements you can take as inspiration. Since I happen to have a grey cat, oh look, my card features a grey cat: 

I knew I wanted to use this cat, and I wanted him on a box - and it took a bit of searching to find one that was the right size! I stamped the cat, masked him, and then stamped the box. For the frame panel, I blended a couple of colours of distress ink, added some pine boughs, then die cut the window. So that the fussy cutting "halo" wasn't the only white on the card, I stamped and embossed the sentiment on white. 

As always, it's fun to see all the different directions the rest of the Inkspirational team went after looking at this photo. Check out their designs, and then I hope you'll join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white & Stampin' Up garden green cardstock, Hero Arts Decorate You, Lawn Fawn Holiday Helpers, Sunny Studio Stamps Christmas Trimmings & Studio Katia Happy Snowmen stamps, Versamark, Versafine onyx black, Stampin' Up garden green, bundled sage & mowed lawn distress ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Copic markers, Studio Katia elegant scallop oval die

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