Twelve Tags of Christmas with Viva Las Vegastamps! - Day #12

It's Day #12...the end is here!!!

Twelve Tags of Christmas with
Viva Las Vegastamps! Design Team!!!

Thanks for stopping by! To get back to the top of the hop,

 CLICK HERE.

Thanks so much for joining us today and the previous eleven days, too! We hope you enjoyed our creations as much as we enjoyed creating them. Want more creative ideas? Checkout the Viva Las Vegastamps! blog for fantastic projects each Monday, Wednesday and Friday {and an occasional Saturday}. Make sure you sign up to follow the page so you do not miss out on the fun.

There is BLOG CANDY!!! AND there is still time...YOU can still WIN these stamps, too! All you have to do is go back to day one and leave a comment on each the bloghop posts {this is for all 12 days times 6 players}. Winner will be drawn randomly after completion of event. HURRY - today is the last day of the bloghop! I know you just have to have these after all of the fantastic creations we have shared.

VLVS Plate 1363 of stamps is 8 1/2" x 6" and has TWELVE stamps {retail value $21.95}.

Pssst... There is also a double chance for you to win...if you win this plate from the bloghop, you can also create something to submit to the VLVS monthly theme challenge {which happens to be Christmas} for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the Viva Las Vegastamps! online store - YIPPEE!!!

Here is my creation for today...

AND this isn't even the last of my ideas!!!

Can you believe it - I still have a few up my sleeve.

 

 This tag uses Viva Las Vegastamps! "Have a great Christmas" and Shopping Cart Santa from plate 1363 and also "Let's Celebrate Christmas" #11126. As soon as I joined this bloghop, I knew I was going to pair these stamps up.

Today I was inspired by T!m Holtz day 11 tag on his 12 tags extravaganza. I always wanted to play along...and today I did - finally! Following along his tag, I made a background using 4 colors of blue and a blending tool on glossy paper. Then I gently splatted a little water on it which gave a neat bleach spot look, like big chunky snow. You have to heat set this so that nothing smears off. I also went back and added a little weathered wood and walnut ink softly blended to give a ground for my shopping spree Santa. Also on glossy paper, I stamped my three images with black ink. I cut out image and quotes and colored similar to Tim's sample using the blending tool and various inks.

I have to admit, there is a method to this tool and this was my very first time breaking it out of it's package {I have had it for quite some time now}. I will have to practice with the blending tool a little more to get the hang of it. Lucky for me, the glossy paper is pretty forgiving since the distress inks stay fluid on it long enough to fix an area that may be to dark or not as softly blended. I meant to keep the center of the image white like T!m's, but I blended colors in too far. It would be nice to have some different size blending tools. I went back and added back in the white areas and added some gelly hologram pen on the shopping cart and he came to life. I popped up everything with 3-D dots and finished off with a pretty plaid ribbon and a reclaimed holly with berry cluster. I have to admit, I am pretty impressed with this tag - reminds me of the old K-mart blue light special ads.

The 12 tags bloghop contributors from

Viva Las Vegastamps! Design Team are:

This isn't the end - I am always creating with my crafty friends at Viva Las Vegastamps!!! Want to keep up with what I'm doing...sign up to receive my posts in your inbox with the widget at the top right of my blogpage. This will send you an email when I have a post {a little secret...I am on three - yes three - design teams.}. There are plenty of exciting things to come. ALSO...are you still reading???? I will have a special BAKER'S DOZEN post on December 13th in the spirit of cookie baking & I'm throwing in an extra tag for good measure! See you tomorrow : )

Twelve Tags of Christmas with Viva Las Vegastamps! - Day #11

It's Day Eleven - just one day left!!!
 Twelve Tags of Christmas with
Viva Las Vegastamps! Design Team!!!

Myself along with members of the Viva Las Vegastamps! Design Team

will each be making tags every day December 1st thru 12th,

all using the same plate of stamps

{plate 1363 from Viva Las Vegastamps!}. 

Thanks for stopping by! To get back to the top of the hop,

 CLICK HERE.

Here is my creation for today....

It has been so fun making this tags every day. The icing on the cake is that I have all these scribbles and ideas I have jotted down {I can't remember anything these days}, and that I get to visualize them. This is one of these "BRIGHT" ideas. This is the second attempt - the first attempt didn't come out, because I stamped it in green and embossed and it looked like a blurry mess. OK - so try...try again. Stamping is a constant evolving experiment. When you try new things, you never know what you will get...the fun is in the playing.

OK - so this looks pretty elaborate, right??? Nope. Really simple. First I took a piece of green patterned paper by My Minds Eye and stamped the "Have a Great Christmas" from plate 1363 in black cats eye pigment ink and embossed with Viva Las Vegastamps! Ultra High Gloss Embossing Powder. Before I stamped I rubbed the ink off of the light bulbs {they are larger then my mini strand bulbs}. I kept the strand and the base of the lights.

