It's...the Dynamic Duo!

No, not Batman and Robin, this week's colour challenge!  I have not yet played along with this blog--Dynamic Duos--The Two-Color Challenge Blog. Every week, a different color combination is posted, and the challenge is to create something using ONLY the two specified colours. Neutral shades like black, white, vanilla, skin tones and kraft are allowed. Here's the colour-combo for this week:

These are Stampin' up shades, but I used Tulip, a retired CTMH colour and the new shade, Cashmere. I added kraft and white.
I am coming up with gift tag ideas for a workshop in a couple of weeks, and was getting kind of stumped, but this colour combination really revved up the old inspiration.
Here's the official submission to DD#28:

I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder on the kraft card stock, a Close-to-My-Heart snowflake stamp (Perfect Fit-Holidays B1412, which perfectly fits a 1.25" circle punch), a sentiment from Paper Smooches' set "Christmas Sampler" and maraschino twine from The Twinery.
THAT inspired more Paper Smooches fun, with this card:

The sketch is posted on the Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge blog this week (see the details  HERE).

I used the Christmas Sampler set as well as All Yule Need, which in addition to being a very clever title, does indeed have a plethora (LOVE that word) of seasonal images which can be mixed and matched to your heart's inky content.
And finally, a couple of tags for the workshop:

The shape of these was CASEd from Amy Tsuruta's post for Paper Made Bakery (thank-you, Amy). I've also been following the new release of stamps and dies from Lil' Inker this week. Which reminded about the FABULOUS dimensional "Bow-die" and the cute little "stitched" sentiment tag, which were sitting neglected in a basket on my shelves. So they got dusted off and put to work. The DP from Fancy Pants Designs is a couple of years old (feels GOOD to use up the stash). The zig-zag die is a Sizzix product; the jingle bell punch is by Emagination Crafts. And don't you LOVE the look of that holographic silver ripple paper? Its just card-stock weight, but it seems to have such depth and shine! I found it at Paper Wishes.

So!  Off to link these goodies to:

• Dynamic Duos Challenge #28
• Paper Smooches Sparks: Nov. 12th and
• Lil' Inker's Flickr gallery.

Wishing you JOLLY and CHEERY crafting,

Caroline

And more "Jolly" HCW Tags

Here are a couple more tags, inspired by Online Card Classes' Holiday Card Workshop.

One of the lessons focussed on using dies, so I broke out my favorite Sizzix Christmas die, Reindeer #2. He is just so joyful; he has to make an appearance every year! This time I mounted him on a scalloped circle punch (CTMH) and a rosette made with a Tim Holtz alterations die, and the Dakota houndstooth paper from CTMH. The word "Jolly" is from another Sizzix die. A little Stickes and some velvet and organdy ribbon complete the look.

I used the Memory Box "Modern Landscape Border" die earlier this week as a mask. This time I cut out just a portion of it and mounted it above an "Outdoor Denim" tag. I glued a small piece of yellow paper behind the door and window of the little house, and gilded the trees and roofline with Diamond Stickles. A few gems in the "sky" and a little sponging along the edges of the edges of this tag seemed to be all it needed.

The photo (taken at night) doesn't do this cutie justice.

So now I'm up to five designs for my gift-tag workshop--a couple more ideas percolating. Stay tuned!

Happy holiday crafting...

Caroline

More Holiday...Tags!

The Online Card Classes' Holiday Card Workshop has been great for inspiring ideas for gift tags, as well as holiday cards. I'll be doing a tag workshop for 10 people at the end of the month, and I promised them 12 different designs (a la Days of Ch.ristmas and Tim Holtz). Here's a sneak preview:

We'll start with these tags which just involve cutting, tearing and glueing. Some of my peeps have not done much crafting before, so I don't want to overwhelm them all at once. It was fun to use double sided paper on these as you just cut a series of gradually bigger squares in half, and then mix 'em up.

