Happy Monday friends...
Another week has flown by but at least that means that it's another week of lockdown done and dusted! I think at the moment, we're all feeling lockdown fatigue but if you want a new challenge for the week ahead, then look no further than the brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge! Our theme is called LET'S BE ON TIME and whether you use clocks, timetables or just something that relates to a moment in time ~ we want you to create a time related project and can't wait to see what you create!
For my project, my thoughts turned to Valentine's Day and in my head, I had a few words buzzing around ~ "MAKE TIME FOR THE THINGS YOU LOVE". So with this in mind, I created a mini etcetera tag, using some brand new, and a few older Tim Holtz dies to tell the story of the Timekeeper and counting down those minutes to Valentine's Day.
It's time for the brand new challenge to begin....
I began by creating the background for my project and you can of course apply paint directly to the tag surface which is something I've done in the past but this piece, I wanted to add some stitching around the outside, and therefore used a piece of Distress watercolour card to work on, which I will then mount once finished onto the tag.
After cutting a panel of the card that fits the tag, I then added colour to my surface using Distress Spray Stains ~ Speckled Egg, Old Paper, Pumice Stone and Walnut Stain together with a burst of Speckled Egg Oxide Spray.
I lightly misted the surface of the card with water and then spritzed my colours over the top. I also apply some of the stains to my glass mat, and pick up the colour from there. Once I was happy with the mix and blend, I then inked the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and machine stitched a border around the outside, leaving some of the strands loose, which is something I love to do.
I then added some stamping to the background using the script stamp from The Poinsettia stamp set and the postmark stamp from Field Notes ~ most of this stamping did get covered but here and there you can see little glimpses of the imagery.
I adhered the inked panel to my tag using Matte Collage Medium and added the hole reinforcer tab at the top, which I crackled using Crackle Paste, and once dry added some Walnut Stain Distress Crayon to highlight and accentuate the crackles.
Finally, I added some torn Design Tape pieces which I stuck directly onto the background as interest, and then for that all important texture to the background. For this I used some more of the Crackle Paste which I applied with a palette knife, and just scraped the paste down the tag, letting the paste just touch where it touches and adding various thicknesses which will give different sizes of cracks. After allowing to dry, I then added a touch of Walnut Stain Crayon to add some highlights of colour to the crackles.
Now we can start work on the clock and for this I used the Sizzix Timekeeper and Steampunk Parts Bigz die by Tim Holtz and cut two pieces of chipboard for the clock dial which I then layered together to create one clock, the hands and also cut the circular sections only using the Steampunk Parts die. I layered these pieces to build up the circles and attached them to the centre of the clock.
After applying a layer of black gesso to prime the chipboard, I added some more paints for colour ~ I used gold acrylic paint, followed by a dry brushed layer of Black Soot, and then Evergreen Bough Distress Paint. I always dry the paint between layers and after applying my base layer, I use the dry brushing technique to add layer after layer before finally applying a finishing layer of Burnt Sienna Liquid Acrylic Paint by Prima.
Once my clock was ready, I mounted the clock onto the centre of my tag using foam pads and added the hands, placing a hardware head in the centre.
Underneath the clock I added a ledge...
...if you follow me then you'll have seen these ledges many times before but as a quick recap, I took two of the medium sized Etcetera Trims, one of the bracket trims and one of the pinked edge trims. I then painted them with white gesso and once dry, applied a layer of Crackle Paste over each. Once the crackles have appeared and the paste is dry, I used Walnut Stain Distress Crayon over the top to accentuate the crackles.
Now to make the ledge and for this I took the two crackled trims and place them at a 90 degree right angle to form a ledge. For this particular piece I used the bracket trim to sit directly underneath the pinked trim and adhered the two pieces together using Matte Collage Medium.
Once the adhesive is set and the ledge feels secure, attach the ledge across the tag, placing it directly underneath the clock, attaching the Bracket Trim directly onto the tag.
At this stage, I also added the name "J.W. Gaines & Co' which I cut from a Field Notes Ephemera label and attached to the trim with Matte Collage Medium.
Moving onto the gentleman, and for this I used one of the brand new 2021 Chapter 1 Sizzix Die sets ~ The Park. I chose to use only one character from this die set, (some of you might have already seen from Tim's recent YouTube live that I made a Mary Poppins framed panel sign both characters, and I will be sharing this very soon). I cut the gentleman three times from thick black card and layered each piece over the top of one another to form one complete die cut, the thickness of chipboard.
I added his die cut umbrella tucked over his arm and then using a small amount of Prima Gilding Wax from my stash, just highlighting the edge of the die cut and a white pen to add highlights to the buttons on his jacket.
I attached the silhouette gent using foam pads and placed him over the top of the clock dial, just to the right of the hands. In his one hand, I placed a small die cut heart ~ these were actually left over from a previous project and die cut from red card using the Sizzix Falling Hearts die from Tim Holtz.
I then added a cascade of hearts falling down across the tag...
Around the feet of the gent, I placed some die cut foliage. I used the Funky Florals 3 die set to cut mine from card inked with various shades of green Distress Inks. Of course, any foliage will work equally as well for this stage and to add a little more texture, I also placed some moss in and around the foliage and completed the ledge with some baubles that I coloured using Mushroom Alcohol Ink.
We're nearly there and all that's left is to add the wording...Make Time!
I used idea-ology Typography letters and after applying a layer of Antique Linen Distress Paint over each letter, I spelt out the words and attached them to the tag using Matte Collage Medium.
To add a little ageing to the each letter, I just ran the Walnut Stain Distress Crayon around the edges and blended out any harsh lines with a damp fingertip.
As a finishing touch, I threaded some rope through the hole in the top of the tag...
...and then added another Field Notes Ephemera piece in the top left hand corner, complete with a couple of hardware heads.
I hope you've enjoyed this project and the walk through how I created it! As always, if you've been inspired by my tag or any other projec that you've seen here on my blog, please just tag me on my social media or leave a message so I can pop by to take a look, because I always love to see your work ~ it gives me such a huge buzz to know you love what I do!
Don't forget that every week, one lucky random participant has the chance to win a $25 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....
Gorgeous panel Emma :-) the whole design of this is just fantastic!! the gent is fabulous and I love the background!!!
ReplyDeleteHope you have a great week!
luv
Lols x x x
Wow! What a gorgeous tag, Emma! Love how your weathered clock, and lovely Valentine scene. hugs, Maura
ReplyDeleteThis is absolutely adorable Emma! Thank you so much for providing instructions. I want to make something similar, or pretty close, to this to hang for inspiration. Love it!
ReplyDeleteWONDERFUL!!!!! I love the giant clock as a backdrop to The Park die!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant and clever and oh so true. LOVE the crackle and texture in the back, and the whole design is just wonderful.
ReplyDelete