I’m back with tags for Days 7-11 for Tracey McNeeleys “25 Days of Christmas Tags.” Going out of town definitely got me behind, but I managed to catch up over the weekend, before falling behind again this week due to a crazy schedule. Here’s a look at all the tags together.

Each day Tracey posts a group of tags from which you can choose one as an inspiration piece. Some days are much easier than others, not because there aren’t beautiful tags to choose from each day, but because you might not have any stamp or die that seems to fit the bill. That was true for Day 7. Nearly all the tags were created with beautiful and intricate dies of Christmas ornaments. I own not a single stand-alone ornament die. But I was inspired by the neutral color and beautiful gold of Desiree Kuemmerle’s ornament. 

Ivory shimmer and gold mirror cardstock; “Winterland Tree” die by Memory Box, Papertrey Ink’s “Stitched Tag;” banner sentiment from a past December Daily kit.

Here’s a better look at the shimmer and gold:

Day 8: Inspired by Beverly Brown.

Cardstock: vellum, glitter paper; Patterned paper:My Minds Eye “Comfort and Joy” ; Dies:Papertrey Ink “Tag Sale #6- and W+9 “Hand Lettered Holiday”

Day 9: Inspired by Carol Maynes. I ended up making two tags on Day 9. When I stamped the trees the first time, I didn’t place them high enough, so the cute polar bear covered too much of the trees. Didn’t want the tag to go to waste so I colored it with Copics for a more modern look.

Both tags: Papertrey Ink “Tag Sale #10;” Neenah cardstock; Copic markers
Tag 1: Papertrey Ink “Warmest Wishes” and Hero Arts “Happy Holly Days”
Tag 2: Papertrey Ink: Warmest Wishes

Day 10- Inspired by Joyce Mehlberg. Once again I didn’t have any stamps that were much like the cute images on the tags for Day 10. Joyce’s tags featured houses so I turned to an old favorite from Papertrey Ink – “Winter Hills.” I was also inspired by the window in one of Joyce’s tags.

Dies: Papertrey Ink “Tag Sale #10;” Stamps: PTI “Winter Hills” and Simon Says “Merry and Bright.”

Here’s a closer look at the dimension.

Day 11: Inspired by Kelly Griglione

Premade tag; Stamps: Papertrey Ink “Spruce & Sprigs;” Dies: “Spruce & Sprigs” and Papertrey Ink “Bold Borders: Flurries;” washi tape, red glitter paper, Wink of Stella glitter pen

One of the best things about this challenge is using so many of the Christmas stamp sets and dies I’ve accumulated over the many years I’ve been stamping. Off to work on the next few days of tags!

 

Every year I make tags for the family gift exchange at Christmas. I’m never quite sure how many I’ll need, but I am sure it will be less than 25. Nonetheless, I’ll have no trouble using any additional tags for Christmas gifts. I’ve followed along with Tracey McNeeley’s 25 Tags project other years, but this is the first time I’ve participated. I got a late start, so will have to post most of these on Instagram to link them up to the 25 Tags post. Here’s a look at the first six:

And a closer look at each tag. Day 1:

One of the requirements is to choose one of the tags on Tracey’s blog as an inspiration piece. For Day 1 I chose the tags by Ankita Agrawal. Here’s a look at the two layers.

Simon Says “Snowflake Tags,” Papertrey Ink “Signature Christmas” & “Rustic Wreath,” Studio Katia Clear Drop, printed vellum from stash, Aqua Mist cardstock

Day 2:

Inspired by Norrine Borys– premade tag, Simon Says “Frozen Fractals,” Papertrey Ink “Warmest Wishes,” Winter Wonderland embossing powder (glittery IRL)

Day 3:

Inspired by Tenia Nelson – Papertrey Ink “Shape Shifter Square 3,” “Tag Sale 6,” Essentials by Ellen “Mondo Holly,” Gold Mirror, Aqua Mist and vellum cardstock

And a closer look at the Gold Mirror cardstock which I just love:

Day 4: 

