Tag Five for the Funkie Junkie Christmas Challenge!

I am slightly out of order here, as I've not yet made Tag #4... but as I had this idea going, decided to go for it!

I was inspired by the use of Evergreen Bough Distress Ink/color on Linda's Tag #5 for her annual "12 Tags of Christmas" challenge, sponsored by her fabulous Funkie Junkie Boutique.

I also wanted to see if I could make this my December Tim Tag.....and thus the wreath!

I began by sponging Evergreen Bough Distress Ink onto a very large Ranger #12 manila tag.  Then I generously flicked it with water to create some more interest.  

I further distressed the edges with Ground Expresso, as I wanted a dark brown to complement my upcoming heat embossed image, using the large Tim Holtz Book Cover stamp ....which was then embossed with Lindy's Stamp Gang Midnight Copper. 

This would be my "door"....I hoped the green would evoke a patina against the copper.

To create the wreath, I cut a base from two concentric circle wafer dies (a set of many sizes from Spellbinders), from a similarly colored tag  - my original, which failed when my stamp fell willy-nilly from the block onto the tag, askance of course! But no worries, the tag provides a lot of supporting roles here!

Then I punched the Juniper, Pine and Laurel as per Tim's December tag, using Distressed Coordination paper in several greens and a light blue, as Tim did.  I added a fourth color in green just for variety given my already green background.

I glued these down with a liquid glue - the hot gun is not my forte, and yielded way too many strings.
And natch, after creating the wreath in full, I decided I needed a little window - why I don't think this through  beforehand, you ask?  Good question - I am chalking it up to the creative flow.... and not my lack of planning!

Anyway,  I carefully cut a small aperture from the back of the tag.  I made a little "lit up" window  from some wipe up tag I had lying around, and drew in the panes with my Ground Expresso Distress Pen.  And looking at these pictures, I hope Santa is bringing me a new craft sheet, lol!

I taped the window to the back of the tag, and am glad I took this extra step.

From there, I lack process pictures - but added little bell brads per Tim's tag (cutting off the brads first), and some berries using Chili Red Viva Decor Glitter Glue; this glue tends to keep its dimension (although once the first round dried, I did add a little more to plump the berries up.)  I also added a modest bow in pre-died green Seam Binding and a little set of bells from Linda (she alway sends along the sweetest little embellishments with your order).  I tarnished these with some archival brown ink.  I stamped the greeting on my original failed tag, made a banner with some easy end cuts, and popped it up using some Ranger foam tape. I had used Forest Moss as the Distress border on the original tag, and added a bit of Ground Expresso to this banner before adhering it.

And here is the final tag....along with a few more detail shots... This seems to me to be a little hobbit door which has met the Victorian age....

Thank you so much for stopping by, and if you've time, please do leave a comment.  I love reading them, and hearing your thoughts!

xx Lynn