I’m not sure what’s come over me lately - but I’ve been thinking alot about the holidays (as in Christmas. I know, it’s the middle of July. Perhaps the scorching heat we’ve been having here has either fried my poor noggin or just made me long for cooler weather. Either way, like I said in an earlier post, it’s been a bit of “Christmas in July” around my studio.)

I was looking through my sketchbook recently and came across some drawings that I did earlier this year. I think they’d be really cute made into Christmas gift tags.
I could redo the illustrations larger, then scan them into the computer and print them onto card stock.

But how to make them into gift tags?

I went to the office supply store and looked for pre-perforated sheets that I could print out. No luck.

Then I went to the Paper Zone and found these handy gizmos made by Fiskars.

The space ship looking thing at the top is called a ShapeCutter,
and the orange template at the botton is a ShapeTemplate.

Well, it just so happens that today I am wrapping up my Summer Swap goodies to send to my partner, Jane. So I thought - why don’t I take this opportunity to try making my own tags?


The tag shown above is alittle ragged (it was one of my first attempts) but I’m happy to say that (with a little practice) I think this is a great solution to my tag quandary.

The shape cutter was easy and fun to use.
I don’t have a Michael’s close to me, but you might find them there, too.
The cost was reasonable at about $27.50 for the cutter, template and an extra set of blades.

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In other news…
It appears that both the lamb and the mouse are the most popular of my critter ideas!
There were four votes for each.
Josh’s vote is for the lamb, so I will start with that one, followed by the mouse.
Thanks to everyone who made a suggestion, I really appreciate your feedback!

This weekend I have a couple custom order sewing books to work on, and (break out the eggnog!) a very special someone has requested a completed set of my snowman ornaments. I am super excited about that! : )

Once those projects are finished I’ll begin making prototypes of my lamb plushie and bag. I make those out of muslin until I get my design just the way I want it.
(I’ll be sure to post some photos for you to look at…. you never know, you may get to see some funny Frankenstein-esque creations along the way!)

After that I will make as many of the final version as I have fabric for.
I’m expecting these to be limited editions - probably the most I’ll make will be five of a single design.

Hope you’re all having a great weekend!