A Peaceful Christmas

Welcome to the November Artistic Outpost blog hop.  Thanks so much for stopping by today. Our theme for November is Designer's Choice and my choice was a winter/Christmas theme.  But before I get into the details of the card, here is our hop line up for this month.  I hope you will stop by all the design teams' blogs and leave them some love!

Lisa * Suzanne * Tracy * Alison * Terry * Kate

And now down to the nitty gritty on the card.  I used the lovely MidWinter plate that came out last year.  I loved it then and love it now, especially this peaceful winter cabin scene.  And I've been dying to use my new Window die and it all came together on this card.   I started with a back panel of Maja Design It's Christmas Time paper and silver embossed branches from Snowy Woods in the upper right conner.   On a piece of white card stock, I stamped the cabin scene in Potting Soil archival and then sponged Vintage Photo around and lightly over it.  Next I applied Clear Rock Candy distress glitter in the snowy areas of the roof and field.  After painting the window die cut with Picket Fence distress crackle paint, I added pop dots to the back to give the cabin panel more depth.

The pinecones were cut from kraft glassine with the Tattered Pinecones die and tipped with Claudine Hellmuth gesso.   I dyed the seam binding with about 5 different green reinkers trying to match the trees on the designer paper but never did achieve that goal.  The little branches were cut from the Festive Greenery die, sponged with both Bundled Sage and Frayed Burlap distress inks and then glittered with Clear Rock Candy distress glitter. I like that the Rock Candy glitter is clear and lets the color underneath show through.  The sentiment was silver embossed and the banner was cut freehand.  

I really love the way this card came out.  The photo doesn't do it justice (as is frequently the case - wish I had time to take a photography class!).  The window die is a winner in my book and you'll be seeing it frequently.

Thanks so much for stopping by and joining us for the Artistic Outpost hop!

The products below were used to make this card and can be purchased at The Funkie Junkie Boutique where Ranger and Tim Holtz products are always 20% below MSRP.

Maja Design Scrapbook Paper - It′s Christmas Time	Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations Window and Window Box Bigz Die	Sizzix Alterations Tim Holtz Tattered Pinecones Die	Sizzix Alterations Decorative Strip Tim Holtz Festive Greenery Die	Ranger Wendy Vecchi Archival Ink - Potting Soil
Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Ink Pad	Ranger Embossing Powder - Silver	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Vintage Photo	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Frayed Burlap	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Bundled Sage
Tim Holtz Distress Stickles Dry Glitter Clear Rock Candy	Tim Holtz Distress Glitter Clear Rock Candy	Ranger Inkssentials Glossy Accents	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Kraft Glassine Paper Stash	Claudine Hellmuth Gesso
Ranger Distress Crackle Paint - Picket Fence White	Rayon Seam Binding

Challenge: 12 Tags of Christmas - Funkie Junkie Style - Week #9

Welcome back to week #9 of the 12 Tags of Christmas Funkie Junkie Style.  I can't believe how fast the time is flying by.  We are up to Tag #9 already.  I'm having a great time with the tags this year and I hope you are too!  Thanks so much to everyone who has been playing along.  I just wanted to take this opportunity to remind you to be eligible for the prize drawing at the end (drawing for one $50 gift certificate and two $25 gift certificate...plus everyone who completes all 12 tags on time and in accordance with the rules will get a 10% shopping coupon with The Funkie Junkie Boutique).  All the details are thoroughly explained in the Week #1 post, but here is a quick recap:

1 - complete all the tags and link by December 22nd
2 - your submission must be winter holiday themed
3 - in your post, tell us what inspired you on my tag
4 - your post must be linked back to my post
5 - your post must include a link to my shop which is sponsoring the challenge - www.thefunkiejunkie.com

As I have been visiting blogs and commenting on your awesome projects, I have noticed a few omissions so please take a minute to check all of your previous posts and correct any omissions.  I wouldn't want to have to draw again if the winner didn't meet the requirements.

