Merry Christmas One and All

Just popping in between mincepies and stuffing to wish you all a very Happy Christmas. Thank you for tuning it to my blog over the last 12 months and for all the lovely comments you leave about the work my brilliant Design Team do. We will be bringing you much more in 2012 but in the meantime
Eat Drink and Be Merry!

Wishing You A Merry Christmas!

Goodly afternoon ... tis my turn to show you a little something I have been making using some fabby products which are all available in store at The Stamp Attic. My tag is all about Christmas and all things grungey... and here's how I made it: The tag base was coloured with Iced Spruce and Evergreen Bough Seasonal Distress Ink and then edged with Gathered Twigs and Black Soot DI's. The stamping comes from one of my fave Tim Holtz Christmas sheets which has a great big music score image... this was stamped using Iced Spruce so it is nicely in the background of the design. The Christmas Carols image was stamped using Jet Black Archival Ink. I also used a little dotty stamp to add some "snow" stamping with Snow Cap Dabber.



The embellishments are made using Alterations Dies... the Lamp Post is cut from Grungeboard, painted with Black Dabber and then I made some lamplight for it using Distress Stains and coating it with Glossy Accents so it looks like glass. I cut three large flowers using the Tattered Florals die from Seasonal Kraft Resist... coloured with Fired Brick Distress Stain and then assembled it into a rose shape. The twig and leaves are cut from Grungepaper and coloured with the same Distress Inks as the background... and I coloured three little baubles with Red Pepper Alcohol Ink so they became the holly berries. I finished the tag with a few bits of Idea-ology and a very light spritz with Perfect Pearls Mists to add a smidge more sparkle.



While I am in the festive mood... have you seen Tim's blog? Wow, he has made some cute little trees using the Paper Rosettes Dies... well, I was smitten as soon as I saw them so got cracking right away and made this little one... I have used one of those fabby new vintage spools that have recently arrived in The Stamp Attic... and dabbed some GLue & Seal onto the tree and then sprinkled glitter over it. not like me to use glitter but I do love a bit of seasonal bling!




Right, that's all from me for today.... before I go though... here's a list of all the stashly goodies I used on my pieces.

Tim Holtz Collection Stamps - Festive Sounds
Alterations - Holly Branch, Holiday Lamp Post, Movers & Shapers Label/Ticket, Tattered Florals
Distress InkDistress Stain
Archival Ink
Manila Tag
Idea-ology
Kraft Resist Paper
Grungepaper
Grungeboard
Perfect Pearls Mists
Dabbers - Snow Cap & Pitch Black

Vintage Wooden Spool
Seasonal Paper Stash
Rosette Dies - Both Sizes
Glue & Seal
Glitter


All that is left for me to say is.... MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Have a good one and see you in the New Year! Thanks for looking.... TTFN

Hels x

Christmas reading............

We just received our January issues from Stampington, a whole two weeks early..........including this fantastic copy of Art Journaling

so if you fancy some Christmas reading order now and we can ship by Tuesday first class..............

Merry Christmas

I am feeling very festive now there is only a matter of days until the big day so I thought I would create a couple more festive cards using the Here Comes Santa set from IndigoBlu from The Stamp Attic.

I created the background using a piece of torn scrap paper and Distress Ink broken china. I created the background first and then stamped the snowflake border at the top of my card.

The trees were then added, with a little shading at the bottom of each tree, Merry Christmas completes my card.

Whilst I was in the festive spirit I decided to create a second card this time using the tree from the set, masked and stamped at the bottom of the card with black Archival Ink. I used the fabulous Zipper once again to create my zipper flower adding a button to the centre along with some black ribbon.

I added a couple of layers of UTEE and placed my card in the fridge and then cracked the enamel to give an aged glass tile look.

I've tried to get a close up shot so that you can see the cracks, must admit they look great in real life.

This is probably my last post until after Christmas so I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for The New Year and a big THANK YOU for your continued support. Tracy (http://craftaddicts-tracyevans.blogspot.com/) x x

More Christmas Fun with Hero Arts

Hi there, it's me, Ruby, back to share a few cards with you.

Have you been enjoying the 12 days of tags?  I have bought a few bits and pieces to create some, but haven't made anything yet.

I have a few more projects to share with you today.  First up is this little Hero Arts Holiday Reindeer that I've coloured with Copics.  I’ve used Authentique Wonder papers. The card itself is just lined paper matted onto the card base.  A rectangle striped panel has twine wrapped around it with buttons and has been attached to the card base using pop dots.  The oval is a Nestabilities die and the sentiment (also from this Holiday Reindeer set) was stamped and hand cut, then finished off with some smooching of Peeled Paint distress ink around the edges.

