12 Tags for Christmas 2017 - Dashing

Okay, I know, dashing through the snow is about a sleigh and a horse (and bells I think), but birds do some dashing, too, as evidenced by my cat's favorite entertainment (a live video cam of a bird feeder in Canada).

So perhaps that explains my combination of birds and text for this, my 7th Christmas tag of the season.

I was drawn to the combination of the golden yellows with the black and white. The birds were cut from a Graphic 45 paper called Winter Wonderland, the vertical strip is the edge of an old book page, and the snowflakes and text are from a paper pad called Deck the Halls with Chalk (Hobby Lobby/Paper Studio, 2013). The tiny white dots are Scribbles (3D fabric paint).

12 Tags for Christmas 2017 - Merry & Bright

I've reached the half-way mark, here's Tag 6 of 12 for Christmas 2017, and I am having a blast! This one was easy as pie using a Christmas Collage stamp tinted with Distress Ink and mounted on a page from the Tidings paper stash.

I machine-stitched around the edges with two colors of thread, went crazy with glitter glue (Stickles), added the holly and berries (hand-cut from some Tim Holtz Ephemera) and then a strip of Lace Trimmings.

12 Tags for Christmas 2017 - Wonderful Time

We had a toboggan when I was a kid. Not the safest kind of sled but ours could handle about six passengers at a time which made it easy to steer as long as everyone leaned the right way in unison.

This little miss was certainly safe when this vintage photo (Graphic 45 Frosted) was taken. It was nicely staged with a painted background and fashionable clothing (I wonder if it may have been done for an advertisement or greeting card).

She is the focal point for tag five of my 12 for Christmas and was placed on top of a background of embossed snowflakes tinted with Distress Oxide (Faded Jeans) and framed with tissue paper and a cut-out stamp border.

Embellishments include scraps from a Tim Holtz Mixed Media die and lots of Stickles. The ribbon is a scrap of Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements fabric

12 Tags for Christmas 2017 - Peace

One of Tim Holtz's 12 Tags for Christmas 2011 featured Ranger's Clear Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint and I bought some.

Believe it or not, by storing it upside down it's still good! Granted, it is a little thicker than it once was but I just used a palette knife to spread it over the dove (instead of the brush the paint came with).

Once dry, a layer of white Perfect Pearls was added over the top for a little more sparkle.

The background is an Idea-ology Sophisticate Cabinet Card Frame that I separated from it's backing and aggressively sanded down then stamped with text before cutting it to fit my tag.

I cut a piece of Graphic 45 (Botanicabella) paper to fit inside the oval, added a black satin ribbon along the bottom and lots of tiny drops of Liquid Pearls.

The text was clear embossed but looked a little lost on the background so I used a fine paint brush and white paint to shadow the sides of the letters.  I also thought just a hint of color in the background would do some good so I smudged on a little Fired Brick and Forest Moss Distress Ink and Tag No. 4 was complete.

12 Tags for Christmas 2017 - Season's Greetings

Tag three of my 12 for this year's Christmas was an experiment using a hand-made stencil patterned after the original rubber stamp. I like to use Yupo for my stencil material because it is strong, waterproof and cuts like butter.

After pasting on a background of old book paper, I used thin white acrylic paint and the stencil to make a random pattern then stamped over the stenciled areas once the paint was dry.

I didn't worry too much about accuracy and you'll see places where the two (stencil and stamp) don't meet. But that's okay because the variations added interest in color and line.

My tints mainly came from Distress Oxides (lipstick and pistachio). I also used a light wash of white acrylic and a few watercolors, where needed, to adjust some values.

Platinum Stickles and Tim's Tissue Tape created a border that was darkened next to the inside edges with a bit of charcoal pencil.

Stamp credits: Penny Black Christmas Star, Echo Park Christmas Sentiments