Inspire Me Saturday ~ Festive Tag Fun!

 
Happy Saturday everyone!  Ally here!  I also want to say a belated Happy Thanksgiving to all of my fellow Canadian crafters!  I hope you've had a great holiday last weekend.

Welcome to Inspire Me Monday Saturday!  I have to confess. This was supposed to go live on the blog on Monday morning but I came down with an ugly flu late Saturday night and I was in bed until late Thursday before I was feeling well enough to even venture out of bed. But as of yesterday, I'm feeling almost 100% again... thank goodness. 

So today I'm going to highlight the amazingly fun and festive "Holly Golightly" stamp set. This clear stamp set contains a 3 beautiful images (a tag, a spray of holly and also a tiny bouquet) and 4 festive sentiments with a few special extras.

PLUS... we also have a complimentary digital stamp that allows you to create tags in any size and it's called "Holly Jolly Tag Digital Stamp".  Perfect for your quick download, print and create projects!

So now that you're familiar with today's stamp set, let's get creating!

So, to start, make your card sweet and simple!  Yup... some fun patterned papers in a fun color palette...

I love the pinks, turquoise and greens of this paper!

Next, go a little more detailed. Add some sparkle!  Whether it be some frames of glitter paper (Sorry, it's hard to see & photograph - it's the white border in between the plaid and cars!) or add some sparkle mediums like Stickles or Nuvo Drops, you can never go wrong with some some shine on your holiday cards and creations.

Next, why not try a shaker tag for your cards?  Our digital stamp version, the "Holly Jolly Tag Digital Stamp" would be perfect for this as you can enlarge your tag image to create a larger tag therefore, a larger shaker.

Now don't forget to decorate your packing!  Or heck, why not make your own! Grab some fun kraft wrapping paper from the dollar store and grab those fun colored inks and your stamps and go cRaZy!  When you're done with your wrapping paper, add that final touch of a tag to identify your recipient. 

 

QUICK PROJECT TIP: Try cutting your tag in a long rectangular shape instead of fussy cutting it out, stamp your tag in a fun ink color along with the "To" and "From" sentiments to create fun, fast tags for all your holiday gifts!

Plus, I think this tag would make a great name place holder for your Christmas table! You could make all your name place holders match your festive table colors!!

Thanks for sticking around for the end today.  I hope I've inspired you this weekend to go and create for the up and coming holiday.

Join me again next time!  Happy creating!

~ Ally ~

Creative Confetti: Tag, You're It!

Hello all and Happy Tuesday! Is your head spinning from all the Holiday Wonder shared right here over the last 12 days on the Power Poppy Blog? Gosh, I know mine sure is! What beautiful creations! And did you see that some of the designers are doing a giveaway on their blogs? 

Christine, myself, Kathy, Stacy, Broni, Nancy, Barbara, Leslie, Catherine, Gloria and Lisa JUST MIGHT be sharing a little surprise giveaway. So, hop on through all those links to see for yourself!

Moving on! I don't know about you but this time of year seems to be focused on two things -- Christmas cards and gift tags. You can never have too many in the "done" pile, can you? That's why I wanted to lend a hand and challenge you all to craft one, or two! 

HOW TO PLAY: It's just as simple as the name suggests! Make a tag! It can be any kind, it doesn't have to be a holiday tag. Just make a tag in order to play along. Use Power Poppy stamps if you have them but if you don't, now might just be the perfect time to win some! When you are done, link up your creation using the linky below and you'll be in the running for a $25 gift code to the Power Poppy Shop! The link is LIVE all month long, meaning, the more you play, the better your chances!

On to my creations! 

I was dying to use the new Power Poppy digital stamp set called Handmade With Love Tags. So, I thought this was the best time to do that -- with a tag challenge! Check this darling set out, will you?

You get this plump package of 8 holiday tag designs with oh-so-unique illustrations! And, get this! Not only do you get the 8 designs but you get them with and without a sentiment inside, allowing you to personalize these with reckless abandon! Too fun!

So, you can see above that I chose three of the designs and aimed for a similar color scheme with all three. I tend to only buy a couple mega rolls of wrapping paper along with some coordinating ribbon for every package I wrap during that season - so it's important -- especially for us matchy-matchy folks to, well, match! ;-)

Tag #1

I tend to do a ton of handmade gifts for my loved ones and this year is no exception. Both my mother and mother-in-law have some handmade goodness coming their way, so I know this tag above showing that I am sharing something Handmade with Love will definitely come in handy!

Tag #2

I have always loved this illustration above featured in a bit of Power Poppy's Snuggle Down stamp set! So, when it popped up on this tag, I thought, "Genius!" Marcy created a tag to coordinate with a stamp set for not only cards but coordinating tags! What? So fun!

