Tag 12 - Tim Holtz 12 tags of Christmas

Hi everyone! Here's tag 12 of Tim Holtz 12 tags of Christmas and just in time to link it up on Tim's blog as I didn't manage to do this last one before Christmas. I very much enjoyed making this one and loved all the techniques we were shown and which I used, especially the metal die cutting which does look like German scrap die cuts, another one to remember for the future. I didin't have all the materials used and improvised with the stamps and also with the tissue as I've run out, I used a thin fibre paper instead which has a gold metal filament running through it. As I didn't have the fractured doll I made a clay medallion embellishment and topped it off with sparkly snowflake embellishment that was on a Christmas cracker :). 

I'm really pleased that I managed to do all the tags this year and enjoyed them all too, so thanks to Tim for doing this again this year. I did use all the tags for presents and gift bags, some of which were under the tree (see below) and everyone liked them. I kept the packaging to simple kraft paper and gift bags which showed off the tags really well.

If I'm not back before, I wish you a very happy new year and thank you for the lovely comments that you leave, they're always read and appreciated.

I'm entering my tag into Simon Says Stamp and Show where the theme is 'show a Tim Holtz themed tag'

 

Magnolia 'Cuddly Siblings'

Hi everyone! If you celebrate Christmas I hope that you had a lovely time and that Santa was good to you :).

I have a card to show today with the Magnolia 'cuddly siblings' stamp from the new 'sweet crazy love' collection and aren't they the sweetest :)? It's another beautiful collection from Pauline and I can't wait to colour them all! 

Cuddly Siblings have been painted with distress inks and then cut out using a Sizzix die, mini cabinet card. I've also used the beautiful new papers from the collection, mini cloudy pink hearts and mini cloudy turquoise hearts, they're very pretty.All the layers have been faux stitched with a pink glitter gel pen, edged with vintage photo distress ink then glittered with stickles star dust glitter glue. I added lots of punched flowers which are punched from pink, white and blue glitter card with pearl pen centres and made some corner embellishments from clay which is highlighted with blue paint.

I'm entering my card into the Simon Says Stamp challenge of 'anything goes' and Dutch Dare Card Challenges with a theme of 'use your favourite things', well Tilda and Edwin, distress ink, glittery card, pearl pens, stickles and faux stitching are a few of my favourite things used on this card.

TOMIC 29 - Snowflake symphony in purple

Hi everyone and today is the start of the new challenge on TOMIC with a theme this week of 'snowflake symphony in purple', so the creation must have snowflakes and the colour purple. I hope you can join us if you have the time :),

I've made some clay ornaments cut with cookie cutters, stamped with Magnolia snowflake stamps and when dry painted with acrylic paints and strung with dyed seam binding. I think these would make pretty little gifts and as it's so easy and enjoyable to make them, there'll be more for the Christmas tree for next year.

Enjoy your day!

Edwin with presents

Hi everyone, hope you're having a good week and nearly ready for Christmas :)! I've had a go at a free standing pop up card which is a card style I haven't tried before and very much enjoyed. Of course I forgot to take a photo of the card folded down :) but here are a couple of extra photographs and one shows how it looks from the side.

Edwin is coloured with distress inks and cut out with a nestabilities die then mounted on the pop up portion of the card. The box shaped piece is stamped with the Magnolia Yuletide sentiment stamp and I cut the borders with a DooHickey lace die then added another die cut Magnolia Merry Christmas sentiment to the front, the sentimets were stamped with Distress Ink in Iced Spruce. I added some punched holly leaves, folded ribbon and Magnolia crystal stamps in front of the images and this style of card gives a little ledge at the front which is perfect for flowers etc. 

I'm entering my card into:

Cupcake Craft Challenges - Don't look at the light

The Pink Elephant - Snowflakes and sparkle

ABC Christmas Challenge - Yippee, Christmas is almost here

Winter Wonderland - Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Craft Barn DT Showcase and my last Craft Barn Blog post.

Hi everyone! A lovely week on the Craft Barn blog this week with a DT Showcase where we're all picking our favourite projects or those that mean most to us from the year. It's a sad post for me also as it means it's my last post on the Craft Barn blog. Due to time constraints I've had to cut back a bit unfortunately but I will still be around at the shop for the odd demo here and there which is lovely. I hope you'll pop over for a look at all the gorgeous creations my team mates are showing all week, there may have been a few you've missed and my little goodbye message is over there too :(.

