And the countdown continues

Hi everyone, today I have two more Christmas cards to share, both done in a very similar way:

I started with a size 8 tag, created a background using a mix of  Paper Artsy Infusions and Distress Spray. I then ran my tags through an embossing folder and highlighted the raised bits, with a mix of Distress inks (ground espresso) and Treasure Gold.

They then were finished with die cuts and matted onto card, easy peasy and as they are flat they will be easy to post.

The snowflakes are Sizzix Tim Holtz, the sentiment is by Sue Wilson for Creative Expressions.

The little bell is a Marianne Creatable embossed and then glittered with Distress Glitterdust in Vintage Platina.

The second one was done in pretty much the same way. Just added a few strips of washi tape, as I felt it just needed something.

I sprinkled some glitter dust across the card for some added shimmer, but of course the photos don't pick that up properly.

This time a triple layered snowflake to hide the hole in the tag.

Well, that's it, two more to tick off the list, I fell I am well on the way now and really enjoying it.

Thanks for dropping in like always and stay creative!

Destination Inspiration for a Vintage Journey.

Hello dear visitors. Today I have a step by step project on the Vintage Journey blog, where every Monday the Creative Guides do a step by step project using 4 specific projects, colours and techniques. Today is my turn, and here is a corner of what I made:

If you want to see more, just click HERE.

Have a wonderful week and see you next time.

xxx

Spooky October challenge at A Vintage Journey

Hello everyone and welcome to today's post which is a spooky project for A Vintage Journey.

The lovely and talented Anne is our hostess of our challenge this month, and I tell you this was a real challenge for me in more ways than one. I don't have many Halloween (or indeed Spooky) things in my stash, and so I went with the few things I still had from previous years and put this little spooky (I hope) scene together. 3D projects (unlike Anne) are also not really my thing, but here goes:

I started with a large cube from Calico Craft Parts, gave it a coat of black gesso, then a coat of Decoart Weathered Wood Crackle Glaze and finally a coat of Decoart Chalky Finish paint in Whisper.

Next colour was added with the help of Decoart Quin. Gold, Burnt Amber, some Golden Glazing Medium and finally some Stampendous embossing powders in Ancient Bronze and Green. The edges were darkened with Coffee Gelato.

Here you can hopefully see the effect a bit better.

Next I gathered some of my Halloween/Autumnal bits and pieces.

Mostly Calico Craft Parts again as well as some die cut leaves and berries. As you will see from the finished project, some other bits were added along the way. Then all I needed to do was put it all together...

I covered a piece of mount board with black gesso and added some mosses, adhered with my glue gun. The fence was made using chipboard pieces I have had in my stash like forever.

The spider's web is a CCP, I added the little cross on the spider in the center with a gold Sharpy.

The witch, another CCP was given a coat of white paint and then coloured mostly with Faber Castell big brush pens. I love how these are water soluble at first and then become permanent.

The finishing touch was obviously the little night light, the outside of that was also coloured with a big brush pen.

Well, that's it. The little ghost peeping around the corner in this photo was just a little fun addition I created in Photoshop Elements. Don't forget to head over to the A Vintage Journey Blog, to see all the incredible projects my teamies have created and to get the full details of the challenge. And of course we hope you will play along with us this month, - we can't wait to see what you will make!

Thanks for dropping my here today and have a great creative month!!

Of friends and dies and just good fun....

Hello all and thanks for dropping in. Today I would like to share another couple of Christmas cards with you.

Last week I was lucky enough to visit two of my craft friends, the lovely mother and daughter pair, Rita and Annie. We decided that we would all share some of our Christmassy dies and do lots of diecutting, and that's what we did. Well apart from also sharing some wonderful food, courtesy of Rita, and lots of chat and laughter of course.
Anyway, then Annie set us the challenge to all post a project using the dies we had cut by Wednesday  October 5, so here you go, yay, I made two and am posting a day early lol.
Below some close ups:

As I knew it was mostly about the diecuts, and no real stamping involved, I did a kind of mixed media background, using scrapbook paper, stencils and texture paste and colouring with a mix of sprays and inks.

The dies were mostly coloured with Distress products, Crayons, Markers and Inks.

The words are Tim Holtz dies, the lantern was from Sweet Dixie I think.

I love these little ivy corners, - they are Marianne Creatables.

