Love Shines

Hello all, and welcome to the second post of the day!

It's that time of the month - new challenge themes to play all over the place.  If you're looking for my contribution for Our Creative Corner, you'll find it here.

But right now, it's time for a new challenge over at Country View Challenges.  Our lovely host, Doreen, would like to see you all Sparkle and Shine this month.

My team-mates have produced some fabulous inspiration for you.  Some of them have gone Christmassy - perfect for the sparkle theme - but mine were made well before leaving for New York... it never occurred to me to think of Christmas back in July!

I'm not generally that sparkly, but I had lots of fun with both my projects.  First up is this jumbo tag full of the lustrous shimmer of gilding and even some hints of glitter.








I started with one of the inserts from the Tim Holtz stencil packaging as my tag background.  (As the whole thing got heavier, I mounted it on some thick card to make the whole thing sturdier.)  Since it has a slight sheen already it seemed like a good start for a shiny project.














I mixed a couple of drops of Walnut Stain Distress Re-inker with texture paste on my craft mat and applied the mixture through the Tim Holtz Gothic stencil (I think this was the very first thing I did with it when it arrived through the letter box on its release!).












Love the clean edges and great dimension.

Later it got a good dose of White Fire Treasure Gold…














… making it gleam from the dark background.
















The main focal image is the Found Relatives' baby, cut out around the top, and perched on the clock frame.

She's mounted on some padded tape for that pop of dimension.









Since the Found Relatives cards are quite glossy, even the baby adds some sparkle and shine when she catches the light!

I think the clock frame is one of the Tando ones (or perhaps I cut it using the Tim Holtz die - can't remember any longer).






It's had several layers of embossing powder applied - some plain gold and some Frantage Aged Gold in there I think.

I heated the layers until little extra bubbles of texture started to appear, to add distressed texture.














There are some Gothic book pages layered into the mix…












... as well as a Prima journalling ticket providing extra detail just behind the baby.













The flowers are from various sources - there are some Prima ones, and some that I won in a blog candy ages ago.

I'm guessing I got them on offer, as I don't usually indulge in Prima flowers…

I have to admit I'm slightly in love with the texty print on a couple of these!














Some (I think the blog candy ones) had quite a glittery finish.  Even after I did some altering with spritzes of ink and distressing of the edges, the glitter is still providing an extra touch of sparkle.











The Ornate Plate has had a fingerful of White Fire Treasure Gold applied to it to highlight all those lovely decorative ridges.  And the words pretty much stamped themselves!

When I added all the splatter later I made sure I covered the internal panel so that the words wouldn't get obscured by the flying ink.













There are some more golden metal accents in the shape of one of the large Idea-ology keys (also White-Fired!)...












... and some of the Finnabair Roman Numerals, echoing the numbers on the clock.

It was pretty much an afterthought to add some of my dried leaves (yup, that would be White Fire Treasure Gold they've been gilded with) to the mix.












I think they give quite a good hit of dramatic diagonals to the composition.












And the splatter is done with Dylusions sprays, taking the spritzers out and flicking the other end at the tag.













Even the topping has a touch of shimmer to it… no idea any more where I picked up this satiny ribbon, but it was perfect for the job here.











So that's my gleaming, golden, glittery, gilded make for you, sparkling and shining in the sunlight.

Do hop over to Country View Challenges to see how my team-mates Sparkle and Shine, as well as to check out all the challenge details and rules.









As usual, there's a prize voucher provided by our generous sponsor Country View Crafts, so do come and Sparkle and Shine with us this month.

Thanks so much for dropping in.  I should actually have some time today to do some visiting in Craftyblogland - I'm really looking forward to catching up with what you've all been creating.  Happy October everyone!










Oh, and if all that gilding is a bit rich for you, you could check out my rusty offering for Our Creative Corner from earlier today!

It sometimes happens, even in the best of families, that a baby is born.  This is not necessarily cause for alarm.  The important thing is to keep your wits about you and borrow some money.
Elinor Goulding Smith







Ingredients available at Country View Crafts:
Idea-ology Found Relatives
Idea-ology Word Keys
Tim Holtz Gothic stencil and the packaging from a Tim Holtz stencil
Idea-ology Ornate Plate
Texture Paste
Walnut Ink Distress Re-inker
Dylusions Sprays - Ground Coffee, Melted Chocolate
Treasure Gold - White Fire