Year in Review

Limor Weber posted a challenging challenge, lol

December Challenge : A Year in Review

Using any type of journal you choose. Mine is a Maya Road chipboard mini album.

I want to start off by mentioning that I don't do art journals. I don't make "all about me albums". But in the last 3 years I have undergone some changes that were forced on me. So 3 years ago, I did make some "all about me" lay out pages, and I did make an mini album full of quotes that helped me get through a very rough time in my life.

So I was at first concerned with being able to do this challenge. If it wasn't for the prize that's offered, I don't think I would have even tried, ( so you can see how badly I want to try out Pan Pastels, lol ). But now I am glad I did because I can see the proof that I am evolving, changing for the good. I started off with my "word for the year" for 2012 which was FOCUS, so I titled my album
"Focus on the Possibilities".

The front of the album is acrylic so I adhered a Creative Imaginations overlay using Aleene's Tacky Glue to the front, ( dried crystal clear!! )added a Prima flower, Ranger's stickles and glitter sticker letters by Recollections.

I used Ranger's Watermelon alcohol ink to color the back of the heart and outlined the wings with stickles. Left side was easy, the right side on the other hand had proved to problematic, I was trying so hard to be creative that it failed miserably and I ended up painting it with black acrylic paint. In hindsight, using a gloss paint and shiny gold foil letters by Pioneer was just not a good combination. Just too hard to read. But I do like the puffy butterflies from K&Co. that accent the theme of the quote about Happiness.

 

On this next page, I think I finally started to enjoy the process, and discovered that by using by Pinterest quotes I had collected, I could virtually trace my last year and I began to enjoy seeing how my attitude was last year compared to where I am now. I began to relax and have fun.

 

  First I put down a layer of gesso and then crumbled some blue Conte pastel on top, using my credit card applicator ( very fancy tool ) to smooth it out. I really liked the outcome, it looks like wood grain. Very cool.

The next page was a lesson I already knew but had forgotten which is, Ranger's Dylusion spray inks need to have a fixative sprayed on them before you add a gel medium on top. Yeah, I know, lost my beautiful background but kept working anyway, no time to cry over spilt milk. I became a woman on a mission.

 

Encouraged by the gesso and pastel mixture I decided to try a similar technique but with my modeling paste. I combined red and yellow pastels and mixed it together, spread it out over my brick stencil. Loved the effect. Used Ranger's Distress Marker and Faber Castell PITT pen for the wording.

 

This page was also a "oh wow" moment for me, lol First I covered the chipboard with masking tape  and then drew with my Conte Pastel pencils. It had a VERY smooth finish to it. I have learned that pastels and masking tape go well together, go figure, huh? Finished off with Faber Castell PITT pens. Background and flowers all done in pastels.

 

The heart was gesso'd first and then 3 different pastel colors crumbled on top, be careful to try and not blend them together when smoothing them out. The background of the page is colored in with pastels and blended together with my fingertip. A mixture of pens and stickers to finish it off.

 

The next page was more of a play in Faber Castell's gelatos. They covered the plain chipboard very well :) I did use some pastels to shade the bucket and the tone down the word strips.

The last page's background was created with assorted sprays. I printed the seahorse clip art on some text book paper and colored in the image with my Faber Castell PITT pens, the seaweed is made with Liquitex Soft Body Cobalt Teal acrylic paint and added some gold micro beads. I used pastels to shade in the edges of the book print and around the edge of the page itself.

So there is my year in review...not such a bad year...I can see myself becoming more positive and achieving more goals!

 

whelm: verb

 

to cover or engulf completely with usually disastrous effect

or

 to overcome in thought or feeling : overwhelm

or

 to pass or go over something so as to bury or submerge it

 

pronunciation

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Little Scrap Pieces - Fun Friday "Birthday" challenge

Chocolate,Coffee & Cards - Challenge 31 Rock On!

