THAT tag!!

Fanfare please... as promised here is the tag that has caused my braincells to go into meltdown over the last few weeks (mentioned on Wednesday). Don't we all have projects that seem to cause us grief? And yet, when they're done they seem so simples:))

This is my take on the Funkie Junkie 12 Tags of Christmas challenge - tag no. 7. For those unfamiliar with this challenge, which is generously sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique, you still have time to enter - all the details can be found HERE.

So what caused me such grief? The background. I sort of followed Linda's recipe (the TH Faux Suede technique from the Compendium of Curiosities 2) but it came out too dark. After much messing I redid the whole thing with lashings of Picket Fence DS and voila, something which came out more like Moss Agate. I was a happy bunny at last. As the house took up so much room I opted to add some paper to the background and stamped on some faux stitching.

Major thanks now go to Avril who's idea of stamping her mill onto vellum worked so well. Yes Avril, I will enter this into the Fashionable Stamping Challenge - Home Sweet Home challenge, which is sponsored by Marina of Cottage Crafts. I had fun with this bit, soaking the corrugated card layer in Brushed Cordruoy DS and stamping/masking/embossing my old fashioned house and trees onto the vellum. The glisten came courtesy of a recent purchase, Sheena's pearl WOW embossing powder in green. Yummy stuff this, and you can overstamp on it with Archival Ink to give a frosted effect to the trees.

Having taken inspiration from Linda's background and house elements I took my own route with the rest. A seasonal bouquet seemed appropriate (I love using Cosmic Shimmer PVA glue dots with Promarkers to make juicy berries). When there is so much going on it is good to keep the colour palette limited. A sentiment, some shredded net curtain, seam binding and a little key completed the tag.

As the house is definitely vintage I will also enter this into the latest Sunday Stampers challenge 233 (and be in good time for once!!) OK, not mentioning the terrible weather (hope everyone is safe and warm) the judging on Strictly (biaised??) or the Alonso/Vettel battle this pm. Instead it's time to get the next tag completed and create a hearty fish pie for the hungry hoards. Hope you all have a good Sunday.

Hugs, Buttons x