That's Life: A Winter's Night...

Hello everyone and welcome to the latest Blog Hop featuring the Simon Says Stamp Exclusive co-ordinating dies that have been released to work with some of Tim Holtz's most loved Christmas and Holiday stamps and of course, new dies mean there is no more fussy cutting.

I’m thrilled to be joining this hop, because in my opinion it's never too early to start thinking about my favourite time of year, and with this set of stamps and dies, you will definitely be spoilt for choice...

For this make, I used the Wonderment Stamp Set and Die Bundle and created a tag full of frosty sparkle and shine and plenty of Winter Wishes.

So, let's get started and if you're hopping along, you might have arrived here via Nichol Spohr's blog but if not, and you want to catch up with everyone who is participating in this hop, then don't worry because you can head back to the beginning, by clicking HERE. Also, if you would like to see the entire product release and many more, then just pop on over to HERE.

TAG & BACKGROUND

For the tag, I used a Stampers Anonymous Size 8 Etcetera Tag and a Size 8 Mixed Media Heavystock Tag.

I made a batch of tags ready for the Christmas making season and you can see the one I've used in the bottom left hand corner.

I began by adding colour to my Heavystock Tag and for this I used a combination of Distress Spray Stains and the brand new Distress Spritzes.

Colours used:

Distress Spray Stains: Chipped Sapphire, Uncharted Mariner, Antique Linen, Speckled Egg, Walnut Stain

Distress Spritz: Brushed Pewter, Picket Fence

After misting the tag with water, I then used the Distress Spray Stains to build up the colour I wanted, applying each stain to an individual area and then blending the colours with a light spritz of water.

Once happy, I heat dried the tag and then applied Distress Sparkle Paste through the Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz Spellbound Layering Stencil.

Remove the stencil, wash immediately and allow for the paste to dry on the tag.

Once set, I then spritzed the surface with the metallic shimmer that these amazing new Distress Spritzes create. I used Picket Fence and Brushed Pewter.

SENTIMENT

For banner, stamp the Winter Wishes sentiment from the Wonderment stamp set, using clear embossing ink and stamping directly onto a strip of vellum. Sprinkle white embossing powder over the top and heat emboss.

Wrap the vellum banner around the edges of the tag and secure with some tape on the back before machine stitching a border around the outside.

Attach the completed tag to a Size 8 Etcetera Tag using Matte Collage Medium.

Now we can move onto the next stage ~ building the festive wreath.

WREATH

To create the wreath, I used the Sizzix Vault Festive Wreath by Tim Holtz to cut Kraft card and some card that I coloured with Peeled Paint and Iced Spruce Distress Spray Stains.

Once you have enough pieces for the wreath, you will need to add the snowy effect and for this I used white embossing powder.

Dab the tips of the foliage with clear embossing ink and then sprinkle white embossing powder over the top. Tap away the excess and heat emboss.

Arrange all the pieces onto the die cut wreath base, shaping each individual piece and placing them to curve around the bottom.

SNOWMAN

Using the beautiful snowman image, again from the Wonderment Stamp Set, stamp this onto watercolour card using Black Soot Archival ink. Watercolour the image with Distress Watercolour Pencils before die cutting with the Co-Ordinating SSS dies.

Attach the die cut snowman to the centre of the wreath and then adhere the wreath onto the tag with Matte Collage Medium, placing it so that it slightly overhangs the left hand side of the tag itself.

Now to add some sparkle and for this I applied Collage Medium to the tips of the foliage on the wreath, and along the base of the snowman. Whilst the medium is still wet, sprinkle a generous amount of Mica Flakes over the top and tap away the excess. Leave to dry, and if you need to add more, just repeat this process.

We're nearly there and all that's left to do is add the finishing details....

FINISHING DETAILS

For the clouds, I used the die set that comes with the new Frosted Sidekick machine by Tim but you can use any cloud die that you have in your stash.

I cut two clouds and positioned them onto the tag, placing them to the right of the wreath.

I then added some tiny die cut silver stars, again you can use any star die set can be used to cut metallic silver cardstock.

Attach the stars to the background, and add a gem to the centre of each.

Finally, I threaded some Crinkle Ribbon through the hole at the top of the tag. I cut two strips of plaint ribbon and then coloured it with Iced Spruce Distress Spray Stain. After ensuring the ribbon is completely dry, I threaded it through the hole and secured it onto the tag.