12 Tags of Christmas Day 7

Day 7 of the 12 Tags brings a great vintage look and a cool technique using kraft glassine for the die-cut leaves. I have played with regular glassine, which is translucent white, but hadn't really played much with the kraft version because I couldn't get the colors to stand out and look anything other than muddy brown. Be sure to check out the tutorial on Tim's blog for some great ideas and because my photo doesn't do the leaves justice, but they really are cool!

Stamp credits: two girls: Oxford Impressions "St. Nicholas", sentiment: Artistic Outpost "Snowy Woods", crackle: I Brake for Stamps, Music: Stamp Camp

12 Tags of Christmas Day 6

I'm playing catch-up on the 12 Tags and here is my Day 6 tag. I have to admit that I didn't like the look of the sample tag, but overall, the technique can create a nice background. I used two Cuttlebug embossing folders and pieced three parts together, because I knew that my tag was larger than my folder and wanted to cover the whole background. I used more of a debossed, leafy design on the tag, then created a hanging charm with a strip from the other folder that was more of an embossed design. Did you know that you can also link your tags to the Inspiration Emporium blog for their contest where the prizes are gift certificates to their store? Check it out on their blog.

GC#129 Chestnut Theme Challenge

For December at Gingersnap Creations the focus is on Holiday Lights and this week it's the Chestnut Theme Challenge with the theme of "Starry Night". I created a watercolor paper piece and mounted it on a tissue tape covered canvas. To create the main piece, I started by stamping the cityscape and then masked it - yes, I cut out all those peaks and spires! Then I inked the background with Faded Jeans and Chipped Sapphire DI. To create my stars I used a trick from Jennifer McGuire starting by spraying Perfect Pearls mist onto your craft sheet in a puddle and then flicking droplets with a paint brush and then air or heat drying. I used Biscotti PP Mist so my stars were warmer, but it also looks great with Pearl PP Mist. To finish it off I used a line from a Christmas carol - "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear" - that I hand wrote at the bottom.
Show us your Starry Night project by linking to the GC blog post HERE. The challenge will be open until January 1st and one random winner will win a free bag of micro beads from our sponsor this month, Pennywise Arts.

Stamp Credits: Cherry Pie Art Stamps

12 Tags of Christmas Day 5

Day 5 and I'm getting mine done early - I just have to say that I LOVE this background technique!!! You may remember that I did a version of this on glass charms for Halloween - you can see my tutorial on the Gingersnap Creations blog HERE - and it's just such a fun resist look. Definitely make sure to blot and blot and then blot some more before you buff with your towel or you will rub it all off and have to start again - yes, I know this from experience ;-) But, it's simple to start again because you're working with acetate - just add blending solution to wipe it all off and try again. Ahhh, the joys of being a perfectionist!!! One other tip I have: I have found that Glossy Accents and alcohol ink really do not like each other and that's why Tim tells you to just put it on the edges to adhere your acetate to the tag. The Glossy Accents tends to blend and bleed the alcohol ink kind of melting and destroying any patterns you've created. I have found that Diamond Glaze does not cause this and allows me to put a thin layer on the whole receiving surface (the paper tag) and then set the acetate on top adhering it more securely. I'll be back later in the week to play catch-up so until then, have fun making tags!

12 Tags of Christmas Day 4

Day 4 of the 12 tags of Christmas at the Tim Holtz blog and yet another fun background technique - kind of a wrinkle free distress using stains - it does give a nice softness with the addition of white Picket Fence. I had to make a modification to do the die-cut snowman. Not having the die, I used instead the snowman embossing folder image for my template and cut a piece of chipboard using scissors and a knife into the snowman shape. I added chipboard numbers covered with paper and glossy accents instead of the die-cut 25 directly into the snowman - I may be good with my knife, but I'm not that good ;-) This tag really had a fun mix of textures with crackle, tulle, tinsel, ribbon and a tiny feather. Can't wait to see what's up for tomorrow!

Penny's ATC swap

All the ATC swap books have found their way to their new homes and I want to share the fabulous results of my swap with my extremely talented friends.


I divided everyone into 2 groups and created a concertina book for each out of a strip of tea dyed watercolor paper. This is the cover with the dry embossing accented with metallic rub-ons.

All ten books - aren't they terrific!!

Here are pictures of all the ATCs included along with a link to everyone's blog - just click on their name:

Mine have vintage images and crayon glassine paper stamped with a Stampers Anonymous stamp and accented with a bit of machine stitching.

