Funkie Junkie 12 tags of Christmas #10

This is my latest card based on Linda’s 12 tags of Christmas challenge and this is being entered for #10. However the deadlines for completion have been extended to January 8th (details here).

I took several parts of Linda’s tag for inspiration.

Firstly the gorgeous holly cut in cream card from Tim’s Holly Branch die then dabbed and dipped in forest moss and evergreen bough distress paint and when dry I ran them through a text embossing folder, sanded them down, inked the edges with walnut stain and added whitefire treasure gold.

The background came about by using Tim’s holly stencil that Linda also used, but I used distress inks and the wrinkle free technique before sponging evergreen bough DI through the mask, covering the whole piece.

I used an image rather than a sentiment to go behind the frame and this gorgeous one from Crafty Individuals caught my eye today. I stamped it in coffee archival and watercoloured it with distress inks.

The frame was cut from matte silver card and given a coat of tarnished brass distress ink and then covered with matte medium glue and tarnished brass distress glitter. Love how this turned out.

So here is my card after it had been put together.

I added a small red bow although I had actually cut the berries from the holly die and given them a coat of crackle paint, but they didn’t look right, so I left it simple.

The sentiment is one of my computer generated ones.

One thing I did change from the photos above was the background. It seemed a bit bright so I sprayed it with dylusions white linen to knock it back a bit and to give it more of a ‘snowy’ effect.

Linda has the full details of this challenge on her tag 1 post but in essence make a tag or card etc. and take something as inspiration from Linda’s tag for your own make, link this up to her post and originally you had to enter all 12 challenges by December 22nd to be eligible for the draw, but Linda is extending this with two bonus round tags on the 21st and 28th December and everything now needs to be completed by the 8th January. Linda is very generous with her prizes so you could win a $50 or $25 voucher to her on-line store ‘The Funkie Junkie Boutique’ and even get a 15% discount over January 2014.

I am just like a child running up to Christmas. I woke up at 5.30 this morning and decided to get up and make this card. What am I like???

Wishing you all a very happy weekend, it’s going to be very busy I think with preparations. I still have wrapping to do and I want to start some baking too.

Enjoy.

hugs {brenda} x0x

Winter Wonderland

Looooove this image, another new one from Crafty Individuals which is CI 399 and called ‘Winter Wonderland’. Jean is showing how the DT have used this stamp in a multitude of different ways on her blog where you can also join in with the Festive Spirit challenge for December.

This is my version.

I started with white card and stamped the image in plum archival and watercoloured with distress inks.

Some scraps of paper have been cut and inked and layered behind the image.

The movers and shapers mini snowflake was cut in chipboard and is covered with iridescent paste, aged mahogany distress ink and star dust stickles…..

… and the stickles also added to the falling snow. The sentiment is computer generated.

This one is hopefully flat enough to go easily in the post, but will need a large stamp.

Off to do my last workshop of the year at The Art of Craft this morning, we are making a non-Christmassy mini album from one sheet of 12 x 12 Coredinations paper and lots of bird themed stamps from Crafty Individuals.

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by.

hugs {brenda} x0x



Going around under an umbrella interferes with one's looking up at the sky.

Jerzy Kosinski

Through the frosty window

A sneak peek today as it is my turn to post over at the Country View Crafts Updates blog.

I would love to see you over there if you can find a moment amongst all the glitter, cards and decorations lol.

Thanks for popping by today.

If a window of opportunity appears, don't pull down the shade.

Tom Peters

 

hugs {brenda} x0x

Updated this post with the full edition from CVC updates blog so that I can enter it into the Simon Says Monday challenge before it finishes.

Hi Brenda here and my turn to share a project with you today. I have been using some Tim Holtz dies and a canvas to create my frosty window and who do you think is inside?

Well lets start at the beginning.

I die cut Tim's window die out of greyboard and gave it a couple of coats of picket fence distress paint .....

... and when it was dry I added crackle glaze, another coat of paint and watched the fine crackles appear.

I cut a frame from white card to go over the back of the canvas ......

.... and tore strips of tissue paper, scrumpled them up and using a wet glue adhered them to the back and sides as shown.

I made a background for the shadowbox part of the canvas .....

... and created a 3D mount from a very small canvas which is to be used inside it.

Look you can see someone peeking out, I bet you have guessed who it is? Do you like the frosty windows, this is such a cool technique. I adhered some plastic packaging to the back of the window and then smeared a little matte multi medium in the corners of the four panes of 'glass' and when dry I painted rock candy crackle paint over them. Don't you think it gives a great effect?

I painted the frame I made black after I had glued it on and then added some grunge paste through a brick mask to create the walls.

When it was dry I used some decoart paints to create the brick colours and when that was dry I again used the matte medium to glue on some distress  rock candy dry glitter to give the walls a frosty look.

The window is closed and we still can't see who it is peeking out!!

The greenery was made using coredinations papers in different greens, run through the festive greenery strip die then sanded down and inked with walnut stain.

I also used some left over 'frosty' berries from last years decorations in with the holly and greenery.

And here he is sat peeking out, it's good old Santa Claus just waiting for the 24th so he can load up the sleigh and be off delivering all his presents. Not long to go now.

Have fun with all your preparations and don't forget Santa needs to know you have been good.

hugs {brenda} x0x

Sleigh Ride 2 for Crafty Individuals

Welcome to a new week and my post today is to point you in the direction of the Crafty Individuals blog where a new challenge is up for December and we would like to challenge you to make anything festive for December.

This was not such a quick card as I was expecting it to be, but that’s because I kept changing my mind on things.

The background was made with distress inks and CI 241 snowflakes stamp.

Tim’s Townscape on the edge die with  Core’dinations paper sanded down and added distress crackle paint. When dry I painted on some white acrylic paint and glitter to make it look snowy.

I stamped the image from CI  398, one of the newest CI stamps, onto tissue paper …

… and with a paintbrush I painted a line of water around the image and gently teased it out (I use a blunt knife to help me pull the fibres apart).

I reversed it when I glued it to the background, the rough edge blends in really well and you can hardly tell it is there.

I also used the pennants on the edge die to create the top border and finished off with a computer generated sentiment.

Materials

CI 398 Santa’s Sleigh Ride – Crafty Individuals

Townscape On The Edge die – Tim Holtz for Sizzix

Distress Crackle paint – Ranger

Coredinations Black Magic paper pad

Distress inks – Iced Spruce, dried marigold, chipped sapphire

Well I managed to almost get the house decorated over the weekend, three trees and three rooms nearly finished, just a few cards to write and get out and then the presents to finish and wrap, but I feel I am nearly there now.

Those of you who were so very kind to send my Granddaughter, Becca, cards this time last year when she was in hospital will know she had a really tough time when she was diagnosed with Crohns disease. But she has flourished over the year, all her weight went back on and she has coped magnificently without her bowel working. Today she has gone back into hospital to have everything re-connected and we are hoping and praying for successful surgery for her. I will let you know how things go.

Enjoy the week and your festive preparations.

hugs {brenda} x0x

Funkie Junkie 12 tags of Christmas #9

A totally different design from Linda’s #9 tag but here are the things I took inspiration from – a large glittered snowflake, the beautiful colours, the flowers made from the tattered pinecone die and the silver embossed sentiment.

I love the cool, frosty look to this card and started with a distress stain background using faded jeans and brushed pewter creating a wonderful marbleised and metallic effect.

I used a fabulous large snowflake stamp from Penny Black and randomly stamped over with embossing ink and covered with silver embossing powder,

I stamped the sentiment onto white card using the silver embossing powder, die-cut and inked with walnut stain and vintage photo.

The large snowflake is from a woodware die-cut set that I have had for years.

I covered it with brushed pewter distress stain and when dry with glossy accents and the fabulous pumice stone distress glitter, it really comes out like a wonderful vintage glitter effect. I love it. I think I am going to go back and add a pearl to the middle though to finish it off.

