Christmas Tag (Folding), Poinsettia, Female

I wonder what this week has in store for you?

For me, it's plenty of errands early on in the week, household chores...  but none of that is what I want to be doing.  

I want to make more Christmas tags!!!

Did you know that Tracey (inmycreativeopinion.blogspot.co.uk) has her 25 Days of Christmas Tags event running right now?  If you didn't, where have you been?

There are prizes up for grabs, so there's no excuse not to find some motivation to play along...  Wouldn't you agree?

Here's my first tag that I'm linking to Tracey's event...

...  and here's the tag  (below) that I chose from Day 1 to play along with...

Dies used:

Waltzingmouse 'Folding Tag'

Quickutz 'Poinsettia'

Memory Box 'Twigs and Berries'

Other:

Memento 'Tuxedo Black' Ink

Burlap

White Brad

Black Button

I'll be posting more Christmas tags over the coming days and weeks!

Hopefully you may see something here that inspires you to play along, too :)

'Bye for now...

Donna

PS.  Almost forgot to say...  As the poinsettia and leaves were cut from my snippets stash I'm entering this little make into Pixies Crafty Snippets Challenge.

Why don't you come and play, too?

'Strength', Weathered Clock, Female

I know that some of you are going through really difficult times right now.  I guess that's the thing about blog posts...  'life' spills into them from time to time, enabling us (the readers) to catch small privileged glimpses that you choose to share with us.

So with that in mind I made this card...

I wanted it to be more than a 'sympathy' card or a straightforward 'thinking of you' card..  so I came up with a design that has a symbolic message...  and one simple word.

Inks used:

Tim Holtz Distress Ink 'Peeled Paint'

Tim Holtz Distress Ink 'Walnut Stain'

Tim Holtz Distress Ink 'Antique Linen'

Memento (Tsukineko) 'Love Letter'

Memento (Tsukineko) 'Tuxedo Black'

Stencil used:

Memory Box 'Leafy Stems'

Die used:

Sizzix Bigz Die 'Weatherd Clock'

Stamps used:

IndigoBlu 'Flutterby' Dinkie Cling Stamp

Inkadinkado 'Belle Fleur' Wooden Backed Rubber Stamp

Other:

Ranger 'Crackle Accents'

Challenges I'm entering...

Butterfly Challenge

(Butterflies + 'N' is for Numbers/#41)

Pixie's Crafty Snippets Challenge

(The patterned paper is from my 'snippets' collection...  and the butterfly and flowers were both stamped onto 'snippets' of white card)

Simon Says (Wednesday) Challenge

(Anything Goes)

4 Crafty Chicks

(Challenge #270 'Anything Goes')

Creative Card Crew

(Challenge #99 'Off the Edge')

Use Your Stuff

(Challenge #197 'Die Cuts and/or Punches)

Sometimes being 'strong' is as simple...  and yet as difficult as continuing to put one foot in front of the other.

Take care...

Donna.


(TOP 5)

Gift Bag, Poppies, Female

I finally had a reason to get out and 'play' with one of my new toys recently.  I say 'play'...  but really it was all done in the name of research...  really it was!

After all, if I didn't get out my new We R Memory Keepers 'Gift Bag Punch Board' and trial out how it works, what would happen when I needed to use it in a hurry?  One giant sized mess most likely!!!

So...  Now that I've got my justification over and done with let me tell you why I chose to use the punchboard for this...

Well...  actually there are two reasons.  The first is I'm not a huge fan of black and white cards.  End of.  But I wanted to join in with the latest Memory Box challenge.

The second reason is I have a tab at the top of my blog for 'bags and boxes'...  but it's got nothing in it so far!  

So what better than to solve two problems with one solution?

Die used...

Memory Box 'Prim Poppy'

Stencil used...

Memory box 'Rings and Puddles'

Ink used...   

Brilliance 'Starlight Black'

I've used a black card with a soft sheen to it for the poppies, glued them on to a piece of acetate and then doubled up on some of the flower heads at a slight angle to soften the overall look.

(The added bonus is that the 'cut out' for the aperture window is perfect for a name tag.   Just fold in half, hole punch top corner and attach to bag.  Easy :) 

   

...  Speaking of added bonuses... 

Style notwithstanding, this colour scheme can work with more than just black and white if you cut a piece of coloured card stock to size and slot it in at the front of the acetate 'window' before putting your gift in the bag.  (It would be very easy to add a touch of glue to keep the panel in place if you needed to).  

Of course, you could just use white if all you want to do is block the gift in the bag from view.  

Just putting some other ideas 'out there' for you :)

As my acetate and black raffia are from my snippets collection, I get to go play in the playground!

(If that makes no sense to you then I suggest you click on the link below and spend some time reading through some posts...  and through the comments sections.  They can be quite funny from time to time)!

Pixie's Crafty Snippets Challenge 

Wishing you the very best for the week ahead...

Donna. x