Mr Rabbit Springs Into Action...

Happy Monday friends... 

Hope you've all had a wonderful weekend and ready for a brand new week and the new challenge that is starting today, over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog!

This week, our theme is all about Spring and Easter and we hope you'll join us, and share all your beautiful creations!

For my project, I couldn't resist using another Tim Holtz die from the 2021 Sizzix Chapter 1 release and would like to introduce you to Mr Rabbit, a very handsome bunny with those gorgeous long ears and big feet, who is looking for Eater treats and getting his little habitat ready for Easter.

So, let's get started and here's how I created this project!

With spring in the air, I wanted to keep this card looking fresh but still have that shabby chic vintage vibe to the overall piece ~ so I kept the background white, just adding a touch of ink to take away the starkness and then added all my layers over the top.

So after cutting a panel of Distress watercolour card, I spritzed it with a light misting of water. I then placed the floral background stamp from the Vines and Roses Stampers Anonymous set onto my stamp platform, and used different coloured Mini Distress Inks to ink up the various detail of the stamp.

Flowers: Broken China and Kitsch Flamingo

Leaves: Bundled Sage and Iced Spruce

I then spritzed the stamp with water and stamped directly onto the card panel. To cover the entire panel, I moved the stamp down slightly and then repeated the previous step.

After heat drying the stamped panel, I then inked the edges with Frayed Burlap and also added a few splashes of the ink over the background, creating little inky pools. 

Once the background was thoroughly dry, I added some stamped imagery, some script using the stamp from the Poinsettia stamp set and stamped onto various areas of the panel, a postmark and receipt no. which is from the Field Notes Stamp set.

After machine stitching a border around the edge...

...I matted it onto some paper from the Etcetera Paper stash and then matted theses panels onto a piece of thick media board from Sizzix that I cut slightly larger than the previous matted panels. Around the outside edge of the mount board, I applied some Design Tape.

Before moving on, I created a ledge for Mr Rabbit to stand on and this is just two Etcetera Pinked Trims, one slightly narrower than the other and overlaid. I then applied some Crackle Paste over the surface, allowed for this to dry before applying some Walnut Stain Distress Crayon over the top to accentuate the crackles. I attached the ledge across my background, allowing it to slightly overhang the edges.

I now have my background ready to embellish...and now I can formally introduce you to Mr Rabbit who is placed amongst a backdrop of Spring greens, which are all die cut from Mixed Media Heavystock card, coloured with Rustic Wilderness, Peeled Paint and Shabby Shutters Distress Inks and using the foliage from Funky Nature Thinlits Die Set.

With the foliage cut, I formed and arranged it into an arch, attaching it to sit on the ledge.

I cut the image three times from Kraft Heavystock card and layered the card using Matte Collage Medium to form one rabbit that resembles the thickness of chipboard.

I then added some detail to the rabbit using Polychromos pencils from Faber Castell. I also added some white pen details to add those few extra highlights.

Once I had Mr Rabbit ready, I moved onto the toadstool and used one of the dies from the Funky Toadstools set. As with Mr Rabbit, I wanted quite substantial pieces as I wanted to create dimension, so I cut two of each of the image pieces from Mixed Media Heavystock card and then layered them with Matte Collage Medium before painting the cap with Candied Apple Distress Paint, and a touch of Black Soot mixed in and the stalk was coloured with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink. I then added some small white dots onto the cap using Tonic Nuvo Drops in White.

The carrot was cut using the smaller of the two carrot dies in the Carrot Bunny Thinlits Die set and once again, layered to create a thicker die cut and coloured with Spiced Marmalade, Carved Pumpkin and a touch of Vintage Photo Distress Paints. The leaves are cut from some leftover card that I coloured for the foliage.

Using foam pads, I attached the toadstool, the rabbit and the carrot in amongst the foliage, placing clumps of moss in and around the base.

To complete the scene, I added some dried flowers that I had in my stash and also some Bouquet Findings. These are all coloured with Spun Sugar Distress Spray Stain and have Platinum Stickles applied to the little stamen centres and hidden amongst the foliage, I placed one lucky Bauble finding. I coloured this with Limeade and Mushroom Alcohol Inks and attached it to nestle into the greenery.

Now for all the finishing touches, and I added some rusted Index Clips, complete with Hardware Heads and clipped these to either side of the panel. I also placed a Field Notes Ephemera piece onto the right hand side.

