Final tag from 25 tags of Christmas

And my final tag from the inspiration of 25 Tags of Christmas, or at least the final one that is going to be done in time to post, was inspired on day 23 by Tracey McNeely.  Her wreath made me think of this gear die to make a wreath.

Amanda

Red snowflakes

Carol Mayne also inspired me on day 23.  She brought red to the world of snowflakes...something I never do. 

Amanda

Alcohol ink tag

Kim Heggins was also inspiring on day 23.  Her tag caused me to write down "use alcohol ink premade as background" because I have in the past made a number of alcohol ink papers and then forgotten about them.  But this might be my favorite inspired piece.

Amanda

White on red

Day 23 brought inspiration in the most basic form red and white from Joyce Mehrberg.

Amanda

Day 18 of 25 Days of Christmas

On day 18 I was inspired by Tracey McNeely to creat a card with a pattern and a solid in layers.  The tag didn't follow the inspiration as intended, but I really love this one.

Amanda

A pretty tree

Another tree that is not green inspired by Carol Mayne on day 17. 

Amanda

No green trees!

On day 17 I was also inspired by Carol Mayne to create a tag with trees that were not green.

Amanda

More peeking

Jamie Gracz's inspiration of the peeking animals on day 17 didn't stop at one.  I had to make a second.

Amanda

No peeking!

Jamie Gracz inspired some peeking animals on day 17. 

Amanda

Day 14 of 25 Tags of Christmas

Day 14 brought inspiration from Kimberly Wiener.  The inspiration was winter wishes with greenery.  Normally I would use snow with winter.  And in then end I went with warm because I have no sentiments that say winter wishes in a good size for tags.

Amanda

Day 12 of 25 Tags of Christmas

Day 12 brought inspiration from Melody Rupple with a note to use black with candy cane stripes.

Amanda

Layers for Christmas

On day 11 I was inspired by Kelly Griglione to layer some fish tails on a tag.

Amanda

Sweet Christmas

Day 9 also brought inspiration from Kim Heggins with a theme of sweet Christmas.

Amanda

A Sweet Story

On day 9 Kesenija Rizova inspired me to use die cuts around the sentiment.  It gave me an excuse to pull out some new supplies.

Amanda

Patterns galore

Kathy Schweinfurth inspired me to use more than one pattern paper on a tag on day 9.

Amanda

Christmas pastels

On day 9 I was also inspired to focus on pastels by Tracy Freeman.

Amanda

Christmas greens

On Day 9 Laurie Case inspired me to use greenery with a bow at the bottom of a tag.

Amanda

Day 8 - 25 Tags of Christmas!

On Day 8 Kim Heggins inspired me to use repetition as the focal point of a tag.

Amanda

A Final Hot Cocoa Cup

Last cocoa cup!  Day 6 Lisa Bzibziak

Amanda

Gingerbread Cocoa

Another hot cocoa cup!  Day 6, Lisa Bzibziak

Amanda

Reindeer Cocoa

Never enough hot cocoa!  Day 6, Lisa Bzibziak

Amanda

More cocoa

Another cocoa cup - Day 6 Lisa Bzibziak

Amanda

The second hot cocoa cup!  Day 6, Lisa Bzibziak

Amanda

Hot cocoa

On Day 6 Lisa Bzibziak had a tag that caused me to write down "hot cocoa cups" which inspired a set of tags.  The first of which is:

Amanda

More black

And as with so many others, I couldn't stop at just one.  So Debbie Marcinkiewicz's black tag on Day 6 inspired this one as well.

Amanda

Black at Christmas

25 tags of Christmas continue...Day 6 brought inspiration from Debbie Marcinkiewicz with a black tag.

Amanda

More German inspiration

Kelly Lunceford's inspiration for German memories was too great to stop at one.  So I made a second.

Amanda

German Christmas

On Day 4 Kelly Lunceford made a card that reminded me of things I saw in Germany around the holidays. 

Amanda

Santa!

On day 4 I was inspired by Tricia Barber to make a tag with a less than normal Santa.

Amanda

Another colorblocking background

The first tag inspired by Kymona Tracey on Day 2 was so simple and fun I decided I needed to another.

Amanda

Colorblocking

Kymona Tracey inspired me on Day 2 to get the watercolors out to make a simple background and really show off the sentiment.

