Going Plaid

Happy Friday, Peoples!!  I know it's been quite here this week, but I've been trying to go through my kid's closets and rid them of clothes that don't fit, reorganize, find desk tops and such before school starts next week. Sad thing, there is still lots more cleaning to go!!

On a more fun note, Friday means it's time for another Just For Fun Friday Color Challenge!!  This week we were challenged to use the following colors:

My first reaction was to go with some type of holiday card.  But in all honesty, I just couldn't.  I know that there are those of you who pride yourselves on having all your holiday cards made up by the end of October.  Personally, I think you are really missing out on the seasonal joy of trying to come up with a "WOW" design and mass produce 70+ cards on December 23.  Seriously, you don't know what you are missing!!  A craft area that cannot be walked through with discarded ideas.  The kitchen table hijacked for mass production.  The wonderful holiday "LOOK" that is bestowed upon anyone who dares to ask if there is going to be dinner sometime in the near future.  I highly recommend giving it a try this year!!

So, with that rebellious thought, I started looking through my goodies to see what inspired me.  I came across my stash of "let's see what this would look like" alcohol ink plaid.  And I took the leap from that to this:

I wish I could tell you exactly what alcohol inks were used in the making of this, but this was made last holiday season during T!m Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas on Day 3.  I made so many different plaid backgrounds that day and never once thought to write on the back of the card stock as to what inks I was using!!  I think it was fate that I had a background that had the colors that were needed for today!!  I stamped the ornamental dress form image from Just For Fun® Stamps onto the background using Archival Jet Black ink.  At the last minute, I decided to emboss the image and lucky for me, the ink was still wet when I poured on the black embossing powder.  I carefully heated  the powder so that I would not melt the coating on the glossy paper. 

I then decided to use the sketch challenge this week on SCS for my layout.  I flipped the layout for giggles. This is a large image so my card base, made from Gina K's vanilla pure luxury paper, is approximately 6"x 4 1/4".  I made the "designer paper" with CHF's (no longer in business) scrapblock Vintage Text.  I stamped the block onto a piece of vanilla cardstock with Scattered Straw Distress ink.  I then laid T!m Holtz's Flourish mask over the top and spritzed with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Old Lace.  The flourish was barely seen so I then lightly sponged more Scattered Straw over the mask and stamping until I had a depth of the flourish that I wanted.  This was then layered on a slightly larger Basic Black and Purely Pomegranate mats.  I use the ticket corner punch on my main image and matted that on a slightly larger Basic Black mat.  My finishing touches was the clear buttons that I added along the side.  I first punched out 3/4" black cardstock circles and cut them in half to highlight the buttons in an alternating pattern along the edge.  The buttons were adhered using glossy accents.  The ribbon is from Target, bought before they revamped their wedding section.  The bow is adhered with glue dots (and I will spare you how long it took me to get the stupid thing to look half way decent!!).  Supplies:  Paper:  Gina K's pure luxury vanilla, very vanilla, purely pomegranate, basic black and glossy cardstock.  Stamps:  Just for Fun Ornamental Dress Form, CHF's Vintage Text scrapblock.  Inks:  Archival Jet Black, Distress Scattered Straw, alcohol inks.  Other:  Black embossing powder, 3/4" circle punch, glossy accents, ribbon.

I'm so thankful you dropped by again today!!  I hope that you will check out the other design team's inspiration pieces and then play along with us on the Just For Fun Blog!!  You could be the lucky winner of a $50 gift certificate (and you don't even have to use Just for Fun Stamps!!) 

Broni

Beth

Roni

Rita

Kat

Terre

Sherry

Sandy

Glenda (a maybe as she has fresh garden goodies that need to be tended too!!)

Thanks again for dropping by!! I hope that you take time for some type of CREATIVITY in your weekend!!

Just a Fragment.....

......For Just For Fun® Friday.