In the top left hand corner, I placed a Stitched Scrap, and attached the Mini Pin.

I attached a Prima Marketing Rusty Metal clip at the top of the panel...

...and finally, I added the Theories Quote Chip, "never stop exploring" and placed this beneath the ledge, adding a Hardware Head to either side of the chip.

My spring themed project is now ready to display and I hope you've enjoyed the walk through the process of how I made it and how Mr Rabbit was bought to life.

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....

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by today ~ stay safe and keep well.

Love Emma xxx

Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz/Sizzix: Mr Rabbit, Funky Nature, Funky Toadstools, Carrot Bunny

Stampers Anonymous: The Poinsettia, Field Notes, Vines and Roses, Pinked Etcetera Trims

Mini Distress Inks: Broken China, Kitsch Flamingo Iced Spruce, Bundled Sage

Distress Inks: Frayed Burlap, Rustic Wilderness, Peeled Paint and Shabby Shutters 

Distress Paint: Spiced Marmalade, Carved Pumpkin, Vintage Photo, Candied Apple and Black Soot

Distress Crayon: Walnut Stain

Distress Spray Stain: Spun Sugar

Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Hardware Heads, Field Notes Ephemera, Index Clips, Clippings Sticker Book, Remnants Design Tape, Bouquet Findings, Baubles, Theories Quote Chips, Stitched Scraps 2

Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Platinum Stickles Glitter Glue, Crackle Paste, Chalk White Nuvo Drops

Alcohol Inks: Limeade, Mushroom

Surfaces: Mixed Media Heavystock, Kraft Heavystock Card, Sizzix Media Board, Etcetera Paper Stash

Glass Media Mat

Rusty Metal Clip

Heat Gun

Polychromos Pencils

Big Shot Die Cutting Machine

Dried flowers and moss from my own stash

All The Feels Simon Says Stamp Blog Hop

 Hello friends and welcome to Day 2 of the Simon Says Stamp All The Feels Blog Hop...

Today, I'm really happy to be joining so many talented designers as one of the stops on this hop and if you'd like to see this fabulous new release in full, then just pop over to Simon Says Stamp.

You might have arrived here from Mindy's blog, but if not and you've just popped by and would love to join us for this fun hop, then don't worry because you can head back to the beginning over on Simon Says Stamp's Blog. Also, if you make anything using any of the awesome new products from this release, then we would love for you to share your creations with us in the All The Feel's gallery.

There are so many gorgeous new products in this release, and I can guarantee you'll be spoilt for choice but I chose to create a card using the Happy Everything Dies, Spring Flowers Background and here's how I created it.

To begin with I cut a panel of Tim Holtz Distress Kraft Heavystock card, 11 x 14.5cm and using my Tim Holtz stamp platform, I stamped the Spring Flowers background stamp over the entire piece using Versamark Clear Ink. I then sprinkled Fine White Embossing Powder over the top and tapped away the excess before heat embossing the powder until molten.

Next, I cut a second panel of the card, 12.5 x 17cm, together with an 8.5cm die cut circle of the kraft card and repeated the above step on both pieces. For the circle, I used the Sizzix Stitched Circle Die set from Tim Holtz but if you don't own this, any circle will work.

Now that I have my two stamped panels and the circle, I spent the next hour happily colouring in all the detail. On the larger panel, to save time, I coloured the outside edge only as this is the part that will be showing on the final card, and you won't see any more, so it saves precious time.

Taking the larger panel, I matted this onto a piece of cream card, followed by green card from the Tim Holtz Cool Kraft Stack, which I cut slightly larger than the embossed panel, and also distressed slightly using a sanding tool, to create more of a vintage feel.

I matted and layered this onto a piece of kraft card, and then mounted the layers onto a card blank made from SSS Dark Chocolate card.

After matting the smaller panel onto more of the green card from the Kraft Stack, I mounted this onto the card front using foam pads before completing the layers by adding a 1cm strip stamped, coloured and matted onto green card across the centre of the card panels.

Cut a strip of Mummy Cloth from the Tim Holtz Halloween Trimmings set and colour the trimming by spritzing with Kitsch Flamingo and Antique Linen Distress Spray Stains. Dry the cloth and then wrap around the centre of the card front, securing with a knot on the left. I pinned a small mini pin into the knot.

I trimmed my stacked circle die cut to create a jagged deckle edge and then matted this onto the green card before mounting the circle onto the left hand side of my card front.

