Magic and Holly!

Hello and welcome to Magpieheaven. December already, and at the Dragons' Dream TIO Challenge, we have come to the end of the alphabet! Our creative 'teamie' Jax has chosen holly for this challenge - very Christmassy - and the letter 'M'. If you pop over to the Dragons' Dream here, you can see some beautiful inspiration from the team. Why not create a Christmas-themed tag to attach to a very special present; to give to a friend or to add a festive touch to your collection? If you're going to link up to the TIO Challenge, just make sure that the letter 'M' features on your tag, that there is at least one stamped image and that you include some holly in your design. My tag features stamping, of course, but I also challenged myself to use some of my own artwork - more about that later! You might want to make yourself a hot chocolate or a glass of mulled wine; to sustain you through this long post! I'm also linking up today to the Unruly Paper Arts 12 days of Christmas Link up Party here! Please take a look at the inspirational Christmas projects and why not add a post yourself and leave some love for others?

 I decided to use my Prima Crackle Paste for a tag making session and, because I didn't want to waste anything, I found myself making 3 tags. I was also rather challenged by Jax' recipe; as I don't have any holly stamps or die-cuts! Searching through my stash, I found some pretty holly ribbon, a tiny scrap of Bo Bunny scrap-book paper from last year and a Lynne Perrella Paper Artsy Christmas sentiment stamp that did have a border of holly leaves at least!

 

I wanted to create a background of snow-flakes from Crackle, so I made myself a stencil from acetate, using a Tim Holtz tag and Snowflakes die-cuts. After pushing the paste through the snowflake cut-outs, I noticed that where it had clung to the acetate it was making frost-like patterns. I grabbed another Jumbo tag and pressed the reverse side of the acetate onto that. I sprinkled my snowflake tag with some tiny clear beads while the paste was still wet. Then, when everything was fully dry, I painted my tags with PaperArtsy frescos in Snowflake, Antarctic and Lake Wanaka with a little dry brushing in Inky Pool and Guacamole. 

I put aside the acetate snowflake cut-outs from my die-cut and then I took black card from some packaging and stamped Jofy (PaperArtsy) Snowflakes over it in Snowflake Fresco.

I lined my black card up behind the snow-flake apertures and used the rest to create holly leaves and as a background for my word tiles, for which I used Tim Holtz's Worn Alphabet with Wow white embossing powder. I added some Treasure Gold in White Fire to the tag, edged it with silvery flakes of Frantage and made tiny snow dots by dipping the end of a pencil in Snowflake Fresco. You might just spot that I used my Jofy stamp again on the jumbo tag!

Here is the finished acetate tag, which I fixed to a card backing. I decided that if this one was to be my Dragons' Dream inspiration, it would need more holly and turned to one of my jumbo tags.

 I thought I might use this tag for the Dragons' Dream inspiration. My 'M' word would be 'Merry' and the holly features in the border around the sentiment! I added some Grunge Paste flourishes with a little Pewter Fresco and Sapphire Treasure Gold to highlight the snowflakes. The central image is from a Lynne Perrella Christmas plate, stamped in Wendy Vecchi Cobalt Archival onto painted card and then clear embossed and finally coloured with Inktense water-colour.

Frantage in Shabby blue gave an extra snowy look to the tag! I liked it, but I felt that the Christmas roses outdid the holly! What next? I've recently started adding my own artwork to projects, inspired by the course on creating art dolls that I took with Mary Jane Chadbourne back in the summer. Could I incorporate one of my faces onto a tag?

These faces are not technically brilliant. They are created from my imagination. I sketch for fun, using Inktense pencils and a little water; scan them into the computer and then re-size them using Word, printing them out when I need them.

 Once I had fixed this young lady on with Matte Glaze, I was able to add finishing touches to her face and then give her a final coat of Glaze so that she blended into the tag. Here are the acetate snowflakes, fixed on with Glossy Accents and coloured on the back with some Alcohol Ink.

Here you can see some of the texture on the tag. I used a Crafty Individuals lace background stamp with Snowflake Fresco to create the impression of lace drifting out from under the fur trim of her holly embroidered cloak. Could she be little Girda from the 'Snow Queen' all decked out in the finery given her by the kindly Princess and off on the next stage of her journey to find her beloved little Kay? Thank you so much for stopping by Magpieheaven today. May your week be happy, creative and fun! I'm linking up to Unruly Paper Arts for certain posts this week. They're having an Unruly Paper Arts Christmas Party so if you look at their blog here, you will see other bloggers joining in: do give them a visit too for some special Christmas inspiration!