Winter Tags - Winter Side Orders

 The last of the holiday Side Order dies is the Winter Side Order Set - now I have to say here that I inadvertently mixed up two dies between the Winter and the Christmas dies. The Snowman is actually part of the Christmas set and the Mitten is part of this winter set.  But really it doesn't matter because trust me, you need both!

 As with the Christmas tags, I used the Mini Shifter Stencils #36 to make the paper for the tags using Distress Water Color Paper and Distress Ink, and I embossed some of the papers with the mini embossing folder that comes with this set of dies and colored used a solid color so the die shapes would stand out.

 The shapes of the tags are from the Labels die set that I have proclaimed over and again as one of my most favorite die sets in the Alterations line. I hand cut the little banner and the sentiment is also included in the die set.

 These little cuties are perfect for gifts, place markers, card fronts or ornaments.

 If you are making several of these, I recommend cutting and embossing all of the pieces and then coloring them as you go. That's what I did.

 It made for a really relaxing evening of coloring and assembly. Then when it was time to put tags together I was ready to go!

Give Thanks - Sizzix Autumn Side Orders

I just love fall and although the temptation is always to move from Halloween right into Christmas, I always like to stop and give Thanksgiving the attention it deserves. The Autumn Side Order set allows you to do just that too!
I mean, how can you resist those adorable little acorns? Be still my heart. I have acorns throughout my Thanksgiving decor: metal, wooden, glittered, painted, burlap, raffia, and even glass. Yes, I have mad acorn love.

This little Thanksgiving card is so utterly me. From the aged brick, to the cream pumpkin and those precious little acorns, all grounded by the wooden frame. 

To age the brick, I ran some Coordinations white kraftcore through my Vagabond 2 in the Brick Texture Fade. Before embossing it, I inked the raised portions of the texture fade with Ground Espresso Archival Ink and that is what gave it the brown color in the indentations. I did the same with the Distress Mixed Media Heavystock that I colored with various brown Distress inks and then when I went to run the brown heavystock through the 3-D lumber texture fade, I inked the raised portions with Archival ink and that made the texture of the wood grain stand out.

This card is really very simple to make and could be used as an invitation to a Thanksgiving celebration, or a decor item if mounted on a Framed Panel or Burlap Panel, or even turned on its side and used as a placecard.

The Sizzix Alterations used to make this card were:
Brick Texture Fade
3-D Lumber Texture Fade
Stacked Baroque
Autumn Side Order
Alphanumeric Script

Halloween Tags - Sizzix Alterations Halloween Sideorder

All of the Sizzix Sidekick Side Order dies this year have been such fun to create with. They made wonderful additions to other dies, or as you see here, they can make a terrific stand-alone tag. 
The Halloween Side Order die set comes with the skeleton, cat, monster, boo, and a small bat texture fade folder. Everything is sized to fit perfectly in the Sizzix Sidekick. 

To make these quick Halloween tags, it is simple enough to just use the tag that came with your Sidekick, but I decided to use another set of dies to make these tags and it is one of my favorite sets, the Labels. I truly think it should be one every paper crafter owns. 

I chose the ornate tag shape from the Labels set for the base, and the large shield shape to emboss. The shield made for a perfect frame for the Halloween Side Order shapes.

I colored several pieces of Distress Mixed Media Heavystock with Distress Inks for the tags and the shield shapes. Then I cut the various pieces for the Skeleton, Monster and Cat from plain Heavystock and then colored each piece once it was cut.

To finish them off, I punched a small hole in the top center of the ornate tag shape and tied some black twine through it.
These are very quick and fast to make and can be added to treat bags, made into cards, or added to a gift.

Making Plans with Side Orders

I don’t know about you, but I thoroughly enjoyed all of the videos and photos from Creativation 2018! What fun and so much great inspiration! If you missed anything, Tim Holtz has a fantastic recap of all of his booths and demos on his blog here.

Today I wanted to start sharing some of the samples I made for some of Tim Holtz’s product lines. I’m beginning with some Sizzix Alterations dies that are released and shipping THIS MONTH!

