Ho, Ho, Ho!

 Hello Friends

A quick post just to share a large tag I made a bit back, using the new Santa Colorize die set by Tim Holtz, he is just such a jolly Santa!

I used the smallest size Etcetera tag (it is still huge) to create a scene for Santa.  I don't have a step by step - sorry, it is just one of those projects I just got lost in the making of it.

I used Christmas worn wallpaper to cover the tag before adding some Icicle Crackle Paste in the corners.  I rubbed Festive berries Distress Crayon into the crackles to highlight them.  The tree is a half tree from Tim's Woodland Trees set from a couple of years back.  I dyed the tree with various Distress Spray Stains before adding Idea-ology Christmas Tiny Lights, some alcohol ink coloured pears and then some Grit Paste to add the snow.

Santa is one of Tim's latest Colorize dies, I added a little bit of sparkle to him here and there using Distress Clear Rock Candy Glitter with the Glitter Duster.

I created the shelf using Etcetera Trims, attaching Tim's Idea-ology Icicles to the front and then coating the whole shelf in Distress Grit Paste. I added some Icicle Distress Crackle Paste to the icicles themselves which gives them a bit of a sheen. I coated the shelf and the Icicles with Glitter.  The snowballs are Idea-ology Clear Baubles coated in Glossy Accents and then dipped into Distress Clear Rock Candy Glitter.

The '25' is from an older Idea-logy set and I coloured them with Alcohol ink.  The tin lid is from the latest Idea-ology range.

To finish off I dyed some of Tim's older Idea-ology seam binding with Festive Berries Distress Spray Stain and added it to the top of my tag.

It lights up (of course!) with Idea-ology Christmas Tiny Lights.

I would like to add this to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge where the theme this week is 'Santa'.

Thanks so much for your visit, I always appreciate them.

Have a lovely weekend, whatever you are doing.

Crafty hugs, Anne xx

Tim Holtz Christmas Village Green

 Hello Friends

Since watching Tim's Saturday video on 'The Village' I have wanted to make a village of my own.  I was totally inspired by the creation that the very talented Emma Williams, one of Tim's Makers had made.  You can see Emma's beautiful and very detailed village here.

I built the village over a couple of weeks so I don't have step by steps but I have a few photos to share.  The first house uses House 1 from the new Village Collection and the brickwork was created using the Mini Brickwork 3D embossing folder.

The trees are from Tim's Idea-ology Woodland lot and I sprayed them green using Distress Spray Stain in Rustic Wilderness and the edges were covered with Picket Fence Distress Paint.  I added Tiny Christmas Lights to the tree and all of the houses.

The wreaths on the houses, the gentleman and the Carol singers were created by using Tim's Vault Series: Christmas 2021 die set with black shrink plastic.  I was quite pleased with the way they turned out!  The bows on the front of the village are from the same die set too.  

The central tree has Idea-ology pearl baubles (coloured with alcohol ink) and stars but no lights and you will see why at the end of this post!

I used House 2 to create a pair of semi detached houses, I simply joined two of the houses together and added a 'drain pipe' to separate the two houses.  All of the roofs were die cut and coloured with Distress Ink in two colours, Vintage Photo and Gathered Twigs.

The Post Office was created from House 1 dies and I added the cute little awnings.  The phone box was created using the tall thin building from Tim's Paper Village die set and it even has a little telephone inside!  The post box was created with a wooden button and card - well I needed a post box to go alongside the Post Office. It was the hardest thing to create because it is so tiny....

The pathway at the front of the properties was created with Tim's Mini Cobblestone 3D embossing folder.  The 'snow' was created with Ranger Distress Grit Paste with Distress Grit Paste - Snowfall to add some extra whiteness. I carefully puffed on Distress Clear Rock Candy Glitter to add a little sparkle.

To finish off my project I added some Idea-ology feet (from years ago) and a metal plaque from Tim's new Christmas range, that says 'Season of Magic'.