 Foam-taping just the bottom edge of each layer added some tiered dimension.

For this shimmery card, they will learn to use an embossing folder, then spray the resulting piece with glimmer mist (Smooch Spritz). The snowflake is a Sizzix "Embosslit" which cuts and embosses at the same time. It was glitzed up with some alcohol markers, Stickles and a beautiful CTMH gem.

Here's another view.

There will be a few other cards to hone some more paper-crafting techniques. But the piece-de-resistance/final item will be this snow-man globe card, where they will do some Copic marker colouring:

Its amazing how much dimension is added by just a little shading on either side of an outline stamp. This cutie is an older CTMH set.

Off to watch the next installment of Holiday Card Workshop...

Happy Crafting!
Caroline

Loving the LOBSTER...TSG173

For the past three months, I have been the very lucky recipient of the new-release stamp sets from There She Goes Clear Stamps (I was the big prize winner at this year's "Mother of All Blog-Hops"). It is a package to drool over every month--so many fun images, clever sentiments and even coordinating dies last month. Jessica Knutsen is a generous lady!  So far, I have definitely NOT done justice to those stamps on my blog. I had the opportunity recently to start to fix THAT situation.

We enjoyed another wonderful family vacation on Prince Edward Island this past August. I brought back gifts of goats-milk soap to my co-workers (it is wonderful stuff--feels so good on your ski--and smells delicious). Lobsters are a big thing on PEI, so I used the smaller lobster image from the Beach Bums stamp set to create gift tags for the bars of soap.
I stamped the little guy in Archival Black ink (CTMH) and used Spectrum Noir and Copic markers to colour in the image. The "for you from" sentiment is from The Stamps of Life penguins4Christmas set. I stamped "PEI" with the small Friendship alphabet from Close to My Heart. The tag was made with an older Sizzix die, "Bread Tags."
Here's a look at the soap all packaged up:

 I just wrapped the bars in tissue paper then secured with some maraschino twine from The Twinery, clipping the bread tag onto the twine.

The whole bunch!

Such a fun little evening's work, and definitely cuter thanks to There She Goes Clear Stamps!

I am entering the gift tags to this week's TSG challenge #173, making a project with a present/gift-giving theme. Perfect, don't you think?

Happy crafting,
Caroline

TSG146 Challenge-Part Two

I am posting the second and third tags inspired by the There She Goes Monday Challenge, Tag it!
I had planned four tags, using the elements from the set "Perk Up," and posted the first one on Tuesday. I received a lot of very kind comments on that first tag (warmed my heart!) Not that I'm looking for more pats-on-the-back, but I just think these images are too good NOT to share... so here goes.

This tag uses more Close To My Heart "Cherry-Oh" paper. The sentiment is stamped on a "fancy label" Sizzix die by Stephanie Barnard. There is a coordinating stamp set, "stamps4fancylabels," with a variety of frames for the die.

I just LOVE how you can personalize the cups and mugs with the TSG set:
Doesn't this mug look like it had a BAD day...? It is sitting on a ribbon of corrugated paper cut from---a Starbucks insulating sleeve!

Then I had to carefully mask some of the sentiment letters to create the word "help" on the banner at the bottom.
All the cross-stitches and criss-crossing twine are meant to reflect getting mended (or feeling better...).

This tag is supposed to reflect a baker's shop window:  pink awning, signage, and fresh goodies on display on a doily-covered counter.

Each of the baked goods is a separate stamp from the Perk Up! set--aren't they fun?

The doily is a fabulous die from The Scrapping Cottage which my dear crafty sister gave me for my recent birthday. It is quite lovely, with some embossing as well as the detailed design. It made the perfect setting for the treats.

Anyway, I may not get to the fourth tag before Monday, March 12th. But! you are welcome to play along, at  the There She Goes Monday Challenge. Check out the other inspiring stamp sets from this company while you're there!