Now for the deets on this week's tag.  I decided I wanted to play with the new distress glitter again this week.  I have to say, I somewhat disrespected this product when it first came out.  I hadn't tried it and just didn't think I would like it.  But I have to recant and tell you that I'm in love with it!  I cracked open a jar of Pumice Stone for this tag and it is marvelous!

I started the project with a jumbo manila tag and embossed a large snowflake several times with silver EP.  Then I scribbled on my craft sheet with Faded Jeans and Brushed Pewter distress stains and blotted the tag into the stain.  I cut a panel with the Baroque M&S die and stamped it with a large Tim Holtz music staff stamp in Jet Black archival.  The large snowflake was cut from chipboard with a very old Cuttlebug die.  I used Glossy Accents to blue the distress glitter to the snowflake

The silver roses were made with white card stock painted with Brushed Pewter distress stain and cut with the Tattered Pinecone die.  That branches that were glittered were also cut using that die.  I also dyed the cheese cloth with Brushed Pewter distress stain.

Two hearts were cut from white chipboard with a Spellbinders die.  The top one was cut with a Mini Snowflake M&S die and was painted with Brushed Pewter Distress Stain.  The bottom heart was covered with Glossy Accents and Pewter distress glitter.  Say it With Crystals from Prima completed the heart.  The sentiment from Mini Holidays 4 was stamped in Distress Embossing Ink and silver embossed.    I used a piece of silver waffle paper from Stampin' Up! for my hang tie at the time.  

That's it for this week.  Hope you are working hard to catch up and get your projects linked up.  Thanks so much for stopping by and a special thanks to all who are playing along!

These products used to make this tag are available at The Funkie Junkie Boutique where Ranger/Tim Holtz produces are always 20% below MSRP.

25 Jumbo Manila Shipping Tags 8x4" #12	50 Jumbo Manila Shipping Tags 8x4" #12	Tim Holtz Ranger Metallic Distress Stain - Brushed Pewter	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Stain - Faded Jeans	Tim Holtz Distress Glitter Pumice Stone
Sizzix Alternations Tim Holtz Movers and Shapers Baroque Die	Mini Labels Sizzix Alterations Movers & Shapers by Tim Holtz	Sizzix Alterations Tim Holtz Tattered Pinecones Die	Mini Snowflakes Sizzix Alterations Movers & Shaperss by Tim Holtz	Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps - Mini Holidays 4
Melissa Frances White Pearl Embellishments	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Vintage Photo	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Walnut Stain	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Ink Pad	Ranger Embossing Powder - Silver

Steampunk Christmas Stocking

Hi there - welcome to my mid-month post for Our Creative Corner.  We have month-long challenges there and I'm on the B team which publishes on the 15th of the month.  Claudia is our hostess this month and she has given us a Steampunk Tic Tac Toe.  You can stop by the blog and get all the details here.  I used the middle horizontal line - Flourish - Texture - Heart.

Steampunk is not something I excel at and I was quite challenged to come up with a design idea for my sample.  I Googled Steampunk and looked at a number of photo when it dawned on me that you can basically steampunk anything - just add gears - LOL.  And since I am moving into full holiday mode, I decided to make my project a Steampunk Christmas Stocking.

I started by printing out a stocking pattern from the internet and traced it onto a sheet of Maja Designs It's Christmastime paper.  For the heel and toe, I cut the flourish and the holly leaves from card stock with the Festive Greenery die.  I glued the CS pieces onto another piece of CS and applied Ranger foil tape over them.  Using a paper stub I went around all the edges and pressed the foil down around the base of the die cuts so they would really stand out.  Then I added some scribbles done with the sharp led of a mechanical pencil  I gave both a good coat of Pitch Black acrylic paint and when about half dry, I wiped off as much of the paint as I could with a paper towel.   The three gears were cut with the Tim Holtz Gadget Gears die. I know it's hard to see but there is a Tim Holtz Mini Snowflake layered over the smallest gear with a tiny heart on top.  The middle gear has a Spellbinders snowflake layered over it.  All the gears and snowflakes have had Ranger Foil Tape applied to them.  On both of those gears and snowflakes, I freehanded some industrial type markings with a pencil (the lead needs to be very sharp to make the marks in the foil tape - I used a mechanical pencil).  And then, of course, I used the black acrylic paint to tarnish them up.

