That's Life: April 2016

Monday, 25 April 2016

Like Clockwork...

Hey everyone and welcome to this week's brand new challenge over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. Our theme is SHOW US YOUR METAL and whatever you choose to use, we hope you'll join us and play along!

For my project, I created a card using plenty of metal elements, including a rusty metal background which started life as silver metal tape foil...

and hope you enjoy the creative process behind this project!

To begin with, I cut a piece of metal foil tape approx 22 x 14cm and attached the foil to a piece of card. I then ran the adhered foil through a die cutting machine using the Rivet Texture Fade to create that gorgeous embossed background. At this point, you might be thinking that the embossing folder is slightly smaller than the card but if you emboss the top section first, then move the folder down to the lower section, it matches up perfectly to give a continuous pattern with no joins!

Once the card was embossed, I then wanted to create this rusty look and for this, I began by using Black Soot Distress Paint which I applied to the foil, before taking a kitchen towel to gently wipe away the excess of the paint. By doing this, the paint will seep and settle into all those embossed areas.

Next I took Tarnished Brass and once again, applied this over the top of the embossed foil, using my fingers to blend it. Again wipe away the excess.

Once dry, I then used Evergreen Bough and Vintage Photo Distress Crayons and applied these to the foil, blending them with my fingers to add that final touch of 'rust'.

When I was entirely happy with my rusty effect, I mounted the foil onto black card, leaving a border around the outside before die cutting a circular aperture into the upper section.

For the next stage, I took a piece of adhesive canvas and using the Imaginary Stamp from Tim Holtz, I stamped the image with Jet Black Archival Ink directly onto the canvas, adding highlights of colour with Distress Marker Pens.

I distressed the background of the canvas using Pumice Stone and Old Paper Distress Paint and then added Small Talk stickers, outlining them with the Pumice Stone Distress Marker Pen.

Attach the stamped image to a piece of card, placing it behind your circular aperture and use foam pads to attach the metal frame over the top.

Mount the metallic layers onto some more cardstock, including metallic kraft core card, ensuring each time that a border is left around the previous matt to create a layered frame.

Now for the final embellishments of the gears and for this, I used the new Tim Holtz Gearheads dies to die cut a plethora of gears from some more metal foil tape, which I then coloured using the same products as I used on the embossed background.

I attached all my gears, layering some to create dimension and adding some inside the circular aperture.

Finally, I added some metal embellishments, coloured with Distress Paints and a small touch of Treasure Gold Gilding Wax....

...and attached screw head brads, old watch parts and sequins to the centre of the gears.

I would love you all to be able to see this project in the flesh as the metallic has a real shine to it but is so hard to pick up on the camera!

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 Stamps: Imaginary

Tim Holtz Sizzix Dies/Texture Fades: Gearhead Thinlits Die, Diamond Plate and Riveted Metal

Distress Paint: Black Soot, Tarnished Brass, Pumice Stone, Old Paper

Distress Marker Pens

Distress Crayons: Set 1 and 3

Idea-ology: Adornment Arrows, Small Talk Stickers, Dapper Design Tape

Surfaces: Black Card, Metal Foil Tape Sheets, Sticky Back Canvas, Metallic Kraft Core Card

Jet Black Archival Ink

Ranger Black Adhesive Foam

Treasure Gold Gilding Wax ~ Spanish Topaz

Ranger Craft Sheet

Blending Tool

Heat Gun

Screw Head brads, clock parts and Idea-Ology Word Sticks (Muse) from my own stash

Saturday, 23 April 2016

Be In Love With Your Life...

Hello friends!

It's been a while since I had a chance to join in with Tim Holtz's 12 Tags but I'm loving these technique remix themes that Tim has been sharing over the last four months and really wanted to try the Distress Paper Mosaic Kit ~ so with this in mind...how could I resist not joining in and ta-dah, today's the day that I had a play and here's my version of Tim's April tag!

You can read all about how Tim created his fabulous tag HERE...

...and as for my version, there are a few variations because of products I didn't own ~ starting with the Woodgrain Card Stock and the way that I got around that, was to create my own textured card using the Mini Woodgrain Layering Stencil from Set 10 and Texture Paste which I coloured with Weathered Wood Distress Ink.

I then coloured the card, in exactly the same way as Tim coloured his, using Distress Stains.

I also didn't have the Bird Silhouette die and instead used the Watering Can die for my mosaic piece. Even though I've had this kit in my stash since it was released, I haven't ever got around to using it but I LOVED it and it will definitely be used a lot more!

I love the glaze over the pieces and the grout looks so wonderful when inked with Distress Inks.

To complete the arrangement, I added some paper flowers that I created using the Tattered Garland die and had left over from a previous project, together with some twigs, punched laurel leaves and some cheesecloth and moss.

As a finishing touch, I added a punched vellum butterfly, a Remnant Rub and a Small Talk sticker.

Hope you love the tag that I created and thanks so much for stopping by today!

See you on Monday for my latest SSS post and hope you have a lovely creative weekend!

Love Emma xx

Thursday, 21 April 2016

Hello Sunshine and a 28 Lilac Lane Blog Hop

Hello everyone and welcome to the 28 Lilac Lane blog hop!

Are you ready for a lot of gorgeous inspiration? Well, if you love buttons and embellishments, then you will love today's hop and I am so proud and honoured to be working with May Flaum and her beautiful new embellishment range, sharing my love of these wonderful products!

At the end of this hop, Buttons Galore & More will be having a give-away ~ so, be sure to pop on over and also, don't forget to visit all the other talented designers who are taking part in this hop!

Order of blog hop:

Emma Williams (YOU'RE HERE)

Nina-Marie Trapani
Buttons Galore & More

So, you should have arrived here from Chari's blog and I'm thrilled to be sharing a project where I've used the Hello Sunshine Embellishment Bottle to create a focal point on my canvas panel, showcasing all the gorgeous buttons!

I chose to use a yellow colour palette for my project but with so many to choose from, you can colour match the embellishments with your home or image to make it personal to you. Also, the embellishment bottles contain so many buttons, sequins and pearls, you only use a small amount to create this wave of embellishments across the canvas and there are plenty left for further projects!

To create this project, I took an 8" square canvas panel and added a wash of Antique Linen Distress Paint watered down and mixed with a small amount of Gesso. I then applied a small amount of Scattered Straw Distress Paint directly to the canvas, spritzed with water before allowing the paint to run and drip to create paint effect behind the frame.

Once the paint was dry, I applied Texture Paste through two Tim Holtz Layering stencils ~ Dot Fade and Flourish before flicking gold and black paint across the surface. Once everything was thoroughly dry, I added some lace from the Attic Findings Kit and then used a Tim Holtz PhotoBooth image which I placed behind a Baroque metal frame.

Now for the buttons and gorgeous embellishments ~ and for this, I chose a selection and just adhered them using 3D Matte Gel, adding them in a swathe across the canvas.

To complete my canvas, I added a Small Talk sticker below the frame.

28 Lilac Lane is available to buy now from Buttons Galore.

All Tim Holtz products available to buy from Simon Says Stamp!

Thank you so much for stopping by today and your next stop on the hop is...Nina-Marie Trapani
Happy Hopping!
Love Emma xx

Monday, 18 April 2016

Butterfly Beauty

Hello everyone!

I can't quite believe that it's Monday again already but at least that means that I get to share my latest project for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and this week, our theme is all about...BUTTERFLY BEAUTY!

So the hardest part of this challenge will be which butterfly to choose from the many, many that are available ~ it's not going to be an easy choice but whatever you decide, we can't wait to see what you create!

For my project, I chose to use the beautiful detailed butterfly from the Tim Holtz Perspective stamp set and created a wall panel packed with texture and dimension, showcasing the gorgeous butterfly in flight!

...and hope you enjoy the creative process behind this project!

To begin with I cut a piece of canvas paper that can be used with acrylic paints and cut the paper to size before applying a layer of Weathered Wood Distress Paint over the surface and drying thoroughly with a heat tool.

To create my layers of colour, I used Distress Crayons and applied Evergreen Bough, Peacock Feathers, Picked Raspberry, Black Soot and Seedless Preserves over the top of the Distress Paint, blending them together with my finger. Once I was happy I then took a baby wipe to remove a small amount of the crayons in areas, knocking it back to the Weathered Wood base colour ~ this creates that gorgeous distressed look on the canvas. To add even more interest, I then took some gesso and applied some paint scratches with the edge of a ruler and also used the lid of the bottle of Distress Paint to create some circles.

Once I was happy with the background, I used the Hickory Smoke Crayon around the edges and blended this into the background.

Now for some texture and for this, I used Texture Paste through the Splatters Layering Stencil and also the Speckles Layering Stencil. You can just see the paste underneath the butterfly in the picture below!

I also applied some paste through the Industrial stencil, adding the "Found" wording onto the left hand side of the canvas.

Once the paste was dry, I smeared a little crayon over the top of the wording, but I kept the splatters white.

For the finishing touch on the background, I added some Vintage Gold Foil around the edge and also over the top of the wording ~ it just adds that touch of glimmer to the project and I added some paint splatters using Picked Raspberry Distress Paint and some watered down Gesso.

Now that I had my background, I added a torn strip of corrugated card across the bottom section and used some dyed crinkle ribbon to attach a quote band that I altered with Picket Fence Distress Paint.

I matted my background onto kraft card and black card to create a framed border for this piece and then set it aside to create that beautiful butterfly.

For this, I stamped the butterfly onto watercolour card using Jet Black Archival Ink and coloured it with Distress Marker Pens! If you follow me on Instagram, you'll have seen this in progress! Once the butterfly was coloured, I cut it out and then attached it to my canvas, layering it onto some twigs cut from my garden.

I love how the twigs lift the butterfly from the canvas, creating the look of this beauty in flight!

To complete the canvas, I added a scruffy bow which a Dapper Fastener in the centre and a star embellishment.

...and that is my canvas complete and I hope you've enjoyed how I created this piece and love it as much as I loved making it!

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 Stamps: Perspective

Distress Paint: Weathered Wood, Picket Fence, Picked Raspberry

Distress Marker Pens

Distress Crayons: Set 1, 2 and 3

Layering Stencils: Speckles, Splatters, Industrial

Distress Spray Stain: Scattered Straw

Ranger Ink products: Gesso, Texture Paste

Idea-ology: Crinkle Ribbon, Quote Band, Dapper Fastener

Prima/Finnabair Mechanical Stars

Ranger Vintage Foil Transfer Sheets

Surfaces: Watercolour Cardstock, Black Card, Kraft Card, Textured Surfaces

Canvas paper and twigs from my own stash

Monday, 11 April 2016

Bloom Into Spring

Hello everyone!

Well, another week has flown by but I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and I hope you also had some time for a spot of creative fun! 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 ~ APRIL SHOWERS BRING MAY FLOWERS and whatever you create, we can't wait to have you join us!

For my project, I created a canvas panel with the focus on May flowers and I created a sprig of paper cherry blossom blooms using the Tim Holtz Tattered Garland die and the Tattered Floral punch.

...and hope you enjoy the creative process behind this project!

To begin with, I took one of the new Dina Wakely Mixed Media boards, 7" x 5" and because the board is pre-gessoed this means it's ready to go straight out of the pack.

So, for the background I started by layering my paints and began with a layer of Tumbled Glass Distress Paint, before blending some Picket Fence over the top. As the final layer, I dry brushed Peacock Feathers over the top and dried the paint before using an old credit card to add some gesso. I love the effect that this gives and it creates a more worn look than if you use a brush. Once everything was dry, I applied torn pieces of Tissue Wrap onto my background using Glue N' Seal to attach them.

To create a seamless finish on the tissue wrap, I used Distress Crayons and blended them over the surface with my fingertip. As a final layer of interest, I spritzed through the Latticework Layering Stencil using Pumice Stone Distress Marker Pen in the Distress Marker Spritzer Tool and added a few gesso paint scratches with the edge of my credit card.

For a little more depth to the background, I applied Texture Paste through the Speckles Layering Stencil and left it to dry.

To complete the background of my canvas, I used the Hickory Smoke Distress Crayon and run it around the edges before blending it into the background, using my fingers.

For the next stage, I added some vintage ephemera pieces, attaching them into place with glue n' seal and then using the Hickory Smoke Distress Crayon around the edges to create a shadow.

I fussy cut the little girl from a Found Relative photo and placed her onto my canvas using foam pads for some height and dimension. In her hand you can see she's holding a small heart charm which I thought was the perfect addition.

To create a base for the beautiful little girl to stand on, I added some twine which I wrapped around the canvas, some cheesecloth and used a Small Talk Sticker.

Last but not least, I added a butterfly from the Thrift Shop Ephemera pack and some stars from the Botanical Remnant Rubs set.

Now, for the cherry blossom...

...and for this I used the Tattered Garland die and the Tattered Floral punch to die cut Mixed Media card. I then spritzed the individual petals with Spun Sugar Distress Spray Stain and added a small spritz of Scattered Straw in the centres of each and the foliage with Peeled Paint. Leave all the leaves, and the petals to dry thoroughly before layering them to create the blooms, shaping each petal as they are layered to create a more realistic look to the flower. I added stamens in the centres of each and then sprinkled a small amount of Shabby Shutters Distress Glitter into the centres. Once all my flowers were made, I inked the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and then spritzed them with Biscotti Perfect Pearls Spray Mist.

To complete the spray, I attached the flowers to a branch from my garden using a hot glue gun and then attached it to my canvas and popped two small crystals onto the twine.

Finally, I wanted to attach the completed canvas to a backing but couldn't find the perfect colour match until I stumbled across a waste piece of card from the Burlap Panel packaging ~ this was perfect and looked fabulous to frame the whole canvas, together with some charms dangling from a Hinge Clip.