A Chief's Wife's Heart's 'aFire: The Funkie Junkie Boutique Inspiration Ave. #25; Tim Holtz's Christmas IdeaOlogy ... Deck The Halls!

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

The Funkie Junkie Boutique Inspiration Ave. #25; Tim Holtz's Christmas IdeaOlogy ... Deck The Halls!

The 2023 Christmas Holiday Season is here in all its glory- snow and all! Yes, we've had 2 snowfalls in Indiana with the 2nd leaving its remnants on the ground even as we leave for Florida. It's that time and we're currently on the way, stopping over in Birmingham, AL, to spend some time with some very dear, long-time friends of ours that we don't see enough of. The month of November simply flew past me and I really struggled to keep up. But it was definitely worth every bit of it: we managed to get in time with all our Besties, as well as time with all our Kids and Grandbabies- all together! The younger NY Kids came down for Thanksgiving weekend and we divided our time between both sets- spending Thanksgiving Day with the Older Daughter's side of the family in Hebron, IN. (Thank you, Debbie and Rick; what a fantastic FEAST!) For Black Friday, instead of the rush of shopping, I had ours all finished, wrapped, and ready for the Grandbabies to open and enjoy. What a fun time that is for me and I treasure every second of it all! After a full day playing, visits from several of our Besties (Thank you, Cindy, for the MM plates- brings back memories of a Christmas gift from my Grandparents- circa 1974!), a very late movie, and many bouncy shenanigans, it was finally time for bed. At the rate these four kids are growing, my trundle day-bed is not going to fit them in a few years down the road. I'll definitely need a new couch well before then. The next afternoon (Saturday), we took the older 3 Grandbabies to ride the Dentzel Carousel in our hometown while Baby Princess napped. It was the last time for the rides for the year and we were finally able to get them in for it. After a supper of our favorite Chinese takeout, I read the CHRISTmas story of JESUS' birth to everyone... Papaw actually fell asleep in his chair, lol... the Grandbabies took turns opening their gifts. We took the older 2 Grandbabies to church while the younger family headed back to NY on Sunday. Parting with each set always leaves the ChiefHubby and I wiping tears, but knowing we need the time away together just as much as our kids all need time away from us... it's bittersweet. While taking pics of my finished project, I found prints in the snow on the back deck that made me smile and warmed my heart ! The memories will hold us over till we wrap them in our arms again!

It's that time over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique: Tim Holtz Christmas IdeaOlogy is back for the 2023 Holiday Season and TFJB owner, Linda Coughlin, has the Design Team busy with her newest theme for these next two weeks: "Deck the Halls" and instead of decking the halls with boughs of holly, we're using IdeaOlogy! This is always one of my favorite types of crafting and I'm sliding right in!

Here's that handy list of LINKS:

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Christmas 2023 Holdiay Bells

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Christmas 2023 Sticker Book Christmas

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Christmas 2023 Woodland Trees Alpine

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Christmas 2022 Baseboards Christmas

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Christmas 2023 - Confections

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Christmas 2023 Salvaged Figures Large

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Long Fasteners

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Paper Dolls Christmas 2022

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Wire Pins

Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Etcetera Scallop Trims

Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Etcetera: Bracket Trims

Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Etcetera Mini Tag Thickboards

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Pad - Vintage Photo

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Foundry Wax Kit #2 - Sterling/Statue

(LIMITED EDITION SEASONAL RELEASE) Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Holiday Pearlescent Crayon Set #3

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Sprayer
Ranger Inkssentials Ink Blending Tool + 2 Blending Foams

Ranger Inkssentials Glossy Accents
Tim Holtz Tonic Studios Kushgrip Snip w/Non-Stick Blade & Cap 7"-Small

Tim Holtz Tonic Studios Black Kushgrip Snip w/Non-Stick Blade & Cap 5"

I chose a couple sheets from an old TH Seasonal pad and burnished it (Glossy Accents glued and sanded edges all around) onto both sides of my Etcetera Mini Tag. I had a leftover reinforcer, so this Mini Tag got one on both sides.

I always make a physical plan with my IdeaOlogy pieces so I’m not left squishing things in, or worse: not enough space for the most important pieces.

I do the same planning on both sides.

Sometimes my plan will change but it’s usually because I come up with a better idea this way.

Then, I was able to matchup the Etcetera Shelf pieces (both Scalloped and Bracket) to fit around the Baseboard Lace Frame, to form a box.

There was a LOT of burnishing going on. While I do love this technique, my hands were pretty sore afterwards.

(I knew I should’ve gotten the TH Thinlits Set for die cutting pieces to cover the Etcetera Shelf pieces!!

When will I learn to grab it instead of taking too long to mull it over???)

Time to add Distress. And, of course; the new Christmas Crayon Set #3 added the right pearly sparkle, with some Vintage Photo Oxide Ink.

My, Oh, My: that new toy soldier!!!!

And now you can get Santa and the Snowman in a LARGE size!!! I had to have that larger sized set because I wanted a Toy Soldier like the tall ones around the lake I walk around in Florida- Lake DeFuniak.

The Alpine Tree had to come first, so I’d be able to tuck the top into the Shelf inside the box. Since I planned a Dura-Lar window, the tree has to be cut down on the front and back to thin it out.

Yet, from side to side, it was thin enough to fit perfectly. LOVE these new skinny Alpine Trees, Tim!!!

Here, you can see I’m attending to little details:

the rug is fussy cut from TH Patchwork Linen Tape. Even though you might not see it, I wanted it all to be as realistic as possible- the small details are important!

I made “presents” for each Grandbaby, using retired TH Letterpress letters. I used those yummy new pearly Distress Crayons (RED- for the girls Judith and Chloe, and BLUE for the boys- Jamie and Cole) and “wrapped” each with sticker ribbons from the Christmas 2023 Sticker Book. Numbers 2 & 5 are in there, also.

Here, you can see I needed to lift up all the presents a bit higher to be seen in the window- and allow Paper Doll Judith to get higher up- so I pulled a “Paula” aka Paula Cheney, who likes to use little blocks and bits to stabilize items or add height. Going for the small details; I wrapped retired TH Chip Block Letters in the same Patchwork Linen Tape as the rug.

If you liked the 2022 Confections, you’ll LOVE the 2023 Confections which now are shaped like real Candy Canes as well as being a deeper red, there are new GREEN candy pieces!!! Time to cut a few up for dipping into the TH Mica Flakes and toss them into a Vial jar!

Making a doorway is easy: use TH Baseboards and Linen Tape, covering the backside of the door’s Long Fasteners with more Tim papers.

I needed my (smaller sized) Santa to go on a bit of a diet to fit where I needed him, so I used some rougher sand paper scraps to give him a rubdown.

And using Black Soot Crayon rubbed into the cracks with a bit of water on a paintbrush- after a couple of good FAST coats/heat treatments with Foundry Wax… viola!

And here's the finished project...