Anything but Tags!

Hi, Bloggin' Buddies!

Well, tag-mania is finally over! Can't believe how many I produced. It was a good challenge, but a real time-stealer during a busy month.

Today I am sharing some gift card holders I made with Lawn Fawn Woodland Critters, Winter Add-Ons and the Stitched Gift Card Pocket. I love these dies, but using them is pretty time consuming with all the cutting and gluing the numerous pieces. To tell the truth, I elected to do penguins because I didn't have to worry about ears or tails! Plus, they are too dang cute!!

I pretty much followed the advice on the video done by one of my crafty mentors, Nichol Spohr. I did make some adjustments and changes, but my guys are very much related to hers!

I had to laugh because I avoid glitter at all costs and Nichol used 2 different types on her critters. I thought about it for awhile and remembered an old product in my stash that I hadn't used in many years (but thank goodness I saved!), Flower Soft. It is perfect for the fury trim on the mittens and earmuffs! My other short cut is using a hold punch for the eyes, rather die cutting them - it goes much faster!

These guys will deliver my gift cards in great style. Thanks to Lawn Fawn and to Nichol and to you for the visit!

Day 10 - Nontraditional Colors

Hello, Bloggin' Buddies!

Well, this is the last moment to post for Ellen Hutson's "12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Touch". I've always done some of my best work under pressure! Ha!

I left this one until last because Julie Ebersole has been an inspiration to me for years and today is no exception. She designs the most amazing products for Essentials by Ellen, teaches terrific classes, has a super-inspiring blog, and has a world-class laugh......all too much for one gal! But, she is really THAT great!

For this tag I used Juile's "Elf'd" stamp and die set. When I thought about nontraditional colors this elf was the first thing that popped into my mind. I love making tags with this guy and have not ever used these colors before. I make a background with many of the smaller stamps and used Zig markers (something else Julie introduced me to) to quickly color up the sweet images. I added dimension to the elf and have the sentiment as a free-moving separate tag. It is all put together with some pink twine and a real pom-pon for his tiny hat.

As you know, I'm running out of tag time!

Thanks Ellen for this great creative adventure, to all the designers for their sweet inspiration, and to you for the kind visit. Time to get wrapping because we've got lots of tags to hang! Actually, I will save most of these for next year and our annual charity gift giving - it fill our hearts with love and we think having handmade tags adds a special touch. Thanks again,

Day 12 - Clear Element

Hello, my Bloggin' Buddies!

This tag is inspired by Day 12 of Ellen Hutson's "12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Touch". But, although I am here, I have missed some tags along this creative journey. I give up - I just couldn't complete, photograph and blog all 12 Days......as you may recall, I kind of got hung up on the Black and White tags of Day 7!

This tag is inspired by one by Lisa Adametz but is so much simpler! Her coloring is over the moon! Mine is a simple star shaker tag with metallic elements. The sentiment, an older one from Hero Arts, is stamped on some patterned paper. The shaker element is filled with metallic sequins and mounted on a die-cut star. Very simple. I think this could also be used for Hanukkah, which makes it really nice.

Thanks for sticking it out with me on this amazing and inspirational tag-fest!

Day 11 - Neutrals

Hello, again my tag-along Blog buddies!

As I said, I'm running late with my tags for Ellen Hutson's "12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Touch" so my posts are brief.

This tag is inspired by Day 11 with Miriam Prantner and using neutrals. A pretty stamp (sorry - I simply don't remember the company; I stamped this image a couple of years ago while taking a class!) which I watercolored with Distress Inks, mounted on a gold tag and to which I added some snowflake embellishments for dimension. I love this look!

Thanks, Ellen and thanks to you for this visit,

Day 8

Hello, my Bloggin' Buddies!

Well, my time is running out for Ellen Hutson's "12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Touch". I have been starting my days early to try to get to all 12 but I doubt I am going to make it. I'm loving every minute of it, but the days are simply slipping away.

So, these next posts are gong to have to be brief in order for me to get done!

This tag is one that is inspired by Day 8 and the beautiful tag that Sharon Harnist did featuring "florals". I made a similar tag in a class taught by my friend Sandy Brien - she teaches classes during the warmer weather right near here and is a creative blessing! This tag features a Judikins Stamp (336338H) which is watercolored with Distress Inks. Embellishments are added for some additional dimension.

Thanks for the visit and I'll keep tagging' along!

A Third Run at Black and White????

Hi, Bloggin' Buddies:

Okay, I was up at 2:15 AM thinking about these black and white tags from Ellen Hutson's "12 Days of Christmas Tags with a Feminine Twist". What did I do but get up and make yet another one.....this has really gotten under my skin. Thanks to Ellen and Lisa Spangler (isn't she the best?!) for this amazing "out of my comfort zone" inspiration.

