25 Days of Christmas Tags with Tracey McNeely

I'm feeling very honored today to be taking part in a fun event with my friend, Tracey McNeely.  This is the third year for her popular "25 Days of Christmas Tags", and this year is even more special because she has invited guest designers to join her each day of the month.

I'm sure Tracey needs no introduction for most of you, but not only is she one of my teammates in The 12 Kits of Occasions and at the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge, she is also one my favorite designers.  I am always drawn to Tracey's ultra-CAS, fresh designs and her beautifully balanced use of color.  But more than that, she is one of the sweetest people I know in blogland, and she always leaves the most genuine and encouraging comments on my posts.

For my tag, I had actually planned to use the more recent holiday set from WPlus9, Merry & Bright.  Then I looked back at Tracey's previous tag posts and saw that Kara had used it for her gorgeous design.  There's no way I'm competing with that beauty, so I pulled out one of last year's Christmas sets, Iconic Christmas.

The tag and frame, patterned paper strip, twine, and gems are leftover supplies from The 12 Kits for November.  I stamped the tree on the solid tag, then layered the frame, silhouette image, and paper strip on top with foam tape.  The sentiment is from WPlus9's Silver Bells.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (White)

Patterned paper:  Echo Park (Tis the Season)

Stamps:  WPlus9 (Iconic Christmas, Silver Bells)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Garden Green), Memento (Tuxedo Black), Sakura (silver gel pen)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (Tag Sale #8), WPlus9 (Iconic Christmas die set)

Other:  rhinestones, baker's twine

I can't wait to see the tag Tracey created for today, and rumor has it there's a prize up for grabs at the end of the month.  Stop by her blog, In My Creative Opinion, to get the details!

Thanks to Tracey for letting me join her today.  And thanks to you for stopping by!

Moxie Fab World Birthday Tags & Wraps Challenge

How's it going, friends?  I'm still on vacation--just two more days visiting family, two days on the road, and I'll be home.  *sigh*  I think I'm looking forward to high-speed internet most of all.  The connection here is so dreadfully slow, I haven't been able to browse as much or leave many comments, but I hope to remedy that next week.

I do have one more project to share with you that I made before I left.  It's for one of the challenges in the Moxie Fab World celebrating the latest special issue, Birthday Creations.

Cath has challenged us to make a birthday tag or gift wrap, so I whipped up a simple tag and stamped it with banners from Mama Elephant's Soiree.  I used a craft knife around the sides of three of the flags to curl them up for dimension.

I was dying to use the metallic gold twine from The Twinery, so I heat embossed some tiny gold stars on the tag to coordinate with it.  I wrapped a book (my favorite gift to give) in turquoise tissue paper, wrapped it with twine, and attached the tag.

Cardstock:  WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Stamps:  Mama Elephant (Soiree), Lawn Fawn (Critters Ever After)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Pear Pizzazz, So Saffron, Pool Party), Memento (Tuxedo Black), Versamark

Tools:  Spellbinders (circle die), hold punch, corner rounder, craft knife

Other:  Zing (gold embossing powder), The Twinery (gold metallic twine), tissue paper

There's still plenty of time to play along in the Birthday Creations challenges, so be sure to check all of them out!

Have a good one!

CAS(E) this Sketch #22

I don't remember the last time I played along with a challenge, but this sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch (by the super sweet Karolyn Loncon, no less!) was just the spark I needed to use up some more scraps from the latest kit sent to us by Tracey for the 12 Kits of Holidays.

I had only a strip of the zig-zag paper left, so it made a nice addition to the bottom of a navy tag.  The orange framed sentiment was trimmed from a sheet of patterned paper filled with colorful square patterns and greetings.  I'll share a few more of them on a card later in the week.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Spring Rain, Enchanted Evening), WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Patterned paper:  Pebbles (Sunnyside)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (Tag Sale #3 die), Lifestyle Crafts (ZigZag embossing folder)

Other:  Papertrey Ink (ribbon), sequins

Thanks for visiting!  Have a great start to your week!

CAS-ual Fridays #93--Color Blocks

Hello!  It's finally Friday, which means a new CAS-ual Fridays challenge.  This week's theme is Color Blocks:  incorporate blocks of color in your clean and simple design.  We also have a generous sponsor:  CutCardstock.com is offering a $25 gift certificate to this week's winner.

I made a quick and easy tag with a coffee theme, using blocks of cardstock as the tag base.  At the intersection of the blocks, I die cut a coffee cup and stamped the coordinating image in the negative space.

I came across this "hugs" sentiment from Paper Smooches, which I thought resembled steam rising from the cup.  Plus a warm cup of coffee is really like a warm hug, isn't it?

As a finishing touch, I got to use some wonderful bits of ribbon from May Arts that my blog friend, Erin, sent to me.  Her little guy included a handmade card for my son, which totally made his day, too.  :)

Cardstock:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Kraft, Oatmeal), Stampin' Up! (Garden Green), Papertrey Ink (Dark Chocolate)

Stamps:  Papertrey Ink (Heart-2-Heart #1), Paper Smooches (Sentiment Sampler)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Garden Green, Dark Chocolate)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (tag & cup dies, Linen & Canvas impression plate)

Other:  May Arts (ribbon)

Show us your design using color blocks at CAS-ual Fridays!  And if you need more inspiration, look no further than the Girl Fridays--those girls rock!

