Saturday 12 December 2015

Sparkling Woodlands Tag - by Alison

Hello all, Alison here with some sparkling fir trees for you.  I don't break out the glitter very often, but if not at Christmas, then when?!  And after a brief skirmish with the bright traditionals, red, gold and green, I'm back in my neutrals comfort zone... in fact pretty much monochromatic.


It's also my first time having a play with Tim Holtz's new Vintage Platinum Glitter Dust... I think it probably won't be the last!


For the background, I swiped Ground Espresso, Pumice Stone and Hickory Smoke inks on to my craft mat and did some wrinkle-free distress technique on to the tag.  It turned out there was more Ground Espresso than the rest, so it all got rather dark rather quickly.  I spattered some Fresco Snowflake over it to lighten things.


Then I thought it would be nice to have some snowfall, so I used the Speckles layering stencil to add some more white paint, and sponged a bit on to the foot of the tag too, to create some snow drifts.  I decided there wasn't quite enough snowfall, so I added a couple of spritzes of DecoArt Media Mister in White Shimmer.


Turns out that was a good idea, as you get a whole lot more shimmer into the bargain!


The trees were cut using the wonderful Woodlands Thinlits, and I painted them with some Ground Espresso Distress Paint so that they would be the right colour under the glitter dust.


I used Sticky Embossing Powder to adhere my Vintage Platinum Glitter Dust, and then rubbed some off again in places so that the trees would have a slightly more distressed "bark" look.  Yeah, right... whoever heard of glittering bark?!


I used a pastel pencil, blended with a water brush, to create some shading under the trees to ground them.


And I stamped the word from the Handwritten Holidays #1 set in Versamark before embossing with dark brown embossing powder.


The whole thing is mounted on some white card, both layers distressed with the Paper Distresser.  And I topped it off with some simple Crinkle Ribbon (slightly grunged with a hint of Ground Espresso) and fine twine.


It was a bit of a nightmare trying to photograph my sparkling trees, hanging the tag in the ivy in strong wind, trying to catch the last rays of the afternoon sun.  But I hope you think it was worth it.


Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I'll see you again soon.

Alison x

23 comments:

  1. The trees look fabulous, love the shimmer, may have to investigate this!!

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  2. Absolutely gorgeous. I do enjoy seeing how you layer everything up. Love how you kept adding snow until you had just the right effect. It really works. Lx

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  3. Wonderful background and the perfect backdrop to those glittering trees!

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  4. Alison, this is one of those "take my breath away" moments! Off to my "Butterfly" notebook, to write everything down! It's so atmospheric and texturetastic!

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  5. Fabulous tag Alison loving the glitter trees and great snowy effects.
    MaggieH

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  6. Gorgeously orchestrated Alison!!!

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  7. But Alison surely you know that once Santa flies over the forests all the tree bark does glisten! Fab Tag! Nicola x

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  8. Alison, in my world there are also shimmering bark, :-) and it looks amazing , your background is also just wonderful, with the lovely snowfall, and the shimmer - gorgeous is your tag, and the little shadows on the ground is a great "trick " .
    Hugs, Dorthe

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  9. Love it Alison and thanks for the inspiration. Recently got this die and couldn't decide what to do with it. Happy crafting, Angela x

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  10. All this effects are simply gorgeous Alison! Brilliant work and step by step!
    Thank you for sharing that!
    oxo
    Susi

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  11. so effective alison - I adore this - its brilliant!

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  12. Wonderful use of the Platinum Glitter Dust Alison, the glistening trees remind me of frost coated trees in the moonlight... gorgeous. Anne xx

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  13. Breathtaking--literally! This has got to be one of my favorites of yours, ever! I have a love affair with trees and find yours here just perfect!!

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  14. Beautiful tag. I do like those trees thinlits, not sure I can resist them for much longer. :)

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  15. Fabulous tags Alison, thanks for the great step by step!!!!! :)
    Coco xx

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  16. Gorgeous Alison - right up ;your alley!!!
    Merry Christmas Sugar!
    Sandy xx

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  17. I have just bought these trees and I absolutely love them. Your project is stunning

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  18. Incredibly beautiful! I love every detail.

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  19. Incredibly beautiful! I love every detail.

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