Friday Craftiness - homemade gift tags

I finished the tags from Monday!  Whoo hoo!  These were a lot of fun to do, and I plan to make a bunch more.  Good thing I have lots of playing cards laying around.  It may require a trip to the dollar store though!

One of the obstacles I run up against in my creativity is believing that I'm supposed to always be making Serious Art, Art with a capital A.  The truth of the matter is that sometimes we need creative play.  It is freeing to be able to create without worrying about how it's going to turn out, who might pay for it, or if a gallery would ever want it.  When you are playing you are creating for the sheer pleasure of the process.

  When we left off on Monday I had just put the holly and poinsettia backgrounds on.  After that dried I stamped the XO on, and over that I took a small gold stamp pad and just touched the surface of the cards here and there with it.  I used a heat gun to set the ink, plus I sprayed a fixative over the surface.  That ink has a tendency to smudge!

The next step was to paint the backs with acrylic paint and let them dry.

I stippled over the red with a metallic gold acrylic.  Let it dry again.

Then I stamped some words, again using the heat gun and fixative.  You can also use some embossing powder with the stamped ink.  I did that on the "just for you" cards.

Next I got to play with glitter!  I love glitter - little girl happy gleeful love glitter!  There is just some magical childhood Christmas memory association there.  I'm also really drawn to sparkly shiny things juxtaposed with a worn and weathered look.

Anyway, the glitter was the whole point of this project!  Ha ha!  I used the Martha Stewart Crafts glue pen to draw around the edges.  This is a very handy tool.  Then I sprinkled on some very fine Martha Stewart glitter.

I sprayed a final layer of acrylic sealer on the fronts and backs, letting each side dry before doing the next.  And finally I added a pretty ribbon:)  I love playing with these typeface stamps too.  I'm wishing I had bought the entire alphabet.  I guess I need to go back to Iowa to get more;)  Because I'm sure they are not sold in any other state!

I'm working on a tutorial for a little holiday ornament project for you.  It's related to that little birdy sketch up there in the bottom corner of the top photo.

Let me know if you make any gift tags; I'd love to see them!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  We have our first winter storm coming through in the next couple days.  From the looks of things out there, I wouldn't be surprised if it arrived today!  Stay warm and bundled up!