Tag 11 - Twelve Tags of Christmas

.......and tag 11 of Tim Holtz twelve tags of Christmas, once again improvised as I didn't have the stamps, die and I'd run out of utee so I didn't dip my shrink plastic holly leaves but covered them with glossy accents after shrinking and colouring them instead. 

I'll leave you with a slightly blurry photo of our Christmas tree which went up yesterday..............total festive overload, just like most of my tags :D.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Tag 10 - Twelve Tags of Christmas

Hi again and here's tag 10 of Tim Holtz Twelve Tags of Christmas at least my improvised version. 

I've used different stamps and other items in place of those I don't have but I have to say the faux mercury glass facets technique is going to be a firm favourite. It looked complicated on first look but it was very easy and enjoyable and the effect is really special. I used fragments instead of facets and I think the facets would give more of a Christmas look but over all I think they look OK. Can't wait to try this one again. The second photo gives a slightly better view of how they look.

Tag 9 - Twelve Tags of Christmas

Hi everyone, hope you're having a good weekend. Here's my version of Tag 9 of the Tim Holtz twelve tags of Christmas and another one I enjoyed as this was the first time I managed to get the rusted enamel technique to look like rusted enamel :D. Well my version has a verdigris look that I like a lot and the technique has a slightly new twist which you'll know if you've been following along too. 

I didn't have a large enough stamp to cover the whole background so I used snowflakes in place of this, didn't work too well, my ink was a bit too dry by  the time I got the embossing powder on but there's a hint of them down the right side :). In place of the candle die that I don't have I used punched snowflakes from silver glitter card and wooden snowflake embellishments.

I'll be back shortly with the next two tags, done in separate posts so that I can link them up on TH's blog. It's been a lovely way to discover a lot of blogs I haven't seen before which is great.

Fundraiser for four children who need help

Claudia, of Pretty Pressings, is running a  FUNDRAISER which started today to help a family in her neighbourhood. The children lost their mother to cancer and are living with their Grandmother who also has cancer and is very ill at the moment. To read more about the family, click -->HERE<--

Crafters and craft/stamp companies have sponsored handmade cards, stamps and craft supplies which Claudia has listed on Ebay. Each auction starts at only $.99 and 100% of the funds are being donated to the family in need!

I have donated the card below and you can find the listing for this card and other beautiful cards, stamps and supplies  -->HERE<-- ! I hope you can consider bidding on something for the fundraiser which will help a family in need have a brighter Christmas.

 

Tag 8 - Twelve tags of Christmas

Hi everyone, hope you're ready for the weekend :)! Here's my version of Tim's tag 8.......yes, it looks nothing like his tag :D but he made a tag that he said was non traditional and his own style which is steam punk so I went along those lines, well with the non traditional anyway. I've gone with a theme of a Very English Christmas and I used, I think, most of the techniques that were used for tag 8 but the outcome was completely different.

I did the stamping with acrylic paint on the background with a swirl stamp and inked over with barn door and faded jeans distress ink then added some white acrylic paint to make my take on a Union Jack flag. I ghost stamped in permanent black ink over this background with an old newspaper stamp then stamped, inked and cut out the 'keep calm' sentiment stamp (we're all busy at Christmas :)), (stamps are Artistic Outpost) and mounted the pieces over the mini gears which were die cut from grunge paper and inked with red, white and blue distress stains. I stamped the blue blooded couple :) onto grunge paper, gave them a blue tint with distress stain and added a bit of white acrylic for relief, cut them out and attached to the tag along with a die cut frame from the tag die which was painted red white and blue. I also cut the mini holly leaf (painted with white acrylic and stamped with the London Calling sentiment), the 25 from the mini reindeer die and added my own text with a white gel pen of things that make Christmas here in the UK. To finish I dyed some seam binding with distress stains and walnut stain distress ink, added the stamped crown (crown jewels :)) from the stamp set and dots of white gel pen and Xmas red stickles glitter glue. A very busy tag, but I'm really happy with it and I know who's gift bag this is going on.

Hope to catch up with tag 9 tomorrow.

Magnolia Advent Calendar - Day 8

Hi everyone and today I'm hosting Day 8 of the Magnolia Christmas Calendar, so if you'd like to win a big prize from Magnolia, for more information and to enter pop over to my Magnolia Blog,  A Touch of Magnolia.

Good Luck and enjoy your day!

