Use Your Shaped Dies to Make Christmas Tags - Tracey McNeely's 25 Days of Christmas Tags

Hi Friends! I've got a great idea for making quick and easy holiday gift tags ... use your shaped dies! Instead of starting with a rectangular tag shape and spending lots of time decorating that rectangle, why not just employ a few of your large shaped holiday dies and let the actual shape be the "wow-factor"?

You may have come from my friend Tracey McNeely's 25 Days of Christmas Tags celebration, and if so, welcome! If not, make sure to check it out. This is Tracey's 10th year hosting this party for everyone, and it's quite inspiring!

 

 

I knew I had to use the new Essentials by Ellen Gingerbread Plushie Girl.Die since it's so nice and big. It's always a bummer when you have a teeny tiny tag on a large package. This little lady has plenty of space for a cute holiday-food-themed sentiment from the Retro Holiday Greetings set, and for the To/From.
 
Easy! Also, did you notice her hair bow? It's actual the heart that comes with the Skelly Add-on die set.

And we can't have a gingerbread lady without a gingerbread man, so here he is. Another fun sentiment. And I love how the legs make the perfect spot to write your To/From!

If you're a follower of my blog you may remember one of my hacks for making the most of your dies ... the gingerbread lady and gingerbread man is actually made with the SAME DIE!! I simply did some surgery and snipped off her dress, and cut a little higher between his legs, and TA-DA! Here's my original article if you'd like to learn more. Doesn't hurt to save a little bit of money (plus the gingerbread man was a hot seller and is currently out of stock).

 

Such a cute way to present your gifts this year. You could make gingerbread men for all the guys on your list, and gingerbread ladies for all the girls on your list. If you want to be really fancy, you could customize them and have all the presents for your husband in the green vested gingerbread man, all the presents for your mom with the pink hair bow, etc.

I absolutely love holiday traditions, and with many of them being skipped in 2020, I'm happy that Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags celebration is still going strong. So glad you are here! There are of course prizes from these 26 wonderful companies who are sponsoring the event. Stop by to find out more information.

Thanks for stopping by!
-Kelly

 

Supplies used (affiliate links, thanks for your support!) 

Gingerbread Plushie Girl by Julie Ebersole, Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies

Gingerbread Plushie Boy by Julie Ebersole, Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies

Gingerbread Plushie Skellie Add On by Julie Ebersole, Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies

Retro Holiday Greetings by Julie Ebersole, Essentials By Ellen Clear Stamps

Altenew Twinkle & Shine Stamps/Dies/Stencils/Embossing Folders Collection Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

Hi friends! Wow, the new release for Altenew is a big one with lots of new florals, backgrounds, themed sets, sentiments, and even washi tapes. I really can't wait to dig in and take a closer look at them with you!

You may have just been wowed by Erum Tasneem's stunning florals, but if not feel free to start at the beginning with the Altenew Card Blog.

 

One of my favorites from this release, and one I think is going to be a staple for years to come, is the Eucalyptus Jar stamp and die set. It's got a little bit of everything ... florals, tons of different sentiments, and a mason jar to put your florals in. 

For this card I stamped the main image of the eucalyptus leaves and jar, and then added a leftover Hawaiian Coral flower right on top of it. They look like they were made to go together.

But wait, there's more!  I figured out how to turn this arrangement into a tall slimline card!

 

The A2-sized card is on the left, which would look a little short for the slimline card base in the middle. HOWEVER, if you do some surgery and snip off the eucalyptus leaves at the base of the jar opening, you can actually make some magic happen and stretch the size of the arrangement.

By placing the flower (another leftover Hawaiian Coral bloom, this time with sequins in the middle) over the gap between the eucalyptus leaves and the jar, you now have a tall arrangement that's perfect for a slimline card. 

After putting the jar on a wooden table, it dawned on me to use the Delicate Mandala Die for a doily, which I think goes perfectly with the mason jar's farmhouse vibe.

It's always nice to have options, and being able to create A2-sized and slimline-sized cards with this image really opens things up.

And we're not even done yet with this set! The sentiments in the Eucalyptus Jar Stamp Set are vaired in content and design. Can you believe there are FOUR different sentiment stamps used to make this word art card?

 

 

I was so happy with how this turned out, I decided to make four additional cards while I had everything on my desk.

This angle gives you a good look at another new set, the Pen Sketched Silhouette Stamp Set, which I used to make the flowers on the bottom. It's the perfect way to take up the remaining space without calling too much attention, keeping the focus on the word art.

Lots of different looks with this Eucalyptus Jar stamp!

 

Here's another installment in the Everyday Heroes line ... the Firefighter Heroes. It has several firefighting images, but I've just used two of them here. The helmet is a great focal point and the circular hose is graphic enough to make a great background.

I'd like to call attention to the Painted Grid Washi tape that I used on the bottom of the white cardstock strip. How much does that look like a firefighting ladder?! 

This card features the Striped Circle Stamp Set, which, like the Eucalyptus Stamp Set, is sure to become a staple. But this time, it's for your backgrounds!

The center is cut out with the Circled Greetings: Hugs Die. The sentiment continues with the adorable tiny tag from Breezy Bouquet that hangs freely from the "hugs" die cut. 