Hey Peoples!! Thank goodness it is Friday!  This week has been one that I'd rather forget!! After pushing myself beyond what would appear to be my limits last week, I managed to drag myself into being sick.  BUT!! Being the dim bulb that I am, I continued to try to work 9+ hour days covering for my vacationiong boss. Well, on Wednesday, the girls in the office decided that they had enough of my trying to cough up my lungs and popping medication like it was candy.  They took it upon themselves to rebook and double book both our offices and told me to stay home on Thursday.  They are truely the best!! And, I admit that I sooo needed the rest!  I did nothing Thursday but sleep, sleep and tried to create something for today's Color Challenge! 

Broni  challenged us to use Kraft, Aqua and Teal as inspired by the papers by Graphic45 On the Boardwalk.  Now, I do not have any of this paper (gasp!) so tried to pull out the colors for an idea that has been brewing in my head for a while

Now, in real life, the colors are not this bright and the colors match the color challenge better. But I could be still in my deep medicated state of mind and don't know the difference!! hehe.   And for the life of my addled brain, I could not get this fragment to photograph well.  And to be honest, I got beyond caring! LOL!  I used the largest fragment from t!m holtz's ideology line and applied alcohol inks in Stream, Butterscotch and Epresso to one side.  When the inks had dried, I stamped the Queen Ann's Lace (F2716) with Archival Jet black ink and immediately wiped it off using a paper towel leaving behind my white silhouette.  I mounted the fragment onto a piece of white cardstock using glossy accents.  I then turned the piece over and stamped the sentiment "A moment's insight is sometimes worth a life's experience ~~Oliver Wendell Homes (D2531) on the front using Jet Black Stazon (tip:  if you mess up the stamping on a slick surface, like a fragment, grab your blending solution and wipe it off real quick! Works great!! (couldn't reach the stazon cleaner soon enough! hehe).  I then stamped the small butterfly (A3378....sorry, I could not pull up the link) using Archival Jet black ink onto a scrap piece of SU's Taken with Teal.  Cut it out very carefully and adhered only the body to the fragment using glossy accents.  I then mounted the fragment on a slightly larger piece of Taken with Teal and that to another slightly larger piece of Kraft.  Supplies:  Inks:  Alcohol inks in Stream, Butterscotch, Espresso, Archival Jet Black, Stazon Jet Black.  Stamps:  Just For Fun® Queen Ann's Lace (F2716), Insight (D2531) and small butterfly(A3378).  Paper:  SU's Whisper White, Taken with Teal, Kraft.  Accessories:  Glossy accents, large fragment from the

idea-ology line by Tim Holtz. 

Make sure you stop by the other gal's sites to see what they came up with!!

Sheery Cheever

Broni Holcombe

Kat Tucker

Heidi Blankenship

Linda Duke

Sandy Sandrus

Terre Fry

JFF Blog

Thanks for dropping by again today! I'm off to take another little nap, hehe. Seems that I'm more worn out from creating than I thought I would be!!  Take care of yourselves and take TIME for yourselves!!

Exploring and a Winner!!

This weekend has been one of EXPLORING!  This morning was spent hiking in the conservatory right below our house.  We started the morning at my in-laws with a HUGE pancake/french toast breakfast (which was why the hike was needed! LOL!) with family friends and then we loaded up all the dogs (3!), kids (3!) and adults (9!) and spent the next couple of hours tromping.  I have to say that this is another reason that I live in Southern California!! It was absolutely GORGEOUS out!!  Temperature was 65 degrees and I was wishing I had worn shorts vs. jeans and a short sleeve t-shirt vs my light weight long sleeve one!!  Here is a little peek at one view that one of the boys took:

Things are kinda brown right now as we haven't had any rain.  If we ever get some, these hills will be GREEN!! 

I also did some exploring (ok....maybe it is more experimenting!) with a small canvas that I had picked up at Michael's one day.  I actually had a different idea in mind when I purchased the canvas, but didn't feel like dragging out my paints so I went a different path.

