I'm travelling into a new way of working, a new country, a new language, and a new hobby which I'm passionate about. Come with me for some of the journey...

Monday 18 December 2017

A Guiding Silver Star






Hello all!  The clock is really ticking now... we're almost there - just one week to go.

But happily the deadline for the Funkie Junkie 12 Tags of Christmas is the 29th December, so there's just a bit more wiggle room than there is for decorating, and gifts and food-shopping.

And I'm still merrily making my way through the lovely inspiration tags Linda Coughlin has been serving up.  We're now on to Tag 8, and it's a silvery star of a snowflake.

You may remember me saying on Tag 6 that TH's starry snowflake stamp sometimes confuses me - I can never quite decide whether it's snowflakes or stars.

Well, this tag takes advantage of that slight haziness with a giant starry snowflake all of its own - a wondrous sight!









I love Linda's funky alternative colours on her inspiration Tag 8, but you know me, once I'm in a colour groove I tend to stay there.

I also like having a set of tags at the end of the challenge which work as a collection, with common colour palettes and motifs and echoes from one tag to the next.











So I didn't go with the bold colour combination Linda played with, but followed my heart to this blue and silver and white-gold affair.

Linda's embossed background is a stunner, so I had to stick with it, though I used Stormy Sky and Picket Fence rather than Broken China...











... and then DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylic in Silver and Treasure Gold in Silver to highlight the dry-embossed snowflakes.  Love that icy shimmer.










The large snowflake is layered up with padded tape using the Tim Holtz Layered Snowflake and one of the two smaller snowflakes from the Snowflake Duo.

Both these Bigz dies come with a Texture Fade embossing folder so that you can add all this fabulous texture to your snowflakes.












To highlight that texture, I put on some Silver Treasure Gold (sounds silly, but that's what it's called!) with my fingers, and swept the Versamark ink pad across in places...















... so that I could add some Aged Silver Frantage powder for extra va-va-voom.











I don't have the metallic rub-ons so I had to go another way round to get my metallic words.  I cut mine with a couple of the Handwritten Holiday Words thinlits.














I dabbed them onto the Versamark pad and then went to town with the Aged Silver Frantage again.  I absolutely love the dimensional script you get this way.













They're stuck down across a banner of music paper handcut from the Jingle Christmas pad.  I like to add a touch of music where I can, and I liked the warmer colour tone against the icy snowflake background.














I loved Linda's fabulous antique metal holly leaves so I nabbed that idea too, though mine are again done with the Frantage.













I like it when everything ties together and echoes across the tag.














That's why I also Frantaged the metal snowflake charms.  Once I start, I can't stop!









Having added the statutory white twine, I thought I was done, but I felt something was missing somehow.

Well, all the other tags so far have had some Christmas Clippings on them so, although I already had a Christmas sentiment in place, I decided we needed more words.









And I found the perfect ones - about the guiding silver star, and the wondrous sight, and it wasn't until I was gluing them down (although they're stickers I always add a dab of glue for extra security) that I realised this was a snowflake, not a star...

Ah well, now it's a bit of both!!








Thanks so much for stopping by today, especially at this busy time of year.  I really do appreciate every visit, even when you haven't time to leave a comment.  (Yes, I can see you in my little view-count statistics!)

I hope you all have a wonderful week - though I'll be back well before it's over, so I'll hope to see you again soon, either here or elsewhere in Craftyblogland.

Snow was falling,
so much like stars
filling the dark trees
that one could easily imagine
its reason for being was nothing more
than prettiness.
Mary Oliver


I'd like to share this as my Tag 8 in the Funkie Junkie's 12 Tags of Christmas, sponsored by the Funkie Junkie Boutique

34 comments:

Astrid Maclean said...

The blue and silver aare lovely together and I love how t large snowflake seems to hover over the snowy background! Another beauty! And of course good luck with the whle challenge!

Valerie-Jael said...

Wonderful tag, love the icy colours, and the metallic touches are fantastic. Hugs, Valerie

Mrs.B said...

Oh this is a real beauty, love the muted tones of the blue with the silver in the background and the layered snowflake is stunning.
Avril xx

Helen said...

Love this one, Alison! I only have food shopping left now, and as it's just for one, in theory shouldn't be too much....!!!!

Tracey@Hotchpotchcreations said...

This is blissful to look at Alison, it's quiet shades blend subtly together. I love those embossed elements. Absolutely Beautiful!!
Warm Wishes Tracey xx

Amanda said...

What a stunner, love it and my favourite so far.
Love
Amanda x

Meggymay said...

Another gorgeous tag, this colour combination looks stunning, your set of tags will be fantastic.
Yvonne xx

Inky and Quirky Designs said...

Another absolute beauty Alison......you’re making it almost impossible to pick a favourite now!!
Hugs
Donna xx

Jane said...

