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Christmas Gift Tags 2021 – Bonus Projects

The My Favorite Things Holly Jolly Cardinals die set features in this year’s Christmas Tag Class at Scrapbook Central Petone, where we made this set of four tags.

Along with the bird die set, the class also features the Echo Park Reindeer and we used various foiling techniques, both with and without heat, plus a little bit of inking, stamping and heat embossing. Aren’t they cute?

As always, I like to make extra projects while I have the die sets out. I have previously made projects with the reindeer – you can check out the blog post related to the extra projects from my last class where we inked up tissue and created an array of Christmas trees – plus I will be teaching a fun little mini class featuring the reindeer on November 17th, pictured to the left.

The Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside that the reindeer is standing on was also used in last years Christmas Tag class, and I will show a couple of those tags below here too.


We did foiling techniques in our class, and I thought I would continue the theme on this card too. This particular foiling technique is too time consuming for a short class so I will outline it here.

I used an Echo Park Holly stencil to apply Thermoweb DecoFoil Gel. The gel needs a good hour, at least, to dry – it goes from white to clear.

Once dry, place a piece of foil PRETTY SIDE UP on top of the gel, place in a parchment pocket and send through the pre-heated laminator. The result is the gorgeous shiny foiled leaves and berries background.

I die cut one of the birds from white cardstock and put it together. I grabbed the wrong colour wing (a piece cut from natural cardstock instead of white, whoops) for the bottom part whilst putting it all together, but I added gold sparkle pen to that part in the end, which I thought was a nice finishing touch. I did add an extra wing on the back to give the bird the look of being in flight.

I also cut an MFT Fab Foliage branch from green felt, and the Peace letters from the Tim Holtz alpha set, and arranged the pieces on a plain red cardstock panel, cut down to 3 x 4.25″ – leaving a generous frame around it so the shiny holly can still be seen..


Cutting from felt is another way to get use out of the dies in your stash – you can cut more than cardstock!

I built up a little bird from grey and pink felt – I glued the felt pieces onto a white cardstock bird base for stability.

I used matte gold cardstock for the beak and the little legs, plus black Nuvo drops for the eyes.

I cut the letters for Tweet from the Tim Holtz alpha set, and the sentiment from the MFT Bitty Birthday Wishes. The actual sentiment in the set says Sweet Birthday Wishes, but I omitted the ‘sweet’ in place of the Tweet.

I used the MFT Cloud Edge stencil to create a gentle cloudy sky panel – I used Tumbled Glass Distress Ink and a blender brush. I cut the panel down to 3.25 x 4.5″ and lifted it with a piece of fun foam for dimension.

I felt the bird was a little off-balance all by himself, and decided he needed a fun balloon. I didn’t want to add another colour, so instead I chose a darker pink felt from my stash and cut the singular balloon from the MFT Balloon Bouquet, plus a bit of grey embroidery thread for the string.


I couldn’t help myself with a bunch of cardstock colours – these guys look sweet enough to eat!

I used a range of Bazzill cardstocks – Cotton Candy, Guava Sensation, Sour Lemon, Natural, Spearmint Stick, French Mints and Ocean Breeze, plus a little matte gold for beaks and legs.

Again, I stencilled the MFT clouds with Tumbled Glass and a blender brush. I cut the panel with an MFT stitched rectangle. I cut a second plain panel using the same stitched rectangle die, then cut it down into a slim strip by placing the same die partway down (the stitched parts slot right in to the ones you’ve already cut).

I die cut the letters using the Memory Box Varsity alpha set three times from various colours to spell out Bird Day instead of Birthday, and stamped Happy just above.

And finally, I did use this reindeer on last year’s gift bags (I give bags of Gift Tags as gifts).

I used white texture paste and a Tim Holtz Holiday Knit stencil on the front panel of one of the bag pieces. I coloured the reindeer die cut with Distress inks, added gems to the antlers and a red gem for the nose plus details with a white gel pen and an eye with a black pen. I used a Lawn Fawn Fancy Wavy banner and heat embossed Merry Christmas from the matching Winter Wavy Sayings stamp set.

This bag is a Favor Bag die from Mama Elephant, but you could use any little bag, or create one using a WRMK punch board.

In this year’s tag class, we used two of the same products as last year’s tag class – The Lawn Fawn Everyday Tag and the Say What Christmas Critters stamp set. Although we only used the sentiments from the stamp set this year, it does feature some super cute critters, the perfect size for gift tags.

Here are two of the tags from that class, where the technique was all about ink blending with Distress Oxide inks to get some pretty night skies – colours used for these tags were Blueprint Sketch, Chipped Sapphire and Picked Raspberry.

We also used the Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillsides (also being used in my next Christmas card class shown at the top of this posts) cut from white cardstock and vellum for the critters to sit on a snowy white hillside.

The critters are coloured with Copic Markers, and the sentiments are gold heat embossed.

Also shown on the tag are the Lawn Fawn Mini Snowflakes, cut from gold glitter cardstock.

I did a little write up about last year’s tag class, plus Bonus Projects using the Lawn Fawn Say What Christmas Critters – click here to view.

Thank you for stopping by my blog today! Happy crafting!

For more in-depth information about the best value supplies for your craft table, from cardstock to the handiest tools, check out my Best of the Basics series.

Tour my craft room – you can check out how I store my stamps & dies, inks, tools, cardstock and pretty colourful things too!

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Christmas Trees!

Much like reindeer, I can’t help myself when it comes to Christmas Trees! And I fell in love with this Christmas Tree for sure.

In addition to a card making class being taught this month at Scrapbook Central Petone, I thought I would outline here some of the extra cards I made using the same Christmas Tree die used in class.

In the class (pictured left), the Echo Park Merry Christmas Tree die set is used, along with a chipboard set from Celebra8. The class covers ink smooshing, textured tissue and heat embossing to create these three bright and fun Christmas cards.

However, I have had a bunch of fun with the Christmas Tree die itself!

The die set includes the tree, a tree trunk, a die that cuts 6 round circles for baubles/ornaments, the star for the top and the Merry Christmas sentiment.

I really like the fun, whimsical shape of the tree, and the font of the Merry Christmas. It really is a great value set to add to your stash.

Firstly, I spent some time creating a couple of background pieces using strips of scrap cardstock from my stash. Whenever I create a card and cut down my inked, heat embossed and stamped panels, I keep the leftover pieces that would normally be thrown away, and store them to be cut into strips for times like this.

Check out how I store these scraps, along with general cardstock organisation ideas.

I pulled out all my green pieces and cut them into strips, about 1/4″ wide.

Using a piece of copy paper or refill paper (anything thin and lightweight), I used some Stick-It adhesive sheets to cover the entire piece with the strips. You could simply cover the same panel with glue, or glue each strip separately. Placing the strips on a diagonal does help alleviate the stress of trying to keep all of the strips straight.

Strips using plain green cardstocks.
Strips of various green leftover pieces and some gold glitter.
Strips of various green leftover pieces

OK, my bright and fun background pieces are ready to be cut down and used for cards. Because I used thin paper, they will die cut perfectly easily.

The plain green cardstock strips are basically of three different widths – 1/2″, 1/4″ and 1/8″ – glued down 2 each, dark to light, top to bottom.

I trimmed it down so I had reasonably even margins on both sides and the bottom and glued it to the top of the card base. I added a couple of pieces of scrap cardstock beneath for that extra dimension.

I cut trees from white cardstock, along with Merry Christmas in white cardstock with a gold glitter one on top. I added gold Nuvo drops to finish.

I cut down the bright striped panel using the mid sized Pinkfresh Studio Elegant Banner – such a pretty shape!

I also cut the stitched larger banner in white to sit behind the green striped panel for gentle added interest. I did lift the green panel with some scrap cardstock for that extra dimension.

I cut three white trees and glued them together. The die set includes the star which I cut from the same gold glitter cardstock used as strips in the background. The sentiment is from Lawn Fawn “Say What Christmas Critters” – used in last year’s Christmas Tag class.

I think this tree is perfect for Christmas Tags – and you know I LOVE tags!

I created a striped background on a smaller piece without the gold glitter and cut the tree from it.

I simply added the tree onto a Lawn Fawn tag, along with a white Merry (stacked three times for dimension), a gold twine bow and a white ribbon on the top for finishing.

