Who Wants A Peppermint Snowflake? A Mixed Media Christmas Tag

Peppermint

I have never been a huge fan of peppermint but around the Holidays it can be found in everything from Peppermint drinks, peppermint cookies, peppermint ice cream and wait for it…peppermint donuts. The donuts is taking it a bit far, in my opinion. I am a jelly and creme filled kinda girl. And the more filling the better!!

So when it comes to holiday baking I don’t include peppermint. Except when we decided to make some homemade chocolate pretzel bark to give as gifts this year. We did sprinkle the top with crushed candy canes and pretty holiday sprinkles.

Here are a few pictures of our baked items so far. Last evening, we made pretty chocolate crinkles. My hubby and I laughed about how they went into the oven looking ugly (compliments of my two helpers 😉 ) and came out looking like they had a makeover. I would definitely make these again with children as they are very forgiving. And tasty.

The second cookie is Oatmeal Chocolate Chip. I went grocery shopping this morning with a specific request from the hubby for fudge cookies. I came home instead with a container of rolled oats because I couldn’t remember if we had anymore and I needed it to make our sweet potato bake for Christmas Day. Hubby always complains I never have enough snacks in the house. I try to keep extra goodies out because I am on a specific meal plan without Gluten and sugar. Sweet things are pretty much my weakness. So, to get back to the hubby…he requested these cookies since we now have 3 containers of Rolled Oats.

Making The Tag

Inspiration

Yea! I made it to tag #12 at the 12 Tags of Christmas sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique. Linda’s tag reminds me of a retro Christmas! Her beautiful argyle background, snowflakes and touches of red inspired my tag.

The Process

Again, I decided to re-purpose an old tag. I used a stencil with embossing powder and dripped some Brushed Pewter Distress Paint. It has been a while since my Tim Holtz snowflake rosette dies have been used so I dug them out and gave them some love! The bakers twine rolled up was a last minute idea. But doesn’t it remind you of peppermints? I would have done red for both but I couldn’t find anymore so red and gray it is. The JOFY tree from PaperArtsy is quickly becoming a favorite so I used it again as well.

Kate

Challenges Entered:

Tag #12: The Funkie Junkie

Craft Stamper: Anything Goes Stamping

STAMPlorations: Tags All About Christmas

Mixed Media Warriors: moodboard

Tag Tuesday: Christmas Memories

The Merry Christmas Challenge: Anything Christmas

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge

Stamp and Stencils: It’s Beginning to Look A lot Like Christmas

Stockings and Santa: Mixed Media Christmas Tag

Stockings and Santa

 

I thought I would share another Christmas vignette in my house. My MIL gifted me this old world Santa a few years ago. I am not into primitive decor but I absolutely love old world Santa’s. I think it has something to do with the wood and distressed look. As of right now I only have this one but I am eager to find some more.

Below my old world Santa hangs all of our stockings. I still have one left to make but that may not happen this year. You may have noticed there are 6 stockings and only 5 in our family. I have decided to start hanging a stocking for Faolan every year. I enjoy finding little ways to incorporate his memory into our special events.

Making Tag #11

Inspiration

I  am onto tag #11 at the 12 Tags of Christmas over at The Funkie Junkie sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique. My tag took a very different turn but I still drew inspiration from Linda’s tag. I really liked her trim around the center of the tag, the bow and the center focal point.

The Process

I started by picking out a tag base that was never used, from my stash. I reworked it by adding a few layers of Distress paint and some color spray. Next, I added a circle stamp in gold and some dyed vintage lace trims to the center of the tag. For the center focal point I stamped and embossed ornaments from The Artistic Stamper. The color on the ornaments was created by dipping the wrong end of my paint brush in paint. I added feathers to the ornaments to give a more boho look.

Kate

Challenges Entered:

12 Tags of Christmas #11: The Funkie Junkie

The Artistic Stamper: Christmas

Country View CHallenge: Christmas

The Merry Christmas Challenge: Anything goes Christmas

Sparkles: White Christmas

 

Weeping Trees Make Me Smile: Mixed Media Christmas Tag

My Little Tree

I thought I would share my tree since the theme of this post is trees. We got this pretty Balsam Fir the day after Thanksgiving. I wanted to have a full month to enjoy my Christmas decor. Unfortunately, the needles are already starting to fall and it is looking a bit crispy up close.

