Wishing you the Merriest Christmas

Layered Christmas Tag

Christmas will be here before we know it and I've been working on my Christmas cards (which I've been sharing with you).  I still have many more to make, but I also wanted to get a jump on my gift tags.  I started out by cutting some simple tag shapes from my Art Philosophy cartridge.  The smallest tag was cut from the music printed paper from the Yuletide Carole Paper Pack.  The second tag was cut from the New England Ivy solid that came in the paper pack.  The largest tag was cut from Bamboo cardstock.

I stamped the Pine Tree from the Always Grateful stamp set, that I inked up in Ponderosa Pine.  Of course, I could have used New England Ivy ink, but to be completely honest, I like the blue undertone of the Ponderosa Pine for the tree.

The next step was to stamp the Merry Christmas sentiment from the Merriest Christmas stamp set, also in the Ponderosa Pine ink.

Through trial and error, I realized I needed to mask the phrase prior to stamping the swirl background.  My first attempt, I stamped and heat embossed the swirl as the first step.  I quickly realized this wasn't going to work with my final design because the embossed portion works as a resist when you stamp over it with the tree and the phrase.  I used masking paper I've had in my stash forever.  You could just as easily use post it notes.  If you aren't sure how to do masking, feel free to leave a comment and I will do a pictorial showing how to mask in stamping.

Once the sentiment and tree were stamped and had a moment to dry, I grabbed the large swirl from the Love Life stamp set and inked it up with my VersaMark ink pad and stamped all over the music print as well as the largest tag.  I covered the swirls with White Super Fine Embossing Powder, and melted it with my Craft Heater.

Now, this picture is from the first tag I was "experimenting" on.  I didn't take a ton of pictures, primarily because my desk is fairly small, and I'm doing several of this design in preparation for up coming "tag swaps" with friends.

The next thing I did was to sponge the edges of the tag with Bamboo Ink.  Without this step, the tag looked a little "flat", and it was screaming for some added dimension.  

Once that was done, I decided to add some liquid applique to the tree to look like snow.  CTMH is not currently carrying liquid applique, so I don't have a link for this product.  Once the liquid applique dried, I heated it with the Craft Heater and watched it "poof" up.  I love watching that happen!!!  And of course, I love to bling things up to the fullest, lol, so I added glitter glue to the snow.

While that was drying, I heat embossed the largest tag to match the tree tag.  On the backside of the largest tag, I decided to stamp the same swirl in Bamboo ink to create a tonal look.  This is where you will put your message to the recipient of the gift.  I would suggest you stamp the back side first so you don't have any interference from the raised heat embossed swirls on the front side.

Now that the glitter glue has dried on the top tag,  I went back and added some vintage sequins to the front.  CTMH sells some self adhesive sequins in gold and silver, but I felt the tag needed a pop of red.  When I pulled out my little box of vintage sequins, I also saw some pretty white sequins and decided to use both of them together.

I attached the sequins with Liquid Glass.   I also wanted to reinforce the hole in the top of the tag.  I used some hole reinforcements you can get at the office supply store.  I wanted to make them green, so I got out my Sap Green ShinHan marker and dabbed the ink onto the reinforcers and allowed them to dry.  My reinforcers were slick and shiney, but I've seen them look more paper like, as well as some that look like fabric.  For those types of reinforcers, I would simply scribble the color on.

I would like to take a moment to say that I used my All Purpose Mat, so I would be able to lift the reinforcers off with out any problems.  In addition, the ink can be wiped off the mat very easily.  I keep this mat on my desk at all times.  It has made my life SOOOO much easier.  I have had the "craft mat" that Ranger sells since it came out.  It works great, but the CTMH All Purpose Mat, is heavier weight, and lays flat immediately out of the box!!!!  Also, one side is slick, which is the side I use, ALWAYS.  The other side is, for lack of a better word, sticky.  This keeps the mat still on your work surface so you aren't "chasing" it all over your desk.  LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!!!!

The final step was to layer the tags together and add the ribbon.  I used seam binding in colors that I felt looked nice with the rest of the tag.  I didn't have any seam binding in red, so I took a length of white seam binding, dampened with water, and then placed it in a plastic bowl.  I added a few drops of Cranberry Re-inker to the bowl and smooshed the ink around in the ink.  To dry it quickly, I just used my Craft Heater.  Once that was done, I took several lengths of ribbon and looped it through the hole in the top of the tags.

Here's one last look:

If you are interested in any of the products used, simply click on the highlighted name of the item in the tutorial above.  You will be directed to my CTMH website to easily place your order.   

Please feel free to ask any questions you may have in the comments section below.  Simply click on the pencil icon to open the "comment" box.

Thanks Everyone!  See you soon!!!