High Society...

Happy Monday friends...

Hope you all had a great weekend and enjoyed Tim's latest YouTube Live! Wasn't it just the best kept secret and such a wonderful surprise to see all those brand new inks and glazes! Thank you for all the lovely comments about my makes, I will be sharing step by steps of many of the makes that I'm working on, so please do keep checking back here, or over on Instagram!

In the meantime, it's Monday and that means we have a brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and this week our theme is all about, FOOD & DRINK!

Now, I always like to think outside the box and I've done many food and drink projects over the years, so this time I wanted to take a different route and I decided to make a vintage style tag that features a very dapper gentleman who is out to dinner and has a table reserved at the Grand Hotel Continental!

So let's get started, it's time to pull up a chair to see how I created this week's make!

To begin with I used a small etcetera tag, flipped it upside down so the narrow part is at the bottom and then applied Humidor Design Tape around the edge of the tag itself.

I then took a piece of paper from the Backdrops Vol 2, this particular one has the Grand Hotel Continental as the heading.

After trimming the paper down to size, I machine stitched around the outside to create a border and then ripped and tore the edges to add more of a vintage feel.

I adhered the paper onto the tag with Matte Collage Medium and added some more tears where necessary.

Around the edges of the tag, I added some crackle paste and once this was dry, I then ran my Walnut Stain Distress Crayon over the top of the paste, blending it into the cracks with a brush.

Now to form the ledge that sits across the tag, I used a Pinked Etcetera Trim that is slightly longer in length than the tag itself but I like that it overhangs. I then used the Decorative Thinlits Die set to cut a piece of paper from the Backdrops pack ~ I believe this is from Backdrops Vol 1 and adhered it to my trim.

I attached the trim across the bottom section of the tag and then I added a metal embossed strip. This is actually an older Impresslits Embossing Folder that I have in my stash! It's called the Lattice Trim and once again, if you have don't own it ~ you could use any metal offcuts from Tim's Texture Fades. I just liked this design and it was sitting in my "bits and pieces, offcuts box".

I cut the trim from silver metallic kraft card, and then applied Black Soot Distress Paint over the top, wiped away the excess and once dry, attached this to my tag.

On the centre of the etcetera trim, I attached a Junk Drawer Baseboard Layer and applied a little Grit Paste around the edges to age it. Once the paste was dry, I covered it with Distress Paints, Black Soot and Ground Espresso.

To complete the trim, I added a Drawer Pull, with two Hardware Heads attached to either side and added the wording "Reserved" in the window which is from the Clipping Sticker Book.

Finally, I added some metal hardware to either side of my trim and undereath the ledge, I added a Specimen Remnant Rub ~ Orders Attended To Day or Night.

Now my tag is ready for the star of the show and you might recognise this dapper gent from Halloween!! Yep, this is the count but rather than going down the vampire route, I dressed him up using a few accessories from other die sets. If you don't own these dies, then there are plenty of others from Tim that can be used...so just play around and as Tim always says ~ YOU DO YOU!

Using Mixed Media Heavystock card and black kraft card, I die cut and assembled The Count but didn't use the cape...that's the only difference with this make.

But now he need's to be turned into the dapper gent and for this I used the bowler hat and monocle from The Gent Thinlits Die Set...

...and the umbrella from The Park Thinlits Die Set. These are the perfect size accessories for this gent and are die cut from black and red cardstock for the hat, and black and metallic kraft card for the umbrella.

As a backdrop to the count, I used a label taken from the Urban Layers Ephemera pack and adhered this directly onto the tag using Matte Collage Medium.

Attach the count with foam pads, placing him on the right hand side of the label.

For the "Out To Dinner" wording, I used the Alphanumeric Tiny Type Upper Thinlits die set and cut the letters from blue card and attached them to the Urban Layers Piece.

Underneath the label I added a 'pointy finger" which is from the Christmas Ephemera pack and also placed a Perishable Urban Layer onto foam pads and attached this directly beneath. I added a touch more Crackle Paste around the edges of the label and once that was dry and inked, I attached my count using foam pads.

