That's Life

Monday 8 April 2024

Dreamer of Dreams...

Happy Monday everyone...

Hope you've all had a great weekend and before I move onto this week's challenge, thank you so much for all the lovely comments and messages I've received about the makes that I created for Tim Holtz's Live Launch of the second Vault release from Sizzix. I'm sure by now, you'll have seen the live and all the amazing dies, but if you want to catch up, then click HERE and the dies are available to buy at Simon Says Stamp, HERE!

So back to today and the brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge which is all about Spring Flowers.

For my make, I chose to create a vintage style piece, inspired by a series that I've just finished watching on apple TV called The New Look, a series about Coco Chanel and the amazing Christian Dior, who is one of my all time icons. I've always known the story of both Christian and his sister, Catherine Dior, but seeing this on screen was so moving and in particular, watching Catherine's story, it was fascinating, heartbreaking and so compelling ~ so much so, that I created this piece in tribute, set slightly before their time, but including a lot of references to them within my make!

So let's get started, and here's how I created this panel packed full of flowers.

For this make, I used the larger sized Rectangular Etcetera Panel by Stampers Anonymous and began by applying Design Tape around the four sides to prep the board ready to decorate and I also added some tape around the outside edges of the surface of the borad.

BOARD

Now to add the paper and for this I used a floral backing paper from the Backdrops Vol 2 pack. I cut the paper slightly smaller than the panel and then I added some rips and tears along the edges before machine stitching a border.

After inking the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink, I adhered the paper to the Etcetera Panel using Matte Collage Medium, and added a few more rips to the paper and curled back the corners.

To add some more ageing to the rips and curls, I used a touch of Crackling Campfire and Black Soot Distress Paint, mixed together and watered down. I then used a paint brush to apply the paint solution to the edges.

With my board prepped, I moved onto the main feature, starting with the frame...

FRAME

This narrow frame is actually a waste product from the risers in the Etcetera Facades, and as the phrase goes ~ waste not, want not...I thought it would be perfect for this make and all I did was paint it black and then add Design Tape trim around the four sides.

I attached the frame to the top section of my Etcetera Panel with more collage medium and than applied more of the Design Tape, using a different design this time, and placed this on the inside of the frame.

To complete the frame, I added some Hardware Heads to each corner, that I painted with Salvaged Patina and Crackling Campfire Distress Paint.

After adding some shading around the inside of the frame, and a few flicks of Black Soot Distress Paint over the entire surface, I moved onto the paper doll.

PAPER DOLL PORTRAIT

I chose this paper doll because of the huge corsage that the lady is wearing, it went so well with my theme and after prepping the surface with some clear gesso, I used a water brush to colour tint the image with Distress Crayons.

CRAYONS USED: FADED JEANS, PICKED RASPBERRY, TEA DYE, TATTERED ROSE, GATHERED TWIGS, AGED MAHOGANY AND RUSTIC WILDERNESS

I then added some white pen detail to the corsage before adding foam pads to the back of the image and placing it inside the frame, on the right hand side.

Underneath the frame, I added a ruler strip taken from the Memoirs Ephemera pack. I attached the ruler and directly onto the surface of the covered panel and just ripped the two ends.

FLOURISH ADORNMENTS AND QUOTE SEAL

We're now ready to add those beautiful Flourish Adornments.

To add colour to the metal, I used Foundry and Sterling on each of these pieces, applying one layer of wax at a time and then adding the second layer over the top, but not giving the metal a complete coverage. This will allow the layer of wax underneath to show through and create the variation of colour to the metal.

After I'd heat set the wax on all the pieces I used, I applied some dribbles of Mushroom alcohol ink over the metal before arranging and attaching them onto my panel with Matte Collage Medium, placing the flourishes across the bottom of the photo, and adding some Mummy Cloth fibres, where the two flourishes meet.

In the centre of the flourishes where they meet, I placed an idea-ology Quote Seal. I painted the entire seal with a coat of Burnt Sienna Acrylic Paint and allowed this to dry, before painting the outside of the seal, with Candied Apple Distress Paint.

Once the paint was dry, I then used my Picket Fence Distress Crayon to highlight the quote, running the crayon over the wording and allowing it to sink into the recesses before wiping away the excess with a soft cloth.

I then attached the seal to my flourishes with more Matte Collage Medium.

WILDFLOWERS

Now for those spring flowers and using the Wildflowers Vault die set, I cut a selection of leaves, twigs and flowers from watercolour cardstock.

I hand painted each of the flowers using Distress Watercolour Pencils...

DAISIES ~ Mustard Seed, Scattered Straw, Wild Honey, Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters

MEADOWSWEET ~ Saltwater Taffy, Scattered Straw, Dried Marigold, Peeled Paint

GREENERY ~ Peeled Paint, Rustic Wilderness, Bundled Sage

TWIGS ~ Gathered Twigs

...and once they were dry, I arranged them into a bouquet.

I attached the floral arrangement to my panel with hot glue, adding some foam pads behind the flower heads to add some dimension.

I then added the little Word Tag Heart. The metal on this tag, is altered in exactly the same way as the flourishes and once I was happy, I threaded it onto a piece of twine, tied it into a knot and then attached it to my floral arrangement, completing the bow with a Mini Pin.

To add some more dimension to the floral arrangement, I added some dried grasses from my own stash, and placed these in amongst the flowers.

To complete the frame, I added the tiny butterflies, which are cut from some inked card in my stash using the dies from the brand newVault Boutique set from Tim and Sizzix. I cut two of each butterfly and layered them to create more dimension before I attached them to my project.

FINISHING DETAILS

Finally, it's all those little finishing details that need to be added and I started with an Curator Ephemera piece in the top right hand corner of the frame and this piece was chosen for it's reference to Paris.

I then added a Transparent Things Date strip, Feb 4th, 1912 and placed this beneath my frame...

...before adding some buttons, complete with thread, all of which are from my stash.

Finally I added a Type Chip in the bottom left hand corner, complete with a Hardware Head in the centre, painted with Burnt Sienna Acrylic Paint to create a rusty finish to the metal.

With those final touches, my make for this week is finished and I hope you love the theme and the techniques I've used to bring this story to life!

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: Etcetera Panel

Tim Holtz/Sizzix: Tim Holtz Big Shot Foldaway, Vault Wildflowers, Vault Boutique

Distress Paint: Candied Apple, Black Soot, Salvaged Patina, Crackling Campfire

Distress Crayons: Walnut Stain, Picket Fence, Faded Jeans, Picked Rapsberry, Tea Dye, Tattered Rose, Gathered Twigs, Aged Mahogany and Rustic Wilderness

Distress Ink: Walnut Stain

Distress Watercolor Pencils

Foundry Wax

Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Hardware Heads, Backdrops vol 2, Memoirs Ephemera Pack, Word Tag, Design Tape, Paper Dolls Portraits, Flourish Adornments, Quote Seal, Transparent Things 2, Mini Pins, Mummy Cloth, Type Chip, Curator Ephemera

Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Foam Pads, Burnt Sienna Acrylic Paint, Mushroom Alcohol Ink

Glass Media Mat

Blending Tool

Heat Gun

Hot Glue Gun

Twine, buttons and Dry Flowers from my own stash

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

Monday 1 April 2024

Come Rain, or Shine

Hello everyone and Happy Easter Monday!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and the Easter Bunny stopped by to leave you some treats! As always, a brand new week brings a new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and this week our theme is all about WHATEVER THE WEATHER and the DT are showcasing the fabulous products of our very own Simon Says Stamp within their makes!

For my card, I chose to combine the Sunburst Die from SSS, with Tim Holtz and Sizzix products to make this card all about a couple of love cats. This piece is actually inspired by the song, Come Rain or Come Shine and as a child, it was a track that was always being played in our house, and to this day my Dad still loves it, whether it's by Sinatra, Streisand or Ray Charles, when I hear it, I have such happy memories and I thought it was perfect for our challenge theme!

So let's get started, it's time for me to introduce you to these two mischievous love cats, who are gonna love each other, come rain, or come shine!

I made a black card blank measuring 18 x 12.5cm and adhered a panel of yellow patterned paper from an older Tim Holtz paper stash, followed by a piece of cream card, inked around the edges with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink.

SUNBURST BACKGROUND

To begin with I'll start with how I created the background and for this, I used the Sunburst Die from SSS to die cut a piece of Mixed Media Heavystock card. I then snipped away the edges of the card panel so that it would leave me with just the rays.

To add colour to the rays, I began by inking the card using a Blending Tool, with a combination of Distress Inks, Scattered Straw, Fossililzed Amber, Wild Honey and Mustard Seed.

I then spritzed the card with a light misting of water, allowing the inks to blend and little puddles to appear before heat drying the die cut.

Once dry, I inked the edges with Tea Dye and Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

Behind the rays, I wanted to add a blue background and for this I cut a panel of Distress Watercolor Card, the same size as the rays. I smooshed a combination of Speckled Egg, and Broken China Distress Inks onto my glass mat and then spritzed with water before dipping the card in and out of the inks, picking up the colour and droplets of ink.

I always heat dry in-between each inky application, and then continue to pick up colour as I go along.

Once happy, I heat dried the background and when this was completely dry, I adhered the sunburst die cut over the blue background, using Matte Collage Medium to secure it into position.

I inked the edges of the panel with Walnut Stain Distress Ink, mounted it onto some black kraft cardstock, and then attached this to the top section of my card blank using foam pads to add some dimension and height.

At the base of the sunburst, I added a Milk Cap, to follow the outline of the round sun. I cut a small piece of the bottom of the Milk Cap and then inked the edges before attaching it with foam pads.

Around the edge of the milk cap, I added small torn pieces of Mummy Cloth, hand dyed with Frayed Burlap distress Spray Stain and some Bouquet Findings flowers which are coloured with Scattered Straw and Fossilized Amber spray stains. Once the flowers were dry, I arranged them around the milk cap, tucking them in between the mummy cloth.

To complete the cap, I added two Hardware Heads, painted with gold acrylic paint and attached these to the cap itself.

COME RAIN OR SHINE QUOTE PLAQUE

Underneath the sunburst, I added the quote ~ "Come Rain or Shine", and for this I inked a piece of watercolour card with the same blue inks as I used on the background.

I then cut each of the individual letters from black kraft card using the Sizzix Alphanumeric Label die set by Tim Holtz. Top Tip: When die cutting any letters and small die cuts, I always use double sided adhesive sheets on the back of the card, it really does make life so much easier.

I attached the letters onto my inked strip before I matted the plaque onto black kraft stock, sanding around the edges to reveal the kraft core of the cardstock. I then mounted the plaque underneath the sunburst using foam pads.

Now the card is ready for the love cats...

LOVE CATS AND UMBRELLA

For these cats I used the Sizzix Mischievous Die Set by Tim and after choosing the images from the set, I cut three layers for each cat, which I then attached over one another to form a really substantial die cut.

In this die set, you also get the heads separate and I cut each of the corresponding heads that I attached using foam pads.

I used a white gel pen to add the facial detail and then a pink stardust Sakura Gel pen to add their little noses.

I then wanted a little quirky detail for the larger cat and thought the glasses would be perfect. These are cut from metallic cardstock using a die from an older, and sadly discontinued die set by Tim, called Crazy Things but if you want larger glasses, then you can always use the ones that are in the Vault Bunny and chick set.

I placed the glasses onto his face and the kitties are now ready to be placed onto my background, sitting them on top of the milk cap, using foam pads to secure them into position.

For the umbrella, I used the die from The Park die set and cut the pieces from more of the black card, again cutting multiple layers to form a substantial die cut.

I added pencil and white gel pen details to the umbrella and then attached it to my kitties tail.

FINISHING DETAILS

To complete the card, I cut two clouds from Distress Watercolour Cardstock, inked the edges and added some shading to each piece and then attached them to my background with foam pads.

I finished the piece with red hearts, cut from red inky card that I had in my offcut box, and used the Tim Holtz Falling Hearts die by Sizzix. I attached three hearts around the kitties using matte collage medium.

Finally, I applied the No.14 remnant rub in the top left hand corner.

So that's my card complete and I hope you love what I've created and it's made you smile ~ I know I can't help but smile when I see these two sitting together.