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

The Smallest Light-Up Ornament

Hi Folks! I've got a super cute project to share today ... the smallest light-up paper craft I've ever made!

The Chibitronics team is excited to collaborate with Waffle Flower. Nina Yang, who runs Waffle Flower, is one of the nicest women in our industry. Somehow we missed getting a picture together at the last Creativation, but we'll fix that this January! Thanks so much Nina for this collaboration : )

Let's take a closer look at our tiny Gingerbread House from Waffle Flower ...
 

The die set cuts all the pieces you see above. You get a house base and the house icing, and then you have a few different layers in case you want to change the colors up ... chimney, foundation, and doors. I cut two extra house bases for this project, as well as a strip of red vellum which will be adhered behind the holes in the top layer of the house.

 

After assembling the house and all the detail layers, it's time to make the circuit. The battery is taped down on the lower left corner. Just to the right of the battery you see the switch in the horizontal track I cut in the house base. I've never made a switch this narrow before, where it's about the width of the copper tape. I really couldn't wait to see if it worked! The three white LEDs are adhered in between the circle window openings. That's personal preference for me. I tend to prefer the lower diffused light which illuminates the vellum you put on top, vs. a brighter more intense light when the LED is positioned underneath the hole. You can also see the pull tab here, with a "pull me" from the Heffy Doodle Interactively Yours stamp set.

Here's a look at the back of the circuitry, where the copper tape has wrapped through the slit-opening in the circuit by the switch. You can also see the pull tab adhered to the back of the switch.

 

As a reminder here's what our gingerbread house looks like before the magic happens. Also note the quarter next to it ... so tiny!

 

Ta-da! Our gingerbread house has Christmas lights on the roof!

The thickness of the battery, switch and foam tape inside make a natural stand for the house, although this house would also look cute with a loop of gold thread so you could hang it on a tree.

Here's a better view of the gingerbread house, as well as just how tiny it is. I used watercolors to paint all the layers. 

 One final look at our house with its lights on. So cozy looking!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
-Kelly

Supplies: 

Waffle Flower Gingerbread House

Heffy Doodle's Interactively Yours

White LEDs

Copper Tape

Altenew Crafty Friends Blog Hop at Ellen Hutson

 Hi Folks! I'm so very happy to be representing Ellen Hutson in Altenew's Crafty Friends Blog Hop! Head over to the blog where I share two cards that use the most unlikely pairing of sets ... the Altenew Hug Me set with cute little foxes, and the Altenew Peony Bouquet with giant, romantic peonys.

This little guy is perched on top of the flowers, waiting to offer you support. The flowers swing out and are actually what allows the card to stand on its own. Wouldn't this look cute in someone's kitchen window sill?

The other card features a fox presenting the birthday girl a delicate yellow flower. I really enjoyed using the Altenew watercolors. I've never been a big lover of coloring things in, which I know I'm probably in the minority here, but I'm happy to say that I actually had fun using these watercolors because they gave such vibrant results. I've used them on most of the projects I've done recently. The background has some subtle ink blending through the Flowy Drops stencil. 

Please feel free to check these out on the Ellen Hutson blog, and take a look at the rest of the Altenew hop while you're there.  

Thanks for stopping by!

- Kelly

Affiliate Links Below:

Altenew Clear Stamps, Hug Me Altenew Clear Stamps, Peony Bouquet Altenew Dies, Peony Bouquet Altenew Stencils, Flowing Drops Altenew Stencils, Feeling Dotty Altenew Watercolor Paint, 36 Pan Set My Sweet Petunia MISTI Laser Etched Stamping Tool (8-1/8 X 10-1/2) Altenew Watercolor Palette - Large