Simon Says - Not A Card

Hi Everyone...welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. Thank you for joining us for last week's challenge and we hope you can join us this week too because

and the theme for this week is...

NOT A CARD

I created a Christmas Home Decor project using a Small Ecetera Tag and Vignette Box decorated with  Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Bold Tidings 3 and Flurries Layering Stencil, Idea-ology Christmas Papers, Woodlands Tree Lot, Christmas Vellum Scenes and Tiny Lights and Tim Holtz/Sizzix Paper Village Thinlits.

I trimmed paper from the Christmas Paper Pad roughly the size of the Etcetera Tag, inked the sentiment from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Bold Tidings 3 with Distress Embossing ink, sprinkled with Ranger Superfine White Embossing ink and heat set. I created a mask for the sentiment and applied Distress Crackle Texture Paste through the Flurries Layering Stencil. I fixed the paper to the tag using Distress Collage Medium Matte and because the 8" x 8" sheet isn't long enough to cover the tag, I added a left over section, managing to line up the plaid. There seems to be a trend at the moment of adding sticks to projects, thanks to my lovely friends Stacy and Zoe, so I decided to join the club and fixed them in place with small dots of hot glue.

I die-cut the houses from Distress Woodgrain Cardstock using the Paper Village Thinlits and coloured the walls, both sides, with Vintage Photo Distress Oxide ink using a mini round blending tool. I coloured a scrap of vellum with Mustard Seed Distress Oxide ink and fixed strips in place over the windows and doors on the inside. I assembled the houses following an excellent "there is always an easy way to do everything" tutorial from my friend Zoe which you can find HERE. I used a small paintbrush to add Distress Grit Paste to the roofs and under the windows and sprinkled with Distress Mica Flakes and Distress Rock Candy Glitter. I sprayed the tree from Idea-ology Woodlands Tree Lot with Shabby Shutters and Bundled Sage Distress Oxide Sprays, tapped on Distress Grit Paste to create snow and once that had dried, tapped on Distress Collage Medium Matte with my finger and sprinkled with Distress Mica Flakes, it's Christmas after all and you can never have enough sparkle.

I covered the Idea-ology Vignette Box with a contrasting paper from the Christmas Paper Pad, 

fixed in place with Distress Collage Medium Matte and was all set to add the Idea-ology Tiny Lights which turned into a major adapt and overcome adventure when my 25 year old faithful Makita drill decided he wasn't up to drilling another hole and died. So I grabbed my trusty craft pick and a small Phillips screwdriver and with brute force and determination, I managed to make holes in the Etcetera Tag and Vignette Box to feed the light strand through, not pretty holes but holes none the less. I fixed the lights inside the Vignette Box first and added the Christmas Vellum Scene, trimmed down to fit. I fed the wire back to the outside and fixed the Vignette Box in place with thin strips of  Foam Adhesive. I didn't want to nip the wire at this stage and cause a short circuit. 

I gathered the first 3 lights on the strand together for the smaller house and fixed in place with a dot of hot glue. I fixed the tree in place with hot glue and wound the strand around it, then it was time to arrange the last lights on the strand for the larger house. I fixed the houses to the vignette box over the light strands with Distress Collage Medium Matte and added Distress Grit Paste around the houses and tree, covering up any stray wires. Woohoo, finally I made it through to that joyous "let there be light" moment. 

I added Distress Grit Paste around the edges of the Vignette Box and decorated the Christmas Vellum Scene with Idea-ology Christmas Tiny Text Remnant Rubs

I trimmed the holly from Idea-ology Christmas Layers, fixed to the stick using Sizzix Foam Adhesive and Distress Collage Medium, added Ranger Glossy Accents to the berries and once they were dry, I added splatters of Picket Fence Distress Paint.

I highlighted the wording on the Idea-ology Christmas Quote Token with Picket Fence Distress Crayon and fixed in place with Distress Collage Medium Matte. 

To finish I added Picket Fence Distress Paint to the edges of the Etcetera Tag, applied with a piece of Ranger Cut 'n Dry Foam.

You can find all the products I used over at Simon Says Stamp, just click on the links below

Why don't you pop over to the Monday Challenge Blog and check out the amazing creations from my very talented Design Team mates and as always you have until Monday 8am Ohio time...1pm UK time...2 pm CET to join in with the chance to win a $25 voucher to spend at Simon Says Stamp Online Store.

You can also follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram

and if you use Instagram...

please add #sssmchallenge to your entry uploads so we can see them on there too

I look forward to seeing what you create this week...

Have Fun and Happy Crafting

Hugs Kath xxx

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