Firefly Crafts

 Penguin & Reindeer Kraft Tags

By Kristen Bacon

Hi Fireflies! 
I am so excited to be part of the new design team for Firefly Crafts!  For my first assignment, I wanted to try something completely new for me- black and Kraft Christmas tags.  I love coloring, so my usual media color of choice is white.  But today is all about experimenting and having fun- which is what crafting is to me =)

I started with two of the Ranger #10 tags, one black and one Kraft.  My plan was to make two identical tags and then choose the best.  But.....my curiosity and creativity sidetracked me so I ended up with 2 similar tags using Flakey Sentiments and More Flakey Friends from Honey Bee Stamps.  This is the first time I have stamped with Honey Bee and I was really impressed; each image was crisp and the stamps picked up ink as well as some of my most loved sets.  The Flakey Sentiments set is definitely geared towards winter; but it isn’t getting put away with the rest of my Christmas sets until it’s time to make Christmas cards again; it’s staying out as I know I’ll make use of all these cute words and phrases!

Black Christmas Tag
I started by inking up the incredibly versatile sentiments Flakey Sentiments with VersaMark ink, stamping directly onto the black tag.  I sprinkled silver Ranger embossing powder (EP), flicked (always flick, tap, or brush off EP before heating or there will be splotchy spots that don't match the other colored areas), and heated the powder to set it.  I went with the Large “Baby” sentiment to draw attention to the top of the card where I used some blue and silver lacy ribbon as a tassel by tying it loop style (see below for directions) so that I could use the tag as a bookmark.  Since the tag is tall at 8.5 inches, I also added two sets of smaller sentiment groups- “it’s cold outside you warm my heart” and “Sending you warm hugs and eskimo kisses” so that there weren’t[ naked parts of the tag.

I gave the EP a few minutes to cool off before stamping my Flakey Friends snowflakes the same way, just using snowflake EP instead of the silver EP.  While waiting for the EP to cool, I stamped my penguin, reindeer, trees, present, hats, and stars with Versafine Onyx Black ink onto 110lb card stock (in order to layer Copic markers and really blend the ink, you need a heavy card stock).  As you see more of my work, you'll notice a lot of black embossed detail.  It's completely worth the extra step as it makes the images so crisp and they just pop off the page.  To me, it's having the best of both dye and pigment inks without any of the negatives!

I sprinkled Ranger clear EP onto my stamped images, flicked, and heated to give each image the black detailed raised ridges.  I then used my Copic Original markers to color in each of the images.  Before the Copic ink fully dried, I grabbed my Wink of Stella Clear brush pen and swiped it across a few of the colored images to draw the eye to them.  Mr. Penguin’s furry hat lining, the white fluffy parts of Mr. Reindeer’s Santa hat, and finally the stars and Christmas tree all received a good coating of the clear glittery shimmer.  I then used a Lawn Fawn Stitched Circle Die to cut a piece of Tim Holtz Idea-ology Silver Deco Adhesive Deco sheets.  Once the circle was cut out, I cut it in half to give the appearance of a stitched hillside or snowy sledding hill.  On the black tag, I used Recollections pearlized snow paste to create snowy ground for my reindeer to sit on.

The final steps of pulling it all together are always the most fun for me- that is, after watching the embossing powder get shiny!  =)  I used my permanent tape runner to attach the reindeer  above the snow and yellow stars on both trees.  I then used Recollections 3D square dimensional stickers for everything left except the penguin to give the tags depth.  Dots propped up both trees, the silver snowy hill, the gift under the tree, and both animals hats. I decorated the black tags tree with red pearl dots and ran a line of them across the bottom as I find things are more appealing to the eye when in groups of two or more.  My final step was to put the blue fuzzy mitten brads through the penguin’s flippers and use them to attach him to the tag.  If you are making a tag that will end up hanging and have the back showing, you can hide the metal brad backing by attaching the brad through to the back of the snow hill over the back of the tag.  

How-To:  Lacy Tassel

Take a piece of ribbon (or any string/floss/twine) in half, forming a loop at one end with the two ends dangling from the other end.  Feed the loop end of the ribbon through the hole.  Once you have just enough of the ribbon loop on the other side of the hole to fit the two loose ends of the ribbon through it, go over the top of the card stock and feed the ribbon through the loophole.  Pull the loose ends tight while sliding the loop end towards the card stock, being careful not to pull it too tight and tear the small bit of card stock between the hole and top of the card.  Voila- you now have a pretty tassel that can be further embellished by tying more decorative ribbon, twine, string, floss, or even fabric strips to the loop =)

Supplies Used:
-Honey Bee Stamps More FlakeyFriends (reindeer, penguin, etc.)
-Honey Bee Stamps Flakey Sentiments
-XL Ranger tags in Kraft and Black
-VersaMark ink
-VersaMark Versafine inks in Onyx Black, Satin Red, and Olympia Green
-Ranger Embossing Powders: Clear, Silver detail, and Snowflake
-Miscellaneous embellishments: red pearls, blue mittens, white and blue ribbon
-Clear Wink of Stella marker
-Recollections Pearlized Snow Paste
-Lawn Fawn stitched circles die
-Copic Original and Sketch Markers
-110 lb white card stock

- Tim Holtz Idea-ology Silver Deco Adhesive Deco sheets

-Recollections Dimensional Squares