                                   

I first stamped the Brushed Wildflower silhouette from Just For Fun Stamps in versamark in one corner and used clear embossing powder to emboss ( I kinda missed  the top inner portion of my image.  Not sure if I didn't get powder on it, or didn't get the image stamped well in the versamark there.  Stamping on the canvas requires a bit more pressure I learned!!)  I wanted to kick my self that I didn't use my ever trusty stampamajig to make sure the image went to the bottom of the canvas, but OH WELL!!  I then layed down one of T!m Holtz's mini masks in the upper corner of the canvas.  I took distress inks in Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed and Fired Brick and rubbed them directly onto my non-stick craft sheet.  Gave them a misting until ink beads formed and layed my canvas down into the inks (like the first steps for the wrinkle free distress technique).  Now since the canvas has larger "pores" than paper does, the ink in spots just beaded versus soaked in.  So I grabbed a large 1" stipple brush and "pounced" the ink into the canvas.  I repeated that step one more time then moved the masked to the bottom corner and brushed some inks around to give me a more subtle image of the flourish (I'll explain why you can't really tell the difference of the two corners in just a moment).  I grabbed a piece of copy paper, layed it over the flowers and using my iron set on the highest setting, I melted the embossing powder off the canvas, giving a "faux bleach" look.  I pulled out some plain Mixed Minis grunge paper pieces from T!m Holtz's idea-ology line and painted them black with Folk Art's Metallic Sequin black acrylic paint.  While those were drying I went to work on the butterflies.  I wanted to use the large and small butterflies from Just For Fun Stamps (A3378, C3373....I couldn't get a direct link for these, but if you MUST have them, I'm sure that the folks at Just For Fun would be willing to help you out!! (wink)).  First I tried stamping with different colors on white paper.  Just didn't have the look I was going for~too stark or something that made me shudder!   So I stamped the images onto a transparency sheet with black stazon (I use write on transparencies from Office Depot) that I had altered with some Alcohol inks.  STILL not quite the pop that was needed, so I took a couple of Copic markers in a bright red and orange (YR07 and R27) and went over the "clear" section again to add more color.

Now here is the part that explains the almost disappearing flourishes.  If you haven't noticed lately, I've been LOVING Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist.  So, I thought that a beautiful shimmer in Pearl would just add that little "extra" to my canvas.  Spritzed on the Glimmer mist and MY DISTRESS INKS STARTED TO BLEED OFF!!  Now, when I've used the Glimmer Mists on paper, it DOES change the color a bit if it is applied over the inks.  But on the canvas, it made the distress inks bead up again as when I mist them with water on my craft sheet!  I don't know if the inks hadn't dried on the larger pores of the canvas yet or if the canvas material just makes the distress inks react differently (this will require some more experiementing another time).   Trying  not to panic, I grabbed the stencil brush that was still on my table and pounced the ink back into the canvas.  But OBVIOUSLY the inks had bled so it softened the edges of the top flourish and almost completely faded the bottom flourish (that already had a softer look by the technique applied in that area).  I carefully placed the masked back over the bottom flourish and added a bit more distress ink to try and bring it back somewhat.

Deciding that I had better quit before I messed things up beyond repair, I lined up my "explore" lettering and adhered using some Glossy Accents.  I then carefully cut out my transparency butterflies and rolled small glue dots to adhere only their bodies to the canvas so that their wings could provide more dimension. Some clear gems that I had already colored with Copics for other project (but never used) were applied to make a "flight path" for the larger butterfly. 

Over all I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out.  Not exactly what I had in mind, but I think that this will be a stepping stone for some other projects in the near future!!

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FINALLY!! What you all are waiting for!!  The winner of the blog candy!!  I really enjoyed reading what your goals for creating this year are.  They gave me some "that would be a good idea!" moments!!  I also got some very good suggestions for this blog and I think I will explore more than one or two of them!!   So without further ado:  (insert drum roll here____________________________)

Random.DH (random kid was not available) picked comment number 1 out of the brown paper bag!! (for full accountability, I cut equal sized pieces of paper, numbered them for the total comments, folded each the same way and then placed all the pieces in a brown bag, shook it up good and RandomDH picked one out)
terriavidreader is the lucky winner for my one year blog candy!!  Congratualations Terri!! If you'd contact me with your addy I'll get your goodies in the mail this week!! (offroadtoad@msn.com, please put "blog candy" in the subject line so I won't "trash" your addy!!)