I placed some Star Adornments onto the label, which I painted red using Candied Apple Distress Paint and attached these with Matte Collage Medium.

Just above the label, I added a fork which is one of the pieces from the idea-ology Silverware Adornments pack. I placed this onto a piece of mountboard that I covered with an offcuts of the Backdrops paper and just aged the metal finish of the fork by using Distress Paints ~ Salvaged Patina, Tarnished Brass, Black Soot and Picket Fence.

We're nearly there and all that's left is to add some more metal hardware down the side ~ I used Hardware Heads and created a rusty finished around each of them.

...and with that final detail, my dapper city gent is ready for dinner!

As always, 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 and keep well.

Love Emma xxx

Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous: Small Etcetera Tag, Pinked Etcetera Trims

Tim Holtz for Sizzix: The Gent, Decorative Trims, The Count, Alphanumeric Tiny Type Upper, Tim Holtz/Sizzix Big Shot Foldaway

Distress Paints: Candied Apple, Salvaged Patina, Tarnished Brass, Black Soot and Picket Fence.

Distress Crayon: Walnut Stain

Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Backdrops Vol. 2, Junk Drawer Baseboard Layer, Urban Layers, Silverware Adornments, Specimen Remnant Rubs, Drawer Pull, Clippings Sticker, Christmas Ephemera, Star Adornments, Humidor Design Tape

Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Sizzix Adhesive Sheets, Foam Pads, Crackle Paste

Surfaces: Mixed Media Heavystock, Metallic Kraft Stash, Black Kraft Stash

Glass Media Mat

Blending Tool

Tim Holtz Paper Trimmer

Heat Gun

Moss and Lattice Trim Impresslits Embossing Folder from my own stash

Made In England...

Hello friends...

First of all, I wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who has reached out to say how much they loved my previous post, the Winter Village ~ I am truly blown away by the love you've given this make and from the bottom of my heart, thank you to each and every one of you, it means the world!

So back to today and this week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge! The theme is all about ATC's and we would love for you to join in, play along and share your miniature pieces of art!

For my make, I've created a couple of ATC's with a Christmas theme and used plenty of Tim Holtz products to make them and don't think of these just as an ATC, they would also make wonderful tags for presents, or you can use the ideas to make tiny cards ~ the list is endless!

So let's get started!

To begin with I'll start with my ATC bases and the layers that I used to create them...

ATC BACKGROUNDS

The outer layer of my ATC's measure 7 x 10cm (2.75" x 4"), but the inner layer measures approx 6 x 8cm (2.3" x 3.2").

Starting with the outer Collage Paper layer ~ for this I cut a piece of white Sizzix felt approx. 7 x 9cm and then cut a four layers of the Christmas Collage Paper. I just used a pair of scissors to cut this and didn't worry too much about straight lines. I then placed two layers of the collage paper with the design face down, a layer of felt and the remaining layers of collage paper, design facing upwards before I machine stitched the layers together in red cotton thread.

This has given me the base of each ATC and you can see the backs of each ATC in the photo below.

For my next layer, I covered a piece of Mixed Media Heavystock card with the Collage Paper and adhered it with Matte Collage Medium. Once it was dry, I then used the Sizzix Stacked Postage Die by Tim Holtz, which is an older die from my stash and cut the shape for each ATC.

After machine stitching a border around the outside of each panel, I inked the edges of the postage stamp die cuts. They are now ready to embellish....

BOY

You'll probably notice that in some photos, the little boy's scarf is covered in snow...this was actually a happy accident when I was taking the photo, I breathed out in the wrong place, lol and the fake snow blew everywhere but I loved it so much, I've left it in!

For this ATC, I took the postage stamp die cut and one of the borders from the Christmas Worn Wallpaper set. I cut this in half, and for this ATC, I will be using the 'JOIN HERE" wording. Set the remainder of the strip to one side.

I machine stitched the border into place down the left hand side of the postage stamp die cut and then used foam pads to layer the die cut over the top of my Collage Paper layers.

