the CLASSroom

#throwbackthursdays - Black & White Stenciled Background by Carly Tee Minner

Happy New Year's Eve! It's Carly and with the new year upon us I've been thinking about things I would like to do in 2016. I want to send more mail in 2016! Many of my best friends are too far away and I want to let them know how often I'm thinking about them and sending love their way. Nothing says "I love you" like a handmade card right?

With that in mind (and because I'm currently obsessed with stencils), I searched The Classroom archives for stencil card ideas. I found this amazing idea by Julia:

Stenciling on Black by Julia Stainton

Gorgeous right? I couldn't wait to try it and here's what I came up with:

1. I started with a 4-1/4 x 5-1/2 piece of black cardstock. I secured it to my non-stick craft mat with Micropore tape and then secured my stencil on top.

2. I applied white pigment ink with an ink blending tool because as I learned from Julia's post, pigment ink is key when working on black cardstock.

I loved the result! It had that great chalkboard-effect that I adore.

3. I decided to use the Essentials by Ellen Bold Blooms Matching and Bold Blossom die sets on top of my stenciled background so I created colored cardstock with Distress ink and a blending tool (pink & green colored cardstock would work great too). For my petals I used Distress ink Abandoned Coral and Festive Berries. For my leaves I used Twisted Citron and Cracked Pistachio. 

4. After inking my cardstock, I die cut the smaller flower & leaf from the Bold Blossom set. Then I die cut the coordinating flower & leaf from the Bold Blooms Matching set with Solar White cardstock. Then I used a Quickie glue pen to adhere them together (I love the Quickie pen for tiny pieces).

5. On the inside flap of a 4-1/4 x 5-1/2 Solar White card, I adhered a strip of gold glitter paper.

6. I trimmed just a little bit of the card front and stenciled panel down so the gold glitter paper would show through. 

7. I stamped a little sentiment from the Essentials by Ellen Fancy Thanks stamp set on Solar White. I trimmed my sentiment into a strip and tore the edge. On the torn edge, I added some Gold Stickles.

8. Then I glued everything together - my stenciled panel on my card, my sentiment strip & leaves on top of that and finally my flower in a nest of gold thread.

See you in 2016!

xo, Carly

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Fancy Thanks by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, Bold Blooms Matching by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, Bold Blossom Stand-Alone by Julie Ebersole

VersaFine Ink Pad, Onyx Black

Lawn Fawn Ink Pigment Pad, Yeti

Ranger Distress Ink Pad, Abandoned Coral

Ranger Distress Mini Ink Pad, Kit #13

Ranger Distress Ink Pad, Festive Berries

Ranger Distress Mini Ink Pad, Festive Berries

Ranger Distress Mini Ink Pad, Kit #11

Ranger Distress Ink Pad, Twisted Citron

Ranger Distress Mini Ink Pad, Kit #14

Ranger Distress Ink Pad, Cracked Pistachio

Neenah Cardstock, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, 25 pk

Neenah Cardstock, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, 250 Sheet Ream

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Licorice Twist, 10 pk

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Licorice Twist, 25 pk

American Crafts, Pow! Glitter Paper, 12x12 Gold, 2 pk

Prima Marketing 6x6 Stencil, Magnolias

Ranger Stickles, Gold

Ranger Ice Stickles, Gold

Coats Metallic Thread, Gold

Coats Metallic Thread, Bright Gold

3M Micropore Paper Tape, 2 pk

Quickie Glue Pen

Ranger Non-Stick Craft Sheet

Ranger Ink Blending Tool, 1 Inch Round

Happy New Year!

Hi everyone! Carolyn Peeler here with a new project to share. Now that Christmas is behind us, we still have one big celebration before this holiday season comes to a close - bring on New Year's Eve parties! This is a fast, stylish card, perfect as a thank you for your party hostess or those friends who will be ringing in the New Year with you! One of the funny things about today's post is that Julie Ebersole, who posted her awesome card and video tutorial yesterday, and I did not know that we were both going to be creating a card with the "Advent" stamp set, so, you're getting a double dose of inspiration with it this week!

So, let's get going on today's project!

First, gather your card front. As I usually do when creating a card that I will be sewing onto, I cut a white piece of cardstock 4.25 x 5.5 inches. This is what I will build my card on.

Then, select whichever patterned paper you would like to use as an accent down the left side of your card. In this case, I used an aqua design from the Pebbles, DYI Home 6x6 paper pad. I think this color works particularly well for this card as it sort of gives off a cool/wintery vibe. Cut your piece of the accent patterned paper whatever width you would like for the edge of your card. (Mine was approximately 0.5")

Position the "Happy New Year" and champagne glass stamp from the "Advent" stamp set by Essentials by Ellen onto your stamp block and ink with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. Stamp onto card front.

We are going to use the beautiful "Gilt" acrylic paint by Ranger to add luxe, sophisticated style to this card. So, gather the paint, a Ranger Craft Sheet (or something else to use as a palette, such as the Ken Oliver Best ever Craft MAT), a paintbrush and some water and you're ready to start.

Mixing the paint with a little bit of water so that it is thinned down, fill in the glass and the front (not the 3D backside) of the greeting.

Next, take the bubble stamp from your "Advent" set and put it onto an acrylic block, then paint the bubbles using the 'Gilt" acrylic paint. I decided to paint only the top 5 bubbles.

Stamp the bubbles onto the card, above the champagne glass.

I love the texture sewing adds to my cards, so the next thing I did was take my card over to the sewing machine and sew a zig zag line down the front of the card where the patterned paper and white cardstock meet. I also used the "Hickory Smoke" Distress marker to color in the 3D shadow behind the greeting.

Before the next step, you will need to cut your card base. So, cut a piece of white cardstock 8.5"  x 5.5" and fold in half. Glue the card front that we made onto the front of this folded card. Then, open the card, lay it onto your paper trimmer, and trim approximately 0.25" off the front, right side of the card. When you take your card off your paper trimmer and close it, this will result in the back of your card being wider than the front of your card, which is exactly what you want. 

Next, it's time to add the sparkle and shine to this holiday card! Open your card. We will be working on the interior of the card. Using Sookwang double sided adhesive, lay down a line of tape against the right edge of the open card.

Remove the protection from the double sided adhesive and pour glitter on top of the tape. I used Sand Glitter (which is currently out of stock), however, this glitter, or this one would also be a lovely choice.

Burnish the glitter by rubbing it with your finger. This will help the glitter stay in place and not shed all over the place :)

Your final step is to cover the glass with Glossy Accents so that you get a shiny finish on it.

And that's it! Pretty fast and easy, which is exactly the kind of project you want during this busy time of year. 

I wish you and yours a safe and fun New Year's Eve celebration!

Here are the direct links to the products used in today's card:
 

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Advent by Julie Ebersole

Neenah Cardstock, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, 25 pk

Pebbles Jen Hadfield Homemade, DIY Home 6x6 paper pad

Memento Ink Pad, Tuxedo Black

Memento Dew Drop Ink Pad, Tuxedo Black

Ranger Dina Wakley Media Paint, Gilt

Ranger Non-Stick Craft Sheet

The Best Ever Craft Mat by Ken Oliver

Inkadinkado Clear Acrylic Blocks, Large

Ranger Distress Marker, Hickory Smoke

Glitter Ritz Microfine, Sand

Glitter Ritz Microfine, Light Gold

Be Creative Tape, 12mm (1/2")

Hello, Monday 12.28.2015

(click on the pics to enbiggan) 

Maybe you didn't get ALL the holiday cards you wanted made and sent to arrive in time for Christmas.  Guess what?  People love to receive a card and a hear word from you ANY time, so why not send out a New Year's card?

If you're hosting a party, this fun "collage" style design could also include an invitation printed off and mounted inside--super classy, super easy!  I love the interest and dimension you get by elevating some of the elements of the design, such as the numbers and the champagne glasses!  Let's par-taaaay!!! *clink*

 

 

LINK:  View this video in HD on our YouTube Channel HERE and give it a thumbs' up!

 

Happy Mundane and wishing all of you the best year yet as we head into 2016!

 

 

SUPPLIES:

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Advent by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, Advent by Julie Ebersole

Impression Obsession Cling Stamps, Diamond Maze Cover-a-Card

VersaMark Ink Pad

Hero Arts Embossing Powder, Gold

COPIC Sketch Marker E51, Milky White

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Marshmallow, 10 pk

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Marshmallow, 25 pk

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Licorice Twist, 10 pk

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Licorice Twist, 25 pk

Inkadinkado Embossing Magic Bag

Ranger Ice Stickles, Gold

Scrapbook Adhesives Thin 3-D Foam Squares, Mix White

Scrapbook Adhesives Thin 3-D Foam Squares, Mix Black

Bazzill 6x6 Paper Pad, Specialty Kraft With Gold Foil

Sizzix Big Shot White & Gray

Sizzix Big Shot Plus

Tonic Comfort 8.5 Inch Guillotine Paper Trimmer by Tim Holtz

Cheery Lynn Designs Super Fine Crafting Tweezers

Elizabeth Craft Designs Tweezers

Tweezers, Stainless Elisa's Backporch Design

Hero Arts Embossing Gun

Tim Holtz, Tiny Attacher

Little B Perfect Positioner

Fiskars Compact Stamp Press

Satur-YAY! 12.26.15 Snow Much Thanks

Hi everyone!  Welcome back to another Satur-YAY at The CLASSroom blog!  We're celebrating the weekend by getting our craft on!  I hope you're enjoying all of the wonderful things that this season brings.  For a lot of us, it's a time of giving and receiving.  And if you're like me, it's time to send out some thank you notes for all of those fabulous gifts you've received....and maybe even put some of those crafty goodies you received to good work.  Today, I thought I'd get a jump on those notes and take you along as I create.

For thank you notes at this time of the year, I like to keep to a winter theme.  I decided snowflakes were the perfect image for these cards.  I also like to take a break from the red (since I've been using a whole lot of that lately) and bring in some fresh colors.  I'm particularly digging the Pale Rose card stock from Bazzill.  Truth be told, I was inspired by Julie's color scheme on THIS Hello, Monday post.  I would recommend picking up some of this beautiful blushy pink card stock.  It'll be perfect for Valentine projects.

I used a technique on this card called inlaid die cuts.  This allows the surface of the card to remain flat.  The die cuts nestle right in to the negative space created by the outer cut edge of the die.  You can do this with any dies that you may have.  And I'll walk you through all of the details of this technique in the video tutorial below.

I started by die cutting my card panel.  I used the Stitched Snowflake Cutouts die from Poppystamps.  I also used a stitched border from the My Favorite Things Homespun Stitch Lines die set.  I love the interest and texture that the stitched details add to the card.  I was careful to leave the snowflakes intact after I cut.  I'll need all of those innards for the inlaid die cuts.  

While I had my Big Shot out, I also cut a few more elements for my card.  I cut the Stitched Snowflake Cutouts again from some metallic silver card stock.  I also cut the Fancy Thanks sentiment from both the metallic silver card stock and my favorite vellum from the Essentials By Ellen line.  I used the Memory Box Shimmering Snowflakes die set to cut a large vellum snowflake, which I'll layer up with the sentiment later on.

In order to inlay the die cuts, I need to have a landing place for them.  I added some tape runner adhesive all over a scrap piece of white card stock.  It's important that you have adhesive all over this backer piece, because that adhesive will hold the die cuts, as well as the inner parts in place.  Once I was sure I had plenty of adhesive added to the the white card stock, I placed the die cut panel over the top.

I placed the silver die cuts into the negative space of the die cut panel.  These fit right in to place.  And I love this particular die because it's symmetrical, which means I didn't have to turn and turn and turn the die cut until I found the correct position (we've all seen my struggles with this in the past). ;)

Once the silver snowflakes were in place, I added the inner portions from the pink snowflakes.  I laid the pink snowflakes right over the top of the silver snowflakes and then pushed them in to place with the side of my craft pick.  Don't use the pointy part.  You'll create divots in your paper.  Once again, because the adhesive was all over the white backer piece, these pieces fall right in to place and are held securely in position.

