Candlelit Noel Christmas Card

Hello and thanks for stopping by today.  I have another Christmas card to share with you that was inspired by Linda Coughlin's 12 Tags Of Christmas Funkie Junkie style challenge, sponsored by her store The Funkie Junkie Boutique.  This card was inspired by Linda's week 4 tag and miracle of miracles, I've actually managed to get caught up!

I was inspired by the embossed background and musical theme of Linda's tag, I don't have the Victorian Carolers die that she used so substituted Tim's re-released Candlelight die instead.  I've a few pics of how I made it, read on for my how to.

I started with a Distress Mixed Media Heavystock panel cut to 4" x 5 1/4" and coloured it with multiple shades of green Distress inks.  The panel was then embossed with Tim's Flourish Texture Fades embossing folder and the raised areas emphasized with Evergreen Bough Distress Ink.

To add a bit of shimmer, I finger painted some DecoArt Champagne Ice Metallic Lustre onto the raised embossed areas and around the edges of the panel and burnished it to a shine.

Deco Foil PeelnStick Toner Sheet was covered with Rebekah Meier Designs Antique Pearl Mixed Media Transfer Foil and then die cut with the Candlelight die.  The foiled candles were lightly distressed and inked with a bit of Ground Espresso Distress ink.  The flames were die cut from Toner Sheet covered with Old Gold Mixed Media Transfer Foil and as you can see in the picture of the finished card, I also die cut another layered flame from some gold Deco Sheet.

Noel was die cut with the Vintage Tidings die from more PeelnStick Toner Sheet covered with Old Gold transfer foil.

Some greenery was die cut from cardstock coloured with multiple shades of green Distress inks with the Mini Holiday Greens dies.

And a vintage sheet music image of the carol 'The First Noel' was shrunk to size on the computer and printed out onto copy paper (this digital image is courtesy of Dee Duncan).

To assemble the card, a Tidings Token was covered with Tarnished Brass Distress paint and then the excess paint removed so that it just stayed in the recesses of the lettering.  The Tidings Token was attached to the embossed background panel with a Yuletide Fastener and the panel adhered to an A2 sized white card blank.

The backing was peeled off of the die cut 'noel' word and it was adhered to the top right corner of the card.

The sheet music and greenery were adhered to the bottom of the card as shown and then the die cut Candlelight candles positioned over top.

And that was it!  Hope that you enjoyed seeing how my Candlelit Noel Christmas card came together.

Now that I've caught up with Linda's challenge, I'll (hopefully!) be posting a project based on her tags each week as her challenge progresses.  If you haven't had a chance to check it out yet, go take a peek at Linda's blog, it's a great way to get some gifts and cards made for the holiday season and you have a chance to win some very generous gift certificates to her store The Funkie Junkie Boutique.  Thanks again for stopping by today and happy creating!

Deb xo

Merry Retro Christmas Card

Hello everyone, I'm just about caught up with the 12 Tags of Christmas Funkie Junkie Style challenge over on Linda Coughlin's blog that is being sponsored by her store The Funkie Junkie Boutique.  Today I'm sharing a retro style Christmas card with you that was inspired by Linda's week #3 tag.

My Merry Retro Christmas card was inspired by Linda's red colour palette (which was a stretch for me as red is not a colour I use very often!) and her use of Tim's Retro Merry Christmas dies which I used as well.  I also used a couple of Tim's Mini Retro Ornaments Movers & Shapers dies to continue the retro vibe, read on for my how to!

It occurred to me while I was making the snowflakes for my last Funkie Junkie inspired card that if the white corrugated cardstock was coloured with red ink it would make a great candy cane.  Since I don't have Tim's Peppermint Layering stencil yet, I decided to use white corrugated cardstock for my background and cut a piece on the diagonal (4" x 5 1/4"), running it through my Big Shot to flatten the corrugations slightly.

I then inked the raised areas with Candied Apple Distress Ink, oh boy, that is red!!

In the end it was just too intensely red for me, so I toned it down with some Aged Mahogony DI, inked around the edges with a bit of Vintage Photo DI and mounted the inked corrugated card onto a white A2 sized card blank.

I don't have any plain red cardstock (told you I don't use red very often!) so die cut the 'christmas' word with Tim's Retro Merry Christmas die from white cardstock and then backed it with a slightly bumped black cardstock die cut.  The 'merry' word was die cut from silver Deco Sheet and then backed with white cardstock.