.After embossing the thin stripes in white, I blended a rainbow in a more Autumnal set of colors.

Why not make another one?

Finally, there are new washi tapes that are big enough to cover your whole card! This means you can use it for any size die you have, our just use it for your background like I've done here.

The Blue Watercolor Washi Tape has wonderful variations on color and makes a beautiful backgroud.

And I guess you could say the same darn thing for the pink watercolor washi tape, ha!

So gorgeous! Which color do you like better? With the background being so beautiful, it was nice to focus on different sentiment dies to build the card around.

 

Special Offers:

Here are THREE ways to get a FREEBIE to kickstart your creativity! 

• Get a FREE brand new Twinkle & Shine Stamp & Die Release Inspiration Booklet (worth $5.99) with every order of high-value Twinkle & Shine release bundles. Shop HERE! *Exclusions apply.

• Get a FREE brand new Online Cardmaking Class with every order from the new Twinkle & Shine Stamp & Die Release collection from 11/04/2020 through 11/10/2020. Shop HERE!

• Get a FREE brand new Twinkle & Shine Stamp & Die Release Mini Inspiration Booklet with every order from 11/04/2020 through 11/06/2020. Shop HERE!

Giveaway Prizes:

To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 3 lucky winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog by 11/10/2020 for a chance to win. 

Altenew will also draw a winner to receive a $15 gift certificate from the comments left on each designer’s blog on the blog hop list below. All winners will be announced on the Altenew Winners Page on 11/12/2020.

 

Blog Hop:
Altenew Card Blog

Laura Bassen

Erum Tasneem

Kelly Griglione

Therese Calvird

Amber Rain Davis

Tenia Nelson

Nicole Watt

Terri Koszler

Nathalie DeSousa

Jenny Colacicco

Jaycee Gaspar

Victoria Calvin

Tania Ahmed

Amanda Baldwin

Emily Midgett

Kymona Tracey

Dana Joy

Lilith Eeckels

LauraJane

Norine Borys

Vicky Papaioannou

Virginia Lu

Nenette S. Madero 

Svitlana Shayevich

Keisha Charles

Maryam Perez

Vicki Finger

Laurie Willison

Reiko Tsuchida

Amy Hill

Agnieszka Małyszek

Anna Veach

I am now pleased to send you to Therese Calvird's blog where you will see some amazingly beautiful floral cards!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
- Kelly

Supplies used (affiliate links, thanks so much for your continued support!):

Striped Circle Stamp Set

Pen Sketched Silhouette Stamp Set

Pen Sketched Silhouette Die Set

Firefighter Heros Stamp Set

Firefighter Heroes Die Set

Eucalyptus Jar Stamp Set

Eucalyptus Jar Die Set

Pink Watercolor Washi Tape

Blue Watercolor Washi Tape

Fine Liner Pen Set

Hawaiian Coral Build-a-Flower

Delicate Mandala Die

Painted Grid Washi Tape

Circled Greetings: Hugs

Breezy Bouquet

 

Altenew Build-A-Flower: Hawaiian Coral Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

Hello Friends! I hope you had a good Halloween this year! My youngest went trick-or-treating and reported that there were a lot of creative families who rigged up slides as a way to safely hand out candy. So thankful to those who helped keep this tradition alive for the kids, even in the middle of a pandemic. 

Now it's time to take down all the jack-o-lanterns, skeletons, spiders, and black cats, but I do enjoy leaving out the fall floral arrangements for another month. These Autumn beauties inspired the card I made with the new Altenew Hawaiian Coral Build-a-Flower stamp and die set.

You may have come from Laurie Willison's blog, but if not feel free to start at the beginning with the Altenew Card Blog.

These are colors that I've never used for flowers before, but really ended up creating quite a fall vibe. Since there is only one flower in this set, there are four layers you can use to build up the depth.

Tip: to create different shades of similar-looking flowers, use the same colors for the first two lighter-colored layers, and then just vary the larger third layer. They will end up looking all in the same family.

I love all the highlighted areas that are in this flower. It ends up looking like beautifully variegated petals. Once this Fall bouquet is arranged together, all that's needed is a sentiment or two and a few gold spatters.

Giveaway Prizes

To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $30 gift certificate to 2 lucky winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog by 11/06/2020 for a chance to win. Altenew will also draw a winner to receive a $15 gift certificate from the comments left on each designer’s blog on the blog hop list below. All winners will be announced on the Altenew Winners Page on 11/09/2020.

Hop List:
Altenew Card Blog
Amber Rain Davis
Emily Midgett
Jaycee Gaspar
Amanda Baldwin
Jenny Colacicco
Laurie Willison
Kelly Griglione
Nathalie DeSousa
Tenia Nelson
Norine Borys
Amy Hill
Svitlana Shayevich
Dana Joy
Virginia Lu
Keisha Charles
Nenette S. Madero
Terri Koszler
Victoria Calvin
Vicki Finger

Your next stop is the blog of Nathalie DeSousa where I'm sure you will find something totally inspiring, as uusal!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Kelly

Supplies used (affiliate links, thanks for your support!):

BAF: Hawaiian Coral