BBTB2 Gnome for the Holidays

Happy Monday, everyone! Mine is gonna stink. I have a dentist's appointment that would have been just a routine cleaning but I added a filling replacement without realizing exactly what day or time it was. (The beauty of retirement.) Seriously, an 11:30 am appt. is the worst. Ruins your whole day, not to mention I'll be starved before my mouth feels normal enough to chew. That, along with the 2 other DT projects I need to get done and I'm SCREWED! Sorry, just had to vent. Of course I'm not even close to finishing my decorating. I could go on and on. At least I'll get this posted and you all can feel smug about your Monday which HAS to be better than mine.

Our gorgeous and multi talented Design Team Sister Julia chose the BBTB2 challenge this week; the wreath from Joys of the Season. She wrote a beautiful explanation of the symbolism of the wreath and what did I do? I stuck it on a garden gnome from Freshly Picked. OOPS! Sorry Julia! Had I known that, I would have done something far more elegant. LOL I made a shaped card in Cricut Design Studio by welding the shadow of the wreath and gnome and layered accordingly. The DP is Me & My Big Ideas and the card stock is Bazzil and Stampin' Up (thanks Lillie!) I just got a new Cuttlebug Cricut Companion folder set for Give a Hoot and that cool beard texture was part of the set and it's a 5x7 folder too. WooHoo! I just know I'm gonna be using this one alot. It didn't even sit unopened for one day!

Used a bit of Swiss Dots on his hat and booties too. Although most of this is inked with Faded Burlap Distressed ink, I used Copics on the wreath. It's a much easier way to add detail. His face and hands are colored with Copics too. Didn't have any flesh toned card stock. Not quite as much dimension as usual but it looks like more IRL.

Okay, I know the sentiment is cheesy, but I just couldn't help myself. A little note about the inside: When you're doing a bunch of layering on the outside, I feel stongly about balancing it inside with at least one mat. It help is stand up better and keeps it from feeling flimsy. In the case of a shaped card, I weld the regular cuts (not shadows) together to get an inside mat. (You may have to had some contours or fill in gaps with other shapes but it certainly adds the sturdiness you need. Then I matted the computer generated sentiment using my Nesties Labels One dies and inked the white one while it was still in the die. Now go see the gorgeous wreaths the rest of the Design Team created at BBTB2 and come play along. You may use any wreaths from any cartridge if you don't have Joys of the Season. P.S. I'm way behind on my commenting too so I have to apologize. Not sure when I'm gonna catch up, though (New Years?) Also apologize for the long post. Pretty darn wordy for someone who's got tons to get done! LATER!