The Mini Retro Ornaments were die cut from some Tidings Paper Stash in red and cream and from some red Holiday Deco Sheet.  The red and cream ornament was accented with a strip of silver Deco Sheet and the red Deco Sheet ornament accented with a strip of the red and cream scrapbook paper.

I then die cut the star from Sizzix's Star & Circle Movers & Shapers dies from silver and red Deco Sheet, insetting the red star  into the silver star.

And finally, Tim's Bird Branch die was cut from white cardstock, trimmed down to fit across the top of the card and embossed with Emerald Creek Craft Supplies Soft Fallen Snow embossing powder.

The embossed branch was adhered across the top of the card and the two retro ornaments tied onto it with a bit button thread.

The 'merry Christmas' sentiment was layered overtop along the bottom of the card on a slight angle and the layered Deco Sheet star added to the bottom right corner.

A sentiment was stamped on the inside of the card with Black Soot Distress Archival ink and clear embossed using a Stamptember 2016 Holiday stamp from Simon Says Stamp (it was a limited release and not available any longer I'm sorry to say).

So that's my take on week #3 of the 12 Tags Of Christmas Funkie Junkie Style, hope that you've enjoyed seeing it.

There is still plenty of time to join in the fun over at Linda's blog (you have until December 29th to get all 12 of your entries completed) so hope to see you there and happy creating!

Deb xo

Fa-La-La Christmas Card

Hello everyone, I'm back to share another Christmas card inspired by Linda Coughlin's 12 Tags Of Christmas Funkie Junkie style challenge sponsored by her store, The Funkie Junkie Boutique.  My Fa-La-La card took inspiration from Linda's wonderful week #2 tag with it's shabby vintage styling and colour palette, what's not to love!

I started out the same as last week with an A2 kraft card blank and a front panel cut from Distress Mixed Media Heavystock.  I'm still waiting on my stamps and stencils from Tim Holtz's 2017 Christmas release to arrive so used a Dyan Reaveley Alphabet Border stencil and Ranger Opaque Crackle texture paste for the stenciled background and sealed it with Distress Vintage Collage Medium once the crackle paste had dried.

Inking with Vintage Photo Distress Archival ink followed to the raised stenciled design and to the edges of the panel, followed by touches of Indian Gold Nuvo Mousse applied to the same areas.

To echo the vintage vibe on Linda's tag, I stamped an old Hampton Art Hot Fudge Studio stamp (RSS011) onto Heavystock with Potting Soil Archival ink and die cut it with a Spellbinders Lacey Squares die, inking the edges with Vintage Photo Distress ink and adding touches of Indian Gold Nuvo Mousse.

I was intrigued when Linda said she had die cut the snowflakes on her tag from corrugated paper, I'd never thought to die cut such delicate dies from corrugated cardstock so had to give it a try and it worked wonderfully!  I used Tim's Mini Paper Snowflakes dies to cut snowflakes from some kraft corrugated card, added touches of white gesso to the corrugations followed by inking with Vintage Photo DI and more Nuvo Mousse.

The kraft snowflakes were a bit lost when I put them up against my background panel so I cut more snowflakes from white corrugated card, inked them in the same manner and added more Nuvo Mousse.

I then layered the two die cut snowflakes, offsetting them with the kraft snowflake on the bottom and added some flat back pearls and a 'gumdrop' gem from the $1 store that I inked with Gold Mixative alcohol ink.

Tags were cut from Heavystock and stamped with Vintage Photo Archival ink using Tim Holtz's Holiday Drawings, Artistic Outpost's Sleigh Ride and Crafty Secrets Christmas Joy stamps.

A finally, a Snowflake Adornments charm was embossed with some fine gold embossing powder.

And then the card was assembled, here are a few close ups.

Love the shimmer from the touches of Nuvo Mousse!

A greeting from Tim's Doodle Greetings 1 stamp set was added to the inside, stamped with Black Soot archival and clear embossed.

Hope you've enjoyed seeing my Fa-La-La Christmas card and that you'll join in the fun over at Linda's blog.

I'm still behind on Linda's weekly challenges but catching up slowly, stay tuned for week #3 coming shortly!  Thanks as always for stopping by today and happy creating!

Deb xo

Bone Yard Skelly Tag For Southern Ridge Trading Company

Happy Friday The 13th, bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!  I have a scary Halloween decoration to share with you today over on Southern Ridge Trading Company's blog that I made with their Skull, Skeleton and Spider Web chipboard, it's a Bone Yard Skelly tag!

