supplies: (ranger) craft sheet, distress ink/fired brick/tumbled glass/chipped sapphire/walnut stain, archival ink/jet black, paint dabbers/bottle/snow cap, distress stickles/picket fence, glossy accents, ink blending tool, heat tool, craft scraper, #8 tag; (idea-ology) seasonal mask, tissue tape, timepieces, game spinners, metal corners, locket keys, jump rings, trimmings, texture hammer, sanding grip, grungeboard, tiny attacher; (sizzix alterations) townscape on the edge die; (stampers anonymous) mini holidays stamp set, mini holidays 2 stamp set, fabulous flourish; (tonic) scissors; (misc) dymo, 26g wire, hot glue
(step 1): remove seasonal mask from package. you'll notice in the package there is a printed sheet (for storage), and the clear mask set. *this seasonal mask set has icons for a variety of holidays all year round.
(step 2): with scissors, cut off the bottom santa and sleigh from clear sheet. be careful not to cut the other masks.
(step 3): remove the outside silhouette of the mask – yes the OUTSIDE part. *this is the part we normally throw away, but not anymore!
(step 4): apply the outside silhouette to your tag. rub with your hand to make sure it's secure.
(step 5): cover any exposed areas of tag with masking tape on craft sheet. *i use tissue tape for this since it's easy to remove and i had it sitting around – i'm just that way…
(step 6): begin inking the tag with fired brick distress ink using an ink blending tool. the outline of the mask will create a solid color shape.
(step 7): continue inking until desired color is achieved.
(step 8): ink stamps with archival ink and stamp images over masked tag. be sure to apply pressure to stamp to get into exposed areas of tag.
(step 9): repeat with additional stamp images over entire tag.
(step 10): with cloth, wipe away excess archival ink from mask while wet. *this will darken your masked image color slightly.
(step 11): carefully remove the tissue/masking tape.
(step 12): carefully remove the mask silhouette from the tag slowly to aviod tearing the tag and set aside. *pretty cool huh?…guess you won'e be throwing away the outlines of the masks anymore.
(step 13): heat set distress inks on tag with heat tool for about 30-45 seconds. *even though distress inks are dry to the touch, the resins in the ink are still wet so we need those dry before the next step.
(step 14): remove the positive portion of the santa sleigh mask and prep on piece of scrap paper following instructions on packaging to remove the excess mini inside pieces.
(step 15): place mask directly over previously inked and stamped image. *if you did not dry the distress inks enough the mask will not stick to the tag at this point.
(step 16): begin inking the tag with tumbled glass distress ink using an ink blending tool.
(step 17): lightly apply chipped sapphire distress ink with ink tool to tag to create shading.
(step 18): ink the edges of the tag with walnut stain distress ink using ink tool.
(step 19): lightly stamp flourish border with archival ink over areas of tag.
(step 20): wipe off mask with cloth.
(step 21): carefully remove the mask from the tag. *magic once again don't you think? you may have a slight outline between the masked image – leave it since it adds the look of dimension.
(step 22): store mask on printed mask storage sheet. *masks can be cleaned with soap and water and air dry.
(step 23): cut townscape edge from grungeboard.
(step 24): cut out 4 houses from strip leaving a thin border on the bottom with sharp scissors.
(step 25): paint the grungeboard with bottle paint dabber and let dry.
(step 26): lightly scuff with sanding grip to give a whitewash shabby look – do not ink.
(step 27): apply picket fence distress stickles to the rooftops to create a snowy effect.
(step 28): dry distress stickles with heat tool or set aside to dry.
(step 29): cut a few pieces of 26g. wire about 5" each.
(step 30): bend, curl, and twist wire with your fingers to create "smoke".
(step 31): repeat for all wire pieces.
(step 32): adhere wire pieces to back of grunge houses with hot glue.
*i think the little wire pieces gives our holiday townscape serious character.
(step 33): gather up the following metal pieces: 2 corners, 1 small timepiece, 1 small game spinner, 1 long fastener, 1 locket key. apply snow cap paint dabber directly to metal.
(step 34): immediately wipe paint off with your fingers to create a shabby effect.
(step 35): place metal corner on corner of tag.
(step 36): with craft scraper, fold over tabs of corner around back of tag.
(step 37): place tag on hammer mat and tap the tabs of the metal corner with bump tip of texture hammer to dent the tabs securing it to the tag.
(step 38): repeat for other corner.
(step 39): apply a small amount of glossy accents to the back of the timepiece.
(step 40): adhere to upper corner of the tag. *this will keep the timepiece from spinning around. pierce hole through timepiece and tag with craft pick and secure mini game spinner with long fastener.
(step 41): adhere houses to bottom of tag with glossy accents.
(step 42): create words with label maker. *i love my dymo with interchangeable font wheels (which is vintage) but now you can buy a new one with 3 font wheels including this cool script font – it's called the dymo caption.
(step 43): snip one end of the text with scissors to create banners.
(step 44): attach dymo strips to tag with tiny attacher. *i did not remove the backing from the dymo so they stay dimensional like ribbons. and embellish tag with trimmings and a locket key.
*in the details: this extreme masking technique is so amazing. the layers of images and inks create such an illusion of dimension – the possibilities for using masks are endless. you can also create your own masks using your favorite die cuts, punches, or even digital cutters using my blank mask sheets.
just couldn't stop… once again i just had to share a little something extra using the townscape edge die with little wire chimney smoke again – priceless…
(step a): cut townscape from grungeboard and cut off the last house on either end, but only cut off one. cut the bottom edge to 1/2" wide.
(step b): paint, sand, glitter, and create wire smoke just like previous steps on today's tag.
(step c): adhere mica scraps to back of windows with glossy accents. *remember you can use scraps of clear packaging for this step too.
(step d): apply a piece of 1/2" wondertape to the bottom edge of grunge.
(step e): remove red-line backing from tape and adhere to the bottom edge of a battery operated tea-light…oh yes!
(step f): wrap townscape all the way around tea-light until ends meet – trim any excess if necessary. *remember it's grungeboard so you can bend away!
*now enjoy a little bit of twinkling holiday magic with a "townscape tealight" – such a great gift!
