Being Thankful -- Part II

I promised a three-post series.  Well ... that has unfortunately been compressed to a two-post series.  Life has a way of taking over my plans.  So, I am back to wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving from the US with my 2nd post on being thankful. 

As I said in my previous post, I was inspired by my family.  It is my biggest blessing and I thank God for them.  The techniques and materials that I used for my "thankful" card sort of spilled over onto some Thanksgiving-themed decor pieces for our upcoming Thanksgiving get-together.  The first piece is a a decorated grapevine wreath.  I started with some grunged flowers made Tim Holtz's Tattered Pinecone die and Tattered Flower Garland strip.  I began with some mixed media paper that I stained with a mixture of Ripe Persimmon and Spiced Marmalade Distress Stain.  This was cut with the pinecone die and distressed with sandpaper and Walnut Stain Distress Ink.   The centers are just yellow cardstock cut from the tattered flower garland strip.  Tim Holtz Ideaology Gum Drops, colored with yellow and Caramel Alcohol ink, were adhered with Matte Multi Medium in the middle.  At the bottom of the wreath, these flowers were accessorized with raffia, lace, and some tattered "greenery" from the aforementioned dies.

Tim's Family Die amazingly fit right in the middle of this grapevine wreath!  I used the die to cut two thin chipboard sheets.  I then cut the Tim Holtz Woodgrain cardstock that I wanted to use.  I lined up the die cut images and glued together the three layers (the two chipboard pieces on bottom and the Woodgrain piece on top).  I trimmed the layered piece to the rectangular sign shape that I wanted in the center of my wreath.  The edges of the die cut "FAMILY" were colored with Ground Espresso Distress Marker.  I colored the woodgrain cardstock with Distress Crayons in a variety of  brown hues and Black Soot. A thin layer of Gloss Multi Medium was used to give the "wood" a varnished look.  The sign was completed with a piece of dictionary-print scrapbook paper (I can't remember who made the paper ... sorry!  It was in a remnants box that I keep.)  I used the distress marker to outline the Die Cut on the paper.  Another cardstock tattered flower was added to the top of the sign and I was finished with the sign.  I hot glued it to the back of the wreath.

The top of the wreath was adorned with more pinecone flowers, including a rose made from the same die and multi media paper stained with a mixture of Ripe Persimmon and Abandoned Coral Distress Stain.  More laces, other trimmings, pine "branches" made from mercury glass printed paper, and a chitchat "blessing" sticker were added.  I wanted a little more movement on the piece. I grabbed my wire again; this time it was swiped with Walnut Stain, Barn Door and Mustard Seed Distress Paint.

Now let's talk about the second decor piece that I made.  My mother's favorite animal is an owl.  I found a lovely wood and metal figurine at Michaels.  I knew it would make wonderful Thanksgiving piece for her kitchen.  I used the left over Tim Holtz recipe-printed paper from my card and covered the face of the owl.  This time I used Distress Crazing Collage Medium.  Love this stuff!  Of course this was grunged with sand paper and Distress Crayons in various brown hues!

I was trying to think of what to use to embellish the owl's face.  I found some vintage bottle caps for the eyes.  Sunflowers and black-eyed susans are my mom's favorite flowers.  So I used some Jolie floral embellishments colored to look like these lovely fall flowers to be the irises of the eyes.  The beak was more of a challenge.  And then I found the guitar pick in my stash.  My dad, who is no longer with us, loved to play the guitar.  I colored it with orange alcohol ink and we had a beak!  More raffia and orange twine set off the cutest pumpkin charm (that came free in an order from the Funkie Junkie Boutique last year -- Thanks Linda!) around the neck of this adorably grunged owl.

The back was covered with more Ideaology paper and stickers that spelled out my mom's initials.

Here is a final project of the entire owl.  So cute.

Well, that's it before I hit the road for Thanksgiving.  I am going to enter my decor efforts in Frilly and Funkie's Give Thanks! Challenge. 

I have so much to be thankful for and you, dear crafty friends, are up there at the top of my list!  -- Mary Elizabeth