Crafty Cardmakers Challenge # 241

Hello my dear friends and welcome.  A very special welcome to my new followers.  Thank you so much for joining me on my creative journey.

There is a new Challenge at Crafty Cardmakers and it is my turn to be host.  Our Theme for this fortnight is - Autumn Colours.   

In Australia we are actually just starting our Spring Season but, I do love the oranges, browns, yellows and greens of Autumn, so I am delighted to host this Challenge.  As always, you may enter whatever you wish to create.  Just make sure you use our Autumn Colours Theme.

I have created an Art Journal page.  I actually made this some months ago and decided to keep it for this Challenge.

A few close-ups first.

For the sub strata I used a sheet from a paper pad by Tim Holtz (Can't remember what it's called) and then created the colour with my fave Lindy's Stamp Gang Magicals.   I mixed the powder with water and then used a paint brush to sploosh the colour onto the background.  I then simply sprayed over it with water to move the colour around and used the paint brush to add the splashes..

Lots of stamping with archival ink and a bit of doodling around the edges.

A piece of fibre ribbon for added texture and lots of layering with bits of ephemera.

Hope you will take the time to join in.  For more inspiration please visit the CCM blog and check out the fabulous creations by the rest of the Team.
So looking forward to seeing your creations!

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #241 - Autumn Colours

Thank you so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!
Take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge - #226

Hello everyone!  Thank you for stopping by my blog today, so nice to have you visit.
A very warm welcome to my new followers too.  Lovely to have you share my crafting journey.

It's time for a new Challenge at Crafty Cardmakers and this time Jackie is our lovely host and the Theme is 'Add Some Texture'.  

As always, anything you care to create is fine as long as it follows the Theme.

For my DT contribution to this Challenge, I have created an Art Journal page.

I added a few strips of Washi Tape to a sheet of 5" x 7" watercolour paper and then added some coloured texture paste through a stencil.

The background colour was added using Lindy's Stamp Gang Magicals in Danny Zuko's Denim and Tiffany Lou's Blue.  My fave colours at the moment!  I simply sprinkled them onto the paper and then sprayed with water.

The stamping came next.  I used Archival ink and a texture stamp by Prima.  I believe it's called 'Crackle'.

The focal cluster includes a piece of coloured gauze, some jute webbing, layered ephemera and a couple of wood hearts by Kaisercraft.  The quote was computer generated.

I lightly inked the edges and, as you can see, I also did a little doodling as well. 

So, I hope you have found some inspiration here and will play along.  There's lots more inspiration to be found on the CCM blog from the fabulous creations by my Teamies.  While you're there, you could also link up your entry!!

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #226 - Add Some Texture

Thank you so much for your visit and for any sweet comment you may care to leave.  I appreciate it immensely.

Have a great day!!
Take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #209 - Water

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.  So happy that you stopped by.

The new Challenge is starting over at Crafty Cardmakers and the Theme this fortnight is - Water.  Josephine is our host for this one and, as always, you may create whatever you like as long as it follows the Theme.

Well, I thought I would be back full on crafting this past week or so but that obviously did not happen.  I think when I broke my wrist I also broke my enthusiasm and my mojo .. LOL!!  Just can't get back into it at the mo, but I'm quite pleased that I did manage to create something for my DT contribution even though it did take a few days to get done.

I created this very simple little card.

 This is not the first card I tried to make.  It is actually my fourth attempt.  I simply could not get the right effect for the background.  Yeah, I do think my mojo is broken or, at least, it's bent a bit!  LOL!!

The first two attempts were made with different inks and paints and didn't look very nice. So then I went back to my trusty Magicals and, although I did like the result on the third attempt, I then messed it up beause I wasn't really sure what I wanted to add to it.  Tried it with mermaids and dolphins but I  did not like how it turned out so, that one ended up in the bin as well.

I created this background by first spraying a piece of watercolour paper with water.  I mixed each of the colours with water to activate them and then put a few drops of each randomly on the page.  Then I sprayed over it with water again just to get the colours moving a bit more and this is the result.  The Magicals' colours I used on this background are Danny Zucko's Denim, Tiffany Lou's Blue, Azure Sea Asters, Sea Mint Green and Greased Lightning Green.  Don't you just love those names?? 

And I really loved how this background turned out so didn't want to mess this one up.  Still wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with it though until I found this quote from the movie Finding Nemo and then I knew I had to add a  fish of some sort.

After that, it all came together quite quickly.  I found the little fish on the net, printed it out and fussy cut it. 

