Wintery Thanks!

Happy New Year, THD fans!  We have an inspiring first week of January over here and I hope you have seen our wintery challenge for this month!

Today I have a holiday thank you fitting for the season and featuring Brushos!  Have you tried these yet?  I finally had a chance to break into mine and experiment over the holiday break-- they are so much fun and fairly easy to manipulate.

First I shook some Emerald green Brushos onto dry Tim Holtz watercolor paper, being fairly deliberate about where I applied the crystals, as I wanted more of a splattered and multi-colored look with white space, rather than a blended watercolor look which is easily achieved with these.

That is what is great about Brushos-- you can really manipulate the crystals, so more effects are achieved than what you get when just using watercolors or Distress inks.

They remind me of Pop Rocks-- without the fizzing.  I don't, however, recommend eating them!

After applying crystals, I spritzed them using a Mini-Mister, from about 6 inches directly above for a fine mist, then close up for larger water droplets.  The distance had an effect on the response of the crystals.  I tried not to use too much water so I would get a more mottled effect.

I blended in some placeswith a wet brush, and for the very dark green, I picked up some crystals on a wet brush and applied here and there.

After about 30 minutes of drying time, I cut my branches.  Note that if some of the crystals don't disolve, you can just gently brush them off with a dry brush.  But be careful as they will stain everything if you have any moisture-- on brush or finger!

I adhered my branches to a Gold Delicata inked, heat embossed, and fussy cut vellum Concord and 9th Tree Ring (you all know by now just how much I love this stamp!!).

While I have used some other products here for my branches, flower, and embossed background, there are some great alternatives in the store that would look amazing.  The Avery Elle Pinecone Die would work beautifully with this card design atop the tree ring, as would the Altenew Poinsettia Stamp and Die set!

The sentiment is from Concord and 9th's Brushed Blossoms.

Tonya's currently out of the Avery Elle Dotted Border Die, but you could use the Avery Elle Snow Caps dies to cut a similar curved border-- and this set is so versatile and fun!

Alternate Product Options available in store for CASEing my card:

Love My Tapes Gold Stripe washi

Richard Garay Knit Embossing Folder

That's it for me today! Hope you were inspired to start your new year with some new techniques and products!  Thanks for joining me today!