And finally, I took a little video so that you can see that I added a music box (playing Jingle Bells) and turntable to bring the Village Green Christmas tree to life.  I hope it works and that you like it!

I absolutely love this new size of Village dies and I can see me using them lots more in the future.

Thanks so much for your visit, I really appreciate you stopping by.

Take care and keep safe and well.

Crafty hugs,  Anne xxx

Belinda Basson DT - Lady Vagabond Christmas Baubles

 Hello Friends

My project for the Belinda Basson Design Team for Stamperia this month has Christmas in mind.  I created two large baubles using Stamperia products, all of which are listed at the end of this post.

The first step is to wash the baubles in soapy water, dry them thoroughly and then apply a coat of Stamperia Mixed Media glue to the base piece of the bauble only, and allow to dry. This will give the plastic a 'tooth' so that further products will stick and stay put.

Apply a coat of Glamour Paste in Turquoise and allow it to dry.  Add the paste up to the rim but not on the rim so that the bauble will close easily.

Time to apply the glitter!  Apply a coat of Mixed Media Glue and then generously sprinkle the Glamour Sparkles (Turquoise) whilst the glue is wet.  You need patience at this point (I don't have a lot), let it dry thoroughly and then tap off the excess Sparkles.  You can put these back in the jar for your next project.

For the right hand bauble (below) an area of 'snow' was created with White Glamour Paste, sprinkled with Glamour Sparkles in White.

Next, add two of the Lady Vagabond chipboard pieces, raising them up with hot glue, silicone glue or several layers of double sided sticky pads, whichever is your preference.  You want the chipboard pieces to be level with the top.

Add a small amount of glue around the edges of the baubles and attach the top, leaving them to dry thoroughly.

Finally, apply some velvet ribbon to the edges of the bauble, attaching a bow to the top.

Do the same with the second bauble.

At this point I regretted not trying harder to fit lights to the baubles, I just couldn't get the balance right and the wires kept showing.  But, I didn't give up as I hate to be defeated!  This bauble uses the new Lady Vagabond Lifestyle chipboard pieces and I did my best to disguise the lights by creating a 'window's edge of snow' using the White Glamour Paste and White Glamour Sparkles.  I added a small pocket at the back to hold the battery pack.  Whew, not perfect but I love it all the same!

If you have not seen Belinda's new Lifestyle range I hope you will soon, it is beautiful and compliments Belinda's original range perfectly.  I am really looking forward to creating projects with it and I hope you will enjoy seeing them.

Thanks so much for your visit, I really appreciate it.

Take care, keep safe and well.

Crafty Hugs,

Anne xxx

Products Used:

Stamperia Mixed Media Glue - DC28M

Stamperia Glamour Paste Turquoise - K3P61C

Stamperia Glamour Paste Sparkling White - K3P61A

Stamperia Glamour Sparkles Turquoise - K3GGS03

Stamperia Glamour Sparkles White - K3GGS01

Stamperia Lady Vagabond Die Cuts - DFLDC27

Stamperia Extra Strong Glue- DC007GN

Belinda Basson DT - Lady Vagabond Book Nook

 Hello Friends

It is time to share my monthly Belinda Basson Design Team for Stamperia project and I cannot begin to tell you how much fun I had creating it! 

For many years now I have wanted to create a book nook but frankly did not know where to start!  So when I saw that CoolKatz have designed a kit, I knew I had to make one for Lady Vagabond.  The period style properties suited Lady V so well (in my mind anyway!).

A book nook is literally a miniature world that you tuck into a book shelf between your books.  If it lights up, it just makes it so much more interesting.  A strategically placed mirror at the back makes the 'street scene' look never ending...

The wonderful Stamperia products I used to decorate the book nook are listed at the end of this post.

Here is Lady V outside the pub named after her, all packed up for a trip on her beautiful airship.

It was great fun building the kit, I used Stamperia Allegro paints and Stamperia Rice paper to decorate the house and pub.  To create the illusion of leaded windows I used a permanent black pen on acetate.