This tag uses the "Holiday Words" die and the "Prize Stag" die designed for Essentials by Ellen by the terrific Julie Ebersole. These are some of my all-time favorites for making tags.

Hoping that I soon return to color or I will never get to Day 12 of this blog hop.......thanks ladies and thanks to you for the visit.

Even More Black and White!!!

Hi, Holiday Blogging' Buddies!

Well, here I am, still enthralled with Day 7 of Ellen Hutson's "12 Christmas Tags with a Feminine Twist"! Lisa Spangler really did it to me - inspired the heck out of me to make black and white tags. Me, who loves color!!! Thanks, Lisa!

I continue to use some classic favorites from Essentials by Ellen designed by my crafty mentor, Julie Ebersole. I really got into this.

For the first tag I used "Bear Ware 2" and "Home and Hearth" die for the little heart not the tag within the tag! Some Julie-inspired black and white wash tape grounds the cute images.


This second tag has a background of clear-embossed diagonal strips to add a touch of class. The word is another "Holiday Words" die-cut, the florals are from the "Wild Garden" die set and the "Christmas" is from "Bear Ware 2". I love these classic sets and will never let them out of my stash!


Thanks a million to Ellen, Lisa Spangler and Julie Ebersole.......what an inspiring team!

Thanks for the kind visit,

"Wood" I? You Bet!

Hi, Blogging Buddies!

Indeed! Today's tags are again the result of the "12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Touch" brought to us by the wonderful Ellen Hutson. I was excited to play along with Day 6 and the tree tags inspired by BOTH Laurel Beard and Carly Tee Minner. I love woodgrain! Perhaps it is my background in architecture and environmental studies.......okay, I'm a tree-hugger!

Yes, I continue to use favorite products from Essentials by Ellen designed by the terrific Julie Ebersole. I simply can't help it. They speak to me. For these tags I used woodgrain cardstock, very feminine pink and aqua colors, and Julie's "Geo Tree" dies.

My first tag, inspired by Carly, uses the negative space within the woodgrain paper to create the tree image. But I went over the top with girly-pearly embellishments, as per Laurel's tag!

Since I had the tree shape from the first die cut of the woodgrain paper, I used it for a second tag. I sponged "Spun Sugar" Destress Oxide Ink lightly over the paper for a touch of color and spattered it with Hero Arts Pewter Glimmer Metallic ink for some additional interest and shine. The sentiment is from Hero's Christmas Messages.

Both tree tags are topped with some perfect wood stars and pink help twine from my stash to complete the entire "wood" effect.

Tag Two in Black and White

Hi, quickly. my crafty pals!

I was so inspired by the tags by Lisa Spangler on Day 7 of Ellen Hutson's "12 Tags of Christmas With a Feminine Touch" that I made an additional tag today. My firs one is here. This classic tag was made with Essentials by Ellen "Holiday Words" die designed the amazing Julie Ebersole.

Thanks again for the visit,

Black and White for Christmas?

Hi, Bloggin' Buddies!

Yes, Today I'm still working on tags inspired by the amazing Ellen Hutson and her wonderful "12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Touch".

Today I worked on Day 7, inspired by my buddy Lisa Spangler. I "met" Lisa so many years ago through Hero Arts, before we even had blogs and I have watched her talents grow.

Well, I guess this is exactly what this hop is intended to do - challenge us to try something that we normally wouldn't do. Black and white is something that I would not think of using for holiday tags. I've done kraft and black for a "homespun" look, but black and white? I love it and simply couldn't stop once I got started!

Once again I reached for Essentials by Ellen products designed by the amazing Julie Ebersole....it is as if they were made for this look. For this tag I used "Bar Ware 2" and "Wish Big". Love this look!

The day was very gray and I am not a photo-pro, but in real life the black and white contrast is stunning!

Thanks for the visit - keep creating!

Even More Sparkle?????

Hi, Bloggin' Buddies!

Here is another tag inspired by Ellen Hutson's "12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Touch". Every day the designers seem to outdo themselves. Isn't it wonderful?

Today's tag was inspired by Day Five and the terrific Therese Calvird (she makes great videos with lots of instruction and colorful examples - and she even took us on holiday with her!). I love the brilliant trees on her tag, so I created one of my own.

I couldn't find a tree stamp that was just perfect, so I simply made my own by drawing it with a Sharpie Pen. Easy. I kept with feminine colors, used a background piece with a swirly font, added tons of sparkly "bling", attached two shiny strips of gold paper and adorned it with a silky ribbon and a darling vintage-style gold jingle bell. I am loving this simple and feminine tag!

Come and play along! You may think you're too busy, but this is such fun and a real inspiration. Thanks, Ellen!

Thank you for the visit - keep creating!

A Pinterest Inspired Tag

Hi, Bloggin' Buddies:

I continue to be challenged by Ellen Hutson and her "12 Days of Christmas Tags with a Feminine Touch". I have to say that so far this is my very favorite of the group. It is inspired by Day 2 (I'm not going in order!) and the amazing card by Carrsia Wiley (she makes wonderful videos and is such a happy crafter!). Her work was inspired by a post on Pinterest:

All I could think about were some of my all-time favorite products designed for Ellen by one of my favorite gals in the card-making world, Julie Ebersole. Not only is she super-talented, she is a fantastic instructor and has the most contagious giggle ("ask me how I know"!). I have learned so much from her over the years and simply adore her.

Anyway, the products I used are her "Cozy Christmas" set, "Home and Hearth" set and "Laurel Wreath" die (I used this same die here on a "12 Tags" event in 2014! It has an entirely different look and feel.).

I cut three layers of the wreath for dimension, cut the heart from a beautiful gold cardstock, used kraft and black cardstock, heat-embossed the sentiment, added washi tape (something that Julie has helped me to feel more comfortable using) and I added a bow made with Tim Holtz's linen ribbon.

Thanks again, Ellen, and thanks to you for the kind visit,

Sparkle and Shine

Hi, Bloggin' Buddies!

I continue to create along with Ellen Hutson for her "12 Days of Christmas Tags with a Feminine Twist". This tag was inspired by Day 3 and the amazing Kelly Marie Alvarez's tag, which is "Sparkle and Shine". While I rarely use glitter (because I wear it for days!), I do love glittery things so I used glitter cardstock (DCWV) and wash tape from my stash to add the sparkle. And always a touch of Stickles!

I love this little line-up of snowfolks from Lawn Fawn's "Simply Celebrate Winter" set. I paired it with a tiny little sentiment from Hero Arts "Christmas Messages" set.

Another day of sweet tag-spiration! Thanks to Ellen and thanks to you for the visit,

Emboss a Tag

Hi, Bloggin' Buddies!

Another day of inspiration from Ellen Hutson and her "12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Touch".

Today's tag was inspired by Day 4 and Michelle Ferguson's tag which uses "Embossing". I was also inspired by using the color pink!  I embossed this ornament and watercolored it. Embossing really helps keep track of the water in watercoloring!

The stamps are from Hero Arts "Ornaments Stamp and Cut" and "Christmas Messages".

Thanks to Ellen and thanks to you for the visit! Keep on tagging' on!

Time for Tags (again!)

But, thanks to Ellen Hutson's wonderful skills, it is with a feminine twist!!

Hi, Bloggin' Buddies:

More tags, you say??? Never too many!

This is my first post for Ellen Hutson's annual "12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist"! I always look forward to this because the designers do a terrific job of inspiring us to think outside the box.

This tag was inspired by Day One and Carloyn Peeler's tag, for which she used alcohol inks. Since I love this soft (and feminine!) turquoise blue ink, I used it for my background. A touch of sparkle was added with the glittery reinforcer and some Stickles along the snow bank. The sweet critter is from Lawn Fawn's "Winter Skies" set and the sentiment is from Hero Arts "Christmas Messages" set. For a finishing touch I added a piece of special iridescent  twine that I've been hoarding.

The sun wasn't cooperating, but this does have a ton of shimmer, sparkle and shine.

Thanks to Ellen and thanks to you for the visit!

Fighting the Squirrels

Hi, Bloggin' Buddies!

These little fall treats were inspired by a favorite exercise instructor who has been fighting the squirrels out of her backyard garden for months!

I like to make something special for the folks this special class, so I used Lawn Fawn's "Woodland Critters" set and the add-ons to make these adorable little squirrels showing off their cute neck scarves which are made with some Lawn Fawn Perfectly Plaid paper. I added some delicious Dove chocolate squares which I bet they like better than our instructor's squash!

These little guys just make me smile and I hope they do you, too. Thanks for the visit,

A Unicorn for Christmas?

Hi, Bloggin' Buddies!

Today's tag is a sweet one. I'm not such a fan of unicorns, but there are lots of little girls who go nuts for them, so they do make appropriate Christmas tags (as long as you're sure they are sparklin' sweet).

Once again, thank goodness for Tracey McNeely's "25 Days of Christmas Tags"! Today I am back again with lawn Fawn's Day 21. I'm inspired by the tags made by Samantha Mann. She used a unicorn and lots of color and sparkle.

I also used a Lawn Fawn ("Say What?" set) unicorn and added lots of pinks and purples, some silvery flakes and gems, a glittery star reinforcer and some amazing sparkle yarns from my stash.