I layered up my sentiment and vellum snowflake and added it to the bottom of my card front.  To add a little more silvery sparkle, I created a messy nest of silver thread behind this grouping.  I attached it to the card with a glue dot...quick and easy.  I love layering elements like this to create interest and dimension.

I finished off the card by added some coordinating patterned paper and some sparkling clear sequins.  The My Favorite Things Calm and Cozy Chevron patterned paper coordinates beautifully with the Pale Rose card stock.  And you knew I couldn't finish this card without adding some beautiful sparkling clear sequins.  They're the perfect finishing touch.

I also recreated this card and replaced the metallic silver card stock with some of the Deco Sheets from Tim Holtz.  These self adhesive glittery sheets are a little more subtle than the usual glitter paper that I use.  They're great for delicate die cuts because there's already adhesive on the back.

I'm loving this beautiful winter themed thank you note.  It's feminine and sparkly.  And while there's no gold, there's plenty of sparkle and shine to satisfy my need for all things shiny!  I can't wait to send them to family and friends to thank them for the gifts I've received.  

Don't forget to watch the video tutorial below.  I'll walk you through the entire creation of this card.

It's your turn now!  It's time for you to head to your crafty space, wherever that may be (your craft room, your kitchen table, your breakfast bar...), and get to craftin'.  Remember you can do this inlaid die cut technique with whatever dies that you may have.  I'd love to see your winter themed creations.  Be sure to use the hashtag #EllenHutsonSaturYAY when you share your projects on social media so I can see what you all are creating.

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you're inspired by this card project.  Until next time...have a fabulous day and a very happy new year!

Watch The Video

You can watch the video in HD by visiting our YouTube channel HERE.

Supplies

Memory Box Dies, Shimmering Snowflakes

Poppystamps Dies, Stitched Snowflake Cutouts

Poppystamps Dies, Fancy Thanks

My Favorite Things Die-namics, Homespun Stitch Lines

Hero Arts Cling Stamps, Woodgrain Bold Prints by Lia Griffith

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Pale Rose, 25 pk

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Pale Rose, 10 pk

Essentials by Ellen, White Linen #100 Cardstock, 25 Pack

Essentials by Ellen 40 lb. Vellum, 25 pk

My Favorite Things Paper Pack, Calm and Cozy Chevron

Core'dinations Cardstock Kraft Core Metallic Collection, 12x12 Paper Pack by Tim Holtz

Core'dinations Cardstock Kraft Core Metallic Collection, 6x6 Paper Pack by Tim Holtz

Tim Holtz Deco Sheets

Hero Arts Pigment Ink Pad, Unicorn White

Zig Wink of Stella Glitter Brush Tip Marker, Clear

Coats Metallic Thread, Silver

Pretty Pink Posh Sequins, 4 mm Cupped, Sparkling Clear

Pretty Pink Posh Sequins, 6 mm Cupped, Sparkling Clear

Pretty Pink Posh Sequins, Sparkling Clear Mix (4mm, 6mm, 8mm &10mm )

ATG Double-Sided Refill Tape, 2 pk, 1/4"

ATG Kit, Advanced Tape Glider

Tombow Stamp Runner Dot Adhesive Runner & Refill

Tombow Stamp Runner Dot Adhesive Refills, 2 pk

Ranger Multi Medium, Matte Mini, 1/2 oz.

Quilled Creations Precision Tip Glue Applicator Bottle 0.5 oz.

2 Way Glue, Squeeze & Roll

Glue Dots Sheets, Ultra Thin

Scotch Double-Sided Foam Mounting Tape

EK Tools, Precision 5 Inch Scissors with Sheath

EK Craft Tweezers

Crop-a-Dile Corner Chomper Tool, 1/8" & 3/8"

Tim Holtz Tonic Retractable Craft Pick

Fiskars Triple Track Replacement Trimmer Blade, Titanium, 2pk

Fiskars SureCut Deluxe Craft Paper Trimmer (12")

Sizzix Big Shot White & Gray

Sizzix Accessory, Magnetic Platform for Wafer-Thin Dies

Sizzix Precision Base Plate for Thinlits Dies

Peace, Joy, and Love by Sharon Harnist

Merry Christmas to you all!  I couldn't pass up this opportunity to use one of my most favorite stamp sets before the holiday season is officially over!  And I combined it with my current most favorite technique, watercolor!  Doesn't Julie's Essentials by Ellen Mondo Poinsettia simply shine for the winter season (I think I'll still be using it well into January and February!  :)  

This card was quick and easy to create . . . here are the steps.  (All bold products are linked below in the supply section):

1. Stamp Mondo Poinsettia with Memento Rhubarb Stalk ink onto Ranger Watercolor Paper. This line of ink is waterproof and an excellent choice to use with watercoloring.

2. Dilute Festive Berries Distress Ink refill with water, to create a lighter shade. Color all poinsettia leaves:

 3. Add darker shading to leaves, using fuller strength Festive Berries ink:

4. Stamp green leaves with Memento Bamboo Leaves ink; watercolor with Peeled Paint Distress Ink:

5. Color flower center berries with Wild Honey and Barn Door Distress Markers.  Watercolor edges of stamped piece with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink:

6. Stamp sentiment, stars and heart from Cozy Christmas with Delicata Golden Glitz ink. Glitter flower centers with Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Marker:

7. To finish the card, I matted the stamped piece with a layer of Bazzill Robin's Egg cardstock, then mounted the piece with Copic Foam Tape to a Bazzill Peppermint card base.

Wishing you Peace, Joy and Love this Christmas Day, from everyone here at Ellen Hutson LLC!  ~ Sharon

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Mondo Poinsettia by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Cozy Christmas by Julie Ebersole

Ranger Watercolor Paper, 10 pk

Pentel Arts Aquash Water Brush, Large Fine Point (23637)

Memento Dew Drop Ink Pad, Rhubarb Stalk

Ranger Distress Reinker, Festive Berries

Memento Ink Pad, Bamboo Leaves

Ranger Distress Marker, Wild Honey

Ranger Distress Marker, Barn Door

Ranger Distress Reinker, Tumbled Glass

Ranger Distress Ink Pad, Tumbled Glass

Delicata Ink Pad, Golden Glitz

Zig Wink of Stella Glitter Brush Tip Marker, Clear

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Peppermint, 10 pk

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Robin's Egg, 25 pk

High Tack Double-Sided Foam Mounting Tape, 1/2"

High Tack Double-Sided Foam Mounting Tape, 1/4"

 

#throwbackthursdays - Gelatos Smooshing by Carly Tee Minner

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! It's Carly and now that holiday cards are finished, I thought it was time to talk thank you cards. Today I was inspired by my awesome friend Lisa and her work with Gelatos. Lisa made Gelatos seem easy and super fun so I had to try them too! Here are links to her Gelato articles in case you haven't seen them:

#TexturalTuesdays - Happy Fall Gelatos Card by Lisa

#TexturalTuesdays - Thank You & More Gelatos by Lisa

 Here's the card I created while playing with Gelatos:

1. I started by stamping & embossing a snowflake background stamp in white on a 4-1/4 x 5-1/2 piece of solar white cardstock.

2. Next I took 4 colors of Gelatos (Metallic Mint, Snow Cone, Watermelon & Metallic Melon) and colored them on an acrylic block. The Metallic Gelatos add a nice shimmer to the finished panel.

3. I misted my Gelatos colored acrylic block with a good amount of water.

4. And then I placed my snowflake panel on top of the block, pressing gently to make sure the color transferred.

5. I carefully removed the panel and ta-da! Something to note, if there is too much water on your panel after you remove it from the acrylic block or if there are "muddy" spots, just use a clean paper towel to mop up those areas. If there are dry spots where you want color, use a paint brush to transfer more color from the acrylic block.

6. I set my snowflake panel aside to dry and got to work on my sentiment. For the "thanks" I die cut 3 words with the Savvy Stamps Dies, Thanks Script in solar white. I adhered the 3 layers together to create a dimensional word. To complete my "thanks", I gave it a good coat of clear Wink of Stella. For the label-maker type strip, I stamped and embossed "so very much" from the WPlus9 clear stamp set Hand Lettered Thanks in white on black cardstock. 

7. Then I die cut my snowflake panel with the largest rectangle from My Favorite Things Die-Namics, STAX Stitched Rectangles.

I mounted my snowflake panel to a 4-1/4 x 5-1/2 solar white card, added my sentiments and finished with some pearls just because they are pretty!

Happy Thursday and Happy Holidays!

xo, Carly

Memory Box Cling Stamps, Open Studio - Dancing Snowflakes

WPlus9 Design Studio Clear Stamps, Hand Lettered Thanks

Savvy Stamps Dies, Thanks Script

My Favorite Things Die-namics, STAX Stitched Rectangle

Lawn Fawn Ink Pigment Pad, Yeti

Gelatos Double Scoop, Metallic Mint

Gelatos Double Scoop, Snow Cone

Gelatos Designer Set, Tropical

Gelatos Double Scoop, Metallic Melon

Neenah Cardstock, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, 25 pk

Neenah Cardstock, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, 250 Sheet Ream

Stampendous Embossing Powder, Detail White, 0.76 oz.

Zig Wink of Stella Glitter Brush Tip Marker, Clear

Pearls, Bliss

'Tis the Season by Heather Campbell

Hi everyone!  Can you believe Christmas is this week?  Seriously, someone pinch me!   

Today, I thought it would be fun to share how to create a fun Christmas card with nearly no holiday product!  I love finding products that are versatile and learning tricks to utilize what I have beyond it's basic intent!  All you need is a great sentiment stamp! 

I start with a die cut tag from Neenah White card stock. 

Then, I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment using Black Versafine ink.  I love how this really makes the sentiment "pop"!

Next, I stamped a dog from Avery Elle's Furry Friends. 

Then, using a Memento marker, I added lines to make him look like he's wearing a sweater.  Simple to do and it's a great way to stretch the stamps!  It would be easy to add antlers or a bow tie or just about anything.  :) 

Then, I colored the puppy in with Copics. 

And gave him a nice, festive green sweater. 

Once I had the coloring done, I went back in and added additional stitching details around the sleeves with a pen. Again, super easy!  Just practice on a scratch piece of paper first. 

To create some patterned paper, I stamped what should be berries from the Avery Elle Fa La La stamp set in silver ink.  I thought they looked just like snow! 

Finally, I die cut the same tag shape using Avery Elle patterned paper.  I absolutely love these 6x6 pads!

Then, I secured the layers together and added a twine bow. 

Then, I added it to the card using a bit of dimensional foam. 

At the last minute, I decided he needed some snowflakes on his sweater.  I just used a post it to mask the area I didn't want to stamp and added some additional details to the sweater. 

Here it is all complete and it makes me so happy! 

Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing part of your day with me!  I wish you the merriest of holidays this winter and can't wait to see you hear again in the new year!

XOXO,
Heather

Avery Elle Clear Stamps, Furry Friends

Avery Elle Clear Stamps, FA LA LA

Avery ELLE-ments Dies, Gift Tags

Avery Elle 6x6 Paper Pad, Jewel Collection

Hero Arts Shadow Ink, Silver

Memento Ink Pad, Pistachio

Memento Ink Pad, Tuxedo Black

Memento Marker, Tuxedo Black

COPIC Sketch Marker YG01, Green Bice

COPIC Sketch Marker E55, Light Camel

COPIC Sketch Marker E41, Pearl White

COPIC Sketch Marker E42, Sand White

Ranger Embossing Powder, Clear

VersaFine Ink Pad, Onyx Black

Lawn Fawn Hemp Cord, Lime

Sizzix Big Shot White & Gray

EK Craft Tweezers

Tonic Maxi 12 Inch Guillotine Paper Trimmer

Scotch Double-Sided Foam Mounting Tape

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Taffy, 25 pk

Neenah Cardstock, Neenah Heavyweight, Classic Crest Solar White 110 lb, 25 pk

Winners, Winners and More Winners as We Wrap Up the 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist Series!