I edged the fish and the quote with a black Sharpie pen and popped them up  on foam tape to give a bit of dimension.  I also went around the fish with more of the Danny Zucko's Denim to give it shadow and make it stand out a bit more.

The 'seaweed' is the Garland Threads Die by Altenew and I added some pearls to represent air bubbles.  I then used more of the Danny Zucko's Denim to add the splashes.

And here it is .. all finished!!!

I did make this into a card but am not really sure what sort of occasion I could use it for so, I'm thinking, I might just pop it into my art journal.   'Cos, with that quote, it's kinda uplifting and supportive and I think it's kinda cute and, I want to keep it!  So there!  LOL!!

I hope you will pop on over to the CCM Blog and take a peek at the fabulous inspiration by my Teamies and, maybe, link up your entry.  Would love to see how you interpret this Theme. 

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge # 209 - Water.

Thank you so much for stopping by and for any words you may care to leave for me.  I read every one and really appreciate you taking the time.

Have a wonderful day!
Take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge - #186 Things with Wings

Hello my sweet friends and welcome to my blog. 

A very special welcome to my new followers.  Thank you so much for joining me .. I hope you enjoy the journey through my crafty world.

The new Challenge is up at Crafty Cardmakers.  It is hosted by Mary and it is all about Things with Wings.   Anything with wings will count.  Birds, fairies, butterflies and other insects, aeroplanes and even hearts as long as they have wings.

As always, anything you create is fine.  A card, scrap layout, mixed media piece, some home decor, as long as it fits the theme.

We would love for you to join in!  Please read the rules and remember our 15 Challenge limit.

For this challenge I chose to create an Art Journal page.  

Can't remember when I last did one of these but I must say, I did enjoy the process.

I do realise this is not terribly original.  

There are so many AJ pages on pinterest with a similar design but, as I hadn't worked on one of these for so long, it was an easy subject and it fitted the theme of the Challenge.

 I used watercolour paper  and randomly covered it with texture paste instead of gesso just to get some texture happening.

I played around with some Lindy's Stamp Gang Magicals to colour the background.  It was the first time I have actually used these and I must say I love them!!  Didn't quite get the effect I was looking for but I think that is just going to take more  practice.

The chippy is from 2Crafty Chipboard and I simply coated it with more of the texture paste.

Lots of stamping underneath.

The clock and the butterflies were free printables from the web.  I simply fussy cut them and mounted the clock on a piece of scrap chipboard for dimension and strength.

I added some prills ..

.. lots of prills ..

.. 'cos I just love the look of them!!

Really happy with the way this turned out.  Think I might hang it on my Craft Room wall.

Once again, I hope I have inspired you to take part in the Challenge.  We would love to see the Things with Wings that you create!!

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #186 - Things with Wings.
Pop on over and take a look at the wonderful creations by the rest of the Team .. I'm sure you will be well and truly inspired!!

Thank you so much for paying a visit and having a look at my little makes and do enjoy the rest of your day.

Take care and God Bless.

oxox Marg

'Butterfly' Art Journal Page

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.  Sorry that I haven't posted for a while but, unfortunately, life keeps getting in the way.  Every time I think things are getting straightened out, they go whoopsie again.  Going to try making up a schedule for myself just to get everything sorted, including my scrappy stuff.  Might work, might not, we'll just have to see.

Anyway, I would like to share an Art Journal page with you today.
Our Creative Corner has a Tic Tac Toe Challenge this month.  The idea is to choose one line from the grid below and create something using those items or techniques.  To take a look at the Challenge HERE is the Link.

 So, I have chosen the middle line and decided to create an Art Journal page using paints, stamps and stencils.

Started off by sponging on a coat of watered down gesso.  In the past gesso hasn't worked for me.  I have no idea why but when I brush it on, like I've seen lots of other people do, I find I can't get the paint to stick too well.  Then I watched a video by Di Garling and she lightly sponged her background with watered down gesso so I thought I would try that out, and it worked!!!   Now, I realize my background looks fairly pale, but that is the way I wanted it.  Had I added more layers of the sprays it would have come out a lot darker.  (In real life it is actually a bit darker than the photo shows)

The sprays I've used are simply watered down acrylic paints.  I do have some Distress Sprays and some Lindy's Stamp Gang sprays, but not in the colours I was after, so paint was the alternative. Besides which, I needed to use paints to keep to the Challenge criteria.  LOL!!

