Winter - Ice Flake Etcetera Tag

The Ice Flake Bigz die from Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations is pretty amazing. The detailed points on a steel rule die are WOW! I really wanted it to stand out, so I used a small Etcetera Tag as a backdrop.

There are several steps to this background, but they aren't difficult

1. Paint the tag white.
2. Cut all the branches out on the Branch die with white Distress Woodgrain Cardstock.
3. Adhere the white Branches to the painted white tag with collage medium. I put them all coming in from the sides pointing toward the center.
4. Liberally smear some Ranger Opaque Crackle Texture Paste around all the edges and in places in the center of the tag as well. Let dry and crack.
5. Cover the entire tag, branches and crackle paste with a thin layer of Distress Collage Medium. Let dry.
6. Paint the entire tag with a layer of Weathered Wood Distress Paint and lightly wipe away from some areas so the white underneath shows through.
7. Once it is dry, add another layer of Collage Medium.
8. Sand the edges so that the base of the tag shows through in places along the very edge.
9. Scribble a little Ground Espresso and Black Soot Distress Crayon on the edges and rub it in to distress the tag.

Now for the Ice Flake. This is a technique I used for a card for Creativation 2018. So I'm linking the tutorial here if you want to know the details for achieving this Antiqued Distress Mirror look.
The basic idea is to cut an Ice Flake out of a piece of black cardstock and a Ideaology Mirrored Sheet. You will want to wear away some of the mirror from the back of the Mirrored Sheet, so this is where you really want to check out the tutorial linked above. It's a little messy but one of my most favorite techniques.

You want to attach your Antique Mirror Ice Flake to the black chipboard one and then adhere it to the center of the tag, leaving room for a word at the bottom.

Here you can see the antique mirror, the icy looking wintry background and the raised letters.

The word I chose was winter and I cut it from the Bigz XL Alphabet called Wonderland. It's a very stylized alpha but detpending on the project it can take on many different feelings. It can be wintry, like this one, or Haunted Mansiony, or Feliz Navidady, hahahaha ok, so much for making up adjectives. All I did here was cut the letters out of black chipboard and out of a bluish paper and then adhered the paper to the chipboard and then to the tag.

And there you have it. One of my favorite new decor pieces of the season.

Winter Wonderland - Branches and Funky Festive

I was so excited to see the Branches Bigz die from Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations. I've wanted a substantial branch for a long time and there are several branches on this die. It's fabulous!

Since it was part of the Christmas 2018 release, I of course needed to do a Christmas/Winter card.  I cut this branch out of black chipboard and Distress Woodgrain Cardstock colored with brown Distress Stains. I then sealed it with Distress Collage Medium because I didn't want the Distress Stain to color the snow.

I spred Grit-Paste on the top edge of the branch to mimic snow and sprinkled a little bit of Dsitress Glitter on it too. Then I set it aside to dry. While that was drying I cut and colored the berries from the Funky Festive die set. I added Glossy accents to the tops of all the berries and set them aside to dry.

For the background, I embossed a piece of Distress Watercolor Cardstock with the Simple Snowflakes Embossing Folder. I liberally spread Ranger Opaque Crackle Texture Paste over it and set it aside to dry. When I was dry I Used a blending tool and colored the entire surface with Stormy Sky Distress Ink, making sure in went down into the cracks. Then I wiped off the excess with a slightly damp towel.

The last thing I did was to cut the title out of Distress Watercolor Cardstock using the Holiday Thin die set. I sprayed it with Distress Resist Spray and dusted it with Distress Rock Candy Glitter. Then backed it with the leftover piece of brown woodgrain cardstock.

The last thing to do is to assemble it and attach an Ideaology Index Clip with a bit of jute tied through it.
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I have another giveaway! It’s a pile of vintage ephemera and trinkets I got from shopping Tim Holtz’s Vintage Stash Sale at Carson. ❄️❄️

If you want to be entered, to win some of Tim’s Vintage Stash, comment on any of my posts here with #timholtzchristmas2018 ☃️☃️

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I’ll pick a couple of names on Monday Dec 10 at 12 noon PT. 🌟🌟