Day 9 Tag from 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist

I’m sharing a tag inspired by the tag that Teri Anderson created as part of the 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist series in the CLASSroom at Ellen Hutson’s.

Day 9 Tag - 2013 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist

I cut the skates from three cardstocks – white, black and silver. I pieced the skates together with the silver cardstock as the base. This was decidedly less labor intensive than the way I crafted the skates for this tag. The tag background of two patterned papers is on a craft-a-board base. I covered a different patterned paper with frosted film for the die-cut snowflakes. The effect is subtle, but noticeable! I also applied Wink of Stella to the cut-out sentiment for some extra shimmer.

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Pinspired Challenge #23

For my card, I was inspired by the color scheme of bright blue, red and white in the inspiration image, as well as the holiday theme.

Challenge23

I stamped Penny Black’s Crystal Pattern [40-162] background stamp with Bahama Blue ink for my background, onto which I added the die cuts. Yes, this card does look a lot like the tags I shared last week! (I actually had this card made several weeks ago for this challenge.) I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of those birch die cuts.

Day 7 Tag from 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist

I’m sharing a tag inspired by the tag that Paula Cheney created as part of the 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist series in the CLASSroom at Ellen Hutson’s.

Day 7 Tag - 2013 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist

At first glance, you might think “Huh?, This isn’t like Paula’s!” And it isn’t in terms of dies or stamps. My take-aways from Paula’s tag were  the colors and use of patterned paper. I have loads of patterned paper pads, and I had a fun time die cutting the curtains, window scene, cat  and tag background from various patterns, finally finding a mix that I liked. The Memory Box tree was first cut and then dry embossed. I tried several tree die cuts before settling on this one.

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Tim Holtz Skates Tag

There’s just something about a pair of ice skates that says winter! Since I first saw the Tim Holtz skate die cuts from summer’s CHA, I’ve wanted to try them on a project.

Tim Holtz Skates Tag

I cut the skates from grunge board and applied gesso to them. I tried the gesso method after trying to paint the grunge board raw. I just wasn’t able to adequately cover the raw grunge board with the paints. The grunge board acted like a sponge with paint. After the gesso application, I painted the skates with Distress Paints – Picket Fence on the skate bodies, Black Soot on the heels and Brushed Pewter on the blades – and got good coverage. After the paints dried, I lightly sanded the skates for a distressed look. For a bit of sparkle, I added Clear Rock Candy Distress Glitter with Glossy Accents as the glue.

Tim Holtz Skates Tag

For the background, I cut a tag from grunge board with the Tim Holtz tag die and covered it with a piece of patterned paper from the Merriment stash to which I’d applied the Frosted Film. The Frosted Film in easy to apply and gives a nice finish to the paper. Something to note, the tag size just exceeds 6″ in height. I was using a 6″ x 6″ pattern from the paper pad, so rather than cut the tag down in height, I used a strip of paper at the bottom that is rotated 90 degrees to the other paper. The Word Band covers up the paper seam.

I laced the skates with the Natural Hemp Cord. I considered baker’s twine, but the Hemp Cord texture seemed more appropriate. I used a needle to thread the cord through the holes in the skate die cuts.

I applied the Picket Fence paint to the Word Band, let it dry a bit, and then rubbed it off leaving paint on the recessed words.

This isn’t “whip up a tag in a few minutes” project. This tag took a couple of days of trying things out and letting the die cut skates dry between the various applications of gesso, paints, and Glossy Accents! That being said, I really like how the skates turned out. I think it would be fun to make some as Christmas ornaments.

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Poppystamps Merry Little Christmas

How’s your December going? Have you bought your Christmas tree? I’m sharing a card created with Poppystamps dies and stamp set which was inspired by the cut-your-own tree farms and the Christmas tree lots that many of us visit at this time of year.

Poppystamps Merry Little Christmas

The tree decorated with sparkling lights is the card’s focal point, which I placed against a snowy treeline. I added a smaller pine tree next to the decorated tree for some balance. I used a patterned paper background to provide additional color and to echo the color of the tree lights and heat-embossed sentiment.

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