Reindeer tags

Are you guys using your virtual assistants on your phones? I got a new phone very recently, as my age old assistant-less phone was giving up the ghost totally. And I just love the fact that my new phone has an assistant that I can just call out to whenever. It's so convenient in the kitchen to just set a timer without having to clean all the dough off your hands. And I love it that when something pops into my head in the evening right before I fall asleep I can just ask my assistant to make a note for the next day, or add something to my shopping list without even having to turn on the light. I'm a bit slow to catch on, but I'm catching up real quick!

I was completely fed up with the traffic around here, it has been such a nightmare lately. I have been going through audiobooks like no-ones business. At least it gave me the opportunity to plan these tags in my head while sitting still in traffic, going nowhere fast. There was a slight adjustment to the plan when I saw the new sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch. I'm assuming I'm allowed to use it on a non-card item too? I was also inspired by the great colours over at Color Throwdown (and who can resist those glittery shoes, I had a pair similar to those back in the days...) and the Wrap It theme over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge. I'm also linking up over at the STAMPlorations Anything Goes challenge, Crimbo Crackers where the theme is Pink and Christmas Stampin' All Year Long where the theme is Pair of Tags.

I started by die cutting the tag from watercolour paper. Then painted the whole tag with lots of water, and dropped two drops of Picked Raspberry ink directly onto the card, adding more water and just swooshing it around (yes that's a technical term). Then I used a tissue to just dab around and soak up some of the colour. Next, I added some Festive Berries ink using a watercolour brush around the edges, and smudged with paper some more. After drying with a heat tool I sponged a bit more Festive Berries around the edges. I used the gorgeous Christmas Reindeer stencil from STAMPlorations to ink the reindeers in Black Soot, and flicked some water drops to create some splotches. For one card, I dies cut the sentiment from sparkly pink card, and for the other I stamped the sentiment in Versamark and heat embossed in red. Last, I die cut a few Mini Snowflakes from white sparkly paper and added an adhesive gem as a finishing touch along with some twine and ribbon from my stash. Unfortunately we are now into the depressing time of the year when the only option is flash photography, and the cards look a bit more dynamic in real life, the colours came out a bit muted in the picture.

Card: 300 gsm watercolour paper, sparkly pink card, white sparkly card
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress inks Picked Raspberry, Festive Berries, Black Soot, Versamark
Stamps: Stampin' Up Endless Wishes
Dies: Lawn Fawn Tag You're It, Merry Christmas Border and Mini Snowflakes dies
Other: STAMPlorations Christmas Reindeer stencil, adhesive gems, twine and ribbon from my stash, red embossing powder