I always admire people that decorate both the out -  and inside of their cards, and with so many ready cut dies available I decided to do that too for once...

Card number two, was done in a similar way, this time using a little image as a focal point.

A bit more collage work on this one, but still plenty of dies too. The image is from last year's Papermania Victorian Christmas collection.

I edged the image with Stampendous Ancient Silver embossing powder, the ticket is a very old Tim Holtz stamps. The dies are mainly in the background.

And here is the inside of this one, apart from the sentiment the whole thing was again put together using various dies.

The ornament is a Marianne Creatable again, I love how these come out when embossed. I actually own that one, so I know it will be used a few times this year....

I think the pine branches are from Sue Wilson, I coloured them with Distress Crayons and Inks. The poinsettia was in my stash, left over from last year.

Well, that's it, - I hope I have inspired you a bit to take out your own dies, and thanks Rita and Annie for a fantastic day!!

xxxxx

Mixed Media tag for Shimmerz

Happy Sunday everyone and thanks for dropping in.
Today I am sharing a little tag tutorial over on the Shimmerz blog, so just a sneak peek here:

If you want to see the full project, - just click HERE. Hope to see you there and thank you for dropping by here!

xxxxx

Mixed Media Monthly challenge # 29 Fall/Halloween Mood Board

Hello all and happy October!! Today we have a new challenge starting at Mixed Media Monthly and as you can see from the title of my post, the theme this month is a beautiful Fall/Halloween Mood Board. Our sponsor this month is Stampotique who are offering a $30 gift voucher to our lucky winner!!
Here first of all is my project for the challenge:

It's an altered canvas, using Stampotique stamps of course... (I had to take a deep breath lol, as these are not my usual style of stamps, - but nothing like a challenge right)?
Here is our beautiful graphic for the challenge, and of course you can read all the details on the Mixed Media Monthly Blog:

Anyway, on to my project, - I started by creating some texture with the help of texture paste and some stencils and then created a background using some warm autumnal colours of Acrylic paints and sprays.

The patterns were created by dabbing a crunched up bit of kitchen towel over the still wet paint.

Some further stencilling and background stamping, this time with some light coloured paint (Golden Hansa Yellow mixed with Titan Buff).

Stamping what is going to be the focal image on tissue paper and then blending it into the background with further paints applied with fingers.

Adding further interest with the help of a stencil and texture paste.

Stamping the focal stamp again (from Stampotique of course), this time on card, fussy cutting and then colouring with Derwent Inktense pencils and Faber Castell Big Brush pens.

Finally, finishing it all off by colouring the stencilled bit, adding  some embellishments, a sentiment (Stampotique) and some shadows around the stamped elements.

Well, that's it, I had to step right out of my comfort zone with this one, but I had fun doing it and I hope you like it.

Please visit our challenge blog to see the wonderful projects my teamies created and of course we all hope you will join in to our challenge!

Have a great month and thanks for your visit!

xxx

Tag Friday at A Vintage Journey

Hello everyone, here we are at the end of September, it's the fifth Friday of the month and that means it's Tag Friday over at A Vintage Journey. Here is the tag I put together:

It all started with a size 10 tag that I covered with some of my own made background papers. As I did these as part of an online course, I can't really reveal how I did it. but if you are interested you can find out more about the course here.

To add more interest to the background, I cut down another piece of the paper and frayed the edges.

I am trying to get into the mood for Halloween, so decided to use this quirky stamp by Teesha Moore as my focal image

She's not really a witch of course, I just love her pointy hat. I coloured her with Inktense Pencils.

Next I gathered some embellishments, left over from previous projects and then all I had to do was put it all together. 

Below a few close ups:

I adhered everything with foam tape and glue dots for some more depth and dimension.

Shadows (drawn with a Stabilo All pencil) also help to make the focal image pop a bit more.

I twisted some rusty wire around the rusted heart. It's a bit large for the tag but I tried a smaller one and that looked even worse, so in the end I stuck with the big one. I do like how the wire stamp (by Gaby Polacco), kind of links to the wire on the heart....

Well, that's it for today, thanks for your visit and make sure to check out the amazing tags my teamies have created, - plenty of inspiration there! All you need to do is clICk HERE

Have a lovely weekend everyone, hope you get some creative time!

xxx