Try it on Tuesday - Snowflakes

Hello Everyone!

It's time to start another challenge over at Try it on Tuesday. This time around our theme is "SNOWFLAKES / SNOW". Sadly, this will be my last challenge at Try it on Tuesday. It has been such a wonderful experience and I have learned so much, but it's time for me to move on and get started on the next leg of my crafty adventure. I send out a special thank you to Yvonne who has been such a wonderful team leader, and to my teamies who have been a great source of inspiration and support!

For my last challenge I decided to put together a Christmas card with the gift attached, a wee wooden snowflake ornament.

I coated the snowflake with crackle paste, which looks great for the photo, unfortunately, I later discovered that the dried paste completely rubs right off!! The snowflake has a coating on it apparently, so in the end, I covered it with a chunky white glitter instead.

The kraft layer design is done with some texture paste and the Art Is stencil by Crafter's Workshop. The vellum layer is stamped with white pigment ink and a couple of snowflake stamps. The very back layer is stamped with the same snowflake stamps but I used Hero Arts Soft Sand ink. The punched out snowflake is a Martha Stewart punch.

UPDATE:
my card won awards in the following wonderful challenges:

 - One Stitch at a Time - Challenge #251 - Anything Goes with WINTER

** - Cupcake Inspirations - Week #339 Let it Snow
- The Mixed Media Card Challenge #18 {Celebration}

    

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Hubby and I decided to go over to the main street and have a look at what's there...I almost passed out when we drove around the corner. I've never seen anything so quaint! We didn't see much in the way of decorations in the city, it wasn't PC, to put Christmas out in public, we weren't even allowed to say Merry Christmas to people at work! So let me tell you how much I was blown away when this was how the street was decorated!!!!

This was the tree in the courtyard at the end of the street. It was so big, those snowflake decorations are bigger than my head!! In the 3rd picture here, I was standing underneath a branch at the bottom of the tree, that's how big it is!!! Holy moly!

There were rows of trees filled with lights, and every lamppost and flower pot had decorations on them. Every store had a gorgeous window or stoop display! I took over a hundred pictures, so be prepared to look at a lot of window and street decorations over the next couple of weeks. Yeah, I know, I'm a geek! lol

In the center of the square was a collection of little trees all decorated by ornaments made by the local children. Every tree was a different classroom or grade, and each tree had a little plaque on it, so you could read who made the decorations. It almost brought a tear to my eye to see that sort of involvement and community mentality. I AM FINALLY HOME!!

Oh, and one final thing to note...the local pub, which we will be visiting very soon!!

I would love to hear what sort of traditions your community has.

That's it for today. Thank you for stopping in and for all the amazing comments. I read and appreciate every single one! If you have any questions, please let me know.

Try it on Tuesday - Gift Bags or Boxes

Hello Everyone!

It's time to start another challenge over at Try it on Tuesday. This time around our theme is "GIFT BAGS OR BOXES". What you make is up to you, as long as we can see a bag or a box. It can be either 3D or images, but the theme should be the focus on your entry. I hope you will join in with us for this fun challenge.

Every year I come up with a new way to decorate my gifts for the family. This year I have decided to decorate little bags with tags to attach to the front of the presents. I have this wonderful package of glassine bags I found while I was packing, so I decided to put them to good use. I hope you enjoy my little Christmas Tag Bags!

BLUE TAG: 

Stencils: Crafter's Workshop Art Is and Flurries, Stamps: Tim Holtz Mini Holidays 2, Penny Black sentiment, Tim Holtz snowflake, Artistic Outpost - Midwinter, Inks: Ranger Archival - Cornflower Blue and Jet Black, Distress - Stormy Sky, Other: May Arts Jute string, German glass glitter - silver, DecoArt Snow Writer and Glamour Dust glitter - Crystal.

RED TAG:

Stencils: Memory Box - Adornment, Stamps: BoBunny - Powder Mountain, Penny Black sentiment - Christmas Cheer, Tim Holtz - Distress Damask, Artistic Outpost - Midwinter, Inks: Ranger Archival - Coffee and Olive Green, Distress - Gathered Twigs, Other: seam binding, DecoArt Snow Writer and Glamour Dust glitter - Crystal.

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Well it has been getting very cold recently and so my walks have been reduced to a minimum until I can purchase myself some sort of winter coat!! So I've been stuck inside this week, but apparently Mother Nature felt my sadness and sent some nature to keep me company!

This is Rocky. He was hiding away from the cold winds by crawling up in between my patio cushions. I feel bad to have to put the cushions away in the shed, but it's going to snow soon, so Rocky is going to need a back up plan for the rest of the winter. He apparently loves the view as much as I do, can't blame him for that!!

We had our first snowfall of the year on Saturday and although it pretty much melted before it hit the ground, it was an absolute thrill for me!! My hubby and I started our first fire in the fireplace and we were in heaven!! I've never had a fireplace before and I am completely addicted now! When we woke up Sunday morning the sky was just as pink as all get out! Oh what a glorious weekend!

That's it for today. Thank you for stopping in and for all the amazing comments. I read and appreciate every single one! If you have any questions, please let me know.

Try it on Tuesday - Create A Scene

Hello Everyone!

It's time to start another challenge over at Try it on Tuesday. This time around our theme is "CREATE A SCENE". We would like you to build a scene from whatever inspires you. It could be autumn, winter, Christmas, seaside, countryside, towns, whatever you can think of. I decided to put together a wintery wonderland scene. At this time of year, it's time to put the nose to the grindstone and churn out those holiday cards! Hope you will join in with us for this fun challenge.

For the background I made a snow pattern using Ranger texture paste and the Tim Holtz Speckles Stencil. I sprayed the panel with Iced Spruce distress spray and then dabbed the raised sections with Picket Fence distress paint.

The reindeer was cut with the Sizzix Reindeer Flight Bigz die. I covered it with Embossing Puffs (that's right MRS. DUCK, the season of Embossing Puffs is upon us! haha!). Then I created some shadows using the new Tim Holtz distress colour Ground Espresso.

The trees were cut with the On the Edge Treeline die. I spritzed them with Picket Fence distress spray and then a little of Dylusions ink spray Chopped Pesto. I dabbed on some Picket Fence and loaded on some texture paste to make snowy branches.

For the rolling snow banks, I ripped up some scraps and used foam squares to raise some of the portions. I used texture paste to create the wavy parts and then added lots of DecoArt Glamour Dust to make them sparkle.

The seam binding was coloured with Chopped Pesto, Iced Spruce and a touch of Peeled Paint for a splash of brighter green. The twine is from Linda's shop and the Special Delivery sign is from the new Tim Holtz Festive Ephemera package (which I'm totally in love with!)

UPDATE:
My reindeer card was the winner of the following wonderful challenge:

- City Crafter Challenge Blog - Week 287 ~ Dye It!

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All of the following products that I used can be purchased at The Funkie Junkie Boutique

I hope you don`t mind if I share some pictures of my walking adventures. It`s all still really new to me and I can`t stop feeling like I've hit the jackpot!

Here is my little one Scully. She discovered leaves this weekend. They were blowing every which way and making a loud rustling noise, poor thing didn't know if she should chase after them or hide behind a tree until they're gone! Hilarious!! Yeah yeah, she needs a haircut, I know!

That's it for today. Thank you for stopping in and for all the amazing comments. I read and appreciate every single one! If you have any questions, please let me know.