Winter Trees

I love snowy trees. Unfortunately, I live in an area where we don’t get snow. Ever. So I thought I’d make my own. 

These little cuties can make awesome little placecards for the holiday table, and use some very simple materials.

The trees are made of simple stacks of snowflakes – I used a glue gun to adhere the “branches” together. The tree trunks are old spools wrapped with twine and tinsel. One trunk is actually a tiny bottle filled with more Diamond Dust.

The key to the snow effect is the glue – I used the Helmar 450 Quick Dry because it is stringy! And that’s what you need for the dripping ice. Use a liberal amount and “hang” glue from branch to branch to create the look of icicles in the trees and add a good toss of the Diamond Dust. The Diamond Dust will harden in the glue strands, shake off the excess.

Just a tiny bit of winter magic for the new year. Stop back again, there’s always something new going on at the caravan!

tim tag mania #3

hello gypsies!
well tim may have wrapped up his 12 tags of christmas, but that doesn't mean the fun has to stop! presenting...tag #3! this one is inspired by techniques from a couple of tim's tags this year. so are you ready? well hold onto your sleigh bells 'cause here we go!

so the inspiration for tag #3 came from

tag #10 "believe letters"

and tag #8 - background

and tag #6 - rugged metal

so i created the rugged metal following tim's technique. first i used a texture folder on a piece of crafting metal and ran it through the sizzix. the i gently painted over the embossed metal with a "snow cap" paint dabber. once the paint dried i lightly sanded it and then rubbed "walnut stain" over the surface and around the edges to create a vintage patina. final touch was to sprinkle embossing powder over the whole piece and hit it with the heat gun to seal in the ink and add a shiny finish.

next i cut letters to spell "i believe" from idea-ology "alpha parts" and dabbed them with the "gold" metallic paint dabber. after the paint dried i covered each letter with a thick layer of glossy accent and set them aside to dry.

to create the background of the tag i first stamped it a couple of times with a stamp covered in "snow cap" acrylic paint. the paint creates a resist for step 2 - dying the paper. to do that, i dribbled distress stain directly onto my craft mat, spritzed the tag with water and swirled it around in the distress stain. i used a heat gun to speed up the dry time because it was so exciting!

once all of the separate elements were dry, i assembled the tag. note the santa face embossed on my "homemade" kraft paper, and the tissue tape banner. the ribbons and lace are all dyed using distress ink pads - tim's seasonal color set was great! i sanded the finish off the "believe" washer to brighten it up, and finished the tag off with a bell, ala "the polar express", because i believe!

coming soon - steampunk xmas! and a happy elf for giving!