TSG146 Challenge

This tag was created for the There She Goes Monday challenge. This week, the idea was to create a tag, or group of tags. As I had just received my package of "Perk Up"stamps, the timing was perfect.
This set contains a myriad of sweets, cups and ways to personalize them, along with memorable sentiments, such as the one I used here. You can actually arrange the "eyes" (on the lower mug) to be looking in any direction, as they are a separate stamp. The series of heart "thought bubbles" are also included.

I used an older paper pack from Close to My Heart, called Cherry-Oh, along with twine from the Twinery in Blossom and Caribbean. The ribbon, inks and markers are also from Close to My Heart. The tag, which I cut free-hand, is rather large for a gift enclosure, but I plan to attach it to a card base and send it to a friend.

The TSG Challenge closes next Monday, March 12, if you'd like to play along!
Time to put the kettle on for something hot to drink...

Holly Days

Today's three tags feature the amazing "Art Philosophy" Cricut cartridge from Close to My Heart. The grey decorative layer for this ornament tag was cut using the Cricut, then mounted on foam tape to the same basic shape, cut in white. "Sparkles" jewels and dabs of Liquid Pearl add were all that was needed to finish it off. And the hanging twine in Stone, from the Twinery, of course.

I was trying for an earthy look here, with the kraft-paper card and attempt at a paper pine cone! I used one of the 3D shapes on the Cricut cartridge which forms a rose. I added some Marvy Uchida Liquid Applique to suggest snow, some pine bough paper from Paper Wishes, and more Twine, this time "Peapod."

This final tag features the beautiful "Remarkable Wreath" stamp from Close to My Heart. The set includes the branches, and a choice of ways to decorate it, with berries, leaves, and flowers. There are also three different banners to stamp. I cut and lifted the banner letters with a craft knife, for added dimension. The ornament shape was also cut with the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge.
Hope your holiday preparations are going well!

Good Day=Baking, Shopping, Wrapping and Creating

Enjoyed a very productive day today, including a fabulous brunch with family at my father-in-law's golf club.  I have to share some of the personalized gift tags I've been making for family gifts...prolongs the wrapping process, but its so much fun! This special delivery truck features stamps from {The Stamps of Life}, specifically, "penguins4Christmas" and "cars2drive," and is intended for my 5-year-old nephew. Ranger's Liquid Pearls worked especially well for the bumper and hub caps.

 The second truck tag uses the trees from Close to My Heart's "Holiday Magic" stamp set. The red jewel and gold glitter star stickers are Dazzles from Paper Wishes.

Finally, this reindeer tag hangs on the gift for my niece. A similar idea was featured by Tifany on Ink Blots by TRD (look through her posts because she recently provided a tutorial on how to make the paper rosettes). I have had the Sizzix reindeer die for about three years now, but he is so joyful-looking that he deserves to be brought out every year!  PP for this tag by Bella Blvd; twine from The Twinery; glitz by Ranger Stickles. The technique for making the twine tag-ties is demonstrated by the highly-talented Emily Liephart, HERE.
Oh, and I got a batch of cookies and the laundry done today, too. Woo hoo!

Back to Christmas Preparations... Batch of Tags #2

Here is another bunch of tags which I hope to "workshop" this weekend with some friends and relatives.
All stamps, inks and embellishments are from Close-to-My-Heart. Baker's twine from The Twinery.
The idea for this first tag was "lifted" from the Archiver's website. I liked the banner shape, love the sentiment, and was itching to try out the holly-leaf stamps. The faux-stitching was done with a Glaze pen for added dimension.

The next group of tags were made with the "Holiday Magic" stamp set from CTMH. The sleigh tag was another "lifted" idea, this one by Linda Langlais of Ottawa. I liked the non-traditional colours of this one, and tried to continue that theme with the light green tag, and the kraft-colour one. I added some glitz with snowflakes stamped with pearlized paint on the blue tag, and used up some glitter brads from last season on the tree.
More tags in the next day or two...