At the end of last year, I made this tree skirt for under my tree. I based it off of a picture of a Anthropology tree skirt.  You can see my tutorial HERE. I am loving the way it looks under my tree. My kids put their Lego train around the tree but the pompoms on my tree skirt were interfering with their Lego track. They weren’t very happy about that so we bought more track to make it larger to extend past the tree skirt. Now I can see all of my tree skirt and my boys have their Lego train.

Making Tag #10

Inspiration

l am on a roll! Only 2 tags left to go for me. I am playing along with the 12 Tags of Christmas over at The Funkie Junkie sponsered by The Funkie Junkie Boutique. You can see Linda’s #10 tag HERE. While my tag looks nothing like Linda’s I did draw inspiration from her tag. I loved her rows of stenciled tinsel and the greenery from the wreath.

The Background

Since I didn’t have any stencils that looked remotely similar to tinsel, I used rows of stars. Definitely festive. I used PaperArtsy Infusions in the background and then daubed on some green ink before embossing some script in white. I made a wreath out of fake greens but in the end I remembered this really beautiful PaperArtsy Jofy stamp that I never used. Not my typical style but I love it! I want a real tree that looks like this 😉 I stamped the tree and then painted it using Distress Makers.

I am playing along with Elizabeth for Tea Day. Thank you for joining me today.

Challenges Entered:

12 Tags of Christmas #10 Tag: The Funkie Junkie

Stamp and Stencils: It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

More Mixed Media Challenge: Anything Goes

Simon Says: Gift It

Simon Says: Christmas/Winter Holidays

We Love 2 Create: Anything Mixed Media

Surviving the Freshly Fallen Snow: Mixed Media Christmas Tag

Only 25 Days

Actually it is 17 days till Christmas but who is counting 😉 To be honest, it doesn’t feel like Christmas. My shopping is done, I am listening to Christmas music and I have done a little baking but the one thing missing is SNOW.

Beautiful, glistening, pure white powder coating each and every branch and surface. Tonight we had our first storm of flurries but not the real thing. I love waking up to a winter wonderland outside my window, the house illuminated with light due to the suns reflection off the snow. It is a most glorious sight that continues to awe me. God’s creation is SO beautiful. That is, until the snow plow comes along and makes everything dirty and black. Then suddenly I am over it. Oh, that and when I have to drive up our hill/ridge to get to our house. Last year I had to drive up the hill after getting my kids off the bus and it started snowing. My little Honda was sliding backwards and swerving from one side to the other. I was so scared that we were going to slide backwards into the road while I had all my babies with me. Thankfully, hubby got me new tires so he says that shouldn’t happen again.

So, what’s your favorite thing about snow?

Making Tag #9

Inspiration

Here is my next tag for the 12 Tags of Christmas over at The Funkie Junkie sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique. You can see Linda’s #9 Tag HERE. I took inspiration from her beautiful purple background, freshly falling snow, trees and the deer.

Background

I started by using a border die as a stencil with some texture paste. I painted the background and used PaperArtsy Infusions.

Recycling

When it came to the composition I had difficulty at first. I started looking through my animal stamps because I didn’t have any deer. I discovered that I have very few animal stamps and those that I did have would not look good under a snowfall. I remembered my 25 Tags of Christmas that I made many years ago. I didn’t put it on display this year so I was contemplating remaking them. And then I saw a tag with a deer and some greenery and I knew that was what I needed.

So, the deer, greenery and 25 are from a few different tags and then I added gold glitter since I didn’t have white. I splattered some gesso for the snowfall.

And that’s it for this tag. Have a beautiful weekend. And if you have snow, enjoy God’s beautiful creation!

Kate

Challenges Entered:

12 Tags of Christmas Tag #9: The Funkie Junkie

Stamplorations: December TAGSplorations

 

 

 

 

 

Poinsettias For Christmas: Mixed Media Tag

Poinsettia’s For Christmas

I am not really a fan of poinsettias but maybe that is because growing up our church covered the front with red ones. Church members would donate money to purchase the poinsettias ‘In Memory Of’ and the next Sunday there would be an entire page in the bulletin dedicated to deceased loved ones. Now I associate red poinsettias with death. Around Christmas time I certainly don’t want to think about death. Unless it it the death of Jesus Christ, which has made eternal life possible. That is the one and only death that I am thankful for. Christ’s coming, death and resurrection is why I celebrate Christmas.

So, while I was shopping at Lowes this past Friday, I found this beautiful light green poinsettia. I like this delicate color so much better. So, I bought a few. I also bought a red one but I gave it away. 😉

 

Making the Tag

Inspiration

Here is tag #7 for the 12 tags of Christmas over at The Funkie Junkie sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique. You can see Linda’s Tag Here. I am drawing inspiration from the poinsettia, the black frame and the word tape on Linda’s tag.

The Process

I stenciled using a Stencil Girl stencil over patterned paper. I painted over top and daubed ink. A script stamp was stamped over top. Next, I started adding my embellishments. I made some poinsettias using a spellbinders die, added a fancy frame die, fiber, gold twigs and a stamped little boy from Artistic Outpost.

Tags of Christmas

Tag #1

Tag #2

Tag #3

Tag #4

Tag #5

Tag #6

Thanks for stopping by,

Kate

Challenges Entered:

The 12 Tags of Christmas #7: The Funkie Junkie

Christmas Is Coming: Mixed Media Card

Holly Leaves and Snow

Thanksgiving was full of amazing food and conversation. The next day we went to Walmart because we always shop for blu rays when they are on sale. After that, I dug out my Christmas decor and decorated to my hearts content. It took me several hours, lots of glitter and hundreds of pine needles to sweep up! Sounds like fun, huh? Maybe I will share some of my Christmas decor in another post.

What is your favorite Christmas decoration?

I am a bit behind on my tags/cards for the 12 Tags of Christmas over at The Funkie Junkie so I am going to share two today.

First up is my Card #5. You can see Linda’s tag HERE. The inspiration for my card was drawn from the framed vintage Santa and the holly leaves on Linda’s tag.

Making Card #5

I started off by spraying my background paper with Lindy’s and PaperArtsy Infusions. I stenciled the background before embossing it with snow flakes. My vintage Santa was stamped and framed. I stamped several holly leaves on patterned paper, layered them and added Stickles and liquid pearls.

It’s Christmas

Here is my tag #6. You can see Linda’s tag HERE. My inspiration from Linda’s tag was drawn from her doily and the snow. I used a doily stencil in the background and embossed with white around the edges to look like snow.

Making Tag #6

I used texture paste through a stencil and painted with fresco finish paints and daubed it with green and gold ink. I stamped over top with a script stamp. The kids are cut out of a Artistic Outpost stamp. The peach maple leaves and white flower centers are from I Am Roses. I added some black thread and a white die cut border.

Check out Linda’s Boutique.

Thanks for stopping by.

Kate

Challenges Entered:

12 Tags of Christmas(Tags #5 & #6): The Funkie Junkie

I Am Roses: November Challenge  (STDA15, ZQL4 – 700 )

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge: Anything Christmas Goes

 

 

 

When the Sky Rains Pearls: Mixed Media Christmas Card

Raining Pearls

As I sit here, I can’t think of a topic to discuss that goes with the title of my post. Maybe that is because at the moment I am very distracted by the Hallmark Christmas movie I am watching. And my brain is exhausted because I have used up all my brain cells sewing this week.

So, I will leave you with some pictures of my very simple Christmas card.

 

Creating The Card

Inspiration

My fourth card for the 12 Tags of Christmas over at The Funkie Junkie sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique. You can see Linda’s tag HERE. I have taken my inspiration from Linda’s embossed holly background, pearly snow and the silhouette.

The Process

I used book paper for my background and embossed it with green holly leaves. I haven’t taken out my umbrella man in many years so this was the perfect opportunity to use him. He has been cut from black card stock with an underlying silver metallic. I decorated the umbrella man by using gold ink, a unity stamp and covered it in clear embossing powder.

Thank you for stopping. I know it is not my usual journal page but I haven’t had a lot of time or inspiration as of late. I appreciate you sticking with me. Have a great weekend!

