Linda Vich Creates: tag exchange

Linda Vich Creates: Christmas Tag Exchange 2016. The Cable Knit embossing folder teams up with Christmas Trinkets in these tags for 2016.

I've come to the conclusion that December is not a good blogging month for me judging by the lack of posts this year and in past years. It seems that there is always something that needs doing and blogging has to take a back seat :(.

However, I did want to share with you the Tag Exchange from my stamping group. Luckily, it was the turn of one of the stampers in the group–Shawna–to instruct so I needed only to create my own tags and the little treats that I made for the group.

For my tags, I cut a long tag from Thick Whisper White and punched the top with the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch.

I added a strip of the Presents & Pinecones DSP and then embossed a piece of Cherry Cobbler, using my favorite Embossing Folder, Cable Knit, and added it to the bottom of the tag.

I tied a length of the Emerald Envy Ruched Ribbon around the tag to hide the join and strung a charm from the Christmas Trinkets Embellishments on twine from it. More ribbon was added to the top of the tag and finished with a piece of the Candy Cane Lane Baker's Twine.

Finally, I stamped the To/From in Cherry Cobbler using a stamp from the Hang Your Stocking stamp set.

The tags this year were truly remarkable! Be sure to click on the photo below so that you may examine the tags close up.

Linda Vich Creates: Christmas Tag Exchange 2016. Annual Tag Exchange 2016.

These mini mug treat holders for my ladies were CASEd from a video tutorial by Heidi Smith. These were very easy to make and used very little paper. And who doesn't enjoy Ferrero Rocher? (other than me, that is!)

Linda Vich Creates: Christmas Tag Exchange 2016. Mini Mug treat holders perfect for holding a Ferrero Rocher chocolate.

Shawna had us make two very lovely cards. The cards do have some Stampin' Up! components though this is not a "must" when a member of the group instructs.

I really enjoyed making Shawna's first card. Because I generally use a lot of colors in my cards, working with this earthy color scheme was a pleasant change of pace! I also enjoyed the many textural elements on the card.

Linda Vich Creates: Christmas Tag Exchange 2016. Card design by Shawna Bartlett.

Shawna's second card used the Softly Falling Embossing folder as a nice backdrop for this lovely winter scene! We also got to work with Alcohol Inks and then die cut our creation for the card's sentiment.

It was a lovely evening, complete with a luscious sharing of sweet and savory treats!

Wow! It's long time since I've been here! So busy this time of year with work, shopping, and prepping items for my Stamping Group which met last Friday for our last time before Christmas. I couldn't show you any of these items beforehand because it would have ruined the surprise but now I can!

I made some Tea Light Holders for each of my ladies, using both the Silver and Gold Fancy Foil Designer Vellum and the Curvy Keepsakes die. I made a different type of tea light holder in Candle, Candle, Burning Bright.

I also prepared Christmas cards for each of my ladies using the Festival of Trees stamps and punch bundle. That set is getting quite a work out this season! You can view another card using the bundle in Trimming The Trees.

Next are the two cards which we made at our stamping group on Friday night.

This first card was cased in entirety from Justin Krieger's wonderful creation. Justin's card was lovely and I just didn't want to change anything–colors, design, etc.

One thing I did do, though, was to use the digital version of the Designer Paper he chose from the Motley Monsters pack. When I read his list of materials, I was quite surprised that the Bermuda Bay star paper came from that package. Because I knew I would not use the other papers, I opted to purchase the digital version and printed it off on Whisper White card stock, a much cheaper alternative at $5.50 instead of $13.50.

Card Designed by Justin Krieger http://jkcardsonline.com/2014/11/paper-craft-crew-117/

The second card was cased from Stampin' Up! demonstrator Jan McQueen. I loved her card and as I had never made a shaker card before, I decided that this would be the one to try! Instead of using the muted colors of the All Is Calm paper pack, I opted for traditional Christmas colors of red and green. I had to add a few non Stampin' Up! sequins into the shaker because there were none available in the two greens or the red that I chose. The other sequins came from the Frosted Sequins pack. (My shaker card below does not have any red sequins because I didn't have any at the time I made my sample card.)

My ladies definitely had fun working on these two cards:

After completing their cards, it was time for our annual Christmas Tag Exchange! Each lady designed one tag and reproduced it for each member of the group. We lay out all our tags so they can be viewed and then we take turns describing how our tags were made and what materials (doesn't have to be from Stampin' Up!) we used to create it. This is my favorite part of our Christmas meeting!