Tag Along with Technique Night

Tonight and tomorrow night I will be hosting my Technique Night/Stamp Club Christmas Party. We won't be doing as many projects as usual, to leave time for games,eating, prizes and visiting. We will, however be creating some tags and a Thank You card to help get us ready for Christmas. I wanted to show you the tags today.

One is a collage-stamped vintage look tag and one is more bright and merry, but I'm really pleased how both turned out.

• You know I love collage stamping and this tag has a lot of it. I used  5 stamp sets to make it happen: Cozy Christmas, Wonderland, Butterfly Basics, Gorgeous Grunge and Awesomely Artistic. I used 3 neutral inks: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso and Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pads, (the Soft Suede just for a little sponging) and some Whisper White Craft Ink as well.
• Layered ribbon helps to make a vintage look and here I've used Sahara Sand Lace Trim, Venetian Crochet Trim and Crumb Cake Stitched Satin Ribbon.
• I've added the number 25 at the top, die cut with the Little Numbers Thinlit dies and a snowflake element, which has been backordered for so long. I hope they catch up soon.

• This is a more stylized design featuring Merry Moments DSP and the Lots of Joy stamp set.
• I've used Old Olive, Real Red and Mossy Meadow for the colour scheme and I took this opportunity to use up lots of fancy Christmas ribbon, using the White Glitter Ribbon and the 1/8" Striped Ribbon to edge the Designer Series Paper. 
• The plaid tree is stamped with the image from Lots of Joy and punched out with the Tree Punch. I've added a Winter Wonderland Embellishment for interest, locating it in the center of one of the designs on the paper.
• I made the basic shape of both tags by cutting the paper so it just fits inside the largest Lots of Labels Framelit and added the hole slot from the Baker's Box Thinlit Dies. I ran just the top back and forth through the Big Shot to get the scalloped top.

Have a great day!

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today!


Product List

Awesomely Artistic Wood-Mount Stamp Set [138694]	Awesomely Artistic Clear-Mount Stamp Set [139950]	Butterfly Basics Clear Stamp Set [138816]	Butterfly Basics Wood Stamp Set [138813]	Cozy Christmas Wood-Mount Stamp Set [139776]
Cozy Christmas Clear-Mount Stamp Set [139779]	Gorgeous Grunge Wood Stamp Set [130514]	Gorgeous Grunge Clear Stamp Set [130517]	Lots Of Joy Wood-Mount Stamp Set [138810]	Lots Of Joy Clear-Mount Stamp Set [139468]
Wonderland Wood-Mount Stamp Set [139752]	Wonderland Clear-Mount Stamp Set [140365]	Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper [135315]	Merry Moments Designer Series Paper [138450]	Crumb Cake 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [120953]
Soft Suede 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [115318]	Old Olive 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100702]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad [126975]	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad [126974]
Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad [126978]	Whisper White Craft Stampin' Pad [101731]	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad [126949]	Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad [133645]	Sahara Sand 7/8" (2.2 Cm) Lace Trim [137866]
Venetian Crochet Trim [134581]	Crumb Cake 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon [138428]	Whisper White 5/8" Satin Ribbon [134549]	Real Red & Garden Green 1/8" (3.2 Mm) Striped Ribbon [139615]	Gold & White 3/8" (1 Cm) Glitter Ribbon [139614]
Lots Of Labels Framelits Dies [138281]	Baker's Box Thinlits Dies [138279]	Little Letters Thinlits Die [133730]	2-1/2" Circle Punch [120906]	Tree Punch [135859]
Snowflake Elements [139638]	Winter Wonderland Embellishments [139621]

Go Wild with Lots of Joy for As You See It Challenges

I love neutrals, layers of things, sparkle and non-traditional Christmas designs, and so when I first saw the next challenge for As You See It Challenges, I dug around in my stash for the Go Wild Designer Series Paper Stack. In the process, I found the Winter Wonderland Designer Vellum Stack and the Lots of Joy stamp set, and all those images and colours whirled around in my head and then put themselves together with a definitely non-traditional Christmas card, but I think it's my favourite one of the season so far this year! Here's the sketch inspiration from Amanda at As You See It Challenges:

Do you ever have a little seed of satisfaction, that builds and blossoms as you are creating something you really love? It's a great feeling and I really needed that to happen today, as I've been feeling down and without inspiration a lot lately. But every once in a while, you create just for the joy of it, instead of for a specific class or blog post, and it renews your love of your craft. Just wonderful timing today, so thanks, Amanda!

