Happy New Year...

Happy New Year friends!

Well, I can't quite believe how fast Christmas seemed to go!!! It's crazy to think that it's two weeks since we were all so excited and now, it's all over and it's time to take all the decorations down and pack them away! 2021 was definitely a year that many of us will never be able to forget, one where we saw so much change in how we go about our daily lives and for some of us, it was a very challenging year. I just hope that 2022 brings everyone much more happiness and joy!

So with a brand new year, comes a brand new year of Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenges and here we go with the first challenge of 2022! This week our theme is called, Something New and the DT are showcasing Carabelle Studio products within their projects, which is something that you don't have to do to join us and play along.

For my tag, I wanted to celebrate what I hope will be a very happy and safe new year and used a stencil from Carabelle Studios, together with Tim Holtz and Simon Says Stamp products to make a project to wish all my followers Peace & Joy in the year to come!

So let's get started and here's how I created my tag that features a little bluebird of hope...

To begin with I took a Size 8 tag that I used as a base, misted it with a light shower of water and then used the following Distress Spray Stains and Oxide Sprays to add colour:

Old Paper, Antique Linen, and Pumice Stone Distress Sprays

Speckled Egg Oxide Spray

I added more water to blend the inks before I heat dried them ready for the next stage.

After placing the Constellation Stencil onto my tag, I used the straight part of the stencil, not the circular section, I applied Grit Paste at the top and bottom of the tag, using a palette knife. Whilst the paste was still wet, I sprinkled gold embossing powder over the top and then set the tag to one side, allowing the paste to dry and the powder to set slightly.

Once the paste is finger dry, I then heated the embossing powder ~ you need to do this very carefully, as you don't want to overheat the paste as this will cause it to bubble and the powder to disperse.

Once the gold embossing powder has become molten and shimmery, I inked the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

Moving onto the panel in the centre...

I inked a piece of Mixed Media Heavystock card using:

Speckled Egg Distress Spray Stain

Ground Espresso Distress Spray Stain

Antique Linen Distress Spray Stain

Frayed Burlap Distress Spray Stain

Tumbled Glass Oxide Spray

Speckled Egg Oxide Spray

A misting of water will blend the sprays and once the panel was thoroughly dry, I machine stitched down the sides of the panel and inked the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

Making sure the panel is complete dry, I stamped the sentiment with clear Versamark Ink, using the Festive Overlay Stamp Set and then sprinkled white embossing powder over the top before I heat embossed the powder until molten.

To complete the panel, I applied some more Grit Paste through the Constellation Stencil, again adding it to the top and bottom of the panel before sprinkling gold embossing powder over the top and repeating the same technique as I used on the tag.

I matted the panel onto a layer of gold card, before I mounted it onto the centre of my tag using foam pads.

On either side of the panel, I clipped two Tiny Clips.

For the adorable little birdie, I used the smaller bird from the Sizzix Feathered Friends Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz. After cutting the pieces, I inked them to create my little blue bird of hope using Gathered Twigs and Rusty Hinge combined with Broken China and Stormy Sky. I inked the beak with Spiced Marmalade and then added highlights to the little birdie with a white pen.

Once I'd assembled the bird and attached the wing in place, I cut some foliage for him to sit on using the Festive Bouquet Die set. I cut my greenery from card that I had previous inked with various shades of green Distress Sprays. I always ink more card than I need and then have these spare pieces left over ready for another project and from memory, I think I used Peeled Paint, Rustic Wilderness and Evergreen Bough Spray Stains.

With my pieces, cut I arranged them underneath the birdies feet and added some moss to complete his little nest.

In the photo below, you can see how I shaped the foliage to create the dimension.

As the finishing touches, I added a Star Adornment underneath the sentiment, which I inked with Foundry Alloy Alcohol Ink and attached with Matte Collage Medium....

...and finally, I threaded some twine through the hole in the tag and attached some idea-ology embellishments from the ends of each piece. These included a Thought Token, "Shine Like The Stars", which I inked with a little Rust Alcohol Ink and then highlighted the wording with Picket Fence Distress Crayon, and two Antiqued Gems.

...and that completes my project for this week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge!

As always, I hope you love my make this week, and enjoyed all the techniques I've used. If you make anything, or if you've been inspired by anything that you've seen here on my blog ~ then please, let me know by tagging me on social media or leaving a comment here and I will be right over to take a look!

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 next Monday at 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, keep well and Happy 2022.

Love Emma xxx

Recipe for project:

Carabelle Studio: Constellation Stencil

Stampers Anonymous: Festive Overlay

Sizzix/Tim Holtz: Feathered Friends, Festive Bouquet

Distress Ink: Walnut Stain, Gathered Twigs, Rusty Hinge, Broken China, Stormy Sky, Spiced Marmalade

Distress Spray Stain: Rustic Wilderness, Iced Spruce, Peeled Paint, Evergreen Bough, Speckled Egg, Antique Linen, Pumice Stone, Old Paper

Distress Oxide Spray: Speckled Egg Oxide Spray

Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Star Adornment, Thought Tokens, Antiqued Gems, Tiny Clips

Mediums: Opaque Grit Paste, Matte Collage Medium, SSS White Embossing Powder, SSS Gold Embossing Powder, Foundry Alloy Alcohol Ink

Surfaces: Mixed Media Heavystock, Metallic Kraft Stash, Size 8 Tag

Glass Media Mat

Blending Tool

Tim Holtz Detailer Waterbrush

Tim Holtz Paper Trimmer

Sizzix Big Shot Die Cutting Machine

Heat Gun

Moss and twine from my own stash