Happy Go Lucky...

Hello friends and Happy Monday...

Hope you've all had a good weekend and staying healthy and taking care! As another Monday comes around, there is a brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and this week we are celebrating St. Patrick's Day with our theme, "A Bit 'O Green"! So, if you would like to join us, we can't wait to see how you included something green into your projects and look forward to you sharing them.

For my project, I created a home decor piece that will be perfect to display for the celebrations and I used plenty of new Tim Holtz products, including the amazing Vintage Flair which I love...together with a few of the older ones, the little thimble which represents a pot of gold and assembled the on a Vignette Box to tell the story of this Happy Go Lucky little boy.

So, let's get started because it's time to tag it!

To begin with I took the largest size of Vignette Box and I will be using the back of this box for this particular project. To begin with I taped the edges of the box with a green Tim Holtz Design Tape  ~ I'm not sure which set that this came from, so sorry but my tapes have been well loved and used and they are a little mixed up but any green tape will do. I then covered all four of the sides with one of the 'green' papers from the Etcetera Paper Stash and adhered the panels with Matte Collage Medium before adding a neutral coloured paper onto the front. I also added a coat of the medium over the papers to seal them.

At this stage, I also added some Field Notes Ephemera pieces to the box, placing them onto the sides and the front.

Once the medium was dry, I then started to apply some Crackle Paste to the edges of the box to create a vintage feel. After allowing for the paste to crackle and set, I took the Walnut Stain Distress Crayon and added some colour. I apply the crayon directly to the paste, then use my finger dipped in water to move the crayon around, allowing it to sink into the cracks and add the colour.

To complete the box and add some decorative elements I used the Vignette Finials and after painting them with Ground Espresso Distress Paint, I wrapped some twine around the base piece and tied this into a bow, together with a the 'lucky' Story Stick. I then attached both finials to the top and bottom before applying a touch of Vintage Gold Alchemy Wax over the surface to give them more of an opulent look and highlight all the beautiful carving.

As the finishing touch to the box, I just popped a couple of hardware pieces on the top.

The box is now ready and can be set to one side...

Now to start work on those embellishments and the first thing I did was paint my Etcetera Trims, a Pinked Trim used as the ledge and the Bracket Trims which I'll place underneath. To add colour, I used a combination of Peeled Paint Distress Paint, which I painted to cover each of the trims, before dry brushing Forest Moss and Ground Espresso Distress Paints over the top.

I then attached my trims together to form a ledge before attaching this to my box with Matte Collage Medium, adding some Hardware Heads to either side and a rusty metal screwhead in the middle.

Beneath the trims, I wanted to add some more texture and for this I used the Star Trim 3D Embossing Folder and cut the narrow trim from Heavystock Card. After inking the trim and accentuating the stars with a little more of the gold wax. I attached it across my box.

I then placed the 'Good Luck To You Today' Clipping Sticker over the top of the trim.

Moving on, I coloured my Bouquet Findings flowers and for this I used Peeled Paint Distress Spray Stain, spritzed the flower heads and heat dried them thoroughly. I then snipped off the individual flowers so that I can arrange them how I want.

Taking the Paper Doll image, which is one of my favourites from the Cast of Characters, I attached him to a playing card, which can be found in the Junk Drawer Baseboard pieces. These are perfect for this style of project as they're really thick chipboard and therefore, can stand freely on their own without bending or collapsing. To add the flower to his hands, I poked a hole through the paper doll and then popped the flower through the small hole, adding a dab of glue front and back to secure into place. 

Add a line of glue along the bottom edge of the playing card piece and then attach to the ledge on the box.

Behind the playing card, I placed some hand dyed Mummy Cloth, dyed with a spritzing of Antique Linen and Pumice stone Distress Spray Stain, attaching this to ground the little boy and give the appearance that he's sitting on the card.

Now we have the main feature in place, I just need to add some of the embellishments and started with the pot of gold. This is a Thimble which I distressed with Evergreen Bough and Ground Espresso Distress Paints, to create more of a vintage patina to the metal. I then filled the Thimble with some Baubles, coloured with a combination of Gold Mixative and Mushroom Alcohol Inks. Once I'd attached the baubles with Matte Collage Medium, I then added a few Art Stones which I painted gold, and sprinkled these over the top to fill in any of the gaps.

Attach the 'pot of gold' to the ledge and then arrange the remaining gold baubles around the base.

Add the remainder of the little green flowers to the ledge, placing these to the right of the playing card and around the pot.

We're nearly there and after allowing all the embellishments attached to the ledge to set and completely dry, so that they're solid and won't move, all that's left is to decorate the background of the box.

I began by attaching one of the new Vintage Flair pins to the back, a clover leaf which was made for this piece.

I then placed some of the new Type Chips at the top, cutting them in half to create the number 17. I attached these with foam tape and then placed a Tiny Clip at the top.

Finally, I added some more Hardware Heads, coloured with Rust Alcohol Ink and placed these down the right hand side.

So, that completes my project for this week and I hope you've loved the "bit 'o green' touches that I've added to this piece.

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 and you can join in up to 5 times, which means you could have 5 chances to win. 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:

Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous: Pinked Etcetera Trims, Bracket Etcetera Trims
Tim Holtz/Sizzix: 3D Star Trim Impresslits Cut and Emboss Folder
Distress Paint: Ground Espresso, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss, Evergreen Bough
Distress Marker Pens
Distress Crayons: Walnut Stain
Alcohol Inks: Rust, Gold Mixative, Mushroom

Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Hardware Heads, Thimbles, Vignette Box, Vintage Flair, Clippings Sticker Book, Junk Drawer Baseboards, Paper Dolls, Field Notes Ephemera, Tiny Clips, Type Chips, Baubles, Bouquet Findings, Mummy Cloth, Vignette Finials, Story Sticks

Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Crackle Paste, Art Stones

Surfaces: Mixed Media Heavystock, Etcetera Paper Stash

Glass Media Mat

Big Shot

Heat Gun
Design Tape from my own stash but Tim's tape are all available HERE