This little card uses Hero Arts baubles from Decorate Your Holidays set.  I matted the card base with blue bazzill using a corner rounder.  I then cut a smaller white panel, again with the corners rounded.  I stamped and coloured the little bauble using Copics and attached it to the panel using pop dots.  To finish I stamped the word 'joy' and added some ribbon and twine to the top of the bauble and a gem to the centre.



My final card is another simple one, again using the Hero Arts Holiday Reindeer set..



I stamped the background with snowflakes in the same way as the bauble card, using Ranger Limited Edition Distress Ink in Evergreen Boughs adding little crystals to the centre.  I then hand cut a little hill using white cardstock and stamped on the sentiment 'Peace Love and Joy' from the Very Merry Christmas sentiment set.  I added some Rangers Stickles to the hill for some added sparkle.  Using Biscotti Perfect Pearls mixed with water as a spritzer and Evergreen Boughs I painted an area of card big enough to stamp my card onto.  Once the painted card was dry I stamped on the tree image, then fussy cut it before attaching to my card with pop dots.



Finally some Christmassy pegs to share with you.  You may remember I blogged about these a while ago, so I thought I would try a Christmassy version this time.  You could use these in so many ways, for your shopping lists, for gifting money, for using with Baker’s Twine to hang as a banner for your Christmas cards, etc. etc.



This used tags from the shop, some Authentique papers, a snowflake punch, some buttons and ribbon, some pearls and a little stamp from the Snowflakes set by Hero Arts.  The pine cone and foliage in the corner is the new Tim Holtz Tattered Pine Cone die.  There’s a great tutorial on there by Tim too.  I LOVE this die, you can use it for roses too, they would look so pretty in different colours.  I will use it for cards but my main reason for buying it is for my parcels because I think presents will look so pretty wrapped up with a couple of pine cones and foliage added to the ribbons.

Well that’s it from me today.  I hope you’re keeping warm and toasty in this colder weather!

Happy Christmas shopping & crafting!

and finally..........Day Twelve

Wow that went fast..so here we are, last tag of 2011...........I hope you enjoyed them as much as we did.

This one uses one of my favourite dies, Vintage Lace and I can only imagine how amazing it looks in real life with the little fractured doll on the bottom of it. For step by step hop over to Tim's blog and for all your stash needs click HERE
Enjoy!

Day Eleven...............

The penultimate tag......gosh its gone fast.........

today's tag sees a good old basic technique, the fabulous UTEE and Melt Pot, perfect for a lazy Sunday in the craft room. For all the instructions visit Tim's blog ........

We have them in stock online now..............
And yesterday we had some new Memory Box stamps in

I just love this Distressed Jingle Bells.....I know most will have finished cards but I also know some will be rushing about at the last minute and this large background is just perfect for some quick cards.
Have a great weekend!

Day Ten.......

Facets.............I like Facets...........they make amazing embellishments!

Only two days left to go, make sure you get your orders in to qualify for the offers or you may just miss out.

Day Nine....

Sorry its a bit late today folks, I was having to wait in for my new sofa to arrive (which is here now and looks fab) so could not concentrate!

but worth the wait.........all the info is here on Tim's Blog with stash supplies HERE

These tags have been using a lot of the new Kraft Core Core'dinations Cardstock which has been a little hard to get hold of, but ours arrived from the US today, nab it while you can.

If you have never used Core'dinations before prepare to be amazed, its wonderful stuff.

A few Christmas Projects to Share

Hello, it’s me back again with a few Christmas projects.  I hope you’re well underway with your Christmas card and/or gift making.  I’m only just really starting mine, eek!!

If you're here for the Tim Holtz tag, scroll down to the next post or click here.

First up is a Christmas tag using more cute Hero Arts reindeer stamps..

I used a manilla tag base and covered it with Bazzill cardstock in red that I ran through the Sizzix Snowflakes embossing folder.  I tied some polka dot ribbon around the tag in a bow and then die cut a rosette in green and added the stamped Hero Arts ‘Holiday Reindeer’ that I paper pieced again with Bazzill.  Using a Sizzix Brackets border die I cut some borders in white Bazzill and then used the offcuts of the rosette die for the border underneath in green Bazzill Bling.   To finish I added some Xmas Red Stickles to his nose and a few dots for his jumper, and then added some Baker’s Twine to the top of the tag.

Next a more traditional Christmas card that we made at one of the workshops.

For this card we used Authentique ‘Wonder’ patterned papers, these come in a mini 6 x 6 pad and also in 12 x 12 papers.  The stamps on the card are by Hero Arts, ‘Decorate your Holidays’ for the baubles and ‘Christmas Cheer’ for the sentiment. Lots of yummy Copics were used for the colouring and the little pearls were also coloured using Copics, they were originally white.
 
