Starry, Starry Night...

Well, actually it is! I'm writing this post at midnight hoping it will appear bright and early Monday morning (which is theoretically now if it works and you're reading this!) Bright and early she says. Very unlike myself (sorry, cue sigh if you're at work) as I'll be in bed indulging in the art of 'The Big Sleep In". The body, mind and soul need a little off-duty time. Whilst I am away with the fairies, I'll leave you with the new theme over at Simon Says Stamp & Show! We want to see Stars! If you can just send Michael Bublé over, that'll do very nicely indeedily.

I'm not quite sure if my idea came from a Christmas or cookie fantasy but I do know I love working with metal and alcohol inks. I decided to alter some cookie cutters as I thought they could make some great Festive decorations. I started by colouring the cutter with Alcohol inks using an old paintbrush to spread the ink well and get into all the corners.

Then I stuck a piece of Ranger Metal Foil Sheet to card and embossed it with the Textile folder from Cuttlebug which could well be may favourite one. I used the same Alcohol inks to colour the foil, dripping them on and just letting them run and mix feely. Then I marked and cut out the star, soon discovering that getting a good fit was a bit of a game. Each cutter and corner is slightly different, they bend easily when handled and seem to constantly change size by a few millimetres. So it's a bit by bit, trim, wangle and fiddle game!

I pushed the star two thirds of the way in and then added various decorations. The first is simply an inky Philosophy tag, and on the second I cut 'noel' using Tim's Typeset die. On the third I stamped 'joy' onto metal using Stazon ink, trimmed them to fit behind some Charm Clips and then filled them with Glossy Accents. Glossy stuff indeed, they're like three little swimming pools!

I was going to drill holes to turn them into hanging tree decorations, but I actually prefer them standing at the moment. I didn't fancy a last minute disaster either! I also have some angel shaped ones which I might get done by Christmas Eve. I'm a rusty-look fan but I think you could have some real colourful fun with all the other Alcohol inks or even paint. So there we go, that's my take on stars!

Do check out the Design Team blog to see lots more fabulous star struck ideas! Every week we're looking for our top three artists and Simon Says are also giving away a great $50 shopping spree. On top of that it's also great fun to see all your creations and takes on the theme. Now I know December is tapping at the window, but make a little time to play too! Rightio, I'm up, up and away and will be seeing you very soon (I promise to get up before lunch...) Sarah.