Jingle Tag and a winner!

It has been wonderful reading all your Christmas memories!  Some are funny and others are heartwarming.  Most involve family, some long gone, and the good feeling we had for them. 
One of my favorite memories is picking out the Christmas Tree with my parents.  One particular year, I picked one that was WAY too big to fit in the living room (a common problem for me), but my dad bought it anyway.   Once home, he had to chop a foot off the trunk as well as many of the lower branches just so he could get it in the front door.  We had to forgo the tree topper that year for obvious reasons and I am sure we used more boxes of tinsel than ever before!  Sweet memories of a kind dad.

Well....Congratulations to today's winner!

Here is her sweet memory...

Gabby
"I have been blessed to have a "zillion" yrs of Happy Christmas memories.  If I had to pick one, it would be in the early 80s when I discovered that my sweet, 11 yr old paperboy's family was in great need. The story is far too long and detailed to recount here. Let me just say that Christmas, I never felt more like I imagine Santa must feel as he gives to all each Christmas Eve. I anonymously left gifts and food on Christmas Eve but somehow the family figured out it was me. They showed up on my doorstep at 8 a.m. on Christmas Day. Seeing the joy on their faces and feeling the love in their hugs, made my Christmas all that it could be. When James' Mom, who was crying, hugged me and whispered in my ear "Thank you for making this the best Christmas we have ever had!" it filled my heart to the brim. Just now, as I recall the details of that experience, my eyes are filled with tears. To me, the TRUE meaning of Christmas is in the GIVING. You can't beat the joy and love you feel in your heart.  For me, those feelings live in my heart each day of the yr and they make me a better person. No matter how great or how small the gift, whether it be wrapped w/paper and bows or you give the gift of your time or your presence, the love with which it is given and the joy with which it is received, makes for the BEST CHRISTMAS EVER"

 

There is a new question at the end of this post for the Friday drawing and another prize package!  Thanks for playing along everyone!

Now on to today's tutorial:
Playing in the Distress Ink again!  Today I'm using a #8 tag and Festive Berries and Evergreen Bough Distress Ink to create a blended tag.
Use a blending tool to add ink to each end of the tag.

Sprinkle drops of water over the tag, then remove with a paper towel.  Distress always reacts with water so the droplets will remove some ink from the tag.

Lay the Harlequin Layering Stencil over the tag and re-ink over the corresponding color.

So that it creates the monochromatic pattern.

Ink the edges with Distress Ink in Brushed Corduroy and give it a once over with Perfect Pearls Mists in Heirloom Gold for a subtle shine.

Hard to see the shine on camera but I promise it's there.

Using black Archival Ink, I stamped one of my favorite stamps - the pine cone branch from the Stamper Anonymous Winter Sketchbook set.

Next, I cut 2 bells from Grungeboard using the Mini Movers and Shapers - jingle bell and Christmas bell.

I inked each piece with Distress Ink straight from the pad.

Covered each with a thin layer of Glossy accents (using my fingertip) then poured Distress Glitter over the top.

I used a big needle to scrap away the line details.
Set aside to dry.

Once dry. I added the two bells to a piece of Trimmings and strung it through the hole at the top.  I used the Tiny Attacher to secure the Trimmings to the tag.

A couple Chit Chat words, again secured with the tiny staples from the Tiny Attacher.

And a Remnant Rub greeting in white - remember the Christmas rubs come with a sheet of white and black.

And there you go!  Super simple but I just love the background layers.  Every step is worth it.

InLinkz.com

To enter today's giveaway by leaving comment:

What is your favorite Christmas Song?

Have a great week, see you back here on Friday!
now carry on,
paula