Guest Designer - It's A Wrap - Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog

 Hello and Happy Thursday!!!  I'm so excited to be the guest designer for the current challenge on the Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog, It's A Wrap.  Sara Emily is the hostess for this challenge and she made a gorgeous wrap card.  The other designers also have wonderful projects so be sure to check them all out if you haven't yet!!

I chose to create a complete ensemble to use for wrapping a Christmas gift.  If you remember my winning entry (found Here), it also had poinsettias on it.  Nope, that's not why I have poinsettias here, I just like them :-)

I have packing paper that I've saved over time when receiving orders that include this off-white paper.  The pieces I have are rather large so I tore one in half by creasing the paper very well, getting the crease damp and tearing. I also tore a little bit off the other 3 edges to match.

I began by lightly spraying the paper with Gloss Spray (Olive).  If you press quickly you get a nice mist but if you press slower you get nice splatters so I also did some of that.

Once dry I went to stenciling on the poinsettias using Distress Paint.  I used the Tim Holtz stencil, THS049.  The stencil design includes 3 complete poinsettias and then also partials.  I only wanted to use the whole poinsettias and so to make stenciling easier and quicker I taped off around them.  Using Tim Holtz blending brushes I first added either worn lipstick or victorian velvet or a combination coloring the whole poinsettia. 

Next I used barn door brushing from the point of the leaves toward the center, not coloring the whole flower.  After those 3 flowers were done then I'd move the stencil and do the next 3.  The victorian velvet would eventually take over the first blending brush no longer really showing the worn lipstick.  At that point I'd wipe the brush well on a paper towel and then continue with the worn lipstick.

The paper all stenciled.  Once I was finished with the paper I cleaned the brushes by wiping them on a damp paper towel and then a dry paper towel.  The bristles remain stained but they are clean of paint.

Using a stylus, dots of mustard seed were added to the centers of the flowers.

I also added little spots of tarnished brash to the centers using a little paint brush.  Finally I splattered both tarnished brass and picket fence across the paper using the Tim Holtz splatter brush.

A close-up.  I love how the light catches the metallic spots as the package moves.

Next I created a trio of tags to hang on the package.  The tags look wonderful on the package and I also allowed extra room for putting the name and/or a note to the recipient.

The largest tag is a #8 Distress Heavystock tag.  I sprayed it with the olive Gloss Spray and dried it.

Using the Merry Christmas background image I stamped with Embossing Ink and embossed with Rose Gold powder.  If you place the stamp rubber side up, ink it, and take your tag to the stamp, you can get the words lined up straight across the tag.

Finally I inked over the tag with Distress Ink Evergreen bough to add a bit more color. After inking I wiped the tag with a dry paper towel to remove any excess ink.  Later (not shown in this picture) I sponged pine needles Distress Paint onto the edges of the tag. 

The middle tag is a #5 size.  I didn't have one so I used the Sizzix Stacked Tag die set to cut one from Mixed Media Heavystock.

I turned the plaid background stamp face up, used a sponge to "ink" the stamp with Distress Paint mustard seed, laid the tag onto the stamp (this allowed me to line up the image with the tag for straight lines), covered the tag with a scrap piece of paper, pressed well and carefully removed the paper and the tag. I then stenciled 3 poinsettias onto the tag in the same way I did the wrapping paper, added gold paint dots to the centers of the poinsettias and sponged the edge of the tag with gold. 

For the smallest tag I used a mini brayer to add worn lipstick paint to the tag, splattered with Gloss Spray olive, inked the edges with crushed olive Distress Ink, and sponged the very edge with pine needles paint.  

A Christmas clippings sticker was added to the smallest tag.  All 3 tags were splattered with Picket Fence Distress Paint and then tied together with jute.

I used the new Sizzix Tim Holtz Bigz die, Festivities, to die cut the pieces for the embellishment on the package.  I cut the die twice from Mixed Media Heavystock paper.  One flower was painted with worn lipstick and the other with victorian velvet.  Barn door was added to the centers of the petals using a sponge.  Details (vein lines) were added using flower tools and mats.  A stylus and piece of chipboard would also work.  The greens were sprayed with Distress Spray Stain mowed lawn and Gloss Spray olive and allowed to air dry.  Both the flowers and the greens were splattered with Picket Fence.

The center pieces were painted with mustard seed and once dry the edges inked with evergreen bough.

After attaching all the pieces together they were sprayed with Distress Resist Spray and dusted with Rock Candy Dry Glitter using the Glitter Duster.

I dyed some vintage ribbon with a combination of Distress Spray Stain and Gloss Spray.  I put the ribbon in a plastic bag, sprayed in the colors along with just a little water, and worked it around.

Once colored I put the ribbon on a paper towel, squeezed it just a bit and then left it to dry.

I wrapped both jute and the ribbon around the gift, added the tags and the embellishment.  A beautifully wrapped gift for someone special in your life.

Just in case you're wondering, no, I don't actually have a Christmas gift ready and wrapped.  I used removable tape for this project so I can take it all apart and really use it once I'm ready for that.

I do hope you like this project and that you picked up some ideas even if you don't want to create a whole ensemble.  If you have time, I'd love to hear what you think in a comment.

Many thanks to Linda and the team for allowing me to be your guest designer!!!

Hugs,  Wanda