Next, I used the Happy Everything die to die cut Mixed Media Heavystock card, four separate times. I then layered and adhered each of the die cuts over one another using Matte Collage Medium, to create the two words but with the thickness of chipboard.

Dab the Versamark Ink Pad over the top of the die cut wording and sprinkle with Wendy Vecchi Buttercup Embossing Powder. Tap away the excess and heat emboss. Repeat the embossing process a second time to create the enamelled look to the lettering.

Using the shadow section of the Happy Everything die, die cut vellum and then layer the enamelled wording over the top.

Attach the wording onto the circle, overlapping the edges.

I coloured the bee from Tim Holtz's Entomology Adornments with Alcohol Inks. Painting the inks onto the metal. Colours used: Butterscotch, Aqua, Mushroom and Gilded Alloy.

I attached the bee to the circle and added a few sequins around the wording.

To complete the card, I added Index Clips to the top left and bottom right of the smaller embossed panel and then placed a Hardware Head over each clip, both of which are altered with a little Black Soot and Ground Espresso Distress paint.

So that's my card finished and I hope you love the vintage feel and the gorgeous background ~ it makes me feel that spring is definitely just around the corner and better days might be ahead! Fingers crossed....

Simon Says Stamp is giving away a $25 coupon to every stop on the blog hop! This means you can leave a comment here and on every stop along the way to increase your chances. Winners will be posted on the Simon Says Stamp blog on Wednesday, 31st March and all winners will need to contact/email Simon Says Stamp to claim their prize. 

Also, last but by no means least ~ if you shop during the ALL THE FEELS blog hop release, then you  can get yourself a super fun Love Your Guts die for FREE, with purchase. The offer is valid until 28th March at 11:59 ET, or while supplies last and the code you need to use to claim your gift, is: LYGT42

Thanks so much for hopping by today, hope to see you again soon!

Emma xx

BLOG HOP ORDER

Simon Says Stamp Blog   

Debby Hughes

Laura Bassen

Amanda Korotkova

Heather Hoffman

Bobbi Lemanski

Vicky Papaioannou

Bibi Cameron

Kathy Racoosin

Dilay Nacar

Mindy Eggen

Emma Williams (you are here)

Seeka

Tina Smith

RECIPE FOR CARD:

Simon Says Stamp ALL THE FEELS Release: Happy Everything Dies, Spring Flowers Background

Distress Ink: Walnut Stain

Distress Spray Stain: Antique Linen, Kitsch Flamingo

Tim Holtz idea-ology: Halloween Trimmings, Entomology Adornments, Index Clips, Hardware Heads
Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Fine White Embossing Powder, Versamark Clear Embossing Ink

Surfaces: Tim Holtz Mixed Media Heavystock Card, Simon Says Stamp Vellum, Tim Holtz Distress Kraft Heavystock

Tim Holtz Kraft Stock Stack Cool, Dark Chocolate Card
Foam Pads

Tim Holtz Alcohol Inks: Butterscotch, Aqua, Mushroom and Gilded Alloy

Wendy Vecchi Buttercup Embossing Powder

Faber Castell Polychromos Pencils

Sizzix Sequins and Beads Gold and Limoncello
Big Shot

Tim Holtz Glass Media Mat

Blending Tool

Heat Gun

Stitched Circle Thinlits Die by Tim Holtz from my own stash

Stand By Me ~ The Brothers

Hello there...

Today, I'm sharing my second idea-ology project that I created for the recent Tim Holtz idea-ology launch, which if you missed, don't worry because you can catch up with it HERE on Tim's blog! When these products arrive and they are all spread out on my desk, I always try to find that lightbulb moment from something and as soon as I saw these three boys, my mind went to one of my favourite films, Stand By Me and instantly, the story unfolded and the products just came together seamlessly to create my Divided Vignette Box...

There is quite a lot of detail to this piece but I've added a list of all the idea-ology products, together with the rest of the products that I used, at the end of the post. 

So gather your stash and let's start creating...

FIRST STEP ~ THE BOX

I began by removing one inner section of my box, so that I have three sections to fill ~ one large open section at the top and two smaller underneath.

I then painted the outside of the box with a solid cover of Rustic Wilderness Distress Paint and once this was dry, I used the dry brushing technique to create a little vintage distress using a combination of Gathered Twigs and Walnut Stain Distress Paints. To do this, take a dry paint brush and dip into the paint, remove the excess onto a dry paper towel and then apply to the box, letting the brush just kiss the surface and add hints of paint over the Rustic Wilderness!