 

I think it's funny that this is the first time  have used the Kassie cut from my Cricut Rock Princess cartridge. There are not a whole lot of cuts in this cartridge that I do use, but yet I just HAD to have this cartridge. But ya know, I really do like the Kassie cut...so maybe I should be using more from it.

 

Echo Park - star paper

Cricut - music embossing folder

Rock Princess cartridge, p. 30

font - Vila Morena

Faber Castell - PITT pen

Aleene's Tacky Glue

Helmar - Liquid Scrapdots ( to hold up her hand that is strumming the guitar )

Sharpie - marker

 



fanfaronade: noun

empty boasting : bluster

pronunciation
 

If I tell you that fanfaronade is what fanfarons do, you'll easily guess that "fanfaron" means "braggart."
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Die Cuttin Divas : Challenge 99 Edge Punch with Ribbon

Little Scrap Pieces - Fun Friday "Use a flower" challenge
Chocolate, Coffee & Cards - Challenge 30 For the Birds

 

 

My Mind's Eye - pattern paper, ribbon, gem

Maya Road - flowers

Prima - pattern paper

Fiskars - border punch

brad, lace - misc.

Creative Imaginations - over lay

Close to my Heart - thank you stamp  

Stazon

Aleene's Tacky Glue

Cricut Craft Room - April Showers
Reminisce - white pen

I really have nothing to say, how eerie is that? lol



vernissage: noun

a private showing or preview of an art exhibition

pronunciation

 

"Vernissage" has its roots in the old practice of setting aside a day before an exhibition's opening for artists to varnish and put finishing touches to their paintings—a tradition that reportedly dates to at least 1809, when it was instituted by England's Royal Academy of Arts. (One famous member of the Academy, Joseph Mallord William Turner, was notorious for making major changes to his paintings on this day.) English speakers originally referred to this day of finishing touches simply as "varnishing day," but sometime around 1912 we also began using the French term "vernissage" (literally, "varnishing"). Today, however, you are more likely to encounter vino than varnish at a vernissage, which is often a gala event marking the opening of an exhibition."

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entering my card in :

 

Die Cuttin Divas - Challenge #98 Penguins
 

 

OK, so I adore this little penguin ♥

I added some dangly hearts just because he looks so full of love, and I always enjoy creating some movement to my creations. I simply took heart stickers and placed them back to back after adding a single thread of floss between them. Knotted the ends together, tied a bow separately and glued them to the banner.

Did you know that penguins mate for life?

 

 

Cricut Craft Room - Animal Antics ( cut beak out twice, once in black, then in orange )

Little Yellow Bicycle - Fresh Verse Stickers ( sentiment, snipped at ends to create a banner )

Hallmark Cards - heart stickers ( Walmart )

Ranger - Stickles, Star Dust, Orange Peel, and Black Diamond

and Glossy Accents ( on beak and feet )

DMC - floss

Aleene's Tacky Glue

remuneration: noun

compensation, payment

 

pronunciation here

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I love to wet emboss, and I did something totally different today because I embossed with 3 different colors! It as fun to do too!

entering this in:

 

Creative Card Challenges Week: Challenge #60--Make a Card with a Window

Paper Smooches GDT challenge ( free digi )
Divas by design - Anything Goes
Delightful Challenges - Add Hearts

 

I used my embossing pen to outline the digi image one color at a time. I used the double sided tape to outline and emboss the base card stock.

The heart shaped window is pop dotted up and set over a cloud paper.

 

Zig - Emboss Writer

Stamp-n-Stuff - Red Dragon embossing powder

American Crafts - Zing Brownie embossing powder

Prima - Goldsboro paper

Therm O Web - double sided tape

cloud paper, black embossing powder, pop dots - misc.

