Glowing red and cheerful green

Hello all!  It's deadline day, the 29th of December, the day by which all the Funkie Junkie 12 Tags of Christmas have to be completed and added to the challenge posts.


I actually completed all mine well before Christmas Day, but I've been holding this one over.  This also happens to be one of our A Vintage Journey Tag Fridays - so this tag is doing double duty!


Over at A Vintage Journey you can see the fun my fellow Creative Guides have been having with their tags and, since we're not even half way through the 12 Days of Christmas, I make no apology for mine being a festive make.  I've even added a rare dash of red to the mix.














I know that red is a favourite seasonal crafting colour of Linda's - a.k.a. the Funkie Junkie - and she's used it in lots of the inspiration tags this year and I have (for the most part) refused to go there... so this one's for you, Linda!!

Like her inspirational tag 12, mine is mainly a leftovers tag.












I've mentioned before how I've been using sheets of the 8x8 Jingle Christmas pad cut in half for my tags.  So this is the second half of the holly music paper (first half was here on the Joyous Noel - my only other tiny touches of red).












For tag 11 - A time of peace and gladness - I'd had a tough time deciding between two deer for the main focal point.  The leaping deer made the cut on that one, so this standing deer was leftover, and turned out to be just right for this final tag.















Her eyes are fixed on her tiny fawn, off in the distance, also a leftover, gazing upwards.  And his gaze leads our eyes onwards and upwards... 












... towards the calendar date around which all these festivities turn (though I know I've said before that my favourite part is after all the major kerfuffle, in the quiet days running through to 12th Night, 6th January).










I've finally managed to find a spot for the Christmas postcard originally made (stamped with a Darkroom Door stamp) for my Tag 2 Happy Smiles and Twinkling Eyes.  There turned out not to be room for it without covering up too many of the fabulous crackled stars for my liking, so it's been waiting for its moment ever since.













And whenever I've been cutting snowflakes - lots of the tags have them - there have usually been a couple leftover...














... so they also got swept up from around the craft mat and pressed into action.













I like the fresh white snowfall against the vintage sepia tones of the background.














I've followed Linda's example in including some vintage ephemera from Tim Holtz's brilliant sets of bits and pieces.











All my tags this year have used words from the Idea-ology Christmas Clippings, so this one had to follow suit - even drawing your attention to the rare deployment of red.













White twine and leftover holly die-cuts finish things off at the top (though I had to give a couple of the leaves a dash of Fresco paint to get the right green)... 















... and at the foot of the tag, with some frosted red berries of course.









And that's pretty much your lot for 2017.  But, of course, as is traditional here at Words and Pictures, I need to show you them all lined up together...

Huge thanks to Linda once again for the seasonal inspiration.  I never manage to start in September as she does, but I love having an intensive December period of Christmas crafting to put me in the right mood for the festivities.  It's also wonderful seeing everyone's variations bobbing up around Craftyblogland - it's a really lovely challenge to be a part of.  

Do hop over to A Vintage Journey and explore the wonderful tags created by my team-mates there for Tag Friday, but for now I'll love you and leave you until next year... which is a bare 48 hours away.  Happy New Year all!

And now we welcome the new year.  Full of things that have never been.
Rainer Maria Rilke

I'd like to share this as my Tag 12 in the Funkie Junkie's 12 Tags of Christmas, sponsored by the Funkie Junkie Boutique