The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge #24 Celebrate!...We Three Kings

 

   When it came time for this Funkie junkie Challenge, I can honestly blame this make on them- lol! For real; Linda Coughlin, whose shop -The Funkie Junkie Boutique- likes to pack along little fun freebies with each order. Linda gets to know her customers and what they like, and she goes out of the way to get her hands on what you want- if she doesn't already have it in stock. I recently ordered a few things and her freebies were the inspiration for this Tag. You can say I was obsessed with this Tag once I got going. I still have my $25 GC I won from a previous Challenge. It's RANDOM- so YOU can win also!! But you can't win if you don't MAKE something and ENTER IT. Come and join in on the FUN!!! I'll be making my next order and just Keep On Crafting!

             No time to waste; deadline looming and it's been busy in this house.

The Tim Holtz Alterations Thinlits Die Wise Men became a thing I just had to HAVE-

once Linda (or her Helpers) put one of the cuts in a pkg.

It was all started with that sheet music ephemera!

So I googled an image exactly like it and that became Side 2 for my Wise Men Tag.
 

I can't keep track of all the GOODIES I have ordered from The Funkie Junkie Boutique,

but they sure do know I am a Tim Holtz Addict- through and through!

Swiped through a mix- heavy on the Chipped Sapphire.

Heat dried and then coated THE POINTS ONLY side of the

TH Crackle 3D Embosslit and quickly coated the tag with plain white embossing powder

and reheated. It came outy exactly as I hoped and I was encouraged to go the full mile for stars!

Here, you can see the obsession build: Just got the Embossing done.

REQUIREMENT for A VINTAGE JOURNEY CHALLENGE BLOG- "Sets"

While the rest of the Tags will look the same- it's the BACKGROUNDS of Side 1 

that will all be unique...and I made sure to take pics of all 9 backgrounds together.

The 8 on the side will be Christmas Tag Gifts for my Besties (I make these every year for them).

Then, I chose to coat over each with Glossy Accents and sprinkled all over with 

TH Ranger Distress Glitter in Clear Rock Candy.

Here's just a peek of the Background for Side 1- before anything else on top.

Like millions of stars that fill the sky!

My hope was to make it look as big a sky as nighttime in Joshua Tree National Park.

(Not yet: get COVID19 over with and it'll be the trip we take NEXT!!)

Cuts of flowers to layer as a Poinsetta (I'm still not sure if I am going to add this element

to the other Tags- I really dislike the "glittery" stuff. 

But for just ONE Tag- it took me out of my box a bit, and filled

the "Bright Colors" REQUIREMENT for TFJB Challenge "Celebrate!"

Here- I am TH Distress Glazing with some Fired Brick (Ink and D-Glaze) on the flower,

and some Oxide Vintage Photo Ink with Antique Linen D-Glaze.

REQUIREMENT: TFJBChallenge "Celebrate!"- glitzy, glossy, and bright colors.

What better than TH Stickles!!!

Making the faux stained glass...

I used plain vellum sheet and alcohol ink!

WOWZA!!

And, I got THIS:

Side 1

Side 2

And B-b-b-b, phft! That's all for now, folks!

I have plenty more makes to post, so stay tuned!

THANKS!! for the kind comments and taking the time to peek in!

Please check out the rest of some super COOL entries on 

where I am entered:

The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog

Until next time...

Be SAFE, Wear the MASK, Wash the HANDS, &

HAPPY BLOGGING!!!

.

The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge #23 Home Is Where Your Heart Is...Longing For HOME!

