Love Within My Heart....

Hi everyone...

Firstly, I wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who has been messaging me to ask if I was ok because lots of you have noticed that I've been MIA for the last three weeks! Well, I have had a little bit of a rough patch because a few weeks ago I tore a muscle in my neck, and stupidly I didn't listen to my body and tried to carry on, causing my neck and throat to go into spasm! To cut a very long and painful story short and because of a few complications along the way, it meant that I had to step away from my craft table for a while and allow the spasm to heal and let my neck sort itself out but anyone who knows me, knows that you can't keep me down for long and once the boredom set in...I decided I needed to craft! So, I'm back...and under the doctor's strict orders, I'm taking things very slowly for the next few weeks but so excited to be rejoining my lovely teamies for this week's brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge!

This week's theme is all about MINIATURE/TINY THINGS and for my project, I decided to create a Trinket Tin, packed full of tiny details! Here in the UK, Mother's Day is just around the corner and the inspiration behind this piece came from a Mother's love and I wanted to make something that would be a tribute to all the wonderful Mum's out there and one in particular, my beautiful Mum!

So let's begin ~ it's time for this week's project!

I started by prepping the tin and making it look as if it was even more vintage in appearance than it already was ~ to do this I, or should I say I got a trusty assistant to use a hammer and knock some dents in it. Once I was happy I then took over and started to create some crackle onto the outside of the tin...I usually add a coat of clear gesso over the surface so that the crackle doesn't peel off and once the gesso was dry, I used a palette knife to apply some Ranger Ink Crackle Texture Paste over random areas of the tin, smearing it onto the back and sides. I allowed for the crackles to appear and the paste to dry before moving onto the next stage and adding some colour to the paste. 

For this I took Black Soot, Evergreen Bough and Walnut Stain Distress Paints, applying them lightly over the top of the surface and then lightly spritzing the surface with a mist of water, allowing the paints to blend and the colours to sink into the crackles. 

Dab away any excess water or paint.

Now it's time to decorate the inside and starting on the lid on the left hand side, I cut a panel of Worn Wallpaper the same size as the inside. I then lightly sanded the surface and machine stitched a border around the outside. To create the ripped paper around the outside of the panel, I cut two pieces from an old book page, slightly larger in size than the tin and then using Matte Collage Medium, I adhered them inside the lid, allowing the edges of the book page to crinkle and tear and just create a frame around the outside. I then placed the panel of worn wallpaper over the top, again adhering it over the top of the book page with Matte Collage Medium.

Moving onto the base section of the tin, I lined the inside with more of the sanded Worn Wallpaper and adhered another panel on the back wall, again adding a machine stitched border around the edge.

Setting the tin aside to dry thoroughly, I started creating the embellishments to fill the inside...

I machine stitched around the beautiful Photo Booth image which is taken from the brand new set from Tim Holtz and used one of a Mother and Daughter which I then layered onto some gold metallic kraft stash, leaving a border around the outside. To strengthen the photo, I placed some chipboard onto the back before attaching it onto a Memo Pin and adding a Clippings Sticker ~ Within My Heart.

I then used a Thimble which I aged with a little Evergreen Bough paint and then smeared Picket Fence Paint over the top to accentuate the design on the metal. I then placed a small piece of oasis foam into the thimble, secured into place with some Collage Medium and placed the photograph in the centre before arranging and attaching moss around the outside.

I completed the little thimble pot with some flowers taken from the Bouquet Findings and coloured with Antique Linen Distress Spray Stain. I added some Platinum Stickles to the centres of each flowers.

I attached the pot to the base of the tin and added some Baubles/Pearls around the outside ~ some of the pearls are coloured with Mushroom Alcohol Ink, some with Aqua and some I kept white.

On the opposite side, I used one of the Mini Pocket Watches, altered with a little Mushroom and Rust Alcohol Ink and lined with some linen and then filled this with some ephemera ~ buttons, bouquet findings and a little Clippings Sticker, "Love".

I placed the watch and a small key on some chain and then added some hand dyed ribbon around the neck before hanging it from a Hitch Fastener attached to the lid using Collage Medium.

As a finishing touch, I added a small decorative knob from the Mini Hardware Findings to the top, once again altered with Evergreen Bough and Picket Fence Distress paint and a light touch of Mushroom Alcohol Ink.

Finally, using some more of the ribbon that I had hand dyed using Tumbled Glass and Antique Linen Distress Spray and wrapped it around the hinged part of the tin, tying it around the back with a simple knot and then attaching a Story Stick, No.365....

...and a heart taken from the Treasures Adornments.

So that completes my project for this week, celebrating all those amazing ladies in our lives ~ our precious Mum's and I hope you'll be inspired by the ideas and maybe create a keepsake tin of your own!

Don't forget, you can find more inspiration from my talented teamies over on the challenge blog 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 taking the time to stop by today and hope to see you again soon, love Emma xxx

Recipe for project:

Distress Paint: Black Soot, Picket Fence, Walnut Stain, Evergreen Bough
Distress Spray Stain: Tumbled Glass, Antique Linen

Idea-ology: Hitch Fasteners, Transparent Wings, Bouquet Findings, Baubles, Clippings Stickers, Snippets, Thimbles, Trinket Tins, Treasures, Story Sticks, Mini Hardware Findings, Photo Booth Photos, Memo Pin, Key Adornments, Mini Pocket Watch

Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Crackle Texture Paste, Clear Gesso

Surfaces: Worn Wallpaper
Platinum Stickles Glitter

Tim Holtz Media Glass Mat

Tim Holtz Guillotine
Collage Brushes

Heat Gun
Alcohol Ink Applicator Tool
Palette Knife
Moss, florist's oasis and buttons  ~ all from my own stash