Once dry, I then applied Humidor Design Tape around the raw edges. Attach the tape so that if folds back to give a really nice finish on the outside of the box and place the tape to cover each of the four sides and the edges of all the divided sections on the inside of the box.

On the top of the box, I attached the larger Vignette Finial from the set of four pieces. I painted the finial using exactly the same method and colours that I used on the box and adhered it into place with Matte Collage Medium. For a little extra ageing, I used Treasure Gold Gilding Wax, which I just applied lightly onto the finial, to accentuate the contours. I then wound some twine around it and secured it with a knot.

To add even more vintage appeal, I applied crackle paste to the edges and once it had worked it's magic, I applied Walnut Stain Distress Crayon over the top, blended with a semi dry baby wipe to ensure the colour seeped into the cracks.

For a final detail, I adhered a piece of Field Notes Ephemera to the right hand side, bottom corner of the box.

With the box ready, I moved onto adding an extension to the base of the box, which you can see is attached along the bottom edge.

For this I used a piece of wood, cut to fit the width of the box. If you aren't able to get any wood, you could use MDF, or you could make a base by layering mount board. I would suggest about 5 layers of mount board to create a substantial base and then apply a coat of gesso over the top before moving onto painting it.

I painted the base extension with the same colours as I used on the box and applied the same dry brushing technique to create the distressed effect before applying some more of the Humidor Design Tape around the edges and then attaching it to my box. For this I used Matte Collage Medium which I applied along the back edge of the base ledge. Once this is in place, I allowed for the medium to dry, ensuring the base was attached and wouldn't move, or even worse, fall off!

Now for the inside of the box and this was all covered with papers from the Backdrops paper sets. Each piece of paper is cut to fit the divided sections and the walls and adhered using Matte Collage Medium but to add some more of that vintage appeal and create some atmosphere, I ripped and tore section of the paper, and also added some more Crackle Paste. Again applying Walnut Stain Distress Crayon over the top to accentuate the crackles once dry.

So the box is ready to fill and let's start with the top section and the volt box, complete with tiny light.

This is the second smallest sized vignette box in the set of four which I flipped over to work on the solid side.

On what has not become the front of the box, I used one of the wonderfully detailed Gauge Frames which I painted using Black Soot, Ground Espresso, Vintage Photo and a touch of Rusty Hinge Distress Paint. I brushed the paint onto the surface of the metal and once it had become slightly tacky, I wiped away the excess before allowing it to dry and placing an Urban Layer piece, the volts/amps gauge, behind the window, so that it showed through the aperture. I then attached the gauge piece to the bottom section on the front of the box.

I then covered the entire vignette box, using gold Metallic Kraft Paper, embossed using Tim's Foundry 3D Embossing Texture Fade from Sizzix. I cut the panels of embossed card to fit the box and adhered each piece into place with Matte Collage Medium.

After applying Translucent Grit Paste around the edges, and allowing for it to dry, I painted the box with Black Soot, Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso Distress Paints. Once the paints were dry, I used Antiqued Bronze, Rusty Hinge and Black Soot Distress Crayons to give more depth of colour to the metal and the paste that forms the rusty appearance around the edges.

With the volt box ready, I drilled a hole through the wood where I would be fitting my light.

For this I used a Tiny Corked Vial, the one with the rounded bottom and after applying a layer of Matte Collage Medium to the glass, I allowed it to dry before creating the crackled effect using a layer of Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint, just painted over the surface. Allow for this to dry and crackle before attaching the glass vial over the top of the drilled hole.

Once the glass vial was solid and securely glued into place, I drilled a second hole through the back of my Divided Vignette Box, making sure that this hole will line up with where you need to thread the lights through to the volt box, and add them to the glass vial. 

I then threaded my Tiny Lights through the hole in the back of the divided vignette box and then through the hole in the tiny volt box so that they fit securely inside the glass vial ~ you won't need all the lights on the wire, only about three ~ so it's perfectly safe to cut the excess wire leaving those three lights remaining on the strand attached to the battery box, which is essential ~ DO NOT CUT THE BATTERY BOX FROM THE WIRE! With the lights inside the tiny vial/light bulb, secure the box into place on the right hand side of the top section.

Next to the volt box, I added the ruler which I took from Tim's Junk Drawer Baseboard set. I wrapped some red cotton thread around one end and then attached it to the back wall.

Underneath the volt box, I attached a ledge for the boys to sit on and used Etcetera Trims to build it. I used two trims, placing them at a right angle to one another to form the ledge. With the 'L' shaped ledge in front of me, I then placed a third trim, along the front so that this will fit behind the boys to support them and allow me something to attach them to. I once again added some Translucent Grit Paste to the edges for more texture before painting the ledge with Distress Paints and then attaching it with Matte Collage Medium, placing it directly underneath the volt box.

The image of the brothers is from the new Group Paper Dolls set and I water coloured them with Distress Crayons before attaching the image to appear as though they are sitting on the ledge. I used acetate strips to add some cleverly hidden support behind the dolls, so that they are solid and will not bend or move.

Underneath the ledge, I added a wheel. This is a piece from the Odds and Ends Embellishments and to add the patina look to the metal, I altered it with Evergreen Bough, Vintage Photo, Picket Fence, Antiqued Bronze and Black Soot Distress Paints applied directly to the metal in individual layers and drying each layer between applications.

I attached the wheel to a Finial base which was painted with Distress Paints to give the effect of wood and then attached this inside the box.

To complete this section, I added some moss along the floor of the section, together with Mummy Cloth dyed with Frayed Burlap and Pumice Stone Spray Stains.

Bottom left hand section:

To create the faux drawer, I used the smallest sized Vignette Box and once again, I covered it with papers from the Backdrop set. I then attached the covered box inside my divided section, using Matte Collage Medium.

I added the Glass Handle With Care label to the front of the box, together with the handle which I once again altered using the same coloured Distress paints as I used on the wheel in the above section.

Underneath the faux drawer, I created a collection of bottles/corked vials, all different sizes and shapes, and these will sit in each of the bottom sections. I primed all the bottles with a layer of Matte Collage Medium before adding various finishes. I painted some bottles with Rustic Wilderness Distress paint and some bottles have a crackled glaze finish created using Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint. I sealed the corks inside the bottle necks with more of the Matte Collage and then I lit a match and being very careful at this stage and blowing them out almost immediately, I set fire to the corks to create a burnt edge.

To complete the bottles I added Vial Labels and Remnant Rubs. You might also notice that on one of the bottles, I used the Mini Flair Pin with the star on the red background and this I just attached to the bottle opening.

I placed all my corked vials into both sections of the divided tray, arranging some to lie on their sides and some to stand.

In the third and final section, I added the mini pulley wheel. Again I painted the wheel using the same combination of paints as I used on all the metal pieces and I attached this to the side wall of the box before adding more moss, a few twigs and some tiny stones all arranged around the base of the bottles.

We're nearly there and I finished the box by adding some chain, which I draped around the wheel in the top section of the box and then taking it down into the section below, securing the chain by attaching it to a screw eye fastening from the Vignette Hardware Finding set. I completed it with the number 47 Factory Tag.

All that's left is the finishing detail to tell the story and I found the perfect Clippings Sticker ... The Brothers and added this along the top edge of my box!

 Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by today and hope you love this piece!

 Stay safe and keep well.

Love Emma xxx

Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Backdrops Volume 1 and Volume 2, Group Paper Dolls, Mini Hardware Knobs and Handle, Vignette Finials, Gauge Frames, Urban Layers, Odds and Ends Embellishments, Junk Drawer Baseboard Mini Flair Embellishment, Halloween Trimmings,Vignette Hardware Findings, Divided Vignette Box, Vignette Boxes, Tiny Lights, Humidor Design Tape, Corked Vials, Tiny corked Vials, Metallic Stickers,  Pulley Wheel, Clippings Stickers, Factory Tags

Distress Paint: Rustic Wilderness, Walnut Stain, Black Soot, Evergreen Bough, Rusty Hinge, Antiqued Bronze, Ground Espresso and Vintage Photo

Distress Crayons: Walnut Stain, Gathered Twigs, Vintage Photo

Distress Spray Stain: Frayed Burlap, Pumice Stone

Distress Inks: Walnut Stain, Antiqued Bronze and Black Soot

Stampers Anonymous: Pinked Etcetera Trims

Sizzix: Foundry 3D Embossing Texture Fade

Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Crackle Paste, Translucent Paste, Rock Candy Crackle Paint,

Surfaces: Metallic Kraft Stash

Glass Media Mat

Heat Gun

Treasure Gold Gilding Wax, chain, moss and twine from my own stash