I used one of Tim's small Etcetera Thickboard tags as the base, covering it with some of his Halloween scrapbook paper.  Lots of Halloween Idea-ology, a Regions Beyond stamp and the Vintage Spirits die added to the ghoulish fun along with foils and adhesives from Therm O Web and embossing powders and charms from Emerald Creek Craft Supplies.  Pop on over to Southern Ridge's blog for my how to, if you dare!  See you there,

Deb xo

A Woodland Christmas Card

Hello everyone, thanks for stopping by today.  I just found out that Linda Coughlin's 12 Tags of Christmas Funkie Junkie Style challenge for 2017, sponsored by her store The Funkie Junkie Boutique, has started woo-hoo!  Actually, Linda's challenge started on September 25th so I'm already 3 weeks behind but I am determined to get all 12 challenges completed this year (she says hopefully!).  If you aren't familiar with Linda's 12 Tags challenge, she posts a tag once a week and challenges us to make a tag, card, journal page or anything else that we'd like, inspired by her tag.  If you complete all 12 of the challenges, you will be entered to win a $50 Grand Prize gift certificate to The Funkie Junkie Boutique as well as two $25 Runner Up gift certificates, thank you for your generosity Linda!

For Week #1, I decided to make a Merry Woodland Christmas card that was inspired by Linda's woodland theme and her lovely warm neutral colour palette.

I've a few step out photos of how I made my card, enjoy!

I made an A2 size card blank from kraft cardstock and set it aside.  A panel for the front of the card was cut from Distress Mixed Media Heavystock to 4" x 5 1/4" and painted with Antique Linen Distress Spray Stain.  Inking with Antique Linen Distress Oxide and spritzes of water followed and then a few evergreen trees were stenciled onto the panel through Tim Holtz's Mini Woodland layering stencil with Frayed Burlap Distress ink.

Watercolour stamping with the Tree Line stamp set and Frayed Burlap Distress Ink came next with more spritzes of water over the entire panel.

And then a few more trees were watercolour stamped in the same manner with a Hero Arts Vintage Christmas Wishes stamp set and the deer from that same set was stamped with Ground Espresso Distress Archival ink.

For a little winter sparkle, the whole panel was spritzed with Biscotti Perfect Pearls Mist.

Deco Art Champagne Ice Metallic Lustre was finger painted around the edges of the panel and buffed for more shimmer.  The edges were then distressed and inked with Ground Espresso Distress Archival ink.

My stamped deer was looking a bit lonely so I masked off and stamped the deer from Tim's Scribble Woodland and Holiday Drawings stamp sets onto the card panel.

Three deer were die cut with the Winter Wonderland dies from brown kraft core cardstock that was lightly sanded.

And then I got on a roll and forgot to take any more pictures, as usual!  So here are a few closeups.

The prepared panel was adhered onto the kraft card blank.  A piece of sheer gold star ribbon was added across the top with double sided tape after a light inking with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink.  A deer charm from Emerald Creek Craft Supplies was embossed with their Oil Rubbed Bronze embossing powder and attached with a brad over the ribbon on the left side.

The Merry Christmas sentiment from Tim's Scribble Woodland stamp set was stamped onto Distress Mixed Media Heavystock coloured in the same manner as the background of the panel (Distress Stain and Distress Oxide in Antique Linen).  The sentiment was stamped with Black Soot Archival ink and clear embossed and then Platinum Stickles glitter glue was added around the edges.  A snowflake charm from Emerald Creek Craft Supplies was embossed with Liquid Platinum embossing powder and attached to the panel with a coordinating brad.

The three die cut deer were adhered along the bottom of the card front, love that little guy who is looking up!

And finally, a sentiment from Tim's Doodle Greetings #2 stamp set was stamped on the inside of the card and three snowflakes from his Mini Paper Snowflakes die set were cut from silver Metallic Kraft-Stock and adhered on the left side (because I forgot to insert the brads before I put the panel on the front of the card and had to cover them up! :O)

So that's my take on Linda's 12 Tags of Christmas Funkie Junkie Style 2017 - Tag #1, hope that you've enjoyed seeing it and that you'll join in the fun over on Linda's blog.

Thanks again for stopping by today and as always, happy creating!

Deb xo

Autumn Leaves Mixed Media Canvas For A Vintage Journey

Hello everyone, thank you for stopping by.  The month of October is upon us with it's crisp cool days and changing leaves here in the Northern Hemisphere and with that in mind our October challenge at A Vintage Journey is Crazy For Autumn Colours.  Jennie is our host this month and here is her brief:

Choose a bold, colourful, autumn palette this month for your vintage; shabby; mixed media; art journaling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk project. Let's see those wonderful autumn colours in all their glory!

