That's Life

Monday, 18 June 2018

Every Detail Of Their Journey...

Hello friends and welcome to the brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge! This week we are asking you to Transport It and however you choose to interpret the theme, whether that be with trains, planes or automobiles or maybe you want to do some time traveling in a place far, far away ~ we can't wait to see your wonderful projects and creations!

For my project, I chose to transport you to a tropical paradise, a place where adventure awaits the family in the photo and every detail of their journey in 1948 is documented within this vintage style tag full of layers and dimension.

So, let's get started because it's time for the new challenge!

I started by prepping the background for my tag, a medium sized Etcetera tag which I love to use as these tags are so robust and can take all the mediums that will be added.

I began by adhering a piece of paper from the Correspondence paper stash using a Collage Brush to apply the Matte Collage Medium to the paper. I then used a sanding tool to burnish the edges of the paper to create a smooth finish before applying a coat of the medium over the top and attaching the hole reinforcer which is painted with Ground Espresso and Antique Linen Distress Paints.

Once the medium is completely dry, I used a palette knife to apply Crackle Texture Paste around the edges of the tag. Set the tag aside and wait for the crackles to appear and whilst this magic is happening, I moved onto prepping the vignette frame.

For this I used the largest in the set of four frames and applied a coat of gesso to the surface. I heat dried the medium and then used a combination of Antique Linen and Pumice Stone Distress Paints as a base layer on the frame. Once the paint is dry, I then dry brushed Ground Espresso DP over the top, dried the final layer before adding a touch of Aged Brass Alchemy Wax.

The crackles should now have appeared on the tag and to accentuate these, I used a blending tool to apply Ground Espresso Ink over the top of the crackles and then used a damp cloth to gently wipe away any excess ink. By doing this, the residue of ink should soak into the crackles. To finish the tag, I ran the Ground Espresso Distress Crayon around the edges and blended out any harsh lines with my finger.

Now to build up the layers and I began by attaching some Ephemera pieces from the Expedition set, together with torn pieces of Design Tape and collaged them directly onto my background using Collage Medium. I finished off by adding some shading and paint layers around the pieces and stamping a postmark from the Correspondence Stamp Set.

I aged a photo from the Found Relatives Occasions set by using a sanding tool around the edges and across the photo to create scratches. I wanted to keep this photo black and white, no added colour but I did apply small amounts of Vintage Collage Medium to random areas, just to age the image slightly before attaching the photo to the frame and adhering the frame over the top of the layered ephemera pieces.

Add a few splatters of Black Soot Distress Paint across the surface and set aside to move onto the flowers.

For these, you need to use both sizes of the flower dies from the Tropical Thinlits set to die cut lightweight card. I then painted the die cuts with a combination of Candied Apple, Carved Pumpkin and Picked Raspberry Distress Paint, allowed the paint to dry before misting with the Pearl Mica Spray from Wendy Vecchi's Mica Spray Set.

I then shaped the petals and using three petals for each flower, I layered the two sizes to create my hibiscus flowers, making six flowers in total. For the centres of each flower I attached the stamens cut from the flower dies and then placed the pistil, cut from black card in the centre. To complete the flowers, I added a dome of Glossy Accents and sprinkled black micro beads over the top. Allow the centres to dry thoroughly, as these need to be set before you touch them.

For the foliage, I used Mixed Media Card. I applied Evergreen Bough and Forest Moss Distress Oxide Inks and Shabby Shutters Distress Ink to my Mixed Media Mat and then misted with water before swiping the card through the inks. Heat dry and then use both leaf dies to die cut the card. Ink the edges of the die cuts with Gathered Twigs.

I can now attach my flowers to the tag and arranged these, together with the leaves, sisal fibres and some twigs to the top right and bottom left corners of my frame. I also added some Melange Pebbles, which I painted with acrylic paints.

You can see the dimension that these give to this piece in the photo below.

To finish my tag, I added a mini plaquette, clippings sticker, 'Every Detail Of Their Journey' and a quote chip, 'Adventure Awaits' and placed these above and below the frame...

...before finishing with a hinge clip and swivel fastener, clipped to the side of the frame complete with some charms including a typed token, compass and metal gear.

I hope you love the creative process behind this project and enjoyed my interpretation of the challenge theme ~ it was such a fun piece to make and as always, I've loved sharing some tips and techniques that I've used to bring this project together.

Don't forget, you can find more inspiration from my talented teamies over on the challenge blog and every week, one lucky random participant has the chance to win a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp. You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in and good luck....

Thank you so much for stopping by today and I'll see you very soon!

