Happy Anniversary, Emerald Creek!

Servus, dear crafting friends!

This is the second post I am sharing with you today - so if you haven't already seen my project and invitation for our September challenge over at SanDee&amelie's Steampunk Challenges, I would like to ask you to scroll to the previous post after reading this one and check out my little steampunk make too.

But this post is all about the anniversary of Emerald Creek Dares! Yay! One year has passed so quickly and our lovely boss, Kim, has been so busy working and I wish her another amazing year equally filled with joy and success on all her endeavours as has been this one!!!

Emerald Creek Dares are celebrating this wonderful event by hosting a month long "Anything Goes" challenge with more inspiration to come throughout the month. So stay tuned!

There's a $50 voucher to spend at the Emerald Creek online store waiting for the winner and the Top3 will get a 20% discount off their next shopping too! So don't miss the chance and play along! Anything Goes challenges are so much fun!!!!

I decided to create a tag and use the "Happy Frog" stamp from the Emerald Creek range alongside some other goodies that are available at the Emerald Creek store - like the exclusive Emerald Creek embossing powders Kim creates! These are absolutely fantastic to play with!

Here's a list of products used on my tag. They are all available at the Emerald Creek online store!

EC Supplies used:

Happy Frog stamp

Metal Angelfish brad

Metal Hearts brad

St. Paddy's Day EC embossing powder

other supplies used available at Emerald Creek:

Distress paint - barn door, mustard seed, wild honey, spiced pumpkin, twisted citron, picked raspberry

Distress stain - antique linen

Distress ink -  shabby shutters

Distress crayon - walnut stain

I created the tag's background by using Tim Holtz' marbling technique using Distress paints. 

Then I added some splatters of black soot Distress paint using a splatter brush. 

For an even more aged look I inked my tag using a blending tool and shabby shutters Distress ink and then flicked some drops of water on the tag (well known as Tim Holtz' wrinkle free distress or flick'n spritz technique). 

The frog was stamped in black archival ink and "water-coloured" using various tones of Distress stains and a soft brush. 

The little crown was die cut and covered with gold Distress Glitter. 

The banner was die cut and then inked with antique linen Distress stain. Once that was dry I added the handwriting using a very fine tip black china ink marker. 

The silver heart brad was customized using Distress paint to make it match the colour scheme of my tag. 

The edges of the tag were darkened with walnut stain Distress Crayon (as the Distress inks don't stick too well with the Distress paints..so the Distress Crayons give a much darker effect).

The die cut laurel wreath was heat embossed using Emerald Creek's lovely St. Paddy's Day embossing enamel. Then all the parts were fixed to the tag using matte medium and sticky foam pads. 

Thanks for stopping by (again) today - I hope to see you join in both challenges (the one over at Emerald Creek Dares AND the other at SanDee&amelie's Steampunk Challenges) soon!

Hugs and happy crafting,

Claudia 

xxx