Peace & Joy At Christmas...

Hello again friends...

How is it already the 10th December? There is still so much to do to get ready for Christmas but I'm going to keep calm and carry on ~ my tree is up and the house is all decorated, cards are written and ready to go and I just need to now think about food for the big day and get the final presents, then wrap them all up!

But back to my post and today, is the start of a brand new Monday challenge at Simon Says Stamp and this week our theme is called ~ WARM WINTER WISHES and we would love for you to join us and share your wintery projects!

I created an icy Etcetera tag that is all about Peace and Joy at Christmas. As always, I've packed it full of dimension and lots of layers to build up the main focal point of the heart and wings which sit upon an Icy Flake.

So, let's begin the brand new challenge and here's how I created my project...

 

I started by prepping my background and cut a panel of watercolour card approx the same size as my Mini Etcetera Tag. I then applied Cracked Pistachio, Antique Linen, Evergreen Bough and Iced Spruce to my glass media mat, spritzed the inks with a little water and picked up the colour with my card. Keep dipping the card into the inks to get a really good coverage but remember, always heat dry the card between layers so that you  don't end up with muddy puddles.

Once I was happy and my card was dry, I attached some torn tissue tape to the central area of the background and then scraped some gesso over the top ~ you don't really see this on the finished tag but it does just give some more layers on the background, which is effective. I then applied a panel of Grit Paste thought the Layering Stencil placing them down the centre. To create some sparkle, which is so hard to pick up on camera but I promise you it is there, I then sprinkled some Rock Candy Dry Glitter over the top of the wet paste.

When the paste is set and dry, I cut the card to the shape of the tag, machine stitched a border around the edge and then attached it onto the tag, using Matte Collage Medium.

To complete the background I applied Pumice Stone Distress Crayon around the edges and then added some shimmer using Vintage Metallic Foil Sheets in silver. For this I just dabbed a Collage Stick onto the edges, allowed it to become tacky and then placing the shiny side uppermost, press the foil sheet onto the glue, ripping it away to reveal the shimmer.

Using the music score background from the Christmas Ephemera, inked to make a little more worn around the edges, I matted this onto silver metallic kraft card, followed by a layer of hessian. I then mounted the panel using foam pads onto the centre of the tag and added four small Hex Fasteners to each corner.

Now to move onto the focal point...

I started with the Ice Flake, (can I just say how amazing this die is, it's so beautiful and creates such a wonderful die cut to work with ~ a must for any winter die collection!) I cut the flake from thick chipboard and then primed the board with a coat of gesso before adding a layer of Crackle Paste over the top.

Once the paste was dry, I then applied Rock Candy Crackle Paste over the top of this and again waited for it to dry. I ran the Pumice Stone Crayon around the edge to just highlight the tips and take away the whiteness before adding some more shimmer using some of that Vintage Foil Tape Sheet, again applied in exactly the same way as I did to the edges of the tag.

The wings are from the Angelic Adornments pack and I altered these with a little Picket Fence Distress Paint before adding some Gilding Wax over the top to accentuate the detail.

I then placed these beneath a glittered die cut heart. The heart is cut from chipboard, painted gold and then I applied a layer of collage medium over the top and sprinkled with gold glass glitter. You need to allow this to thoroughly dry out, probably over night before attaching it to your project.

When the glittered heart was dry, I placed it over my wings and added a mini plaquette to the centre.

You can see the dimension in this piece in the photo below....

To complete the tag, I added the "Peace" Quote chip which I glittered around the edge with a little Vintage Platinum Glitter and placed a star adornment either side which once again was altered in the same way as the wings...

...and then threaded some crinkle ribbon through the hole at the top of the tag. The ribbon is hand-dyed using Iced Spruce and Antique linen Distress Spray Stain.

As the finishing touch, I placed two of the tiny bells on a loop pin and attached it to the ribbon.

I hope you've enjoyed the creative process behind this tag and love the finished piece just as much as I loved creating it and sharing it with you all.

Don't forget, you can find more inspiration from my talented teamies over on the challenge blog and every week, one lucky random participant has the chance to win a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp. You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in and good luck....

See you very soon, love Emma xxx

Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz/Sizzix Dies: Ice Flake, Heartfelt

Distress Spray Stain: Antique Linen, Iced Spruce

Distress Paint: Picket Fence
Layering Stencil: Starry

Idea-ology: Christmas Quote Chips, Hex Fasteners, Christmas Ephemera Pack, Angelic Adornments, Star Adornments, Mini Plaquette, Tiny Bells

Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Rock Candy Dry Glitter, Vintage Platinum Glitter Dust, Gold Rush Glass Glitter, Grit Paste, Collage Stick, Crackle Paste, Rock Candy Crackle Paste

Surfaces: Metallic Kraft Stash, Watercolour Card, Mini Etcetera Tag, Vintage Foil Transfer Sheets

Tim Holtz Media Glass Mat

Tim Holtz Guillotine

Heat Gun
Gilding Wax, hessian and ribbon from my own stash