I also had some further fun with the tree, in other ways.

This was FUN to do! I wish I took more process pictures, but I will try to explain how I achieved this finish.

I smeared some Rustic Wilderness Oxide ink onto my craft mat and anda dab of white embossing paste. Using my spatula, I mixed the two together to create a green paste.

I glued two die cut trees together (actually the top one was of light green cardstock), added a scrap cardstock temporary handle, and smeared the green paste all over it – I found a solid spatula to be easier to use than a rubber one.

Using my solid plastic/metal spatula, I made flicking motions through the paste to try and mimic the fall of the branches. I added more ink to my paste to add darker colour streaks to my tree branches.

It’s a little hard to see from the photo, but I did add a sprinkle of Nuvo glitter whilst creating the branches, adding a pretty, shimmer to the tree. The glitter does need to be pressed into the paste somewhat to stick, so it’s easier to add this while working with the paste.

I clear heat embossed some Bazzill Pomegranate Splash cardstock with the My Favorite Things Christmas Words background stamp. I then cut three Pinkfresh Studio oval frames from white cardstock, and added them to the front. I slotted one of the leftover oval pieces into the frame and glued the tree inside, I coloured the trunk with brown copic markers.

This is one of those occasions where I am loathe to put anything on the front, as the tree is too pretty to cover up! – but may consider a fine black die cut Merry Christmas when I next delve into my stash.

In this one, you can see I had some fun colouring the die cuts with Copic markers. I also used the cute Echo Park Christmas Reindeer – I am in LOVE with this guy – he will feature in next month’s Christmas Tag class too.

For the background, I simply added white embossing paste over a Celebr8 abstract line stencil, not quite getting out to the edges.

I arranged the elements above a black strip with gold heat embossed sentiment, along wth a couple of cute wee gifts with gold ribbon. And probably went a little overboard with gems!

Not quite last, it turns out trees aren’t just for Christmas!

I went full rainbow here, and inked up each die cut tree with a Distress Ink – Festive Berries Carved Pumpkin, Mustard Seed, Mowed Lawn, Prize Ribbon, Salty Ocean and Wilted Violet.

I then clear heat embossed each tree with a fine floral stamp from Carta Bella. You could use any stamp you have in your stack for this. I wiped the ink away with a baby wipe, leaving a resist – the darker ink is trapped beneath the clear embossing, leaving a clear stamped impression.

I arranged four trees along the back, directly onto the card base and three trees to the front row. The three in the front are lifted with a couple of extra die cut trees beneath.

I then added a strip along the bottom with a stamped Happy Birthday and a thin strip of gold glitter cardstock for a nice finish.

Last one, I promise! For today anyway 😀 (Did I mention how much I love this tree??)

These strips are left over from a previous session I had – all coloured with Nuvo shimmer powders.

The background is created just like we did at the beginning, and the tree cut from it. I stamped directly onto the tree with back ink, an MFT sentiment, and a bow made with silver cord. A white ribbon finishes of the top of the tag as well.

If you’ve reached this far, I do thank you! I hope you are inspired to go off and create today too!

For more in-depth information about the best value supplies for your craft table, from cardstock to the handiest tools, check out my Best of the Basics series.

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Peach & Green Color Hues Challenge

I was very excited to be the Winner of the Navy & Cream Color Hues Challenge – you can check out that card here. My prize is to be Guest Designer for this challenge, yay!

I ended up creating two cards with peach and green colours, I was having fun with my new (to me) Altenew Watercolor 36 pan set – they are so nice to paint with!

Floral Garden Birthday

I die cut the Hero Arts Flower Garden from watercolour paper and leaving it all together, painted directly onto the entire panel. I found this easier to paint the delicate piece.

I cut two more from Bristol Smooth cardstock to stack behind for dimension.

I did a gentle watercolour wash on another piece of cardstock using Distress Ink Shabby Shutters, a really gentle green. I used a wide paintbrush and painted water over the panel first. I smooshed the ink onto my work surface and picked up colour with my brush, and swept it back and forth across the panel, aiming for a pretty ombre effect. Once dried, I then used the Simon Says Stamp Detail Bohemian Plate to add a little interest – the dot details kind of matched the floral shapes of the die cut.