Aleene's Tacky Glue

Fiskars - fingertip knife

 

But ya know, it just didn't look finished, so I hope you don't mind that I tweaked the card a tad. First I wasn't happy with the added line of embossing off to the left of the heart, it had a bend in it that I didn't notice until I posted the photos...and the top loop of the "h" had dulled a little because of the gold gelato. I thought it was a done deal, regardless of not being happy with it. I went to bed....and I thought....and I thought....I just couldn't get it out of my head. And then....while reading my latest James Patterson book, out of the clear ( 'cause obviously the book Cross Fire had NOTHING to do with a squirrel card! ) an idea came to me...he needed a red balloon to be floating from, and the embroidery thread would smooth out that kink too....ahh..and while I was at it, I covered the dulled "h" with my black pen.

Ok, so was it worth getting back out of bed for?

....yes sireee it was!

DMC - embroidery thread

Frances Meyer - balloon sticker

Helmar - Zap Dot 

 

Your comments are the only remuneration that I need....OK, so I'd like to win too. :)

realia: noun plural

 

objects or activities used to relate classroom teaching to the real life especially of peoples studied

pronunciation

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Perfect Sentiments - Winter Wonderland

Fab 'n' Funky - Winter

Divas by design - Anything Goes

and my newest find:

Paper Smooches GDT challenge ( free digi image )

 

He's so cute, I know I'd give him some luvin' ;)

 

For the background to the hole in the bird house I first laid strips of masking tape down, and covered it with Black Soot..let dry...then Vintage Photo..let dry...then used the gold metallic Gelato which I rubbed and smoothed out the previous 2 stains which had just laid in a bubbly effect on top of the masking tape. Then I added a layer of Rock Candy crackle to give it an old wood look to it.

 

I tried to add some texture to the owl's body by using my pens in 2 different ways. The ruffled feathers across hi chest were created with wavy lines, and the head and ears were dabs from the pen. His wings, and ears were lifted up by placing the Liquid Scrapdots under them.

The banner is placed on a twig from the backyard, held in place with Tacky Glue. His "extra" wing was colored and cut out and laid on top of the twig using Liquid Scrapdots for extra strength. I printed out the sentiment and used Liquid Scrapdots to lift the end of the sentiment banner.

 

 

 

 

Martha Stewart drip punch ( trimmed drips to sharp edges to emulate icicles )

Faber Castell PITT pens, gold metallic Gelato

Ranger Distress marker, Frosted Lace stickles, Rock Candy Crackle paint, Distress Stains- Back Soot and Vintage Photo

Helmar Liquid Scrapdots

Aleene's tacky glue

wood paper - ( very old, last scrap in the box...sorry to see it go! )

Really Reasonable Ribbon - lace ribbon

snowflake brad, rhinestone, masking tape - misc.

font - Traveling Typewriter

Fiskars - snowflake embossing plate

Big Shot

festoon: noun

a decorative chain or strip hanging between two points

or

 a carved, molded, or painted ornament representing a decorative chain

"Festoon" traces back (by way of French and Italian) to Latin "festa," the plural of "festum," meaning "festival." "Festa" is also an ancestor of the English noun "feast."
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Being that this is a new year with fresh starts and all has given me the inspiration to do something different with the Timmy Tags of 2013. Instead of making tags, ( which by the way, and don't faint, but I packaged up the 2012 tags and put them in the Art Mob, let's see if they sell? ) I am going to try and make wall hangings instead from the tag challenges..and yes, they will also be put up in the Art Mob. What inspired me you ask to make the tags into wall hangings? So glad you asked, lol You see I went into the store on the 2nd to change out my Christmas stuff to Valentines Day stuff and discovered that I sold 6 wall hangings in December! Like wow, right...exciting but it also puts me into a slight panic mode to fill in those empty spaces!

So here is the first Tim Holtz 2013 tag wall hanging!

 

 

other products used:

Ranger - Distress Stain, Vintage Photo, Clear Rock Candy crackle paint

Tim Holtz Ide-ology Film Strip ribbon

clip art from the Internet - pointing hand, gears

clock hands, gold beads, clip - misc.

