As the season comes to a close

Hi everyone!  I hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas season.  Ours has been busy and so wonderful, filled with family and friends.  Tonight we'll gather with a few close friends at our house to spend New Year's Eve quietly.  It's a tradition we all look forward to.  Some of you have asked to see pictures of our tree.  It's a very special part of Christmas to me and my family. It's filled with ornaments that I've made over the course of 41 years.  But, it also has memories of friends and travels.  Now my daughter has started the tradition of making her own gift tags that are beautiful little works of art.  I gather them all up after the packages are unwrapped and hang them on the tree.  They've become a memorable addition to the other decoration.  So, this will be a post with several photos but not much talk.  I'll be back tomorrow with the first of two tags for the finale of the 12 Tags of Christmas Funkie Junkie style. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy New Year's Eve!  See you tomorrow!



And, to finish up...

...an Art Deco Christmas!  Welcome everyone!  Three days from now it will be Christmas Day and I'm sure you all are swamped with things to do.  I really appreciate you taking the time to visit with me.  Today I'm going to show you my last tag for the 12 Tags of Christmas Funkie Junkie style.  It's not really the end because Linda has extended the deadline, and added two "thank you" tags to the challenge.  The deadline is now January 8th.  So, I guess you can say that it's the last tag for the original challenge!  But, I think it's my favorite!  Linda's tag, which you can see here, is Art Deco themed.  I love Art Deco!  I grew up in a house that was built in 1927 and had a lot of Art Deco elements to it.  I have some of the decorative items from the house, including a stained glass panel from the front door.  Anyway, back to the tag.  As you can see from Linda's tag she used the Deco Christmas stamp set from Tim Holtz.  I bought that set as soon as it was available and wanted to do something with it.  I never got around to it until this tag.  It was the easiest to design because I had been thinking of how to use the stamps for a while.  Then Graphic45 came out with their newest collection the beginning of December.  It's called Couture and most of the images are 1920s inspired.  Of course, I had to have the papers and the stamp sets.  So, I combined the TH stamps and the Couture stamps the tag.  Here it is.

 

 

 

I started with a size 10 tag and used Antique Linen, Tea Dye and Vintage Photo DI to ink the background.  The border is another Graphic45 stamp, from their Travelogue set I believe.  I stamped that with Sepia archival ink.  I used Tea Dye ink for the gentleman and the poinsettias from the TH stamps.  Then I took the elegantly dressed lady from the Graphic45 Couture set and stamped her with Sepia archival ink on watercolor paper and used Distress Markers to color her in.  She's wearing a lovely green dress done in Mowed Lawn.  It has dark red rhinestones embellishing it.  Her shoes and her feathered fan are done in Festive Berries and in her hair she has a circle of red rhinestones!  The beads wrapped around her one arm are red and the bracelets on her other arm are done in gold.  A golden tassel hangs from her fan.  I think she's found some quiet time before the festivities begin, don't you?   The Christmas greeting is from the TH set and is stamped on manila CS with the same inks as the background with Sepia used for the stamping.  A few tea colored rhinestones give the poinsettias some dimension.  Here are some details.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This tag is not as embellished as some but I love it.  And, I realized when I finished it that I had used the poinsettia stamp and another of the greeting stamps from the TH set for my first tag of the challenge!  That probably says something but I don't have time to figure out what!! 

 

I hope you'll visit Linda's shop, The Funkie Junkie Boutique, which is sponsoring the challenge.  She has a great selection of merchandise at great prices. 

 

Thank you so much for taking time to visit me.  I also want to thank you for all the support and wonderful comments you've given me this year.  I really appreciate them so much.   I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! 





The Snow is Flying-Tag Number 11

Hello, everyone!  I'm so pleased to have you join me as we get ever closer to Christmas Day.  I can't believe we're five days away.  But, I wanted to share my tag number 11 in the  12 Tags of Christmas Funkie Junkie Style. The challenge is sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique. I've managed to get all 12 tags finished before the original deadline!  Linda has extended the challenge and we will have two more of her beautiful tags to be inspired by.  That's the idea behind the challenge, to be inspired by Linda's tags and take that inspiration and create something of your own.  Here is Linda's tag.  It's a beautiful tag and what really inspired me was the colors she used and that fabulous glittered snowflake border.  So, this is what I came up with.