I used the Lady Vagabond 8" x 8" papers to create some mini books, that were then placed in the bookshop window.

For the window above the bookshop I added a doll's house sewing machine, just for the sake of authenticity, even though it is hard to see once the book nook is fully constructed.  I know it is there and it just made me happy!

The floor of the book nook was created with Stamperia Cream Paste and I used the end of a knife blade to create the cobbled effect.  Once dry I applied Stamperia Allegro Paints to give it worn cobble colour.

The Lady V sign over the pub was created by hand from a piece of card.

Once the book nook is filed away in your bookcase you don't really see the outside but I wanted it to have a finished look and I used the Lady Vagabond 8" x 8" papers and they fitted perfectly.

I placed Lady V (Stamperia die cuts) and her luggage in the opening to the street scene so that she would not get lost inside.  Lady V's cat was stamped onto Stamperia Shrink Plastic sheeting with archival ink.  Once shrunk she was the perfect size to sit alongside her mistress.

A final view of the book nook, I just love how it looks all lit up!  I really hope you might consider making one of these, they are so much fun and they would make a wonderful gift for any avid reader.

Thanks so much for your visit, I really appreciate you taking the time.  

Take care and keep safe and well.

Crafty hugs, Anne xxx

Stamperia Products Used:

Stamperia Lady Vagabond 8" x 8" Paper Pad SBBS27

Stamperia Lady Vagabond Rice Paper White Flowers DFSA3083

Stamperia Lady Vagabond Die Cuts DFLDC27

Stamperia Lady Vagabond Flying Ship Stamps WTKCC190

Stamperia Allegro Paints - Milk White KAL110, Brown KAL106, Grey KAL73, Black KAL03, Rame Metallic KAL117

Stamperia Cream Paste - K3P53

Stamperia Extra Forte Glue DC075

Stamperia Shrinky Bits (Shrink Plastic) - DFSBA4W

Tim Holtz Village Collection 2021

 Hello Friends

Well, what can I say, it is October (to me that signals Halloween) and Tim Holtz has released a fabulous new die set, called Village Collection along with some new mini embossing folders.  I do have the original Village collection but I like the size of this new one... so I just had to didn't I; especially after seeing all the wonderful inspiration from Tim's amazing Makers.  If you missed the 'live' you can see it HERE.

I have to thank Art From The Heart for their always fantastic service, my dies and folders arrived last Friday and I just had to get started right away.  I don't have a step by step for you because this project just took on a life of its own as I was building it...

I built the Manor House first and then added House #2 and (just out of view) I added the additional side building.  

I had some of Tim's Halloween papers from a few years back and had just enough of the orange and black to complete the buildings.  The windows each have 'glazing' from some cobweb acetate from the same paper pack.  Just like the original set of dies, the houses go together like a dream!

The base is a wooden box 10.1/4" x 6" and I covered it with some of Tim's design tape (Halloween) from a few years back.

The trickiest part of the piece was the brick wall.  I knew I wanted to use the gate from Tim's Village Graveyard die set to create an entry.  

The new embossing folders are approximately 4.1/2" x 3" and I repeat embossed some cardstock to give me some longer strips to create parts of the wall.  I used Hickory Smoke Distress Paint, watered down, and randomly swiped paint over the embossed brickwork to give a distressed look.

I scored each long strip to create the wall (3 bricks deep for the sides, two bricks deep for the top and three bricks for the back).  I mitred the corners to give nice corner edges. I cut strips of card to join onto the base.  Because the top was a little uneven I put a strip of card along the whole top to give a finished appearance.  I also created some 'pillars' to hold the gate in place.

I created the cobbled paths in the same way as the brickwork fence and fussy cut around some of the cobbles to make them look realistic.

The graveyard was added by die cutting the tombstones from black card, again using the Village Graveyard die set.  I put four layers together to give them strength and dry brushed them with Hickory Smoke Distress Paint.