Tag #3

And, this last tag is just one that I find so classy -- just a simple little gift with a ribbon that goes on for miles! It's perfect to attach to one of those cookie platters you like to give to the neighbors, right? I think so! This little package is also a part of the Power Poppy Merry Littles stamp set, again allowing coordinating galore! 

Looking for a little more inspiration?


Katie Sims did THIS darling tutorial showcasing a whole host of gift tags in interesting shapes using Power Poppy's Tweet Tidings set!

Allison Cope tagged up a bottle of bubbly or two HERE using Power Poppy's Dream Wedding set to help ring in the holidays! You'll have to click the link to see the three other tags she designed that are just as fun!

And, yours truly crafted a whole tutorial showcasing a few different gift tags using a multitude of Power Poppy sets HERE! 

So, "Tag! You're It!" Let's see what fun you can craft with a tag as your creation! And, as I mentioned, when you're done, just link up your creation below so we can all see AND so you can have a shot at winning a $25 gift code to the Power Poppy Shop!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hopefully, we'll see you back here real soon! ;-)

~Julie
Creative Confetti Thrower

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Click here to enter

Inspire Me Monday - Holiday Tags

Hello Everyone! How are you today? I am Kathy from The Daily Marker and I am so happy to be back for another Inspire Me Monday.

Today I am excited to share with you how to make some pretty quick tags with some easy coloring & this beautiful Poinsettia stamp set. My take away for this project is to skip a step when coloring by adding color with a spray. All you need to do is fill a mini mister with a color from a Copic refill bottle. Don't add water just the refill solution straight up. 

My assumption is that you can use any brand of alcohol marker fluid. I have the Copic brand so that is what I am using today. The best part of this technique is that you have that first layer of color quick and easy. Once you fill your mini mister be sure to label what color you are using.

After stamping my poinsettia, I punched a large circle in a sheet of copy paper & placed the paper with my circle top of my stamped poinsettia leaving a white border under the copy paper. (I wanted to keep the border white that I will be using for my tag) 

When the copy paper is sitting on top you only see the pink part that's in this photo. (Sorry, I don't have a photo of the before I sprayed with the mini mister.) Hold the mini mister spray bottle about 6" from your paper...and spray. If you hold the mister further way you get a more speckled effect which is so pretty. I suggest you experiment with different distances and different colors. Masking off an image and spraying the background this way yields an awesome result!! 

If you want leave me a comment and tell me if you would like a video for my next Inspire Me Monday showing a sprayed background. 

If you like you can push the color out of the leaves by using the "0" colorless marker. If you are using a darker green it's not necessary. Add red to the poinsettia leaves and buds. 

To blend out the red color you just added plus the pink color from the mini mister, it's pretty easy and you most likely have done this before? Scribble some of the red on a acrylic block, packaging, palette or a craft mat (just wipe using some blending solution or alcohol wipes when finished). Using the same color marker as the background, load the pink tip with the red from the acrylic block. 

The tip of the marker acts like a brush. You load the color on the tip of the darker color and use that to blend the color on the petals. You need to keep loading the tip with more color as you continue around the flower. You only need to load the tip maybe two or three times for the large petals depending on how much pressure you use when coloring. This is a great way to get more mileage from your markers. 

If you want to give your petals a more blended look you can take the "0" color again and place the tip where the light areas are and give the entire petal a once over with the "0" or just keep it on the edges of your petals. More importantly, don't worry just enjoy the process it always comes out beautifully. :)

I always like to go back after blending and add my darkest color in the nooks and crannies of the petals usually right up next to the lines in the corners. Keep in mind a little dark color goes a long way. If you add to much you can always blend it out with a lighter color. 

The rest goes super fast. Add some grey to add definition to the background if you like. Outline the flower and color the tiny areas of the background in the grey. Color the center of the flower a contrasting color. I prefer a dark and light brown. 

Give some straight up color on the leaves and pine branches. No blending at all. 

I am a nut about adding white dots and discovered some poinsettias have white dots. Adding some glossy accents to parts of a colored image really enhances what you have colored. In this case I added glossy accents to the green leaves, flower center and the buds. 

Photo Credit

Isn't this speckled poinsettia beautiful? So many lovely varieties and so many beautiful colors to use as inspiration.

This poinsettia would be fun to try and get a similar look by coloring the petals with some easy lines and no blending.

Have you ever used fun foam? This was my first time and I am addicted. The foam comes in sheets of 3mm and 5mm in many colors. I found mine at Michael's craft stores. I die cut my sentiment in the foam and the cardstock then glued the layers together. Punch a hole, thread some ribbon and you have some tags. Tis the season for tags and they can be used for a bottle of wine, handmade gift or a card. 

If you have more time and are into shaker cards you can make a shaker tag.

What ever you are creating, I hope you find joy. For Thanksgiving my goal is to have a table set up so my family can make a card or tag to give someone special in their life. Thanks to Power Poppy for always providing such inspiring images to create with and thanks to you all for your visit.

Hugs, Kathy