!2 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist Challenge

Ellen Hutson's 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist continues with some incredible designers showcasing their talents with beautiful tags with, fun techniques, and wonderful tutorials.
On day 7, Jill Foster shared her incredible skill with water colors with these tags.

Jill inspired me to practice my oh-so-novice watercoloring skill. I stamped the image with Archival Ink in Coffee on Bristol paper cut with a PTI tag die; then I used Faber Castell Aquarelle Water Color Pencils to color. The sentiment is stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa. I love the ribbon,twine, pearl combination on Jill's tags.

Making this tag was a great break between laundry, shower scrubbing, and baseboard cleaning. :)

12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist-Tag 2

I am back with a second tag for Ellen Hutson's 12 Tags for Christmas with a Feminine Twist.  I was inspired by this beautiful card by Kittie Caracciolo, the queen of die cuts.

My simple version began with a window, wreath, and bow from a gingerbread house Silhouette file.

I cut the window frame six times. I glued five of the frames together to add dimension, while the sixth frame was glued to the back of the tag. Using an internal offset of the frame, I was able to cut an opening in the tag. After adding the patterned paper and the scored gray paper for the wainscotting, to the front of the tag, it was easy to cut the opening in the top layer.

 A Martha Stewart punch and Impression Obsession dies provide the greenery at the top of the tag. The banner and sentiment are from PTI's Make-It-Market Tinsel and Tags.

Joy-Twelve Tags of Christmas

I always love Ellen Hutson's 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist but never seem able to play along, but this weekend I found some time to get crafty. My inspiration is this adorable sled tag by Julia Stanton.

While Julia cleverly began with a kraft tag for her sled, I turned to my Silhouette Cameo.

I colored the runners with a Copic marker and then added texture with a woodgrain impression plate.

I guess for my tag the feminine twist is the glittered deer head and jeweled berries

Papertrey November Blog Hop Challenge

Forecast for today--SNOW!
Expect to see many snow themed projects today for this month's Papertrey Blog Hop Challenge.

I used Damask Snowflake dies as the base for these tags or gift toppers.

I stamped the round label from Label Basics onto a die cut from Limitless Layers 1 3/4 Circle. Then Tiny Treats Christmas provided the cute images and sentiments.  An Aqua Mist  pinked edged circle die cut adds another layer.

Oh, and the little snow drift under the snowman and penguin is a the flourish from Birthday Classics:May, stamped in Soft Stone ink.

A delicate die cut bow (Impression Obsession) and some evergreen sprigs cut with my well used and now contrary Martha Stewart punch.

These tags are easy and quick to produce so I can add these and more to the tag stash.
I like to have some tags ready to share with guests at Thanksgiving to help them prepare for Christmas.

If you are in the states, have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and everyone know that I am always grateful when you stop by.

Holiday Planners

The holiday season is gearing up which  means with so much to do it's time to be extremely organized.

Using extra paper and elements from this organizer from last year, I made a notebook for my personal trainer and for my training partner. The printed paper and cute puppy are from Crafty Secrets  Retro Christmas Digital Kit. I kept the embellishments small and few (a tiny jingle bell,glittery candy cane, and baker's twine) so it will be easy to throw a notebook in a purse.

I'm linking this to Crafty Secrets Linky Party here.

Here's to an organized holiday season!

Supplies:
Stamps:Take Note(PTI)
Ink: Pure Poppy(PTI)
Cardstock: Pure Poppy, Rustic White (PTI)
Other: Retro Christmas Digital Kit (Crafty Secrets); Perfect Patches Dies, white notepads, Baker's Twine (PTI)

Make It Monday #186 Partial Die Stamping

 Laurie Willison's Make It Monday tutorial is on partial die stamping.  A Christmas tag focusing on the important date seemed liked a good opportunity to use this technique.

  A little greenery and tiny ornament fussy cut and adhered with foam tape certainly put the focus on these numbers.


Supplies:
Stamps: Love Lives Here: Holiday (PTI)
Ink: Ripe Avocado, Pure Poppy (PTI)
Paper: Ripe Avocado, Kraft (PTI); white (Georgia Pacific)
Other: By the Number dies, Tag Sale #4 die, Doily Details die (PTI)

Papertrey October Blog Hop -Take Two

Hi, I'm back with a second color recipe  from Nichole's blog for this month's blog hop. For these tags I used this color recipe: Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores, Blueberry Sky, Hibiscus Burst, and Winter Wisteria.

Happy Hopping!

Merry and Bright Tag
Stamps: Sparkle and Shine Holiday Additions,  Fillable Frames #9, Make-It-Market Tinsel and Tags
Ink: Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores, Blueberry Sky, Hibiscus Burst, and Winter Wisteria.
Paper: Rustic Cream, Aqua Mist
Other: Tag Sale # 4 Die, Doily Details Die, Make-It-Market Tinsel and Tags Dies

With Love Tag
Stamps: Love Lives Here: Holiday; Peace,Love, Joy
Ink:Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores, Blueberry Sky, Hibiscus Burst, and Winter Wisteria
Paper:Rustic Cream (PTI) Silver Glitter (the Paper Studio)
Other: Tag Sale #1 Die, Love Lives Here: Holiday Dies, dimensional tape

Papertrey October Blog Hop Challenge and Make-It-Monday #185

It's the 25th and that means PTI's Blog Hop. This month's challenge is to try a new color scheme for Christmas. You can check out the different color combinations on Nichole's blog. I chose the color recipe of Hawaiian Shores, Pure Poppy, Raspberry Fizz, and New Leaf.  I combined this challenge with this week's Make-It-Monday "Faux Stained Glass" to create this shaker ornament to use on a card or a gift.