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Thanks for stopping by again today!!  It's been a great past year of blogging and I'm looking forward to another year!!

Peaceful Thoughts

Here is the last tag that I plan on completing for the 12 Tags of Christmas on T!m Holtz's blog.  I've been having a BLAST with all the different techniques but I've got to get some other things done around here!! LOL! I usually have Christmas Eve dinner at my house and let's just say that I am NO where ready for that to happen and I have to work all this next week!! YIKES!!

Enough of my blabber (not to be confused with my blubber....that is another topic entirely!! hehe).  This tag was inspired by Day 11 on T!m's blog. 

I just realized that the way I place the reindeer near the flourish,  it looks like he is sticking out his tongue at the snowflakes!! BWHHAAAA!!! Maybe he is trying to catch the flakes on his tongue!!

The background was created by smearing Distress Inks in Peeled Paint and Pine Needles onto my craft sheet and misting with water then laying the tag into the droplets.  I repeated this several times and could not get  a look I liked, so I misted with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Old Olive (I'm tellin' ya....I just love the soft shimmer this gives to projects!!).  After heat setting, I stamped the Classic Accents flourish from Tattered Angels with Aged Mahagony.  The snowflakes came from SU's Christmas Punch set and were stamped with Distress Pine Needles.  I then stamped the reindeer from Rubbernecker onto grunge paper using versamark and then embossed with black ep.  I cut out the image and inked it with Distress Fired Brick (since I'm all about disclosure, let me say that this is the SECOND reindeer.  The first reindeer had a serious mishap with too much Pearl glimmer mist, then Apple red glimmer mist.  Let's just say that it IS possible to have to much shimmer!! snort).  I found some glitter snowflake that I believe I picked up at Michael's after last Christmas season and attached using glue dots.  The reindeer is on dimensionals. 

I REALLY wanted to use a rub on that said "peaceful wishes" to fill in that blank spot by the reindeers chest.  I had cut it out the other day for consideration to use on a previous tag.  For the life of me, I CAN'T FIND THE STINKIN' LITTLE BUGGER anywhere now!!  So, the spot remains blank.  I'm hoping that the rub on will turn up.  But if not, oh well!!! That is just how it is going to have to be!!

I have most of my Christmas shopping done, but need to bake some goodies for my oldest DS's extra teachers (he has his main teacher, but has a different teacher for computer, math and of course, band and handbells).  And probably I should attempt to start cleaning my house for Christmas Eve!! 

Thanks for dropping by again!!  I'll be back later this week!! (seriously!! hehe....I have a CUTE idea for name cards for my table setting!! I don't usually use them (as everyone knows each other in the family, hehe) but I got this idea brewin' and I think I need to try it!!)

And the Tags March On

Hello Peoples!!  I'm on a roll with the 12 Tags of Christmas that         T!m Holtz gave inspiration for!!  I'm really not following the tags in order.  I'm going with what ideas strike with what supplies I have to make my own version.  My first tag is inspired by T!m's Day 7 Tag.  So without further ado: here is my tag number 7:

Don't you just LOVE this image?  The girls at work gave me a gift certificate to Michael's for my birthday and as I was walking up to the cashier to make my purchace, I saw this stamp by Inkadinkado on one of center aisle displays!!  And wouldn't you know it~~it jumped right into my cart!!

