Grace Notes
November 26, 2014
'Tis The Season
Winter Sports, Anyone?
'Tis the season for skating, tobogganing, skiing and of course... hockey. This tag was created with my son-in-law in mind. Any hockey enthusiast would like this one!
Go Canada! Cartridge
I knew I was going enjoy using the cute hockey skates, net, sticks and puck. There is also a goalie stick on the cartridge. In fact, the skates were my reason for buying this cart.
Skates
I couldn't resist adding a few details to the skates. They needed laces! I made them long enough to be wrapped around the ankles a few times, the way players wear them. I also gave the blades an extra shimmer of silver ink on the edges.
Layers
There are 5 layers to this tag. The skates are popped once for the left skate, and twice for the right skate which overlaps the other. Their aqua background is also popped from the white ice rink background.The pic at left shows the layers better.
Cartridges Used
Go Canada! ~ Hockey skates, net, stick and puckElegant Edges ~ Aqua background for skates
Winter Woodland ~ Tag shape
I entered this tag in the Kraft Journal Challenge, Make It Monday Challenge 207 -
Anything Goes Winter. Here's hoping it ranks in the top 3 entries!
November 21, 2014
Silent Night Gift Tag - Version 2
Hand Painted Deer
At first glance you might think this tag is exactly like the first one. Here's a link to that posting, in case you missed it. Silent Night Gift Tag #4
The overall design is similar but the ribbon, star and deer are different. To me, this little guy looks like a young buck because of the size of his antlers.
The overall design is similar but the ribbon, star and deer are different. To me, this little guy looks like a young buck because of the size of his antlers.
Deer
Sometimes cardstock does not always do well when cutting fine details with the Cricut.
For this tag, the deer and trees were made this way. I am not exactly an artist so I have to rely on my imagination in deciding on the most realistic colours to paint them. As always, I use my ProMarkers for this job.
The deer is from Winter Wonderland cartridge.
Layers
Lots of layers do the trick in giving these tags dimension and life. From front to back there are 7 layers. I wish the camera would capture the sparkle of the snow better. The following pic illustrates the layers.
Cartridges Used
Library Fonts - 'Silent Night' phraseWinter Frolic - tag shape
Winter Woodland - trees
Winter Wonderland - deer
Okay, that's it for the Silent Night tags. I'd better get busy making the next ones I have in mind. SO many choices... so little time!
November 19, 2014
SILENT NIGHT ~ Gift Tag #4
All Is Calm, All Is Bright
I love the Christmas carol, 'Silent Night'. When we think about 'night' we don't usually associate it with being bright. But with a full moon, or an amazingly bright STAR lighting up the fields, it most certainly would be bright!
That thought was the inspiration for my Silent Night tag.
I designed this one with a particular gentleman in mind. I know he will love the handsome buck in the forefront of the scene.
As with the others in this series, this tag is BIG, measuring 4-1/2"w x 5-1/2"h.
The pic at left illustrates the large size, spanning my hand.
Details
Background:
I cut the snowy hills freehand and sparkled them up with glitter. For the night sky, I used white gel pen to add snow. If you look closely, you'll see one bright (crystal) star in the "Silent Night" phrase.
Evergreen Trees:
Trees are cut from white cardstock, then painted with ProMarkers. I wanted the trees to be heavy with snow. I love how they turned out. Trees are 2 sizes: some are 1.78w x 1.37h. Others are 2.17w x 1.67h.Silent Night Phrase:
I chose to design my own phrase rather than use one from a cartridge. Sometimes those are too flimsy and don't cut well. The phrase is cut from silver cardstock.
Cartridges Used
Library Fonts - "Silent Night" phrase
Winter Frolic - tag shape
Winter Woodland - trees
Winter Wonderland - the deer
As with the other large tags, I am making two of each design. Can't wait to see reactions from the recipients. Such fun!
November 17, 2014
AWAY IN A MANGER - tag
Featuring the Christmas Carol
The hardest part of this tag was designing the music used as a background in the oval. If you are not familiar with PhotoShop, you can still find the music online and just use a portion of it for your backdrop.
For mine, I worked with the entire music score, cleaned it up to remove guitar chords, changed line spacing, and changed the text to print in brown.
I had to size it down, import it into Word which gave me 4 per page; enough to make a few more of this card.
I wanted to keep the colours rather muted looking and simple. The base tag colour is actually a loden green, not brown. Again, these tags are LARGE, sized at 6"h by 3-1/2"w.
Details
Sizes: Tag size 5-1/2"h, shadow 6"h
Ovals: 2.56w x 3.8h
Oval shadows: 2.71w x 4.02h
Manger & Baby Jesus: 2.1w x 2.79h
Cartridges Used
Elegant Edges - Tag 1 shape
Winter Frolic - Tag 2 shape, manger, star and Baby Jesus
These tags were so much fun to make. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.
November 15, 2014
Get Your JINGLE On!
Winter Wonderland Cartridge
My newest addition to my cartridge family is the Winter Wonderland cart designed by Anna Griffith. I wasn't sure whether I would like the scaled down book and lack of an overlay. But with my Gypsy, it all works well.
These tags are a chubby size: 3-3/4"w x 5-1/2" h.
3 In 1 Tags
My idea was to design a 3-in1 tag that serves as a gift embellishment, "to and from" tag, and a bow. No other decoration is required!
Cartridges Used
Winter Wonderland - Jingle
Winter Frolic - Tag
November 14, 2014
JUMBO TAGS!
How Big is BIG?
When it comes to beautiful tags, those skimpy ones you see in store packages just don't cut it. At least, not when you own a Cricut! Actually, I did not use my Cricut for this tag, but you will see some new posts coming that definitely make use of that tool.
Here is the first in a series of this year's Jumbo Tags.
This tag is suitable for those long packages. It all starts with the graphic I created a couple of years ago. It still like it!
Hint: This graphic is still available on my free downloads page at It's All About Christmas.
The tag measures 7" x 2-1/2" excluding ribbon. It would also be a fun book marker to include with the book you're giving that special book lover on your list.
Sneak Peek
You will want to check in tomorrow to see my next jumbo tag. Here's a sneak peak:
STAY TUNED!
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