Then I made the background more interesting...

 Know what this is??? YES a clipping from a 9 foot piece of pine garland from the Dollar Tree {I'm waiting for my royalty check Dollar Tree...hehe}. So I took the branch and used it as a stamp and pressed it into my green distress ink. You may want to wear gloves for this. I pressed it into the ink and then press it onto the paper, sort of like you would make a leaf print. I kept it really flat and changed angles for each pressing. It really gives the effect of tree bristles. YAY! Easy peasy...just a little messy.

You will need a piece of faux pine garland/branch.

Try out technique on scrap paper first.

After completing my pine needle texture, I colored in the bulbs and made glow with markers and my water brush, then clipped mini bulbs from these Darice mini lights. I love these and I have this pack in my stash so I always have some when I need them. These are about 8 years old left over from some reindeer heads I made out of popsicle sticks. CLICK HERE to see that project. I clipped the bulbs off the string and super glued them to my tag. Why super glue??? Because they are too tiny for glue dots and hot glue, they roll around, and most importantly, I didn't want to stand there holding them while anything else dried. These made this stamp come to life. I finished it off with a pretty bow. Enjoy!! Hope you try the technique : )

The 12 tags bloghop contributors from

Viva Las Vegastamps! Design Team are:

Thanks so much for joining us today! We hope you enjoyed our creations. Want more creative ideas? Checkout the Viva Las Vegastamps! blog for fantastic projects each Monday, Wednesday and Friday {and an occasional Saturday}. Make sure you sign up to follow the page so you do not miss out on the fun.

How about some blog candy??? You can WIN these stamps, too! All you have to do is leaving a comment every day on each of the bloghop posts {this is for all 12 days}. Winner will be drawn randomly after completion of event.

VLVS Plate 1363 of stamps is 8 1/2" x 6" and has TWELVE stamps {retail value $21.95}.

Pssst... There is also a double chance for you to win...if you win this plate from the bloghop, you can also create something to submit to the VLVS monthly theme challenge {which happens to be Christmas} for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the Viva Las Vegastamps! online store - YIPPEE!!!

See you again tomorrow!!! The bloghop each day will begin with Terri HERE. Looking forward to seeing you there and what everybody dreams up!

Twelve Tags of Christmas with Viva Las Vegastamps! - Day #10

It's Day #10 and all is Golden and Bright!
Twelve Tags of Christmas with
Viva Las Vegastamps! Design Team!!!

Myself along with members of the Viva Las Vegastamps! Design Team

will each be making tags every day December 1st thru 12th,

all using the same plate of stamps

{plate 1363 from Viva Las Vegastamps!}. 

Thanks for stopping by! To get back to the top of the hop,

 CLICK HERE.

Here is my creation for today....

I used these VLVS stamps: "Have a Blessed Christmas" sentiment from Plate 1363, Holly Leaf #3760, Leafy Border #6292, and Angel Blowing Horn #6303.

All stamps used are from Viva Las Vegastamps!

Close-up view of raised sentiment and richness achieved
with gold embossing powder.

This is a pretty simple tag. I selected a dark holly patterned paper by My Minds Eye and I stamped each of the stamps, one at a time, then applied gold embossing powder. I did not heat until I was done with all stamping so I didn't overcook any of the embossing powder from repeated heating. Then I rubbed the background with antique gold and silver pearlescent dew drop ink. I duplicated the saying again and trimmed out, used a corner punch on the top corners and adhered with Miracle tape. I achieved the raised look by adhering a layer of paper underneath. I finished off with a green organza ribbon bow. Simple design with a stunning result.

The 12 tags bloghop contributors from

Viva Las Vegastamps! Design Team are:

Thanks so much for joining us today! We hope you enjoyed our creations. Want more creative ideas? Checkout the Viva Las Vegastamps! blog for fantastic projects each Monday, Wednesday and Friday {and an occasional Saturday}. Make sure you sign up to follow the page so you do not miss out on the fun.

How about some blog candy??? You can WIN these stamps, too! All you have to do is leaving a comment every day on each of the bloghop posts {this is for all 12 days}. Winner will be drawn randomly after completion of event.

VLVS Plate 1363 of stamps is 8 1/2" x 6" and has TWELVE stamps {retail value $21.95}.

Pssst... There is also a double chance for you to win...if you win this plate from the bloghop, you can also create something to submit to the VLVS monthly theme challenge {which happens to be Christmas} for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the Viva Las Vegastamps! online store - YIPPEE!!!

See you again tomorrow!!! The bloghop each day will begin with Terri HERE. Looking forward to seeing you there and what everybody dreams up!