Tag Exchange and December Stamp Class

Friday night we had our December meeting of my stamping group. This class is always festive because not only do we all bring food to share, we do a Tag Exchange where members bring multiple tags that they have designed and we all go home with a set of unique tags!

For my tags, I knew I wanted to make a snowman shaker tag. I started by choosing my tag color–Perfect Plum–and some sequins to go in the shaker.

Next, I cut two pieces of Perfect Plum card stock 2 1/2 x 4 1/8". Using the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, I carefully fed both pieces into the punch (it is possible to cut the tag top on pieces larger than 2" but you have to carefully feed them through the punch) so that they would cut in exactly the same spot.

Once they were cut, I used scissors to snip off the excess part at the sides and then used the Snow Friends Framelits to cut a snowman in one of the tags.

Using Versamark and the snowflake stamp from the Perpetual Birthday Calendar Stamp Set, I stamped all over the tag front. I used the To: From: stamp from the Very Merry Tags Stamp Set to stamp at the bottom with Basic Black Archival ink.

I chose an assortment of Crystal sequins from Pretty Pink Posh and a few other plum-colored sequins from my collection. I tried to estimate how many sequins I would need for my shaker by pouring my chosen sequin mix into the snowman hole in the tag.

I measured around the snowman to find out how large a shaker pocket I would need to fit comfortably within the borders of the tag. Once I had this measurement, I cut a piece of Whisper White card stock for the inside of the shaker pocket (the sequins seem to move better when they have a piece of card stock or DSP behind them rather than to put them just between pieces of plastic–too much static that way!).

My Fuse Tool was used to create the shaker pocket by sealing the card stock, between pieces of a page protector, on three sides. I stuck a piece of a dryer sheet into the little pocket to try and reduce the static as well as pouring the shaker sequins from a dryer sheet into the shaker pocket (probably overkill with regard to the static reduction but it seems to work for me!) and then sealed shut the remaining edge of the pocket.

Fast Fuse Adhesive was used to secure the shaker pocket between the two pieces of the tag.

Using the Framelits again, I cut two sets of ear muffs for the snowman, one from Silver Foil paper and one from Dazzling Diamonds Glitter paper. I trimmed off the two "muffs" from the Dazzling Diamonds and adhered them to the foil ear muffs using the Fine Tip Glue Pen. They were then adhered to the tag front.

I used a permanent black Sharpie to draw on a face, added a carrot nose by punching a very small piece of Pumpkin Pie card stock, using the now retired Blossom Builder punch, and then used a stamp from the Snow Place Stamp Set with Stazon ink to stamp on the snowman's buttons.

To finish the tag I inserted a length of the White Glitter ribbon and knotted a piece of the 1/8" Silver Ribbon around it. Once my tag prototype had been designed, I simply prepared several of the needed pieces for each tag and put the remaining tags together, assembly line style!

Here are all the tags from the night:

A closer look (for an even closer look, click on the photos):

Of course, the Tag Exchange is not the only thing we do in December; we also host a regular stamp class. On Friday afternoon, I had only to prepare my speaking points and demo pieces for the evening to come since I had prepped my projects and the materials for the class the week before.

It was in preparing for one of my demos that I about pulled all my hair out!

I was trying to align a die on the paper strips that I had prepared for class. Strips which two items could be cut from, but for the life of me, I could not get the die and paper to line up properly on my Magnetic Platform to allow me to cut two! Luckily, a posting on Facebook got me the help I needed (Thank you, Lydia! I owe you big time!) so I still had hair to wear to class!

The first project we created was a Christmas Light Treat Holder. I first saw this posted by Lydia Fiedler on her blog, Understand Blue. As soon as I saw it, I knew that this would be one of our club projects for the December class!

To create the treat holder, you cut two "bulbs" from a 3 x 11" strip of card stock (Cucumber Crush) using the pointy end of the Curvy Keepsake Die. The following photo is the one that Lydia sent me to explain exactly how to place the card stock and die on the Magnetic Platform.

Photo courtesy of Lydia Fiedler showing proper placement of die.

A picture is indeed worth a thousand words!

The excess card stock is trimmed off the side of the base of the bulb and then the base is scored 1 1/4" from the natural score line at the top of the bulb base. This resulting little piece is folded on each piece and then adhered together to form the bottom of the treat holder.

A 2 1/2 x 1 1/4" piece of Gold Foil is inserted through the top of a Scalloped Square Punch to create the scallops at each end of the foil. Using a scoring tool, the foil is scored between each scallop. Two foil pieces are created in this way and then adhered to the bulb base.

The tag sentiment, from the Peaceful Pines Stamp set, is stamped on contrasting card stock, Real Red, and then die cut using one of the tag dies from the Curvy Keepsakes Dies.

A white gel pen is used to color in the highlight marks on the side of each bulb and then, using Glue Dots, a treat can be adhered to the inside of the treat holder. The tag is then tied onto the top of the bulb using Gold Cording Trim.

So cute!

Our second project for the evening was cased from Sage Kimble from a shadow box frame project shared with her email subscribers. Again, as soon as I saw it, I knew this would be a project for my stamping group!

Shadow Box Project by Sage Kimble

To create the card, the Sleigh Ride Thinlits Dies were used to cut three pieces of Whisper White card stock. On the Sleigh piece, the sentiment from Jingle All The Way Stamp Set was stamped with Versamark and then embossed with Silver Stampin Emboss Powder.

The Two-Way Glue Pen was used to place glue in the indent created by the die (under the houses, trees, and sleigh) on all three pieces, as well as on the trees and then Dazzling Diamonds was applied. These were set aside to dry while the sky piece was created.

Using the 3/4" Circle Punch, a moon mask was punched and placed in the "sky" area on a panel of watercolor paper. Alternately, Island Indigo and Daffodil Delight were sponged onto the sky area to create streaks akin to the Aurora Borealis. The moon mask was removed and the moon was sponged in with Daffodil Delight.

If this wasn't beautiful enough, Dazzling Diamonds was sprinkled over the sky and then the piece was sprayed with ordinary hair spray to seal in the glitter.

Breathtaking!

A sponge dauber and Basic Black Archival ink was used to ink the edges of the panel and then the three die cut pieces were adhered to it using Dimensionals. The completed panel was then adhered with Dimensionals onto an Island Indigo card base.

Using a piece of the now retired Naturals White card stock, the trees from the Happy Scenes Stamp Set were stamped at the bottom right corner using Island Indigo. The matte was then adhered inside the card using Fast Fuse Adhesive.

Here's our stamping group–such a great group of ladies:

Photo courtesy of Brian Cunningham

I hope you enjoyed our tags and stamping projects!

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