"Wise Men Still Seek Him" - Day 12 Christmas Tag for The Crafty Scrapper

I'm back with my last project for Christmas and for the year, which happens to be Day 12 for The Crafty Scrapper's 12 Days of Christmas Tags. A big thank you for having me Guest Design for this special event Carolyn and Crew...I'm so honored to be asked again. Carolyn asked me to do a mini version of my Starry Night Wisemen canvas that I just taught, and I was happy to do it as the new Wisemen Thinlets Die from Tim Holtz and Sizzix is my favorite from the last release.

I cut a piece of navy colored cardstock to fit the 8 inch Tim Holtz Mini Etcetera tag from Stamper's Anonymous, that Carolyn requested we use, as a background tag.  I applied Peacock Feathers, Blueprint Sketch, and Faded Jeans Distress Oxides from Tim and Ranger, to a glass media mat and misted the inks with water, and then swiped the tag through, drying between layers while swiping through again. Once I liked the look I gave it a thorough drying.

I applied Fossilized Amber Distress Oxide and drops from a Picket Fence Distress Reinker to the glass mat and misted those with water, and swiped the cardstock tag through one more time, to mimic the Starry Night look, and dried that.

I flicked droplets of Fossilized Amber and Picket Fence onto the tag for more of a starry look.

I painted the edges of the Etcetera tag with Black Soot Distress Paint, and cut another tag a little bigger than the blue cardstock tag from silver Metallic Kraft Stock. Then I die cut the blue tag with stars from the Snowy Stars, Swirling Stars, and Wisemen Thinlets sets, trying to get the Starry Night look. I misted the tag with Wendy Vecchi's Mica Spray in Pearl for a more cosmic look. Then came more die cutting with the actual Wisemen using more silver Kraft Stock.

After I mounted the blue tag onto the silver and added the Wisemen, I decided the tag needed more bling. I stitched around the sides and upper edges of the tag with silver metallic thread. BUT, I thought it needed even more bling, so I die cut another Wisemen from black cardstock, and glittered them up, as well as the edges of the Etcetera Tag, with Tim's concoction for making colored glitter...a cup of Clear Rock Candy Distress Dry Glitter with Pitch Black Alcohol Ink mixed very well.

I loved all the sparkle from the glitter...it's just what the tag needed.  I added the glittered Wisemen slightly left of the silver Wisemen for a shadow look, and then mounted the tag onto the Etcetera Tag base. I painted the hole of the tag with my new favorite DecoColor Premium Silver Leafing Pen from Marvy, added that on, and then tied a bow with starry ribbon. I had manger and star charms in my stash so those went on with a jump ring. Then I pondered a sentiment, but one that wouldn't cover up much. I decided on computer generated words, appropriate I think, and mounted them on more silver Kraft Stock, and added them to the finished tag.

 

And with that I bid all of you a wonderful and happy Christmas! May you have a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year as well, with a wealth of creativity!!! Thank you truly for a year of support and encouragement. Mwah!

I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!

A Silver Anniversary Christmas Ornament

I have a hard time wrapping my head around the date of this day. I loved being a Christmas bride, and 25 years ago I married the hubs. We are thankfully still going strong and are so blessed. I cannot even fathom life without him, and truly look forward to the next 25, God willing. Instead of a card this year, I thought the silver milestone called for something a little different. I made him an ornament with lots of symbolism, which cannot even express my love and our years together of course, but hopefully he likes it...even if it is a little bit cheesy. :0)

A wood plank, a wood dowel, a ritzy frame, wired rhinestones, glittered 25 (not just for Christmas anymore hehe), gold and silver Tim Holtz Idea-ology trimming, metal ribbons and  story stick Idea-ology, lace left over from my wedding dress, and a cocktail napkin left over from then too, is all what I started with.

I painted over the wood panel with one coat of Brushed Pewter Distress Paint from Tim and Ranger. Once dried, I inked the edges of it with Hickory Smoke Archival and heat embossed it with Silver Super Fine Embossing Powder. Then I lightly inked in some of the words from the Valentine Layering Stencil from Tim and Stamper's Anonymous...the hubs birthday is Valentine's Day too by the way.

I printed out a wedding photo of us in black and white, placed it in the frame, and took off the easel on the frame so it would lay flat when I adhered it down on the panel with Multi Medium. I began tying 25 ribbons to the wood dowel, staggering them into a Christmas tree shape, each ribbon signifying a year of our marriage. The three burgundy (a color in my wedding) signify when a child was born, and the strips of lace from my wedding dress scraps mark a 5 year interval. I was tempted to throw in a few black ribbons for less than stellar years, but I figured those years shaped us into who we are so I left the pattern alone...gold, silver, ivory. Once I tied all the ribbon, I wired in the rhinestones, and painted the ends of the dowel silver. I adhered the tree with Multi Medium and added the glittered 25 to the top. I also collaged the sentiment from the napkins onto cardstock, and matted it into a small tag.

I used Currant and Crimson Alcohol Inks to color in the ribbons and story stick. I added the large ribbon and story stick to the frame so it looks like a present, and the smaller under the 25. I drilled holes in the panel for the hanging part, which was more rhinestone wire.

 

 

 

 

 

I'll be back Monday for sure with my last project for this Christmas and for the year, but hopefully I'll finish my huge Christmas project by the end of the weekend, however, it's not looking good and might have to wait until next year. We will see. Thanks for stopping by, and I truly hope all of you are well.

I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!