All that remained was to paint the 'ground' with various colours of green paint and once the Manor was in place I added some moss, a few (model railway) trees and twigs together with a small pumpkin charm from my stash.

Some of you may be wondering at this point, whether I added lights to my creation.... well, of course I did, it is for Halloween!  I added a set of Tim's Halloween mini lights in green.  It has quite the eerie glow at night time!

Not the best of photos but I have photographed the original Manor house I built a few years back alongside the new one, just to give you an impression of the difference in size of the Manor house.

To finish off my new Manor house diorama I added a word chip. The light switch for the tiny lights is hidden underneath.

Thanks so much for your visit, it is much appreciated!

Take care, keep safe and well.

Crafty hugs, Anne xxx

Belinda Basson DT - Exploding Box

 Hello friends

My project this month for the Belinda Basson (Stamperia) Design Team is An Exploding Box.

I used Stamperia Lady Vagabond papers, moulds, paints and chipboard to create the box and all of the items are listed at the end of this post.

I wanted the box to hold quite a lot in the middle part, so I made it larger than the standard 4" x 4" sized box.

To make the base I used black cardstock that is 16" x 16" square, the centrepiece is 4" square and the sides each measure 6" x 4".  You would normally cut away the 'side' pieces but I wanted the box to be quite sturdy, so I simply cut away the corners so that it would fold in properly.

I covered each of the outside and inside pieces with Lady Vagabond papers.

Each of the inside sections contains a different scene.

Top left:  I added some chipboard pieces, mounted onto black cardstock.

Bottom left: The frame is made with a Stamperia mould and painted.  The Sir Vagabond chipboard pieces are mounted onto watercolour paper.

Centre: I created a bookcase from cardstock and mounted books that I fussy cut  from the Lady Vagabond 8" x 8" cardstock.

Right:  I mounted the pieces using chipboard pieces from the Lady Vagabond chipboard set.

The centrepiece for the box is made from Stamperia moulds, using resin and painted with Stamperia paints to create a rust effect.

I created the top, in black card, just slightly larger than the base at 4.1/8" square and covered it with Lady Vagabond papers.

The cogs on the top were created using a Lady Vagabond mould and painted with Stamperia paints.

And finally, here is a view of all four sides of the box.

I have never made one of these boxes before but I enjoyed this one and will definitely be making more!

Thanks so much for your visit, I hope to see you again soon.

Crafty hugs, Anne xxx

Stamperia Products Used:

Lady Vagabond 12 x 12 Paper Pad - SBBL82 

Lady Vagabond 8 x 8 Paper Pad - SBBS27

Sir Vagabond 8 x 8 Paper Pad - SBBS25

Lady Vagabond Soft Maxi Mould - K3PTA482

Sir Vagabond Soft Maxi Mould - K3PTA488

Stamperia Picture Frame Mould - K3PTA496

Lady Vagabond Wooden Shapes - KLSP091

Sir Vagabond Wooden Shapes - KLSP085

Stamperia Chipboard - Lady Vagabond - DFLDC27

Stamperia Chipboard - Sir Vagabond - DFLD25

Stamperia Allegro Paint - Earth Brown - KAL40

Stamperia Allegro Paint - Turquoise - KAL25

Stamperia Allegro Paint - Warm Red - KAL06

Stamperia Allegro Paint - Nero Black - KAL03

Simon Says Stamp Designer Spotlight - The Count in his castle

Sadly, this is my last week in the Designer Spotlight for Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.  

Those who know me, know how much I love Halloween and completely inspired by several of Tim Holtz's Makers in his recent Halloween release video I just had to create a special Halloween Project using some of the new products that Tim has just released.

The challenge this week is Glimmer & Sparkle!  You may not see mine immediately, but it is there in abundance!

I created a vignette of 'The Count' in his castle, looking out and surveying his vast and very spooky estate...... Glimmer and sparkle may not be immediately evident in the photos but I have used Tim's new Distress Mica Sprays along with his Distress Midnight Mica Flakes and Nightfall glitter.

I don't have any process photos to share with you as I was not sure when I started this project what I actually wanted to achieve!  I can show you how it all started though... I used a piece of mount board from my stash to create the inside castle wall, mainly so that I could die cut the cathedral window through it and the window frame would have lots of texture too.

I scraped some Distress Texture Paste - Grave, over the whole piece before applying a coat of Distress Grit Paste - Crypt over the whole piece, making sure there was plenty of texture.  I wanted it to resemble an old castle wall.  Once dry I sprayed with Distress Oxide Spray in Pumice Stone and then finished with a good spray of Distress Mica Stain - Empty Tomb.  This gave a lovely shimmery finish.

Next I die cut the cathedral window from the textured mount board and then glued it back into the opening and used some of the die cut left overs to create a 'frame' around the window.  I took one of Tim's Etcetera tags - small, and cut the mount board to match the tag as I wanted to create a 3D project.  I used a vignette box between the tags to give some dimension.  I painted the sides of the vignette box with Hickory Smoke Distress Paint.

I took a piece of watercolour cardstock and placed a small round mask where I wanted the moon to go and spritzed the whole piece with Hocus Pocus Distress Mica Spray, to add a lot of shimmer.  Inspired by a technique that Stacy Hutchinson used I spritzed the moon with water (rather than ink) to make the moon image bleed a little and give it a spooky appearance.  I die cut elements from Tim's new Vault Series die set and Ghost Town #2 set, attaching them to the inside of the vignette box, along with a set of Tiny Lights before attaching the cathedral window tag to the front of the box. 

I wanted the Count to appear as if he was inside his castle, looking out onto the graveyard and moon outside.  I die cut the Count, assembled him and added Nightfall Distress Glitter to his cape to give him some sparkle.  I added an Etcetera Bracket Trim for a ledge under the window where I could place my die cut Candle from the Candlelight die set.  I sprinkled some Distress Mica Flakes - Midnight here and there to also add a bit of shimmer. The candle holder was spritzed with Distress Mica Stain in Crooked Broomstick, which gave it a lovely shimmer.

I thought it would be fun to add a Creepy Eye to the Count and the small size fits perfectly!

I added another Etcetera Bracket Trim to the bottom of the vignette to give the Count a base to stand on.  I added a few pieces of Tim's Idea-ology bits and pieces from my stash, including the lovely Toadstools and lots of Mummy Cloth which was tinted with Distress Mica Stain in Empty Tomb and Pumice Stone Distress Oxide Spray.  I finished it off with some more Mica flakes.

We are hoping you will join in the challenge this week, it would be lovely to see you there and as always, there is a $25 gift voucher for one lucky winner to spend.

 

And finally, here is a view of the vignette all lit up!  It looks quite spooky in

 real life.  I just love the expression on the Count's face....

The products I used are listed below.

 

Thanks so much for your visit, I hope to see you again soon.

Crafty hugs,

Anne xxx

PRODUCTS USED:

Tim Holtz Sizzix Bigz Die - Cathedral Window

Tim Holtz Sizzix Colorize die - The Count

Tim Holtz Sizzix Colorize die - Candlelight

Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits die - Vault Series Halloween 2021

Tim Holtz Ranger Texture Paste - Grave

Tim Holtz Ranger Grit  Paste - Crypt

Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Mica Spray - Empty Tomb

Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Mica Spray - Hocus Pocus

Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Mica Flakes - Midnight

Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Glitter - Nightfall

Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Oxide Spray - Pumice Stone

Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Hickory Smoke

Tim Holtz Etcetera Tag - Small

Tim Holtz Idea-ology - Vignette Tray

Tim Holtz Etcetera - Bracket Trims

Tim Holtz Idea-ology - Tiny Lights

Tim Holtz Idea-ology - Toadstools

Tim Holtz Idea-ology - Creepy Eyes