Inspired by: Audrey Tokach – Neat & Tangled “So Foxy,” Simon Says “Merry & Bright,” “Stitched Dress Up Tags,” & “Diagonal Stripes”

Day 5: 

Inspired by: Zsofia Molnar – Simon Says “Stitched Dress Up Tags,” “Merry & Bright,” My Favorite Things patterned paper

And, finally, Day 6:

Inspired by: Debbie Marcinkiewcz –  Tag by Graphic 45, Winnie & Walter “The Big, The Bold, and The Merry,” Papertrey Ink “Holly Jolly,” ribbon by Offray, unknown glitter paper

My guess is I’ll be posting these a few at a time. It’s already been a fun challenge!

 

I have a second entry to the current Seize the Birthday challenge. For this challenge, you can create any birthday card, but each challenge has a “topping” with a specific theme.

The current one is “foliage.”

I borrowed a Papertrey Ink Bold Borders: Foliage from a friend recently and die cut a whole slew of them from different papers. I thought I’d try using two of them slightly offset. Since the Bold Borders die covers the whole card front I needed to snip off the outermost border on the second one before I could offset it.

The total frame was die cut with a relatively thin piece of gold textured paper from Michael’s. The bronze paper is likewise lighter than the typical cardstock, and I think it, too, came from Michaels. I layered them on a card made from Simon Says “Burnt Orange” cardstock, and embossed the sentiment from Papertrey Ink’s “Stylish Sentiments: Birthday” in gold.

It’s a bit easier to see the two layers in this photo. I added three gold sequins before I got the card in the mail for a friend’s birthday.

My niece’s birthday is coming up, and I wanted to make a fall birthday card to enter into two challenges: Seize the Birthday: Foliage, and the Fusion Card Challenge.

The Fusion Challenge is a sketch/photo challenge. This time my inspiration comes from the beautiful fall colors on this wonderfully decorated porch:

It had been awhile since I pulled out my Distress Inks for the “smoosh” technique, but the latest Simon Says Card Kit, ”Thanks and Leaves” seemed perfect for it. There are a variety of different sized and shaped leaves in the set. I smooshed several different Distress Inks on my glass mat, and simply smooshed the stamps in them, and stamped them on a piece of Tim Holtz watercolor paper. I first tried spritzing the stamps with a mist of water, but decided I liked the effect better without it. After stamping, I trimmed the piece down and added it to the side of a Canyon Clay (PTI) top-folded card. A thin strip of bronze metallic card added a bit of glitz.

Once that was completed, I hunted through my drawer of embossing powders and discovered an old one called Woven Tapestry. It was almost a perfect match for the strip of bronze paper. The sentiment is from a Simon Says set “Birthday Flowers,” part of a card kit from 2016. 

The card still needed a “little something,” so I layered some gold and copper sequins and added them as a final touch. 

After nearly a week of cold, rainy days we’re having a glorious autumn day. Our Healthy Living class at the refugee center finally got outside to walk this afternoon instead of doing exercises in the gym! Hoping the rain holds off for treat and treating tomorrow night, but it doesn’t look likely.

It’s the 25th of the month, so it must be the monthly Papertrey Ink Blog Hop, one of my favorite challenges. This month’s inspiration piece features a chalkboard sign, pumpkins, and gourds among other fall motifs. 

The main focus is the chalkboard sign, and it’s been a long time since I played around with the chalkboard look on a card. I started there and once the background was “chalked,” embossed a sentiment from “Giving Thanks,” a new to me Papertrey set. I absolutely love the fonts in this sentiment; it’s one of the reasons I added the set to a recent order. I attached a “Pierced Frame” in black to the chalkboard and tucked a pumpkin and two gourds from “Simply Gourd-eous” within the frame. Although I used the coordinating dies to cut the pumpkin and gourds I ended up fussy cutting them to eliminate the thin white borders from the dies.

I originally thought I’d mount both pieces on a top-folding black card, but when I looked again at the inspiration piece, I decided to use Scarlet Jewel cardstock to mimic the frame on the chalkboard in the photo. It’s hard to see, but I used my Chai distress cube to distress the Scarlet Jewel cardstock much like the frame in the photo. 