 The election is...over?? I'm hoping that honesty will win out. Somehow. But, no matter who wins; my hope and faith is in GOD- nothing less than. And my faith is that GOD is still in control.  So that's my inspiration for this- my 2nd entry- for "Home Is Where The Heart Is" . My plan all along was to show both my Earthly home ( CLICK HERE if you missed it), and my REAL home. What made this project the most fun is Tim Holtz's new Alterations Bigz Die Cathedral Window. Being a Sizzix Bigz Die means this will cut into very thick materials, which gives you much more choices in how to use it. With Christmas and Easter- this die is going to not only be fun, but very useful in decor and children's crafts as well. I can't get enough of everyone's photos of what they have done with this die so far, and I;ve already laid out plans for my next make with same. Meanwhile...let's just get to this and make this a fast post so we hit the deadline...argh!

Beginning with several items- including some recent orders from The Funkie Junkie Boutique -

The Cathedral Window was going to be the center of attention- the "home" part.

I was digging through my drawers of large stash items when my hands landed on this!

It was from a bargain trip to Tuesday Morning very early this year

before COVID19 took over... ahh...those were the days, huh?

And guess what fit this size of frame PERFECTLY...

... the CATHEDRAL WINDOW DIE CUT!!

I started out by cutting 2 windows from Mat Board, then gave each piece here a bit

of gentle sanding where needed (the frame is in GREAT condition on its own, but I did

get one little tiny splinter off the side- and got rid of it with one fell swoop of the sander.

Let dry, then gave each a second coat. (TH Picket Fence Distress Paint).

The paint dries fast, but you can help it along with heat tool.

Using a TH IdeaOlogy Vellum Scene- ocean with sun going down-

I cut the vellum to fit just the bottom half of the window.

But don't glue yet!

Glossy Accents (by Ranger) spread all over the top window panel,

and some TH Rock Candy Distress Glitter gave the white some "Oomph",

then refit the vellum in between the 2 panels using the Glossy Accents again.

GA dries very fast, so this set of steps is quick and easy.

After the coating of Picket Fence was finished - and completely dry- 

on the window part of the frame set, I coated it with Multi Medium Matte.

Let this coat of MMM dry on it's own very well.

Meanwhile, I drilled a hole all the way through the back base board of the frame set

so that only the lightbulb part of this tea candle. 

These smaller, new kind of tea lights can be found both

 at Hobby Lobby or Amazon- these are very tiny and run on just one of the same batteries that IdeaOlogy's Tiny Lights run on, but they give a singularly large 

'flicker' of goldish light such as a regular tea light.

Then I recoated in the area where the hole was made.

I should have waited...yeah, I know. *sigh*

This orange circle shows how the light bulb only just barely comes through the base board.

After fitting my background paper onto the board, it was easy to just add Glossy Accents

to both the topside of the tea light (which was flush up against the back of the frame set- I can replace the battery by just opening the tea light case as usual),  and the bulb showing through.

What you see here is the frame set sitting on top of the tea light- which sits flat on the table.

The scissor sets are all just holding the frame set down- 

to keep the spring down, as the bottom of the tea light is not yet on.

Finishing the outer frame was easy-peasy:

Those TH Distress Crayons !!

I made sure the coat of Multi Medium Matte was completely dry,

and then scrubbed the Crayon (Hickory Smoke) over the bumpy parts.

Then dipped a paintbrush in water and just glazed the water over the Crayon to spread it more

into the cracks and crevices of the frame. (The sides of both pieces in the frame set have 

also been covered in Picket Fence Distress Paint- for side viewing.)

I just got this TH Alterations Movers and Shapers Set; Crown and Fleur-de-lis

finally added to my collection! (I'm still on the lookout for the Mini Old Jalopy.) 

Making a more dimensional crown is easy- layer it up in odds!

Although I do have TH Alterations Bigz Die Layered Wings...

I thought these were more fitting. And cuter, to boot.

I did replace the heart from the TH Alterations Die Heart and Wings (retired)

with a Mini (larger of the 2) Heart from the M&S (retired) set above.

That.. Distress Glaze!!!!

I love this song by Building 429 ("Where I Belong")

and it's one of the songs that is easier for me to hear since they are huge on bass.

So I looked up some images of the sheet music, shrank them and made

my own ephemera for the title resting place

(title made from TH IdeaOlogy Clippings Stickers).

Results are; me doing my Happy Dance...

~LONGING FOR HOME~

One Day, those of us who are deaf, will be the first to hear Him coming back!

The blind will be the first to see Him,

and the lame, handicapped, and afflicted- as well as all the children-

 will be the first to be caught up to meet Him!

GOD is LOVE itself.

His crown has 7 points for perfectness, but three ruby crystals

(from stash but given a top shine of  Ranger TH Alcohol Ink in Watermelon) represent the Trinity (GOD The Father in middle, JESUS The Son on the right side of GOD, & The Holy Spirit on left of GOD).

Glossy Accents on the backsides of the song sheets give it more durability.

Edging the IdeaOlogy Clippings Stickers- Regular Distress Ink in Fired Brick.

She holds an IdeaOlogy Gumdrop Heart- which is JESUS in us.

Lit up- it says it all.

The tea light makes the vellum sun look like a REAL sun!

THANK YOU!

Everyone, for peeking in , and especially all the nice comments

(I consider "like"s and <3 s to also be a comment),

as they always give the Crafter a warm, fuzzy feeling. ;)

If you get a chance- stop in to see the other AWESOME makes

that get posted for each Challenge !

Until next time...

Stay SAFE, Wash the HANDS, Wear the MASK,

and

HAPPY BLOGGING!!!

The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge #23; Home.... and A Vintage Journey; (October) Numbers....The Privilege To VOTE!

 As I type this post; the Voting Polls across the Eastern Seaboard of the USA are open. People are likely already standing in line, wanting to get in and back out, so they can get on with their business for the day. I'm ready to have Election Day over with for several reasons- not the least of which is all the notifications on all SM that come through the Email...annoying to no end by now. Also annoying is the story-after-story-after-story on all news channels as if they would fold up and blow away if we look away for just one second. (If that was the case with my viewing- they'd ALL be long gone by now.) The fighting, the pessimism, the blaming, etc. 

   For my own Citizen's Duty- voting is over. Been there, done that- every opportunity presented- every election, and for 2020; I did so on Halloween. I've always tried to fulfill my duty and made the best decisions I possibly could, given whatever choices of fallible man/woman was presented at my disposal. Sometimes, the choices were pretty good; seeing that NO man, and NO woman is perfect. Sometimes, the choices were pretty poor. But that was all according to my own opinions of the records/job/backgrounds of those running for such positions as they were. That's the great thing about voting; each of us is allowed to say "Yay" or "Nay" and the rest is up to the counters who tally up all the votes. I always pray about the choices given- looking their 'vital statistics' up beforehand, and giving prayerful consideration to the pros and cons of each, then choosing the best option. After that, it's all out of my hands. All I can do is just PRAY MORE. What do I pray for? I don't pray for any one Candidate to win, nor do I put all my hope in any Electoral Candidate. My hope is in JESUS.

   The best part about voting: when it's all OVER. The worst part: Holding out hope that ALL people involved in the entire process- from beginning to ending- will be HONEST. Having a fair, correctly counted, and CONSTITUTIONAL election is what it's all about. If even part of that doesn't happen, then no vote will matter; not even one. So I go home and just keep praying for GOD's will to be done. Whatever comes out of any election should be what the majority of Citizens want for their Country. Any Country. 

   Our United States of America is not perfect, by far. We still flounder in many areas and make many awful mistakes that we could avoid. BUT.... I am THANKFUL for having been born in the USA. I am GRATEFUL for the chance to cast my ballot. And I am BLESSED to have the freedoms I have here. Go ahead; you can fill in the blank "Oh, we still have ________ in America." with any word that is not very 'rosey' (hunger, homeless, murder, COVID19, etc). Tell me a place that does NOT have any of that. And yet, we still have it pretty darned good here. 

   And that's all I have to say about that. 

      It's what led me to this make...