Tag 7 - Twelve Tags of Christmas

Hi everyone and here I am with my version of Tag 7 of  Tim's twelve tags of Christmas, late but on the same day as I try to keep up :D! Another beautiful tag today from Tim and he always shares lots of great techniques to try which I love.

I didn't have the glassine paper he used so I used a white glassine bag instead and it worked although by the look of it the kraft glassine is a heavier weight. I was pleased with how it came out, it's a lovely effect which looks much better in real life. The die I used is quite a chunky holly leaf so it's a bit difficult to see the shape but I like it anyway. I didn't have the stamps used so I improvised with other TH Christmas stamps and I hand cut my branch from grunge paper.

Thanks as always for your lovely comments :)
.

Tag 6 - Twelve tags of Christmas

Hi everyone and I'm here with of Tag 6 of  Tim's twelve tags of Christmas, late but on the same day which is good and also means I'm up to where I got to last year with the tags :D, we'll see! As soon as I saw TH's tag today I knew it was going to be my favourite, I love the vintage and nostalgic (for me) look to it. It really does replicate the old style biscuit tins and vintage Christmas ornaments which I still have a few of from my Grandparents going back many years. I've painted and sanded metal before and love doing that but I wouldn't have thought of doing this to it, TH really does have the best ideas and I want to try this for some other projects.

I had everything that was used for the original tag except for the drill punch so I couldn't make the hole in the charm and used tinsel trim instead and I used a different brand of paint. This is the first time I've used this embossing folder and I wish I'd remembered it sooner! I can imagine this technique being used again soon. If you're following along with the tags but can't make them all this one is a good one to try, the results are gorgeous. I think this one will end up on the tree instead of a gift bag.

Tag 5 - Twelve Tags of Christmas

Hi and back again with my version of Tag 5 in Tim's twelve tags of Christmas, nice to have finished one on the same day :D. I improvised with a flourish stamp instead of the mirror stamps that TH used and this technique is another that gives such a beautiful look with the acetate against the card and ribbon.

I used red pepper, watermelon and pesto alcohol inks and I like the addition of the pesto which gives a bit of contrast from the red. I made my Christmas wreath using a holly punch and varying tones of green bazzil card, I dyed the ribbon with Iced Spruce and Pine Needles distress ink then added a prima pearl embellishment to the wreath, some stickles glitter glue here and there, gems and pearl pen dots around the tag.

Enjoy your day :)

Tag 4 - Twelve tags of Christmas

Hi everyone, hope you had a good weekend. My version of tag 4 of Tim's twelve tags of Christmas and a bit of a marathon too, the rock candy crackle seemed to take forever to dry but it was worth the wait, I think it looks lovely after the addition of the distress stain, very sparkly under artificial light too. Stamping with the distress stains gives a lovely water colour effect, I'll be doing that again. Once again I didn't have the dies apart from the 25 so I've used a bauble die and for the acetate edge a strip die which I cut to fit, I like the white paint on that too which gives a pretty wintery feel, lots of good techniques from Tim on this one which I enjoyed trying out.

Back in a minute with tag 5 that I've managed to get done on the same day :D!

Tag 3 - Twelve tags of Christmas

Hi everyone! Tag 3 of Tim Holtz's 'twelve tags of Christmas' or rather two tags today as I enjoyed the custom ink pad technique and decided to do a couple :D. 

I've cut smaller tags today as I didn't have the large stamp in Tim's tag so I picked another solid style stamp that would cover most of the tag, it's the diamond background from Crafty Individuals and works perfectly for this and I really love the effect. I made some Christmas cards as well using these two styles. I did have the snowflakes stamps and made an ink pad with lots of the blue range of distress inks, even the pale ones and it worked really well on the kraft tag. I embossed with a snowflake folder on the diamond tag and spritzed with pearl spray, very nice and shimmery. So my take on the tag is totally different which is good and I'll definitely be using the custom ink pad idea again.

Have a lovely day and thank you for your comments as always. :)

12 Tags of Christmas - Tag 2

Hi everyone, I hope your weekend is off to a good start! Here's my version of tag two of the Tim Holtz twelve tags of Christmas and this time I did have the die that was used and even a scrap of canvas :). I didn't have the kraft resist card so I made my own with clear embossing powder and used stamps from the mini holiday stamp set for the rest of the background stamped with permanent ink. I love how the grunge paper I used instead of grunge board looks after it's been inked, almost like suede and the bashed/hammered brads look much better than leaving them as they come out of the packet but I think I should have used more of the white stain on the background, I think I wiped too much off!

Enjoy your day :).