Amanda

A piece of watercolor art

Moving onto Day 2 inspiration.  This first tag was inspired by Virginia Lu.  I wrote down framed watercolor...

Amanda

Santa's bells

One final Day 1 inspired tag from the inspiration of Kim Heggins - Santa with Jingle Bells.

Amanda

Let the dogs out!

Still working from Day 1 of the 25 tags of Christmas...inspired by Joyce Mehrberg - a dog with jingle bells.

Amanda

Reindeer love presents too

Another day 1 inspiration tag.  Inpsired by Misti Elam and her reindeer with presents.

Amanda

More stocking fun

Also from Day 1.  Inspired by Karin Akesdotter - large tag with large diecut

Amanda

Holly Jolly Stocking

Another inspired stocking from Day 1 - Marge Crafts - shaped tag.

Amanda

Inspired Stocking

From Day 1 of 25 Tags of Christmas - Marge Crafts: shaped tag

Amanda

Another Christmas Tag

A second tag from Day 1.

Inspired by Lin Bradyberry:  snowman with heart

Amanda

First Tag of Christmas

For the last several weeks I have been making Christmas tags inspired by those over at In My Opinion for her 25 Tags of Christmas.  Unfortunately, I didn't get to do as many as I wanted and I didn't get any posted until now because every single person in this house has been sick, and of course, it was not all at the same time.  BUT, a movie on for the sickie, and a Christmas play at the local high school I have stolen a bit of time to post the ones I do have.  And apparently I have to post each tag with it's own post to link.

Inspired by Day 1, Shari Carroll:  Charms hanging (that's all I wrote down to work from)

Thanks for stopping by.  Merry Christmas!

Amanda

Florals and Saying Good-bye

As Papertrey Ink's anniversary week continues the challenges continue.  The third challenge was to use one of their floral sets to make a card.  I pulled out Bitty Bouquets which I love, but sometimes forget about. 

I know flowers aren't too manly, but I think hubby will like it.  

The fourth challenge was to use a set from the retiring list.  It's time to say good-bye to a number of sets from the PTI collection.  On the list is my favorite stamp set from them...Tremendous Treats: Valentine.  I use this set all year for the little people in my life, but certainly more this time of year.  They like to use it for their friends too.  So instead of a card, I made some of my little people a stitched tag that I could add some festive pencils to.  

These little cuties pair the Tremendous Treats with their Tiny Treats partners...Mommy and baby.  

All supplies are from PTI except ink and thread.  

Thanks for stopping by.  Let me know what you think.

Amanda

Transform It!

As Papertrey Ink's anniversary continues the second challenge was to transform a card from your past into something new.  I grabbed by box of cards and found this one which is nice enough, but I remember making it.  It was made during a move when I had very limited supplies, as in everything fit into two shoe boxes! 

The red glitter paper and the pink pattern paper were scraps that were thrown into the box because otherwise they would have gone in the trash.  I love the Tremendous Treats: Valentine set, but rarely use the lemon so I wanted to show it a bit more love and see if I could make this concept a little stronger.  Here is where I ended up.

I used the same basic layout but stuck to a simpler color palette.  And brought in stronger "valentine" pattern paper.  

Thanks for stopping by.  I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Amanda

PTI Anniversary Sketches

It's that time of year again.  Papertrey Ink is celebrating their 11th anniversary.  They started off the festivities with a sketch challenge.  While I had several ideas swirling around in my head, I only found time to get one card done.  But at least I got one done!  I chose to work with Michelle's sketch because it instantly brought my favorite Valentine set to mind. 

I used this inspiration to make a Valentine card for one of my little people using Tremendous Treats: Valentine.  

All products are from Papertrey except the ink.

Thanks for looking.

Amanda

Embossed background with stencils

This week's Make it Monday on the Papertrey Ink blog was interesting.  The challenge was to use a stencil to make a heat embossed background.  It's a great idea and seemed so easy to do I had to give it a try.  I went with the lattice stencil from their Limited Edition Garden Gate Kit.  I whipped out four different backgrounds and then went to work to finish them off. 

Here we have a subtle background with the great focal point from Doodlie-Do. 

Here we have a stronger background, also paired with flowers from Doodlie-Do.

For the last two cards I went in a completely different direction.

I love this adorable car.  I wish I had written down where it came from back in the day. 

Hope you like the cards and thanks for stopping by,
Amanda