For the next layer, I used the mistletoe branch from Tim's Christmas Ephemera Pack. I wanted a frosty look to the surface of this layer and to achieve this I applied the Distress Embossing Dabber over the top of the ephemera piece, before sprinkling the Frosted Crystal onto the surface. Tap away the excess powder and then heat with a heat gun to melt the powder.

I attached the frosted ephemera piece onto my ATC with foam pads to add some height, placing it across the bottom section of the layers.

After selecting my Paper Doll, I always apply a layer of clear gesso to prime the surface, allow to dry and then, I colour tint it with a waterbrush and Distress Crayons. I used Faded Jeans on his coat, Peeled Paint on his hat, Gathered Twigs for his boots and Fossilised Amber for the coat buttons.

Whilst the coloured doll is drying, I made him a warm and cosy scarf using Mummy Cloth that I dyed with Candied Apple and Aged Mahogany Distress Spray Stains. I cut the cloth into a small strip that would wrap around his neck and secured it into place with hot glue on the back.

I then layered the paper doll onto the ATC, placing him over the top of the Mistletoe. Underneath his feet, I added a small strip of Mummy Cloth, this time coloured with Antique Linen and Speckled Egg Spray Stains and attached it with Matte Collage Medium. I added a good amount of Glossy Accents over the top of the cloth and sprinkled Mica Flakes over it to create the sparkle around his feet.

The red star is taken from the Christmas Layers pack and after inking the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Crayon, I attached it to the left of the paper doll, and finished with a Mini Flair Embellishment.

Finally, I added a stitched scrap at the top of the ATC, complete with a Mini Pin.

GIRL

As with the first ATC, I took the Postage Stamp die cut and machine stitched a border around the outside and inked the edges with Walnut Stain. I then used foam pads to place it onto the Collage Paper background.

On this layer, I adhered a Flash Card from the Christmas Ephemera pack, "wish" onto the top left than corner of the postage stamp layer. In the top left hand corner of the flash card, I added a small label with the number 12 written on it. The label is taken from the Christmas Stickers Book, and I cut the label into half, attached it in the top left corner of the flash card, added the number and applied a coat of medium over the top to seal it.

Using a holly brand ephemera piece from the same set as before, I frosted this in exactly the same way as the Mistletoe piece before layering it onto my ATC with foam pads.

Remember the remaining border strip, from the previous ATC...this was the section with Made In England written across it?!? Well now you can use it and I cut an inverted 'v' into one end, machine stitched a border across the strip and then layered it onto my ATC, placing it across the holly branch but leaving it to slightly overhang the edges.

Place a red star from the Christmas layers pack in the top right corner of the flash card and after adding a layer of gesso, I coloured the paper doll using the waterbrush and Distress Crayons.

Attach the paper doll to the ATC with foam pads, placing her to sit on top of the Made In England banner strip, adding another strip of that neutral coloured Mummy Cloth underneath her.

With the cloth in place, I adhered some more Mica Flakes around her and then attached the Mini Flair Embellishment.

Finishing touches for this one, was a length of candy cane twine attached to the top of the ATC...

...and a Tiny Clip, painted with Candied Apple Distress Paint, clipped onto the Made in England border strip.

So that completes this week's makes for the challenge and I hope this has given you some ideas...

...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 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:

Sizzix/Tim Holtz: Stacked Postage Thinlits Dies from my own stash

Distress Ink: Walnut Stain

Distress Spray Stain: Candied Apple, Aged Mahogany, Antique Linen, and Speckled Egg

Distress Crayons

Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Mini Flair, Christmas Ephemera Pack, Christmas Layers, Christmas Paper Dolls, Christmas Worn Wallpaper, Christmas Collage Paper, Stitched Scraps 2, Mummy Cloth, Mini Pins, Tiny Clips

Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Mica Flakes, Glossy Accents, Embossing Dabber, Frosted Crystal

Surfaces: Sizzix Felt, Mixed Media Heavystock

Foam Squares

Glass Media Mat

Heat Gun

Candy Cane Twine from my own stash

The Haunted Cottage of Oswald T Hall...

 Hello everyone...

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and now ready for the start of the brand new week and a new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge! This week, our theme is called SPOOKY and we are celebrating one of my favourite times of the year ~ Halloween and all things that go bump in the night!

For my make, I couldn't resist using the brand new Village Thinlits die set to make a run down cottage, deep in the depths of the forest that was once the home to Oswald T Hall, a chemist and optician, and has many dark and foreboding tales to tell.

I absolutely love these dies, even when Tim first released the original dies, I've always become lost in my own little world creating villages ~ mainly because I love constructing and building things which is definitely in my genes, as my Grandfather was a master builder and architect by trade, he even built his own house just after the second world war, where my Mum and her family lived for many happy years and where I spent many happy days in the school holidays, visiting my grandparents and spending time with them.

So let's get started and here's how I created this piece...

To begin with I made my spooky little cottage...

For this house, I used the following dies in this set:

House 1

Entry way and roof top

Addition and roof top

Doorway

Chimney

Door and Door Frame

House 1 Roof Top

Tiles

I cut all my pieces from White Heavystock card and assembled them to form the structure of the house with the doorway and window frames cut into the front, complete with 2 x additions, with windows cut into each section attached to the sides. The roof top to the house, the roof tops to the additions, the entry way and 2 x chimneys.

I used red liner tape to attach all my pieces, but you can also use Matte Collage Medium, which works equally as well.

With my pieces in front of me, it's time to start bringing them to life and starting with house base, I attached the additions to either side of the main house...

...and the Entry Way onto the front of the house. Once stuck, I applied a good coat of Opaque Grit Paste over all the walls of the house.

I then left the house to one side to dry completely. If you notice that it's bending, don't panic, I've been there and once it's completely dry, it will straighten out again.

With the house dry, I then painted it to create the stucco look and texture and for this I used a base coat of Pumice Stone Distress Paint, then allowed this to dry before stippling Black Soot Distress Paint over the top. I don't want a block, dark coverage of black paint, just a subtle hint with pumice stone showing through. Set this to one side to dry.

Moving onto the rooftops, I used the tile die set to cut all my pieces to attach to the main house roof and the addition roof tops, which I stuck in place, layering the die cut pieces, one over the other to form the tiled rooftops. I then painted the roofs with Black Soot Distress Paint, allowed this to dry before dry brushing them with Pumice Stone Distress Paint. Again, let the paint dry before lightly spritzing the roofs with Crooked Broomsticks Mica Spray.

When the roofs were completely dry, I then took the house rooftop and just tore away the side to make a hole. I then cut small offcuts of woodgrain card and inked these with Walnut Stain Spray Stain before attaching them to the underside of the roof to form beams. 

I then attached all my rooftops onto the house which also includes the Entry Way rooftop which I left untiled but painted in the same colours as the other rooftops.

I assembled the chimney die cuts and once again covered the surface with Opaque Grit Paste and when dry, I painted them with the same paints as I used on the house. I then attached the two chimney pots to the roof. In the one pot, I had some tiny cotton spools and I wanted to create a circular pot inside the square pot, and it fit perfectly. So after painting the spool, I attached it inside the square chimney.

Die cut all the window frames and the door frames from some more of the woodgrain card, again inked and coloured with Walnut Stain Distress Spray Stain. I then attached these with Matte collage Medium.

Finally, to create the shattered windows, I attached Mica Sheets behind each window, adhering them on the inside of the house.

So that's the house ready...

Now for the box and the lid for my house to sit on, and for this I used:

Large vignette box

Large and second largest Vignette Panel

Large Vignette Frame

I attached the vignette frame to the panel using matte collage medium, allowed for this to dry and become secure before applying Translucent Grit Paste around the edges to create texture. Once dry, I painted the frame and panel with a coat of Black Soot Distress Paint. Set aside to dry whilst working on the smaller panel.

I painted the edges of the smaller panel with black soot and then covered it with two embossed panels of card. I used Mixed Media Heavystock and embossed it using the Mini Cobblestones 3D Texture Fade. To add colour to the embossing, I used a combination of the same paints I used on the house but this time, I used a very light coverage of Black Soot, just so it kissed the raised embossed areas to accentuate them.

Attach the smaller sized panel so that it sits over the top of the larger framed panel. NOTE: The panel doesn't fit flush inside the frame, it sits over the top and rests on top of the frame ~ there is a slight gap on either side which you can fill in if you choose but you don't even see this and I like it the way it is. 

To attach this, I used a hot glue gun, applying the glue where the panel touches the frame, but you can also use Glossy Accents or Matte Collage Medium.

To complete the framed lid, I added Hardware Heads on either side of the wooden frame.

Taking the box, I covered the outside with Halloween Worn Wallpapers. I attached the papers to each side, with Matte Collage Medium and also applied a coat over the top to seal them. You will find that the papers aren't quite long enough to cover the longer sides but I just pieced them together and you can't really see the join once you've applied Black Soot Crayon over the top, which I did. 

Around the edges of the box, I applied Crackle Paste and once the paste was dry and had done it's thing, I ran Hickory Smoke Distress Crayon over the surface, and used a waterbrush to blend the colour into the crackles and accentuate them.

I also covered the inside of the box, but you don't have to do this, you could just paint it, seal it with collage medium or leave it natural ~ YOU DO YOU!

I also added Mini Foundations to the bottom of the large Vignette Box and painted these with a little Black Soot paint.

We're ready to put this together...

Taking the panels, I drilled a hole through all of the layered panels and then fed my tiny lights through the hole. I then attached the wires of the lights to the base with hot glue and placing the house over the top, I secured and fixed my house to the base.

The battery box is attached to the underside of the lid.

Once everything is set into place, I adhered clumps of moss around the base of the house, and also on the roof of the house.

I also added some tiny pebbles stones and some moss that I have in my stash and bought from a local florists.

For the finishing touches...

...I added my door knobs to the front doors  ~ these are Metallic Droplets and I painted them with Black Soot Distress Paint before attaching them to the doors.

I then added a small cross which I just made from strips of black card and placed this in the pebbles on the right hand side.

For the bats, I cut these using the Ghost Town 2 dies and attached three of them to the mossy clumps on either side of the house. 

For the fourth and final bat, I attached it to thin wire and then placed this to come out of the roof.

Finally, I added the house number which I stamped and embossed with white powder using the No. 1013 from the Rest In Peace Stampers Anonymous stamp set by Tim Holtz. After cutting it down to size, I attached it to the front of my house.

Finally, I placed a Halloween Baseboard piece onto the front of the box, distressed with a little Distress Paint to make it look slightly more worn and old worldy!

So, that's it for me for today and I hope you've loved this piece as much as I loved creating and building it! I also wanted to say, that I have had lots of messages about my Winter Village that Tim showed during the YouTube Live and I will be posting this very soon...it's on it's way so watch this space!

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 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

Sizzix/Tim Holtz: Village Collection Chapter 4 Thinlits Dies and Mini Cobblestone 3D Texture Fade, Ghost Town 2

Stampers Anonymous/ Tim Holtz: Rest In Peace

Distress Crayons: Hickory Smoke, Black Soot

Distress Spray Stain: Walnut Stain

Mica Spray

Distress Paint: Black Soot, Pumice Stone, Peeled Paint

Idea-ology: Halloween Worn Wallpaper, Vignette Box, Vignette Panels,  Halloween Baseboards, Tiny Lights, Halloween Ephemera Pack, Halloween Snippets, Curiosities Sticker Book, Metallic Droplets, Hardware Heads, vignette Frames, Mini Foundations

Surfaces: White Heavystock Card, Woodgrain Card

Mediums: Crackle Paste, Matte Collage Medium, Translucent Grit Paste, Opaque Grit Paste, SSS White Embossing Powder

Tools: Heat Gun, Glass Mat, Waterbrush, Collage Brush, Glue Gun

Moss, mica sheets, wire, pebbles and floristry fibres from my own stash