Calico Craft Parts is our generous sponsor this month and they have an Autumnal bundle of Calico Craft Parts wood and MDF products for our randomly chosen challenge winner, thank you Calico Craft Parts!

For our October challenge, I made a fall canvas with a multitude of autumn leaves in the colours of fall.  I wanted to include the touches of frost and ice that we often experience on cool October mornings here in Canada so added metallic foils, embossing powders and mica sprays to represent that icy component.

I have some step by step photos to share with you on how I made my Autumn Leaves mixed media canvas, so grab a cup of hot cocoa and read on!

I started with a piece of Distress Mixed Media Heavystock cut to about 6" x 9" and die cut it with Tim Holtz's Mosaic Bigz die.  Inking came next with saturated colours of yellow, orange and rust Distress Stains and Inks so that the colour would seep up into the Opaque Crackle texture paste that was applied through Tim's Autumn layering stencil.  After the texture paste had dried, the panel was sealed with Distress Matte Collage Medium and the crackles were accentuated with Vintage Photo Distress Crayon.

Another piece of white cardstock was inked up with multiple colours of Distress Stains and Inks in green, yellow, orange, rust and red.  Some sprinkles of Color Bloom spray in Lime Wedge and Gilded were added here and there as well.

The coloured cardstock was then die cut with a variety of leaf dies and punches (Small Tattered Florals, Tiny Tattered Florals and Garden Greens dies and Recollections Oak Leaf and Maple Leaf punches).

A piece of burlap fabric from my stash was adhered onto another piece of white cardstock cut to about 1/2" larger on all sides than the die cut panel and then the die cut panel was centered on top of the burlap.

Several lengths of Ranger Metal Foil Tape Sheets were embossed with Tim Holtz's Floral Texture Fades embossing folder and then coloured with Ground Espresso Distress Paint.  After the paint had dried slightly, the paint was burnished off of the raised embossed areas with a dry cloth.

The lengths of embossed tape were then wrapped around all edges of the burlap panel (the tape has an adhesive backing so easy-peasy to apply!).

Tim's Leaf Blueprint was stamped twice onto Heavystock coloured with Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge and Fired Brick Distress Inks and then sprayed with Biscotti Perfect Pearls Mist.  The stamped leaf was die cut with the coordinating Leaf Blueprint dies and the die cut pieces layered with some black fun foam in between.

The phrase 'autumn leaves' was die cut with the Broadway Alphabet die from Deco Foil PeelnStick Toner Sheet that was covered with Rebekah Meier Designs New Penny Mixed Media Transfer Foil.  The letters were lightly sanded to distress them slightly.

More leaves were die cut and punched from Deco Foil Toner Sheet covered with Rebekah Meier Designs Transfer Foils in Old Gold and New Penny and Gina K. Designs Sweet Mango Fancy Foil.  The leaves were sanded lightly and inked with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

Did you know that the Mosaic die cut outs are sized exactly for Tim's Idea-ology Fragments Findings?  I layered up three of the foiled die cut leaves, adhered them under a Fragment that had been inked around the edges with Mushroom alcohol ink and then adhered the Fragment piece into the coordinating die cut opening with Glossy Accents glue.

A few of the die cut and punched leaves were embossed with Emerald Creek Craft Supplies Fractured Ice embossing powder.  I love this embossing powder as it takes on the colours of whatever is underneath it, it's magical!

And finally, one of Emerald Creek's Filigree Leaf charms was embossed on one side with their Charred Gold embossing powder and on the other side with Moss Stone Green embossing powder.

The leafs and embellishments were then adhered onto the burlap mounted panel, adding the inked, embossed and foiled leaves both inside the die cut openings and scattering them around the outside edges as well.  The embossed leaf charm was added to the top right corner of the panel.

The Blueprint Leaf was added to the bottom left corner and the foiled letters adhered across the bottom of the panel.  Some of the letters were bumped up on die cut fun foam so they would be at the same height as the letters adhered over top of the Blueprint Leaf.

I hope that you have enjoyed seeing how my Autumn Leaves mixed media canvas came together and the you will enter our Crazy For Autumn Colours challenge at A Vintage Journey.

 Make sure that you pop over for a peek at what the other Creative Guides made to inspire you, wonderful creations one and all as usual!  Thanks again for stopping by today and as always, happy creating!

Deb xo