The holly bears the crown.

Well it is time for another of Linda's 12 tags of Christmas....yes still playing catch up!but before I start I want to wish you all a happy and healthy new year! Fingers crossed that 2014 brings good things for all...healthy and happy times.. So all the details can be found here and this is sponsored by Linda's fab funkie junkie boutique. there are some great prizes and also a voucher for 10% or 15% discount if you complete all 12 and the bonus 2. So Linda' s gorgeous tag #10 can be found here...and mine is below . ( I went for a monochrome...no shock there then and used kraft feel for mine, but used same stencil and kept layout fairly similar )

"Art, to me, is the inter­pre­ta­tion of the impres­sion which nature makes upon the eye and brain. (Childe Hassam)"

I started by masking, as Linda had a central area and then applying Wendy Vecchi's gorgeous white texture paste through the new holly Tim Holtz stencil. When dry I applied frayed burlap all over my tag. I then edged the tag using tonic edge distresser. In the areas where I had not applied the paste I added some vintage photo through the same stencil.

Following Linda's lead I added distress glitter (tarnished brass) to the berry areas. For the frame I cut the ornate frame from corrugated card ( from Linda's boutique) and lightly inked areas with Vintage photo. I added the same sentiment as Linda, stamped in coffee archival and clear embossed...a trick learnt from Alison.( aka butterfly).

I added holly leaves cut from kraft resist and inked over with script from Santa's letters set...adding rusty wire twirls and also some rusty bells for berries.

I added some dyed seam binding and that finishes the tag #10.

I am linking this up to Linda's 12 tags, tag #10 here . I want to wish everyone a happy and healthy new year...I am still on a blog break...spending time with my family ..just trying to catch up with finishing these tags and DT posts ...see you all real soon   

Merry Christmas

This is a scheduled post..... I am sure I will be busy by now  Just to wish all my friends and followers a happy, healthy Christmas and see you in the new year.
I am off to enjoy some time with my lovely children and Hubbie..
and off to see family..my Mum and Dad and new nephew...and other little nephew... cannot wait! have a good one and keep those hearts full!
please don't feel the need to comment xx

Believe in the magic of Christmas

well here I am wishing you all a Happy festive time...with one more of the 12 tags for Linda's 12 tags of Christmas....I have now made all the tags , halo duly polished...but this will be my last crafty offering until 31 December, as I sign off from crafty blogland and spend some much looked forward to time with my family...
I also want to take this time to thank all my followers and all those who have stopped by and left such lovely comments and supported me this year..so  All the details of linda's 12 tags can be found here and it is sponsored by the funkie junkie boutique, Linda's fab online shop....here is linda's tag #9 and here is mine below...

I started by creating an inky background and the added some white embossed snowflakes and some white embossing to edge the tag ( a #10 tag from Linda's boutique ).
To complete the background I added some flourishes stamped , then embossed with sticky embossing powder and sprinkled with... rock candy distress glitter..

I am so not a glitter person but I just love the frosty finish this creates... I added some cheesecloth and then added a reindeer painted white with picket fence distress paint, then coated with glue and seal and more glitter.

Next inspired by Linda's cluster of three flowers, I added 3 flowers created using the tattered floral die and I also added pine fronds, as linda...but coated with...yes you guessed rock candy distress glitter...not that I am hooked or anything..

To complete I added some stars (idea-ology)...some dyed seam binding and more idea-ology 

and a word band..

I am linking this up to Linda's 12 tags of Christmas here .

so I will leave you ...hoping for lots of magic in your household...I certainly have 3 excited children ..hoping that some magic will come their way ...so lets hope our magic Santa sprinkles do the trick!

may your hearts be full and happy x

can you hear those sleigh bells?

Well time for another tag ...for Linda's 12 tags of Christmas....and yes still behind but pedalling fast...so relieved we have until the 8th January as most of the rest of mine will be posted after the festive fun ..as I plan to take a little crafty and blogging break and spend some time with my wonderful children, Husband and family...
So here goes tag #8 . all the details can be found here and the challenge is sponsored by Linda's yummy boutique ...the funkie junkie boutique here. here is Linda's tag, that I followed fairly closely (changing some of the colours...) and here is mine :

I started by creating the background using a tutorial from Tammy Tutterow...followed in the colours that Linda used...wow what a gorgeous technique and one I will use again...

I added hints of brown script as Linda did and also edged , as Linda in brown ...so cannot really take any credit for the scrummy background at all! after that I did a similar layout to Linda, but changed the colours and added some rusty wire...
So for the sentiment and snowflakes I use paler colours..

adding a twirl of rusty wire...do love this stuff! not that you would notice or anything!?
For Santa , I stuck to blue...you know me not really a red girl! the nearest i got was a hint of victorian velvet for Santa's rosy cheeks...and another favourite some rock candy glitter fell on to adorn his hat trim...and buttons 

Finally to finish some dyed seam binding and some rusty wire and rusty bells..

I will be linking this up to Linda's 12 tags here and will hopefully see you with one more tag before the big day...then I will leave you in peace to enjoy your time...and spend mine with my family xx

Oh Christmas tree

Well here I am with a festive make for my final Dt make for Creative Expressions before Christmas. I have used a singles stamp for something a little different... so here is my make :

So... a festive cone shaped Christmas tree and another gift bag! 

I used the stamp seen below for all the stamped details on the gift bag tag and also on the tree, complete with frosty sprinkles and festive tinsel .

lets start with the tree...I painted the cone shaped tree with white eco paint, and then added some patches of rock candy crackle and then for the top of the tree I sprinkled on some cosmic shimmer glitter jewels in iced snow .

Now for the tinsel....I started by stamping the stamp above in cornflower blue archival ink..

I then started cutting to remove the small pieces for the tinsel...

I then threaded these pieces onto wire for my tinsel..

for the base of the tree I added some halves of the centre piece of the stamp and some more rock candy

Now for the gift tag ..

I added  the stamp to the tag in cornflower blue archival ink...and then stamped the middle section again and cut into it to layer it up...see below 

To this I added some rock candy loose glitter..then layered onto the tag and added a large pearl for the centre

Finally for the top and bottom I stamped the henna border shown below...in broken chin and covered in sticky embossing powder and the loose rock candy glitter..

masking off part of the stamp to get a straight border...

some dyed seam binding finishes the tag off.

So wishing you a happy , healthy Christmas and all the best for 2014. 

keep those fingers inky 

and this hearts full

trace  x

another tiny snowflake falls

Well here I am again with tag #7 for the lovely Linda's 12 tags of Christmas...the details of the tag challenge are here along with all the details of the prizes and how to enter. You have now, until the 8th January to play along and you could win one of the generous gift certificates for the Funkie junkie Boutique, lovely Linda's boutique that is sponsoring the challenge.

 Everyone who enters and complies by the rules will also get a discount . So without further ado here is Linda's tag #7 and below is mine, inspired by the embossed background and gorgeous flower.

I created an embossed background for my tag ( I am using #10 tags from the FunkieJunkieBoutique) and then added frayed burlap distress stain and lots of yummy creamy antique linen distress paint...yep still loving them ! 

I scuffed the edges and added some frayed burlap distress stain.

Well I loved the background and flower I made but the letters are not me :( and if time had been on my side I would have re made this without the letters like this but hey ho !

So the flower, was two die cut poinsettia die cuts , inked , wet and scrunched a little...un flattened and then a gorgeous flower from some ribbon found at Linda's boutique...and removed so I just had the flower...gorgeous colour, and fitted a treat...I added some pine frond die cuts and glittered with rock candy distress glitter.

the letters were covered with antique linen distress glitter was I felt it spoiled the soft feel of the tag...wish I had left them painty!

I added some dyed seam binding to the top..

I also added a couple of additional snowflakes..

So I will leave you with one last look at the flower and will be linking up to Linda's 12 tags here and also our creative corner are having a Vintage Christmas...using neutrals x

festive gift box

Well with the festive season not far away and here is a sneak peak of my make for CountryViewCrafts blog...

If you would like to see how I made it then please feel free to pop across here ... Now I am off as Santa needs a bit more help...and his helper gets getting distracted with Dt stuff and making tags! .....

keep those fingers inky!

trace  x

sometimes the beauty is in its simplicity

Well here I am back again with my take on Linda's tags of Christmas, number 6....I know still a teensy bit behind!? But here are all the details of this fab challenge and there are some generous prizes courtesy of Linda's fab boutique The FunkiejunkieBoutique. 

So there is till the 8th of Januray to play along yet...if I can make iit...so can you ;) .

So here is Linda's gorgeous tag #6 and below is mine...inspired by the plaid effect and the fir trees.

Well I wanted to mimic the plaid to a certain extent and used one of Tim's fab  stripes stencils and my much loved iced spruce to create that sort of effect in a softer manner..I was really pleased with how it turned out...great except I was scared stiff as to what to do next in case I messed it up!

So I added some stamped fir trees in iced spruce using stamps from reindeer flight, gosh I do love this stamp set..When dry I edged with iced spruce. to complete the background I stamped some snowflakes using perfect medium, embossed with sticky embossing powder and added ....yes you guessed some clear rock candy Distress glitter...

Now for the tree, for which I can take no credit as I totally copied Linda's.

I added a little canvas reindeer, edged in frayed burlap...

some cheesecloth dyed with distress stains...to create a snowy forest floor.

I know that these are all soft colours but i just love how you can still get the different layers and textures...

Finally at the top I added some idea-ology and some dyed seam binding..I really loved making this tag and love the simple calmness it seems to have to me anyway!

So I will be linking this up to Linda's 12 tags 

and use a rubber stamp for simon says stamp monday challenge blog

and anything goes for the Artistic Stamper 

keep those fingers inky!

and those hearts full

trace  x