Star of Wonder

Hello and welcome all, with an especially big welcome to the new followers - I am so glad you decided to jump on board, and I'm so grateful for the support of each and every one of you!

It's time for Tag 12 in the Funkie Junkie's 12 Tags of Christmas - but don't cheer too soon... I've not done Tag 11 yet!!

But we've still got until the 17th to get all 12 made and posted to qualify for the prize draw generously sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique.  All the details are here - you'll have to go it some if you've not already started, but I reckon it's possible!

I took my inspiration from Linda's original number 12 in a number of ways: I've used the double tag layered look; and I've adhered pretty slavishly to the techniques and stamps used for the background, though I've changed up the colours pretty drastically; and in the absence of a die-cut bauble and a poinsettia, I've substituted a wooden star and a Christmas rose... and once I'd got that far, things kind of went off down their own track!








So I've used one of the Tim Holtz flourish stamps on my large tag, though I don't have the splendid large flourish.  And I've used the gorgeous Book Cover stamp on the smaller tag.

I used it just the other day on my Year in Poetry, and thought to myself, "I really must use this more often," - it's simply lovely!

And all that stamping got embossed in silver, before I started inking up the blues.  There are actually layers of Stormy Sky and Faded Jeans, but I really majored on the Chipped Sapphire - to get the maximum contrast with the silver.






My attic room (living-, bed- and craft-room) is all blues - so I have a little tree up there each year, and the decorations are all blue, silver, white and natural wood - so this feels very natural to me as a Christmas colour combination.

The greeting across the centre is an Artistic Outpost stamp from the Sleigh Ride set.





The star is a wooden ornament that I've altered.  My mother brought it back from the Czech Republic along with a bunch of other things she thought might be fun to play with.

I lightly inked it with Chipped Sapphire before adding some Rock Candy Dry Glitter - gorgeous frosty sparkle.  It's a very grim, grey day today, so it's hard to do it justice in photos.

The flower is another of the white paper roses I got for peanuts at The Range.  First of all, I edged it with Chipped Sapphire DI.  Then it was a toss-up between some more Dry Glitter or a new experiment.

I'd seen Trace over at inkypinkycraft make a "ceramic look" flower, and I wanted to give it a try.

Since I haven't got a melt pot, I smooshed the rose into my Distress Embossing ink pad (which I'd recently re-inked so it was plenty juicy!), and then dipped it into clear embossing powder.  It took a while to get it all melted (interesting smell), but I'm pretty happy with the result.






The whole thing still needed something... and that's when I started getting merry with the greenery - or should I say "bluery".  I'd succumbed to the TH Festive Greenery Decorative Strip Die, and this was its first outing.

I started with the idea of just having a couple of holly leaves, as Linda uses on her tag, but things got a little out of hand!

I took dark blue card and stamped my Wow music stamp onto it, using the Colorbox Platinum dewdrop pad.  It's subtle but it's there!

And I ran it through the BigShot - twice, because that's how much card the stamping covered - and once I had lots of pieces, it seemed a shame not to put them to use.

So I got to work with the clear embossing again.  I can't tell you how much difference it made - the card got not only shinier but darker in colour - and now, I think, the die-cut pieces really pop on the tag.

(That's a raindrop you can see on the photo below... time to call it a day on trying to get decent photos, maybe?)

The holly berries are Idea-ology long attachers with an extra drop or two of silver alcohol ink for extra shine, and the gauzy ribbon is left over from my brother's handmade wedding in August.

It has also had a brief encounter with the Chipped Sapphire blending sponge just to link it in with the other pale elements on the tag(s).

So, 11 down and 1 more to go.  Like everyone, I've got a lot on at the moment, so I think it's going to go right to the wire.  What can I say?  I've always been a deadliner!

For now, I'll leave you in peace, but with a festive spring in your step I hope!  Thanks so much for taking the time to drop in, and I'll see you soon - here or elsewhere in Craftyblogland...

O, star of wonder, star of night!
Star with royal beauty bright!
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to thy perfect light! 
From We Three Kings by Reverend John Henry Hopkins Jr.

I'm entering this in the following:
As Tag 12 in the Funkie Junkie's 12 Tags of Christmas
To Die For at the Fashionable Stamping Challenge
Frilly and Funkie's challenge to Make it a Tag in the festive spirit
At Dragonsdream Tag It On the challenge is Christmas
Craft-room Challenge also want us to Make a Tag