A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year...

Hello friends...

Today, I'm sharing my final Christmas idea-ology make that I created for Tim Holtz's YouTube Live Launch! If you didn't see the LIVE or like me, you just want to watch the replay again, and again...then you can catch up with it HERE!

This project was created using the quite a few of the new Christmas products from Tim and included the fabulous new Vignette Plaque, which measures 8" square and is the perfect base for so many different projects ~ I know I'll definitely be stocking up on these!

So let's begin and I'm just going to take you through a few of the techniques I've used starting with the plaque, which I flipped over so that I could use it as a shadow box but you can use it the other way too, which Tim had done and wow, that project is amazing ~ so definitely take a look!

So with the box flipped over, I painted the back and sides of the plaque with a combination of Candied Apple, Aged Mahogany and Black Soot Distress Paint. I started with Candied Apple and then dried the painted surface before adding a dry brushing of Black Soot and the Aged Mahogany over the top. This helps to knock back the brightness of the red and gave me the vintage look I wanted.

On either side of the box, I added Hinges ~ these aren't functional but just decoration to create the look of a hinge.

I lined the box with papers from the Christmas Backdrops set and cut these into panels, stitched a border around the edge of each and after adding a few rips and tears, I attached them to the plaque with Matte Collage Medium. I always add a coat of the medium over the top of the papers to seal them and I also ran Walnut Stain Distress Crayon around the edges, so that it creates an aged look to the papers. 

What I love about these papers is the fact they all work so well together and you don't need to use a full sheet, just use panels and splice them together as I've done here. Even the Chocolate Phalier Douell panel is cut down from the papers and then collaged.

The focal point is the framed sections and I layered a Baseboard Frame over the top of a Vignette Frame that I painted with Speckled Egg Distress Paint and this creates depth to the piece.

In the centre of the aperture of the baseboard frame, I used foam pads to attach a Christmas Layers piece, with the message, A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year and used Frosted Crystal Embossing Powder over the top of this to create some texture.

I added a star to the top of the frame, which I covered with Holiday Sparkle glitter and for even more sparkle, I applied some Glossy Accents and sprinkled Mica Flakes over the top.

Underneath I added some Vignette Trims to form a ledge ~ I used the Scalloped and Bracket Trims and applied Crackle Paste to the surface.

I then attached the gorgeous little girl and her furry companion to the centre of the ledge, which I colour tinted with Distress Crayons and again attached with foam pads.

In her hand, I placed a small Woodland Tree. I coloured this with Peeled Paint Distress Spray Stain and then frosted the tips with glitter. After removing the wooden base from the tree, I attached it so it looked as if she was holding it.

On either side of the ledge, I broke a metal fence in two, which I inked with Rust and Pitch Black Alcohol Inks to create a rusty finish to the metal before I attached each piece with Matte Collage Medium.

To complete the fence, I tied some rusty alcohol inked Tiny Bells onto the right hand fence.

Around her feet, I added some Grit Paste and some Bauble Findings. I then dusted them with a sprinkling of Rock Candy Distress Glitter and Mica Flakes.

I finished the piece with the gorgeous poinsettias from the Worn Wallpaper Scraps and placed these to cascade around the frame, using different heights of foam behind each piece to create dimension and depth...

...before I added the Mini Flair button and some Mirrored Stars onto the background.

Finally, I painted a Christmas Word Plaque with Candied Apple Distress Paint and attached this along the bottom of my plaque. I added small Hardware Heads to the plaque and then surrounded it with pine cones from my garden and some Mica Flakes...

...before I added a Hardware Pull at the top of the panel and a stitched scrap which I attached at the top of the frame and then added a Mini Pin.

So that completes my final project of 2021 and I hope you've enjoyed reading all about this project. As always, if you make anything, or 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!

 Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today and from the bottom of my heart ~ THANK YOU for all the love you've shown my projects and blog over the last year ~ it's not been the easiest of years for so many of us but I'm sure crafting has kept a few of us sane whilst we were in lockdown.