Starting with some of the newer Tim Holtz 2020 Paperie

and a few chosen colors of textured cardstock from Bazzille,

I needed something with numbers, while representing "home". 

I recieved the new TH Alterations Die Deco Frames

and was delighted to find that the oval cut fits into the 

TH Alterations Die Ornate Frame perfectly!

So I added a couple of other elements to go with this for the BACK Side of the Tag.

Starting with cutting textured cardstock (Paper Studio's Farmhouse Stack) in white,

and Tim Holtz' Classic Kraft cardstock paperie- black- 

I distressed both by gently sanding the black and using

TH Distress Oxide Ink in Ground Espresso.

The two stars are Grungepaper cuts (TH Alterations Die Old Glory) that

I found at the bottom of one of my stash boxes- Weeeeee!!!

I covered those in Ground Espresso also.

Heat dried everything, then moved on...

...tearing up pieces of TH Collage Paper (Typeset)

and with just a touch of Glossy Accents on my finger- lightly spread over the backside-

adhered the tissue paper to both sides of my Tag.

Then another layer of Ground Espresso Oxide Ink.

I tore paper strips again- the textured Bazzille Red, White, and Blue,

then put each 3 colors into strip sets that matched up along the tears.

I used the Glider Tape for keeping them together- just one line of tape kept all 3.

Then used the Ground Espresso Oxide Ink again on these.

I heated each, then sprinkled water, and reheated and repeated until I was satisfied.

Remember those Tim 'candles' in his Facebook Demo?

( CLICK HERE if you missed it.)

I was practicing with more than just candles- I make a few FIRE CRACKERS!!

The one I used on this Tag is in the far upper left hand corner in the above pic.

I simply covered both ends with the 1/2 inch circle, then glided the 

hot glue gun back and forth lengthwise to coat the entire 'fire cracker'.

I worked on the Fire Cracker with several things before I finally decided that

my first choice of TH Alcohol Inks would work on the now-dried glue-gunned 'candle'.

For the stars...

I did use the TH Distress Ink Tea Dye and the TH Distress Embossing Glaze (Antique Linen),

heated with a heat gun, and then did just tiny patches of Tea Dye Ink

and TH Distress Embossing Powder in Vintage Photo to make a faux rusted look.

I then added some die cut elements from several of the Tim Holtz Alterations Dies-

(the rest are shown in the second photo from the start).

And then... I VOTED...

I voted on Halloween, no less!

Skelly wasn't ready to be put away, yet, and bombed my photo. :)

FRONT SIDE

Ours is a country of people from all over the world.

Those who embrace being "American" not only want "The American Dream",

they're willing to share in helping all citizens of the USA to have that dream also.

I am so awed of the History we have in this country- we've been through the good,

the bad, and the very ugly, but we're still here!

Let's keep striving to make changes as needed, but keep our focus skyward!

BACK SIDE

BACK SIDE of the Tag in perspective- the paper ribbon and

the layers of embossed die cuts from Tim's Embossing Impresslit Scallops

add to the Primitive Americana look.

FRONT SIDE in perspective- the layers built up.

The elements all made by tearing are the "tearing apart" our country has endured.

The fire cracker is the actual vote all coming to a head as of today.

Both sides of my Tag are meant to encourage my fellow Americans, as I hope it will!

I'm entering this Tag into the following:

The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge; Home Is Where The Heart Is

 Sponsored by; The Funkie Junkie Boutique

and

A Vintage Journey; (October) Numbers

where the REQUIREMENT (Numbers) inspired this Tag:

Thanks for the sweet comments on all my SM,

and also to TFJB Challenge Blog Design Team for

putting my more recent make into their Top 3 Picks,

AND for drawing my number/name for the $25 gcert!

Yippee!! I can't wait to browse & shop!!

THANKS! for stopping by!

and

Hey; how about those

L.A. Dodgers :)

Until next time...

STAY SAFE; Wear the MASK, Wash the HANDS,

and

HAPPY BLOGGING!