Month: December 2025

Holiday Tags Reveal – pt 2

I really like this tag. The mistletoe cut is from a collection I found at Creative Fabrica. The embossing was done using an old border folder and the “merry Christmas” was done using the Foil Quill. Half pearls and some metallic thread and a glittered star round out the rest of the details for this tag. It would also work as a panel for a future card — maybe next year’s card… we’ll see.

Digital image from Creative Fabrica. The plaid is from an old Carta Bella Christmas/Winter collection. I did use an old background stamp for the base of the tag and added some cuts in the plaid for trim. The digital image is propped on a wobble and it’s fun to watch it shiver and shake!

Over the course of the years, I’ve tried to include one tag that has some interactive component – music, lights, wobble, motor, etc. This year, I opted to use a chibi light on a reed switch circuit. The last time I tried that particular circuit I couldn’t get it to work… this year, it worked on the first try! I’ve had some fun with it and the bar magnet was a perfect tool for the on/off switch! I’ll be using that circuit again for sure. The tag shape was created using shapes in the SCAL library. I used two layers of foam tape to allow for the depth of the switch and battery. Since the switch is generally in the off position, the battery lasts much longer than if I was using a regular circuit and a switch at the battery.

These tags are always fun to make. Hopefully, next year, we can bypass the pneumonia and other issues and just have time to play and create! I’m looking forward to it!

Annual Holiday Tags Reveal – pt 1

this year was a bit different than previous years’ reveals. I wasn’t able to finish all 12 tags due to illness… so instead of doing several different posts this year, I’m going to do just a couple. So let’s get started:

Lots paper piecing this year — most files were already on the computer, found for free online or inspired by something on Pinterest.

This first tag is a go cup – all the facial features were created using simple shapes in SCAL. Love being able to use up a ton of scraps as well this year. The embossing folder is from Crafter’s Companion – likely retired by this point in time.

I’ve always liked this bear stamp — I’ve used it for several different projects including birthday cards. For this tag, I added some digital paper from an old Echo Park collection and a bit of the paper yarn I made last fall. The sentiment is foil quilled and the SCAL software makes it to easy to complete a print to cut; foil to cut project!

A third tag is a fun piece — I’ve created something similar a couple of years ago, but I do like this version of the “peeker”. A little bit of ribbon, some Nuvo drops and a white paint/gel pen for details. Fun way to use your scraps again.

Using a file for a laser ornament — the file was from Creative Fabrica. Super easy to do and I just used 2 extra layers of paper to get the look I was after. All paper is from AC cardstock – with texture.

Poinsettia’s are a favorite of mine… they come in all sorts of colors and I thought that the white on white would be a perfect way to display this one. The file is from Maison Gregoria, reduced in size to about 2 inches across finished. Tag shape is made from simple shapes and a little bit of gold pen on the panel edge adds a little more texture to this tag.

We’ll stop there for now…. Just a few more to go and I’ll share those tomorrow.

filled with gratitude

3 Positives:
rest
good food
time in the studio

My Journey Notes:
Still not quite up to stuff yet… but I think there’s some improvement as far as stamina is concerned. I was able to work start to finish on a project – it took longer than it might have normally, but the project is complete and is checked off the list. I was able to fix dinner start to finish. Appreciated A stepping in and helping with the clean-up though. I was done in after eating. LOL Hoping today will be a bit better – and I can add a few more steps to the total for the day.

shine on

3 Positives:
It’s okay to step away for a while
try a different way
be kind to yourself

My Journey Notes:
Still progressing, but the healing process is much slower than I’d hoped. Had enough stamina to work in the studio for a couple of hours. Rough start there, but once the problem was sorted things started to fall into place.

fresh starts

3 Positives:
sleep is good
Anti-biotic cocktail is working
letting other’s serve

My Journey notes:
it’s been a long couple of weeks – T brought it home, spent a night in the hospital with stage 1 pneumonia with some other concerns tagged on. That was the 30th. I was full on in pneumonia by Tuesday, and did drag myself to insta-care that morning. A full morning there with the nebulizer, oxygen, on-boarding some antibiotics, X-rays and bloodwork that was pretty crazy. 4 new prescriptions! Repeat of the process on Wednesday. No drop in O2 levels overnight, so we didn’t have to go in yesterday and no visit to ER or admission to the hospital. Last evening was the first night in several that I’ve been able to get more than an hour of uninterrupted sleep. I’ll take it.

One gift I did get was that the NP handling my case at the insta-care, made the comment several times that I was alert and very aware of the situation and my thoughts concerning care were well thought out and could be used as long as some other precautions were put in place and it was decided that would be used as the treatment plan for the following 24 hours and even the tele-health dr was impressed. YIPEE!