Sunday, December 9, 2018

Ellen Hutson 12 Tags of Christmas with Altenew



Hi Folks! Oh boy, I'm beyond excited to partner up with Norine Borys from the Altenew design team as part of Ellen Hutson's 12 Tags of Christmas series! So far in this series you've seen 8 pairs of wonderful tags where each team has a theme. Norine and my theme is "watercolor". I created a set of four tags, each using the Altenew Hug Me stamp/die set, and the Essentials by Ellen Snow Days by Julie Ebersole.



I was thrilled to try out the Altenew watercolor paint and couldn't be more pleased with how saturated the colors are. Sometimes when I use a set of watercolors there are several colors included that are too close to each other, or half of them are blues and greens, or they just aren't colors that I'm drawn to. After trying out all the colors I'm happy to say there are a really good mix of colors included in the set, and I know I will get lots of use out of them all.


I watercolored inside the fox with a very dry brush. Before I stamped the berries, I watercolored those with red instead of inking the stamp.


The background on the tag is lightly blended with ink through the Altenew Flowing Drops stencil. To make the sentiment fit below the fox on the tag, I stamped the first line of text separately above his tail. It's a good reminder to not feel constrained to stamp the words as they're laid out on the stamp.


This tag uses the same dry brush watercoloring for the fox and his balloons. I put a mask over him and then blended ink through the Molded Lines stencil. While the mask was on the fox I also stamped the sentiment.



I couldn't decide what I wanted to dress him in, so I made a few different shirts ... the shifted polka dot shirt with blended ink through the Feeling Dotty stencil, and the berry shirt with the stamped berries from Peony Bouquet.



The berry shirt was a little much with the vibrant second layer tag (two rounds of blended ink through the Altenew Elegant Swirls stencil) so I went with the polka dot shirt. To finish this one off I added some Essentials by Ellen FROSTY snowball droplets.




Here's another tag with a Flowing Drops background. The second layer is stamped with the pattern stamp from Snow Days and blended with the same color ink (Catherine Pooler's Tutti Frutti).


I was going to leave it at three tags, but then I saw these two little foxes left over on my desk and knew I just couldn't leave them behind. How little effort would it take to make just one more tag, anyway?



So glad I did, as they look adorable hanging together at the bottom of this tag! I raised the sitting fox with some foam for a little dimension to the scene. The background of the top tag is stamped from Snowy Day, and the background of the bottom tag is stenciled with Flowing Drops.


And there you have it! A set of four foxy Christmas or winter tags!


I really do like layering the tags, as it gives you a chance to add another color in the mix.
 

Having a bottom layer to your tags also helps set the tag off from the present. In this case, the tag is light so you can write on it, but the present is also wrapped in a light kraft color. Without the dark bottom tag, the light tag might just get lost on the light kraft present.


I also feel like you have a little more leeway with the height of your layers on tags, than on cards which are going to have to fit in an envelope. So if you generally hold back on using foam adhesive for cards, now's your chance to use it on a tag.


Sure hope you enjoyed the watercolored winter fox tags!

Please go check out Norine Borys' blog to see the gorgeous tags she watercolored!

Thanks so much for stopping by : )
- Kelly



Affiliate Links (which simply means if you purchase something using these links I get a small portion of the sale, at no additional cost to you. So appreciate your support!)

Altenew Clear Stamps, Hug Me (Retiring)

Altenew Clear Stamps, Peony Bouquet

Altenew Dies, Peony Bouquet

Snow Days by Julie Ebersole, Essentials By Ellen Clear Stamps

Altenew Stencils, Flowing Drops

Altenew Stencils, Feeling Dotty

Altenew Stencils, Elegant Swirls

Altenew Stencils, Molded Lines

Snowball Droplets, Essentials by Ellen Embellishments

Catherine Pooler Ink Pad, Black Jack

Catherine Pooler Ink Pad, Tutti Frutti

Catherine Pooler Ink Pad, Party Dress

Catherine Pooler Ink Pad, Garden Party

Catherine Pooler Ink Pad, Eucalyptus

Catherine Pooler Ink Pad, Spruce

Catherine Pooler Ink Pad, Green Tea

Catherine Pooler Ink Pad, Mint To Be

Altenew Watercolor Paint, 36 Pan Set

My Sweet Petunia Mini MISTI Laser Etched Stamping Tool (6-1/8 X 7)

Altenew Watercolor Palette - Medium

Altenew Watercolor Pan Case



36 comments:

  1. These tags are all so darling! I love the watercolor look, and the entire collection looks amazing!

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  2. How fun!!! And it looks like you solved your dilemma about which shirt to dress him in. Lol!!! These tags are adorable for both young and old alike. Who wouldn't smile over such sweet tags?
    Thanks so much and have a blessed Christmas.

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  3. I love your cute little tags! Your watercoloring is wonderful!

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  4. So gorgeous I went straight out and ordered this set!

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  5. This is such a fun
    and adorable set of
    tags! Those water colors
    are nice and saturated.

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  6. cute tags. your water coloring is great

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  7. These are sooo cute! Your water coloring is FABULOUS!

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  8. Love these adorable foxy tags! Awesome watercoloring!

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  9. These tags are beautifully colored and so delightful! tfs

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  10. Love all your tags, will def have to experiment more with Watercolor.

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  11. Fun tags. Brings a smile to the
    recipient's face. thanks for sharing
    txmlhl(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  12. These tags are so fun and whimsical! The soft watercoloring is beautiful.

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  13. What bright and cheery tags that anyone would love!

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  14. I love your festive and fun tags! The little foxes are too adorable and I love that you used stencils for the backgrounds (I have gained a new appreciation for stencils lately lol). Your watercoloring is amazing and I really like the double tag idea, it looks very cool. Thank you for sharing these and for the inspiration.
    (mardy14@bellsouth.net)

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  15. These are so cute! :) Love how you watercolored the images.

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  16. Sweet tags, thanks for the inspiration!

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  17. Oh that little fox is just too cute... I love your watercoloring it is just beautiful!

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  18. Cute tags- I just bought a new watercolor set last week & haven't even put a drop of water to it yet. After seeing this hoping to change that soon.

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  19. These are fun, festive and super CUTE!

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  20. The letter boards are so Julie, aren't they? Super cute. BUT, your tags are the cutest tags in the history of tag making! So very Kelly! Merry Christmas, sweet girl!

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  21. SQUEAL!! LOVING the AMAZING Inspiration!! THANKS for sharing and have a FABULOUS WEEK!!

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  22. Fun and cute tags. The design details are awesome.

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  23. Love all the foxes on your tags :)

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  24. Adorable! I love the warm fuzzies sentiment-so cute. Have to try your dry brush technique-I really like the effect it gives. Beth Williams

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  25. Love the watercoloring on your tags! I haven't tried the dry brush technique so thank you for inspiring me!

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  26. Fun tag designs with these cute foxes.

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  27. Love your fox tags! My favorite is the "happy winter" one with the fox sitting on the berry spring. Just so cute! :) ~ Andrea

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  28. Such a fun whimsical style to these fab watercolored tags. Thanks for sharing your creativity.

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  29. Awesome collection of tags you created! I love your soft, beautiful watercoloring and all of the fun designs. Very cool how you layered the tags, too. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  30. these are very fun with such lovely bright colours!

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I absolutely love reading comments. Thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to leave one! - Kelly