Now this stamp made it very easy to make this tag...all the "extras" are pretty much on the stamp already!! I first stamped the image using Jet Black Archival Ink onto the tag.  I had thought about using my ever trusty stampamajig to make sure I aligned the stamp straight. You'll notice I talked myself out of that much needed step as I managed to stamp the image slightly crooked!  PLEASE!!  What was I thinking?!!  I can't write my name straight without lines, did I really expect to be able to stamp this straight?!!  BUT!!  I got lazy and decided that it will only bother me and DH ('cause he makes it his purpose in life to notice my off layers, stamping and such!!).  I then made a mask around the face/lettering  so that I would not cover them when I did the stamping of the flourish (Tattered Angels Regal Classic Accents Clear Stamp...another new "birthday" gift I picked up with the LSS gift certificate that DH gave me!!).  I used some Folk Art acrylic paint in Spring white, brushing it on my clear stamp (I just made sure I washed the stamp in warm water immediately after stamping).  I did not heat set the paint as it dried while I was washing out my brush/stamp.  I then inked the image, avoiding the center of Santa's face with Distress Inks in Antique Linen, Fired Brick, Aged Mahogany, Peeled Paint and Pine Needles.    I took a damp cloth and wiped off the inks over the painted swirls and then misted the entire tag with Tattered AngelsGlimmer Mist in Pearl.  After heat setting the mist, I applied distress sticles in Fired Brick and Peeled Paint to the holly on Santa's hat.  Let's just say that I need to work on some fine motor skills when it comes to applying stickles!! GEESH!! I got that stuff globbed on!! I finally got wise and let the stickles dry over night (after smearing them and having to apply even MORE stickles to cover up my mistake!) and attached the ribbon and the foilage embellishment in the corner. 

Bonus time again for you!!  I actually made a tag that was inspired by Day 8. 

I do not have the lamp image that T!m used (tho, I have seriously considered it several times....one of these days I'm expecting it to make it into my cart!).  BUT!! I do have the Christmas Lantern by Just for Fun Stamps (sorry, I cannot link directly to the stamp...my wonderful computer (HATE this thing!!) REFUSES to go past the home page.  The number for the stamp is D2747).  But this stamp is only the top of the lamp....it does not have the post.  So I stamped the image on scratch paper drew out a simple post (ok....I'll admit that I drew out a more elaborate post but it did not fit the clean lines of the stamp image.  Sooooo, I modified to a more simple version)  and cut out the entire paper image.  I then stamped the top of the lamp onto grunge paper using versamark ink and embossed using black EP.  I then placed my paper image over the lamp and traced the lamp post using my versamarker and then heat embossed.  Finally, I added a few defining details with the marker and embossed those as well.  The "fine" tip of the versamarker was still wider than I wanted the lines for the post to be, so when I cut out the image from the grunge paper, I just trimmed off some of the embossing. I then cut off the holly leaves off my paper lamp and used it as a mask so that I could ink the grunge holly with Distress Peeled Paint and Pine Needles.  I applied the Distress Stickes in Fired Brick to the berries and then carefully sponged the lamp using a q-tip and Distress Black Soot (you'd think I'd learn to leave such things as stickles for LAST!!).  I colored the flame using my SU markers and applied a thick layer of Ranger Glossy Accents to the "window" to give it that glass appearance. 

I inked up my tag with Antique Linen and Frayed Burlap and made the water drops like T!m shows.  I stamped the flourish from Tattered Angels Classic Accents with Aged Mahogany (love this color combo btw!!).  The music score is by Stampendous and was stamped onto vellum using Archival Jet Black ink.  I then sponged the vellum with Antique Linen and heat set (***Just a note:  this will cause the paper to smoke some as the ink is heat set into the vellum).  I tore the now brittle vellum and sponged with Antique Photo.  Curled the edges and applied to the tag using vellum tape.  The lampost was attched using dimensional tape.  I then sponged antique linen and frayed burlap onto a small tag, stamped the sentiment from SU's Christmas Punch using Aged Mahagany and had to cut out the oval by hand as it would seem I have neglected to add this punch to my tools!!

Well, I hope you are enjoying my takes on T!m's wonderful creativity!! I have one more tag that I HAVE to do so I'm off to work on that now!!

Decorating with Fragments

 I am still playing with the 12 Tags of Christmas on Tim Holtz's blog.  Today was Day 10 and I'm just completing my fourth tag...for day 5!! Here is T!m's tag and here is my version:

I wish that some of the very subtle details would show up better (btw: I'm still taking applications for a photographer!!).  I cut the images from a couple of the plaid sheets that I had stamped previously (sometimes it pays not to throw away your mistakes!!) with a stamp from Inkadinkado and adhered them to the framents using Ranger Glossy Accents.  Since I did not have any foil to make the top of the ornament, I painted the toppers using my gold Krylon paint pen (this is quickly becoming a favorite tool!!).  I stamped the Pine Boughs from Just For Fun using SU's craft Forest Foliage and then clear embossed.  Using various Distress inks (I believe I ended up using Fired Brick, Pine Needles and Vintage Photo) I sponged on the background color.  In the bottom corner I used one of T!m's mini masks to make a flourish.  Tried to lightly swipe Mememto Tuxedo Black over SU's French Script, but I must have a heavy hand as it stamped darker than I was hoping for!!  Then my new favorite "embellishment":  Tattered Angels Glimmer mist was spritzed in Old lace and Pearl over the tag.  It adds just the right amount of shimmer IRL!! The fragments were hung on the tag with care (...sorry....couldn't resist!!) and then I cut apart a brushed copper  Spellbinders Fleur De Les pendent that I had already cut out from my previous 3D ornament project.  I deliberately let the edges hang past the tag.  Tied off with a small bit of brown ribbon and copper cording and DONE!! 

*Some notes:  In hind sight, I would probably have embossed the pine boughs in a thicker embossing powders so that they would show up more.  I would have also toned down the brushed copper paper with some alcohol inks but it would seem that SOMEBODY used up all her felt pads making multiple sheets of the plaid technique!!).  And last~~I would stamp off the French Script for a more subtle look

Thanks for dropping by again today!!  I'm having sooo much fun trying some of these new ideas that T!m is sharing!! It's fun to explore new creative adventures!! 

I'm Dreaming of a Plaid Christmas

Just like the one's that T!!!!m showwwed!!

Welllll....not exactly!  But here is my TAKES (yes!! Bonus today! I have TWO tags to share!!) on Day 3 of the 12 Tags of Christmas (yes, yes.  I know that I've skipped Day 2....I'm still thinking on that one!)

This technique is VERY ADDICTING.  I have multiple plaid sheets done just waiting for some inspiration!! I'd share with you what colors of alcohol inks I used, but, uhhhh,....welllll....it would seem that I just kept grabbing inks, and trying different color combinations and in all honesty...I don't remember which one this was!!

After making my plaid on glossy cardstock (NOT photo paper!!)I stamped  my image from SU's Lovely as a Tree using Stazon White ink and embossed with iridescent ice ep.  I then stamped the swirl from SU's Season of Joy using Stazon Black.  Pulled out the forgotten Itty Bitty Backgrounds from SU, tapped it on the white Stazon and got caught in a blizzard!! The image was then mounted on a basic black and adhered to he vanilla tag that has some Distress ink in Pine Needles, Peeled Paint and Vintage Photo sponged onto it.  Needed something and since I was lacking in the wonderful embellishments that T!m used, I added some antiqued eyelets and the ribbon in grey and black. 

Now~~this next tag is SOOOO much better in real life!! It even got a "That turned out really cool" from DH!!  This is my FAVORITE tag so far!!

Using another plaid sheet that I had made (I tell you! This is a very addictive technique!!) I stamped the image from Inkadinkado using Tuxedo Black Memento ink and heat set (because this ink will smear on glossy if handled too soon......ask me how I know!!).  I trimmed the image (it has words running along the top and one side) and matted on basic black.  I then pulled out Distress inks in Worn Lipstick, Fired Brick, Pine Needles and Peeled Paint and did the wrinkle free distress technique.  I then spritzed the tag with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Old Lace.  It gives a beautiful, soft shimmer!! I then pulled out my Olive Vine Glimmer mist and sprayed some on Whisper White and Old Olive paper and punched the leaves from both sheets using a Martha Stewart punch.  The berries are some 1/2 back pearls from SU's Pretties Kit, colored with my copics.  Added a couple of 26 gauge copper wire twists and the copper cording for the top. 

If you are playing along with the 12 Tags of Christmas, leave me a comment so that I can see were your inspiration is taking you!! And if you aren't playing along but are crankin' out the holiday goodies, leave me a comment so I can see what you are doing!!

I'm off to try and find the motivation to do some house cleaning.  I'm having waaaay too much fun stamping these last couple of days, but I've got to get some basic chores done!!

Thanks for dropping by again!! 

One the First Day of Tags

(Get the 12 days of Christmas Song in your head...it is going to be a running theme on my blog for a while!)

On the First day of Taaags T!m Holtz gave to me....the in~spir~aaation for this!!

Ooooooo!! How much fun was THIS?!!  I absolutely LOOOOVE T!m's creativity and the fact that he does the 12 Tags of Christmas!  This year, my goal is to play along  as much as possible and use the tags for the office girls/boss gift bags.  That means I have at least 8 tags that I will be inspired to try!!  Are you all just sitting on the edge of your seats?!! hehe

Ok...for this tag I pretty much followed T!m's tag with my own side trips (I'm lacking in the stamp area of T!m's collection....hopefully not for too much longer!! hehe). I used distress inks in Broken China, Dusty Concord and Faded Jeans for my background.  I stamped a flourish from Rhonna Farrer using Broken China and the snowflakes come from SU's Christmas Punch set and they were stamped using Jet Black Archival ink.  Now....I obvioulsy need to learn how to "frost a cake" better (as T!m describes how much of the Rock Candy Distress Crackle to put on) because I did NOT get the same crackled look that T!m's tag did (trust me...the next one is going to be better!).  I thought I had let the crackle process dry enough before helping it along with my heat gun....Let's just say that the ONE spot that I had gotten a LOT of crackle on bubbled up!! What to do?  Pulled out my new Spellbinders Create a Flake One Snowflake and cut, embossed and stenciled the snowflake to put over my little mess up.  The first layer of the snowflake is attatched using some dimensional tape.  The other layers were then added using my Pro Glider.  I applied some Ranger Glossy Acents and then sprinkled a light coat of Barbara Trombley's Art Glitter inVintage Shards Glass over the layers.  After that had dried, I applied a heavier coat of the Glossy accents on the top layer of the snowflake and then LOTS more of the glass glitter.  OHHHH!! It's sooo puuurrrdy!!

Next came the Grunge board flouish from the grunge board plain elements pack.  I painted the flourish using some Folk Art acrylic paint in Spring white and while the paint was still wet, I misted it with Tattered Angels Glimmer mist in Pearl.  After letting it dry (for the most part...I obviously have very little patience, 'cause I managed to smudge a couple of edges) I lightly sponged some distress inks in Broken China and Dusty Concord along the edges.  I adhered the grunge flourish with some more glossy accents (makes a great glue!).  The final touches were using Glossy Accents along the top edge and first applying some of Martha Stewart's Snow Glitter then another layer using her Carrara Marble glitter.    Saw the Merry Christmas sentiment from Just for Fun sitting on my desk and did a little masking to break up the sentiment and stamped it using Jet Black archival ink.  Pulled out a bit of ribbon from Michael's dollar bin and I'm giddy with excitement on how this turned out!!

I've already cleaned up my mess so that I can start on the next tag!!  I think that my house will never be cleaned up and ready for Christmas at this rate!! Too much fun playing with these new ideas!!  LOL!!

Ok...I'm off to work on tag number 2!

Thanks for dropping by today!! I hope that you will be inspired to try something new and different in your creative time today!!