I cut the larger heart from the Simon Says Stamp Heart Duet set (sadly discontinued, but any heart die would work), and stamped the birthday sentiment and a tiny heart towards the bottom, and a stacked Hero Arts ‘happy’ die cut on top. I finished the flower garden with some dark peach gems and gold Liquid Pearls.

Flower Fields Birthday

I have been using this Flower Fields background stamp in a number of projects lately, and decided to paint it with the peach and green colour way. I stamped the image with Antique Linen Distress Oxide for the ‘no line’ look.

I used the Altenew watercolours to paint this too, using the exact same colours as the above card. This time, I was going for a more subtle look – subtle takes practice!

I used the Honey Bee Stamps Birthday die – this little set comes with the birthday die itself, the shadow die and a further shadow die with extra piercing. There’s a matching sentiment set, and I’ll link to that below too.

I used the plain shadow die to cut the floral panel just below the centre and popped the pieces up with double sided foam onto Gina K Grass Green cardstock. I stacked the birthday die cut with gold in the space between.

I felt the white card base was too stark, so I added a lighter green mat in Jellybean Green. I finished the card with a sentiment from Simon Says Stamp Tiny Words Birthday and a few Peridot gems from Studio Katia.

I have recently discovered a new black ink pad – a friend was visiting and introduced me to the Versafine Clair Nocturne ink pad, an incredibly dark, crisp black. My new favourite for sentiments! Especially those hard to stamp solid lettering sentiments, wow, what a difference! It is a pigment ink, so not suitable for Copic colouring, but you can use it for watercolour.

This completes my pair of cards as Guest Designer for the Color Hues Color Challenge today. Thank you for stopping by! Below are links to the products I used. Some are affiliate links (not all), which simply means I may get a small commission when you shop, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support.

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For more in-depth information about the best value supplies for your craft table, from cardstock to the handiest tools, check out my Best of the Basics series.

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Red & Pink Color Hues Color Challenge

Red and pink! Not a pair of colours I would immediately think to pair together, but that’s all part of the challenge I guess!

I know February is usually the month of Valentine themed cards – hearts and flowers easily lend themselves to red and pink tones, but I thought I would challenge myself even further by choosing not to follow those themes. Plus, I am still in need of a bunch of birthday cards as my boxes are critically low.

I also want to quickly congratulate my friend Julie – she won the Red & Grey Color Challenge and is a guest designer for this one! You can see her brilliant Red and Pink card here.

OK. So, I thought balloons would work! I used the Neat & Tangled balloon stencil which is unfortunately discontinued. (I have linked to another balloon stencil below which is similar). I used Distress Inks in Picked Raspberry and Festive Berries and inked up a BUNCH of balloons to pretty much cover my card piece. I ruled lines from some of the balloons down to the bottom as balloon strings with a white gel pen.

I cut the panel with a My Favorite Things stitched rectangle die, and also sprayed it with a bit, well, a lot, of gold shimmer spray.

I stamped and coloured a little girl from the My Favorite Things Birthday Besties set – giving her a pink and red outfit, coloured with Copic Markers. I also added a little shimmer pen and glaze to her shoes and her own balloon for shine.

I cut the image out using the matching die, and I also cut two more from scrap cardstock and stacked them together for a little dimension – this actually turned out to be faster to do than finding foam tape!

The sentiment is from the same stamp set, which I white heat embossed onto a strip of black cardstock to stretch across the card front. The card base itself is Gina K Designs Bubblegum Pink – keeping it in theme too!

This completes my Color Hues Color Challenge today! I have links below to some of the products I have used, some are affiliate links (not all), which simply means I may get a small commission when you shop at no extra cost to you. Thank you for visiting my blog today, I hope you join in with the challenge too!

This completes my card today. Thank you for stopping by! Below are links to the products I have used – some are affiliate links (not all) which simply means I may get a small commission at no extra cost to you when shopping. Thank you for your support – it means I can keep creating and sharing with you.

For more in-depth information about the best value supplies for your craft table, from cardstock to the handiest tools, check out my Best of the Basics series.

Follow me on my social media channels: