Have a Merry, Grungy Steampunk Christmas!

Servus and welcome to my very first post as a proud member of the fantastic Emerald Creek Dares DT!

With this challenge lovely Kim Evans (my new boss) and all the ladies from the DT want to wish you a safe and happy holiday - and so do I!
The aim of this challenge is also to celebrate the holidays around the world and learn a bit of the traditions and other things we all love about this favourite season of the year.

My family and I celebrate Christmas on the evening of the 24th December...by lighting candles on the decorated tree, singing Christmas carols, unwrapping presents (which is accompanied by a lot of "ooohs", "aaahs" and "yays") and having lovely food like roast duck or Wiener Schnitzel with our traditional "French Salad" afterwards.

Many people in Austria also have fondue on Christmas eve and quite a lot of Austrians have simple bratwurst with sauerkraut (which is mainly a habit in the countryside). I am more the roast duck type, but enjoying a tasty bratwurst on an advent market (alongside some hot and sweet punch) is something I love too.

So here's my card with which I want to wish you all a safe and happy Christmas:

I was mainly inspired by the gorgeous Christmas Tree and Victorian- and Mini Victorian Snowflake charms from Emerald Creek. I knew immediately that I had to make one of the beautiful snowflake charms the topping star on my grunge Christmas tree!

The tree shape was cut from a sheet of Nostalgic Kraft Core by using Tim Holtz'  Sizzix Evergreen die. My sentiment was cut from Kraft-Core too, using the gorgeous Tim Holtz Thinlits "Handwritten Holidays" die set.

The background was made by sticking pieces of Ranger Metal Foil Tape Sheets onto some cardboard and running it through my Sizzix using the Tim Holtz Riveted Metal embossing folder.

To cover the white spots with a metal tone too I dabbed on some brushed pewter Distress Stain and wiped back the excess on the foil tape with a soft damp cloth. I knew that even if it both looked silver-y the foil tape areas would react differently to paints and stains than the areas with just the brushed pewter on them. Adding a bit of "randomness" this way always helps with adding more depth and detail to grunge projects! It is as if you trick yourself and thus prevent yourself from working too neatly (which always looks kind of "strange" with grunge projects).

 After that had dried I dabbed on some Antiqued Bronze Distress Paint and sprayed it with water to create drip lines.

As I always try to make most of my paints I decided to swipe my cut out tree through the run down paint on my desk. That also helped blend in my tree with the metal looking background.

While my tree was drying, I dabbed on more Antiqued Bronze and Black Soot Distress paint to my background, wiped some of it off with my cloth or went back in to add more with other spots until I was content with the look.

I also used the Antiqued Bronze Distress Paint to make my silver snowflake charm match the bronze look of my background.

As I found the loops on my charms weren't needed for use on my card I simply cut them off using large cutting pliers.

The die cut sentiment was swiped through some Brushed Pewter Distress Stain on my Ranger Craft Sheet to blend it in as well.

Next I sprinkled some diluted Barn Door and Picket Fence Distress Paint onto my tree using a soft fine tip brush.

To make my tree shape stand out from the background I dabbed some more Picket Fence Distress Paint on and spread it with my fingers. While it was still wet I wiped back most of it, moving my cloth from the outside towards the center of my card thus creating a kind of shading.

For a finish I glued the tree, my sentiment and the charms in place and dabbed some Black Soot Distress Paint around the outer edges of my card to create a visible "frame" that draws the focus towards the center.

To tone down the clean white edges of the card I wanted my finished piece to mount onto, I loosely dabbed on some Antiqued Bronze Distress Paint here and there.

The last finishing touch was to add some half pearls for a little more bling.

Voilá! 

 If you hop over to

you will find more inspirational projects made by my teamies! By playing along you also get the chance to win a fantastic $25 voucher for the Emerald Creek online store! (they ship world-wide by the way ;)

 I hope you have enjoyed your visit with my little creative spot!

I wish you all the most wonderful Christmas eve and holidays!!! 

Hugs and happy crafting,

Claudia 

xxx