Thank you to each of you who entered our 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist Challenge! This year there were more entries than any previous year - woohoo - we are doing the happy elf dance around the office!!! We LOVE it when you participate in our challenges :) For all those who may have missed out on winning this one please join our Pinsights Challenge - the inspiration board and examples are super dreamy this month.

CHALLENGE WINNER

We are excited to share a $150 shopping spree at our store with the challenge winner Julie Steed!! Congratulations Julie - thank you for participating in this year's tag challenge!

As well we have TWELVE comment winners - one from each day! Each winner will receive a $25 gift code to our store for a little shopping enjoyment! We would appreciate if the individuals who left the comments below contact us at [email protected] so that we can be certain we have accurate email address to share a shopping coupon with each of you!

Tag 1

Tag 2

Tag 3

Tag 4

Tag 5

Tag 6

Tag 7

Tag 8

Tag 9

Tag 10

Tag 11

Tag 12

CONGRATULATIONS to all of our winners and thanks to all of you for joining us again this year!

#TexturalTuesdays - Believe Tag by Lisa

Hi there and Happy Tuesday! It's Lisa and I'm back for another episode of #TexturalTuedays.  I can't believe it's almost Christmas, how about you? Speaking of believing (nice segue, eh?) that's the stamp that I chose to use from the Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Brush Stroke Christmas by Julie Ebersole. I decided to build my tag today around this one stamp and go from there! Have you ever done that? It's fun!

You may be wondering, why a black tag, Lisa? And I shall answer you...why not? (I'm such a smarty-pants.) Actually, when you see my process, I really was going for a frosty look, which is kinda hard to photograph. But, the black tag shows it off the best. Being black and all.

Let me show you what I did to get this tag all texture-y! (Photo heavy post..)

1 and 2. I used a standard Inkssentials #10 Tag (black) and used Tim Holtz's Frosted Film to cover it and make it non-porous. It also gave the tag a very subtle frosty look and different kind of texture. If you have this product and don't know what to do with it, use it with products such as paints and alcohol inks.

Cut it slightly larger and then trim to size. WAY easier this way.

3. Using Ranger Alcohol Inks in Watermelon, Pool, Sail Boat Blue, Purple Twilight, Pitch Black, and Metallic Mixative Pearl add the colors to your blending felt and dab onto the frosted film randomly. (If more blending is desired, use a fresh felt and the blending solution.)

4. Edge the tag with Ranger Metallic Mixative, Silver.

5 and 6. Figure out where you want you place your stencil and mask off that area. I went overboard, but I didn't want the Texture Luxe™ getting on anything else. Apply the Texture Luxe™ in Pearl and lift off the stencil very carefully. (Silver would also look super pretty!)

7. Stamp the "Believe" sentiment in Versamark embossing ink and heat set in Silver embossing powder onto a strip of Vellum.

8.  Stamp the ray or burst from the Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Merry & Bright by Julie Ebersole onto the tag using Hero Arts Shadow Ink in Silver. (I'll be honest in that I wasn't sure if this ink would stay on the frosted film since it's a water-based ink, but it kind of behaves like a pigment ink. Very impressed!)

9. So. Foil. I added mine by adding two strips of my fave adhesive tape at the top and bottom of where I put my Texture Luxe™ and then burnished the foil right on top. So easy! 

10. The next way I like to add foil and add really fun interest is to use Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L® Adhesive Sheets , remove the backer, and press the sticky side randomly to different parts of the tag. Then press the foil to the sticky areas (shiny side up), burnish, and lift up. You get really awesome super shiny accents. So cool!

11. Then I decided I wanted some pink stars. So I dabbed some Spun Sugar Distress Paint onto my craft mat and let my wood veneer stars swim in the paint for a little bit.

12. I adhered the painted wood veneer stars and a few clear sequins. Then I realized I wanted it just a touch pinker, so I spritzed a bit of Dylusions Ink Spray in Bubblegum Pink.

Close-up time!!!

Can you tell how the Frosted Film gives the tag gives it a texture? 

I know today's post was lengthy, but I really wanted to cover everything. So much to share!!

Play with some of your forgotten products and mix them up with some of your new goodies. Find new ways to bring texture into your projects. And always, ALWAYS...have fun. :)

 

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Merry & Bright by Julie Ebersole

Ranger Inkssentials Surfaces, Black Tag #10

Tim Holtz, Frosted Film

Teflon Bone Folder

Ranger Tim Holtz Adirondack Alcohol Ink, Watermelon

Ranger Tim Holtz Adirondack Alcohol Ink, Pool

Ranger Tim Holtz Adirondack Alcohol Ink, Sail Boat Blue

Ranger Tim Holtz Adirondack Alcohol Ink, Purple Twilight

Ranger Tim Holtz Adirondack Alcohol Ink, Pitch Black

Ranger Metallic Mixative, Pearl

Ranger Metallic Mixative, Silver

Ranger Tim Holtz Adirondack Alcohol Blending Solution

Faber-Castell Mixed Media Stencils, 101 Collection

Faber-Castell Texture Luxe Texture Paste, Pearl

Faber-Castell Texture Luxe Texture Paste, Silver

Hero Arts Shadow Ink, Silver

Essentials by Ellen 40 lb. Vellum, 25 pk

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Brushstroke Christmas by Julie Ebersole

Ranger Embossing Powder, Silver

VersaMark Ink Pad

Hero Arts Embossing Gun

Ranger Distress Paint, Spun Sugar

Ranger Dylusions Ink Spray, Bubblegum Pink

Pretty Pink Posh Sequins, 6 mm Cupped, Sparkling Clear

Scrapbook Adhesives Adhesive Sheets, 4x6

Studio Calico Classic Calico Vol. 2, Wood Veneer, Tiny Stars

Pretty Pink Posh Sequins, 6 mm Flat, Marshmallow

Hello, Monday 12.21.2015

(click on the pics to enbiggan)

 I dunno about y'all, but at my house we've entered Holiday Crunch Time. While I can still do handmade, I'm all outta' time for fancy. Speed stamping to the rescue! It always surprises me how many tags I can bust out in a smidge of time with this approach! *fist pump*

The Mission:  Quickly generate a stack of gift tags for my holiday packages that are attractive but not time or labor intensive.

The Plan:  

1. Score an 8 1/2 x 11" sheet into 8 equal sections:  With the paper vertical, score down the entire length of the center of the paper at 4.25".  Rotate the paper, and score at 2.75, 5.5" and 8.25"
2. Use the score lines as guidelines for mass stamping your design
3. Cut the tags along the score lines; punch holes, add twine and Bob's yer Uncle!

 

In hindsight, once I had cut apart the tags, I wished I had first applied a little strip of glitter tape along the bottom edges of the tag. It was easy to add after the fact, but it would have been amazingly fast if I had thought to do it prior to cutting them all apart.

 

 

LINK: Watch this video in HD on our YouTube Channel HERE & give it a thumbs' up!

 

Can you get even fancier?  Your call.  At this stage of the Holiday game, I tend to embrace CAS even more so...  *chuckle* 

Holly Jolly Mundane! *wink*  And, wishing you a joyous, peaceful and safe Christmas with those you hold nearest and dearest to your heart!

 

 

SUPPLIES:
 

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Merry & Bright by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Bokeh Dots by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Cozy Christmas by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, Brushstroke Joy by Julie Ebersole

Memento Ink Pad, Lady Bug

Memento Ink Pad, Pear Tart

Ranger Archival Ink Pad, Jet Black

Delicata Ink Pad, Golden Glitz

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Marshmallow, 10 pk

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Marshmallow, 25 pk

Neenah Cardstock, Neenah Heavyweight, Classic Crest Solar White 110 lb, 25 pk

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Wax Lips, 10 pk

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Wax Lips, 25 pk

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Licorice Twist, 10 pk

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Licorice Twist, 25 pk

Crop-a-Dile Eyelet & Snap Punch

Tombow Stamp Runner Dot Adhesive Runner & Refill

Lawn Fawn Hemp Cord, Peppermint

Lawn Fawn Hemp Cord, Red Sparkle

String by the Spool, Metallic Gold

Tattered Lace Detail Glue

Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue, 0.88 oz.

Tweezers, Stainless Elisa's Backporch Design

Cheery Lynn Designs Super Fine Crafting Tweezers

Elizabeth Craft Designs Tweezers

Sizzix Big Shot White & Gray

Sizzix Big Shot Plus

Nesting Paper Punch, Circle 1/2"

Golden Joy by Julia Stainton

It's just one week until Christmas and I'm still enjoying putting together some Christmas cards. It would be much easier for me to just make one style and go into production mode but my favorite part of crafting is dreaming up different ideas and making every project unique.

Today I'd like to bring you a little holiday crafting joy and inspiration in the form of white, vellum and gold. It makes for a wintery and festive project and this card could be inspiration for a tag as well. Just leave off the card base and background and you have a very pretty tag for a special gift.

Lately I've been enjoying the gold trend and my absolute favorite new tool of 2015 has been the Heidi Swapp Minc. That being the case, it seemed like a great way to finish up the year here for my last 2015 post in the CLASSroom.

The Minc is a foil applicator machine and it is SO easy to use. Just apply foil over an image printed in toner in and run it through. Peel up the foil and you have an amazing foiled design. Seriously, it's just like magic. Try it and you'll be hooked.

I've used the Signature 6x6 paper pad for this project but you can also create your own designs and print them with a laser printer and then foil them with the Minc. The toner is the key to foiling with this machine so remember that regular ink jet or stamping ink won't work.

Once my 6x6 paper was foiled in gold foil, I cut it down to 4"x5.25" and adhered it to a white cardstock base. No cool time is necessary. You can adhere it right away.

I then got busy die-cutting some gorgeous branches and "greenery" (in white) using the Poinsettia and Pine Dies from the Essentials by Ellen line. This is such a gorgeous and timeless die set that stands alone. I've die cut my sprigs from Solar White cardstock and Vellum Cardstock.

They were then all layered together onto a white tag that was die cut and adhered with dimensional foam squares. The golden sentiment is also a die cut and is the Brushstroke Joy Die from Essentials by Ellen. I've die cut the sentiment die from the Tim Holtz Kraft Core Metallic Collection Paper.

To finish off the design I added in a few embellishments. The tiny wood stars from Studio Calico add fun texture and interest and you can use them in the same manner as a sequin. A gold and silver bow is tied and adhered to the top of the greenery to add flair and hide any bits of adhesive.

This image gives you a look at how the gold foil elements catch the light.

Thanks for joining me today and throughout 2015 in the CLASSroom! I'd like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 

Supplies:

Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, Poinsettia & Pine by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, Brushstroke Joy by Julie Ebersole

Heidi Swapp Minc, Signature 6x6 paper pad

Heidi Swapp Mini Minc Foil Applicator, 6 -inch

Heidi Swapp Minc, Reactive Foil - Gold

Heidi Swapp Minc, Reactive Foil 2 pk, Silver and Gold

Neenah Cardstock, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, 25 pk

Essentials by Ellen 40 lb. Vellum, 25 pk

My Favorite Things Die-namics, STAX Traditional Tags

My Favorite Things Die-namics, STAX Stitched Traditional Tag

Studio Calico Classic Calico Vol. 2, Wood Veneer, Tiny Stars

Ranger Accents, Mini Glossy Accents

Core'dinations Cardstock Kraft Core Metallic Collection, 12x12 Paper Pack by Tim Holtz

Core'dinations Cardstock Kraft Core Metallic Collection, 6x6 Paper Pack by Tim Holtz

Scrapbook Adhesives 3-D Foam Squares, Mixed

Essentials by Ellen December Pin Sights Challenge

Hello everyone!  Laurel here and I'm here to bring you the final Pin-Sights challenge of 2015! I know, can you believe it? We've had so much fun with these challenges we are going to continue them in 2016! Can I get a woot woot?!? Seriously. WOOT WOOT! HE HE HE!