My tag collection is growing - soon to be depleted. Thanks, Tracey!

I appreciate your visit,

O Christmas Tree

Hi, Bloggin' Buddies!

Another tag? Yep!

I continue to be inspired by Tracey McNeely's "25 Days of Christmas Tags" blog. Today I was once again inspired by Day 22 and the great folks at Waffle Flower (yesterday's tag was also inspired by them). The problem is that I loved the 3-D Christmas tree tag by Channin Pelletier,  but I don't have the cool die and add-on YET!

So I went through my notes and found an origami 3-D tree that I used to make a tag. Still fun, right?

My tag stash is growing! The problem is that I love them so much that I may not be able to part with them.

Take good care and have a great week,

Santa Tag

Hi, Bloggin' Buddies!

I continue to be inspired by Tracey McNeely's "25 Days of Christmas Tags".  Today it is Day 22 and the darling tag by Tracey herself.

This Waffle Flower die is one of my all-time favorite tag dies! It is simply genius and so versatile. Beards can be different lengths, you can add buttons, you can make an elf or a drummer boy, There are reinforcer options, there is a smaller tag.....a million ideas!

Once you start making tags with this die, you get caught up in it and, before you know it, you've got a bundle of cute tags.

This year's 25 Tags is so inspirational - I've added to my stash or been inspired by a new idea almost every day.

Thanks for the visit and have a tag-riffic day!

Fa-la-la

Hi, Blogging Buddies!

Yep, yet another tag - can't get enough of them! These are again inspired by Tracey McNeely's "25 Days of Christmas Tags" and again I was inspired by Day 21, this time by Samatha Casey. She used a Lawn Fawn llama image and some silver snowflakes. While hers has a sweet frame, I kept mine simple to allow for mass production. I used the llama from the Lawn Fawn "Says Who?" set, colored it with Copics and added some small snowflake embellishments.

Thanks for the visit and wishing you a fa-la-la-lovey day,

Another tag design

Hi, Bloggin' Buddies!

I'm here today to share with you another tag I made inspired by Tracey McNeely's "25 Days of Christmas Tags". This time I was inspired by Day 16 which is all about Ellen Hutson's amazing stamps.

I was inspired by the tag made by Tracey herself to make this one also using a stamp set by Ellen Hutson ("Santa's Flight", designed by the amazing Julie Ebersole) and adding a bell and some ink blending.

This guy is jingling all the way!

Thanks for the visit and you might want to jingle a little,

Sweet little tags

Hi, Bloggin' Buddies!

Every year I look forward to the "Twenty-five Days of Christmas" hosted by Tracey McNeely. I make quite a few Christmas tags every year because I give packages of them as little gifts (to folks who still give gifts!) and we use them when we wrap gifts that we provide to needy families (to make it extra special). And I love to do it - each one is a tiny little creation filled with joy!

These tags, which use Lawn Fawn's "Say What?" stamps and dies, was inspired by Day 21 and the cute tags by Karin Åkesdotter  using this same image. I have used this set for numerous tags this year and I know I'll reach for it in years to come. The critters are so darn cute! I embellished the ages with some greens from Tim Holtz's Sizzix holiday greenery dies and some Stickles for sparkle.

Thanks for the visit and happy Thanksgiving,

I "Felt" Creative

Can you tell that I'm loving it? A soapy, fun mess!
That's me on the right.

Hi, Bloggin' Buddies!

I did something really different last night and I want to share it with you. I attended a felting class. If you are unsure, felting is the agitation of wool with warm water and friction (we used nylon netting) to coax the tiny scales in the wool to separate and become lovely wool felt.

One can make all kinds of things like hats, purses, scarves, etc. As beginners, we felted bars of Dove soap! There were tons of different and brilliant colors of carded wool from which to choose.

Crazy fun! The felted bars apparently exfoliate skin beautifully when used in the tub/shower.

I always love to learn new crafts and it was great to be with some remarkable new women friends. 

Felted Soap Bars

The results are interesting and colorful. Years ago I used a different felting technique (shrinking a wool sweater from the Goodwill in the clothes dryer!) to make a beautiful and unique purse.

I made cards to thank our patient and helpful teachers - they were fun (yes, there was wine!), kind, and so experienced. 

Distress Oxide Inks were sponged through two different stencils (Hero Arts for the pink green and Kite for the blue/green) onto Bristol cardstock for easy blending. The silly sentiment (stamped in pigment ink and heat embossed with Hero Arts clear embossing powder) is by Laugh Out Loud and I stamped another one in black ink on the envelopes. I added some crystal sequins for some texture and interest.

This is headed for the current challenge "Make Your Own Background" at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge's blog.

Thanks for the visit and have a wonderful and creative week,