My plan is to also use this garland for a January decoration next year. That's why I made it white and added snowflakes. It's easy to add the heart portions to turn it into a Valentine's day decoration! For the actual garland I started out with white cardstock that I lightly spritzed with Distress Spray Stain Brushed Pewter and Tattered Angels Jack Frost Glimmer Mist. I wanted the cardstock to have a subtle glimmer. On a portion of the links, I embossed them using the Waffle & Sunburst embossing folder set. I have an embossing tip for you too! The link strips are too long to fit all the way into the folders so I carefully cut a slit in the middle of the plastic hinged part of the folder. Leave about a quarter of an inch or so uncut on the ends – you don't want to cut the whole thing apart! Then you can push the ends through the slit and emboss the center parts of your strips:
On some of the embossed strips and the snowflake diecuts I brushed 3D Gloss Gel and applied Rock Candy Distress Glitter or Diamond Dust. Sparkly accents are a plus! The links are really easy to assemble. The little tabs at the ends interlock. You could put a dab of glue there also but I found they securely locked together without it. Whew! Still here? ;-) I've got more to say about the heart parts so stick around.
For these I incorporated the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge #21 technique – Rock Candy Distress Glitter as found on page 55 of A Compendium of Curiosities Vol.3. Be sure to head on over to the Studio L3 blog to check out all the details! Also thanks to Inspiration Emporium for sponsoring this challenge. =) I can't share the exactly how I did it but trust me, there is a lot of really cool sparkly Rock Candy Glitter on these hearts that of course didn't show up in the photos. Glitter is so hard to photograph! I can tell you how I did the fringe though. I cut them out of coffee filters. They are stronger than tissue paper and you can easily color them. These I sprayed with mists and when they were dry I easily cut them out with this Fringe Die (which is a super versatile die by the way.)
I hope you are feeling the crafty love now. Be sure to check out the Feb. Art with Heart Challenge while you are at it and join in. You could win an Vintage Kitchen Cookie Box Die!
Thanks for visiting and checking out my artwork! I hope you have found inspiration in it for your own crafty fun. Most of the supplies I used for this project can be found at Inspiration Emporium. Follow the links below and use my code JUICE there to save 10% if you go shopping. I will also point out that US shipping is always $5 and international shipping is just $10. ;-)