Eyelet Outlet - Gear brads ( removed brad parts )

Faber Castell - blue metallic gelato ( rubbed dry onto embossing plate ) and salmon gelota used on clock frame, and PITT Pen,black

Fiskars - bamboo embossing plate

Big Shot

Helmars - 450 and Liquid Scrapdots

Aleenee's Tacky Glue

background words from Helmars Challenge site ( printed in reverse on wax paper and pressed down on board, love this technique! )

Golden - gesso, and gel medium

Cricut - French Manor, p. 31 ( clock face 8" )

Really Reasonable Ribbon - hemp cord ( dyed with Vintage Photo )
ScorPal - tape

 

Also entering this in Helmar's January Challenge where I doubt I can win this month as I won last months December challenge..woo hoo me! lol ( side note, this is one of the signs that sold quickly as it wasn't even in the store for a whole month! I loooooove it when that happens )

This month they want you to use the colors blue and orange, the word LIFE, and a list. I was so inspired by the word art list that I used it on my background. I copied it from their site and put it into my print program, reversed the words, printed it off on wax paper and then laid it down on my board and pressed it down using my hands. Gently lift off the wax sheet, don't let it wiggle or it will smear and then let it dry.

 

 I hope you can see the words:

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OK, does anyone else have problems with the colors in Dylusions Melted Chocolate? For me it comes out beautifully until it dries, gets mixed or spritzed with anything. Here I began my board by gessoing it, let it dry and then I sprayed the Melted Chocolate onto it, added a little bit of Folk Art Turner's Yellow, and spritzed it with water. I took my fancy credit card tool and smoothed out the Melted Chocolate to discover this color reaction, can you see the green and pink? Do you see any brown? lol It's actually very pretty, just not what I was going for!

 

hangover: noun

something (as a surviving custom) that remains from what is past

or

  disagreeable physical effects following heavy consumption of alcohol or the use of drugs

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Simon Says Stamp and & Show - Challenge The totally mad ( no rules ) tea party!

 

Well, my card might be viewed as totally mad since I am currently making St. Patrick's Day cards in January!( for the Art MoB ) lol For some, this is craziness, but if you submit to magazines then you're currently making cards for publication in AUGUST so making cards for March almost seems behind the times! HA!

 

And I have found out that my cards with a twist seem to fly out the proverbial door, so I am trying to give my St. Paddy cards a wry sense of humor.

 

Cricut - Don Juan, p.75
font - Curly Girlz
Close To My Heart - grid pattern stamp
Studio G - flourish stamp
hand stitching
Reminisce - Green Day glitter shamrocks, sentiment, white pen
Aleene's Tacky Glue

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Happy New Year WOYWW'ers

 

I wish I could say I was starting out my New Year with a clean organized work space but it's not true. It's as messy and unorganized as it was in 2012, lol But like I mentioned above I am in a St. Patricks' frenzy! I'd like to have 20 cards ready to be put out on Feb. 15th. ( if you can see them, I only have 5 made so far, plus the one on the desk = 6! )Yep, gotta be ready to change out those holiday cards ASAP. So here is my desk in all it's green madness!

If you notice, I don't have much in the way of St. Patricks' Day items, I never sent out Irish cards before so if I hadn't won the Reminisce contest eons ago I wouldn't have any blarney stash!

lord of misrule: noun

a master of Christmas revels in England especially in the 15th and 16th centuries

"Christmas before Victoria was a wild affair, in which the fun was presided over by the Lord of Misrule, and it was full of lewd and naughty pranks—usually strictly for the grown-ups."

 

( maybe this was their 50 Shades of Grey? ) lol 

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Ladies from WOYWW and lords of misrule...
 

Sometimes you amaze and wow me.
Sometimes you touch my heart in more ways than you might ever know.
Sometimes I realize how lucky I am to know you.

  Christmas has become a lonely time for me and while I'll not bore you with the details to my pity party, there were a few of you that just made my day yesterday! So this is what is on my desk, courtesy of:
 

Dwain Gaudet

Julia Stratford-Wright

Sherry Ellison

and

Judy McCarthy

I have enjoyed looking over each item and am so impressed with your craftsmanship!