These came from Cheri my very talented neighbor down the road who I got to know in altered book classes at one of our local stamp stores. She added really cool dimensional details to each ATC.

These are from a fellow Ginger, Trisha - I just loved the cool feathers sticking out!

These are from my friend Janine in Germany who always inspires me with her fabulous background experiments on her blog.

These came from my friend Jennie in Shetland who I got to "meet" in an online class. Her ATCs have wonderful shimmery backgrounds along with their vintage images - and she's someone else who sews on her buttons!

Also from Scotland, my friend Lynne sent these - even though she claims I twisted her arm to join the project! - and they are a perfect representation of her vintage shabby style.

And then the contingent from England:

There's my friend Paula who used such a cool background technique combining distress inks, bleach and lemon juice.

And Sherry, a new friend I've made through this project, who wrote that she loved to be inky and messy with rubber stamping and sent these ATCs that added such a perfect pop of colour to the book.

And finally Beverly, another new friend and fellow cat person, whose ATCs were a series about a woman's life. She lived in New Zealand for many years and also sent an ATC honoring the NZ All Blacks who happened to win the world cup the day after the ATC arrived. This ATC sits proudly with my Ohio State Buckeye ATC - I love that you can honor a favorite team in a crafty way!

A HUGE thanks to each of you for making my swap a true collection of friends.....all that I had envisioned and more!

Penny's ATC swap Part II: How to make my ATC concertina book

I thought I'd share a tutorial showing how I made my ATC book for my swap. I started with big sheets of watercolor paper that I tea-dyed and left to dry outside on the grass giving it lovely patterns. I tore it into strips that are 4in x 21.5in and then scored every 3in except for adding an extra half inch between two panels on one end. Then I accordion folded it and you can see how the last two panels wrap around it creating a front and back cover.

Here are all 10 books together for the swap.

.....Enter Inspector #1.....



He thinks they are fine, but thought I was being a bit too neat with the whole process! Inspectors #2 an #3 also checked stuff out but stayed clear of the photo, and I think Inspector #4 was napping.

Now back to the tutorial:

I embossed just the cover with an embossing folder and have cut 3 slits with my knife. On the spine they are horizontal - you can just barely see them, and there is one other vertical slit directly across from the middle slit on the spine.

Take a ribbon of 24 - 30in and slip it through the middle horizontal slit on the spine and then out the vertical slit to the back as in the picture.

Holding the book so you can see the outside of the spine, take the ribbon from the center slit and place it through an end slit.

Flip back to the inside of the spine and place the ribbon through the other end slit.

Flip it to the back of the spine one last time and slip the ribbon under the ribbon already in place to cinch it.

And now you're left with two ends that can be tied together in a bow holding the book together.

12 Tags of Christmas Day 3

Day 3 of the Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas - a fun background technique with an embossing folder and companion stamp with this one. Do you wonder if he designed the stamp with the idea of stamping two tags at once (see his blog post for the pictures) or was that serendipitous? Regardless, it was fun!

12 Tags of Christmas Day 2

For the Day 2 tag check out the Tim Holtz blog HERE. My Day 2 tag required a bit of improvising. Instead of a diecut, I stamped a reindeer silhouette from the Season's Silhouettes set onto the paper backing of the sticky back canvas and fussy cut it out. I also made my own star charm with 3 layers of cardstock, foil tape, and a star punch. My biggest improvisation is with the kraft resist paper. Here's my DIY version:

Stamp and clear emboss what you want to be resisted - I chose a portion of the word stamp also from the Season's Silhouettes set.

Then stamp with StazOn to create a patterned background. Yes, you do stamp over the embossing, but we'll fix that. I have tried this with Archival Ink thinking it would be easier to wipe off the embossing, but found that when the kraft paper is inked, the Archival inked stamping looked too faded.

So to clean up the clear embossed area, just take a tiny bit of solvent cleaner on a Q-tip and rub over the embossing and the StazOn comes right off! Now you've got a custom piece of kraft resist that you can ink any way you want.

Stamp credits: Stampers Anonymous, Hero Arts, Oxford Impressions

12 Tags of Christmas Day 1

Are you playing along with Tim Holtz and his 12 Tags of Christmas? It's always a fun activity to get into a Christmas frame of mind and learn some new techniques. Here's my take on the tag for Day 1 and I had a fun time playing with kraft core cardstock and making the tattered pinecones although I think mine look a bit more like dimensional flowers than pinecones. Check out the video on the Day 1 post on Tim's blog for some really helpful tips.