Christmas Bells Are Ringing

Hello all!  We've reached Tag 10 of the Funkie Junkie 12 Tags of Christmas and, more importantly some would say, it's Christmas Eve.

So this tag comes with my very best wishes to you all for a peaceful and joyous Christmas, however you celebrate it.  The Christmas bells are ringing tonight.

(Oh, and if you like the jingling bells, there's lots more Christmas music going on over at Cestina's Dollshouses.)

To suit the occasion, there's more glitter on this tag than you've probably had in the whole history of Words and Pictures.

I'm happy to say, though, that the glitter is firmly in place.  There's no chance of this getting everywhere - it's entirely hardened and built in to my distressed brick wall background.












My main inspiration was the wreath hanging on the wonderful Tag 10 created by the Funkie Junkie, a.k.a. Linda Coughlin.

I combined that idea with my memory of the garland wreath from one of Tim Holtz's 12 Tags, back in December 2015.

Then I thought if I was going to have a Christmas wreath, I might as well hang it on a wall so that's how this tag came to life!

Thanks to the gleaming glitter, this one is very different in different lights, which is why you're getting two main photos of it.

I haven't the time just now to flick from one to the other trying to work out which one is the best.  Also, it's Christmas Eve - so you can have both in your stocking!











I don't have any glitter texture paste like the one Linda used, so I decided to make my own.  I mixed some of the Vintage Platinum Distress Glitter Dust into some semi-gloss gel medium and used that with the TH bricks stencil.











The background for the bricks is some smooshed DI in Pumice Stone and Frayed Burlap.

Since the gel dries clear, you end up with this fabulously glamorous brickwork... not a look I'd go for most of the year, but I don't mind a touch of glitter at Christmas... especially since this glitter is not going to come off every time you brush past it.













The wreath itself is made with punched greenery (TH punches) in several colours of card.  Once you've punched them all (you can see a few in the photo above), it's just a question of alternating, scrunching, layering and gluing.

I followed Tim's instructions pretty much to the letter, so you can find all the details in his inspiration post here.

I cut plenty of snowflakes from the Mini Snowflakes Thinlits...
















... and layered them up with padded tape...















... with a touch of inking around the edges.















I thought of adding Distress Dry Glitter to the snowflakes too but decided that, in fact, there is such a thing as too much glitter - for me at any rate!















The Idea-ology bells are hung on to the crinkled bow with jump rings.












And the white seam binding used to make the bow had just a dash of Vintage Photo DI to give it a golden glow to match the bricks.














The bells even make a nice jingling noise when you move the tag!














And I found some Christmas Clippings words just right for the occasion - not only to mention the bells...














... but also to include the falling snowflakes.  I do enjoy finding the right words, as you know!











So that's my weathered wall, decorated with a wreath, though pretty sparkly and festive all by itself in truth, especially when the light catches it.

This tiny snippet of video - a little Christmas extra - is late at night and pre-splatter, but I wanted to capture the gleam of the home-made glitter paste for you.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and a very Merry Christmas to all!

Christmas Eve was a night of song that wrapped itself about you like a shawl. But it warmed more than your body. It warmed your heart...filled it, too, with melody that would last forever.
Bess Streeter Aldrich



I'd like to share this as my Tag 10 in the Funkie Junkie 12 Tags of Christmas, sponsored by the Funkie Junkie Boutique