Kate

Products Used:

Challenges Entered:

#4 of 12 Tags of Christmas: The Funkie Junkie

The Merry Christmas Challenge: #43 Anything Christmas

The Crafty Addicts Challenge: #42 Anything Goes Christmas

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year: Mixed Media Card

A Most Wonderful Time

I am having a very productive week due to extra crafting time. I haven’t done much paper crafting though. I have been making another dress for my little sweetie to wear for Thanksgiving. And this time I even made a matching purse. I found some lovely lace off of Amazon to embellish the bottom of the dress.

She will be the best dressed at the thanksgiving table!

Creating the Card

Inspiration

My background was inspired by Linda’s third tag for her 12 Tags of Christmas sponsored by her Funkie Junkie Boutique. I loved her red and white candy cane stripes. I started out trying to make stripes by dripping paint but it didn’t quite turn out as expected so I painted the stripes with a brush. I also love the white lights on her tag so I added some dyed crochet thread and added liquid pearls to look like string lights.

The Process

The base is craft paper and then I layered my stripe background. I am always trying to use up old scraps so the circle die cut is a leftover that has been embossed with music notes. The stamps are from PaperArtsy. I absolutely love this cloche with the ornaments. I added paints to color the images and added some liquid pearls.

And today I am playing along with Elizabeth for Tea Day. As you can see, it is a cloudy autumn day. But as always, I am sipping tea!

Challenges Entered

12 Days Of Christmas #3: The Funkie Junkie Boutique

The Holly and Ivy Christmas: #19 Anything Goes

Christmas at Sweet Stamping: Anything Christmas Goes

The Merry Christmas Challenge: Anything Goes/Christmas

Skating Through The Holidays: Mixed Media Christmas Card

Skating Through The Holidays

Wow! I cannot believe the holidays are upon us. We are practicing our church Christmas cantata in earnest and I am starting to make holiday dinner plans! This time of year is always exciting, especially when I browse through Pinterest, but it also tends to be very overwhelming. I don’t handle stress very well so while I have huge aspirations for holiday entertaining and decor, stress wins out and my family usually has to settle for one kind of cookie instead of a buffet of sweets.

But that’s ok. At this time in my life I rather spend time enjoying my little people. Instead of trying to be a supermom in the kitchen and having a magazine worthy home I want my kids to remember me as being happy during the holidays instead of a crazy monster. I wish I could have the perfect balance but let’s face it, we all have more to do in life besides focus on holiday fun.

So, instead of stressing this year I am going to try and enjoy the blessings in my life, focus on the true meaning of Christmas which is Christ’s Birth and plan in a few fun events.

Creating The Card

Inspiration

Over at the Funkie Junkie, Linda is having her 12 tags of Christmas sponsored by her store the Funkie Junkie Boutique. I am very behind but better late than never. Here is my week #2 card. You can see Linda’s week #2 tag HERE. My inspiration for this card was her beautiful textured background which reminded me of embossing and the snowflakes.

The Process

I used a brown grocery bag as my base. I then layered a embossed  piece of cardstock, applied a gesso wash and some sprays. My embellishments include a die cut frame, Tim Holtz pinecone leaves, fiber, roses and stamps from Artistic Outpost’s Skating Emporium.

Thank you for looking. Have a great Weekend,

Kate

Challenges Entered:

12 Tags of Christmas: The Funkie Junkie

Simon Says Stamp: Snow White

The Holly and Ivy: Anything Christmas

Christmas Card Challenge: #25 Anything Christmas

Creative Inspirations: Sparkle

The Little Boy With the Knit Cap: Mixed Media Christmas Card

Knit Caps and Stockings

Speaking of knit caps, I can’t believe how cold it got this week. The leaves are gorgeous shades of golden, red and orange and we finally have the weather to match. I makes me so very thankful for a warm shelter!

And speaking of knitting, I don’t know if any of you knit but every year around this time I think, “Oh yeah, I was going to make Christmas stockings.” I rush and make one before Christmas and then loose interest because I know I have a whole year before we need the next one. Well, I made two last year and one the year before. Since we are a family of 5 that leaves me with 2 left to make. Last year my husband requested camouflage yarn for his stocking. I said NO WAY! That redneck trend does not fit into my Boho Christmas decor. Much to my dismay when I went online to look, I found that they do sell camouflage yarn.  The one below is the prettiest camo available but still too dark for my taste.

