Funkie Junkie 12 Tags of Christmas-"Tag" 1

So.. my friend Mitra ... she plays along with this Funkie Junkie 12 Tags of Christmas every year for a long time... and this year, she's "making" me play along too :).   And how could I not since she started me off so nicely with an awesome foundation!  It's basically 12 weeks of inspiration... a tag is posted and you use it to create yours... BUT... it doesn't HAVE to be a tag... and of course Mitra doesn't create tags.. and if you've never checked out her blog you must and I will give you a few links along the way here, but I suggest becoming a regular, because you're not only going to see some pretty awesome art, but it's a really good read too.. and I will admit to a tear being shed here and there.  ANYWAY!... in my usual style I didn't take a pic of my base before I got started so I'll share a pic that Mitra took before she shipped it off to me and at the bottom of the post a few choice links so you can check out her process.. without further ado... from a mere golf ball display shelf found at her local Restore she created this for me:

The jars are for her and you should check out this entire post here! (When you're done of course).

So here we go... my "Tag" #1

My plan is to fill up all of the shelves with a little something inspired by the tags.  They won't all be scenes.. but this one is!

I loved that I had bought these pretty pinecones on clearance last year.. they were perfect along with the glittery foliage cut using a Tim Holtz die (the larger one) and a Craftin Desert Divas die (the small ones).  They were perfect for the corner and I'm sure I'll be using more of all of these.

I was also very happy that I got those adorable reindeer and trees also on clearance after last Christmas... probably even before, because I'm sure the day after Christmas they were moving the Valentines display into the Christmas area... but Yay me!

I recently purchased some Tim Holtz word stickers which I LOVE and since the tag had some such words on it, I thought maybe I'd use one... and will probably use them in a few places on this piece.

And I went out in my backyard and spent just a "few" minutes looking for the perfect rock.  I forgot to mention that my for my "floor" I used a piece of green felt and glued it directly onto the shelf (funny because the back of this thing was originally covered in green felt...lolololol).  And then I glued on some cool Elements Earth Textures from Art Glitter (which happens to be located here in the Phoenix area!) and some Flower Soft in autumn colors.

I made the conscious decision not to cover the backdrop because I want as much as possible of that pretty papered background that Mitra covered the backing with to show when I'm done.  And you'll see that when this is all over.  Now.. I already have something in mind for #2 so I've got to get going!

There it is!  And I can't promise I won't be adding things as I go along, but for today, this is my #1.  Now!  Check out these:

The shelf before and after is here!

The shelf in all it's glory completely finished along with a look at Mitra's prior years' "tags".

And should you decide to play along, in order to be eligible for the participation discount and for the give-away at the end of the challenge, be sure to link back to the blog as well as the Funkie Junkie online store at http://www.thefunkiejunkie.com/