December Countdown Bauble Tags

Hello friends! I hope you are well! We have gotten a whole lot of snow here, the first snow of the year. 

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Every year I make countdown tags for December, which also double as date tag för my December Daily journal. This year I decided to make baubles instead of ordinary tags. Both the baubles and the tops were die cut with a label set (Simon Says Stamp Mixed Labels). I enjoy using products in ways they were not intended for. The baubles were watercolored and I added die cut numbers.

I made this burlap board for my December tags in 2015 and it holds my tags every year. You can find that original Christmas Countdown Calendar post here. It has a hook from where the tags hang.

Die cut circles from watercolor paper with the circle from Simon Says Stamp Mixed Labels.

For the tops, I used another of the Mixed Labels dies and die cut labels from Tim Holtz Gold Metallic kraft-stock. Fold and staple to the tops of the baubles.

Paint all the baubles with watercolor paint. Start from the outside and then pull paint into the bauble with a clean brush. I painted some of them with Pearl Gansai Tambi paint and Starry Colors Gansai Tambi paint.

Add all the gold tops.

I die cut the numbers with Tim Holtz Vault Seasonal Sketch. They were die cut from Simon Says Stamp glitter cardstock.

I varied the colors and the glitter colors so that there aren't two with a similar color after each other.

I looked for sentiments in Tim Holtz Christmas Sticker Book. For some of the days, I picked sentiments that worked well for those particular days. Such as the 13 December, with the Saint Lucia celebrations.

You could also hang the baubles in a Christmas tree.

The countdown tags go all the way to 26 December, since that is the last day of the Christmas celebrations here.

The tags painted with the pearl paint glimmer, as you can see here. 

The tags painted with the Starry Colors shine even more. 

They look joyful on the calendar. I am looking forward to using them in my journal. 

I will glue the tags to the pages and I might remove the twine.

This years combination of tags and my December Daily journal. You can find that tutorial here.

Thank you for visiting!

Happy Christmas crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

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Frostie December Journal

Hi crafters! One of my favorite projects of the year is my December Daily journal, inspired by Ali Edwards concept of documenting the month of December. I have been doing this since 2012, making this my thirteenth December daily journal.

We are getting our first snow of the year as I type this, so it might soon be time for a snowman.

Please note: this post has affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.

When I saw Tim Holtz Mr. Frostie, I knew I wanted him on the cover of my journal. My journals have looked different through the years, but the focus is on words rather than on adding photos, to make it easier to document each day. This year I made a journal with a stamped and watercolored cover. The book is 5.5x6.3 in and my December countdown tags will go into it. Although they might not be tags this year. I will share that post in a couple of days.

Start by stamping Mr. Frostie and the tree on watercolor paper with Archival Jet Black ink.

I used pens to extend the tree and create more snowy ground.

Paint the snowman, tree and snow with watercolors. Drop in darker shades to create shadows. 

Paint a light layer of blue for the sky.

Add details and highlights with a black pen and a white gel pen. The white gel pen can also be used to create snow. 

I die cut the title from Simon Says Stamp white glitter cardstock using Tim's Vault Seasonal Sketch set. 

I used Sizzix Little Sizzles Mat Board for the covers. Glue the watercolor paper to the mat board and place under a heavy book. Round the corners and punch two holes along the other edge. Cut pages from your favorite paper. I used a paper good for writing, but often also use sketch paper or watercolor paper.

The back cover was covered with one of Tim Holtz Christmas Backdrops papers. I love the backdrops papers.

For sparkle and more snow, I added Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Dazzling Clear Gems. 

I stamped this sentiment from Tim's Tiny Text Christmas on the background first, but it ended up difficult to read because of a couple of those splattered dots. Instead, I stamped it on white paper, cut into a strip and covered up the bad stamping.

This is such a great stamp! I really like snowmen. There is something so joyful about them. 

There is also a gem on mr. Frostie's hat. 

Don't forget to add some shadows. No need for perfection! This sentiment comes from Simon Says Stamp Season's Greetings. 

I glued the letters unevenly on purpose, for a playful look. 

I also added a few Tim Holtz Christmas Emporium Layers to the inside. 

These vintage artificial snow adds are so pretty.

You can also turn this design into a Christmas card. 

I am looking forward to filling my journal with memories.

You can find my previous Christmas Daily journals here:

2023 - Home December Journal

2022 - Folio December Journal

2021 - Snowy Hills December Journal

2020 - Peaceful Winter December Journal

2019 - Snowy Mountains December Daily

2018 - Birch Forest December Daily
2017 - Narnia December Daily
2016 - Winter Village December Daily video
2015 - Believe December Daily
2014 - December Daily
2013 - Christmas Daily
2012 - December Mini-book

Thank you for stopping by!

Happy Christmas crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

* Please note: the links are affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.

Christmas in the City

Hello crafters! My walks were windy this weekend, apart from Friday when we had great weather. I have also enjoyed time crafting and working on Christmas projects.

Please note: this post has affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.

This week we have an Emboss It theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. I hope you will join us. Lots of options with this one! Our guest designer Teresa York has created a stunning, don't miss it. 

I made a Christmas in the City card this week, which both sparkles and shines. There are lots of fun techniques on this card. I used both dry and heat embossing, since I couldn't pick just one. The background is dry and heat embossed and many of the die cut elements are heat embossed with several layers of clear embossing powder. The background, moon and light post lamp sparkles from Distress Spritz.

Start by dry embossing watercolor paper in Simon Says Stamp Star Lattice embossing folder.

Apply embossing ink to the stars with an ink-blending tool. Cover with white embossing powder, return the excess to the jar and carefully heat emboss. 

Mist the background with Distress Spritz. Start with Saltwater Taffy, continue with Tumbled Glass and finish with just a little Uncharted Mariner.

Die cut Santa's sleigh, the city silhouette and the cars from heavystock cardstock with Tim Holtz Vault Christmas Magic set. Ink with Distress Ink by applying the ink directly to the paper with the ink pad. Emboss with several layers of clear embossing powder. Be very careful and never touch the melted powder until it has cooled down completely. Finish but sprinkling just a little white embossing powder on Santa's sleigh and the city. 

Die cut trees and the lamp post. The lamppost was die cut from silver paper and from black kraft-stock paper. I misted a small piece of paper with Antique Linen Distress Spritz and placed it behind the silver lamp post as a sparkling light.

Die cut the moon from heavystock paper. Ink the base with Lost Shadow. Only add a tiny bit of Mustard Seed to the front part. Then mist with Antique Linen.

Ink the edges with Scorched Timber.

It is difficult to capture the Distress Spritz shimmer on a photo, but you can see some of it here. The edges of the embossed paper were distressed.

Don't worry if you get some stray white embossing powder here and there, it only adds to the texture of the background.

Santa's sleigh and the deer were colored with Scorched Timber. Scorched Timber gets very dark when applied directly to the paper, I didn't want to use black since that might have been too stark.

The speckles of white embossing powder on the cityscape are meant to look like snow.

I found three clippings stickers to use as sentiment in Tim's Christmas Sticker Book.

The cars are embossed with several layers of embossing powder, but I used cardstock for the wheels and the trees, for contrast. The cars were inked with Saltwater Taffy and Abandoned Coral.

Join us this week in our Emboss It challenge! You have a chance to win a $25 gift voucher to do some fun shopping at Simon Says Stamp. You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in.

Do you use Instagram? If so please add #sssmchallenge so we can see your entries there too.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today! 

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

* Please note: the links are affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.