Welcome to Day 7 of Ellen Hutson LLC’s 12 Tags of Christmas. This year my friend Lisa Spangler and I are using products from Avery Elle with a “Black & White” theme. (Don’t forget to pop over to Lisa’s blog to see what she’s made.) If you’ve missed the other days – you can find them all here. And be sure to leave a comment on our all of our blogs for a chance to win a $25 gift card!
Now onto the tags! Because I frequently reach for black when I design, this theme was right up my street and I set out to create scenes evocative of a frosty winter night.
While the adorable little bear might grab the spotlight, I think the “night sky” is the sleeper hit that pulls the design together; it’s the big, pretty starry background stamp in Avery Elle’s Starry Scene set. It’s a large, solid image, so I used a MISTI to stamp it a few times to get a deep, crisp black with solid coverage (VersaFine Clair Nocturne is my go-to for this type of thing.) It’s a large enough image that I could cut the tags directly from it – love that!
As much as I love that pretty night sky, I think my favorite bits to make are the scarves. They were stamped with the Essentials by Ellen Plaid Maker Stamp Set and paper pieced. (Snowflakes from the EBE Snow Flurries Sequin Mix made for another sweet addition).
In addition to a main tag, I like to add a monogrammed tag instead of a “to” and it’s usually pretty small, but this snowflake (from Avery Elle’s Snow Tag Stamp Set) matched too well to pass up. I used a basic circle die to knock out the center where the initial lives and layered it on top of the same die cut, cut again from black cardstock, popping up the layers with a thin dimensional adhesive for a bit of depth. (I think the snowflakes make awesome tags on their own too.)
Thanks for stopping by!
supplies used:
avery elle starry scene stamp set (starry background)
avery elle winter woodland wonders stamp set (bear)
avery elle snow tags stamp set (snowflake tag)
avery elle snow tags matching dies
avery elle shaker tags die set (tag bases and large star)
essentials by ellen plaid maker stamp set (scarf)
essentials by ellen classic block alpha die set (monogram on snowflake tags)
lawn fawn stitched hillside border (snow drifts)
neenah 110lb solar white cardstock
versafine clair nocturne (starry background and snowflakes images)
lawn fawn jet black (for bear because I shaded with a copic marker)
copic marker, t1 (shading on bear)
essentials by ellen snow flurries sequin mix
I really dig how versatile this set is: while I’ve dolled her up for Christmas, you could use her for any occasion by simply changing the color palette or what accessories are added. (And if you’re not familiar with 
While I’ve used it on a box lid, this layout could easily translate to a card or tag. I’ve enjoyed using her open hand to “hold” cookies and cakes, but I particularly like using it show off a sentiment. (And, really, you could highlight just about anything in the space above her hand and it would work – though Brandi’s flowing sentiments curve and fit especially well.)
