The (Paper) Trailmakers Challenge Blog - Guest Design Team Project (and Tim tag #10!)

The second challenge for this month at The (Paper) Trailmaker Challenge blog was to somehow incorporate a tag, using the December Paper Trail kit.  Since I have been trying my best to work on Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas (I am soooo behind, not to mention doing them totally out of order!)...I decided to try using the Paper Trail kit to make one of the Tim Holtz tags, and this is what I came up with.  

I chose day 10 to work with the kit papers, because I thought the snowflake paper went perfectly with this tag - it is SUCH a cool technique!!  You can see Tim's original tag here.  I started out by tracing a standard size 8 manila tag onto the light blue snowflake paper and cutting it out. I glued the paper to the tag, and punched a hole at the top.  I used my  white Adirondack paint dabber along the edges.  Then I randomly dabbed some paint all over the paper, and quickly, before it dried, sprinkled some glass glitter over it - the paint acts as a glue for the glitter.  In the lower right corner, I also added some Glossy Accents, so I could add a LOT of the glitter, to make it appear as if there was a snowdrift.

Then, following Tim's instructions on his blog, I made my snowman out of grungepaper.  I cut the holly leaves for the snowman's hat out of the same paper - but showing the green "Merry Christmas" side, and used a hole punch to punch out berries from the red cardstock in the kit.  I used a cardstock sticker from the kit on the snowman's belly.  

I used the red organdy ribbon from the kit for the snowman's scarf.  I tied it in a knot, but was having a hard time getting it to stay down, so used my Tiny Attacher to put a little staple in it when I adhered the snowman to the tag.  I used my heat gun on the tails of the "scarf," which melted it a little and gave it a sort of wrinkly, more scarf-looking appearance.  I thought it was pretty cool!!

Then, following Tim's instructions, I cut a piece of clear packaging material (yes, PACKAGING!!) I had saved from one of his products, to the size of the tag, and embossed it with my snowflake embossing folder.  I punched a whole in the top, and then used my Cropadile to punch holes in all four corners to use copper brads to adhere the embossed tag over the snowman tag.  I attached the gorgeous shimmery white ribbon from the kit through the top of the tag.  Finally, I took three of the little cardstock banner stickers, edged them with distress ink, wrote "Fa la la" on them, and adhered them to the embossed tag.  

I hope you've enjoyed this tag as much as I enjoyed making it!  And you should definitely check out Tim's other 11 tags for more awesome inspiration!!  And if you've been inspired to make some tags, or to add a tag or two to a project of your own, be sure to link up to the challenge post here.

I want to take a minute to thank Karen and the entire design team at The Paper Trail team for letting me play along with them this month - it's been a true pleasure working with them!!  Even after all of these projects I've made this month, I still have TONS of product left from this awesome December kit - so if you still haven't ordered your December Paper Trail kit, you really should do so ASAP!!  You'll be wanting it to scrap all of your Christmas photos after the holidays, for sure!!  

The (Paper) Trailmakers Challenge Blog - Guest Design Team project

I tell you what - I am really loving playing with this December Paper Trail kit!! First, the frame project was a blast to make, and now, these cards were SO FUN!! These papers by Lily Bee Designs are just wonderfully versatile and coordinate so well together, the kit makes it super easy to put together great projects, no matter what you're making.

This first challenge of "put a stamp on it" was not such a stretch for me - me who recently "de-stashed" by getting rid of over 100 stamp sets!!! Yep, you read that correctly!! Not to fear - I still have well over 50 stamp sets still in my stash, and somehow still manage to pick up a new one here and there - and always have more on my wish list. Actually, my papercrafting - really, my entire artsy-craftsy life - started out with rubber stamping. I went through a time period of several years when I didn't even pick up a stamp, though, and I thought I was done stamping...but then just in the past 6 months or so, I've gotten back into it. There really is SO much you can do with stamping and ink - I think that's what draws me to it...the huge variety of techniques. I'm a technique junkie, of sorts. Anyway, for this challenge, I made three different cards for you, all using different stamping techniques.

**********************************************************

For this first card, I stamped an outline stamp of a couple trees on a small piece of watercolor paper. I like using watercolor paper for this technique because it holds up well and you can move color around nicely on it. After stamping the trees in brown permanent ink, I rubbed distress inks directly on my craft sheet, then used an aqua painter (a brush filled with water - you could also just use a paint brush and water) to pick up the ink and paint the stamped trees. I also painted some snow and a faint sky background. I used a paper distresser along the edges of both the watercolor piece and the red piece beneath it, and inked the edges with distress ink.

Finally, for a little glitz, I added some Christmas Red Stickles over each red dot at the top of the Christmas trees on the background paper. 