The pumpkin and gourds needed a little more definition so I added some Polychromos colored pencils to areas to enhance them a bit. Off to PTI to see what others made of this photo.

I’m also entering this in the current Time Out Challenge. It’s a quote this time about gratitude; perfect timing.

I certainly didn’t anticipate that it would take me two weeks to get back to the blog after our trip to Michigan and Wisconsin. We had a lovely road trip and a wonderful stay with Sarah and her family. As frequently happens, after a good time away, our calendars were very full when we got home. Just now, I’m getting back to the craft room, and having some time to play. I have quite a few new products to try out, but today’s card actually features some “oldie but goodies:”  Papertrey Ink’s “Friendship Jar: Autumn,” and a small stamp set that was part of a scrapbooking kit from Gossamer Blue several years ago. I can’t remember the last time I ordered a scrapbook kit, but when I did I particularly liked those from Gossamer Blue. 

This card is for the current Time Out Challenge: Colorful.

I wish the autumn colors here were as colorful as the ones on my card, but the trees have been very slow here to change colors. It’s turned quite cold in the last few days so we’ll see what effect that has on the colors. Here’s my entry to the “Colourful” challenge.

I started with a textured card I found in my closet looking for something else. It was prefolded, and as you will see in the next photo, a small border peeked out from the inside. The colorful pumpkins and leaves are from the Friendship Jar set, colored with Copic markers, and fussy cut. The sentiment and frame are from the Gossamer Blue set and I embossed them in gold.

I trimmed a small strip of patterned paper from a pack by Sunny Studio that I picked up in Buffalo the last time I was there, and adhered it to the bottom of the inside of the card. It accentuates the browns of the acorns in the fall cluster. Finally I added three small gold sequins to pick up the gold from the embossed sentiment. I’m not sure how I’ll use this card. It could easily become a thank you note, or even a birthday card with the right inside sentiment. 

 

 

I have a quick and easy card for this week’s CASology Challenge on Gratitude.

I like to have small thank you notes on hand to send out whenever the occasion warrants. I love the 4-bar cards made by Paper Source and also like the ones by Memory Box. This card was a Paper Source card that seemed to be the perfect autumn shade of green. 

The die cut is from Papertrey Ink’s Make-It Market Kit, Herb Garden. I added a thin twine bow, and stamped a sentiment from my very favorite Penned Elegance set, also by Papertrey Ink. Couldn’t be easier, although it would be even nicer if I had a whole set of these ready to set out—perhaps another goal for October!

Today’s the 25th and time for the September Papertrey Ink Blog Hop. Right before we left, I managed to find time to make two fall birthday cards based on this gorgeous inspiration photo. I wasn’t sure I’d have time to write a post from the road, but we’re in our hotel after a lovely dinner and there’s still two hours left before the link closes. 

Both cards feature leaves and the beautiful fall colors in the inspiration photos. The first is my favorite.

I’ve had the Mix and Mat Pinked Edges die laying out for several weeks, knowing it was perfect for a fall birthday card. I die cut it four times, first with kraft, and then again with Ripe Avocado, Terracotta Tile, and Canyon Clay. I carefully cut out two leaves from each of the colorful cardstock and adhered them to the kraft die cut.  Then I adhered that to a top-folding Saffron Spice card. I gold embossed the sentiment on a strip of Dark Chocolate cardstock.

The next card uses many of the same colors but I used both the leaf stamps and die cuts from Forest Floor: Autumn along with an oldie but goodie, Fillable Frames #4.

Once I had all the elements stamped and die cut, I felt like I needed something behind the frame. A piece of woodgrain patterned paper from MME die cut with a stitched rectangle fit the bill. Although there are acorns to stamp and die cut from the Forest Floor set, I chose two little three-dimensional acorns by Little B instead to finish off the card. 

We’ve had a wonderful three days on the road. Tomorrow we take the ferry across Lake Michigan and will be in Racine with Sarah and her family by dinnertime. Off to link up to the blog hop! Thanks for stopping in!