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Cricketleg Creative

Christmas Tags Challenge

November 6, 2020 Challenge Cards, Handcrafted Cards, Holiday Cards

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge this week is Christmas Tags!

Christmas Tags together

Well, hi!

Welcome to another post with entries to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. This week’s challenge involves making Christmas tags. It’s coming, you know.

The ideas for these came together pretty quickly. They were fun to make, but one card gave me a struggle. Can you guess which one?

The Gift Box Tag

I thought it might be fun to make a tag for a gift that looked like, well, a gift with a tag!

I cut out a rectangle in the size I wanted and snipped off two opposite corners at an angle. I applied patterned paper to what would be the “sides” of the box (left side and bottom). Then I added paper to the “top” of the gift box.

I stamped the ribbon twice on cardstock using an old Posh Impressions stamp I have. One of the images serves as the main part of the ribbon and the other image I cut up to finish off the ribbon going around the gift box.

I applied a little tag with a to/from inside, and it was done. A fun, quick, cute little tag I think.

gift box tag

The Stained Glass Tag

I’ve been having fun stamping on vellum and coloring in with alcohol markers to see what happens. After stamping this stained glass stamp (Stampin’ Up!) with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto a patterned vellum, I allowed it to dry but eventually used a heat tool to finish the drying.

I colored it in with my Ohuhu markers. What’s interesting to me is that when you apply a second layer of marker the color kind of does this weird thing that ends up looking more like stained glass. Kind of hard to tell in the picture, but it leaves an uneven blend which I think mimics a rustic stained glass pretty well. In the picture below it’s most noticeable on the tree trunk.

stained glass tag

The Lighthouse Tag

I thought it might be fun to do something less traditional. Well, at least not your typical Christmas snow scene. So I pulled out this lighthouse stamp from Stampin’ Up!

Things were going great at first. (By now, you have guessed that this is the problem child of the group.) I stamped it with Memento and colored in with my alcohol markers. No problem. Everything was looking great.

Then I used my white gel pen to add snow.

And that went pretty well. For everything that was NOT burgundy.

I tried doing multiple coats. I tried adding glitter. I tried adding matte snow pieces. I tried acrylic paints. Nothing would completely cover up that hot pink that resulted from trying to top burgundy with white!!

But I just kept adding layers until I could get it MOSTLY under control. So my next question is….HOW ON EARTH DO YOU ADD SNOW TO ANYTHING RED? I’ve never had this problem before!

You may not be able to tell from the picture below (I photographed it immediately after topping with another layer of acrylic paint!). But it’s so small, maybe nobody will notice!

lighthouse tag

The Ornament Tag

I used stamps and dies from the Hero Arts monthly kit from this October to make this shaker tag/ornament. Tags like this are fun because the tag becomes a gift too!

It was the quickest shaker I’ve ever put together! Having the dies from the kit really helped the layering to go fast. You can see another shaker card I recently made here.

You could add an additional small tag to the string (so as not to write on the ornament) or just write the to/from on the back.

ornament tag

The Hutch Tag

I think this one is my favorite. I love the colors and the homey feel. This hutch and accessories stamps are all from Stampin’ Up! and it’s been a good long while since I’ve used this style. These were purchased during the “country” decor phase of rubber stamps back in the 90s. But I can’t part with them. Good memories.

Giving these stamps new life in a tag was a good way to dust them off. I stamped everything separate….no masking…and fussy cut them out after coloring them in with alcohol markers.

Though it is hard to tell in the photo, there are gold accents on every piece. I added the accents after gluing the pieces to the hutch. I backed the hutch door area with some white cardstock after cutting along the door lines. Then I backed the whole thing with a pretty green cardstock.

hutch tag
hutch tag inside

You can see the surprise stocking and the to/from inside the cabinet. Kind of a fun tag to make!

Okay. These Christmas tags are done and done! Hope you enjoyed taking a peak at these tags. And I sure hope you have a solution to my burgundy/hot pink snow problem! If so, please…..advise!

Y’all take care!