Love Emma xxx

Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz/Sizzix Dies: Tropical
Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Stamps: Correspondence

Distress Paint: Antique Linen, Ground Espresso, Black Soot, Pumice Stone, Candied Apple, Picked Raspberry, Carved Pumpkin
Distress Crayons: Black Soot, Ground Espresso
Distress Oxide Inks: Forest Moss, Evergreen Bough
Distress Inks: Ground Espresso, Gathered Twigs, Shabby Shutters

Idea-ology: Clippings Stickers, Quote Chip, Mini Plaquette, Found Relative Occasions, Vignette Frame, Expedition Ephemera, Snippets, Typed Token, Swivel Clasp, Hinge Clip, Souvenir Adornments, Journey Design Tape

Mediums: Gesso, Matte Collage Medium, Vintage Collage Medium, Glossy Accents, Wendy Vecchi Mica Spray

Surfaces: Etcetera Tag, Correspondence Paper Stash

Tim Holtz Media Glass Mat
Big Shot Plus

Heat Gun
Sisal Fibres, Micro Beads and Moss from my own stash

Monday, 11 June 2018

One Of The Best

Hello friends and welcome to a brand new challenge over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog! This week our theme is called ~ ANYTHING BUT A CARD! So, with the clue in the title and with a wide open brief, we would love for you to join us and hope you'll play along...

For my project, I created a very special gift for my Dad for Father's Day using Tim Holtz Vignette Boxes as a base for this piece of home decor that I will be filling with my Dad's favourite chocolates but can then be used as a trinket box for anything that he wants to pop inside. It also gave me another chance to use one of my favourite products at the moment ~ the 3D Texture Fades! These are just amazing and the depth and detail of the embossing is second to none, if you love embossing folders then you will fall deeply in love with these!

So, it's time for the new challenge to begin and hope you'll read along to see how I created this project.

To begin with, I started with the boxes and the lids and taking the second largest size of both boxes in the set, I then used Humidor Design Tape which I absolutely LOVE and adhered this around the raw edges to create the look of an old cigar box. I then covered the outside of the box in metal to create an old fashioned trunk. To do this, I used foil metal sheets adhered to card, placed the metal sheets inside the Foundry 3D Texture Fade and then ran it through my Big Shot. For this you box, I used one sheet of the foil but had plenty of left over to store in my box and use for a future project.

I then altered my metal to create this vintage, antique look by first applying a layer of Antiqued Bronze Distress Paint, allowing it to become slightly tacky before wiping the paint away with a soft cloth and then applying a layer of Black Soot Distress Paint over the top. Again, allowing the paint to become slightly tacky before removing it with a cloth but ensuring that the paint gets into all the nooks and crevices of the embossed areas. Once the painted surface is dry, I then cut the metal sheets to cover the top and sides of the box.

I attached the metal using Matte Collage Medium and then using a small amount of Aged Brass and Old Silver Alchemy Waxes, I applied these to the embossed metal to accentuate the raised areas.

To complete this part of the box, I added some metal embellishments, Hex Fasteners and Mini Hardware to the lid, Mini Foundations to the bottom and added a lock to the side.

For the next stage and moving onto the smallest box in the set, which will eventually sit on top...I covered this box with papers from the Dapper Paper Stash, sanding the edges slightly to create a worn effect and then inking them with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink. I then attached the small box centrally onto my metal covered lid.

I then took the corresponding lid and applied some more of tape from the Humidor set but this time using a different design and placed this around the raw edge of the lid before attaching a panel of the embossed metal to cover the surface.

Taking the smallest Vignette Frame, I applied a layer of gesso over the surface to prime it and then painted it with a blend of Walnut Stain, Antiqued Bronze and Black Soot Distress paints before adding a touch of Aged Brass Alchemy Wax to accentuate the beading.

Place the frame over the top of the top of the vignette panel to form the lid for the smaller box. You will also see from the photo below that I lined the box with some more papers from the Dapper Paper Stash which just makes it look more professional and gives a lovely finish inside.

Finally, I added a quote chip to the front of the smaller box.

Now to move onto the embellishments and for this, you can use anything you choose ~ you can add completely different embellishments to the ones I used or you can make it personal to the recipient and add a photo of them ~ it's entirely up to you!

...but for my project, I chose to use a Trophy Cup, altered with Distress Paints to make it look lovely and rusty and which I would fill with a few Tim Holtz bits and pieces.

I began by making a rosette, cutting paper from the Etcetera stash using the largest of the Rosette dies. I attached the rosette to a cocktail stick, adhered to the back and added a Milk Cap Label to both sides of the rosette to hide the stick. I then popped this into the cup which has a piece of foam placed inside. I added a Photo Booth image, complete with a clippings sticker attached to it and added this to the arrangement, together with some moss.

I added an adornment star painted with Broken China Distress Paint, a hat pin and some linen ribbon dyed with Candied Apple Distress Spray. To finish the arrangement, I attached a story stick to the bow and added a label complete with a 'love' tiny text remnant rub sticker.

Place the decorated trophy cup centrally on the top of the smaller box and then to finish, I added some Mirrored Stars and painted Adornment Stars around the base of the cup.

...and that completes this week's project, ready to give to my Dad on Sunday together with the card I made him.

I hope you've enjoyed this creative process of this fun project and don't forget, you can find more inspiration from my talented teamies over on the challenge blog and every week, one lucky random participant has the chance to win a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp. You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in and good luck....

Thank you so much for stopping by today and I'll see you very soon!

Love Emma xxx

Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz/Sizzix Dies and Texture Fade: Rosettes, Foundry 3D Texture Fade

Distress Spray Stain: Candied Apple

Tim Holtz Distress Paint: Broken China, Black Soot, Walnut Stain, Antiqued Bronze

Idea-ology: Clippings Stickers, Quote Chip, PhotoBooth, Trophy Cup, Mirrored Stars, Star Adornments, Vignette Box, Vignette Panel, Vignette Frame, Linen Ribbon, Hex Fasteners, Tiny Text Remnant Rubs, Story Stick, Mini Foundations, Locket Keys, Humidor Design Tape, Milk Caps

Mediums: Gesso, Matte Collage Medium,

Surfaces: Etcetera Stash, Metal Foil tape, Dapper Paper Stash

Moss

Prima/Finnabair Alchemy Wax: Aged Brass, Old Silver

Finnabair Mini Hardware

Tim Holtz Media Glass Mat

Big Shot Plus

Tim Holtz Guillotine

Heat Gun

Monday, 4 June 2018

All The World Is Bright...

Hello friends...

Hope you all had a lovely weekend and thanks so much for all the lovely comments you left me for last week's post and also thanks so much to each and everyone of you who took the time to wish me Happy Birthday ~ I was overwhelmed with all the messages and you really did make my day!

Today, is the start of a brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and this week, our theme is called ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL! The DT are also showcasing PaperArtsy products within their projects which is something you don't have to do if you join us but we'd love for you to play along and see your interpretation of the theme.

For my project, I chose to create a panel using a variety of PaperArtsy Infusions to make a 'bright' background for my vintage image and surrounding it with 'beautiful' butterflies which are from the Tim Holtz Flutter Set by Stampers Anonymous! I love how even though the background is bright, it still maintains a wonderful vintage feel which is the style I love and...ta~dah, I even used pink, which is something I very rarely do as I'm not a pink person, lol!!

So, it's time for the new challenge and let's get started with how I created this piece...

To begin with I cut a panel of watercolour card measuring 19.5 x 24.5cm. I then spritzed the card with a light misting of water and sprinkled my PaperArtsy Infusions Stains over the top, applying a combination of Are You Cerise, Golden Sands and Sunset Beach and concentrating on the central area of the panel as I wanted to leave white space around the outside. You don't need to use a lot of the crystals to create a background, it really is less is more and remember, you can always add more but not take it away! I allowed the crystals to disperse and the colour to appear before heat drying.

Once dry, I then applied torn pieces of tissue tape directly over the top, applied a layer of Matte Collage Medium and then scraped gesso over the top. Once again heat dry the mediums before adding Grit Paste through the Stitches Layering Stencil. Allow the paste to set and then sprinkle some more of the Infusions over the top of the paste, mist with water and gently heat set.

As a finishing touch, I added some stamping using stamps from the Special Delivery set.

My background is now complete and I can move onto the embellishments. I started with some Ephemera pieces from the Layers set and applied a coat of Vintage Collage Medium to the surface of each piece. Together with some inking around the edge, this just makes the ephemera pieces look that little bit more antique in their appearance and perfect as a backdrop for the rest of the layers to come.

I then added my Baseboard Frame, again altered with a little of the Vintage Collage Medium and inked around the edges. I attached a beautiful Photo Booth image behind the aperture and tied some twine around the frame.

To create more drama and dimension to this piece and before I attached it over the top of my ephemera pieces and a bed of sisal fibres, I placed a couple of die cut rosettes, cut from paper in the Etcetera Stash and attached these behind the frame together with some flowers from the Bouquet Findings that I dyed with Spun Sugar Distress Spray Stain. You can see how much dimension is in this piece in the photo below.

To complete the frame, I adhered a Clippings sticker, 'all the world is bright'.

For the finishing touch, and for the beautiful section of my panel ~ I added the butterflies from the Flutter Stamp Set by Tim Holtz.

All these butterflies are stamped onto watercolour card using Jet Black Archival Ink and are watercoloured with Distress Marker Pens. I then used the corresponding Sizzix die to die cut the images and shaped the wings before attaching them by their bodies to the panel.