Happy Christmas everyone ~ stay safe, keep well and here's to a happy and healthy new year.

See you in 2022!

Love Emma xxx

Recipe for project:

Distress Crayon: Walnut Stain

Distress Paint: Black Soot, Candied Apple, Aged Mahogany

Distress Spray Stain: Peeled Paint

Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Christmas Backdrops, Woodland Tree Lot, Christmas Ephemera, Worn Wallpaper Scraps, Bauble Findings, Hardware Heads, Vignette Plaque, Christmas Layers, Mirrored Stars, Word Plaques, Tiny Bells, Hinges, Mini flair, Christmas Basseboards, Christmas Paper Dolls, Mini Pin, Stitched Scrap, Hardware Pull

Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Glossy Accents, Mica Flakes, Hot Glue Gun, Grit Paste, Rock Candy Glitter, Crackle Paste, Holiday Sparkle

Stampers Anonymous: Bracket Etcetera Trims, Scalloped Etcetera Trims

Alcohol Ink: Rust, Pitch Black

Glass Media Mat

Heat Gun

The Snowman...

Hello friends...

Today, I'm sharing another of my Christmas idea-ology makes that I created for Tim Holtz's YouTube Live Launch! If you didn't see the LIVE or just want to watch the replay again, and again...then you can catch up with it HERE!

This make was inspired by the book ~ The Snowman by Raymond Briggs and is all about the morning that James wakes up and looks outside his window to see the snow, and then precedes to build the Snowman who becomes his friend and takes him on an adventure, walking in the air!

So let's get started and I hope you enjoy your stroll around this miniature winter wonderland... 

The base of this make was two vignette boxes that I flipped over to have the solid side uppermost. The boxes are both covered in co-ordinating papers from the Christmas Backdrops stash, and I covered the tips and the sides. I loved that ‘Christmas Tree advertising paper’ from the set and when cutting it into panels, it was just perfect on the front of the boxes, combined with different patterns on the sides. I used a Collage Brush to apply Matte Collage Medium to adhere each panel of paper to each box. I then always seal my covered boxes with a coat of the medium over the top and also added some Hardware Heads to my boxes.

I ran the Walnut Stain Distress Crayon around each of the box edges to create more of a vintage feel to the boxes and blended out any harsh lines with my fingers.

Taking a third vignette box, I again covered the back and the top of this box in a tartan design, but left the sides bare as I wanted it to resemble a natural looking wooden window frame. 

I also covered the inside of this box with more of the paper and added curtains made of Mummy Cloth dyed with Speckled Egg and Antique Linen Distress Spray Stain. Once the stain is dry, I attached the cloth around the inside of the box.

On the back wall of this box, I placed a Christmas Ephemera piece, ‘Compliments of the Season’.

This small box that will become the window frame, contains a small cluster of lights that I put into a Decorative Dome, so before I attached and stacked the boxes, I drilled a hole through the bottom of each of the larger sized boxes, aligning the holes so that I can feed the wire of the tiny lights up through each box and then drilled a hole in the bottom of the small box which is going to be placed upright on the top of the stack.

With the wires running up through the boxes, I can now attach the boxes to form the stack ~ placing them and adhering them on top of one another and slightly offsetting each box, adhering the final box upright on the top.

I attached the battery compartment to the base of the box on the bottom, so that you can access it easily to switch it on and off. At this stage, I placed the tiny lights into the glass section of the Decorative Dome. I didn’t use the metal base. If there are too many lights, cut away the excess and then fix the dome into place with Matte Collage Medium. You can see the dome behind the window in the photo below.

With the boxes in place, I added some Grit Paste over the top and down the sides and then sprinkled some Rock Candy Dry Glitter over the top. For even more frosty sparkle, I added Mica Flakes over the top, attaching them with Glossy Accents.

Now to add the window frame.

To begin with I attached the icicle across the top of one of the frames. To create the frosty look to the icicle, I smeared some Glossy Accents over the surface and then sprinkled with Rock Candy Glitter before I attached it along the top of the frame. I also added some Grit Paste along each quarter section of the frames to create the look of the snow drifts along the wood.

Hanging down in each of the window frames, I attached two of the Snowflake Adornments. I used cotton thread which I wound round the window frame and then secured them with a dab of Matte Collage Medium.

With the icicle and snowflakes in place, I attached the completed frame at a slight angle to make it look as if it was open. I then used Matte Collage Medium down the edge and along the bottom of the frame to secure it in place.

Leave this to dry and set in place before even trying to move onto adding any embellishments but whilst the drying time is happening, I moved onto bringing each embellishment to life....

...and started with the trees, using a selection of different sized Woodland Trees, which I sprayed with Peeled Paint and Bundled Sage Distress Spray Stains.

Once they were dry, I painted the wooden bases with Candied Apple Distress Paint and then added a frosting of ice over the tips of the trees by rolling them in Glossy Accents that I applied to my Glass Mat and then sprinkled some Rock Candy Glitter over the top.

I attached the glittery trees to my stacked boxes, placing three on the left...

...and one on the right.

I also just tweaked the top of the one tree, so that it was just tipping over.

I painted the Salvaged Snowman, (which comes in a pack together with Santa), with Distress Paint ~ I used Black Soot, Spiced Marmalade, Broken China, Ground Espresso, Frayed Burlap and Candied Apple, all applied with a fine detail paint brush and once he was dry, I attached him onto the box, applying a frosting of Rock Candy Glitter and a sprinkle of Mica Flakes over the top of the snowman.

The Bauble Adornments are all inked with Alcohol Inks ~ I used a combination of Gilded Alloy, Silver Metallic, Mushroom, red, blue and green alcohol inks but this is your make, so use the colours you love!

To complete the boxes, I added some Grit Paste snow. I placed this around the edges of the boxes, over the flat surfaces and dripping off the edges...

...and I also added some around the back of the box, where I placed some wood slices cut in half. Whilst the paste is still wet, sprinkle Rock Candy glitter over the top.

Adhere all the baubles in place using Glossy Accents...

...adding them to tumble out of the window, and all around the trees and snowman.

To finish my make, I added a final dusting of Mica Flakes over the top of the snow and baubles.

So that completes this home decor project that is ready to light up and display for Christmas time. I hope you've enjoyed reading all about this project and as always, if you make anything, or 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!

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

Love Emma xxx

Recipe for project:

Distress Crayon: Walnut Stain

Distress Paint: Black Soot, Spiced Marmalade, Broken China, Ground Espresso, Frayed Burlap and Candied Apple

Distress Spray Stain: Speckled Egg, Peeled Paint, Bundled Sage, Antique Linen

Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Christmas Backdrops, Woodland Tree Lot, Christmas Ephemera, Window Frame Baseboards, Bauble Findings, Hardware Heads, Snowflake Adornments, Vignette Boxes, Mummy Cloth, Wood Slices, Mini Icicles, Salvaged Snowman, Tiny Lights, Decorative Glass Dome

Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Glossy Accents, Mica Flakes, Hot Glue Gun, Grit Paste, Rock Candy Glitter

Alcohol Ink: Gilded Alloy, Silver Metallic, Mushroom, red, blue and green 

Glass Media Mat

Heat Gun

Night Before Christmas Treat Box for Simon Says Stamp

 Hello friends and Happy Sunday!

Today, I'm so happy to be back on the Simon Says Stamp Store blog to share my latest Christmas project with you all and if you love the sneak peek below and want to see more of this piece, then you can head over to their blog, CLICK HERE to check out the step by step process of how I created this piece!

Hope you love what I've made and as always, I can't wait to see if you've been inspired by this make and if you are, then please tag me on social media or here on the blog and I will pop by to see your gorgeous pieces!

Thanks so much for stopping by and see you tomorrow for my Monday post!

Love Emma x

Here Comes Santa Claus...

Hello friends...

Hope you've all had a wonderful weekend and your Christmas preparations are underway! I must admit, I'm slightly behind, I usually have the decorations and my tree in place by the first week of December but after a crazy week of booster jabs and their not so welcome side effects, it's now time to get my Santa's hat on and decorate the house!

In the meantime, we are celebrating all things Christmas over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and this week, our theme is SANTA! The DT are also showcasing the amazing products of the one and only Tim Holtz and as always, if you'd like to join us and play along, we can't wait to see what you will be making!

For my project, I'm sharing a piece that I made using Tim's brand new Christmas 2021 idea-ology products and I can't wait to show you around Santa's Grotto. It's packed full of details and plenty of Christmas magic from Tim and I hope you'll enjoy your visit! Remember, Santa knows if you've been good, or bad...

So let's get started and we'll begin with the structure...

SHRINE

I used the idea-ology Vignette Shrine for my base. This comes in three pieces, the shrine and the 2 platforms which you attach to the base. But I wanted to add an extra piece to my shrine so that I had a wider base and for this I used a piece of wood that actually came of the side of a Vignette Box that arrived smashed into pieces. I covered this base with the wood planks design paper from the Christmas Backdrops set.

You can also use mount board for this or you can use an offcut of wood, it will create the same effect! I attached the extra width to the base with collage medium and then I placed a Pinked Etcetera Trim, covered with more of the Backdrops paper that was die cut using the Decorative Trims Thinlits Die set by Tim Holtz and I placed the trim over the top of the join to cover and strengthen this base section.

Now to decorate and to begin with I painted the back with Peeled Paint Distress Paint and adhered some Christmas Design Tape around the edges, just to create a neat finish.

Moving onto the sides and for this I used the Collage Tiles which fit perfectly. I arranged the tiles down each side and onto the roof, adhering them with Matte Collage Medium and trimming away the excess. I then applied a coat of the medium over the top to seal them and once dry, I ran some Walnut Stain Distress Crayon around the edges and over the joins of the Collage Tiles.

Inside the shrine, I used some of the Christmas Backdrops paper on the back wall, I used a combination of the red weathered wood design and the wood planks tape that I used on the base. I covered the sides with Candy Stripe paper from the Christmas Worn Wallpaper.

Along the raw edges on the front of the shrine, I cut some more of the Worn Wallpaper into narrow strips that would fit the edges and then adhered it to my structure. I then applied some Crackle Paste over the front edges, allowed this to dry before applying Walnut Stain Distress Crayon over the top to accentuate the texture.

HANDLE

On the side of the box, I placed a handle. The handle is from the Mini Hardware Set and Handle and after applying a small amount of Translucent Grit Paste, which I allowed to dry ~ I then painted the handle red, with Candied Apple Distress Paint.

I then attached the handle to the left hand side of the box and placed two Hardware Heads into teh holes before I then tied a tag to the handle. This is from the Christmas Ephemera pack and I just crumpled it slightly and then smoothed it out before inking it with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and then tying it to the handle.

SHELF INSIDE SHRINE

For the shelf across the top of the shrine, I used two Pinked Etcetera Trims that I trimmed so they would fit inside the box and then adhered together to form a 'L' shape. I covered the trims with Crackle Paste and once this was dry and the crackles had appeared, I ran the Walnut Stain Crayon over the top and rubbed the colour into the cracks to accentuate them.

Attach the shelf inside the box with Matte Collage Medium and allow to dry.

On this shelf I placed three different sizes of Drippy Candles and hot glued them into place. I added some pine cones from my garden that I frosted with Rock Candy Distress Glitter and then surrounded the arrangement with Mica Flakes, adhered into place with Glossy Accents. Place a Mirrored Star on the top of the shrine.

I adhered two Hardware Findings to either side of the shelf, rusting them with a little Crackling Campfire, Ground Espresso and Black Soot Distress Paint to make them look slightly rusty.

SANTA'S GROTTO

Now for Santa's Grotto and the first thing was to make the sign that stands behind him. This is cut from one of the Christmas Backdrops paper and I trimmed this section down so that it would fit inside the box. One the surface of the paper, I applied the embossing dabber and then sprinkled with Frosted Crystal Embossing Powder. Tap away the excess powder and heat emboss until the powder becomes crystallised. I then backed it with a piece of mountboard to make it substantial so that it won't collapse or buckle inside the box. Run the Walnut Stain Crayon around the edges of the sign.

I attached the finish sign inside the box with foam pads to bring it slightly forward before applying Mica Flakes around the edges, adhering them with Glossy Accents.

At this stage, I also attached two of the red stars from the Baseboard Pack and inside the grotto, I also placed some wood slices, which will become a support for Santa's feet when I place him inside.

Next is the star of the show and this image is taken from Christmas Layers pack. I made, and attached an acetate bracket on the back of Santa, placing the bracket against the widest part of him, so that it will stabilise him inside the box and he won't bend.

Attach the opposite end of the bracket to the back of the box, and attach Santa to the right of the sign.

EMBELLISHMENTS

Tree

To create the white tips, of the tree, I applied gesso to the tips only using my finger and allowed it to dry. I then used Winterberry from the Holiday Mica Spray Stains set and spritzed it over the tree to colour it. Once dry, I rolled the tree in some Glossy Accents I squeezed out onto my craft sheet and then sprinkled Rock Candy Glitter over the top. Allow to dry before wrapping some of the paper offcuts around the wooden base of the tree and then attaching it in place on the left hand side.

To complete the tree, I coloured some Bauble Findings with a combination of Foundry Alloy Alcohol Ink and Mushroom Alcohol Ink and attached them to the tree.

Presents

I surround the tree with tiny presents. I bought these small wooden blocks which are readily available online and then covered them in offcuts of the Backdrops papers. To complete the presents I tied twine around them and on some of them I added small name tags which I took from the Clippings Sticker Book.

One to Jack and on the other side I added one to Betsy.

Candy Cane Basket

On the opposite side, I added a Candy Cane basket.

This is an idea-ology Thimble which I altered with a little Speckled Egg, Picket Fence and Tarnished Brass Distress Paint. I attached the thimble to the base of the shrine, placing it to the right and then wrapped some of the longer Christmas Confections in plastic, before placing them inside the thimble.

I then took one of the Mini Flair buttons, 2 for 25cents which I attached to a Memo Pin and stuck this inside the candy arrangement.

I arranged some more presents around the thimble and also placed one to tumble out of the shrine itself before I attached some little candy pieces in a cluster.

Finally, I sprinkled the base with Mica Flakes to give that dusting of icy goodness over the entire piece...

...before I added the finishing touch of the 'we dreamed of Santa Claus' sticker across the front of the base of the shrine.

So that completes Santa's Grotto and it's ready to display for Christmas time. I hope you've enjoyed reading all about this project and as always, if you make anything, or 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 and keep well.

Love Emma xxx

Recipe for project:

Stampers Anonymous: Pinked Etcetera Trims

Distress Ink: Walnut Stain

Distress Crayon: Walnut Stain

Distress Paint: Speckled Egg, Peeled Paint, Crackling Campfire, Tarnished Brass, Candied Apple, Black Soot, Ground Espresso

Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Christmas Backdrops, Christmas Worn Wallpaper Scraps, Christmas Baseboards, Christmas Layers, Mirrored Stars, Woodland Tree Lot, Christmas Ephemera, Vignette Shrine, Mini Flair, Christmas Trim Tape, Drippy Candles, Memo Pin, Thimbles, Christmas Sticker Book, Collage Tiles, Christmas Confections, Bauble Findings

Mediums: Crackle Paste, Matte Collage Medium, Glossy Accents, Mica Flakes, Embossing dabber, Hot Glue Gun, Holiday Mica Spray Stains, Frosted Crystal, Translucent Grit Paste

Alcohol Ink: Foundry Alloy, Mushroom

Surfaces: Mountboard from my stash

Glass Media Mat

Heat Gun

Wooden Blocks and twine from my stash