Love Letters...

Today, is the start of a brand new challenge over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog and with this being February and Valentine's Day just around the corner, this week's challenge is called Love Letters and the team would love to see how you interpret this week's theme.

When I saw the title of this week's challenge, I immediately knew that I wanted to create a piece that was centred around the letters L.O.V.E and to create a small keepsake for that special person in our lives. So, I decided to create my own shadowbox using the Sizzix Postage Stamp Frame die by Tim Holtz and as always, I hope you love what I've made.

To begin with, I cut five pieces of chipboard to size to create the inside of my box, 4 for each side and a final piece to create the back section. Using Glossy Accents to attach each piece, I formed a square with the four side pieces with I then attached to  the final fifth piece to form the box. Once the Glossy Accents were dry and box was held together, I took another two pieces of chipboard and die cut the first of these using the Postage Stamp Frame, which I attached to the back of my box. With the second piece of chipboard, I placed the largest of the Rectangle Mover and Shapers die into the centre of the Postage Stamp Frame to create an aperture and once cut, I attached this piece to the front of my box to form the basic shape.

I then painted my completed shadowbox using various layers of Distress Paints to create a limed wood effect to the box. Once I was happy with the colour, I then started to work on the inside section and I inked up the Love Definition stamp from the Love Struck stamp set with Black Archival Ink and stamped onto a piece of cream card, which I had previously inked with Old Paper Distress Ink. I then distressed the edges of the card and inked them with Walnut Stain Distress Ink before attaching it to the back of my box. 

Next, I used more chipboard to die cut some various sizes of hearts using the large heart from the Love Struck Die and the smaller hearts from the Mini Movers and Shapers Hearts. I painted them with Festive Berries Distress Paint and before covering them in Distress Glitter and inking up the edges. I attached the largest of the hearts onto the back of my box and added a ChitChat Sticker and the smaller hearts onto the either side on the front of my box. 

To fill the inside, I used some Corked Vials, which can just about be seen and crackled the glass with Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint. I stamped the Happy Valentine's Ticket onto another piece of cream card and added a hint of colour and placed this into my box, together with the vials, some small wooden hearts and coils of rusty wire.

To decorate the outside of the box, I added a Idea-Ology Pen Nib and then I added some Distress Paint to Alpha Part letters and attached them to the box, together with Chitchat stickers to form the words ~ I Love You.

For the top of the box, I added a cotton spool from my stash, painted in the same colours as the box and then attached a wooden gear and a Idea-Ology Clock Key.

As the finishing touch, I tied a bow using crinkle ribbon and attached it to the box with one of the arrow Industrious Stickers and another wooden heart.

I'm really looking forward to seeing all your fabulous creations and hope you will join us in this week's challenge. You can visit the blog for more great ideas and inspiration from the fabulous Design Team and every week, one lucky random participant has the chance to win a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp.

Products used:

Tim Holtz Sizzix Die Sized Rectangles Movers & Shapers

Tim Holtz Sizzix Love Struck Die

Tim Holtz Sizzix Die Mini Hearts Set Movers & Shapers

Tim Holtz Sizzix Die Postage Stamp Frame

Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Rubber Stamp Valentine's Ticket

Studio Calico Tiny Hearts Wood Veneer Shapes

Alpha Parts Newsprint

Distress Paints ~ Picket Fence, Frayed Burlap, Walnut Stain, Antiqued Bronze, Festive Berries and Antique Linen

Distress Inks ~ Old Paper and Walnut Stain

Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Cling Rubber Stamps ~ Love Struck 

Tim Holtz Distress Glitters ~ Festive Berries

Idea-Ology ~ Chitchat Stickers, Clock Keys, Pen Nibs, Borders Industrious Stickers and Corked Vials

Crinkle Ribbon

Thank you for stopping by today and I'm really looking forward to reading all your comments.

Love Emma xx