With so many planner artists out there, Tim added a die called Stitched Slots to his die cut line. This die has several uses.

1. My first thought was that it would be perfect for mini albums. You could tuck additional photos, journaling tags, and souvenir tickets, and other ephemera into the various slot spaces.
2. It could also be put into a card for a loved one with gift cards, notes, even photos.
3. I used it as a place to hold tags and decorative paper clips for a planner exchange. I’m not a planner, at all, so I just pretended that if I was, I’d be in a group that does exchanges and this would be what I would bring to the exchange. :-)

To make my little Planner Exchange Gift , I folded a piece of cardstock and cut out a card using the largest Stacked Deckle die. Make sure you place the fold INSIDE the cutting edge or it will cut out two separate shapes.

Then I cut out three of the next size smaller Stacked Deckle dies out of patterned paper for the front and insides of the card. Adhere them to the front and insides of the card.

Then cut out two of the Stitched Slots. Adhere them to both inside pages of the card. The key to adhering these pieces is that you ONLY PUT ADHESIVE ALONG THE OUTER EDGE, not on the Slots.
Using the Side Order Dies that go with the Sidekick, I cut the various pieces for the shapes I wanted for planners. The only difference when making the paper clips is that you need to cut an additional one of the base shape so that you can sandwich the paper clip between the shape and the extra base piece.

The Side Order dies really are perfect for planners!  And although these are all cut from paper, I was able to cut out shapes from felt, fabric, and fun foam as well. So many possibilities!

Since I knew these would probably take a beating in a planner, I covered them front and back with a layer of Distress Collage Medium.

Then I attached them to various slots along with some small tags, and it is ready to give to a friend for a planner exchange.

Would you like a Side Order with that Sidekick?

Adding to all the fun that is the Sizzix Alterations Sidekick, Tim Holtz has released six sets of Side Order dies and the best part is that they are available TODAY! How cool is that? You don't even have to wait!

Below are the sample tags I had the privilege of making for Tim's live Facebook reveal. There were several questions about how I made the frames for the shaker tags, so I took a few pictures that are at the end of this post that I hope will explain how I made the frames.

 

Making the frames for the shaker cards is actually really easy! I started by pulling out the following die sets: the tag that comes with the Sidekick, the Labels set and the Gift Tags set.

If you take a look at the dies in the Labels  set, you will notice that most of them are too big or small for the shaker tag frames, but there are two in this set that work well. The large postage stamp and the one I've termed the bulging rectangle.

As you can see in the image below, the bulging rectangle and the large postage stamp fit within the tag and leave a nice border or frame.  The ornate oval is too wide and doesn't leave a sufficient frame.

I cut several tags first, since you need two for each shaker tag. Keep one whole and the other, the one that is going to be your frame, center the smaller die in the center of the tag and tape it down with removable tape. Run it through the Sidekick, and voila, you have a shaker frame. Now you just need to cut foam to go around the outside of the tag, add your shaker items, acetate and adhere it to the bottom tag. 

The Gift Tag dies all fit on the Sidekick but not all will work for a shaker tag frame. Some are too wide or too tiny, so check carefully to see which fit on the tag.

These three are the best fit for the shaker tags. Now these tags have holes in them but that's of no consequence since we just need the outside shape. Cut them out the same way you did the labels.

As you can see from the image below, each of them make a fun shaker window in the Sidekick tag.

 

For the birthday shaker, I cut a bunch of the stars from for the hat

 

For the Valentine tag, I cut a bunch of the tiny hearts that go on the envelope. 

 

I colored some of the Rock Candy Distress Glitter with Butterscotch Alcohol ink 

and added that as sand in the Summer shaker tag.

 

I cut a bunch of the stars from the banner for the 4th of July shaker tag.

 

This shaker has a bunch of little "eggs" that are actually the bird's wings. I speckled them

 by using the Distress Sprayer with the Ground Espresso Distress Marker.