I used white card again covered with the brushed pewter stain to die-cut the tattered pinecone and make the flowers edging them with walnut stain DI. I also added some sakura pen sparkle to the petals and some frosted lace stickles.

The leaves were covered with the pumice stone glitter and I mounted it onto a kraft card again edging the background with frosted lace. I don’t think the photos do justice to all the lovely subtle sparkle on this card, but it’s really pretty irl.

Linda has the full details of this challenge on her tag 1 post but in essence make a tag or card etc. and take something as inspiration from Linda’s tag for your own make, link this up to her post and enter all 12 challenges by December 22nd to be eligible for the draw. Linda is very generous with her prizes so you could win a $50 or $25 voucher to her on-line store ‘The Funkie Junkie Boutique’ and even get 10% discount over January 2014.

After I took the photos I adhered a large gem to the snowflake which added to the wintry feel of the card and then gave it to my sister who came to visit and swap Christmas presents on Sunday.

I got more cards written last night and want to get the trees in today while there is no rain or wind. Everything is winding up and getting so exciting. I just love this time of year.



Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.

~Laura Ingalls Wilder

hugs {brenda} x0x

Holiday Joy for Country View Crafts

My tag is made with the Tim Holtz Holiday Joy Framelits set which are stamps and dies that fit together. (Hence my title).

This is just one of the photos I am using as a sneak peek for my project which can be found over on the Country View Crafts Updates blog. If you are not toooooo busy with your own Christmas preparations I would love it if you could pop over and see me there.

Thank you for visiting and for all your recent comments which I really appreciate.

Welcome to new followers and thanks for being part of my creative journey, I hope you find something that inspires you to create your own art and come back when you can. Please leave a link so that I can come and see you too.

Have a great week, mine seems to really be winding up with all the Christmas cards to get in the post and presents to finish off. And today I am teaching the Vintage Tag Journal to five lovely ladies who are regulars at my workshops.

See you soon.

hugs {brenda} x0x

Updated to show all the steps -

This tag is made with the Tim Holtz Holiday Joy Framelits set which are stamps and dies that fit together. (Hence my title).

The background was a mop up from another project using faded Jeans and Brushed Pewter Distress Stains – smooshed on the craft mat and the tag dipped, spritzed and dried until I was happy with it. Over that I stamped a text stamp (I used one that had been sitting on my desk and I’m not sure where it is from) with Wendy Vecchi’s Watering Can Archival Ink and when that was dry I sprayed Dylusions White Linen ink spray several times drying inbetween bursts.

The trees were stamped using two sizes, one from Mini Holidays 2 and the other from the Framelits set and again I used the Watering Can archival but mixed it with Olive Archival giving me the two tone look and creating a forest.

I stamped the deer onto a piece of blue distressed patterned scrap of designer paper which can’t be seen now I have die-cut it and edged it with Walnut Stain Distress Ink. The stars were stamped with Embossing Ink, covered with sticky embossing powder and then quickly sprinkled with Glamour Dust when it was hot and sticky. I then die-cut them and blended Walnut Stain over the top and gently wiped the sparkly snowflake with a damp baby wipe to reveal the glitter again.

I extended the tag using  a piece of card with a very similar snowflake on it, I think it was from MME. The sentiment was stamped using little stick alphabet stamps, cut into a pennant and edged with gold stickles.

Gecko Galz Christmas Tag

Gosh where did November go???? Here we are at the beginning of December and I didn’t post all my Gecko Galz samples for being one of their guest designers for November. Here is a tag I made.

A tag die-cut from corrugated card and painted with some tissued tape over the top..

On the edge snow flurries die, inked and distress glitter added.

Tim Holtz banner die to add the sentiment.

A metal charm painted with distress paints and glitter. A crinkled,inked ribbon.

And this gorgeous GG imaged, aged with distress inks and a few more snowflakes added.

Right, lets see if I can get to grips with December projects and get all the Christmassy ones in before the big day.

Have a great advent and preparations for the festive season.

hugs {brenda} x0x