Homely Musings and Simon Says "A Word..."

Lo! Monday morning visits our doorstep once again...
The new theme over at Simon Says Stamp & Show is "A Word." I'm starting off the week with a new Design Piece and the well-worn but, oh so true, There's no place like home...

It is hard to close your eyes to the recent events in Japan and I started realising how precious the safety and sanctuary of my home really is. I cannot imagine how it is to lose everything you own in just a few minutes. Maybe all we can give at present are our thoughts and prayers, but they too are wanted and needed. The word home stayed with me all week and inspired my new piece.

Thoughts of little paper houses and wood felt right...something about the natural materials and earthy tones. I wanted to create my own individual houses but also wanted them to have some dimension. Somehow, my random curiosity resulted in me teaching myself some origami and I set about making 5 different homes!

Each one uses a different type of book page that has been aged with Distress Ink, stamped (Tim Holtz range) and sealed with matt medium to add strength. They are so dinky and fun to make, with each one having it's own personalty...yes, really...they talk to me.

I then started to play around with adorning each house with a little something for interest and contrast. Just a couple of buttons or an eyelet make all the difference (they will let you know if they want to wear it).

  

Here I have used just one flower punched from a metal scrap. I also started playing with laying ribbons and braid behind the homes to see how the colours and textures were looking...

The words have been typed onto Sticky-back Canvas, aged with a touch of ink and stuck onto paper scraps.

Here is "home" - the smallest but sweetest little house on the block! I don't often do heart brads but I let myself go. It was a gold brad but I dipped it into some alcohol ink for an instant makeover! You can also see the flower in the background. Just the one biggie. I used the tattered-floral die with various materials and a vintage pearl button.

The wood is a slat taken from one of my vintage apple crates (alias my telephone table...!) I decided to just go for it and wing it with some stamping straight onto the wood. I went for Sepia/Coffee Archival inks and they worked perfectly. It adds just that bit of extra contrast and pattern without detracting from the natural beauty of the wood. I also salvaged the old nails from the crate and decided to add them as a quirky touch. Yummy - just loving the brown hues there...

Once I had chosen all the positioning and background ribbon/lace, it was time to fix it all securely with the darn sticky, but best-ever Wondertape - so nothing will be going walkies.This was all a bit different to my usual thing but I loved the challenge and journey!

So that's me for today... I am so ready to crash out for the night.

I really hope you will join in our challenge and show us your word. Everyone must know at least one word - so what are you waiting for...??? You might just be in our next Top Three and Simon Says Stamp are giving away another $50 shopping spree! So, plenty of reasons to join in with the fun. Head over to the blog to see more and truly wonderful DT pieces. You'll love them. Hope to see you there...

With love and homely, happy thoughts,

Sarah