 

 

I started with the colors.  Distress Paint in Bundled Sage, Peeled Paint, and Crushed Olive is what I used to do the background.  I did the wrinkle-free technique with the paints and then dried them.  The tag was covered with Rock Candy Crackle Paint and I sprinkled Rock Candy Distress Glitter on the tag.  I used a new stamp from Crafty Individuals.  I've never used their stamps before but Barbara at Joggles got them in and I just fell in love with all their designs.  They are really beautiful.  I thought this one with the deer in the snowy woods was so appropriate for the idea I had for this tag, snow flying, which is where the name of the post comes from.  I stamped it on watercolor paper with Chipped Sapphire DI. I embossed it with Iridescent Sparkle embossing powder.   After cutting it out I attached it to the tag. 

 

The snowflake border was cut with the Snowflurries on the edge die.  I used white glitter card stock.  I decided to attach it under the edge of the tag and have it extending out from the tag.  I did that once before with an on the edge die and really like that effect.  I cut some other snowflakes with the same paper and attached them.  Some clear rhinestones and a border of rhinestones finishes the tag.

 

Here are some details.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really like this tag.  The background color is one of my favorites and a little variation on the seasonal colors. 

 

Thank you so much for stopping by today.  I hope you are enjoying the season and have all your preparations under control.  I'll be back in a day or two with tag number 12, which just happens to be one of my very favorite of the tags I've made this year!  Have a great day!

 





And, now for # 10!

Is everyone still breathing?  Can you believe that next week at this time it will be Christmas Day!!!  The season has gone by so quickly.  But, it's so nice of you to stop by here to check out my latest tag in the 12 Tags of Christmas Funkie Junkie style.  Welcome to all of you!

Well, I have to say that I loved Linda's tag # 10!  You can see it here.  She used the holly embossing folder for the background and also Tim's new holly stencil.  Holly is one of my favorite holiday symbols and I use it a lot.  I took my inspiration from the holly motif that she used and also the frame featuring the greeting.  I did change it up a bit though.  Here is what my tag looks like.

 

 

I started out with a number 10 tag and used the sized circles die to cut a circular hole in the center. 

Since I didn't have the same embossing folder that Linda used I used an all over holly design folder.  I randomly stenciled some holly on the tag then ran it through the embossing folder.   Using my finger to apply it, I lightly rubbed gold Gilder's Paste over the raised areas.  A spritz of gold Perfect Pearls spray finished the background.  

 

For the wreath I used Tim's holly wreath die.  I have been wanting to find a project to use it on and this seemed perfect since I was featuring holly.  Once it was cut using a dark green kraft core paper, it was run through the coordinating embossing folder.  The bow was cut with red flocked paper that was in my stash.  The wreath was glued down to the cut out circle and I put some stick on red stones around the wreath and a sparkle dot in the center of the bow. 

 

 

The message at the top of the tag is a greeting stamp that I stamped with clear EP on gold CS and then used Stampendous Vintage Ivory embossing powder to emboss it.   I cut two holly leaves with an old Sizzix die and attached them at the bottom with some stick on red stones.  That finished my tag.  Here are some details.

 

 

 

 

 

There you have it.  This challenge is great fun and Linda has extended it by adding two more tags with a deadline extension to January 8th.  The randomly selected prizes are gift certificates to The Funkie Junkie Boutique, which is the sponsor of the challenge. 

 

 

Thank you for visiting me today!  I'm so pleased that you've taken time from your busy day to spend some of it with me.  Have a wonderful day!

 





Candy Land

Hi, everyone!  I'm so glad you were able to take a few minutes out of your Christmas preparations to visit here.  Welcome!  This is going to be a quick post to share a small wall hanging I made for my kitchen.  I love using a gingerbread and candy cane theme in the kitchen and I wanted something to hang on a narrow wall.  Here is what I came up with.

 

 

 

I started with a piece of candy striped 6x6" paper which I mounted on chip board.  I gave it a dry brushing with gesso and then used a stencil to create some texture.  That's where I goofed!  I thought the stencil resembled the icing on gingerbread and I should have used white heavy body gesso but instead I uses heavy body gel medium!  Hmmm! It dries clear!!!  Oh, well, I didn't have another sheet of this paper and I didn't have time to redo it anyway, so I went with it.  I sprinkled it with clear rock candy distress glitter and told myself it was okay!!!  Lesson learned.  The Tim Holtz gingerbread house blueprint stamp was stamped on a piece of watercolor paper and I used DI to watercolor it.  Having learned my lesson from the above mentioned mistake, I used heavy body gesso on the icing and some more rock candy glitter.  Once everything was dry I used foam tape to attach the house to the background.  I gathered some fun candies and those fantastic vintage candy canes from my stash.  A few goodies that Linda Coughlin put in an order from The Funkie Junkie Boutique made it into the mix, too.  For some sparkle I added some tiny gold Christmas trees and small tree ornaments along with some sparkle dots and a couple of appropriate Authentique stickers.  A TH Holiday token finished off the assemblage.

