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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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


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