Wishing You All A Happy 2014

TO ALL MY FRIENDS AND FOLLOWERS ~ I WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY AND VERY HEALTHY NEW YEAR!!

Thank you for being there and for visiting my blog during 2013 and I hope 2014 brings you all you wish for and all your dreams come true!!

See you all in 2014 and I'm really looking forward to getting to know all the new faces that have joined my blog and continuing the friendships that I already have with so many of you!!!

Be safe tonight and I'll raise a glass to you all at midnight!

Love Emma xxx

My Year In Craft...

Hello friends!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and Santa gave you everything you could wish for but my heart goes out to all those who were affected by the storms and floods that battered the UK over the festive period. I can only imagine what those poor people are going through.

Today, I'm sharing my favourite posts of 2013 and what better time to do this than right now, when I can also welcome all my new followers who joined me after seeing my work last weekend, hello and welcome aboard!!! ...and where did they see my work ~ well, some of you may know that I was truly honoured to have my tag shared by Tim and Mario over on the Tim Holtz Facebook page and I can't thank everyone enough for all the love and wonderful comments that you shared with me!! I was blown away and you really did give me a huge Cheshire Cat smile!!!!!

So, without further ado....here we go ~ my favourite pieces of 2013!

JANUARY

In January, I couldn't have asked for a better start to the year than when Tim Holtz gave me a Blogworthy link with this Valentine tag that I created for The Artistic Stamper.

FEBRUARY

February ~ and I created this record sleeve and vinyl artwork for a Clarity Stamp TV show that was airing in Germany.

MARCH

In March, I made this mini album and if you click here, you can see the original post and all the work that was inside.

APRIL

In April, I was inspired by Tim's 12 Tags of 2013 and I created this tag and was one of the very lucky winners.

MAY

May saw me create this little shadow box using some gorgeous Sizzix, Tim Holtz Alterations dies.

JUNE

In June, I made this door hanger using the beautiful Tea Dance collection from Craftwork Cards.

JULY

...and it's another collection from Craftwork Cards that features in my July fave and for this piece, I used the stunning Time Flies.

AUGUST

I created this little mini gift card holder for The Artistic Stamper in August and once again, if you click here you can see all the detail on the original post.

SEPTEMBER

This month saw me getting ready for Halloween and I created this spooky Halloween pocket, where the tag pulls out from the holder.

OCTOBER

I created this little drawer box using the fabulous Steampunk Spells collection from Graphic 45.

NOVEMBER

November saw me in full Christmas mode and I loved making all my seasonal pieces but this has to be one of my favourites. I just loved making this slider tag and it turned out exactly how I pictured it in my head, which is something that very rarely happens in my little world. How something starts, isn't how it usually ends...lol!!

DECEMBER

This is the tag that Tim and Mario shared on the Tim Holtz Facebook page and it will always hold a special place in my heart. Thank you Tim ~ thank you Mario!!

So, I really hope you've enjoyed my little round up of my creations over the last 12 months and wonder if these are what you would pick too?!?

There is one more highlight of my year and that was in August, when I finally got to meet Tim and Mario and spend the most wonderful afternoon doing what I love best ~ getting inky!!!!

Thank you so much for dropping by today and thank you for all your support during 2013!! I couldn't have done it without you, without your comments and without all your visits!! You've been the best blogging buddies and followers I could have!!

2014 is going to see me embarking on some new exciting crafting adventures which I will be sharing with you very soon but for now....goodbye 2013!!!

See you all soon...love Emma xxx

Merry Christmas...

TO ALL MY FRIENDS AND FOLLOWERS

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU AND YOUR LOVED ONES!!

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR LOVE AND SUPPORT DURING 2013 ~ I APPRECIATE ALL YOUR VISITS AND EVERY SINGLE COMMENT YOU'VE LEFT!

I'm now signing off for a little well deserved break with my family over the holidays but take care everyone and I'll see you all on the other side ~ hope you have a wonderful Christmas time!!

Lots of love and as always thank you for popping by....Emma xxx

There Are Always Flowers...

"There are always flowers for those who want to see them" ~ Henri Matisse

Good morning everyone!

Hope you're all having a great weekend. Today, I'm sharing my penultimate post before Christmas and then, that's it from me as I'm off to have a good rest because I think I deserve it!!

Today's post is all about those gorgeous Tattered Poinsettias from Tim Holtz. I think you can say that I've definitely had my money's worth out of this die and that is exactly what I personally love about die cutting ~ a die is for life, not just for Christmas. You can use the dies over and over again as they are so versatile, and that's especially why I choose to work with and LOVE Sizzix, as those Bigz dies will cut through almost anything and everything, which is perfect for me as I'm always trying out new and different ideas!! As you've seen from my posts leading up to Christmas, you can use so many different surfaces to die cut from and then, by using texture and various mediums to decorate the surfaces, no two flowers will ever look the same. As always, I really hope you love this tag...

I went for something a little different on this tag and chose a metallic look. The poinsettias themselves are die cut from Grungepaper covered with adhesive foil sheets and then embossed in the Textured Poinsettia Texture Fade embossing folder. Once all the petals were embossed, I applied Alcohol Ink to the surface.

The tag itself is painted with Black Soot Distress Paint, dried and then I added a layer of Brushed Pewter over the top.

To complete the card, I added some rusty wire, an Idea-Ology Word Band and some seam binding that I hand dyed with Brushed Pewter Distress Stain.

So, that's it from me for today...there is cleaning, ironing and Christmas prep to be done...and I think Michael Buble will be serenading me as I do it!! I'll see you all tomorrow with my final post before Christmas but wish me luck with the food shopping/battle that needs to be done before then!!

Bye for now and happy Sunday...Love Emma xxx

Christmas Carols...

Hello friends...

Well, it's the last weekend before Christmas and I've got my presents wrapped and under the tree, cards have all been delivered and all that's left is for the house to be cleaned and then the dreaded last minute food shop at Tesco on Monday morning!!

In the meantime, I'm hoping to get a blog post on every day...I've got so many Christmas cards that I've made and wanted to share but I don't think I've got enough days!! So, I've saved a couple of the best until last and as always, I hope you love what I've made!!

This is the only card that I've actually made for family or friends and the honour went to my Mum and Dad. There's plenty of gorgeous Tim Holtz goodies to feast your eyes on...so, enjoy!

As you can see my favourite crafty item of corrugated cardboard makes an appearance and I used my favourite die of this season, the Victorian Carolers by Tim Holtz for Sizzix. I used kraft card as my base card and a snowflake stamp from Tim's Reindeer Flight stamp set to create the background for the main image.

I added the die cut Holiday Lamp Post, which I painted with Black Soot Distress Paint and decorated with Festive Foliage die cuts, added a little hint of snow and the Victorian Carolers die cuts. To complete the card, I used the wreath from the Idea-ology Woodland set and dyed it green, then added some seam binding and a few pearls to complete it.

Finally, I used one of the Idea-Ology Word Bands and some of Tim's gorgeous Linen Ribbon. 

So, did my Mum and Dad like their card? Yep...they loved it and it's now in pride of place in their living room.

Thank you all for popping by today and taking time out of your busy schedules. See you tomorrow with another post but until then....have a wonderful weekend and bye for now!

Love Emma xxx

My favourite Artistic Stamper pieces and a sad goodbye...

Good morning everyone...

Today, on The Artistic Stamper Creative Team blog is my turn to share my favourite three creations that I've made during 2013 and it's also a very sad post for me, as it's my final post as a member of this wonderful team and as DT Co-Ordinator!! You can read my post and tearful goodbye, if you click HERE but I just wanted to say thank you to Jennie, who has been a really good friend to me over my years on the team and who I will miss working alongside!! I'm going to miss my DT friends but I know we will all stay in touch as I move onto pastures new and an exciting 2014!!

So, here are sneaky peeks of the pieces I've chosen as my favourites and you can see what they are over on the Artistic Stamper blog ~ I hope these were some of yours too!!

Thank you for your visit today and for all the lovely comments you always leave!

See you all soon with another post from Chez Williams' and have a great day everyone!!

Love Emma xxx

Christmas Countdown...

Hello friends...

It's another flying visit from me today. I'm really not sure where December is going but whoever is stealing time, please don't because this month is going way too quick and eek...there's only one week to go before the all important day and here's hoping that Santa has made up his mind by now as to whether I've been good or bad!!

In the meantime and between baking mince pies and wrapping presents, I did manage to squeeze in my tag inspired by Tim Holtz's December 12 Tags of 2013. Tim's stunning tag, was one that I definitely could not miss!! A tattered poinsettia! A layering stencil!! Wendy Vecchi's Clearly For Art and Tim's frosted film!!!! Now, you can see why I couldn't miss it...

And here's my version of Tim's gorgeous tag which you can see HERE! As always, I hope you love what I've created.

Even though my tag is similar to Tim's and I've used the same products, I did use a different stamp...just because that is my favourite Christmas stamp EVER and I also added a shabby bow and a few more bits and pieces to decorate. The Tattered Poinsettia from Sizzix, is die cut from Clearly For Art and then covered in the Frosted Film but for my poinsettia, I chose to go for a softer colour tone to complete my shabby chic tag.

Thank you for stopping by today and for all the love you showed me on my last post!! I really do appreciate every single comment and word I read...they mean the world!!

I'll be back on Friday with a new post but until then....have a lovely evening everyone!

Love Emma xxx

*edit* The stamp I used comes from Tim Holtz's beautiful Deco Christmas set!

The Magic Of Christmas...

Good morning friends...

Hope you're all well and looking forward to the weekend!! I really don't know how we got to Friday so quickly, it was only Monday when I last looked but what a week it's been!!! After a lovely start meeting a friend for coffee on Monday...Wednesday bought a burst pipe in the kitchen, emergency plumbers, enough water to sink a ship and a very damp floor!! We have no drinking water at the moment and our road is being resurfaced, (don't even mention the noise from that) and we can't get out for the next two days!! These things definitely come to try us but I will not be beat, Christmas is coming and I am going to be ready for it!! *deep breath, keep calm and carry on*

Anyway, back to today's post and today, I'm sharing another Christmas tag with a difference...yes, the corrugated cardboard is back!! I just love this stuff, it gives such an awesome effect. So without further ado, hope you love what I've created!!

The tag is inked with Distress Stains, swooshed onto my craft mat and then I picked up the colour and inked around the edges and used one of Tim's snowflake stamps to create my background. Of course, no tag of mine is complete without lots of Tim Holtz products and this one really has got plenty for you to feast your eyes on, including the gorgeous Reindeer Flight, Festive Foliage and the Snowflake Rosette dies from Sizzix, Distress Glitter, the beautiful Merry Christmas stamp from the Christmas Time stamp set. I think that has to be one of my favourite stamps, it's so delicate and such a beautiful font...FAB~U~LOUS and then, you can also see one of the new Idea-Ology Word Bands at the bottom!!!!

As you can see, I made an embellishment from the Snowflake Rosette and the Festive Foliage before adding a red bow to complete it.

You may also spot my little Christmas tree, more about those in a later post but I made those using Tim's Woodland Trees.

So, that's it from me for today...I'm now ready for a morning of craft, followed by some Christmas baking and cake decorating!! Well, that's the plan........

Have a fabulous Friday everyone, even if it is Friday the 13th and have a great weekend!!

See you soon...love Emma  xxx