hey bloggers! here's to a year filled with sharing ideas, and taking the time to be creative. i hope you all had a safe and happy new year. i spent mine going through some amazing tags and quite honestly i was inspired beyond words. last year marked the third year of the "12 Tags of Christmas" and with all that was going on around that time, the tags were something i almost didn't do. well bloggers, your support, excitement, and numerous kind emails gave me the reassurance that i made the right choice in doing them. i've never done a contest after the 12 tags simply because it was never about competition, or whether you did them all or not, but after reading the comments from many of you that needed to change. i've read numerous remarks from those who have spent the last few years just enjoying the tags (which is completely fine), but always saying that hopefully you'll do them "next year". so i thought, make it "this year" by making them now, and let's face it, a little giveaway entices many of us…
i'm happy to say that we received over 300 entries into the random drawing for the "12 Tags of Christmas" giveaway. That's over 3,600 festive tags! the entries completed all 12 inspired tags from the 2009 "12 Tags" and let me tell you, they were so amazing! after reading through the many emails from those of you who were inspired for the first time to push yourself to get the tags finished, or from those of you who found joy during the holidays by creating the tags, made me so happy. thank you so much for taking time for yourself to explore your creative souls – it's what this addiction hobby is all about! i also received several emails asking me if i would post all of the tags, sorry, but my blog could not handle posting that many photos. perhaps those of you who wish to share your works could post them on my facebook page for all to see…
now let's get on to our winner…or should i say winners! i know i said there would only be one grand prize winner, and there is, however there were several of you who put your own quirky and creative spin on some of your tags which we found very clever – so we decided to pick 15 "artist choice" winners too! now let me just say (and this may sound cliche, but it's sincere) you're all winners for just making time for yourself to explore your creativity, way to go! okay, so we printed out everyone's name/email from their submission and randomly selected the GRAND PRIZE WINNER who is …………………………………………………………………………..
KAREN MYERS! congrats on being the "12 Tags of Christmas" finale winner. Please email me your contact information to claim your MEGA prize valued at over $750 which includes the following:
– Sizzix Big Shot Express (yes the motorized machine!)
– itop brad maker with punch set and starter kit
– heidi swapp prize bag
– tim holtz idea-ology prize pack
– tim holtz tonic tool set
– glue arts prize bag
– assorted holiday craft supplies
here's karen's email:
Dear Tim,
Attached are the pictures of my 12 tags 'o christmas '09. I have to say that the process of learning, playing and creating was the most awesome time I personally have had "scrapbooking". I have a group of 3 friends that scrapbook and we decided to get together to make Tim's tags! We started in the afternoon, and by the time the first tags were being finished up, it was 1:30 am….we had a great time talking, laughing and planning, while we created! Long story short, one of those friends came home with me, and we created all 12 tags in 5 days. We were never aware of what day it was nor the time…I think we missed a few nights of sleep, but the time spent making was indescribable. We had a few time outs of LSS shopping and eating. We had the BEST time! Thanks for sharing your talent with us.
Happy New Year
Karen Myers
here are karen's inspired tags:
now for our "artist choice" winners, check out some of these creative ways these crafters were inspired by the "12 Tags of Christmas". if you see your name listed, each of you will be winning a festive prize box packed with holiday products from some of my favorite craft companies, plus a few of my own products too. please email me your contact information and we'll get your prize sent right out (and of course by "we" i mean mario… – congrats to you all!
lori hassler – c'mon, the "cool yule dude" motorcycle with the tree, and of course, the bird tag below it, so fun!
julie fei-fan balzer – your spin on the 12 tags was so fresh and truly unique to your style, that's what this is all about. not a traditional color combo to be found – bravo to you!
linda van vliet – creating holiday cards instead of tags is a great way to make your creations useful to your needs. i'm sure you had many happy recipients of your creations over the holidays!
marlene moore – okay, you had me at umbrella man. seriously, this guy with the red scarf was priceless!
melissa brown – another clever use for the techniques. create pages for a mini holiday book – great work!
donna wilson – let me just say the howling dog by the car reminded me of our dog cooper. he used to "sing" as loud as he could once we got him started. thanks for the memory!
sylvie hoobanoff – genius! the new printers trays from 7gypsies was the perfect way to display your holiday ATC's. great idea!
deb – a true scrapbooker at heart. such a challenging way to take what you learned and applied it to your needs – scrapbook pages. now that was a lot of work!
gail milburn – well i was serious when i said to create with your own style. as much as i loved the flourish this year, you clearly loved this masked beauty. your tags made me smile seeing your creative whimsy!
susan fraser – i was always told that presentation was everything. so how could i not award you after creating this 12 Tags shrine – this was so cool!
carol ponsford – knock-knock! how clever is that little door you created? great idea for the hitch fastener!
els tange – i thought your spin (pardon the pun) of using cd's with these techniques was incredible. loved the round surface, i bet these ornaments look even better in person!
johanna k – i'll be honest, i haven't a clue how to even say "Dodecahedron", but that's what you say this is, so that's what it is. now honestly, i was blown away by this – talk about an incredible amount of work, measuring, cutting, the works – it's truly brilliant!
terry bukowski – put a santa hat on my head like that you you're a winner in my book! of course the tags on the pages of your mini book was a great idea too!
betty – well i tip my hat to you betty as the inspiration to all of us for creating all 3 year of the "12 Tags of Christmas: this year. the best part is you're all caught up now!
my sincere thanks once again to all of you for being a part of this holiday magic and all the best in the coming year of 2010…t!m