***********************************************************

For the second card, I only did a little stamping - I stamped "Joy to the World" on one of the kit's cardstock stickers, layered it on black cardstock, and popped it up on foam squares, on the front of the card; and I stamped a greeting inside the card, as well. I layered a couple of the pattered papers from the kit, using a notebook-paper edge punch along the top of the red one. I added distress ink around the edges of both papers. I made a paper rosette with the black and white paper, using my Martha Stewart scoring board, and layered one of the chipboard buttons from the kit on top of it, placing some additional chipboard buttons beside it. 

The greeting inside the second card.

**********************************************************

Finally, the third card. This was my favorite to make - I think because I love the colors, and because I absolutely LOVE this Tim Holtz Sizzix die that I used. It's called "Townscape," and I just think the miniature houses are adorable!! They have so much potential - and for every season!! Anyway, I created the houses by gluing a piece of the black cardstock to a piece of corrugated cardboard. I then ran it through my Sizzix Big Kick with the Townscape die, cutting the houses. I trimmed just a tad off the bottom, and a little off each end, to fit the card. Then I used my Snow Cap (white) Adirondack paint dabber to ink up my definition background stamp, and stamped the houses. I thought it looked really cool, with the black text on the white snowflakes on the background paper. (Note - I love using my paint dabbers on my stamps - and you will too - but make sure you wash them off right after you use paint on your stamps, or you won't be happy with your stamps the next time you go to use them!) I used the paint dabber to add a little "snow" to the roofs of the houses as well, and then glued the strip onto the card.

Then I added the 25 with Thickers from the kit, and stamped a sentiment inside.

So...there you have it. Now it's YOUR turn!! Have you grabbed your December Paper Trail kit yet? And if so, what are you creating with it? Stamping isn't just for cards, either - you can certainly use stamps on scrapbooking layouts, tags, home decor projects - most anything! Make sure you add your stamped project to our linky widget in the challenge post so that we can see what you've created and for your chance to win some of the Lily Bee papers from this kit!!  You have until Saturday, December 18, at 5 pm EST to get your project linked up for your chance to win!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas - Paper Trail Blog Hop

Welcome, hoppers, to the 2010 Paper Trails "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" blog hop!!  I am SO excited to be the December Guest Design Team member for The (Paper) Trailmakers Challenge Blog!! 

The blog hop will run from Dec. 1 - Dec. 4, and on Dec. 5, each blog owner will pick a winner for a small giveaway or RAK from those who've left comments!!  Here are the blog hop participants, in case you've started in the middle, so you can make sure to catch all of  us:

1. Trail Makers blog

2. Savanna

3. Sandi

4. Jen - you're here!

5. Krystle

6.. Karen

Without further ado...here is my first project for the month, using the December Paper Trails kit:

First off, let me just say - I am *LOVING* the December Paper Trails kit!!!!  The papers, the embellishments - they are all STUNNING!  And SO versatile - I am finding that they allow me to create something more on the elegant side, like this piece of home decor, or something more on the whimsical side - which you'll see with the first Trailmakers Challenge.  ;)  (Interested??) 

For this project, I used all of the papers in the December kit, with the exception of the solid red cardstock.  I started with a plain-jane burdundy-red wooden 8x10 photo frame.  I sanded it a bit, using my Tim Holtz sanding block, and then painted it black using a black Adirondack paint dabber.  Once it was dry, I sanded it again, giving it a slightly worn look and allowing some of the underlying red to show through.  

Then I cut a sheet of the black cardstock from the kit, to fit inside the frame.  I then used a 1 3/8" square paper punch to punch out lots of squares from the patterned papers, as well as a few from the white cardstock.  I went around the edges of the squares with a white Adirondack paint dabber, to help the squares stand out against the black background, and once dry, I adhered the squares to the black cardstock using adhesive.  I then put the piece in the frame and closed it up.  

I adore Thickers, so I was thrilled to get some in this kit, and I thought they would look great on TOP of the glass in this project - and I was right - I love the effect!!  I placed the letters for "JOY" over three of the plain white squares, and then placed one of the gorgeous chipboard buttons over the fourth white square - again, on top of the glass.  

I used my Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher (one of my absolute NECESSITY scrapbooking and crafting tools!) to make pleats in the red and black ribbon from the kit - a gorgeous piece of ribbon, I might add!  I then used my hot glue gun to attach the ribbon, Prima vine, and Prima poinsettia (all from the kit - seriously, this kit is LOADED!) to the frame.  Finally, I added the "Merry Christmas" cardstock sticker, over the ribbon, and my project was complete.  (And I have TONS of kit product left over, I have to add!)

I supposed you would like to see a picture of everything that's actually included in this kit, right?  Well, here you go:

I promise you that there is no way you could buy this kit at retail for what the kit is selling for!

Whether you need to make cards, scrapbooking layouts, home decor projects, gifts, or whatever else your imagination can create - you cannot go wrong with the December Paper Trails kit!!  Hurry - go get yours right now!!  But don't forget to leave a comment first, for your chance to win a little something!

And keep an eye 0ut - I will have a couple more projects later in the month using the same kit!!

The next stop on your hop is Krystle's blog!  Happy hopping!