It's also time to to announce the randomly selected Mix It Up Challenge participant from our latest Mix it Up Challenge!  Please put your hands together for SmilynStef who was randomly selected to receive the $50 gift certificate to the Ellen Hutson store!!! Congratulations!!!! Please email me at (laurelbeard at me dot com) to claim your prize!!!

The Pin-Sights Challenge is an inspiration challenge based on a Pinterest inspired piece to spark your imagination and creativity that will be held on the 3rd Thursday of every month!

Today's inspirational piece sums up what I think Winter is (remember, I'm a Florida gal so I LOVE snow only because we don't ever get any, lol).... Also captured in this inspirational piece are pops of color and treats I affiliate with the Christmas season (candy canes anyone)... 

Image Source

We have THREE amazing designers here today to spark your creativity with their talents based on the above inspiration piece. If you click on each of the designer's names, you will be taken directly to their blog to see more information and photos! All the supplies the designers used will be listed at the end of this post along with our Challenge Link up so you can play along! YES! WE WANT YOU TO PLAY ALONG AND INSPIRE US!!!! But first, let's check out our amazing guest artist's masterpieces......

Taheerah Atchia

Lydia Evans

Kelly Griglione

Amazing, right?? I love the interpretation of the inspiration piece in each of these artist's work... Thank you so much for joining us today!  What talent........

Now it's time where we invite YOU to play along in our challenge! ALL CHALLENGE ENTRIES WILL BE PINNED TO OUR ELLEN HUTSON PINTEREST PAGE!! AND, we have a new Flickr Group!!!!  We would love for you to join our group and tag your photos!!!!

• To qualify, simply use any Essentials by Ellen product and create a project based on the inspirational piece. You can create anything.. A card, scrapbook layout, mixed media, tags, altered art... The works.
• We will select one player randomly to receive a $50 gift certificate to the Ellen Hutson store! WOOT WOOT!
• You have until December 31st to link up your projects below. We extended the deadline for those that might have some extra time to get crafty during the holidays.  The winner will be announced on January 7th!

An InLinkz Link-up

 

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Holly Jolly by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Thankful by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Bohemian Garden by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, Poinsettia & Pine by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen 40 lb. Vellum, 25 pk

Ranger Perfect Pearls, Perfect Pearl

Ranger Distress Glitter, Fired Brick

WOW Embossing Powder, Super Fine - Metallic Gold Rich Pale

Ranger Multi Medium, Matte Mini, 1/2 oz.

Pretty Pink Posh Sequins, 4 mm Cupped, Sparkling Clear

Mama Elephant Creative Cuts, Landscape Trio

Mama Elephant Creative Cuts: Bold Banner, Dainty Bow, Embellished Tag and Femme Frames Packaged Set

WOW Embossing Powder, Super Fine - Opaque Bright White

WOW Embossing Powder, Regular - Metallic Silver

Ranger Distress Ink Pad, Festive Berries

Ranger Distress Ink Pad, Tumbled Glass

Merry Wishes Fireplace Tag by Kittie Caracciolo

Good Wednesday morning and welcome to the CLASSroom. Did you enjoy the 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist?  I sure did! I was so inspired and just had to make another tag for my project today using the Impression Obsession Fireplace Set. Christmas is a time that brings wonderful memories with family and loved ones.  The fireplace was the centerpiece of the living room in my childhood home and my mother always arranged the mantle with evergreens cut from the trees on our farm.  I couldn’t resist adding a touch of humor by placing one of my  curious cats high up on the mantle.  It’s just so typical.

Cut a white set and red set of stockings.  Cut the toe and heel off of a one stocking and attach to the coordinating stocking with glossy accents.

Cut the grate, wood and flames.  Lightly apply Spiced Marmalade ink to the yellow flame pieces with a mini applicator.  Assemble the pieces with glossy accents and apply yellow stickles to the flames to add sparkle.

Cut the tag, fireplace pieces and the wall of the Brick House.

Apply double stick tape to the back of the mantle and attach to the brick surround.

Trim the brick wall, apply double stick tape to the back of the mantle and attach to the wall.

Cut a decorative paper tag and attach to the white tag with ATG adhesive.  Apply mounting tape to the back of the hearth section and attach to the bottom of the tag.

Slide the fireplace into place directly over top of the hearth and attach. The picture below is a little deceiving.  The fireplace was pushed all the way down and attached directly above the hearth.

Cut the Gold Foil frame and sentiment layer using the Nesting Oval dies. Stamp the Merry Wishes sentiment with Versa and emboss with gold embossing powder. Apply rolled up double stick tape to the back of the frame and attach to the sentiment.

Apply ATG adhesive to the back of the framed sentiment and attach to the tag base.

Cut six red flowers and three green flowers from the Spring Wreath set to form the mini poinsettias. Turn the flowers face down on the molding pad and form the petals with the small stylus.

Turn the flowers face up on the molding pad and push down in the center to draw the petals up.

Apply glossy accents to the green flower layer for the base and assemble  by adding  two red flowers for each poinsettia.  Form the tiny flower center and attach with glossy accents.

Cut several sections of Pine Sprigs for the mantle arrangement  Arrange six or seven pieces of pine on the left side with glossy accents and repeat the same steps on the right side. 

Fill in the center section with four or five pieces to complete the foliage background.

Attach the three poinsettias to the foliage arrangement with glossy accents.

Apply a double layer of mounting tape to the back of the stockings and attach them to the tag base to appear hanging from the mantle.

Add markings to the white cat with a black Copic marker.

Apply Antique Linen and Vintage Photo ink with a mini applicator to color the brown cats.

Attach mounting tape to the back of the cats and attach them to the tag.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing the steps to creating this fun holiday tag.  If you would like to make a tag like this you can find the Fireplace set in Ellen’s 40% off Seasonal Sale category along with tons of other wonderful holiday products. The SeasonalSale discount code is only good for items in the Seasonal Sales category and ends on December 18th.

Poppystamps Dies, Pinpoint Main Street Tags

Impression Obsession Dies, Fireplace

Impression Obsession Dies, Pine Sprig Cluster

Impression Obsession Dies, Cat Set

Impression Obsession Dies, Spring Wreath

Impression Obsession Dies, Brick House

Impression Obsession Cling Stamps, Merry Wishes by Alesa Baker

We R Memory Keepers Shape Dies, Nesting Ovals (L-CC-004)

Sizzix Big Shot White & Gray

Sizzix Accessory, Magnetic Platform for Wafer-Thin Dies

Scotch Double-Sided Foam Mounting Tape

Ranger Accents, Glossy Accents

Be Creative Tape, 3mm (1/8")

Be Creative Tape, 5mm (1/4")

ATG Kit, Advanced Tape Glider

Teflon Bone Folder

Glue Dots, Mini (3/16")

Memory Box Dies, Metal Adaptor Plate

Tonic Maxi 12 Inch Guillotine Paper Trimmer

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Peppermint, 25 pk

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Easter Grass, 25 pk

Neenah Cardstock, Neenah Heavyweight, Classic Crest Solar White 110 lb, 25 pk

Bazzill Specialty Paper, Metallic Gold Foil 5pk

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Marshmallow Chick, 25 pk

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Licorice Twist, 25 pk

VersaMark Ink Pad

Ranger Super Fine Embossing Powder, Gold

Silk Ribbon,1/4"x54yd White, by the yard

Elizabeth Craft Designs Susan's Garden Tool Kit

Elizabeth Craft Designs Mini Molding Pad

Ranger Ice Stickles, Yellow

Ranger Distress Ink Pad, Antique Linen

Ranger Distress Ink Pad, Vintage Photo

PanPastel Sofft Mini Applicators, 12 pk

COPIC Sketch Marker 110, Special Black

Ranger Distress Mini Ink Pad, Spiced Marmalade

Merry Christmas Fast & Easy Card Tutorial with Carolyn Peeler

Hi Friends, Carolyn Peeler with you on this Tuesday morning. Today is my last visit in the CLASSroom before Christmas, so I want to take this opportunity to wish you and yours a very merry Christmas & holiday season. May your holidays be filled with memorable moments and meaningful times with the ones you love.

With Christmas coming in a few short weeks, the most pressing thing on my crafting agenda is to make more Christmas cards to give to family and friends. So I wanted to design something that was pretty and simple, yet still had a homespun, shabby-chic touch. I put together a short tutorial to walk you through the process for this easy (and mass produceable!) design. If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments field and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. 

Please note, in the video I mention Aqua cardstock, then immediately correct to indicate that the background for my card front is Aqua patterned paper from the Juniper Berry 6x6 Basic Grey paper pad. I don't want anyone to be confused. The only cardstock I used is the white cardstock that I used for my card base, the banner and  the tree die cut :)

Merry Christmas!

Here is a link to the products used in today's project in the Ellen Hutson store:

Clearly Besotted Clear Stamps, Tiny Trees

Clearly Besotted Dies, Tiny Trees

VersaMark Ink Pad

Ranger Embossing Powder, Gold

Ranger Distress Ink Pad, Brushed Corduroy

Ranger Distress Mini Ink Pad, Brushed Corduroy

Neenah Cardstock, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, 25 pk

Essentials by Ellen 40 lb. Vellum, 25 pk

Basic Grey Juniper, 6x6 Paper Pad

Scrapbook Adhesives 3-D Foam Squares, Small White

Ranger Heat It Craft Tool

Ranger Ink Blending Tool

Make it Sparkle with Kimberly Crawford

Our CLASSroom Superstar this month is Kimberly Crawford. My eye was always drawn to Kimberly's work in Paper Crafts Magazine when she was one of their Go-To-Gals. As a designer for My Favorite Things, Carta Bella and Jillibean Soup she continues to share her detailed, beautiful projects with all of us.

Kimberly is an instructor with Big Picture and has just launched her Make It Sparkle class. If you like things that twinkle then this class is definitely for you! The pictures leading in to her class just make me begin to hum Christmas tunes - her samples are stunning! Join the fun and learn how Kimberly gets her sparkle on!

Please join us in thanking Kimberly for inspiring us to get our sparkle on here in the CLASSroom by heading over to her blog Kimberly Stamps and leave a comment there by December 19th. Look for the post where she shares a sneak peek of her project here along with the blog candy shown below. One lucky random winner will receive these goodies Kimberly used in creating today's project!

Thank you Kimberly for sharing your love of paper crafts with us and putting together a video sharing how you make water coloring easy! -Ellen

---

Hello everyone! Kimberly Crawford here with you today and I am thrilled to be here! 

Today I am sharing a quick and easy card, with lots of elegance! The countdown is in full swing for the holidays and this card is a cinch to make using a water color technique.

The images on this card are all heat embossed, creating a raised edge, making this technique even easier.

LINK: View in HD on our YouTube Channel HERE. 

Watch the video tutorial and get inspired to finish those last holiday cards!

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Mistletoe & Holly by Julie Ebersole

My Favorite Things Die-namics, STAX Pierced Rectangle

Ranger Watercolor Paper, 10 pk

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Caramel Apple, 10 pk

Bazzill Specialty Paper, Metallic Gold Foil 5pk

Stampendous Embossing Powder, Detail Gold

Ranger Distress Marker, Festive Berries

Ranger Distress Marker, Mowed Lawn

Ranger Distress Marker, Gathered Twigs

VersaMark Ink Pad

Hero Arts Water Mist Bottle

Ranger Non-Stick Craft Sheet

Ranger Artist Brush Set (7 Piece)

Inkadinkado Embossing Magic Bag

Scrapbook Adhesives E-Z Runner

Scrapbook Adhesives Thin 3-D Foam Squares, Mix White

Hello, Monday: Advent Calendar Extravaganza with Taheerah Atchia

Today is an extra-special Hello, Monday! Read on:

Advent Calendar Extravaganza is -the- festive event of the season! This ‘hop with a twist’ was dreamed up by Taheerah Atchia and features surprise destinations each day! Joining in the fun with Taheerah are over 60 special guests - each serving up some fantastic Christmas inspiration! Just like an Advent Calendar, you’ll never know where you’re going to be visiting next until you ‘open the door’!

And that’s not all! With 25 *amazing* sponsors taking part as well, your crafty wish list is bound to get a boost with a chance to win a prize EVERY SINGLE DAY!!

Join in the fun every day at taheerah-atchia.com to see what special surprises wait behind the door!

This is my featured project for the extravaganza:

(click on the pics to enbiggan)

I love advent calendars, and think they are such a fun part of the holiday season, especially for the kiddos! This particular project is an advent that includes a fun activity (in lieu of candy or prizes, etc.) for each day in December leading up to Christmas.

Even tho it is holiday themed, due to the current season, this very same project could be very easily adapted to a birthday countdown, wedding day countdown, baby due date, etc. :)

This project is a full 8.5 x 11" page design, made possible with the Big Shot Plus, which has a 9" feed.  You could certainly modify the project to accommodate fewer days or a different sized format, but I really wanted to try a full page and you shoulda' seen the bouncin' and monkey clappin' goin' on 'round here when I finished it!  *fist pump*  Oh, my word I love that Big Shot Plus even more now...!!!

 

 

Link: Watch in HD on our YouTube Channel HERE & give it a thumbs up!

 

You'll see in the video how I quickly/easily made adjustments to the little windows to ease popping the doors open.  This is not a necessary step--you could also pre-snip the little webbing that holds the doors shut, if you wanted, or use mini brads to create tiny door "knobs" on each of them--seriously, how stinkin' cute would that be?

 

And, because I figured some of you might wanna try it yourself, I included the template I made to help align the dies.  You can download it below:

Download Advent plan

 

It’s not a party without a prize - and with prizes every day there are several chances to win! Today’s prize is generously supplied by Ellen Hutson LLC so you’ll definitely want to get your hands on it! Simply leave a comment on this post to enter - then head back to taheerah-atchia.com and leave a comment there too to double your chances! Don’t forget to grab the other surprise destinations from Taheerah’s blog and head over to them to leave comments there as well to improve your odds even more! You have until 7am EST on Thursday 31st December to leave all your comments! 

Don’t forget the Advent Calendar Extravaganza runs from 1st-25th December inclusive so make sure you visit taheerah-atchia.com every day for fabulous inspiration and amazing prizes every single time!

And, hey, just because y'all are so fabby, in addition to the prize over at Taheerah's, we are giving away the Advent Stamp Set & matching Advent Dies to a lucky commenter here! WOOT!

Merry Christmas!

 

 

SUPPLIES:

 

Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, Advent by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Advent by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Mistletoe & Holly by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, Mini Windows by Julie Ebersole

Sizzix Big Shot Plus

Ranger Archival Ink Pad, Jet Black

Ranger Archival Ink Pad, Vermillion

Hero Arts Pigment Ink Pad, Unicorn White

Neenah Cardstock, Neenah Environment Desert Storm, 25 pk

Neenah Cardstock, Neenah Environment Desert Storm, 250 Sheet Ream

3M Post-It Adhesive Roll, White, 1x400 in

Neenah Cardstock, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, 250 Sheet Ream

Neenah Cardstock, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, 25 pk

Be Creative Tape, 12mm (1/2")

Tim Holtz, Ruler

Tim Holtz Tonic Retractable Craft Knife

Fiskars Craft Knife, Fingertip

Hero Arts Embossing Gun

12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist 2015 - Day 12 by Sandy Allnock and Dawn Woleslagle

Thank you for joining us on this last day of our 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist and for visiting these past 12 days. Tomorrow is your last opportunity to leave some love on each of the posts from this year's series to win a chance at a $25 gift coupon to our store. You still have 3 days to enter our challenges shared on each post for a chance to win a $150 gift coupon- don't delay!!!

We are so thrilled to have Sandy Allnock here to help us wrap up our 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist this year! Over this past year I have been so very blessed to get to know Sandy better - on multiple occasions she has stepped in last minute to help me. I am truly grateful for her love, support and friendship! 

Working together with her on her Go for the Gold series was so much fun and it made me realize that Sandy is a little energizer bunny - her energy, enthusiasm and commitment to sharing and teaching is something we are blessed to be a part of. In my books Sandy deserves a gold medal for that series :)

Be certain to watch Sandy's blog as she is getting ready to roll out a fab new design which will allow you to more easily find what you are looking for AND Sandy will be offering new classes! You can also find Sandy on Periscope sharing her lessons live each day - each session is filled with so many tidbits. It is amazing to watch her work with no editing as shares tips, tricks, and so much more! I can't begin to fathom being able to keep the camera rolling and working, talking and keeping up with the banter of those who follow her - you will learn a LOT if you join her 

Thank you Sandy for sharing your love and laughter with me this past year! We love that you have shared your newest obsession with us today! -Ellen

---

Hello and Merry Christmas! I'm so excited to be bringing you the final tags in this series...and partnering with my friend Dawn from Wplus9 to create tags that double as ornaments! 

(For complete challenge information head to this post.)

First let's look at my little creations. I got a bit carried away once I started playing! The wreaths I made use Yupo paper as the base - if you haven't tried it, it's worth a look! It's a synthetic paper - so it feels, for lack of a better description, like plastic. A dull plastic paper. That means that wet mediums need to air dry, and they'll take a while - yet they can also be reworked easily afterward, since the paint is sitting entirely atop the paper. Interesting techniques can be done using this property!

For the watercoloring, I used both Brusho and Color Burst, and also created one with Dr Ph Martins Hydrus just to show you can use other kinds of watercolor too. This is a technique you might best learn from a video - so I made one! Watch it below or click HERE to watch in HD on YouTube.

With any of the watercolors on Yupo, if you're using it as a card or ornament, you'll want to find a way to secure the color in place. The slightest touch of any liquid and the color will move right away. As well, if the paint gets "thick" or "pools up" on the paper, as shown in the video, it remains tacky - for a framed painting it's fine. I created this painting that utilizes that effect on purpose to create rich color, but the painting is tacky - once framed, it doesn't matter at all, though.

In the video, I showed three ways to secure the color on a tag or card so it's protected from touches that would move it - Distress Glaze, a vellum layer, and Glossy Accents.

And now let's join Dawn to see what she has created! -Sandy

Black Velvet Watercolor Brushes, Short Round 4

Ranger Mini Mister Set

Ranger Mini Mister, Individual

Dr. Ph. Martin's Hydrus Fine Art Liquid Watercolors, Set 1

Ranger Accents, Glossy Accents

Ranger Accents, Mini Glossy Accents

Yupo Watercolor Paper Pads, 9x12 White

WPlus9 Design Studio Dies, Woodland Wreaths

Colourcraft Brusho Crystal Colour Watercolors - Rose Red 15g

Colourcraft Brusho Crystal Colour Watercolors - Terracotta 15g

Colourcraft Brusho Crystal Colour Watercolors - Leaf Green 15g

Ken Oliver Color Burst, Alizarin Crimson

Ken Oliver Color Burst, Pthalo Green

Ken Oliver Color Burst, Terre Verte

Lawn Fawn Hemp Cord, Gold Sparkle

WPlus9 Design Studio Clear Stamps, Drummer Boy

WPlus9 Design Studio Dies, Gift Card Layers

Delicata Ink Pad, Golden Glitz

Ranger Stickles, Christmas Red

Ranger Liquid Pearls, Rose Gold

Heidi Swapp Color Shine Spritz, Gold Lame

For our final day of our 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist, we are excited to once again share Dawn Woleslagle, the owner and designer for Wplus9 Design Studio's, beautiful tags with you! Dawn's watercolor and Copic creations over the last few months have taken my breath away - her work is simply stunning!

The delicate foliage on this tag is created using the Under the Mistletoe die! You must pop over to Dawn's blog, Stamp Away with Me, where she has shared a how-to video showing us how she created these beauties!

Dawn, thank you for sharing your artistic talents with us today and for creating these oh-so-pretty ornament shaped tags to wrap up our series!

 

My Favorite Things Clear Stamps, Hand Lettered Holiday

WPlus9 Design Studio Dies, Folk Art Alphabet

WPlus9 Design Studio Dies, Anastasia Tag

WPlus9 Design Studio Dies, Clear Cut Stackers, Circles

WPlus9 Design Studio Dies, Under the Mistletoe

WPlus9 Design Studio Dies, Basic Banners

Ranger Distress Watercolor Cardstock

Ranger Distress Marker, Crushed Olive

Ranger Distress Marker, Tumbled Glass

Ranger Distress Marker, Fired Brick

Black Velvet Watercolor Brushes, Short Round 2

Heidi Swapp Minc, Toner Pen

iCraft Deco Foil Peel n Stick Toner Sheets

Heidi Swapp Minc, Reactive Foil - Gold

Heidi Swapp Mini Minc Foil Applicator, 6 -inch

Scotch Double-Sided Foam Mounting Tape

Ranger Multi Medium, Matte Mini, 1/2 oz.

Ranger Multi Medium, Matte With Brush, 1 oz.

Ranger Multi Medium, Matte Jar, 3.8 oz.

Lawn Fawn Hemp Cord, Gold Sparkle

Sizzix Big Shot Plus

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Thank you for joining us once again this year for our annual 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist! Please leave a comment with your appreciation for Sandy and Dawn below (by noon, Pacific time on 12/13/15), you will automatically become eligible for the random drawing of the $25 gift certificate to our store www.ellenhutson.com by sharing your love with them. One comment per person, please. You will want to make certain you have left a comment on each of our 12 Tags posts - that's 12 opportunities to win a $25 gift code to our store and bring joy to the artists who created these special tags for us!

 

We have been honored to have you join us here in our classroom!  We hope that you have felt welcome and have enjoyed the varied styles presented by our Designers and Guest Designers.  It has been our heartfelt desire to inspire you, to encourage you to expand your creative horizons...and to find your own joy in creating.  From all of us at Ellen Hutson LLC, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday season!

12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist 2015 - Day 11 by Sharon Harnist and Jean Manis

Hi, everyone -- Sharon Harnist here, and I am so happy to be bringing you our 11th Day of The 12 Tags Of Christmas With A Feminine Twist ... just one more day left in this year's series!  This is definitely my favorite post of the year that I always look forward to and I had great fun choosing our theme for today, which is The Night Before Christmas!  I am also delighted to have Jean Manis joining me as our guest designer!

(For complete challenge information head to this post.)

I naturally think of a beautifully dark and glowing midnight blue sky glittered with falling snow, with moonlight to guide Santa's sleigh, so here's my tag: 

My night sky was sponged/blended onto a #8 manila tag with Distress Inks: 1-Salty Ocean towards the bottom, 2-Chipped Sapphire on top, then brightened in the middle with 3-Blueprint Sketch:

Next, I used Taylored Expressions Snowfall Embossing Folder on the tag. Then, to make the snow appear, I lightly sponged white pigment ink over the top of the raised embossed dots.  Please note: You may see some additional debossed snow "dots" on my background that are not white ... you won't have those if you emboss the correct side of your tag to begin with, LOL! <<(insert rolling eyeballs)!!

The Taylored Expressions Eventful-Night Before Christmas die I used on the bottom of my tag makes the perfect scene of village shops and homes for Santa to fly over!  It was die cut from Bazzill Licorice Twist cardstock and the windows backed with Sour Lemon cardstock (a separate die for the window backings is included in this die set!).

The window light was glistened with Clear Wink of Stella, as was Santa and his sleigh! The smoke from the chimney was colored with Kirarina WiNK White Pearl Pen -- I love that these pens give a nice opaque coverage, even on the darkest cardstock!

I also used the Kirarina marker to color Rudolph's nose white (shown above), so I could then give it a red glow with Copic R27 marker!

The "moon" was die cut from silver glitter paper and the Essentials by Ellen Jingle sentiment from the Holly Jolly stamp set stamped with Memento Luxe Tuxedo Black pigment ink.  I was delighted with these results (after a few attempts with other inks) and will be stamping on glitter paper much more often now!

We can't wait to see your take on our Night Before Christmas theme!

Be sure to check out Jean's beautiful take on this Night Before Christmas theme -- obviously we were both thinking alike (and had not discussed our ideas at all before-hand!).  I love her bright, clean white and snowy silhouette village with pops of bright color! -Sharon

for Sharon's tag

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Holly Jolly by Julie Ebersole

Taylored Expressions Dies, Eventful - Night Before Christmas

Taylored Expression Dies, On Dasher, On Dancer

Taylored Expression Embossing Folders, Snowfall

My Favorite Things Die-namics, STAX Circle Set 1

Jingle Bells, 1/4", Silver

String by the Spool, Metallic Silver

Ranger Ink Blending Tool, 1 Inch Round

Ranger Ink Blending Tool Replacement Foam, 1 Inch Round

Ranger Inkssentials Surfaces, Manila Tag #8

Ranger Distress Mini Ink Pad, Salty Ocean

Ranger Distress Mini Ink Pad, Kit #2

Ranger Distress Mini Ink Pad, Chipped Sapphire

Ranger Distress Mini Ink Pad, Kit #12

Ranger Distress Ink Pad, Blueprint Sketch

Ranger Distress Mini Kit Ink Pad, Kit #14

Memento Luxe Ink Pad, Wedding Dress

Memento Luxe Ink Pad, Tuxedo Black

American Crafts, Pow! Glitter Paper, 12x12 Silver Solid, 2 pk

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Licorice Twist, 10 pk

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Sour Lemon, 10 pk

Kirarina Wink Pen, White Pearl (024)

COPIC Sketch Marker R27, Cadmium Red

Zig Wink of Stella Glitter Brush Tip Marker, Clear

Memory Box Dies, Metal Adaptor Plate

Sizzix Big Shot White & Gray

High Tack Double-Sided Foam Mounting Tape, 1/2"

X-Press It Glue Marker

 

We’re delighted to have a ‘local’ designer and a Taylored Expressions Design Team member to add to Day 11!  Please welcome back Jean Manis, a regular Ellen Hutson, LLC contributor (and contributing instructor of Online Card Classes)!  We love the punches of color that Jean has used to tie together the sweet winter scene, bringing home the tree, while Santa circles overhead.  Thank you, Jean!  It’s a great design for Day 11!  We highly recommend adding Jean’s blog right as rain to your bookmarked sites so that you can enjoy more of her clean, simple style! Thank you Jean for inspiring us with your delightful tag!

for Jean's tag

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Santa's Flight by Julie Ebersole

Taylored Expressions Dies, Stitched Rectangle Stacklets

Taylored Expressions Dies, Neighborhood Border

Taylored Expressions Dies, Build a Scene - Rolling Hills

Taylored Expressions Dies, Build a Scene - Central Park

Taylored Expressions Dies, Little Bits - 'Tis the Season

Taylored Expressions Dies, Tag Reinforcements

VersaFine Ink Pad, Onyx Black

VersaMark Ink Pad

VersaMark Ink Pad, Small

Hero Arts Embossing Powder, White

Ranger Super Fine Embossing Powder, Clear

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Gumball, 25 pk

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Gumdrop, 25 pk

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Wax Lips, 25 pk

Bazzill 40 lb. Vellum, 25 pk

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Licorice Twist, 25 pk

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Marshmallow Chick, 25 pk

Neenah Cardstock, Neenah Heavyweight, Classic Crest Solar White 110 lb, 25 pk

Lawn Fawn Hemp Cord, Peppermint

Be Creative Tape, 3mm (1/8")

Scrapbook Adhesives 3-D Foam Squares, Small White

---

This year's 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist series has sure flown by fast! Be sure to leave your appreciation for the fabulous tags of our day 11 dynamic duo, Sharon and Jean, and you will be eligible for the random drawing of the $25 gift certificate to our store www.ellenhutson.com. Leave your comment before noon on December 13th to be included (one comment per person please.) Remember, we have one more day of awesomeness coming - the dynamic duo of Sandy and Dawn are ready to knock your socks off tomorrow!

12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist 2015 - Day 10 by Carly Minner and Kelly Alvarez

Hi! Carly here and I'm so excited to be joining you for Day 10 of The 12 Tags Of Christmas With A Feminine Twist! I feel extra lucky to not only be creating my first tag in The 12 Tags Of Christmas With A Feminine Twist tradition but the amazing & talented Kelly Alvarez from Lawn Fawn is my partner today! Today we both created tags based on this sketch:

(For complete challenge information head to this post.)

I used some of my favorite Lawn Fawn and Essentials by Ellen goodies to create this:

1. I started by cutting a 3-1/4 x 6-1/4 tag from my favorite cardstock, Smooth Bristol.

 2. I wanted to watercolor the circular background shown in the sketch but I wanted them to look like circles, lol, so I used some of my Lawn Fawn circle dies as guides. I used Distress ink Peacock Feathers and Cracked Pistachio.

3. I stamped the Lawn Fawn Yeti in VersaFine Oynx Black. Then I colored his body with a Zig Clean Color Real Brush Marker in Cool Gray 099, blending with a waterbrush.

4. I colored my Yeti's face, hands and feet with Zig Clean Color Real Brush Marker in Light Blue 036, blending with a waterbrush.

5. I watercolored my Yeti's mouth with Distress ink Abandoned Coral.

6. Then I thought my Yeti needed a little glam so I put a little Stickles Star Dust onto my non-stick craft sheet and applied it to his body with a waterbrush. You could also apply Stickles directly from the bottle but I like the control the waterbrush gives me.

7. To create my little trees I stamped them in Stazon Jet Black on Crystal Clear Plastic. Then I used alcohol inks to watercolor them. The technique is super easy - you put drops of alcohol ink into a palette and allow it to air dry. Then you use the Alcohol Ink Blending Pen to color on the backside of the plastic (you can also use a waterbrush filled with Blending Solution. For the trees I used Botanical and Bottle Alcohol inks.

8. I stamped ear muffs from the Lawn Fawn Yeti Set Go set in Versafine Onyx Black and colored them with Zig Clean Color Real Brush Marker in Light Violet 081.

9. I used the Yeti Set Go coordinating dies to die cut all of my stamped & colored pieces - my Yeti, ear muffs and trees.

10. I created the cord snowflakes on my tag by punching holes and threading Lawn Fawn Hemp Cord in Aquamarine, through the holes. Super easy!

11. I added a few itty bitty stamped snowflakes in Cracked Pistachio Distress ink and a sentiment from the Essentials by Ellen Merry & Bright stamp set.

12. Then assembled the pieces of my tag.

 

 

for Carly's tag

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Merry & Bright by Julie Ebersole

Lawn Fawn Clear Stamps, Yeti Set Go

Lawn Cuts Dies, Yeti Set Go

Lawn Cuts Dies, Circle Stackables

VersaFine Ink Pad, Onyx Black

Ranger Distress Ink Pad, Peacock Feathers

Ranger Distress Mini Ink Pad, Peacock Feathers

Ranger Distress Ink Pad, Cracked Pistachio

Ranger Distress Mini Kit Ink Pad, Kit #13

Ranger Distress Ink Pad, Abandoned Coral

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 099, Cool Gray 1

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 036, Light Blue

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 081, Light Violet

Ranger Tim Holtz Adirondack Alcohol Ink, Botanical

Ranger Tim Holtz Adirondack Alcohol Ink, Bottle

StazOn Midi Pad, Jet Black

Stazon Solvent Ink Pad, Jet Black

Essentials by Ellen, Julie's Smooth Bristol, 10pc-8.5" x 11"

Crystal Clear Plastic, Medium Weight 8 1/2" x 11" (10 pk)

Ranger Stickles, Star Dust

Lawn Fawn Hemp Cord, Aquamarine

Ranger Tim Holtz Adirondack Alcohol Blending Solution

Ranger Tim Holtz Adirondack Alcohol Ink Fillable Pen

We are honored to have Kelly Alvarez, owner of Lawn Fawn, joining us again this year! Kelly's cheerful, bright nature comes across in every single one of her creations! The no-line coloring Kelly features using the sweet little fawn wearing her festive hat takes center stage (or in this case, center drift). Inspiration is in abundance on the Lawn Fawn blog and "no matter how you slice it" there is always loads of excitement to be shared there. 

Thank you Kelly for sharing your sweet tag and inspiring us with your creativity!

for Kelly's tag

Neenah Cardstock, Neenah Heavyweight, Classic Crest Solar White 110 lb, 25 pk

Ranger Watercolor Paper, 10 pk

Crystal Clear Plastic, Medium Weight 8 1/2" x 11" (10 pk)

Lawn Fawn Petite Paper Pack, Lets Polka - Mon Amie

Lawn Fawn Clear Stamps, Toboggan Together

Lawn Fawn Clear Stamps, Let's Bokeh

Lawn Cuts Dies, Tag You're It

Lawn Cuts Dies, Small Stitched Circle Stackables

Lawn Cuts Dies, Stitched Hillside Border

Lawn Cuts Dies, Toboggan Together

Lawn Cuts Dies, Mini Snowflakes

Lawn Cuts Dies, Snowy Backdrop

VersaMark Ink Pad

Ranger Distress Ink Pad, Antique Linen

Delicata Ink Pad, Silvery Shimmer

Kuretake Gansai Tambi, 36 Color Set

Sponge Applicator, Sponge Dauber w/ Airtight Cap

Glitter Ritz Transparent Microfine, Cool Highlights

Ranger Super Fine Embossing Powder, Silver

Powder Tool Adhesive Deactivator

Scrapbook Adhesives 3-D Foam Squares, Small White

Scrapbook Adhesives 3-D Foam Creative Sheets

EK Tools, Precision 5 Inch Scissors with Sheath

Sizzix Big Shot White & Gray

Hero Arts Embossing Gun

Lawn Fawn Hemp Cord, Silver Sparkle

Ranger Multi Medium, Matte Mini, 1/2 oz.

Tombow Stamp Runner Dot Adhesive Runner & Refill

Ranger Artist Brush Set (7 Piece)

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We appreciate you joining us again today and would love for you to leave a comment for Carly and Kelly here today thanking them for sharing their creativity with us. Your comment automatically makes you eligible for the random drawing of the $25 gift certificate to our store www.ellenhutson.com. Leave your comment before noon on December 13th to be included (one comment per person please.) We look forwards to having you join us again tomorrow when Sharon and Jean will feature Taylored Expressions!

12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist - Day 9 by Heather Campbell and Melania Deasy

Hey there! Welcome to Day 9 of Ellen’s amazing 12 tags of Christmas! I love this series emphasizing a feminine twist and how fun are all these different takes! Today I’m here with a fun sketch and the incredibly talented Melania Deasy.

(For complete challenge information head to this post.)

I went with more of a loose interpretation of it. :)

To start, I die cut a tag shape. I love using non-tag dies to create tags. It’s fun to look through a stack of dies and brainstorm possibilities! Plus, it’s a great way to stretch your stash. I decided to use this die to create my tag shape and then used the inside pierced banner as the square in my sketch.

Next, I started on some snowdrifts. I cut my forward-most snowdrift from white cardstock.

Then, I decided to make a white glittery snowdrift. Instead of keeping an endless supply of glitter cardstock on hand, I’ve realized it’s really fun to make my own glitter paper. To do this I just use Scor-Tape and glitter. 

Once I had the Scor-Tape adhered, I die cut it out of the tag shape and also a snow drift.

Then, I piled on the glitter!

It's so sparkly and pretty in real life!  I love how easy this is and a great way to really add umpf and custom glitter to your designs!

For my last line of the sketch, I decided to add a mountain in the background, using the new Avery Elle Snow Caps dies.

Here it is put together.  Now I can get started on that focal image!

Finally, I am ready to add my focal image – a sweet little dear. I stamped her in Memento and colored with Copics.

I love how sweet this little dear is!

Lastly, I stamped and heat embossed asentiment curved along the line of the snow drift and adhered the top snowdrift to my card.

Here are all the layers assembled.

To create the tag, I simply punched a hole through the die cut banner and added some ribbon and twine.

Ta-da!!! Thank you so much for spending part of your day with me. Enjoy reading more about Melania below and have a great day!
XOXO,
Heather

 

Avery Elle Clear Stamps, Snow Globe

Avery ELLE-ments Dies, Scalloped Banner

Avery ELLE-ments Dies, Snow Caps

Be Creative Tape, 25mm (1")

Elizabeth Craft Designs Silk Microfine Glitter, White

Ranger Super Fine Embossing Powder, Clear

VersaFine Ink Pad, Onyx Black

Lawn Fawn Hemp Cord, Cloudy

Avery ELLE-ments Dies, Snow Globe

Avery Elle 6x6 Paper Pad, Everyday Collection

Memento Ink Pad, Tuxedo Black

COPIC Sketch Marker E42, Sand White

COPIC Sketch Marker E55, Light Camel

Neenah Cardstock, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, 25 pk

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Taffy, 25 pk

Crop-A-Dile Power Punch, 1/4"

We are grinning from ear-to-ear as Melania helps us showcase the Avery Elle line! Adorableness abounds with these sweet, shaker winter tags.  Guaranteed to bring instant smiles to the lucky recipients!  

A published designer for various teams currently including Avery Elle, Mama Elephant and My Favorite Things Melania was one of the celebrated Paper Crafts Gallery Idol's back in 2012. This comes as no surprise - her work is always beautifully put together with a keen eye for balance and color use. Be certain to visit Melania's blog for instructions and don't forget to bookmark it for future inspiration!

Melania, thank you for sharing your talents with us here today in the CLASSroom - your adorable tags will bring a smile to the lucky recipient! 

    for Melania's tag

Avery ELLE-ments Dies, Pinked Elle-ments

Avery Elle Clear Stamps, Snow Much Fun by Heather Campbell

Avery ELLE-ments Dies, Snow Much Fun

Avery ELLE-ments Dies, Snow Caps

Bazzill 40 lb. Vellum, 25 pk

Ranger Stickles, Diamond

Hero Arts Embossing Powder, White

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Thank you for joining us once again this year for Day 9 of our 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist series! Simply leave your appreciation for Heather's and Melania's adorable tags here today and you will be eligible for the random drawing of the $25 gift certificate to our store www.ellenhutson.com. Leave your comment before noon on December 13th to be included (one comment per person please.) Be certain to return tomorrow to see what creativity our next dynamic duo will surprise you with!

12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist - Day 8 by Lisa Adametz and Jill Foster

Hi everyone! It's Lisa with you today and welcome to a VERY special #TexturalTuesdays!! I'm beyond excited to have one of the most talented ladies in the biz here in The CLASSroom  with me today to share her beautiful work with us today. My prompt for all of you is to show non-traditional colors with texture. (You all know how I love my texture!) And Jill Foster ROCKs both! 

 (For complete challenge information head to this post.)

First, I adhered a piece of watercolor paper directly to the manila tag and cut it to size. This way I have the perfect surface for a watercolor tag! I am using the Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolors to color my background and also the Inkadinkado Stamping Mask Paper to mask off my images (which I die cut) for placement.

It kinda looks weird at this point, doesn't it? I love that!!

Next lay your stencil over the entire piece, tack it down with low-tack tape (if possible), and using a palette knife spread Texture Luxe™ in Pearl through the stencil. (I reuse these paper stencils until they die, as you can tell.) Pull the stencil straight up.

Then carefully peel up your masks and allow the Texture Luxe™ to dry.

Next, stamp the Mondo Poinsettia (large - one time, small - twice) using Versafine Onyx Black Ink and heat set with Clear Embossing Powder on watercolor paper.

Color the images with Art GRIP Aquarelle Watercolor Pencils in Neutrals and Reds (I used black, grey, and silver for the leaves and a deep red for the center).

Die-cut the Mondo Poinsettia flowers with the coordinating die. Embellish the flower centers with Ranger Enamel Accents in Black. Blend the watercoloring further with the Zig Wink of Stella Glitter Brush Tip Marker in Clear.

I also die cut the word "Joy" (Love and Joy - Penny Black) 3 times from Bazzill Card Shoppe Licorice Twist and 2 times from Neenah Classic Crest Solar White Heavy Weight Cardstock 110# and adhered them all together, but slightly offset.

Before adhering the flowers in place place plenty of Scrapbook Adhesives 3D foam squares on the back for dimension. And die cut some of the Berry Leaves from the Leaves Penny Black Die and tuck behind the large Poinsettia before adhering.

A little close-up action! ;)

 

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Mondo Poinsettia by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, Mondo Poinsettia by Julie Ebersole

Kuretake Gansai Tambi, 36 Color Set

Ranger Inkssentials Surfaces, Manila Tag #10

Ranger Watercolor Paper, 10 pk

Inkadinkado Embossing Magic Bag

Inkadinkado Stamping Mask Paper, 5x7, 12 pk

VersaFine Ink Pad, Onyx Black

Ranger Super Fine Embossing Powder, Clear

Black Velvet Watercolor Brushes, Short Round 8

Black Velvet Watercolor Brushes, Short Round 2

Faber-Castell Mixed Media Stencils, 101 Collection

Faber-Castell Texture Luxe Texture Paste, Pearl

Art GRIP Color Pencils, Set of 6, Neutrals

Art GRIP Color Pencils, Set of 6, Red

Zig Wink of Stella Glitter Brush Tip Marker, Clear

Zig Wink of Stella Glitter Brush Tip Marker, Black

Ranger Accents, Enamel Accents - Black and White

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Licorice Twist, 10 pk

Neenah Cardstock, Neenah Heavyweight, Classic Crest Solar White 110 lb, 25 pk

Essentials by Ellen 40 lb. Vellum, 25 pk

Penny Black Dies, Leaves

Penny Black Dies, Love and Joy

Lawn Fawn Hemp Cord, Silver Sparkle

Scrapbook Adhesives 3-D Foam Squares, Small Black

2 Way Glue, Fine Tip

Fiskars SureCut Deluxe Craft Paper Trimmer (12")

Sizzix Big Shot White & Gray

We're always dazzled by Jill's fabulous creations - in fact, we are just tickled pink (and yellow and blue and purple) to be able to share Jill's non-traditional colors and textures tag with you!  Jill showcases Penny Black's stamps and dies to help us think outside of our creative box.  You can find so much inspiration using the Penny Black stamps, dies and stencils on the blog she shares with Elizabeth - be certain to check out Studio Sessions and be inspired! Thank you so much Jill!  It's adorable!

for Jill's tag

Penny Black Clear Stamps, Twinkle & Wish

Penny Black Dies, Snow Time

Penny Black Stencils, Holly Medley

Ranger Archival Ink Pad, Potting Soil by Wendy Vecchi

VersaFine Ink Pad, Onyx Black

Sakura Koi Watercolor Paint, Pocket Field Sketch Box

COPIC Sketch Marker E29, Burnt Umber

COPIC Sketch Marker E00, Skin White

COPIC Sketch Marker E31, Brick Beige

COPIC Sketch Marker R20, Blush

COPIC Sketch Marker E09, Burnt Sienna

Faber-Castell Gesso

Dreamweaver Embossing Paste, Pearlescent, 4 oz.

Ranger Embossing Powder, Clear

Pearls 12" Strip, White

Hero Arts Accent Pearls, Small

Canson XL Watercolor Paper Pad 9x12

String by the Spool, Natural Burlap

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Thank you for joining us once again this year for Day 8 of our 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist series! We would love it if you would leave a comment below sharing your appreciation for Lisa's and Jill's beautiful tags here today and you will be eligible for the random drawing of the $25 gift certificate to our store www.ellenhutson.com. Leave your comment before noon on December 13th to be included (one comment per person please.) Be certain to return tomorrow to for some Christmas tag inspiration using Avery Elle stamps!

 

12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist 2015 - Day 7 by Julie Ebersole and Miriam Prantner

(click on the pics to enbiggan)

What a great tradition this has become over the years! It's always so fun to see what everybody on our team has done and to have guests this year, playing along with us, is AWESOME!!!

(For complete challenge information head to this post.)

I chose a theme for my tag this year:  Santa

 

It will probably come as no surprise to you that I watercolored on my tag... I love how it turned out with the over-embossed "special delivery" from the North Pole tag image from the Santa's Flight set--I have been wanting to make this tag for what seems like eons... There was considerable monkey-clapping goin' on when I finished!

Enjoy the video in HD on our YouTube Channel and thanks for giving it a thumbs' up!

 

I'm also excited to present my special guest, Miriam Prantner! I ADORE her take on the Santa theme and how she incorporated the tree branches, creating a framed effect--BEAUTIFUL and sophisticated!!!

 for Julie's tag

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Santa's Flight by Julie Ebersole

Ranger Distress Stain, Barn Door

Ranger Distress Stain, Picked Raspberry

Ranger Distress Stain, Festive Berries

VersaMark Ink Pad

Ranger Archival Ink Pad, Vermillion

Hero Arts Shadow Ink, Soft Granite

Ranger Artist Brush Set (7 Piece)

Letterpress 110 lb. Cardstock, White, 10 pk

American Crafts Specialty Paper, Christmas Glitter, 6x6 Paper Pad

Essentials by Ellen 40 lb. Vellum, 25 pk

Stampendous Embossing Powder, Detail White, 0.76 oz.

WOW Embossing Powder, Super Fine - Opaque Bright White

Inkadinkado Embossing Magic Bag

Powder Tool Adhesive Deactivator

Hero Arts Embossing Gun

String by the Spool, Metallic Silver

Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, Poinsettia & Pine by Julie Ebersole

Glue Dots Sheets, Mini

Sizzix Big Shot White & Gray

We are thrilled to have Miriam join us in our Santa Theme, on this 7th day of our 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist! Miriam Prantner is uber talented and you will most definitely want to mark her blog, Sooner Rather Than Later, to be inspired! She has designed oodles of gorgeous stamps and dies for Neat and Tangled which I have been eyeing and also is on the MFT Challenge Team!

Some little ones will watch from windows with a clear view - and others may peek through pine boughs waiting for the magical moments of Santa's arrival. Combining elements of three different Essentials by Ellen stamps, Miriam provides us with a different perspective on keeping an eye open for Jolly Old St. Nick!  Thank you, Miriam, we love your tag!

for Miriam's tag

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Christmas Scribbles by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Santa's Flight by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Holly Jolly by Julie Ebersole

VersaFine Ink Pad, Onyx Black

Kuretake Gansai Tambi, 36 Color Set

Zig Wink of Stella Glitter Brush Tip Marker, Gold

Stampendous Embossing Powder, Gold

Ranger Super Fine Embossing Powder, Clear

Ranger Ink Blending Tool, 1 Inch Round

Ranger Ink Blending Tool Replacement Foam, 1 Inch Round

Canson XL Watercolor Paper Pad 9x12

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Thank you for joining us once again this year for our 7th day of our 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist series! To have a chance to be eligible for the random drawing of the $25 gift certificate to our store www.ellenhutson.com, be sure to leave a note of your appreciation to today's fabulous team, Julie and Miriam - for their work on these incredible tags.  Your comment must be posted before noon on December 13th to be included for the drawing(one comment per person please.) Please return tomorrow to see what our 8th day's lovely ladies will wow you with!

 

12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist 2015 - Day 6 by Jennifer McGuire and Kelly Purkey

Today we are blessed to have two extremely talented young ladies joining us as we share our love with and for Hero Arts! There are so many fun and different ways to use snowflakes and we look forwards to seeing where their inspiration leads you. Don't forget to leave comments on all of our posts to win our random drawings each day throughout this series!

 (For complete challenge information head to this post.)

I am always inspired by techniques and it is one of the first things that drew me to Jennifer McGuire's work many years ago. Her detailed explanations and the step-outs she shares make it so very easy to learn and experiment with the techniques that she shares. You can find so much inspiration on her blog Jennifer McGuire Ink and the classes she co-teaches with Kristina Werner at Online Card Classes. 

Today I am once again thrilled to have Jennifer join in the fun as we share her sparkly snowflake tags and thorough instructions with you. These beauties can be used on a gift or double as a Christmas tree ornament. 

Thank you Jennifer for the support, kindness and encouragement you have shared with me over the years - I am so very blessed by your friendship. We appreciate the time you have taken to share this fabulous video and idea with us today! -Ellen

Yay! It is my favorite time of the year again… Ellen’s 12 Tags of Christmas! This series is always so inspiring, so I am very honored to be a part of it.

In my video, I show how to use your dies to create an inlaid ombre glitter look. Sounds cool, huh? Basically the glitter is set back into the paper for a smooth look that doesn’t rub off. I also blended the glitters together for an ombre look. And it isn’t hard! You can do this with any dies.

I hope you will give this technique a try. And a huge hug to Ellen for filling this industry with positive energy, support, and love. 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! -Jennifer

Enjoy watching Jennifer's video on our YouTube Channel and help us say thank you to Jennifer by taking a moment to give it a thumbs up to show our appreciation!

Hero Arts Fancy Frames, Snowflake

Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, Zipper Panel by Julie Ebersole

Hero Arts Stamp & Cuts, Winter Cheer Tags by Lia Griffith

VersaMark Ink Pad

Hero Arts Embossing Powder, White

Hero Arts Embossing Gun

Elizabeth Craft Designs Silk Microfine Glitter, Silver

Elizabeth Craft Designs Silk Microfine Glitter, Vintage Pink

Elizabeth Craft Designs Silk Microfine Glitter, Fuchsia

Teflon Bone Folder

3M Micropore Paper Tape, 2 pk

Be Creative Sheets, 5 pk (8x11)

Sizzix Big Shot White & Gray

We are happy to have Kelly Purkey joining us today for Day 6 of our feminine tags. Kelly's busy schedule includes traveling all over the world where she documents her passion for food and creativity. It is fun to see her clean, minimalist style showcased today as she uses her signature line of products with Hero Arts. The garland created using these versatile stamps adds a festive touch to her tag. Thank you Kelly for sharing your time and creativity with us!

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Hello there, I’m excited to be sharing a tag today with a snowflake theme. I’ve been using my Clearly Kelly S’no Problem stamp set to add little snowflakes to lots of projects and it’s sized perfectly for a little tag.

1. Start with the Hero Arts Candy Stripe Bold Pattern stamp to create the background. This is a 6x6 stamp but I’ve cut mine down to make it easier to use for card making or to create 3x4 Project Life cards. Stamp with pink ink to create the background.

2. Trim down a transparency to fit just inside your regular tag. Stamp transparency with Stazon White Ink and S’no Problem stamps creating white snowflakes.

3. Use the stamp set to create a fun garland to embellish the tag. Stamp white cardstock with the snowflakes from the S’no Problem stamps in a variety of colors then cut out the snowflakes.

4. Adhere the snowflakes to a piece of twine to add onto your tags.

5. Adhere the transparency and the garland to the main tag. I wanted to embellish it just a bit more, so I used the S’no Problem set to stamp a greeting onto a piece of white paper, trimmed out, and adhered to the card. I added just a little bling with gold staples and a clip from the office supply store.

I hope this inspires you to create a pretty snowflake tag and happy holidays everyone! -Kelly

Hero Arts Clear Stamps, Kelly's S'no Problem

Hero Arts Ink Cubes, Kelly's Fashion Inks

Hero Arts Ink Cubes, Kelly's Coffee & Donuts Inks

Hero Arts Ink Cubes, Kelly's Urban Inks

Hero Arts Cling Stamps, Candy Stripe Bold Prints

StazOn Opaque Ink, Cotton White

Neenah Cardstock, Neenah Heavyweight, Classic Crest Solar White 110 lb, 25 pk

String by the Spool, Natural Burlap

Tim Holtz, Tiny Attacher

Crystal Clear Plastic, Medium Weight 8 1/2" x 11" (10 pk)

Crop-a-Dile Eyelet & Snap Punch

Crop-a-Dile Corner Chomper Tool

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Thank you for joining us once again this year for our 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist series! Please leave your appreciation for Jennifer's and Kelly's beautiful tags here today and you will be eligible for the random drawing of the $25 gift certificate to our store www.ellenhutson.com. Leave your comment before noon on December 13th to be included (one comment per person please.) Be certain to return tomorrow to see our special edition Hello, Monday with Julie sharing her tag along with our guest Miriam Prantner - you won't want to miss it.

12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist 2015 - Day 5 by Carissa Wiley and Kryssi Ng

Hi everyone!  So happy to be here today to bring you the 5th Day of The 12 Tags Of Christmas With A Feminine Twist!  How appropriate that I got day 5. We're talking about glitz and glimmer and glitter and if you'll recall, in the song, on the fifth day was FIVE GOLDEN RINGS!  It really works for me, ya know? So we're going to glitz and glitter and glam it up today!  

(For complete challenge information head to this post.)

And we're going to have some fun doing it!  I'll be featuring some awesome supplies from Mama Elephant.  Kryssi from Mama Elephant is joining me as today's guest designer and she's got something fabulous for you too!

I started with the Mama Elephant Tags A Lot die set.  This die set is perfect for all your tag making needs.  I wanted to use the banner shaped stitched tag for my tag base, but I wanted it to be just slightly longer.  I did a little partial die cutting with some Essentials By Ellen Linen Card Stock to achieve this.  This allows me to layer this on top of a #8 Ranger Tag and keep the proportions right.  I love the look of layered tags.  It gives the tag more weight and prominence on your gifts.

While I had my die cut machine out, I also cut several other pieces for my tag.  I cut the banner from the Tags A Lot die set from some patterned paper and some Licorice Twist card stock.  I also cut the Merry Script die, a bow from the Slim Tags Trio and the tag topper, all from Mama Elephant.  I finished the die cutting by adding some dot details to the bottom of the Ranger tag using the Mama Elephant Fine Trimmings Die Set.  Doing all of my die cutting at once saves me time in the long run.

I've used some American Crafts glitter card stock for both of my tags today.  I love using the glitter card stock to add shimmer and shine to my projects (as you probably know).  This card stock can be challenging for some to achieve a clean cut.  I've found that by using the Sizzix Precision Base Plate I get a clean and precise cut every time.  The Precision Base Plate also works great for cutting intricate dies and acetate (which can also be pretty tricky to cut).

Once I had all of my die cutting done, I moved on to the stamping.  I used a few sets from Mama Elephant along with the Christmas Scribbles Stamp Set from the Essentials By Ellen line.  I love that the fonts from the die cut and sentiments work so well together, even though they are made and designed by different companies.  Look in your stash for fonts that play well together to give your project a cohesive look.  

To make my sentiment fit on the banner from the Mama Elephant Tags A Lot set, I did a little stamp forming.  I'll show you this in the video tutorial below.  Because clear stamps are flexible, they can be formed to match banner shapes or follow the lines of a circle or other shape.  It's a great way to get more out of your stamps and combine things that weren't necessarily designed to work together.  I stamped the sentiment using Versamark ink and added some detail embossing powder so that the fine detail of the script wouldn't be distorted.

To add more shimmer and shine to this tag, I added some snow to my branches using some Clear Rock Candy Distress Glitter.  The Clear Rock Candy Distress Glitter makes for beautiful snow.  I added it using a thick layer of Multi Medium Matte in order to give it some dimension.  This touch is subtle but adds another beautiful element of glitz and glimmer to the tag.

Once I had assembled all of the elements of my tag together, I completed my glitter, glitz and glam theme with a couple more shiny elements.  The Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear sequins are a great way to add more glitz without detracting from the other details.  They just add some megawatt sparkle to catch the eye.  I also finished off the glitter sentiment with a layer of Glossy Accents.  This makes that glitter catch the eye even more!  And it adds another sparkly somethin' to the tag.

Once I had finished the tag, I decided to femme it up even more.  To create the ultra feminine version, I swapped the red for pink and the gold for silver.  I CHEATED ON GOLD!  And guess what?  I LOVED it.

I didn't think it was possible for me to love this tag anymore, but when I made these simple color swaps, my heart swooned a little.  I mean come on...who doesn't love a little pink and silver?  By keeping the traditional green color of the branches, it doesn't feel any less Christmas-y.

So there you have it...a couple of tags with plenty of glitz, glitter and glam for your holiday crafting.  Don't forget I've included a video tutorial walking you through the creation of this tag below.

Watch the Video

You can watch the video in HD on our YouTube channel by clicking HERE.  Now let's see what Kryssi has made for our viewing pleasure....

for Carissa's tag

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Christmas Scribbles by Julie Ebersole

Mama Elephant Clear Stamps, Confetti

Mama Elephant Clear Stamps, Jingle Greetings

Mama Elephant Creative Cuts, Tags a Lot

Mama Elephant Creative Cuts, Merry Script

Mama Elephant Creative Cuts, Slim Tags Trio

Mama Elephant Creative Cuts, Fine Trimmings

Basic Grey Juniper, 6x6 Paper Pad

Pebbles Jen Hadfield Homemade, DIY Home 6x6 paper pad

American Crafts Specialty Paper, Silver/Gold/Black Glitter, 6x6 Paper Pad

Avery Elle 6x6 Paper Pad, Neutral Collection

American Crafts Cardstock, Gold Glitter, 12x12, 2 pk

American Crafts, Pow! Glitter Paper, 12x12 Silver Solid, 2 pk

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Licorice Twist, 10 pk

Essentials by Ellen, White Linen #100 Cardstock, 25 Pack

Ranger Inkssentials Surfaces, Kraft Tag #8

Ranger Distress Glitter, Clear Rock Candy

Mama Elephant Creative Color Ink Pad, Mojito

Mama Elephant Creative Color Ink Pad, Apple

Avery Elle Ink Pad, Pixie

VersaMark Ink Pad

Hero Arts Dye Ink, Black

Ranger Super Fine Embossing Powder, White

Pretty Pink Posh Sequins, 6 mm Cupped, Sparkling Clear

Pretty Pink Posh Sequins, 4 mm Cupped, Sparkling Clear

Pretty Pink Posh Sequins, Sparkling Clear Mix (4mm, 6mm, 8mm &10mm )

Coats Metallic Thread, Silver

Coats Metallic Thread, Gold

Doodle Twine Spool, Ladybug

Doodle Twine Spool, Cupcake

2 Way Glue, Fine Tip

Ranger Multi Medium, Matte Mini, 1/2 oz.

Ranger Accents, Mini Glossy Accents

Quilled Creations Precision Tip Glue Applicator Bottle 0.5 oz.