The Finale: Day 12 Of 12 Tags

A bittersweet day since this is the last tag of  Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas series for this year. And, what a tag it is! Here is my comment to Tim that I posted this morning on his blog. 

From the deepest depths of my heart, I thank you and Mario for giving all of us crafty people pure joy from the dedication, techniques, inspiration, and gorgeousness your 12 Tags of Christmas, have brought us this year and past! You have blessed us all as well as brought us together by the uploading of tags (thank you Inlinkz) so that we may catch a glimpse of those we would otherwise never have had the chance to. It brings to mind a song I have sang in my head this whole 12 day period...We Are The World, We Are The People. And you, Tim and Mario, are the ones who have made this a brighter day!!! Merry Christmas and happiest of New Year's to you and yours!

I loved Tim's tag today. It was fabulous, but instead of replicating it completely, I wanted to finish off by making a tag that pays tribute to the real reason why we even celebrate Christmas in the first place. Jesus was born to the world so that He could teach, model, instruct, and ultimately save it! So many get caught up in the decorating, cooking, baking, buying, and receiving, that they lose all clarity in the true meaning of this whole celebration in the first place. It is a very easy trap to fall into, especially once you walk into a store.  I have had to remind my "gotta have it all" children of this several times in the past, and it seems to be sticking...well most days anyway! Enough of my soap box, but I give you warning now...this post is lengthy and you might not like some of the things you are about to see. 

My finale, tag 12, "A Savior Is Born".

I stamped my tag with every Christmas related sentiment I had and 1 Merry Christmas stamp that I really liked.

I wrote in all of Matthew 1: 18-25...The Christmas Story. This is the first time I have ever used my own handwriting for a background like this, but I could not find the stamp that Tim used today. I love how it looks though, and it's personal.

I used the plastic from a package of embossing folders to create a shelf that I could adhere to my tag.

I doubled it up to really keep it sturdy. I also doubled my tag up to strengthen it as well.

This is the finished background and I covered the shelf in tissue tape to blend in with the tag.

I was married right before Christmas and my mother gave us our first nativity set. I have treasured it all these years and put it out each Christmas. I have never liked the bright colors though, so I had a thought.

Here's the part you might not like...I coated it in White Picket Fence Distress Paint and then sealed it with Plastercraft Acrylic Gloss Spray Finish by Deco Art. I love the new look, and all the colors are toned down. It has a great crackled finish that I wish you could see better. You will probably not like this either...and I did call my mother for permission. I used a hack saw and cut off the tail end of the base of both Joseph and Mary, so that they could fit a little better on the shelf of the tag. It worked great, as the pieces are resin. There was no crumbling, just dust. I know,  I know, I'm crazy...right? When I have an idea, I commit...and besides...my mother trusted me completely!

I love how this turned out. It is the very best tag I have ever made, and what a great keepsake. I also love how the star charm turned out. I die cut the star with the plastic and stained in with White Picket Fence Distress Stain, then affixed it with the snowflake brad. Add blingy baubles made the tail of star shine. You might not see it, but there is a baby Jesus hanging on it too. How cool was it that Tim used stickles to create the dotted border? Love that accent!

The shelf worked perfectly after the bases were trimmed. Love the flower made from tissue wrap. What an awesome technique and so easy to do.

View from the top.

View from below.

This tag looks gorgeous on the tree! Thank you Tim for the inspiration!!! I am also submitting this tag to the Sunday Stamper Challenge...theme is Christmas, and to Simon Says Stamp and Show's projects with depth.

Day 11 Of 12 Tags

Here we are on the Eve of 12 Tags! I cannot wait for the finale tomorrow.  Tim's day 11 tag has a vintage whimsical feel to me and he used an uber cool technique using the ever so fun melting pot, that Suze Weinberg has made famous, and shrink plastic. I am sad to say I have no shrink plastic, and have never even used it. For some reason it has never appealed to me, and I have many charms people have made using it that are awesome. But now...I have to have some, just to really try this technique out with! Instead though, I just die cut greenery and a star out with plastic packaging from a texture fade I recently purchased. I could not pass up an opportunity to play with Alcohol Ink...love that stuff, but my fingers and nail beds do not. I even used the plastic packaging for the title piece. I colored all of that with the inks and flipped them over and gave them a coat of White Picket Fence Paint Dabber, so my inks would pop better on the blue background. On my Santa, I stamped the image on glossy paper, but with Pumice Stone Distress Ink, because I cannot stand the fact that Santa's suit would be black if I used Archival Ink. Yes, I am strange, I know! But, to me, Santa's suit has to be red. So after stamping, I filled an Alcohol Ink Pen up with Red Pepper Ink and colored in the lines (this time) to fulfill my need. The rest of Santa was colored in with Sakura Glaze Pens...love them! I cut only my Santa out, because I did not like the look of all the extra paper that comes with the movement lines. It would cover up that great background of the tag. Instead, I drew the movement lines on the tag itself.