25 Days of Christmas Tags & a Giveaway!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here!  We had quite a few centimeters of snow on the weekend that is stuck on the ground.  Sadly enough, this is not our first snow fall of the season.  We had our first one back the very first week of September in Southern Alberta!!!!

This year, along with some of my fabulous StampNation Dream Team members, I get to share a fun Christmas tag with you today!  We’re all being featured as part of Tracey McNeely’s “25 Days of Christmas Tags” event on her blog, “My Creative Opinions”!

I chose to have some fun layering some stamps and images on my tag.

Believe it or not, I started with a good ol' regular manila tag from Tim Holtz for this creation!

Here are the basic steps to achieve my back ground:

a)  Stamp a musical note back ground using black ink across the entire length of the tag.  Heat set ink.
b)  Add a wash of watered down white acrylic paint.  Let dry.
c)  Ink up the branch mask with black ink and use it as a stamp for the branches.  Colour in the image with Copic multi-liner pens.  Heat set.
d)  Add another wash of watered down white acrylic paint.  Let dry.
e)  Add some blue inks to the sky of the tag using an applicator sponge.  Let dry.
f)  Lay the “Falling Snow” stencil over the tag and apply 3D Molding Paste over the stencil.  Pull of mask and let dry.
g)  Mist with Glimmer Mist.
h)  Add coloured and fussy cut stamped images from Clearly Besotted’s “In Stitches: Christmas”.  Stamp the greeting at the bottom.

I wanted my little critters to be balancing one on top of the other for fun!

Here’s a quick peek at all the glimmer and shine on my tag today too:
 
AND A GIVEAWAY…
Tracey is offering up some prize packages to some lucky commenters today!  YOU… yes, YOU can win one of the prize packages from our lovely sponsors just by leaving a comment below today!!!  More information about our lovely prize packages can be found on Tracey's blog.

Reverse Confetti
Clearly Besotted
CAS-ual Fridays
Neat and Tangled
Paper Smooches
Lawn Fawn

I will be drawing at random, one lucky commenter to receive one of the prizes supplied to Tracey. 

All you have to do to win is…
Leave me a comment telling me (also tell me your first name & leave me a way to contact you!) …
If you were going to make tags for your holiday gifts,
what would YOU put on your tags &
as far as design, what characters or greenery or 
designs would you put on them!?

Good luck!  A winner will be selected and posted here on my blog on Wednesday November 26th.

Here is a recap of the previous years' 25 Days of Christmas Tags on Tracey’s Pinterest Boards.  Click the year to take you to her yearly creations:
2013               2012                2011

Thank you Tracey for the wonderful opportunity to share some fun tags with you & your followers this year!  I can’t wait to see what she has in store for you for the rest of 2014!  Enjoy!

~ Ally ~

Supplies:
stamps:  Clear Besotted (In Stitches: Christmas, Building Backgrounds)
inks:  Memento (Tuxedo Black, Cantaloupe, Tangelo), Ranger Distress (Broken China, Faded Jeans), Stampin' Up! (Coastal Cabana), Copic Markers (B000, B00, BG0000, BG45, BG49, YR12, YR15, YR16), Copic Multi-liner Pen 0.5
stencils: Memory Box (Garden Bare Branches), Simon Says Stamp! (Falling Snow)
3D Molding Paste:  American Traditional Designs
cardstock:  X-Press It White Cardstock

mist:  Tattered Angels (Iridescent Gold)
tag: Tim Holtz Manila Tag
ribbons:  May Arts
button:  Queen & Co

other:  white acrylic paint.

22 comments:

Heather North said...

Cute tag! The upside down penguin made me smile. Making tags is a fun way to play with some mixed media stuff. I like making tags to hang on my tree like ornaments or creating them to coordinate with the wrapping on my gifts.

Unknown said...

Wow, your background is absolutely amazing! Thanks so much for the step by step! Fabulous tag!

Tracey McNeely said...

Allison your tag isi cute cute cute and I love all the different design elements you used! We saw some flurries here is Southern Ontario last weekend, nothing staying yet. Thank you for joining me with the 25 Days of Christmas Tags!

cm said...

Wow, Allison; your tag is a work of art! Beautiful techniques, sweet images and fabulous design coming together with awe-inspiring results! Fabulous! Isn't it awesome to be one of Tracey's GDs (I had the honour on Day 1). I'm also a 'neighbour' - just down the street in Canmore! Thank you for sharing your creativity with us!
~c

Joyce Spear said...

Arghh! Blogspot ate my long, detailed comment, so I'm going to try again, lol. I plan on making a dozen tags as a gift for a friend, so your post is perfect timing to get my mind thinking in that direction. I'm sure whatever I come up with won't be as gorgeous as your tag is (wow!), but you've given me some ideas. I plan on using lots of glitz and shimmer on mine, and will probably focus heavily on snowflakes and snowpeople since they're more likely to be kept around after the holidays are over. I love the balancing act you created, and hope I can find just the right stamps to create something like it. Thanks to both you and Tracey for doing this giveaway! I've got my fingers crossed!
Smiles, Joyce (StamperJoyce at gmail dot com)

auntbubbels said...

What a great tag. You rock!!!

Rubeena I. said...

I mostly make cards, but this tags idea is really inspiring me! I've got a lot of Mama Elephant critters and a few other things that I know that I'll love putting on tags. The possibilities are endless. I have skylines, outlines of maps, origami, maybe watercoloring. My response is all over the place lol your tag is super cute! I love putting quotes on bookmarks - not sure if that falls under category of tags! for holidays specifically, I might add a penguin or panda with some festive design like Santa hats or snow in the background. :)

Jean Bullock said...

I would put anything I could on the tags. Sentiments, die cuts, stamping, bling and tiny bows. I would try to customize them for the individuals who would receive them. Some would have happy holidays and some would have a religious orientation.

Karenladd said...

AWK!! This tag is so delightful! That tumbling penguin is the cutest thing ever. I make all of my gift tags every holiday and I always make a large variety of designs and styles. I make child themed ones for my grand-daughters, and love making vintage designs for every one else. This year I will be using die cuts of deer and stamp trees for a natural, forest theme.

Anita in France said...

So cute and fun, Allison ... and such wonderful depth and shimmer on the background! Love the upside down penguin! My tags are simple ... one festive element and maybe a greeting ... I'm a CAS girl at heart! Anita :)

D- said...

LOVE your CUTE tag! Thanks for sharing.
I like to make all kinds of different tags with all kinds of festive goodies on them. One I like to use is snow.
Crafty hugs,
D~
DesignsByDragonfly.blogspot

Mary-Anne V said...

Very cute and fun tag. I plan to make some tags as gifts but I will keep it simple with one image and some wet and dry metallic embossing.

Mary-Anne V said...

jeandonny2000 at hotmail dot com

Sue D said...

Very cute tag--I like all the layers.
I think I would my tags would have cardinals and pine branches.
Sue
slrdowney at hotmail dot com

Denise Bryant said...

Your tag is absolutely adorable! Love the fun snowman and penguin!
I would use snowflakes on my tags..... with some sparkle!
Denise
deniseb777(AT)gmail(DOT)com

Heather said...

I would do a winter theme with some leaves and snow, Not necessarily Christmas theme. I love your branches. very neat.

heifer21 (at) hotmail (dot) com

TracyM #6773 said...

SUPER CUTE tag Ally :)
LOVE your FUN design, great dimension too!!!
This year for my tags, I plan on using some modern Christmas Tree die cut with a mix of script & bold font sentiment die cuts, finishing them off with sequins & glitter. moloneyat {at} bigpond {dot} com

TracyM #6773 said...

... by dimension, I mean the depth that your white wash of paint has created

Anonymous said...

Love the tower of friends. So darling. The background is great.
thanks for sharing.

Fran said...

I'd have to have snowmen and snowflakes for sure. They are my favourite holiday season images.
Fran
franaw26@gmail.com

Indy's Designs said...

I would have snowmen. I have so many fun snowmen (and snow cat) images! Thanks for showing such a darling card!
Debbie Owens
indyowens@yahoo.com

Karenladd said...

Hi Ally,
I'm wondering if you announced a winner for this? Thanks!

 
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