I altered a Silhouette file Design ID #52692  to create this shaker ornament that is approximately 3.5 x 4 inches. I stamped stars in Soft Stone on the white backer. I used Wonderfully Whimsical for the image on the acetate and used the recipe colors for this tiny holiday village. I brushed Wink of Stella  to add some glitter to the ornament cap and used stamped die cuts from Tinsel and Tags to embellish the ornament.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the hop,


Supplies:
Stamps: Postmarks, Wonderfully Whimsical, Make-It-Market Tinsel and Tags (PTI)
Ink: New Leaf, Pure Poppy,Soft Stone (PTI); Rosebud Memento;,Black Tuxedo Memento; Stazon
Paper: Hawaiian Shores,Harvest Gold, Stamper's Select White (PTI)
Other: Silhouette Cameo, Tinsel Glitter (Martha Stewart), Copics, Wink of Stella Brush (Zig)

Button Bouquet

Hi!  I'm getting ready to head out of town for a few days but am here with a quick post for Crafty Secrets October Linky Party.

This simple tag uses two Crafty Secrets digital stamp sets--Button Up  and Bouquets of Joy. I colored with Prismacolor pencils and then, as you can tell, went a little crazy with the distress ink :)

Be sure to head over to the Crafty Secrets Blog to see the great projects from the design team.

Hocus Pocus

Long, long ago--like before I was born, my parents and their friends had Halloween parties that they talked about for many years.  This page includes a photo of my mother in a pair of appliqued culottes that I am sure she made.

The background patterned paper and the paper on the star are from Crafty Secrets Digital Halloween Papers. Most of the elements come from these Crafty Secrets digital products:  Halloween Vintage Ephemera, Halloween Printables, Costume Cuties  Stamps, and  Halloween Fun Stamps.

Tip: You can use outline digital stamps like the owl above and digital paper to create stickers for your digital  pages.

I'm linking this to the Crafty Secrets September Linky Party.

Have a great day,

Pop Goes the World Challenge

I know, I know, three posts in one week.
" What's going on?" you ask.
 Hot, humid, cloudy weather; a clean house; and no books with gripping plots to read.

(After re-reading that last sentence, I sound like cleaning and reading are top priorities. I cannot with a clear conscience send out that message. Yep, I love a clean house. BUT... will I fore go cleaning for something more fun..yes I will.)

  Now that I've set the record straight, on to the challenge.

This Power Poppy Stamps challenge  inspires us with  the colors in this photo of the vibrant Italian Riviera. Beautiful!

So Countryside Bouquet is filled with hotly-hued flowers atop some photo-inspired Pink Paislee papers with a shimmery sentiment. Trust me, IRL, it shimmers thanks to a Wink of Stella pen.

I'm off to clean--just kidding,

Back to School

The students in our county headed back to the classroom yesterday.  While I am thankful for my thirty years in the classroom, I am also thankful that today I won't have to organize my day (including trips to the bathroom) by bells, that today I won't be on the computer filling out forms and planning lessons but instead visiting blogs and Pinterest, and that today I won't be filing or copying papers but instead playing with stamps, inks, dies, and pretty patterned papers.

I  like to let the staff at Halls High School know that I am thinking of them as they start a new year and that I am grateful for all they do. When I saw this adorable card by Michelle Kovak,  I thought,"hey, I have that chalkboard card by Lori Whitlock  in my Silhouette library. I need to go 'old school' for my friends who utilize so much technology in their teaching."

After cutting the card, I embossed the front panel with a woodgrain embossing plate (PTI) and then swiped some Versamark ink over it to highlight the grain.  Flags in the school's colors are stamped with Bitty Background Blocks I and II (PTI). The banner and sentiment are from Written on Ribbon( WPlus9).  I also rubbed some chalk on the black cardstock . Smarty Cat, colored with Prismacolor pencils, is from Crafty Secrets Cutie Cats stamp set; I don't think this stamp set is available anymore, but hopefully one day it will be available in digital form. I'd love to make him larger. I added a die cut apple  stamped with Tag-Its#6 (PTI).  The card file has holes at the bottom for adding twine to connect the front and back; however, after cutting the card, I, knowing the card will probably be taped on the door frame to the mail room, decided not to add the twine so I covered the holes with tiny die cut buttons(PTI).

Linking to:
Crafty Secrets August Linky Party
Lori Whitlock Link Up Party

Thanks for stopping by,

Sunflowers

Hi all! I'm here with a quick post showcasing a card for this month's Crafty Secrets Linky Party. This month's theme is Fall/Back to School.
The sunflower print from Crafty Secrets Digital Flowers sheet was the starting point of this card.

I layered it with patterned paper from Lost and Found Sunshine by My Mind's Eye and embellished with this sunflower made with Susan's Garden Sunflower die by Sizzix ( a clearance item at Hobby Lobby!) along with lace and twine).

Wishing you a sunny week,

Make It Monday #174: Diamond Wallpaper Stamping

For the current Make It Monday,Ashley Cannon Newell combines stamps to make a diamond patterned wallpaper background.  I confess, when I watched the video, all I heard was "make a wallpaper, so the first card I made had a sweet vintage wallpaper with stripes and flowers, but when I got ready to post it, I realized the title of the Make It Monday was DIAMOND Wallpaper Stamping. So I pulled out more supplies and made a second card.

Have a sweet day,

Supplies:
Stamps: A Little Argyle, Background Basics: Petal Power,  Flower Fusion #12, Garden Variety(PTI)
Ink: Pure Poppy, Aqua Mist, New Leaf (PTI); Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: Stamper's Select White, New Leaf, Pure Poppy, Harvest Gold (PTI)
Other: Flower Fusion #12 , Flower Fusion Stem, Pinking Shears Border dies (PTI);  On the Diagonal Die(Lil' Inkers)