Sew Rusty

Hi everyone and welcome. I'm back with the penultimate pre-Christmas post to share a card inspired by the wonderful Shelly Hickox. Having used her 'galvanised metal' technique on a previous card I was intrigued by another of her faux finishes - 'rusted paint' - and decided to give it a go too.

Rather than use the technique over the whole background I opted for the now familiar trick of applying it to a tag to form the basis of the design. I followed Shelly's tutorial verbatim apart from using the Holiday Knit Layering Stencil to emboss the tag prior to painting it. That gave the surface a slightly raised texture which was enhanced when sanded. I highlighted the design even further by applying the Potting Soil Archival Ink and some Tarnished Brass Distress Paint through the stencil.

With the tag complete I piled it up with some vintage ephemera from one of Tim Holtz' packs, adding hand stitching and buttons to the button card and pin holes to the safety pin card. The glossy candy cane was stamped using one of the Mini Blueprint stamps before being coloured with Distress Markers, and I blended Festive Berries Distress Ink over the dress form.

The background combined more stencilling and (of course) splatters of stain along with a little washi tape and machine sewing. Adding a watery ink shadow around the main elements really helps them pop off the page too.

I hope you get chance to go on over to Shelly Hickox' blog to take a look at her fabulous array of Christmas ornaments - her creative imagination takes us to some fantastic places and will have you buzzing with ideas.

One more post from me tomorrow - my final Tim tag of the year. For now I'm off to make more mince pies and get those festive preparations finished off. Whatever you're up to take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx