Woo Hoo...2 Layouts This Week...

Yes, I am celebrating.  I finished two layouts so far this week.  I am impressed.

American Crafts is having a contest on Twitter for a $250 shopping spree of their products.  All you have to do is complete a project using American Craft products and post a link on Twitter and use the hash tag #acshoppingspree.  One entry per day per person until January 3rd and it must be a recent project.  The winner will be announced on January 4th.

I thought this would be a fun way of keeping my mojo flowing.  I find that I do my best work when I have a challenge in front of me.  So yesterday, I started digging through my stash to see what I had of American Crafts.  Hmmm....I have lots and lots of Thickers -- love those Thickers.  I have some glitter brads.  I have chipboard shapes that are at least year or two old...I need some paper...I must have some paper somewhere.

I finally found a small stash of paper that I was saving.  What I realized was that I had nothing from this past years release which surprised the heck out of me.  Me with my mounds of paper not having at least one sheet from a current release.  Yes, I know that you are all sitting there in absolute shock but it is true.

The most recent paper I had was from their Al a Carte line.  I don't think I noticed before but both of the LSS's I frequent don't carry their paper -- lots and lots of their Thickers but no paper.  I tend to be an impulse shopper.  If I don't see it, I don't buy it.  I am going to have to make sure that I make an effort in 2010 to get my hands on some of their papers.  With CHA coming up, I am sure that they will have some fantastic new lines debuting.

Another thing I realized yesterday, that it was too bloody cold to be working on anything winter related.  I wasn't feeling inspired by the snow, Christmas, or anything that even had a hint of cold.  I wanted to escape into the summer so I dug out our beach photos.  I found a great one of my daughter that would work well with the papers that I had.  It took me most of the afternoon and evening playing with this layout but this is the final result:

Materials used:  American Crafts pattern paper, American Crafts Thickers, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Robin's Nest Dew Drops, Dollar store bling, Glossy Accents, and pop dots.

Instead of using cardstock for the background, I used another piece of AC pattern paper but the reverse side since the colour matched so well.  The only issue that I had with it was that it was so flat looking.  I am not much for flat.  Overly embellished, dimensional, textured, that's me.  So, to give it some texture, I took a rolling pin and a Cuttlebug embossing folder and selectively embossed a few areas. 

To add a bit of dimension to the flowers, I used some Glossy Accents to make the centers pop a bit more.  I cut out the flowers and leaves and then, pop dotted and layered as usual.  It was still missing something.  Bling...can't have a layout with bling.  I used restraint this time.  Just a little to provide a bit of an accent around the flowers.

I think I need to start on a 3rd layout.  Mojo is still visiting and I have a big stash of summer photos sitting here on my dining room table......

Christmas Cards

Anyone, who knows me well, knows that I am the worst for getting my cards out on time.  It is a family joke as to how late a birthday card from me will arrive.  I think they take bets on it. I have been striving for the last couple of years to get them out on time and I am getting better but every once in a while, it gets away from me and I am late.

This year it is with my Christmas cards.  I have about half of the ones that I want to send still sitting unfinished on my dining room table.  Now that it is December 29th, I wonder if I should just finish them up and pack them away to send out next year.  It is doubtful that the recipients will even get them this year now. 

I managed to get the ones finished that I need to include in my family packages that I shipped out before Christmas but the ones that I normally mail out...well, it looks like I am going to save on all that postage.

This is this year's Christmas card:

Materials used:  Basic Grey pattern paper, Prism cardstock, Bazzill bling cardstock.

I was using up some old Basic Grey pattern paper that I had.  I loved this pattern so much that I must have bought at least 10 sheets of it -- maybe more.  I have already used it once for my Christmas cards but it was calling for me to use it again this year. 

Who doesn't love Basic Grey?  Seriously, their stuff is just so yummy; but, then I must confess that I haven't met a pattern paper company that I haven't fallen in love with at some point.  Now that December is almost over, the sneak peeks for CHA will start and I know that I will find more paper that I am going to fall in love with.  More Spellbinder dies that will end up on my must have list and more embellishments that I will lust over.

I guess my New Year's resolution should be to get a better grip on getting those cards done and out the door on time.  Which reminds my that my Dad's birthday is coming up in January, I better start now getting something ready for him.

Creating for myself...

I love when all my commitments are done and I can start creating for myself again.  This morning I finished off a layout that I started back in November at the Winchester Crop.  I had the basic layout sketched out in my mind and I had started to put it together but I had to put it aside when I was unable to finish it at the crop.  My mother in laws album was suppose to take priority....except that I got side tracked by doing Tim Holtz's tag challenge.

Speaking of Tim Holtz, I got a very nice email from him when I submit my completed tags.  The fact that he took the time to acknowledge receiving them was wonderful.  I can't imagine how many submissions he must be getting and he is still taking a moment to let you know that your submission was received and that he enjoyed looking at your tags.  He is definitely a class act.

This is one of my favourite picture from Christmas 2008.  The kids are wearing the pajamas that my mother made for them.  Each of the kids got to open one present on Christmas Eve and my son opened this Stormtrooper helmet from his cousins.  We always take a pic of the kids in front of the tree and my son had to wear his new helmet.

Materials used:  Bazzill swiss dot cardstock, BoBunny pattern paper, My Little Yellow Bicycle Glitter lace, Basic Grey stickers, Fancy Pants transparency, Dollar Store plastic snowflake, Offray ribbon flowers, Stickles, pop dots, and chipboard letters that have been in my stash so long I have no idea who the manufacturer is.

I love the Dollar Store plastic snowflakes.  I bought a couple of packages in two different sizes.  I thought they were a little plain so I covered them with a layer of Stickles to give them more of an iridescent look.

I am feeling creative today so I am hoping to get another layout done; but, it looks like Cleopatra is calling to have her hair put back on again and Indy needs some help defeating the mini-boss.

Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas

Hope your Christmas is wonderful and full of family and friends.

We did our family visiting yesterday so today is our quiet day.  We are just lounging around in our pajamas and enjoy being together.

The kiddos have opened all their gifts.  My wonderful husband is currently trying to figure out how to put together a Playmobil Pyramid with the help of my son and daughter.  Every once and a while, I hear an "edited" version of a swear word coming out of the living room when something is not fitting together correctly.

The ham is in the oven cooking slowly.  I cook it at a fairly low heat all day long and it ends up melting in your mouth when you finally get to eat it.  24 hour salad is marinating in the fridge.  All I need to do is steam some veggies and make some potatoes later.

Santa was very generous this year to the kids and to the family.

 

One of the best presents that I got was a box full of ribbon from my mother -- all from Fabricland and all of them gorgeous.  I especially love the little snow man grosgrain ribbon.

Ooo..and I love the multicoloured thread that I can use with my Spirelli dies.  Only a crafter would appreciate this gift.  My husband just rolled his eyes when he saw what was in the box.

Now that my mother in laws album is done and all my Christmas obligations are finished, I am looking forward to a week off of work and scrapbooking as much as the kiddos will let me.

Tag #12 is all done...

Whoooo...Hoooo....I can't believe that I got all the tags done.  Now I can start concentrating on other things, like the Christmas cards that I have yet to start or my Mother-in-Law's yearly album of the kiddos.  I just couldn't seem to get motivated to start anything else until these tags were done.

So without further ado, here is the last tag:

I really wanted to give this one a try.  I had remember seeing these on a blog post that was showing pictures from CHA a while back and was very curious to how they were made.  So when Tim posted the tutorial as part of his Tag #12, I knew I had to give them a try.  One small problem though....I didn't have any 6 petal flower dies.  I tried looking for a template online and once again struck out.

As I sat at the dining room table wondering what to do, I had one of those DUH moments.  I could easily make one with a Spellbinder circle die and a corner rounder.

I cut out my template out of plain paper.  I folded to that I had three equal sections.

I used the corner rounder on the side edges through all the layers to curve the sides.  I had to use a hammer to get the corner rounder to go through all the layers.   After I had finished the corners, I realized that I have a really nice We R Memory Keepers Corner Chopper that would have worked perfectly and with out having to be bashed with a hammer.  Another DUH moment.

I, then, traced out 6 shapes, cut them out and proceed to follow Tim's directions.  I discovered that I really don't like using Glossy Accents as an adhesive.  It takes too long to dry and really doesn't have the adhesion power to hold well.  I switched over to Beacon 3-in-1 Craft Adhesive for the second one and it worked so much better.  I think I will keep my Glossy Accents for making dimensional accents.

A few other differences, I used a page out of the Norton's Anthology again for the background paper.  I did not have any of the Prima holly leaves so I used a couple of fabric maple leaves that I bought from Walmart.  I used Glimmer mists instead of making up my own with Perfect Pearls and Distress Reinkers.  This had more to do with the fact I was feeling lazy than not having the supplies.

Another thing is that I did not put a ticket on the Tag.  I have those tickets but once again the disorgaized fairy has hidden them in the recesses of my stash -- buried deep where no treasure map can lead an avid crafter on a quest to find them.  Oh well, if I find them, I will add one on.

I am happy that all the tags are done and I had lots of fun doing the tags but I think next year, I will do them after Christmas so I can at least get my Christmas cards done on time. ;-)

One more down and only one to go....

Second last tag and I am almost done.  I am not as happy with this one.  I screwed up and I am not sure if I want to redo the background tag or not.  I was trying to stay close to Tim's Tag as possible but since I did not have any white rubons, I decided to use my Signo white pen and just write in "Merry Christmas".  Well, the Signo pen was flowing fine on my test paper but as soon as I started on the Tag...Ughhh...it made a mess.  This is the first time I have had trouble with my white pen so I am not very pleased.

I am still trying to decide how bad of a mess it is or if I am just being anal.  The other thing is that I should have written it on before I put the reindeer on so that the text was straighter and didn't "go around" the reindeer.

Any way, it is done and I will leave it aside for the rest of the day.  Tonight I will take another look at it with fresh eyes and make my decision.

One of the other supplies that I did not have this time around was the iTop brad maker.  I wasn't really interested in this tool.  If you are a sewer, you probably made covered buttons; that is basically what the iTop does but as a brad instead.  I just couldn't bring myself to buy this tool with the associate punches.  I have tons of button tops left over from my sewing days so I just decided to used those on the tag.  The ones I have don't require any special tools and they snap together using your fingers.  I also dug through my stash of craft fabric and found some really nice Christmas fabric to use on the buttons instead of using the adhesive canvas.

For the flowers, I used some fabric Imaginesce flowers that I had instead of the paper Primas.  I need to replenish my stock of white Prima flowers.  I go through them fairly quickly since they are so versatile.

I just have one more tag to complete.  I am on the hunt for a 6 petal flower template I can download and trace.  All of my flower dies are either 5, 7 or more petal dies and will not work for the roses on Tag #12.  Hopefully I will have more luck than I did searching for the film strip clip art.

Happy Sunday everyone.   I am heading off with my kiddos this afternoon to get a Christmas Tree.  That should be lots of fun.  I usually go by myself since the kiddos never seem to be all the interested in accompanying me but they are getting older and are at that perfect "Santa & Christmas" stage.

Tags #9 and #10

I finally have them done.  Yay!  It has been a bit of a busy last few days; so I am afraid that I hadn't had a chance to work on the tags until last night.  We had our office Christmas lunch on Thursday.  I am the one who was responsible for arranging it and making sure everyone had a good time.  And, I must say everyone had a good time, myself included; although, I was paying for it later in the day.  After numerous burnt martinis and glasses of red wine, I was a happy camper and quite the chatterbox my husband tells me.  Needless to say, the tags became a low priority.

Last night I decided I would buckle down and try to get at least two done and if I could. maybe even a third.  Well at 3 am last night, I realized that getting three done was wishful thinking but at least I did get two completed.

The film strip ribbon used on Tim's Tag #9 was not in my stash.  I had thought I would try to find some clip art that I could use to make the same idea.  After a few hours of searching on line for something that I could use, I finally gave up and headed over to The Scrapbox.  Luckily, Jenn had just gotten in a shipment of Tim Holtz products which included the ribbon.

Getting my printer to print images small enough to use in the film strip took an hour or so.  It just didn't seem to like the size.  Another thing I realized making this tag was that Glossy Accents and ink jet printed photographs don't really like each other very much.  The emulsion on the photo paper fogged once they were glued to the ribbon.  Oh well...it gives it a distressed look.

I did not have the metal numbers so I used grungeboard numbers and painted them with a gold paint dauber.  (Note to self -- you need to buy a silver paint dauber).  I can't seem to locate my dymo anywhere in this house.  I am sure I have one.  It is a really old one but for the life of me I have no idea where it is hiding so I used Making Memories adhesive letters to make something similiar on black cardstock.  I also do not have any of the letter charms but I did have some typewritter letters from Making Memories.  They worked as a replacement.

Tag #10 is my favourite.  I love working with metal embossing and I stalk the TenSecond Studios blog and website to see what wonderful new creations they come up with.  I did not have any of the adhesive metal sheets but I did have some craft metal that would be a reasonable subsititute even if it is a bit thicker and a little harder to work.

I used Copic Markers for my colouring.  The metal snow flake I have had in my stash for years so I have no clue who the manufacturer is.  I seem to remember that I either picked it up at the dollar store or at Micheal's in their $1.50 bins.  I seem to be leaning more towards Micheal's at the moment since the snowflakes are a reasonably heavy metal.

I am going to attempt to get the last two tags completed today.  I don't have any grunge paper for Tag #12 so I am off to see if I can get my hands on some.

Happy Saturday. =)

Tag #8 is all done...

I had to dig around for my vellum sheets.  It took a while to find them.  I have so many boxes of craft supplies stored in the basement and in my upstairs closet.  After all that digging around, I have come to the conclusion that I either have to edit them or I, at least, need to label the boxes with their contents.

So with out much further ado...here is Tag #8:

Another fairly close representation with a few differences, I was missing the key but I had some of the Delish keys so I used it instead.  For the bells, I found them at the dollar store all made up into decorations.  I pulled them apart and then made my own grouping for the lamp post.  I am missing some of the colours of Distress ink that Tim used so I used what I had lying around here.  Instead of pine needles, I used peel paint and to darken it a bit I embossed it.  For dark brown, I ended up using pinecone Versacolor instead.  I think pine needles and walnut stain are going on my Xmas wish list.

We are under a bit of a snow storm here today.  I think they are calling for anywhere between 15 to 25 cms of snow depending on which news station that you listen too.  Not a horrible amount of snow really but it is the first snow fall of the season so it take a bit for the drivers here to adjust their driving.  Keeping that in mind, I took the day off so I wouldn't have to make that east-west commute too many times.  My lovely son has an eye appointment this afternoon that he can't miss so it is just easier for me to be in the east end. 

It worked out well since the school board cancelled the school buses today so I have ended up playing chauffeur for the kiddos.  I picked up my darling daughter from school this morning and dropped her off at daycare.  I have to pick up my son in another 45 minutes to take him to his eye appointment and this is what it looks like outside my window at the moment...still no sighting of a snow plow.

Ah the joys of winter driving....thankfully, I have my snow tires on and lots of time to get to where I am going today.

Off to start Tag #9 before I have to head out to pick up the little man.  I am going to have to do some creative thinking for that one...not sure what I will use as a subsitution for the photo ribbon yet.  Hmm...I do have some transparencies I can print out on if I can find an image of a film strip.....that might work...

Christmas Tag #7

I really like Tim Holtz Tag #7 and I finally dug out my mask sheets that I bought months ago.  I had bought them specifically to use with stamping.  I added them to my stash and completely forgot all about them.  So for the last few months, I have been using my handy dandy post-it notes instead.  I certainly have my ditsy moments.

This tag is pretty close to Tim's original.  I didn't have the Santa stamp that he used so I used one that I had.  I also don't have any of his metal charms/tags so I took a piece of holly grungeboard, inked it, covered it in distress stickles and clipped it to the side with a metal clip just to give it a bit of dimension.

Tonight I am going to tackle Tag #8 and I really need to get my Xmas cards done as well.  I have been putting it off for the last couple of weeks so now I have to buckle down.  I admit it.  I am a first class procrastinator.  I will find everything and anything else to do when there is something I am not in the mood to do.  The TV calls, I suddenly notice a book I haven't read....I will even *gasp* clean the kitchen to get out of doing that dreaded task.  You can proceed to faint.

And why, do you ask is getting my Xmas cards done such a dreaded task...well, it is because it is so repetitive.  The same design over and over again.  I am not much for repetitive tasks.  I become bored pretty quickly.  So why don't I do a different one for everyone....well, it would take me too long to design that many Xmas cards.  I know..complain, complain, complain.  I am getting tired of hearing myself too.  So I will shut up now and I swear I am going to put my nose to the grindstone tonight and get a prototype done that I can mass produce in the next couple of days.  So if you are reading this and are expecting a Xmas card, they might be a little late. ;-)

Tag #6 is finished....

Yay...I finished just before the sun went down so I was able to get a pic.  But because I was rushing, I stuck my fingers in to the fake snow too many times and mucked it up a bit.  Oh well...it could be better but it is not bad.

Since I didn't have any of the Sparkly Fluff, I used some styrofoam...yep, that's right styrofoam.  I had seen a post over at Splitcoast a while back of someone making their own Flowersoft using two styrofoam balls.  She rubbed them together to get them to grate off bits.  I used the styrofoam and some diamond Stickles to make it glittery.  I had inked the background a bit of my trees and the styrofoam picked up a bit of the colour.  Next time...no inking.

Since I didn't have either the car or the tree, I used the grouping of three trees stamped multiple times to make a forest and the little deer from the Mini Holiday set.  I kept thinking I didn't have the Seasons Greetings stamp so I used the Merry Christmas instead.  To my embarrasment, I discovered my Seasons Greetings stamp buried under all the junk at the end of the table.  That is what I get for shoving everything down to the end of the table so that we can eat instead of putting it away properly.

I didn't have any dictionary paper and I can't bring myself to take a page out of a book.  I was thinking I would just stamp the background instead.  Then I remembered that I had an old Norton's Anthology buried downstairs that was falling apart and missing pages.  Its pages are the same weight as dictionary pages.  Perfect.  Even more so, since I could use a page of John Milton's "On the Morning of Christ's Nativity".

I can't wait to see what Tag #7 is going to look like.

Christmas Tag #5

After finishing two tags on Friday night, I took a break last night but I dug back in this morning.  I am hoping to get the two tags done today before I loose the light but it looks like I might only get this one done.

I did not have the fragment tags that were used for Tim Holtz Tag #5 but I did have the plain fragments.  I altered the plain fragments by adding a jump ring to the back to make them "ornaments".  I also did not have any of the German scrap.  I would love to get my hands on some but instead I used my handy dandy Cuttlebug.  Man...I really love that thing.  I cut out my own using some craft metal from Spellbinders and a Cuttlebug border die.  Not a bad compromise.  I used Making Memories rubons in black.  As I was digging through my stash I realized I have very little in the ways of Christmas themed rubons which surprised me.

I am currently working on Tag #6.  I am going to have to modify it again since I don't have the stamp set with the car nor do I think I have that tree....I have already figured out a substitute for the Sparkly Fluff but I will be keeping my eyes open for it in my travels to the various local scrapbooking stores in the neighbourhood.  I think I need a second job to support this habit of mine.

Tags #3 and 4...finally...

So I have managed to get both Tim Holtz's Tag # 3 and Tag # 4 completed last night.  I am really enjoying following along.  I am glad that Jenn challenged me to do this.  I have tried out some really interesting new techniques and I have been able to use some products that have been hiding in the bottom of some bins in the basement.

For Tag #3, I have at least one of the stamps set (I think I might even have both) but I decided to use the Snowman from the Retro Holiday set instead.  I wanted to do the plaid with the blue alchohol inks and the snowman fit the colour scheme better.  I don't have any black alcolhol ink but I had a dark blue so that is what I used to give my tag weight.  I also don't have any of the "distress" stamps.  Instead I just used the small snowflakes from Mini Holidays to make my white snow.  The other items I don't have any of are the pins and charms but I remember that I had some old Making Memories metal charms that would probably work as well.  So here is my version:

Tag #4 ended up costing me a bit of money.  When I saw it at work yesterday, I realized that I needed some Memory Glass frames so off to The Painted Pony I went.  I have bought them there before so I figured that since she also carries the full range of Tim Holtz products, she would be following the Tags as well.  Sure enough...I was able to get the 1x3 inch frames but not the ones with the two loops top and bottom.  Improvisation time.

I have a ton of old microscope slides at home which is why I went with the 1x3 inch size.  I also picked up the Mini Holidays (I wasn't planning to but they jumped into my basket), the Memory capsules (I don't know how they got in there), and some of the metal corners after all I did need to make the roof.  Since I already broke my crafting budget for this payday, I decided to improvise the pins.

Here is what mine ended up looking like.  I stayed more faithful to his design this time.

To correct the missing bottom ring, I dug through my bead supplies and found some jump rings.  I glued a large one to the back of the pin to hang the dangley bit.  I didn't have the pearl paint so I used pearl Smooch instead.  That little brush made perfect icicles.  I used glass micro beads instead of glass chips. 

I really like the background for this tag.  I think this is what I am going to use for the gift tags for under the tree this year but on a smaller scale.

One thing I did discover when I was at The Painted Pony was that she carries TENsecond Studio.  She is doing a journal cover class with the metals in January and I am so very, very tempted to take the class.  I am going to have to go back next pay day and pick up some more kabuka molds and may be a texturizing set.  I think I will work on my husband about me going between now and then since the class would be all day on a Saturday and he would be stuck with the babysitting duties.

Well....off to start Tag 5 and to do some photo editing (hopefully) for Mother-in-Laws album.

Sorry.....

Tag #3 is delayed.  I started it last night but I got distracted by a Fringe episode and then proceeded to fall asleep on the couch.  I will post Tag #3 and Tag #4 tomorrow morning.

Happy Friday...

12 Days of Christmas -- Tag #2

I managed to get my hands on some size #8 tags tonight.  I made a quick stop at the The ScrapBox on the way home from work to pick up a few supplies, not only did they included the size #8 tags, but the Retro Holiday set of stamps as well.  The last set that she had on the wall.  I just love that snowman.

Tag #1 was done with a size #6 tag which is what I had on hand at the time.  Now that I have worked with both the #6 and #8, I think I prefer the smaller size for when I am making tags for cards but #8 for layouts.

Anyway, I finished my Tag #2.  It is 1:30 in the morning.  I took a picture using a bunch of the lamps that I had and adjusting the lighting in Photoshop.  The photo is not bad but the colour is just off slightly.  It has a bit more yellow in the photo that the actually tag has.

I love the grunge frame stamp that Tim Holtz Tag #2 used but alas it is not part of my collection, yet.  so I used some architectural accent stamps that I have from Blockheads.  I used weather wood distress embossing powder to stamp the background image.  Instead of the green and read colouring, I went for weathered wood, worn lipstick and dusty concord.  The speckles are done with perfect pearl Perfect Pearls to fit into the more purple/blue/silver tone of the tag.  Faded jeans was used to accent the distressed edge of the tag.

I also was not able to get my hands on any of Tim's photo corners nor his metal flowers.  My photo corners are maded from 36 gage metal sheets that I cut into photocorners and then embossed using Ten Second Studio plates.  I ran the same metal through my Cuttlebug to cut out two 5 petal flowers that I had in one of my Spellbinder flower dies.  I then followed Tim's instructions to put the flower together.  The metal was way too shiny so I covered with some alcohol ink and distress stickles to grunge it up a bit. The six petal flower behind the rose is from Imaginesce.

Two tags down and 10 more to go...Can't wait to see the what Day 3 will be.

12 Days of Christmas -- Tag #1

Well I spent last night making up my tag for Jen's challenge.  One of the stamps set that I don't have is the Tim Holtz Retro Christmas so I decided that instead of making the same tag, I would use the same techniques to make my own tag.

So what do you think?

Not the best photo I am afraid to say.  I had to bring the tag into work to be able to get some decent light to photograph it.  It sucks that I am on the way into work as the sun comes up and on the way home when it sets.  It makes it hard to take photos of projects.

I used the same techniques that were showcased by Tim Holtz Day 1 tag.  For my inked background, I used peeled paint, faded jeans and mustard seed Distress Ink.  I stamped the branches with peeled paint and Archival ink.  I slathered on the rock candy Crackle Paint.  I think I am going to have to get another bottle of this ;-)

Since I didn't have the snowman stamp, I decided to use one of the ornaments out of the Christmas elements grungeboard pack and stamped it with a Just Cre8 stamp.  I embossed it with black embossing powder.  I painted with the snow cap Paint Dauber but the white was too stark against the green so I added a layer of gold Paint Dauber on top to mellow it out.  The ornament was covered with the rock candy Stickles.

The tree branches are covered with diamond Stickles for the "snow" effect.  The leaves on the ornament are the Maya Arts leaf ribbon.  I used the same wired technique.  I love this idea and I am going to be using it more often.  Instead of swirls, I used the holly branches from the Christmas elements grungeboard.  They were painted white, inked with peeled paint and black, covered with rock candy Stickles and accented with Xmas red Stickles.  The berries on the leaves are Dew Drops.

Not bad for my first attempt.  Off to see what Tim has in store for us on Day 2.