  

I saved all their packages as they came in the mail and opened them on Christmas morning so that I would have gifts to unwrap. Y'all are wonderful, thoughtful ladies who I am honored to have as a friend. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!  

 

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Mojo Monday - #273
 

 

 

My Mind's Eye - snowflake paper

DCWV - Shimmer Stack

Cricut - Winter Woodland cartridge, p. 32

hand stitching, french knots

rub on sentiment, ribbon - misc.

EK Success - dimensional sticker ( orange dot )

Reminisce - white pen

American Craft - Marvy marker

Helmar's 450 ( for ribbon )

Aleene's Tacky Glue ( for everything else )

schmooze: verb

 

 

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Frosted Designs - On the 7th Day of Christmas

7 sparkly snowflakes
Pause Dream Enjoy Challenge #50 Snow
Little Scrap Pieces - Challenge #21 I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

I'd like to take a momment and schmooze with you...I loooooove shaped cards, I do, I do! lol I love seeing them, making them, thinking about them...if I was Dr. Seuss, I'd write a poem about them. They are fun to hold, fun to open and the best fun is in creating them!

 I hope that in the picture below you can see the snowflakes on the acetate better.

DCWV - Shimmer Stack ( still my favorite! )
Cricut - Doodlecharms cartridge, p. 84,( stretched in Cricut Craft Room to a 4x6" shape )
Reminisce - Snow Globe Rub-Ons ( snowflakes )
Ranger - stickles, Frosted Lace ( small accents on snowflakes )
snowman sticker, ribbon, holly leaves, acetate - misc
Pebbles - rub on sentiment ( placed snowflake rub ons onto acetate window )
American Craft - Slick Writer ( outline of shimmer Globe )
Faber Castell - Pitt Pen, Gelatos ( used Gelato's to color base card stock, Pit pen for holly leaf outline )
Helmars 450 ( to adhere bow )
Helmars Tape Runner  ( to adhere ribbon )
Aleene's Tacky Glue
Craft-T chalks ( to add shading for Holly leaves )
 

mimic: transitive verb

to imitate closely

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Frosted Designs - On the 5th Day of Christmas

5 Gold items

( I used 3 gold stars, 1 gold ribbon, and gold embossing )

plus a gold cord,gold stickles and a gold marker :)
and
Perfect Sentiments Challenge: Anything Goes with Christmas

 

 

My Mind's Eye, Flirty "Lil Girl" pattern paper ( love the embossed glitter on this paper! )

Stampabilities, gold ink

gold embossing powder - misc.

Pebbles - Happy Holidays Brown rub-on sentiment ( traced over with gold pen )

Hambly, Journaling Bits over lay ( trimmed off and hole punched to mimic torn paper )

sequin stars - misc.

Really Reasonable Ribbon, gold ribbon

Ranger's, Golden Rod stickles ( used on the V cut of the ribbon to keep it from fraying and imitates the trim )

Sakura, Gelly Roll Pen ( outlined base card, faux "ribbon", and sentiment )

clear rhinestones - misc. ( placed on the corner tips of the stars to cover the hole used for sewing )

Patina, needlepoint cording

hole punch - ( used to create torn paper look on the over lay )

Aleene's Tacky Glue

 

My card was inspired by Becky Fleck's PageMaps sketch and entered in the

 Flourishes Card Sketch Contest

 

 

batting: noun

layers or sheets of raw cotton or wool or of synthetic fibrous material used for lining quilts or for stuffing or packaging

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Welcome to week 3 of Handmaking the Holidays!

I hope you have been enjoying all the wonderful projects that Chrissy, Melissa and Heather have been creating for you :) I know I have!

 I have been making wrapped boxes for the Art MoB, they are doing pretty well...3 of the 6 below have sold. The heart box, gold snowflake box, and the butterfly box.

