12 Days of Ornaments - Day 5

Hi all! Day 5 and I'm still alive! I am also pretty thrilled about today's ornament. I have a confession - I am a slob. It's not that I don't like things neat and organized. I do. But I get very carried away when I create. I never put things away because it would mean interrupting my creative flow...even worse, I never throw anything away.

When I was thinking of today's ornament, I wanted to do a metal variation of my faux ruler technique using Tim Holtz's Rulers Texture Fade from Sizzix. Except I couldn't find it. The one folder I needed and it was nowhere to be found! And I usually keep my Texture Fades very organized. I rifled through piles and combed through stacks. In one of the piles I found a stamped scrap where I'd used Tim's measuring tape stamp. It all clicked - I could stamp and emboss the rulers! - and a star was born. Here's how I made my faux metal rulers:

Begin by stamping the ruler image onto metal foil tape using black pigment ink. Emboss with Ranger's black embossing powder.

Next, cut out the individual rulers and paint with Picket Fence Distress Paint. When they are mostly dry, gently wipe some of the paint off the embossed areas.

Cut strips of chipboard or mat board to the size of the embossed tape and adhere the tape to the strips. Paint the edges with Black Soot Distress Paint. If the numbers seem too faint, use a sanding block to carefully sand off some of the paint.

Pierce holes in the rulers using a craft pick or punch. Line the rulers up as shown to determine where to place the holes. Use brads to attach the rulers, forming them into a star shape.

Finally, paint idea-ology Alpha Parts letters to spell 'joy' with red acrylic paint and adhere to star. Attach a length of jute twine to create a hanger. Dab a bit of white paint on the brads so they blend in. You also might want to add a touch of glue or a glue dot between a couple of the rulers to keep it all in place.

So, what do you think of today's happy accident? I honestly owe most of my ideas to my messiness. If I don't have things out where I can see them, I forget I have them. And all those scraps and bits from discarded projects? You never know when they'll be just the thing to get your mojo off and running!

All the supplies I used can be found at Inspiration Emporium via the links below. Don't forget to use my coupon code - stamptramp - to save 10% on your order.

Artful Tools Rubber Stamp Set	Inkssentials Metal Foil Tape	Black Embossing Powder	Versafine - Black	Distress Paint - Picket Fence
Distress Paint - Black Soot	idea-ology Alpha Parts - Newsprint	idea-ology Jute String	Idea-ology Long Fasteners	Vagabond

InLinkz.com

Above are the first four ornaments in this series. Be sure and check them out if you've missed any! I'll see you tomorrow for Day 6.

Have a great weekend!