Underneath The Tree...

Happy Monday everyone...

Can you believe that we're so near to Christmas and the holidays? Where has this year gone?

Well, as we approach the final countdown to the big day, we have a brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and this week our theme is called WRAP IT UP! However you interpret this challenge theme, we would love for you to join us and play along and we can't wait to see what you will create.

For my make, I chose to make a gift wrap set, including the wrapping paper, tags and a present topper and I'm excited to share the details of how I made these pieces...

So, let's get started...it's time to wrap it up!

To begin with I chose to use the Stampers Anonymous Holiday Sketch stamp set by Tim Holtz with the coordinating die set from Simon Says Stamp for my tags and the beautiful Snowflake Rosette from Tim that is currently free from SSS, with every purchase of $30 or more of branded products from Tim. These are the main focal points to accompany the gift wrap...

GIFT WRAP

For the gift wrapping paper, I bought a roll of plain kraft paper from a local store and using a section of the gift wrap, I began by stamping my snowflake design using SSS white ink.

I used two Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz stamps, the snowflakes are from the Mr Frostie stamp set and the postmark, stamped with Barn Door Archival Ink is from the Holiday Postmarks stamp set. 

I stamped the pattern to cover the entire piece of kraft paper, adding the postmarks in between the snowflakes, before adding some white paint splatters

To complete the wrap, I added some snow, using the stamp from The Poinsettia, which I once again inked with white ink before adding it to my kraft wrap.

Once I'd wrapped the present using the gift wrap, I cut a strip of seam binding ribbon, which I coloured with Speckled Egg and Rustic Wilderness Distress Spray Stain. I applied the stain directly to the ribbon, added a spritz of water to blend the colours and then heat dried the ribbon until thoroughly dry.

After tying the ribbon around my present and finishing with a double bow, I added two Holiday Bells to the centre.

We now have the present wrapped, ready for the tags...

TAGS

Using the Tim Holtz Framed Tag die that I have in my stash, I cut three of the middle sized tags from heavyweight kraft card and then inked the "snow" stamp from The Poinsettia stamp set, and stamped this in white, at the top of the tag. I completed the tag by adding a machine stitched border around the outside.

Using the Holiday Sketchbook stamps, I stamped the individual images onto watercolour cardstock, and then watercolored them with Distress Watercolour Pencils before die cutting all three images with the coordinating dies.

After cutting three separate panels of kraft card, which I will be layering onto the tags, I stamped the same images again onto these pieces and repeated the snow across the top of the panel and add a strip of Christmas Design Tape across the bottom.

After I'd machine stitched a border around the outside, I mounted the coloured die cut images onto the tags with foam pads.

On each of the tags, I stamped a sentiment in clear embossing ink and then embossed with white embossing powder. The sentiments are stamped using the Stampers Anonymous Cartoons stamp set by Tim Holtz.

Matt the layer onto a piece of red Kraft cardstock and then mount the completed panel onto the tag, using foam pads. Repeat with the other two images to create the remaining tags...

For a little extra sparkle and texture, I drizzled the top of the mounted panel with some Glossy Accents before sprinkling Snowflakes over the medium. Tap away the excess and leave to dry.

Add some Stickles Glitter to each of the stamped snowdrops around the image to complete the panel.

SNOWFLAKE ROSETTES

Finally, I made a present topper using the Snowflake Rosette die that is currently a FREE GIFT when you spend $30 or more on Tim Holtz branded products.

This die has always been one of my favourites for the holidays and I thought it would make a perfect present topper.

I cut three strips of the snowflake and then attached them to one another to form one long strip, which I then folded along the scorelines before assembling my snowflake rosette.

I added an idea-ology Vintage Flair Christmas adornment to the centre, which I have in my stash but you can use anything you choose as the centre embellishment.

I then cut a second rosette from some more of the Christmas Backdrop paper, using the Vault Rosette die and once this was assembled, I layered the two rosettes on top of one another before adding some Chunky Rock Candy Glitter to the snowflake.

I completed the present topper, which can then be used as an ornament for your tree, with a loop of ribbon.

So, that completes my makes and I think we can say ~ IT'S A WRAP on this week's challenge theme and I hope you love what I've created.

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...

Love Emma xxx

Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous: Mr Frostie, The Poinsettia, Cartoons, Holiday Sketchbook stamp and die bundle, Holiday Postmarks

Sizzix: Big Shot Die Cutting Machine, Framed Tags from my stash, Vault Rosette, Snowflake Rosette Free Gift

Distress Spray Stains: Rustic Wilderness, Speckled Egg

Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Holiday Bells, Christmas Design Tape from my stash, Christmas Backdrops

Mediums: Foam Pads, Clear Embossing Ink, Mica Flakes, White Embossing Powder, White Ink Pad, Chunky Rock Candy, Barn Door Archival Ink

Seam Binding Ribbon

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

Glass Media Mat

Splatter Brush

Heat Gun

Twine

****These are not affiliate links****

Merry and Bright...

Hi everyone!!

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend and you've managed to do a little bit more preparation in getting ready for Santa!! Here at Chez Williams' I would love to say that everything is going to plan but... I'd be lying!! Lol...it's chaos but then again, that's all part of the build up to Christmas...right?

In the meantime, I'm just dropping by to say hello and to thank everyone for all your lovely comments on my last blog post and to share the next two cards in my Christmas card countdown...as always, I really hope you like them.

The papers and die cuts are all from the Merry and Bright collection by Kaisercraft and can be bought from Merly Impressions!! There is just so much in this collection and even though I've made Christmas cards using it, take away the die cuts, you can use a lot of the papers, for cardmaking and scrapbooking all year round!!

If you would like to see how I made these cards and what I used, then just pop on over to the Merly Impressions blog and you can read all about it there.

Well, that's it for me for today...is it me, or are these days going really quickly?!?!

I'll see you all tomorrow with another share but until then...bye for now,
love Emma xxx

Have A Beautiful Day...

Hi everyone!!

Well, I think you can safely say Autumn is here, and in some parts of the country...with a vengeance. If you are affected by the dreadful weather, at the moment ~ stay safe, warm and please take care. Here in London, it's cold and on Sunday, I actually had to turn the central heating on before I turned into an icicle. Usually, we try and hold out until October but for one day only, it just had to be done.

Thank you for all your lovely comments that you left on my last post. I know I keep saying it but I really do apologise for being such a bad blogging buddy just lately!! I'm hoping that I can see a chink of light at the end of the long tunnel that I'm in at the moment, but I don't want to tempt fate...so, shh, I don't want to jinx it!!! lol!

At the moment, everything I'm working on can't be shown yet but in true Blue Peter style...here's one I made earlier.

Some of you will probably remember this card from a set that I made for the magazine, way back in April for the June issue of Making Cards. I'll show you the other one I made to complete the set, in my next post but I thought you might like to see some of the detail up close and as always, I hope you like it...

Okey dokey, time for me clear up the bombsite that used to called a dining room, until I turned it into my "craft room"!!

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and I really do love reading all your comments!!

See you soon and bye for now!

Love Emma xxx

Bonjour

Hello everyone!!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Lo and behold, I actually managed to find a little time to myself yesterday morning and I definitely made the most of it. I enjoyed this beautiful Spring sunshine we're having at the moment and sat in a cafe with an extra strong coffee (just how I like it), reading the newspaper and watching the world go by...it was heavenly!!

Today, I was back to the craftroom and started work on a new set of projects for a magazine commission. It's always a challenge at the beginning of any new creations, as you never know what they'll turn out like, it always looks different in my head to what finally appears on card but I've got a lovely set of papers and stamps and I'm looking forward to working on this set!

In the meantime, I thought I'd share a previous commission that I did for the February issue of Making Cards Magazine, using some gorgeous papers from Kaisercraft which are all available at the wonderful Merly Impressions. I hope you like them...

The theme for this set was...LOVE and the Bonjour collection of papers are just exquisite. I think these are definitely some of my favourite papers and of course, that's not because I am biased towards anything with Paris on!! lol.

So, I hope I managed to show you all the details on these cards, because there was quite a lot and I wanted to make this set really special and very opulent, as a very big thank you to Chrissy, who very kindly lets me play with all these gorgeous Kaisercraft products!! I'm a very lucky girl...thanks Chrissy!! xx

Before I go, I wanted to say another thank you to Zoe, who gave me this award at the weekend!!

You're an absolute star, Zo and your continued love and support is always appreciated! xx

Okey dokey, time for me to go...there's a chicken in a slow cooker that needs tending to and it's smells divine!!

I'll be round to see all your creations, later tonight and thanks for all your comments on my Artistic Stamper post from Saturday!!

See you soon and bye for now!

Love Emma xxx

Little Box of Love Hearts

I hope you've all had a lovely week and you're trying to stay warm! I must admit, as long as I'm wrapped up warm and cosy and the sun is shining bright, I don't actually mind the weather we're having at the moment. At least we aren't as cold as some areas of Europe...I heard that the temperature in Moscow is round about -23˚c ~ I really can't comprehend how cold that must be, we complain when the temperatures dip below -3˚c!! lol.

Anyway, it's already time to tell you all about the new challenge over on Sarah Hurley's Challenge Blog and this fortnight, I've chosen the theme...and the theme I've chosen is:

LOVE IS ALL AROUND

If you head on over to the blog, you can see what the DT have been making and we would love you to all join in with this challenge. If you're still looking for inspiration, this is what I've made using Sarah's new Valentine Digi Kit, available HERE! I hope you like my Valentine Gift Box...

Hope you all have a lovely weekend and don't forget that Barbara Gray will be back on our screens this weekend and I have a sneaky suspicion that you might LOVE some of the stamps that she's going to be demoing.

Bye for now.

Love Emma xxx

"He Knows If You've Been Good Or Bad"...

Hello!!

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend but hasn't it gone far too quickly? I've been working away all weekend and haven't had a minute to think but tonight, there's a roast in the oven, complete with all the trimmings and a glass of wine that is shouting "drink me"!! It's what a Sunday is all about....

But before I rush off to the kitchen to check on things, here is today's post and it's the final piece to my little trio of Tis The Season creations ~ the tag!! I hope you like it...

I thought it would be nice to show three different ideas using Kaisercraft's, Tis The Season collection and I love making these tags, at the moment. It's amazing how much you can cram onto one little tag...

Throughout all the pieces that I've made, I used Tim's Rosette die to make these little decorative stacks, finishing them all off with my bottle top embellishment. I think my favourite piece on this has to be the rub on of Father Christmas, it is just a gorgeous image and the quality of these rub on's are fabulous.

The tag was die cut with Tim's Alterations die and I added some little chipboard snowflakes that I painted with acrylic paint and covered in Rock Candy Distress Stickles. Other than that, everything else that you see on this piece is from Kaisercraft and can be bought from Merly Impressions.

Time for me to check on the roast!!

I'll be visiting all your blogs later tonight when I sit down with "I'm A Celebrity...".

Bye for now and thanks for taking the time to come and look at what I've been up to!!

Enjoy your evening, everyone!

Love Emma

xxx