Happy weekend!

CAS-ual Fridays #80--Gift Tags

Happy Friday, friends!  Ready to celebrate the weekend with a new CAS-ual Fridays challenge?  This week it's all about gift tags!

We have a new sponsor this week:  it's Bossy Joscie!

For my gift tag, I wanted to use CAS-ual Fridays Stamps' Countdown to make a tag to adorn a bottle of champagne.  Fun, right?

I'm limited for time this week, so I kept this super simple.  I stamped one of the borders a few times along the bottom of the tag, then added some random orange accents and filled in some of the dots with a silver pen.

The sentiments were stamped as borders along the top, and a striped bow finishes it off.

No need for a die to make this easy tag!  I just punched a 1 3/4" circle in the top, scored a line to fold it, and rounded the corners.  So simple.  :)

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Soft Stone)

Stamps:  CAS-ual Fridays Stamps (Countdown)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Basic Gray, Tangerine Tango)

Tools:  circle punch, corner rounder, scoring board

Ribbon:  Stampin' Up!

I'm off to schedule another post before I can hit my pillow!  Hope your weekend gets off to a great start!

Card Patterns sketch #164--Sponsored by Prickley Pear

Welcome back, friends!  It's been a busy week here, and my house is a disaster!  LOL!  My kids love to draw, color, and craft, which is great, but their art supplies are all over the house by the end of the week.  

Before tackling my chores, I thought I'd pop in and share our new sketch at Card Patterns.  

This week we're sponsored by Prickley Pear, who generously provided the DT with some fun rubber stamps to use on our projects.  I got to work with a cute background stamp called Owls ATC and the "My Cutie" sentiment.

I decided to make a little tag by stamping the owls onto white cardstock before cutting them out with a tag die.  I added some color with Copics to match this fabulous yellow V-striped twill ribbon from The Ribbon Carousel and some bitty dot patterned paper from PTI.

I stamped the sentiment onto a scalloped circle and added some accents with a Copic marker.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (White)

Patterned paper:  Papertrey Ink (2008 Bitty Dots)

Stamps:  Prickley Pear (Owls ATC, sentiment)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Chocolate Chip), Copic markers

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (tag die), Spellbinders (scalloped circle die)

Accessories:  The Ribbon Carousel (V-striped twill ribbon), The Twinery (baker's twine), Papertrey Ink (button), DMC floss

Hop on over to Card Patterns to check out the rest of the DT samples and find out more about this week's prize from Prickley Pear!

Thanks for visiting, friends!  I hope your weekend is off to a great start!

ColourQ #128 & Retro Sketches #2

Hello!  Sorry this post is up late today--I was having some technical difficulties getting my photo uploaded, but all is fixed now.

We're all about the green this week at the ColourQ!  Combining shades of green is always a challenge for me, especially when there are three!  But I got a little help from a sketch on Arielle's new challenge blog, Retro Sketches.  

I know it's hard to tell that all three greens are included, but they are, promise!  This pretty little dandelion stamp is from Annabelle Stamps' Garden Silhouettes.  I stamped it in Wild Wasabi, then added a few dots of Certainly Celery.

The sentiment, tag die, and Sunshine impression plate are from PTI.

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! (Basic Gray, Garden Green), Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream)

Stamps:  Annabelle Stamps (Garden Silhouettes), Papertrey Ink (Dot Spot, Signature Greetings)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Wild Wasabi, Certainly Celery, Basic Gray)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (tag die, impression plate)

Accessories:  Stampin' Up! (ribbon)

Sorry to keep this short, but I have to get back to work!  Thanks for stopping by today, my friends!

Peace Tag for Christmas

Hi again!  Just popping in tonight with a tag I made a while back that I happen to love.  *smile*

I stamped snowflakes from PTI's Peace Be Still in white onto a kraft tag, then added some accents with a white pen.  Once the ink was completely dry, I stamped the word "peace" and heat embossed it in white.

The ornament was die cut from Aqua Mist cardstock and stamped with a coordinating solid image from Vintage Ornaments using Versamark Dazzle ink, which has a hint of shimmer.  I stamped one of the decorative bands onto Sweet Blush cardstock, cut it out, and adhered it to the ornament.  I dotted silver Stickles in the center of each starburst, used the white pen to add a "string" to hang the ornament, and tied some white satin ribbon onto the tag with jute twine.

All supplies from Papertrey Ink unless noted

Cardstock:  Kraft, Aqua Mist, Sweet Blush

Stamps:  Vintage Ornaments, Peace Be Still

Ink:  Versamark Dazzle, Frost White (Clearsnap), Pretty in Pink (Stampin' Up!)

Tools:  ornament die, Tag Sale 1 die

Accessories:  Stickles, white embossing powder (Stampendous), white pen (Inkssentials), jute twine

I hope your week is off to a great start!  I have lots of blog-hopping to catch up on, so sorry to keep it short tonight.  Be sure to check back tomorrow for a new ColourQ challenge and Day 6 of my week of giveaways!