Eight days in for Day One

It's been a busy, busy month so far but isn't it always that way at this time of year? My craft table is gathering dust from lack of use. It's part in fact to having other projects on the go but also some of the blame has to be put on Kindle again. This is my first Winter where I own one and I have to say that recently, in the hours of the evening, when I would normally pick up paper and glue, I'm reaching for an ebook instead.

However, as at the time of writing, Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas has reached day eight and in an attempt to make the smallest effort to join in, I've decided to have a go at the very first project.

Now I've only loosely used the design to inspire my own creation. I've used it more as a CASE study, which mentally gave me a greater sense of freedom in its interpretation.

For instance I don't have a pine cone die and even if I did, I wasn't keen on using them (I saw some wonderful ideas for creating cones without the die but still decided it wasn't for me). I preferred, I'm sure to no ones surprise, to make flowers instead. The technique is very similar, as in I used a spiral floral die from Spellbinders which had the essence of the shape. I like the idea of snow on the flowers but instead of white dabbers & glitter, I used puffy paint. The leaves and border in the background were also lined with it. Instead of glitter, I daubed Ranger's liquid pearls, Opal white, over the snow, to hint at a glistening effect.

I also wanted something more subtle on the text. Instead of full-on glitter, I covered my chipboard letters in a crystal embossing powder. So there,s a definite shimmer when the light hits the letters. I replaced 'Noel' with 'SSshh!' because I wanted to create a winter tag rather than a festive one.

I kept the blue painted and white embossing powdered background and I added pearls & vintage trim to the top, so I did keep just enough the same, so as to be recognisable as the first TH tag 2011.

So there you have it. If I manage nothing else, I can at least say I got as far as day one. I'm certainly impressed by the blogs I visit where all eight tags have been made. I'm in awe of the speed and quality of them.

Maybe it's a winter thing. If there existed a 12 tags of Spring, I'd have the daylight and the oomph to zip through them. Dark, blustery, cold evenings have me hibernating away, under the duvet until the daffodils begin to poke up in the garden.

Not long till the weekend folks. Stay safe, if you're affected by the strong winds we're experiencing in the UK. Pxx