I was supposed to be packing...

***edited with paste links below***

my demo supplies...

and all the make & take goodies...

for this weekend in Madison...

but the embossing pastes were calling me yesterday...

seriously...

I heard them loud & clear...

these are 2 quickie tags that use my pastes...

several people asked about "paste snow"...

so here you go...

tim's Sizzix snowman 

is all decked out in white embossing paste

& the yummy...

rock candy dry glitter...

and he has a textured black paste hat...

here's a little tutorial...

the base is a Ranger #8 kraft tag...

inked with gathered twigs and salty ocean distress inks...

I used vermillion archival to stamp this holiday background over the tag...

then jet black archival to stamp the greeting and

 the polka dot border at the top of the tag...

I used the brushed pewter metallic stain 

to accent the tag edges...

and to randomly stamp the spatter stamp over the tag...

to create frosty...

I adhered a vintage dictionary page to a sheet of Clearly For Art, using Glue N Seal...

then die cut the snowman & the snowflake...

I used the palette knife to unevenly apply the white paste over the snowman, skipping his hat,

 then sprinkled the wet paste with 

the dry rock candy glitter...

and set it aside to dry...

I used a scrap of the same paper covered CFA 

to die cut a second hat, 

then applied an uneven layer of the black paste to the hat & set it aside to dry...

the snowflake was lightly inked with brushed pewter distress stain...

it adds just the right amount of shimmer...

***make sure to shake the stain well***

when the snowman was dry (about 25 minutes?), I used the blending tool with brushed corduroy to accent the edges...

then used the rusty hinge marker to color his nose...

to make him more dimensional, I heated the CFA to soften the material and shaped him, to make him more rounded...

I added tim's tinsel twine to the hat after I heated it a bit to shape it and I also used it to make a scarf...

oops and added tim's star before tying the scarf...

then I glued the extra hat in place, for a little extra dimension...

the snowflake was also heated so I could shape it too...

a tiny fat glue dot is under the snowflake, so it's raised...

I added 2 black lines with the 

Stabilo pencil and a bit of doodling...

then glued grunge scraps under the snowman, 

before adding him to the tag...

here's a look at how cute his textured hat is...

and here's a better look at the rock candy/paste snow...

it's vintage shimmery goodness...

***if you want to add rock candy glitter to dry embossing pastes,

 just brush on a thin layer of Glue N Seal (matte) & sprinkle away!***

I think these snowmen would be adorable without the tag as package toppers or as ornaments for the tree...

and because they are on Clearly for Art, 

they'll be easy to pack away for next year & they won't get squished...

this would be a fun children's project too...

 I couldn't leave the studio until

 I used some more of the black paste...

this is a #5 manila tag...

I think I'll add it to the Thanksgiving hostess gift...

with a gingham bow...

you didn't think I was cooking did you? lol...

I used the palette knife to add a THIN layer of black paste, 

NOT covering the whole tag...

then I misted this stamp with water...

and stamped into the wet paste...

***always mist your stamp 

before stamping into the wet paste***

I cleaned my stamp immediately & set the tag aside to dry....

the paste was applied much thinner, so the drying time was less...

***note***

you'll see that the black paste is much thinner than the white...

a tiny bit goes a VERY LONG way...

***make sure the paste is dry...

you don't want it on your distress stain dabber top***

once the paste was dry, I went over the whole tag with the wild honey stain and ended up with this...

the 2 art parts small flourishes 

were inked with peeled paint stain & stamped 

with jet black & this background...

the art parts flower was stained with rusty hinge & stamped with the polka dot background...

to alter the Blossom Bucket heart, I misted it heavily with heirloom gold Perfect Pearls mist & dried it with the heat tool...

magically, Perfect Pearls mist sticks 

to my Blossom Bucket resin pieces...

I chose my chit-chat words & lightly inked them with walnut stain on the blending tool...

everything got glued in place & I have a tag that was simple & FUN...

I love the #5 smaller tags to attach to gifts...

the pastes have shipped & I'm hearing from stores that they are jumping off the shelves...

YIPPEE!!!

cool! we'll have fun on the coming dreary winter days...

 check your LSS or they I heard they have arrived on line...

the white at ePaperie

and the white at Simon Says

the black... at ePaperie

and the black at Simon Says

I had several questions about the Madison convention...

am I doing classes???

SORRY, no...

but I'll be demoing all day Saturday & all day Sunday too...

will we have the new distress stains available?

YOU BET we will!

will the pastes be available?

YES for sure!

and remember...

if you tell me you are a blog friend, 

I'll have a little something for you!

belong to my group?

let me know & you'll get a little gift too!

let's celebrate with a giveaway...

 if you would like a chance to win some of my embossing pastes...

just leave a comment & 

I'll choose a winner or 2 or maybe even 3

 on Monday @ 7am Chicago time...

I may not post until Tuesday...

I'm not quite sure, so don't think I forgot you!

now I best get packing...

but I'd really rather...

make art!

wendy