 

 They all have Velcro closures so who ever buys them just has to open and then close it back up and they have a pretty box for gift giving.

( Baby powder is used on the underneath of the holly embellishment to keep it from sticking to the box )

 

 

I have also made an ornament box ( it sold too ) which is my "tutorial" for today. The ornament I purchased is called a photo ball ornament. I got it last year from Walmart after Christmas so I could get it cheap . After gluing snow paper to the insert, I placed 2 trees directly onto the paper and the third tree is pop dotted out. Then I used glue dots to hold the reindeer in place. Placed "snow" left over from last years Santa village in and sealed it up with Aleene's Tacky Glue.

This is the front.

 

 

The back of the ornament is filled with batting to hide the "gift" inside.

( The little stand is a paper roll cut and covered with paper )

You can see the stuffing here a little bit better. Cut 3 squares and lay together and then trim into a mound shape which fits the inside curve of the ornament. The top 2 layers are glued together.

 

 

Cricut - Winter Woodland (deer)

 

Entering my ornament gift ball in:

 

Anything But a Card - Challenge 8 Celebrating the Light or Seasonal Holiday

 

 

hence: adverb

from this place

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Hello WOYWW stalkers......errr.....visitors!

What's on my desk, you ask? Well, yesterday there were 24 little Christmas Tree table place cards which will hold a dinner mint in each one for the guests of the lady who commissioned me to make them.  I delivered them today to Art MoB for pickup, hence there is nothing on my desk today! 

I had a couple of people ask me last week about the round silver thing off to the right which holds my lamp. It's something you put a cake on to cool after it comes out of the oven, I got mine from a Thrift store for 50 cents. It has an added benefit of holding my stickles upside down while I am working with them.

 

entering my place card boxes in:

 

Die Cuttin Divas: Challenge #94 Holiday Spirit

Cricut cartridge - Tags, Bags, Boxes and More , 1.5"

Fiskars embossing plate - Snowflakes

Ranger's stickles - Frosted Lace, Xmas Red, Green, BabyBlue, Golden Rod

sequins and beads - misc.

Tattered Angels - Glimmer Mists, Pearl

ScorPal - Score tape

Aleene's Tacky Glue

 

Have a great day y'all :) 

Naughty: adjective

 

guilty of disobedience or misbehavior

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 So far in our Handmaking for the Holidays we have had 2 stops along the way:

 Chrissy from Muse in the Morning provided us with a bunch of hand made ornaments tutorials and  Heather from  Feather's Flights has an adorable Biased Apron to whip up for that home maker in your life! ( makes me wish I could sew, heck, makes me wishes I were a 1950's homemaker, too!!! lol...ok, kinda sorta on that one! ) Next up,on Wednesday will be Melissa from Love Bug Living...I can't wait to see what she has come up for us for the Holiday create-a-thon!
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Meanwhile, in the hills of North Carolina I am still creating Christmas cards for the Art MoB store, I am hoping that December will be a busy month for us! ( November kinda stunk, it was VERY slow until after Thanksgiving and then picked back up some.) But I am loving this card, I think I have saved Santa a trip MANY times over the years!

 First I outlined him in my waterproof Faber Castell Pitt Pen, then applied Art Grip Aquarelles to color in the flesh tone, using my water brush to smooth them out. The suit was painted in with Delta CeramCoat acrylic paint, the belt and shoes filled in with my Sakura Glaze pen, the fur trim is Ranger's Frosted Lace stickles and the beard is a layer of Aleene's Tacky Glue followed up with Plaid's Soft Flock fibers. The Naughty or Nice writing is done with my Ranger Distress marker in Antique Linen.

