Candy Stash-->Candy House

It's almost that time again...time to raid the candy aisles for delicious little tidbits suitable for gingerbread house decor. M&Ms, SweetTarts, slivered almonds, miniature candy canes, gumdrops, chocolate chips and more are arranged in little plates on the table. Most years we use graham crackers for the house roof and walls, cemented together with canned frosting, but last year I cheated and bought an already baked ginergread house kit. Man was that easy! Whichever way we do it, it's always fun and one tradition that is sure to continue at this house.

Gift Tags

My friend Wendy made these tags a couple of years ago, and I have been planning to make some of my own. The corrugated cardboard base gives it such great texture! Then pair that with the pretty embellishments and a bit of sparkle and it couldn't be more special! Now to tear up some old priority boxes...

Rudolph the Red Reindeer

Once I inked the heat embossed reindeer, I wasn't quite sure if I liked the color. But he's growing on me. :)

Shiny and Bright

Oh my! I love this tag! Chipboard letters and shapes are covered with an artemboss metal sheet, embossed with a stylus, colored with alcohol ink, then distressed with steel wool and paint. The soft colors and blackened metal give it the look of a vintage mercury glass ornament.

For Crying Out Loud!

Although Tim Holtz provided all the images for his tag on his blog, I substituted my own photograph for the focal photo. This picture of Laura on Santa's lap always cracks me up. I'm not sure who is most terrified, my 1 year old daughter or Santa Claus himself. Laura clutches her bottle and screams bloody murder, while Santa has that deer in the headlight look! LOL!



(Another substitution. In place of the filmstrip ribbon, I printed a filmstrip image onto a transparency.)

Playing With Plaids

Have you noticed? Plaid is everywhere! This traditional fall fashion trend is not just for lumberjacks. In fact, Day 3 of Tim Holtz' 12 Tags of Christmas features two tags, two plaids, created with alcohol ink! It is such a fun technique, that once you get started, you may not want to stop. I love the contrast of colors on this first tag. The black trees against the warm and colorful plaid is stunning.



The Santa tag with its green and red plaid background has a charm of its own.

A Bigger, Better Tag

After a friend of mine sent me a dozen and some-odd of the #8 manila shipping tags (the size preferred by Tim Holtz for his tag project), I decided to try working with these larger tags. Oh yeah. More room to play is always a good thing. Here are three more tags: