That's Life: June 2016

Monday, 27 June 2016

From Sea To Shining Sea...

Hello friends..

Welcome to a brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge where this week our theme is...Tic Tac Toe! Click HERE for all the information for this challenge and to see the fabulous grid that the lovely Maura has created for you us all and all you have to do is choose a line and use all 3 items in that line but if you're feeling really adventurous, then why not go for a full house such as I did! Whatever you decide, I hope you have some fun and come and join us!

As I mentioned for my project, I chose a full house and went with all 9 items to create my underwater themed panel full of texture and dimension and hope you love what I created...

To begin with I took a piece of watercolour card, approx 8" x 11". I wanted to use this style of card because I knew I was going to use a lot of water and mediums and also, I wanted a texture to the background and this card was perfect.

I started by adding some colour using Broken China and Peacock Feathers Distress Inks. For this, I misted the card with water and then applied the ink pad directly to the surface, spritz again with water and then move the card around, letting the ink run and drip. I heat dried the card thoroughly before adding some torn tissue tape, attaching it over the top of my inked background and placing it on the centre of the card. I then added some stamping, inking up the Type stamp from the Newsprint and Type Tim Holtz stamp set and stamping randomly onto the background.

Now for the messy part and adding all that gorgeous texture and shimmer. For the first layer, I applied some Texture Paste through the Herringbone Layering Stencil. Once dry, I then spritzed Broken China Distress Spray Stain (blue) and Gold Foil Color Bloom Spray over the top of the paste. Once again, dry each individual layer, if you don't it will end up as a muddy mess.

Using a dry brush, add a small amount of Gold Rush Alchemy Paint over the top, followed by a light application of Blue/Gold Opal Paint. Again dry the paint thoroughly before flicking small amounts of Twisted Citron, Black Soot Distress Paint, Gold Foil Spray and Gesso across the surface.

When all the pain is dry, dip the bottle lid from your Distress Paint into the Gold Rush paint and add the rings of paint to your background.

Apply some Gold Foil Transfer sheets around the edge of the card for a little more shimmer and shine and also add just specks of foil to the raised areas not the background. I just love how this textural background turned out, it's a shame to cover it!!

But, it had to be done and I do love building up those layers bringing the pieces to life and telling the story...

I started by die cutting my images from cardboard using the Sand & Sea Bigz die. Apply a layer of gesso over the top of the cardboard before adding your mediums. For the sea horse, I added some Wendy Vecchi Crackle Paste and once the paste was dry and had crackled nicely, I applied some Festive Berries and Mustard Seed Distress Paint over the top, blending the colours together. To complete my seahorse I added a pearl for his eye.

For the remaining die cuts, I coloured these with Pumice Stone Distress Paint, adding a small amount of Picket Fence around the edges, together with a little Hickory Smoke.

I then applied a mix of 3D matte Gel and Mini Art Stones to the starfish and also onto the edges of the sand dollar. Whilst the medium was still wet, I sprinkled a little glass glitter over the top and just allowed it to completely dry before attaching it to the centre of the sand dollar die cut.

I used the Wildflowers die and the Holiday Greens die to die cut some fronds from gold metallic kraft card stock...

...and then spritzed some cheesecloth with Twisted Citron and Peeled Paint Distress Spray Stain to add a pop of colour.

Now all that's left to do is attach all my elements to the background and for this, I started by attaching a piece of driftwood and then balancing and layering the rest of the pieces onto this, attaching each individual element with a hot glue gun.

I also added small pieces of moss, tucking these into any gaps that were showing.

For the finishing touches, I attached some sequins from the Minty Fresh Embellishment bottle kit by 28 Lilac Lane...

...and added a small talk sticker, matted onto gold metallic kraft core card.

Finally, I added some doodles around the edge of my finished piece and mounted it onto black card to frame it.

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: Sand & Sea, Wildflowers, Holiday Greens
Tim Holtz Stamps: Newsprint and Type

Distress Paint: Black Soot, Twisted Citron, Festive Berries, Mustard Seed
Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stain: Twisted Citron, Broken China

Distress Ink: Frayed Burlap, Broken China, Peacock Feathers
Embossing Pastes: Ranger Texture Paste, Wendy Vecchi Crackle Paste

Idea-ology: Small Talk Stickers, Symphony Tissue Tape
Tim Holtz Layering Stencil: Herringbone

Surfaces: Vintage Foil Transfer Sheets, Metallic Kraft Core Card, Ranger Watercolor Paper

Buttons: 28 Lilac Lane Embellishment Bottle ~ Minty Fresh

Prima Alchemy Paints: Metallic Gold Rush, Opal Magic Blue/Gold

Mini Art Stones

Prima 3D Matte Gel

Jet Black Archival Ink

Blending Tool
Moss, driftwood and cheesecloth from my own stash

Monday, 20 June 2016

Tailor Made...

Hello everyone! Can you believe how fast these weeks are flying? It's crazy to think that we're already in the third week of June and at the moment, Christmas has arrived here in the craft room! Yes, can you believe I've already started working on my first Christmas commissions...eek, we haven't even had summer yet!!!

Anyway, back to today and 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, the theme is PATTERNED PAPERS! Now, if you're like me, patterned papers are usually for stroking and looking at, BUT....there are so many beautiful papers out there and hopefully you will be brave enough to break into that stash and use them and we can't wait to see what you create!

As for my project, well...I was spoilt for choice but decided to use one of my favourite all time paper collections from Tim Holtz ~ Dapper and I went with the theme of the papers and chose to alter a box and create my own little tailor's shop! There's plenty of photos to show all the detail and I hope you'll enjoy this visit...

...and here's how I created this project!

To begin with I took an old chocolate box which was perfect for what I needed as it had the lid attached to create a side opening. I covered the entire box with a coat of black gesso and allowed this to dry before dry brushing individual layers of Faded Jeans, Antiqued Bronze, Black Soot and Ground Espresso Distress Paint over the surface. Allow each of the layers of paint to blend with the previous layer creating a beautiful textured effect to the surface. To complete the box, I used my fingertip to apply Tarnished Brass Distress Paint around the edges, as I wanted to create a worn, vintage look to the overall project.

Once all the paintwork was dry, I then chose a selection of patterned papers from the Dapper Paper stash. I measured and cut each panel of paper to fit onto my box, inked the edges with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink and then attached them to the inside and outside of the painted box.

On the inside of the box, I also measured and cut a piece of linen from the Textile Surfaces pack. The linen is self adhesive and all you need to do is peel of the back and apply to your project ~ I inked the edges before attaching my piece to the back wall.

At this stage, I also added a small box inside to create the look of a drawer section. I created this box from a piece of card, then painted it with Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap and Ground Espresso Distress Paints to create the look of faux woodgrain. I also added a metal label pull, complete with Big Chat sticker.

Next stage was to decorate the front cover and for this, I began by using the large Stitched Rectangle die to die cut some canvas paper and applied a coat of Old Paper Distress Paint over the top. Once dry, I added some more colour using Set 3 of the Distress Crayons and then used a piece of kitchen towel to dab Pumice Stone Distress Ink ~ this created a worn look to the paper which I loved. I then used the Dapper Die to die cut black and a dark pink felt, (this die is fantastic as you can use both the negative and positive pieces that are cut. For my project I used the inner sections). I stuck my felt die cut pieces onto the painted panel, inked around the edges and then matted it onto burlap before attaching the completed panel to the front of my box.

Apply enamel dots to the top left and right hand corners of the panel and then I added Gilded Rub Ons to the bottom corners.

As a finishing touch to the front section, I added a Quote Band which I altered with Copper Alcohol Ink and added some blue twine.

To complete the box, I added two Prima metal plaque studs down the spine.

I also added a small metal embellishment, again altered with copper alcohol ink to the top of my box. this was to represent a bell as every good tailor shop needs a bell so that you can enter.

Now for the fun part of bringing this project to life and adding all those little embellishments...please step inside!

I added a small corked vial full of 28 Lilac Lane buttons and also scattered a few on the shelf together with a safety pin.

I created the inside of my pocket watch using the Gears Thinlit die to die cut foil card, which I then inked with alcohol ink, a min sprocket gear embellishment and then for the touch of reality, I added some real watch hands that I had in my stash.

Then we have some cotton spools, again these were in my stash but I painted them with Ground Espresso Distress Paint and wrapped some white cotton around them before attaching decorative pins.

The little tape measure that you can see, well that's created from the papers in the paper stash...I just coiled it around a pencil and added it to the arrangement.

To complete this side of the box, I attached a wonderful image to the back wall that can be found in one of the Tim Holtz Ephemera sets (so sorry, mine are all a bit mixed up and I couldn't tell you which one it is).

...for the door section, I added some Thrift Store Ephemera pieces as a background and layered these with more tape cut from the paper stash and some Dapper Design Tape.

I also attached some pieces of Eclectic Elements fabric, which I attached to a couple of small hanger charms, hung on a hitch fastener.

To complete the box, I added buttons, wooden embellishments and an old safety pin.

I absolutely loved creating this project and I hope you enjoyed the creative process!

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: Dapper, Thinlits Gears

Distress Paint: Black Soot, Tarnished Brass, Antiqued Bronze, Ground Espresso, Faded Jeans, Antique Linen
Distress Crayons Set 3

Distress Ink: Walnut Stain, Frayed Burlap

Idea-ology: Mini Pocket Watch Findings, Corked Vials, Dapper Design Tape, Gilded Accents Remnant Rubs, Quote Band, Big Chat Stickers, Thrift Shop Ephemera Pack, Label Pulls, Mini Sprocket Gears, Hanger Clips, Hitch Fastener

Collage Medium
Alcohol Inks: Copper

Surfaces: Ranger Manila Card, Dapper Paper Stash, Textile Surfaces, Textured Surfaces, Melange Eclectic Elements

Buttons: 28 Lilac Lane Embellishment Bottle ~ Toasted Graham

Prima Metals for Wood Plaque 5, Finnabair Mechanicals Metal Mini Knobs

Blending Tool
Alcohol Ink Applicator
Cotton spools, Decorative Pins, Box and safety pins all from my own stash

Monday, 13 June 2016

All Around The World...

Hey everyone and welcome to a brand new challenge over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and this week, the theme is ~ WORLD TRAVELER!

There are so many interpretations of this theme and so many wonderful products that you can use ~ the world is your oyster and we can't wait to see what you create!

For my project, I created a trip around the world using products from Tim Holtz to create a freestanding globe sitting on a cube decorated with stamped images.

To begin with I created the cube. I used the 3D cube die from Sizzix to make mine from mount board which would create a nice solid base for the globe to sit on. Once the basic cube was constructed, I gave it a coat of gesso to prime the surface before painting it with Black Soot Distress Paint. Where the paint was thoroughly dry, I dry brushed each of the edges with Tarnished Brass Paint to create a worn, vintage look.

I wanted my cube to stand on little feet, so for this I used small cotton spool painted with Gold Rush Alchemy Paint. I then added small metal embellishments to each cotton spool and attached them to the base of my cube.

Setting the cube aside, I moved onto the stamped panels. I cut five panels of manila card, each panel measuring approx 7.5cm square. I applied Antique Linen, Picket Fence, Vintage Photo and Pumice Stone Distress Stains to my craft sheet and spritzed the stain with water before swiping each piece of card through the colour, picking up all the stain.

Heat dry the card.

Take four panels of the stained card and using the CityScapes stamp set, stamp a different city onto each panel, placing the stamp across the bottom of the square. I coloured the images using Pumice Stone and Cracked Pistachio Distress Marker Pens and then spritzed over the top of the card using the Pumice Stone pen in the Distress Marker Spritzer Tool.

Next, I used stamps from the Correspondence stamp set and stamped different images onto each panel. I also added some Rub Ons to a couple of the panels. I inked the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and then added some gold foiling around the edge of each panel. Once I was happy with each panel, I attached them around the four sides of my cube.

For the top of the cube, I used the final panel but inked through the stencil using Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I inked the edges of the panel, added foil highlights and then added a few flicks of paint and some Gilded Rub Ons. Attach the panel to the top of the cube.

You now have your completed base section and can move onto creating the freestanding globe.

For this, I started by cutting Manila card stock using the Globe die. After removing the globe from the die, I then spritzed the shape with Crushed Olive and Peeled Paint Distress Spray Stains. (At this stage, there will be some residual spray on the craft sheet and I mopped all this up using Crinkle Ribbon which I will then use later). Heat dry the die cut. I then wanted a slight shimmer to the globe and for this I used the Antique Bronze Mica Spray before heat drying the card again.

I wanted to mount the globe onto a piece of card and decided the rough terrain of the land would look fabulous set against the shimmer of a blue sea. So for the background of the globe, I used Foil card stock and cut a circle the same size, (you can trace around the outside edge of the globe for this). I then used Pool and Aqua Alcohol inks and pounced the ink over the surface of the foil card.

Attach the globe over the top of the alcohol inked card using foam pads. Then using the Splatter Brush, flick Picket Fence Distress Paint across the surface of the globe.

For the base of the globe, I used another cotton spool, slightly larger in size than the ones I used for the feet. I painted the spool to create a wood effect using various shades of brown distress paints. I then added a wooden stirrer that I got from Starbucks and painted this in the same shade of brown as the spool and attached the stirrer to the hole down the centre of the spool. Ensure that the stirrer is stable and will not move!!!

Attach the die cut globe to the wooden stirrer, creating the effect that it is suspended on the cotton spool. I also painted the back of the globe to create a wooden effect and to make sure it looks great from all angles! I also added a small metal star to mark the USA on the map!

Take the crinkle ribbon that you dyed earlier with the stains and tie this around the spool.

I attached the spool to one of the gorgeous new metal gears, which I painted with some more of the a mix of Tarnished Brass and Antiqued Bronze and I then attached the globe to the top of my cube.