 

I'm just going to have some details speak for themselves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, that's it for today.  Thank you so much for joining me here and I hope you have a wonderful day and find some time to enjoy the season!  See you back here soon to continue with my Tags!

 







Catching Up

Hi everyone!  Thank you for stopping by today.  Its so good to have you.  I hope everyone is still breathing and on track for Christmas!  It's coming up so quickly. 

Well, it's another tag post today.  I'm trying to catch up with Linda's 12 Tags of Christmas Funkie Junkie Style.  I have the tags made but I've been slow to post them.  But, here is tag number 9!  You can see Linda's here.  What I loved about Linda's was the glittered foliage.  I also liked the embossed snowflakes in the background.  So, here is my inspired version.

 

 

 

I used a size 10 tag and Iced Spruce and Pumice Stone Distress Stain to lightly coat the background.  I left it streaky deliberately.  I couldn't get a good picture of the color here but it's a greenish gray, very silvery looking. For the background I used clear embossing ink to stamp an elaborate Inkadinkadoo snowflake stamp.  I used silver embossing powder to emboss them.  Then I ran Pewter DS along the edges of the tag.  I used the Baroque TH die to cut a piece of snowflake patterned cardstock and glued it down to the tag.  Using manila cardstock I cut foliage from the TH Festive Foliage die, lightly coated it with glossy accents and sprinkled it with Pumice Stone DG. Silver cardstock became pine cones using the pinecone die.  I had never made these little pine cones, but my daughter had and they are just so cute!  So, I decided to use them on this tag.  I touched some of the edges with some rock candy glitter.  A length of seam binding colored with Iced Spruce and Pumice Stone DS is tied around the middle of the tag.  I made a cluster of loops out of silver tinsel and the foliage and pinecones.  Using the silver cardstock I stamped the "Winter Wonderland" in white and embossed it with iridescent embossing powder.  The snowflake at the top was a TH Ideology piece that I dabbed with Picket Fence and sprinkled it with rock candy glitter.  Here are some details.



 





          

 

 

 

 

So, that's it for today. Be sure to stop by Linda's shop which is the sponsor for the challenge. I have been so busy with holiday preparations that a lot of the things I wanted to make for Christmas may not get made.  But, these tags are so much fun to make that I'm finding time to work on them!! 

I'm really happy that you joined me today.  Thank you.  I hope you are enjoying this busy time of year.  I'll be back soon!



The 12 Tags: Number 8

Hello everyone!  I'm so happy you're here today.  It's nice to have you visit.  I'm back with the next in my 12 Tags of Christmas Funkie Junkie style.  I'm up to number 8 and I have to say that it's one of my favorites!  There were a couple of things that really inspired me from Linda's tag.  The background technique was the first one and the greeting tied around the tag.  You can go here to see her tag.  This is my version.

 

 

I really love the background technique that Linda used.  It's a process that Tammy Tutterow featured on her blog recently.  I covered the tag with Victorian Velvet Distress Stain and then embossed it with clear embossing powder using a holly stamp from one of the TH sets.  Then I took Picket Fence DS and gave it three coats.  Once the stain was wiped off this is the soft background that remains.  I sponged the edges with Aged Mahogany.  The card comes from the Graphic45 Twelve Days of Christmas pad.  On a piece of gold card stock I stamped a holly stamp image using coffee archival ink and embossed it with clear embossing powder.  After punching holes on each side of the tag, it's attached with seam binding dyed with Victorian Velvet DS and stamped with a holly border stamp from Dyan Reavley.    I glued a filigree piece to the bottom and put a burgundy pearl in the middle. 

 

Here are a few details.

 

 

 

 

So, there you have it.  Tag number 8!  I'm having a great time with this challenge and I'll be sorry to see it end.  As you may know, the challenge is sponsored by Linda's online store, The Funkie Junkie Boutique.  Be sure to check it out for some great products.

 

I hope your Christmas preparations are coming along well.  We are having terrible weather where I am, so I'm taking advantage of the time home to finish decorating and wrapping gifts and making cards!  I really appreciate you taking the time to visit with me.  For all my friends on the East Coast, stay safe.