So, I pulled out my yarn bin yesterday, in an attempt to be productive and my hubby chose a very soft and pretty Navy Blue for his stocking. If you are interested, I am using this free Knit Cable Stocking pattern by Red Heart. I have found it quite easy and it stretches to allow room for lots of goodies! That was the number one criteria for my hubby. Haha. You can tell he likes his boxes of movie theater candy from the dollar store.

Creating the Card

Inspiration

It has been AGES since I have created a card. Ok, not really but a few months. I have been spending a lot of time browsing blog land lately and I came across an old friend, Linda over at the Funkie Junkie. I haven’t kept up with her lovely art since taking a blog break but now I am back and amazed all over again by her neutral color palette, textured backgrounds and elegant style!

She is hosting her annual 12 Tags of Christmas and I thought I would play along this year. I am going to be sharing mostly cards but maybe a few tags. The Funkie Junkie Boutique sponsors this challenge.

Part of the challenge is to be inspired by something on Linda’s tag. For her week #1 tag, I was inspired by the color palette (brown and green) as well as the greenery and sparkly snow.

The Process

To make the card, I took a torn piece of book paper, stamped with embossing ink, applied PaperArtsy Infusion granules and spritzed the background with water. Once dry, I adhered it to the card background and stamped. Lastly, I layered my stamped images.

And I am playing along with Bluebeard and Elizabeth for T Day. Don’t mind my messy side table. I am in the middle of a lot of books with little time to read.

Thank you for stopping by and Happy Tea Day,

Kate

Challenges Entered:

The Funkie Junkie 12 Tags of Christmas: Tag #1

That’s Crafty Challenge: Forever Floral

Christmas Card Challenge: #24

 

A Very Pearly Christmas Gift Bag: PaperArtsy Guest Designer

Designer Gift Bag

I am over at the PaperArtsy blog today sharing a DIY Christmas gift bag. The holidays are approaching quickly and this project is perfect for those last minute packaging ideas.

I love beautiful packaging. I even have a Pinterest board dedicated to DIY Packaging. But then I start to think of the unwrapping process and how all that hard work usually ends up in the trash. Quite disappointing for those of us who make wrapping a gift an artistic expression. The great thing about gift bags is they are reusable. Not to mention that they can be really expensive at the Hallmark store. The kraft bag I used for this project was found at the dollar store. And get this…it came in packs of TWO! Not only is it unique to you but it also comes saves you a lot of money!

You can see the full Gift Bag HERE!

Thank you for looking!

Kate

Recycled Sari Christmas Tree Skirt

The Inspiration

I know it is not Christmas but I thought I might share a sewing project that I just completed. My inspiration photo for this project was this tree skirt from Anthropologie which is no longer available for purchase. Even if it was available I couldn’t bring myself to fork up $278.00 for this beauty. That is why I decided to take my old tree skirt and make it over. The inspiration fabrics used for this skirt are recycled saris that I purchased off of Ebay at an amazing price. So here is what I did…

Supplies

• fabric
• saris
• thread
• pins
• sewing machine
• old tree skirt
• pom poms

The Process

I started out with some beautiful Sari fabric that I bought off of Ebay.

I used this tree skirt as a the base onto which I sewed my fabric.

I cut a large piece off fabric, pinned it down and used a embroidery stitch on my machine to sew the fabric to the base.

After all my fabric pieces were added.

At the end, I decided I to add some pom poms for embellishment.

Just a few close-ups

 

 

 

PaperArsty Guest Christmas Post

Happy 1 week until Christmas! Can you believe it? Today I am over at the PaperArtsy Blog sharing an altered December Daily album. Here is a little sneak peek of what you will see. Thanks for stopping.

Vintage Santa Shadow Box

I love the little vintage toys that are part of the Toy Emporium stamp set by Artistic Outpost. I clustered them in the lower right hand corner of the shadow box ad-mists the tulle and flowers.

The leaves were cut out using the fancy foliage die. I added some Stickles to the leaves for sparkle. The background of the box has been painted with gesso and acrylic paint before adding stamping. Thanks for looking!

Christmas Girls

Welcome! I can’t believe it is already the second week of December. I guess that means I should share a Christmas project. I made this card for Artistic Outpost using the new Toy Emporium Stamps. I love these stamps because they are so nostalgic and vintage in appearance. I hope you are enjoying the holidays with your family!