Once the sprays were dry I added the stenciling with Texture paste and with gesso and when that was dry I did a little stamping.

You can see some of the stenciling here ...

... and more of it here.

For the flower petals I cut some hearts from old book paper, inked them with Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink, then lightly edged them with Gathered Twigs DI.

The first layer was simply glued to the page and then the second layer was only glued at the centre so they could be curled up a little to make them more three dimensional.

Did the same with the butterfly.  This time I cut both shapes from plain paper and then stamped it on each wing with different stamps.  Inked again with the Spiced Marmalade DI and I coloured in the floral stamp with some watercolour crayons.  The pen nib was coloured with a Versacolor stamp pad and then coated in clear crackle paint.

A closie of some of the stamping ...

... and the finished double page!!

Hope you like my little page.  I thoroughly enjoyed creating it.  Even though I had criteria to fill for the Challenge, it is still quite liberating to just go with the flow and do whatever you feel like at the time.

Thank you so much for visiting and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care and God Bless.

 

2Crafty & Scrap Around the World

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.

The 2Crafty Design Team girls are Guest Designers this month over at Scrap Around the World and the new  DT girls were also asked to participate if they were able.  This was such a fabulous opportunity, and the Moodboard is so gorgeous, that of course I wanted to jump in with both feet.  Now, as you know, I do not Scrapbook, but I was made aware that they will accept double Art Journal pages so that's what I created.

Here is the Mood board designed by Di Garling.

I love the colours of this board, so bright and bold and beautiful.

Here is my Journal page.

 My background was created with Distress Inks.  It seems to be the best thing that works for me.  I don't have much success using gesso on my pages and with these inks I don't need to.  The colours I used are Mustard Seed and Crushed Olive.  I also watered down some Viva Precious Metal in Olive and poured it into a sprayer but, instead of spraying it straight onto the page, I sprayed a paper towel and then dabbed it around the edges.  I'm really pleased with the result as it gives a more mottled look.

 Here you can see the effect of the dabbed ink a bit better.  Stamped the background with a mix of Prima and Kaisercraft stamps all in Memento's Tuxedo Black.
The gorgeous chippies on these pages are, of course, from 2Crafty.  They have the most amazing range of chipboard pieces.  If you wish to take a look HERE is the link.  The online store is only for Wholesale, but you will be able to see the sort of chippies they produce and, on the left hand side of the home page, there is a menu with a list of stockists.

 This beautiful and delicate frame is the 'Frances Frame'.  I sprayed this with Heidi Swap's Color Shine in Black Velvet which has a lovely iridescence that doesn't, unfortunately, show up very well in these photos.  I then marked the sides with a white gel pen to emulate the straws in the mood board.  The paper layers underneath the frame are from the Correspondence Collection from Meg's Garden.
The quote was found on the net.  I only used two of the lines as that was easier to fit on the page and I felt they were the most appropriate for the board..
  The full quote reads 'Live every moment.  Laugh every day.  Love beyond words.'

 Used Tim Holtz Schoolhouse Stencil with Crushed Olive and Black Soot D.I. and edged both pages with Gathered Twigs.

 As you've seen, the two pages are almost a mirror image of each other so I have used the same embellies on each side.  The small stars and hearts are the 'ATC Hearts & Stars' chippie.  The stars were painted with white acrylic paint and then just dipped into some clear glitter.

The second Frances Frame treated the same way as the first.

The tiny hearts were coloured with red acrylic paint.  I then used a white gel pen for the little bit of doodling and covered them with Distress Crackle Paint.  A bit of texture was added with TCW's Mini Tile Stencil and some homemade texture paste and I added some washi tape at the side as well.

I was actually quite pleased with how quickly this all came together.  Usually my journal pages take days, sometimes even weeks to complete because, although I know what colours I want to use, I don't always have a plan for what to do next.  Having never created from a Mood Board before I was a bit hesitant but this page just seemed to create itself.  The colours of course, came from the board and once I selected the chippies I wanted to use it just flowed together really quickly.

Hope you like my journal page and hope you will want to play along at the Scrap Around the World Challenge this month and maybe win one of the many amazing prizes.  There are so many awesome goodies up for grabs.  

HERE is the link to Scrap Around The World for all the details of the challenge.  HERE is the link to see the Guest Design Team projects.  HERE is the link to the 2Crafty Blog to see the awesome projects my Team mates create with their gorgeous chippies.

Thank you so much for visiting today and leaving me some feedback on my project.
Hope you enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg