Ingenious Inkling

Day 5 - I'll Be Home for Christmas

Day 5 of the 12 Tags of Christmas is I'll Be Home for Christmas. 

The first thing I do before I start a tag is pull up the lyrics of the song and read them through for ideas.  When I read these lyrics the phrase "if only in my dreams" is what triggered for me, particularly since I don't travel home for the holidays.  

 

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I decided to create my Christmas in my dreams by starting with the Essentials by Ellen Speech Bubble (or Dream Bubble in my case).  I then die cut it with the Essentials by Ellen Tag Trio and extended the height of the tag, so I could include more memories in my dreams.

 

 

My memories come from the Essentials by Ellen Made This For You stamps and Dies.  I stamped Essentials by Ellen Voices in my Head at the bottom and used a green marker on her eyes to create my hazel tone.

The finishing touches were a velvet holiday ribbon in her hair, snowflake bling from Eyelet Outlet on top of the Snowflake Die Cut, tiny bling by the sentiment and a sparkly enamel dot for the pom pom on the hat. 

I love how it turned out.

I'm also joining the International Art & Soul Challenge to use Dies or Punches.  It's also an Anything Goes Christmas Challenge at the Country View Challenge.

Day 4 - Let It Snow

It's Day 4 of the 12 Tags of Christmas at Ellen Hutson - Let It Snow.

 

 

I started by die cutting the largest Essentials by Ellen Snowflake from white felt.  I didn't quite like the look, so I die cut it a second time from Silver Glitter foam (and then ultimately stacked them together for dimension).

 

 

I die cut some Bokeh designer paper with the largest Essentials by Ellen Hexagon for my Tag and added Silver Ribbon at the top.  I finished with a sentiment from Essentials by Ellen Merry Little Christmas and a scattering of gems.

Day 3 - Feliz Navidad

Day 3 of the 12 Tags of Christmas at Ellen Hutson is Feliz Navidad.  I never realized the song only has only 2 lines sung over and over again.

 

 

So in keeping with that theme, I used my MISTI and two colors of Versafine Clair Ink to stamp the Feliz Navidad sentiment from Essentials by Ellen Love and Light.  Then I used Black Ink to add one of the tiny sentiments from the same set.  I die cut it into a tag shape.

 

 

I finished with some glitter tape at the top of the tag and punched several hearts from the tape to bring in the bottom of my heart lyric from the song.

Day 2 - Puppy for Hanukkah

For Day 2 of of the 12 Tags of Christmas at Ellen Hutson the carol is Puppy for Hanukkah, another new one for me.

 

 

 

 

I started with the Ellen Hutson Essentials by Ellen Tag Trio cut from a piece of cardstock that I smooshed with Dylusions Shimmer Paint.  Next I cut a scrap of Gel Press Print for the center of my Tag.

 

 

I stamped the puppy from Essentials by Ellen Clever Sausage on kraft cardstock and then cut his sweater from a scrap of the painted paper.

The sentiments are from Essentials by Ellen Love and Light.

Thursday Link Love

Another week of blogland adventures:

• How cute are these crocheted gift tags (free pattern - shown)
• I must try Twisty Cinnamon Buns
• Fictional Introverts
• Air Fryer Meatball Skewers
• a fun DIY Wall Christmas Tree
• Hot Cocoa Cookies
• National Park Rankings
• Egg Nog Mini Loaves
• National Museum of African American History & Culture is now searchable online
• Loving Kindness for the Win
• How fun are these DIY Tissue Paper Holiday Trees
• great pictures of Distress Product Snow Techniques
• love this trio of Holiday Tags

Have a tremendous Thursday!

Day 1 - Christmas in a Coffee Shop

Today is Day 1 of the 12 Tags of Christmas at Ellen Hutson, which is a tag inspired by the holiday carol, Christmas in a Coffee Shop.

 

 

I started with Joy Clair Christmas Coffee, which I paired with a scrap of Gel Press Print for my tag.

 

 

I added snowflakes from Joy Clair Snow Fall and some gems to finish the design.  I took my color inspiration from the Joy Clair December Mood Board. #joyclairdesignsmoodboard

 

 

I am also linking-up at the Make the Cards Christmas Challenge.

 

Be Hoppy Birthday

The current Seize the Birthday Challenge is all about Hobbies and Pastimes.  If you follow me on Instagram, you know that seeking out locally brewed craft beers (and the good food the corresponding brewery restaurants offer) is one of our pastimes.  

 

 

I started with this fun yellow alcohol ink panel that was made with lots of bubbles from blending solution ... it reminded me of the carbonation you see in a glass of beer.  I cut it into 1 1/2" panels for this week's Try Stampin' (or Not) on Tuesday Sketch.

 

 

 

I used an unmarked wood-mounted stamp from my vintage stash for the sentiment together with the fun DoodleBug Doodle Pop Be Hoppy Stickers.

 

 

With my little smiling Pretzels, I'm also linking-up at the Food Challenge at The Male Room.

 

 

Gel Press Nativity Scene

I'm embarrassed to even think about how many products I have in my crafty stash that have not been used, particularly in my Taylored Expressions products.  I like so much of what she makes, but my making doesn't keep-up with my buying.  

When I was looking through my stash for stamps that would work for Jennifer Maguire's latest resist technique (I've yet to find them), I instead found this Taylored Expressions Build a Scene - Nativity (which has apparently been discontinued, but here are other options) that I knew would be perfect for one of the holiday cards I wanted to make.

I decided to die cut it in dark purple (with the star cut from a scrap of gold glitter paper) to work with one of my Gel Press Prints.

 

 

I framed it with teal & purple cardstock on a kraft card base and used a sentiment from Taylored Expressions Simple Strips Christmas ... I love how it turned out.

This is as Merry as We Get

The fine ladies at The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers are celebrating Y is for Yuletide.

 

 

I decided to pair it with the Sketch Challenge at the Retro Rubber Stamp Challenge.

 

 

I started by cutting one of my Alcohol Ink Backgrounds into 1" strips.  Next I paired it with the Ticket to Christmas Stamps from Unity Stamp Company that were released in 2011.  I cut apart two of the tickets for the star elements in the sketch.  

 

 

I attached it all to a kraft card base where I stamped a sentiment form Unity Stamp Company Naughty is the New Nice (from 2013).  I finished with some krafty gems.

Non-Traditional Holiday Color with Unity Stamp Company

The November Unity Stamp Company Challenge is to create holiday cards in non-traditional holiday colors. 

As I went through my stash, I clearly tend to lean toward sentiments in my Unity Stamps, so I decided to create simple cards by pairing them with Gel Press Prints and Alcohol Ink Backgrounds from my stash.  I loved getting them made into cards.

I started with this fun solid Gel Press print that paired perfectly with Catherine Pooler All That Jazz Ink and a sentiment from Unity Stamp Company Naughty is the New Nice.

 

 

I stamped the Santa Sentiment on a Kraft trimmed tag from my stash and paired it with a kraft card base.  I embossed the background with Snowflakes and applied some direct-to-paper inking to the raised edges.  I love the patina effect it achieved.

 

 

I finished with a strip of gold glitter cardstock & a little Santa Hat sticker.

When I stamped the sentiment the first time, I didn't have quite the right color, so I found a scrap of an Alcohol Ink Background that worked with it.

 

 

Next I used a Purple Alcohol Ink background to create a round card with a sentiment from Unity Stamp Company Let's Be Jolly that fit perfectly inside the smaller circle die.

 

 

I used another stamp from Let's Be Jolly with the same circle die, this time pairing it with a Gel Press Print.

 

 

And my final card combined teal and purple with a sentiment from Unity Stamp Company ... a joyous season.

 

 

I loved being able to pull together this set of masculine holiday cards together so quickly with these great sentiment stamps.