Finally a quick card made using some snowflakes to create a fun background…

This one uses various Hero Arts stamps, ‘Swirl Christmas’, and ‘Decorate your Holidays’  for the snowflake background and Ranger Distress Inks in Barn Door and Peeled Paint.  The label is a Nestabilities die, labels 16 with a sentiment from Hero Arts ‘Get Merry’. The red panel behind the label was embossed in the same way as the reindeer tag and then before assembling everything a polka dot dressy bow was added with a button and twine to finish.

For more cute Hero Arts reindeer inspiration pop by and see my blog post.

Have a great day!

Day Eight......

Goodness Tag counting sure makes the days go fast, well in my world it does anyhow. Day 8 already, and what a tag this one is...........loaded with technique and ideas.

For all the information on the HOW TO hop on over to Tim's Blog...........for any little bits and bobs that you just cannot live without, look HERE for the full list of shopping and also for a couple of fabulous offers. Have a great day.

Just a quickie!

Over the weekend Wendy was visiting at my house and we had a paper folding  play day! One of the things we made were these trees..........

Today I had a further play with mine and mounted the smaller one onto two 

VINTAGE WOODEN SPOOLS glued together.

I tied a red ribbon around the join.

 

  I hope you agree they look pretty good on my kitchen table!

Hop over to my blog......JABBERWOCKY.... for more info on the trees (and other folded fun) and a link to a tutorial to make one of your own!

Tag Seven.......

Day Seven already, blimey its going fast......................

a much more traditional tag today and some great ideas for using glassine..............see all Tims instructions HERE and you can get the stash HERE...........enjoy.
Oh and check out the post below this one, Tracy has some awesome ideas with Indigo Blu Christmas Stamps...........

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

I am feeling rather festive especially whilst creating my pieces for The Stamp Attic this week using the Here Comes Santa set from Indigo Blu.

I love the snowflake border stamp on this set it's so detailed.  On this occasion I have stamped with Vermillion Archival and StazOn Stone Grey ink, adding a little of each colour to the stamp, masking the tree before stamping the second.

I also added some gorgeous trim to the top of my card and then made a floral to match adding a red button to the centre (the trim is available in the shop but not yet on line).

Whilst I was on a roll I created a second card using those wonderful Authentique papers. I also created a zipper flower, which I coloured with Distress Ink Fired Brick. For a little dimension I added a second layer to two of my trees and added text to jump rings.

I also thought it would be fun to create a place setting for Christmas from the fabulous SPOOLS that Wendy has in stock.  I added decorative paper to the centre of my spool from the Authentique range and stamped the trees onto the Authentique paper and added two layers to each tree and adhered to the spool. I added the same trim to the top of my spool to match my card above. I cut a banner from the same paper using the Tattered Banners die for the finishing touch.

Talking of Christmas don't forget Tim's fabulous 12 Tags of Christmas and this is today's offering, all of the details of which you can find HERE and of course all the products are available from The Stamp Attic.


Thanks for stopping by, Tracy x x

Day Five..............

Day five brings the magic of reverse stamps................

Am loving the recycling of packaging going on again in this tag, great time and money saver.

Time out...............

As a busy retailer my November/December always wears me out, so when Hels's workshops for the year were over and my very good friend Sue Roddis invited me for a long weekend, I did not need long to say 

YES!!!!

We went shopping in Chester on Friday, what a lovely place Chester is. Lots of lovely little shops selling those hard to find treasures and as it got dark the lights came on. How lovely does this look?
On Saturday we went shopping to a local garden centre, with equally pretty lights

but more importantly, a very nice Cafe..............

OMG this was just delicious............
Today, with the weather not at its best, we decided to leave the shops alone and have a play day..........now I almost never get time to play so how excited was I?
First we got ourselves some paper to work with.........at great expense

We had seen a great idea over on GezzyB's blog, so we decided to make one of these first...............

a folded paper Christmas Tree, great fun to make. I did not quite finish mine as we had lots of other things we wanted to try out..............so more to come on that.
Next up paper Snowflakes, Sue had seen this on a blog HERE...............

We used double sided 12 x 12 for these but you could use anything really. So from this..............to this

I love them...........really love them, will be making more of these babies.
Not finished yet......next came these...............

paper balls...............clever folding from HERE to make these. Sorry my photo is not that great but basically we started with this

folded this way and that way and back again, added a bit of glue and voila!

So, a whole day but what a day..............thanks Sue (she just gave me my dinner too, I like it here.......ALOT), heading home tomorrow but will be back (if she will have me).

Tag Four...............

A little late this morning folks but it is Sunday after all..................

Today's Tag is very innovative, I love the use of the packaging for the border. What am I on about.......well hope over to Tim's blog for all the instructions and HERE for all you might need to add to your stash. Check out the new Die Pick - cool tool of the day I think.

Tag Three................

Day Three.................get all the information and links you need HERE

This tag is very effective and quite quick to make which is handy as it means you can do bulk for all your Christmas packages.