Since my Tic-Tac-Toe line included a heart, I had to come up with some sort of a heart to add.  I didn't have any heart embossing folders and couldn't come up with a metal-like design for one but I did have a favorite Stampin' Up heart stamp.  I used embossing ink to stamp the image on the foil tape and heat set it.  That gave me the metal-like texture I was looking for and I again used the black acrylic paint to created a tarnished look.  It's not a perfect embossed metal look, but I deemed it close enough to go with.

The cuff of the stocking was embossed with the Tim Holtz Riveted texture fade, adding some scribbling for more texture and black paint for tarnish.

And that's my foray into Steampunk.  I think Steampunk is extremely cool.  There are some amazing examples on the Internet.  I enjoyed looking at them and creating the stocking was fun too.  Thanks to Claudia for giving me a push to step out of my comfort zone into something new!  Be sure to stop over to Our Creative Corner to see what the other designers have to share!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!








These products were used to create this project and are available at The Funkie Junkie Boutique, where Ranger and Tim Holtz products are always 20% below MSRP.

Maja Design Scrapbook Paper - It′s Christmas Time	Sizzix Alterations Tim Holtz Gadget Gears Die	Ranger Inkssentials Foil Tape Sheets 6x12"	Ranger Inkssentials Foil Tape Sheets 4.25x5.5"	Mini Snowflakes Sizzix Alterations Movers & Shaperss by Tim Holtz
Sizzix Alterations Decorative Strip Tim Holtz Festive Greenery Die	Tim Holtz Sizzix Texture Fades - Diamond Plate and Rivited	Ranger Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabber - Pitch Black	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Ink Pad	Ranger Embossing Powder - Silver

Christmas Preparations #1

Welcome back to another Frilly and Funkie challenge.  Sue is our host this fortnight and with her challenge, she is encouraging us to get going on our Christmas preparations.  Her challenge is for us to make a project that will be on your holiday table or on your Christmas tree.  I have had the Layered Wings die since it came out and just never got around to using it.  I thought it would make a great Christmas tree ornament.  This is what I came up with.

I started with white card stock and scribbled on my craft sheet with Faded Jeans distress stain, then blotted it up with the white CS.  To give it a bit of bling and shine, I misted it with Perfect Pearls Biscotti mist.  I used the blue CS to cut the largest and smallest of the layered wings.  I printed a vintage sheet music of Hark the Herald Angels Sing on my printer and used it to cut the middle layer for the wings as well as the smallest of the Mini Snowflakes Rosettes. All the edges have been sponged with Walnut Stain.  The banner was cut from white CS with the Regal Crest die, colored with Tarnished Brass distress stain and stamped with a sentiment stamp from Simple Sayings.  The star is one of the new mirrored stars that I painted with Tarnished Brass distress stain.

That's it - it was a super easy ornament to make.  I wish I had more time.  I can think of about a dozen ornaments I could make with all the TH Christmas dies available.  How about you?  What kind of Christmas project can you make for our challenge?  Hope to see you over at Frilly and Funkie!









These products used to make this ornament can be purchased at The Funkie Junkie Boutique where Ranger/Tim Holtz products are always 20% below MSRP.

*Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations Layered Wings BIGZ Die	Sizzix Alterations Decorative Strip Tim Holtz Mini Snowflake Rosettes (2 sizes) Die	Sizzix Alterations Tim Holtz Regal Crest BIGz Die	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Stain - Faded Jeans	Ranger Perfect Pearls Mists - Biscotti
Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Walnut Stain	Tim Holtz Idea-ology - Mirrored Stars	Tim Holtz Ranger Metallic Distress Stain - Tarnished Brass	Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps - Simple Sayings	Ranger Archival Ink - Jet Black