CADB Design Team: O Tannenbaum

The theme this week at Card A Day Blog is "Christmas Around the World" and after some brainstorming, I decided to pay homage to my German ancestry. What favorite symbol of Christmas started as a German tradition? Why, the Tannenbaum, known in English as the Christmas tree, of course! This card celebrates the transformation of a simple pine tree into a gloriously bedecked symbol of the season.

The Details:

• I found sheet music of the traditional Christmas carol, "O Tannenbaum", at Free Vintage Clipart. I printed it on standard office paper, sprayed it with Krylon Workable Fixatif to set the ink, distressed the edges with my Tim Holtz paper distresser, crinkled it, rolled the edges, and finally aged it with Old Paper Distress Ink.
• The pine tree image is from The Graphics Fairy and was printed on moss cardstock and sprayed with fixative. Before trimming to size, I glued the cardstock to a scrap of cereal box cardboard, then distressed and aged the edges with Old Paper. 
• To deck my tree, I wound gold cord around as "garland", then added dots of Fired Brick Distress Stickles for "ornaments". Touches of fine crystal glitter give the hint of snow or flocking. And the whole thing is topped off with a "star" that was originally a shiny star burst sequin that I antiqued with Gold Mixative and Mushroom Alcohol Inks, then accented with a antique brass brad.

• Next time you're at Michael's, pick up some of this green ribbon! I think this is my third or fourth roll...it's reversible with two great shades of green to choose from.  
• The chipboard label started off raw. I colored it with Pumice Stone Distress Stain, then lightly brushed on some Brushed Corduroy DS. I LOVE coloring chipboard with Distress Stains! So quick and easy and dry with the blast of a heat gun! I stamped "Merry Christmas" in Jet Black StazOn, then applied Rock Candy Distress Crackle paint...thin where the words are and thick along the edges as if the whole thing is icing over. That didn't look quite frosty enough for me, so I added chunky crystal glitter to the edges too.

• The red bracket was some unattractive chipboard accent (not raw), that I decided to custom color with alcohol inks and layer on the label.

Challenges:
Totally Paper Crafts: Week #92 - Victorian
Sweet Stamps: Challenge #40 - Red, Green & Gold


Supplies:
Cardstock: Stampin’ Up! ‘Sage Shadow’, ‘Always Artichoke’
Pattern Paper: K&Co ‘Christmas Cheer’
Image: pine tree – The Graphics Fairy; O Tannenbaum sheet music - Free Vintage Clipart
Stamps: SU! ‘All Year Cheer’
Inks: Alcohol Ink ‘Oregano’, ‘Red Pepper’, ‘Mushroom’, ‘Aqua’, ‘Gold Mixative’; Distress Ink ‘Old Paper’, ‘Forest Moss’; Distress Stain ‘Pumice Stone’, ‘Brushed Corduroy’; StazOn ‘Jet Black’
Embellishments: Distress Crackle Paint ‘Rock Candy’; JoAnn glitter; Michael’s ribbon; gold cord; SU! brads; starburst sequin; Distress Stickles ‘Fired Brick’; chipboard tag, chipboard bracket; Martha Stewart crystal fine glitter
Tools: spray adhesive, Krylon Workable Fixatif; deckle scissors; 3M foam tape; Tim Holtz paper distresser; foam and felt ink blending tools; tweezers; heat tool
Misc: cardboard