3 Comments Categories: Challenge Cards, Handcrafted Cards, Holiday Cards
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“Not a Card” Challenge

October 23, 2020 Challenge Cards, Handcrafted Cards, Uncategorized

My examples for the Simon Says Stamp Not a Card Challenge

simon says stamp challenge

This week’s Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is “Not a Card.”

I have to admit that I was not excited about this one because I’m super focused right now on making lots of CARDS for my Etsy shop! So “wasting” time on something not card-related seemed like a bother.

But I actually had a lot of fun working on these projects.

Candy Bag Topper

Having recently cleaned out my candy, cookie, and cake stuff I knew I had some treat bags waiting to be used. Halloween candy seemed the perfect match for these, and timely.

I grabbed a notecard just a little wider than the bag and folded it in half. I stamped the front of the card with an old stamp set from Stampin’ Up! And I mean from back in the 90s!! It’s always been a fun set to use.

I filled the bag, placed the card over top, and stapled it in place. Easy!

simon says stamp challenge

Recipes

Okay, technically this is a card…but it’s not a greeting card so I say it counts!

Another oldie but goodie from back in my Stampin’ Up! demo days, this recipe card stamp is pretty cute and came with all the basic recipe category stamps too.

I stamped the main card stamp onto cream cardstock. Then I used the Main Dish stamp in the bottom right corner. I just did some simple colored pencil work….it’s too detailed to do much more.

This is a great idea for when you need to take a meal to someone. Why not share the recipe, if it’s one of your best? And doing it with stamps is more fun!

simon says stamp challenge

Planner Embellishment

I love, love, love my planner. Took me years to find one that works for me.

I thought it might be fun to embellish it a little. Not necessarily to make it pretty because I have come to be a firm believer in kind of a messy planner. Or should I say well-filled?

I just wanted to add a little visual to my upcoming week.

So for a youth campfire I added a flame stamp. For my daughter’s bone marrow donation day I added a gift stamp (what a gift she is giving! so proud of her!). For family game night, I added a confetti stamp in multiple colors. And for my day to work on Christmas cards, I stamped a little tree.

I actually think I may do this on a regular basis. Because I block my time off with highlighters and have some repetitive items, sometimes I forget which week I’m on. Having a visual reminder–“oh yeah, this is the week with the campfire night”–will be helpful for my brain!

simon says stamp challenge

Gift Tags

Can I make a confession here? I don’t do gift tags.

Why? Well we have this fun tradition I started a few years ago where I don’t label the gifts to the kids. I pick a different paper to represent each person each year and my kids have to figure out who is who! It’s really fun. One year I even decoy wrapped everything–I wrapped it once in the correct paper for that person, and then again in a “decoy” wrap to confuse them.

Yes, I am looney.

But really, they were getting too good at guessing based on what people had on their lists. I add extra padding, coins, etc., to throw them off base.

Anyway, I digress.

Even though these tags will not be used for the family gifts, I will have fun using these for gifts to friends. Die cuts used for some, stamps for others.

simon says stamp challenge

Christmas Card Log Book

And now to my favorite result of this challenge!

I’ve had this Christmas Card Log book for YEARS!!! I think I got it free. I know I’ve always hated the cover. Just not my style at all.

It happened to be sitting out on my stamp desk, and I thought, “Hmmm…can I make it cute?”

Answer: Yes. Yes, I can.

Many of the stamps I own I have had since the early 90s. I remember thinking when I saw the stamp of a blank card, “Oh, that’ll be fun to use!”

Yeah. I never used it.

But now I have! I really enjoyed just making this up as I went along. I made lots of little Christmas cards to adorn this new log book. Then I masked them off with Post-Its and did some ink blending around them. That really made them pop!

Now I’m excited to mark off who I’ve sent cards to and who have sent cards!

simon says stamp challenge

So there you have it. All five of my entries into this week’s challenge. And I have to say, these ideas were fun and pretty fast! While I enjoy making a beautiful card to send, it can take a while. It was fun to make some things that were quick!

Check out the last Simon Says Stamp challenge I did.

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