12 tags of christmas - day 3

My "day 3" Tim Holtz inspired 2011 tag

Oh what fun is it to play .... with the amazing 12 tags of Christmas inspired by Tim Holtz.  Day 3 concentrates on making a custom stamp pad; this fall I got to go to my first  stamp show  while I was visiting in NY ( so much fun to see so many products in person - my small town carries a limited supply) and I got a big piece of the stamp pad felt - just in case the technique surfaced again in this years tags.

I made my custom stamp pad using bundled sage, spiced marmalade and milled lavender; I decided to use clear embossing powder hoping that would help them hold on to their some what muted colors.  Then they went through the texture fade - I love how the stamps and matching folders work together! Some glimmer mist, some wiping off with baby wipes, distress on the edges and I was pretty happy with the background.

Not sure where exactly that poinsettia came from but I inked and painted and glimmer misted it up until I was happy with the results. The gold material under the flower was from a bag that a nice wine came in - made 4 circles out of it - folded and stapled  them to form a mat for the flower. I inked the mini tag with some soft pool shadow ink and then stamped the original custom stamp again following up with the sentiment.

Thanks for checking this out - would love to know what you think.

O Christmas Tree - O Christmas Tree!

Our Creative Corner has a Christmas tree theme challenge this week.  I have been experimenting with different kinds of inks (Ranger pigment vs distress vs Staz On) and working on my embossing technique.

Playing with Playful Flowers Stamp/die

I hae been wanting to get this Sizzix/Hero Arts stamp/die set. Using watercolor paper I embossed the flower in white and  blended  distress inks.  Now I need to work on my photography skills so you can't see my desk!

Wouldn't this be great to win!

Let's start at the very beginning...it's a very good place to start...

I have been inspired by my sister, Marjie She Who Stamps & Scraps and decided it was time to try my hand with a blog.  Have really been enjoying Holiday Card Boot Camp and am looking forward to sharing some of my cards.