Happily Ever After...

Hello friends and Happy Leap Year!

Today, as always on a Monday, it's time for a brand new challenge over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and this week, our theme is...Take A Leap Into The Unknown! You can choose to use a new technique or it can mean a new way of life ~ getting married, engaged, having a baby or maybe even a new job! The possibilities are endless and we can't wait to see what you will create...

For my project, I leapt at the opportunity to use my Tim Holtz Village Dwelling dies for the very first time and when I saw the word "marriage", I just knew that I wanted to create a fairytale church which would be ideal for a table setting, a cake topper or maybe, how much fun would it be to pop an engagement ring inside the church and take advantage of it being a leap year with a proposal!! It's just such a fun piece to create and I'm sure it will be the start of me making so many more village pieces...

So, here's how I created it...

To begin with I took the Village Dwelling Die and used this to die cut some woodgrain card stock to create the sides of my little church.  I then used Kraft Core'Dinations card stock to make the roof and embossed this with the Mesh Texture Fade to create a tiled effect. 

After cutting all my pieces, I inked around the edges of each to create a more worn look before constructing the dwelling.

If you need any help at this stage to construct the house, then Tim has got a wonderful YouTube video which you can follow.

For the next stage, I took the Bell Tower die and using the woodgrain card stock, I created the main section of the tower using this and then added the little conical roof created from the Core'dinations card. At this point, I also added a tiny rusty bell in the tower.

Once you've attached the tower to the main section of the dwelling, you can then start to add the door and the window frames, which are die cut from the woodgrain card stock and then coloured with Gathered Twigs Distress Paint before being lightly inked around the edges. Attach all these pieces to your dwelling and I also attached a small brad, (cutting the legs off so that it didn't show on the other side) to the door.

For the doorstep, I die cut this from a piece of manila cardstock and added a coat of Pumice Stone Distress Paint over the surface. I dried this paint layer thoroughly before using my fingertip to dab a small amount of Hickory Smoke Distress Paint over the top to create the look of stone. Construct the doorstep and attach to your house, together with some woodgrain struts.

To complete the house, I cut the base from chipboard, coated it in gesso and then painted it with a blend of Gathered Twigs and Peeled Paint Distress Paints.

You now have your completed church and to decorate around the outside of the church, I used dried moss together with dried grasses and added tiny tattered florals, die cut from pink core'dinations card.

I even added some moss to the roof of the church for an extra little detail.

For the base of the church, I used a wooden frame that I upturned to give me a solid base. I coated the frame in gesso before adding a layer of Pumice Stone Distress Paint. Dry the paint thoroughly.

To create the look of marble, I scrunched up a kitchen towel and used the towel to pick up small amounts of Hickory Smoke, Picket Fence and Antique Linen Distress Ink which I then dabbed onto the frame, building up the colour and creating the look of stone. Once I was happy, I dried the whole thing off, coated it in Multi Medium and added a beautiful Gilded Remnant Rub.

As a finishing touch to my base, I added a small amount of Treasure Gold Gilding Wax along each of the edges for a touch of opulence and to create a beautiful shimmer.

Place your dwelling onto your painted "stone" base and for the final touches, I added a scattering of sequins to look like confetti and two small rose studs from the Prima Butterfly Crystals, which I popped onto each of the corners....

...before matting a Small Talk Sticker, 'Happily Ever After' onto gold card stock and mounting it onto my base. I also added some woodland trees to my project, which I dyed using Peeled Paint and Mowed Lawn Distress Spray Stains ~ these make a wonderful addition to the scene!

Now of course, no wedding would be complete without the bride and groom and for a little bit of added fun, I couldn't resist adding my vintage Mickey and Minnie as the perfect couple!

As always, if you need any further inspiration for this challenge, then you need look no further than our blog to see all the wonderful creations from all the very talented Design Team members 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 all your visits today and hope you all have a great week ahead

See you again soon...love Emma xx

Products used:

Tim Holtz/Sizzix Dies: Village Dwelling, Bell Tower, Tiny Tattered Florals

Texture Fade: Mesh

Distress Ink: Ground Espresso, Pumice Stone

Distress Paint: Hickory Smoke, Pumice Stone, Picket Fence, Peeled Paint, Gathered Twigs, Antique Linen

Distress Spray Stains: Peeled Paint, Mowed Lawn

Mediums: Ranger Multi Medium, Gesso

Idea-ology: Small Talk Stickers, Woodland Trees, Accents Gilded Remnant Rubs

Surfaces: Metallic Kraft Core Core'dinations Card, White Woodgrain Card, Kraft Core'Dinations Card, Manila Card

Embellishments: Moonshine Sequins, Prima Butterfly Say It With Crystals

Treasure Gold White Fire Gilding Wax

Ranger Craft Sheet

Blending Tool

Heat Gun

Big Shot

Dried Moss, grasses and bell from my own stash