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Did you get a lot of your shopping done? Are you decorating? I didn't do any shopping and the decorating seems to be over whelming this year!! lol Oh me, oh my!.....errrrr.....Ho, Ho, Ho!

entering this card into:

 

Pause Dream Enjoy - #47 Anything Goes
 

 

 

fusion: noun

 a merging of diverse, distinct, or separate elements into a unified whole

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I finally got a chance to play with some more of my new Ranger Dylusions sprays. On the background board I sprayed the Fresh Lime all over and spattered the Vibrant Turquoise on the right side and bottom where I had planned on painting my mermaid. I also spritzed it with water to get those under water bubbles ;)

 

I first drew her body with the XS Faber Castell Pitt Pen and then took my water brush and smoothed out her body. I had to take my Golden gesso and paint over her to tone down the skin color. Then I re drew over the black line with my Faber Castell Colbalt Green brush and drew her facial features with my Zig Ocean Writer, filling in her lips with the Colbalt Green and adding Ranger's Glossy Accents over them. I used Ranger's Patina stickles for eye shadow.

 I love her hair. I used plain white yarn and sprayed the same Dylusions colors and let it dry, then adhered the strips of yarn with my Aleene's Tacky Glue, curling some strands and unraveling some bits of yarn to get that wild floating in the water look. I added small sea shells, ( used from an old shell necklace from Hawaii ) flowers and gems into her hair with my Tacky Glue. ( I love the sea shell I added for her bra top, it was one I bought back from my last beach trip! )

The tail was created with a fusion of Faber Castell's Metallic Gelatos and netting, outlined with Patina stickles.

I had to take a break from Christmas crafting and make something different. I love drawing mermaids and always think of my friend Jamie when I make one. I hope you enjoy it...I know  enjoyed the undertaking another mermaid.

entering this in:

 

Anything Bt A Card Challenge 7- By the Sea or Inspiration picture
Pin and Tack: Spark Your Creativity Now! Anything Goes!



quandary: noun

a state of perplexity or uncertainty, especially as to what to do; dilemma

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To sentiment or not...that is a very good question!

 

My 6x12" wall hanging for the Art MoB:

 

 

It's a modern looking tree to be sure, but I just cannot decide on whether or not to add any wording to it, and then what would fit the design? I am in a quandary!

 

UPDATE:

Thank you for all the suggestions, they really did help me to think it through, and this is what I came up with! I hope you lke it :)

 I printed out the words using Petunia Bounce font, cut them out and lined weach word in alternating red and green pens, then attached them with jump rings. Lots of fun movement which I like.

 I added a pretty double bow using my Bow Easy tool and ReallyReasonable Ribbon, adhered with Helmer's 450 adhesive.

 

 

The details:

1. I start with a 6x12" chipboard and gesso the background, let dry.

2. I then cut chipboard strips and covered each one in scraps of left over Christmas paper adhered with Aleene's Tacky Glue.. I also made sure that each strip had a special effect to it ( like adding Rangers stickles to the peppermint stripe piece, or gems to the holly paper)

3. I used my stencil to get the brick effect by spritzing it with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Candy Apple Red, let dry.

4. Using the same stencil I went back over it adding gesso this time, let dry.

5. I used Stazon ink and stamped my Christmas words in a random fashion.

6. I applied 2 layers of tissue over the words to mute them using Golden Matte Gel Medium.

7.I edged the board with Dylusions Ink Spray, Melted Chocolate ( with a sponge ), and then dabbed Cinnamon stickles to the edge.

8. Adhered the tree chipboard shapes with a layer of tinsel pipe cleaners in between each piece.

9. The last step is threading Really Reasonable Ribbon twine through the board and the beads for the hanging apparatus.

 

Here is a slide show for the creation process:

 

I have to say I got tickled after stamping the sentiments onto the brick background. I arranged the words going up, down and upside down to give them a random appearance, only to realize that

 Ho, Ho, Ho upside down becomes Oh, Oh, Oh....lol  Ho well, it is what it is!

 

entering this in:

 

Pan Pastel's challenge #45 - Red and Green

Try it On Tuesday - November 2 - Christmas Sparkle

Really Reasonable Ribbon - Challenge #60 Anything but a Card with ribbon