25 Tags of Christmas ....

... Hello!  I'm playing along with Tracey McNeely's 25 Tags of Christmas challenge.  This year is the challenge's 5th Anniversary.  Bev at Uniko is one of the sponsors and several of the DT have made tags to play along!  I don't often make tags, so this was a fun way to get me started and I actually ended up making three tags.  Here's a photo of all three together:

Stamps: Uniko - Peace on Earth, Rustic Christmas, Jolly Christmas; Waltzingmouse - Seasons of Love
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Stampin' Up! - Marina Mist, Old Olive, Real Red
Dies: Uniko - Snowflakes; Waltzingmouse - Stitched Tag
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Copic Markers; Glitter; Ribbons; Wink of Stella - Clear

I used my Waltzingmouse Stitched Tag die to cut six white blanks - one for the front and one for the back.

Dove - I stamped the image and sentiment in black.  I used my Copic markers to add a touch of colour to the dove's wings and used a glue pen to colour the bird and added lots of glitter.  Once dry I adhered the front and back together and finished by adding some ribbons.

Santa - I stamped the image directly on the card, coloured it with Copic markers and added glitter to the white parts.  Once dry, I added lots more sparkle by using my clear Wink of Stella Brush on the rest of the image.  I adhered front and back together and finished with more ribbons.

Snowflake - I stamped the sentiment at the base of the tag. Next I used the largest of the snowflake dies to make an impression in the tag.  I ran a glue pen around the impression line and then added blue glitter to add definition to the snowflake.  I glued front and back tags together and finished the tag with ribbons.

On the back of each tag I added some lines on which to write a message as well as a few Christmas stars.

Full details of the challenge can be found here on Tracey's blog - there are lots of opportunites to win prizes by taking part.  And I really must make some more tags too!  That's all for now! 

52CCT - Stash ....

.... Hello again!  It's the last Saturday in September and that means it's time for our new challenge at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown.  This week is our stash challenge - Asha would like us to use Pearls and Diamonds on our cards.  Here's my take:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Compliments of the Season, Tag Collection #1, Seasons of Love
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Real Red, Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango
Dies: WMS - Stitched Tag
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SUDP - Real Red, Daffodil Delight; Twine; Gems; Pearls

I don't often use gems and pearls on my cards so this was a perfect challenge for me!  I used the colours from this week's Colour Me! challenge - CMCC#39 and the layout from this week's Freshly Made Sketches - FMS#155.  I stamped snowflakes, in totally non-traditional colours, randomly over the card and then added a panel of design paper to go along the edge of the card.  I stamped the main image onto white card and cut it out with the stitched tag die. I stamped the image again in turquoise and cut out the "nice" part and adhered it to the tag.  I finished the tag with some gems, pearls and a turquoise hole reinforcer.  I added a tangerine twine bow.  I added a few more pearls to the centres of some of the snowflakes.  On the inside a cut a couple of mat layers in design paper, stamped orange snowflakes around the edge of the white panel and finished with a Christmas sentiment.

You might have noticed that we have a new member on the Design Team - please join me in welcoming Peg Coombes to the team!  Check out the blog to see more inspiration pieces for you.

Before I go, I'd like to remind you that there's still plenty of time to join in with this week's Waltzingmouse Fanatics Challenge where our theme is Christmas.  You must use at least one WM stamp, sentiment or digi on your card - mine's all WMS!!!!

I hope you all have a super weekend.  I've got a really crafty weekend planned - I'm attending several workshops run by Amy Flowers at my local shop - Stampeddler Plus - I'll share photos later.  Bye for now!

52CCT - Sketch ....

....  Good morning everyone!  It's time for our new challenge at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown and this month our hostess is Ruth - she has some fabulous challenges in store for us.  As usual, we start the month with a sketch.  Here's my take:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Oven Fresh Gingerbread Joy, Half Baked Gingerbread Joy, Alpine Christmas, Bitty Banners, Seasons of Love
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Old Olive, Calypso Coral, Pumpkin Pie, Pretty in Pink; Versafine - Onyx Black; Memento - Tuxedo Black
Dies: WMS - Gingerbread Family; Lil' Inkers - Stitched Squares #2 & 6
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU DP - Pumpkin Pie, Pretty in Pink;

I used a few other challenges to help me make this card:

• Colour Q - cQc#239 - just love these colours
• Merry Monday - MM#106 - to feature a gingerbread man/woman
• Jingle Belles - JB:14:09 - to use at least three layers

I cut a couple of mat layers for the card; the pink layer was cut using the stitched square die from Lil Inkers - I do like the effect it gives.  I stamped the gingerbread couple onto white card using the outline stamps, then stamped the clothes and finally die cut them using the matching dies.  I stamped the top hat in Versafine to get a really deep, even black colour and fussy cut it out.  I stamped the dotty banner and cut it out by hand.  I finished the front with another stitched square, stamped the sentiment here and added a bit of holly and a couple of stars.  On the inside I cut another mat in orange and stamped a few gingerbread babies and a sweet sentiment.

For more inspirational cards based on this sketch check out the work of our Guest Designer - Judy.  Judy makes wonderful cards and she plays along with us regularly.  The Design Team also have a great selection of cards to share with you - do stop by and leave some love - we all like comments!  Can't wait to see what you make with this sketch!  Bye for now.