A Christmas Story...

Hello friends and welcome to the brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. This week our theme is called TAPE IT UP and to join in with this fun challenge, all we want you to do is use some tape within your project. It can be washi tape, design tape from Tim Holtz or even tape that you stamp yourself and add onto your project ~ it's entirely up to you but we hope you will play along and show us how you tape it up!

For my project, I used Tim Holtz's Christmas Design Tape and created a vintage style tag all about Christmas memories ~ yes, I've been watching those Christmas movies that are currently being shown every day on TV and these are what inspired me to make this piece all about Betsy, and her Christmas Story!

So let's begin and here's how I created this tag...

I started by covering the edges of my medium Etcetera Tag using the Christmas Design tape, starting with the darker coloured tape and adhering it around the edges of the tag. I always apply a little Collage Medium to ensure that the tape is well and truly stuck. I then took a lighter coloured tape and attached this onto the inside of darker tape, to create a decorative, patterned border around the edge of the tag. Once both tapes are secure, I added some Crackle Paste along the top section of the tag ~ this section won't be covered by the paper but the paste gives a really nice vintage feel to the project. 

After allowing the paste to dry and the crackle to appear I cut a panel of the music score patterned paper from Tim's Christmas Paper Stash to measure, 12 x 20cm. I then machine stitched a border around the outside before adhering the paper onto my tag.

To create more texture around the edges of the paper, I randomly applied some more Crackle Paste down the sides and onto the corners. Again allow the paste to crackle and then to accentuate the crackles, I applied the Walnut Stain Distress Crayon over the top and using a damp paint brush, blended the colour over the top of the texture paste, allowing it to seep into the crackles.

I now have my covered tag ready to embellish but as the finishing detail, I covered the reinforcer piece with some more of the music score paper and after inking the edges, I attached it over the hole...

I then painted one of the Mini Hardware Findings with Candied Apple Distress Paint and once it was dry, I attached the metal handle. 

...starting with the book cover. The base of this is taken from the Christmas Layers and Baseboard Frames Pack and I just backed it with some chipboard to make it a bit thicker as I wanted to use foam pads to adhere it to my tag.

I added some red twine around the 'spine' of the book cover and attached a snowflake adornment to the twine before attaching the cover to my tag. I then added a Parcel Post Ephemera piece just above the book cover.

For the photo, I called her Betsy, I started by colour tinting a Found Relative image using Distress marker Pens and placed it behind one of the Baseboard Frames before attaching the frame to the cover of the book. I then finished the photo by adding some Clippings Stickers ~ Betsy and Christmas Story.

Now for the ledge and this is made up using two different lengths of Scalloped Etcetera Trims. After assembling the trims to create the ledge, I primed the surface with gesso, allowed the medium to dry and then added some Crackle Paste over the surface. When the paste is dry, I attached the ledge to my tag, placing it just beneath the memory book cover.

To fill the ledge, I dyed some Mummy Cloth with Frayed Burlap Distress Spray Stain and arranged the dry cloth along the ledge before moving onto creating the Christmas Tree ~ this is a Small Woodland Tree that I spritzed with Peeled Paint Distress Spray Stain. Once the stain is completely dry, I then smeared a small amount of Matte Medium over the tips of the tree before sprinkling the entire tree with Rock Candy Distress Glitter. After tapping away the excess glitter and allowing to dry thoroughly, I placed the glittery tree into a thimble, which I painted with Candied Apple Distress Paint.

I attached the tree to my ledge and placed the holly sprig Ephemera piece behind, allowing it to curve around the bottom left hand corner of the frame.

Next to the tree, I added a Floral Adornment. I coloured this with a combination of Mushroom Alcohol Ink and Deception Alcohol Pearls and then added some Platinum Stickles Glitter Glue to the centre of the flower. I attached the flower to lean against the tree, adding some sprigs of die cut foliage which I had left over from a previous project.

Finally I coloured some Bauble Adornments with various shades of blue, green and neutral coloured Alcohol Inks and then attached the baubles along the ledge.

It's now just about those finishing touches to bring this piece to life and after attaching the 'It's A Wonderful Life' quote chip beneath the ledge, I added some Metallic Droplets to either side of the chip.

To complete the tag, I added the Hinge Clip and a small ephemera piece complete with the date of the 25th!

So, that completes my project for this week and I hope it's given you some ideas of how to use Design Tape within your projects and how you can use products to create vintage effects.

Have fun creating your projects and don't forget, if you would like to see 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:

Stampers Anonymous: Scalloped Trims, Medium Etcetera Tag
Distress Inks: Candied Apple
Distress Spray Stain: Peeled Paint
Distress Crayon: Walnut Stain
Distress Marker Pens

Idea-ology: Christmas Design Tape, Christmas Layers and Baseboard Frames, Bauble Findings, Thimbles, Woodland Trees, Metallic Droplets, Ephemera Christmas Pack, Ephemera Christmas Snippets, Christmas Quote Chips, Christmas Clippings Stickers, Snowflake Adornment, Floral Adornments, Mummy cloth, Mini hardware Findings, Found Relatives

Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Rock Candy Glitter, Crackle Paste, Gesso, Platinum Stickles
Alcohol Ink: Mushroom, Various alcohol ink colours, 
Surfaces: Foam Pads, Tim Holtz Christmas Paper Stash, Black Chipboard, acetate
Tim Holtz Media Glass Mat

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