Poinsettia Tag

I haven't played in challenges for ages - been making plenty of cards, but just not getting round to posting.  I've been wanting to play along with Loll's final Twelve Tags of Christmas (which is closing in a few hours, eek!!) so this had better be quick post!  I had the honour and pleasure of being a guest designer on some of Loll's earlier Twelve Days of Christmas challenges - thank you, Loll!

I was inspired by this tag by Karen Baker over at Day 23 of Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags.  The poinsettia, the two layered tags, but more of a modern twist.

I'm also playing along at Muse Christmas Visions who are sponsoring one of the days of Tracey's event.

I've used a Tim Holtz stencil, my Layered Poinsettias stamp set and a sentiment from Papertrey Ink.

Rudolph Smile

I think this is my first tag of the season!  Inspired by a couple of reindeer tags created by Michele (I Card Everyone), they reminded me that this version of Rudolph had come to live at my house in October, and I needed to step away from the Layered Holly and Leaves and Snowman for a while to play with him and all my other new purchases.

I started off by stamping the image (PaperArtsy) on white card, colouring with Tombow markers and die cutting into a circle.  I also die cut a luggage tag and phrase (CUTplorations) then added the Stickles on his antlers and proceeded to assemble the tag while the Stickles was still wet.  Not recommended.

When I was looking for some staging props for photographing, I found a case of letter tiles.  They had been randomly packed into the little compartments and it took me ages to find the letters to spell out Happy Christmas.  Needles to say, once I'd photographed the tag I sat there for a good half hour sorting out all the letters and re-packing them alphabetically into the compartments.  OCD, me???

I'm entering this into:

Loll's Twelve Tags of Christmas (my mixed media elements are marker pens, die cuts, hessian ribbons and Stickles)

The Cat's Pajamas Challenge #341 - Tag It

Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags (inspired by Michele's tag on Day 4)

Michele's Tag

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Twelve Tags of Christmas With Loll and Friends - Guest Designer Day 2

I'm thrilled to be a guest designer again this year for Loll's annual Twelve Tags of Christmas.  The last two events were chock-full of beautiful mixed media tags, and I'm sure this year will be just as inspiring.

I went for non-traditional colours for the background.  I sponged Shabby Shutters, Pickled Raspberry and Spiced Marmalade over my tag, then added clear stencil paste through a Tim Holtz stencil.  Once that was dry, I sponged more inks over to darken the background and highlight the stencilling, then flicked water over the tag.

I stamped the large reindeer from The Bee's Knees Christmas Reindeer, watercoloured it with Distress Inks and die-cut it using the coordinating Christmas Reindeer Dies.  The snow hill was cut using the CUTplorations Stitched Snow Hills die, and the tree is Oregon Fir by The Frantic Stamper, which I covered with Eiskristall glass glitter.  The final touch was some gold fibres and a pink grosgrain bow.

Be sure to visit Loll's blog every day during the event for some fabulous inspiration from Loll and other guest designers.

Thanks so much for asking me back, Loll, I'm honoured!

Twelve Tags of Christmas

I'm delighted to be today's guest for Twelve Tags of Christmas, a mixed media tag event hosted by the supremely talented Loll, who has invited twelve crafters to join her as guest designers.  Each day Loll will post her own mixed media tag along with one from that day's guest.  So over the course of the event, you will see 24 mixed media Christmas tags - how's that for inspiration?  And better still, you get to play along too!  Link your mixed media tag to Loll's post and you could be in with a chance of winning a $40 gift certificate from STAMPlorations.  (For the purposes of this event, Loll has defined mixed media on her post.)



For my mixed media tag I sponged Distress Inks through a TCW Winter Wonderland template, then sponged over the whole tag to soften the contrast.  I die-cut two snowflakes from hammered handmade paper using Uniko Designer Snowflake dies.  This paper is really textured, and although it flattened slightly through the Cuttlebug, there's still plenty of dimension.

I dragged Brushed Pewter Distress Paint around the edges of the tag, stamped the sentiment (STAMPlorations Sentiment Builders: Christmas) then doodled a border around the edges to create a frame.

I added some Shabby White Frantage embossing powder across the bottom, added a couple of gems in the snowflake centres, and some fibre and ribbon, and it's done!  Here's a close-up of the Frantage detail and the texture of the snowflakes.

Pop on over to Loll's blog to see the tag that she has made for today, and don't forget to visit her blog every day until 14 November to see who is guesting with her.  And don't forget to play along!

Thanks, Loll, for inviting me to be a guest designer!

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I'm over at STAMPlorations later tonight with a spotlight post on my Rosebuds stamps.  Pop on over and take a look.  Here's a sneak peek.