I love this one Alison...frantage is so yummy and looks awesome on your tag. I hope you are getting your list ticked..this time next week! xxx

Patty O'Malley said...

All I can say is that this is fabulous! It has captured my love of snow completely!

Kate Yetter said...

Oh My! This is a gorgeous tag in all it's silvery and powdery blue glory. I just love the snow flakes.
Kate

Linda Coughlin, the funkie junkie said...

This is totally amazing, Alison. I am absolutely in love with it your interpretation of my piece. LOVE the Frontage bits - so gorgeous and really really make the tag. And of course, the snowflake is so lovely too. This is totally my favorite so far this year. So happy you shared it with us.

Hugs,
Linda

Anke said...

WOW WOW WOW so beautiful, Alison. I love your tag ...

Hugs
Anke

craftytrog said...

Absolutely gorgeous, I love the pretty, icy blue background Alison!
Thanks for the lovely Ecard, I love the soundtrack!
Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Alison xox

Monika Gulyas said...

So beautiful!!! I love it!!! xx

Annie said...

A gorgeous tag ad I love the richness of the gold against the background colours x The snowflake looks amazing when layered

Sending best wishes
Annie xx

Marci said...

This one is my favorite so far this year. Beautiful blue and silver iciness, or rather, snowiness.

Jackie PN said...

Wait! I thought the last one was my new favorite!
Outstanding palette!! This surely does have the va-voom you referred to! simply...really nothing simple about this- Brilliant again!
hugs,Jackie xo

ps floor is in-looks gorgeous and tree is coming soon! May have to go the Purist route! ")

Art By Wanda said...

A really gorgeous tag, Alison!!!

Pamellia said...

Oh wow Alison, this is just gorgeous!! The palette of white and blue with the touches of soft metallics is so wonderfully frosty! Your layered snowflake is gorgeous and I adore the fishtail banner with the gold sentiment! A really beautiful design, I would love to reach out and touch this one!! sending hugs :)

Anita Houston The Artful Maven said...

WOW...completely stunning! LOVE the touches of gold! PINNED!

Sandy said...

Absolutely gorgeous tag - Winner of the Top Tag of 2017 award. Bravo Alison!!
Being the recipient of some of your work, I know just what a wonderful artist you are!!!!
Merry Christmas Sugar -
sandy xx

Redanne said...

The aged silver Frantage really does add va-va-voom and those golden words look amazing against the cool blue background. The snowflake/star is pretty spectacular too! Anne xx

Mac Mable said...

A wondrous sight indeed x The colour combination is beautiful and love all the texture. The frantage is amazing and the star/snowflake is stunning x

brenda said...

Your tag is just lovely Alison.

Wishing you and yours a lovely Christmas and I hope to be back to normal blogging come the new year.

B x

Fliss said...

A silvery sensation Alison and love the textured background for the beautiful snowflake. Just gorgeous.
Fliss xx

Dorthe said...

Oh , it is beautiful Alison, so gorgeous , I totally love it. The soft tones, and glittery silver .Gorgeous texture, and Holiday feeling to it.
Hugs , Dorthe

Chrissy said...

So beautiful and elegant Alison..stunning.

luv CHRISSYxx

SewPaperPaint said...

Angelic! The embossing is soooooo wow here! :) Hugs, Autumn

Paper Profusion said...

A shimmering beauty for sure!! Love this too! Nicola x

Marci said...

This one is elegant and beautiful!

Anke said...

Liebe Alison,

nun muss ich Dir hier auch nochmal in deutsch schreiben, wie bezaubernd ich Dein Tag finde, denn meine Begeisterung für Deine Werke kann ich nicht so gut in englisch ausdrücken, Du bist so talentiert und zauberst die wunderbarsten Sachen. Ich bin immer sehr beeindruckt von Deiner Kunst !

Herzliche Grüße aus Deutschland und ein wundervolles Weihnachtsfest
wünscht Dir
Anke

pearshapedcrafting said...

I love the large snowflake and I really must say how well this tag goes with your Mary Oliver quote! Chrisx

sarascloset said...

Let's just say ALL of your tags are my favorites and get it over with, shall we? Alison, this is another gift, another beauty! The soft wintry background for your star/snowflake makes me sigh contentedly, and yes, the rest is just va-va-Va-VOOM! Love those gilded bits and crazy gorgeous snowflake! (And yes, it sometime's reminds me of a star!) I am so excited that I have at least a month's worth of inspiration (maybe more) to go through from Linda's challenge at the rate I am going. I am savoring each and every post I visit, and I have to say visiting yours really made my day today!

We have a couple inches of snow on the ground over a sheet of ice. It was so beautiful to watch it come down, but sadly had to do that from inside since it was so cold and windy during our storm last night. We are back to summer again next week according to the forecast. I will enjoy the snow while I can. Sending hugs!