• Knowing that I would be using the Go Wild Designer Series Paper Stack, I got out my Sahara Sand cardstock for the card base and the Basic Black cardstock for the next layer. Then I spied the Winter Wonderland Designer Vellum Stack and found the over lay that you see. As soon as I layered it over the Basic Black, I knew what I wanted to do with this sketch. 
• It was tricky to adhere the vellum because the little snow dots are so small, you can't really hide adhesive under it and everything shows up on the black background. But I discovered a new trick: I added the tiniest dot of Liquid Multipurpose Glue to the black cardstock in the corners and used my finger to spread it out, almost rubbing it all off. This made the cardstock tacky, but with no concentration of glue to show through. I added some larger dots of adhesive where the Gold Glimmer Paper stars would go as well, to really adhere it well.
• After that I pulled out all the ribbon that would work with these colours: the Gold Satin Ribbon, the Basic Black Stitched Satin Ribbon, the Venetian Crochet Trim and the Sahara Sand Lace Trim and then I layered the heck out of them!!
• Although I was going to use the Go Wild paper as a background, I ended up only using it as the little flags under the sentiment. My favourite part of this design? The Basic Black plaid tree stamped on some Sahara Sand cardstock and punched out with the Tree Punch!
• Finally, the sentiment, from Lots of Joy stamp set, is embossed with Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder on Whisper White and die cut using the Lots of Labels Framelit Dies.

Let's talk Christmas! Now is the time to be shopping for your crafty friends! If you leave it until December you will be cutting it close for delivery in time for Christmas! There are so many options with Stampin' Up! and I will be highlighting a few during November. Keep in mind that these would also make a great gift for yourself as well. Add them to your wish list and send me a copy and give my contact info to your hubby, children or extended family to give them ideas for you. I can manage the wish list for you to be certain that there are no repeats.

My first suggestion is a Stampin' Up! Kit. They are a great value and generally have most things you need to create beautiful projects. (For some, you may need a coordinating stamp set or some inks.) Here are some of the great kits in the Annual and Holiday Catalogues (just click on the links to take you to my online store where you can purchase these anytime):

Season to Season Wreath Kit:                  

Tin of Cards Project Kit                          

Hello Life Project Kit                              

and my best suggestion is:

Watercolour Wishes Card Kit, which is all inclusive: 

And then there is always a Gift Certificate, which you can purchase from me in any amount and they can redeem it through me.

 I hope those are helpful suggestions! Have a great weekend!

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today!

Product List

Lots Of Joy Wood-Mount Stamp Set [138810]	Lots Of Joy Clear-Mount Stamp Set [139468]	Go Wild Designer Series Paper Stack [138441]	Winter Wonderland Designer Vellum Stack [139594]	Sahara Sand 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [121043]
Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [121045]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad [140931]	Versamark Pad [102283]	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder [109129]
Gold 5/8" Satin Ribbon [134547]	Basic Black 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon [138430]	Sahara Sand 7/8" (2.2 Cm) Lace Trim [137866]	Venetian Crochet Trim [134581]	Embossing Buddy [103083]
Heat Tool [129053]	Banner Triple Punch [138292]	Tree Punch [135859]	Lots Of Labels Framelits Dies [138281]	Lots Of Labels Framelits Dies [138281]
Big Shot [113439]	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]	Fast Fuse Adhesive [129026]