12 Tags of Christmas - Day 1!!!

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Well, if you've been around here for long, you KNOW how much I *love* all things T!M Holtz!!!!  I am SOOOO excited that it's *that* time of year again - time for his 12 Tags of Christmas!!!  Now...a quick disclaimer...I really don't expect that I am going to be able to keep up with his superhero pace of a tag a day...but I AM going to try to complete all 12 tags before Christmas gets here!  This is going to require LOTS of improvisation, since already on day 1, I discovered just how many things I don't have of Tim's, which he is using on the tags (and day 2, posted today, is even worse - I only have like 2 things he uses!).  

So, to see Tim's day 1 tag, click on "day 1" above.  I looked at his tag, read his instructions, and realized I didn't have:

• the rickety house die
• a Prima vine to make a tree
• the right garland to make a miniature wreath
• the picket fence die
• any adornements (thus the star)
• white cracklet paint
• white (or any color) sparkly fluff
• more than 2 colors of blue distress ink
• Perfect Pearls mist in Perfect Pearl or any misters
• cut-n-dry felt to make the multi-colored, embossed tag
• the right stamp set to make the tag
• the same clip he used to attach his tag
• any crinkly ribbon for the top of the tag
• any mica for the windows

That's quite a list of "don't haves," isn't it?!  ;)  So I improvised.  Here is MY tag.

Not too bad for improvising, is it?

The  house.  I didn't have the die.  But I DO have his On the Edge houses die.  So I cut it, cut one of the tiny houses off the end, put it on my printer/copier, and magnified it.  Then I cut it out, traced it onto grungeboard, and had my house!  I free-hand cut the windows.  Magic!  I also used packaging plastic for the windows.

And the snow.  I had no white crackle paint, nor any Sparkly Fluff.  So my first layer was Golden brand molding paste, which worked great - it just has a really long drying time, and seemed to absorb the distress ink underneath really badly!  I used Tim's glossy accents method next, and then made a mixture of white embossing powder, and both chunky and fine glitter, to make "snow," which I poured over the glossy accents.  It turned out pretty good, I think.  

The tag.  I just used one of his pull-off tags, and inked the edges with Fired Brick distress ink.  Not nearly as fancy as his multi-colored embossed tag, but it will do!  And as for the clip, I actually like the hinge clips better than those little paper clips anyway!!  (Shh...don't tell T!m I said that!!)

The wreath.  I didn't have the RIGHT garland, but I had A miniature garland, thanks to an upcoming design team project for Crafts Unleashed/Consumer Crafts!!  (And just a quick plug - this garland - awesome - 25 FEET for $1.50!!!  PLUS, they are having $1.97 shipping the entire month of December!!)

As for the fence.  I realized that when I went on a scrapping retreat in August, I had cut a bunch of black fences from a different Sizzix fence die, thinking I'd use them for Halloween.  So I took one, used my white paint dabber to make it white, covered it in Rock Candy crackle paint, and then used some of my snow mixture on it just like on the house.  

Seriously - how awesome is the q-tip smoke????  What an awesome idea!!  And as for my background, I used my two blue colors of distress ink - Weathered Wood and Broken China, but I also threw in one color of Stampin' Up ink - Not Quite Navy - and it worked okay.  Also, I used some Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz and some Blue Smoke Perfect Pearls Mist on my craft sheet.  I stamped the snowflakes in the Not Quite Navy ink.

So there you have it - day 1!!  We'll see what I come up with for day 2!!  

And remember, you still have through the 4th to comment on the Paper Trail blog hop post for a chance to win a small prize!!  :)  Scroll down to see that post!!