Tag Friday at A Vintage Journey- December 2017

Hello Everyone and Welcome 

Hope you have all enjoyed the fun and festivities of the Holiday Season and are looking forward to ringing in 2018 in just a few days time! 

Today over at A Vintage Journey we see the year out with our final post for 2017- Tag Friday! I'm sure many of you are already familiar with this tradition but for those of you who aren't, I will explain. When there are 5 Fridays in a month, the 5th Friday sees some of the Creative Guides share a tag they have created in whatever style they wish - no rules, no themes, anything goes! 

So here's the tag I have created. 

The background of the tag is a spare 'tie dye' background I had made for a previous project . It looked something like this but with a few colour differences. You can see how I created it here. 

My original idea was to stencil a focal image onto the tie dyed background using a StencilGirl stencil (Talaya Goddess of Rain) with Black Acrylic paint but I didn't achieve the clarity of image I wanted as some of the black paint bled under the stencil so it was then destined for only one place - the bin! That is until the white acrylic paint and brayer that were sat on my desk caught my eye .......! With nothing to lose I brayered the white acrylic paint over the background. The paint 'picked up' the pattern of the creases I had made when prepping the paper to tie dye, whilst retaining some of the bright colours and bleeding into others thus creating lighter shades of the original brights.

The 'bin worthy' background was transformed and a new design then evolved . 

As I was caught up in the creativity I failed to take any 'step' shots but I have 'close up' shots of the assembled tag that I will narrate . 

I added some stamping both for extra detail and for the words 'star'

and 'light' (Seth Apters Impression Obsession stamps 'Word Chain', Journal Jargon one and two) and of course there had to be some splatters! 

The focal image is one of Seth's fantastic Spellbinder dies - 'Outlaw'. 

With the imminent release of Seth exciting new Baked texture Embossing Powders (details can be found here , here and here) I had embossing on the mind so I triple embossed the die, stamping into it with a word block stamp. I then rubbed silver gilding wax over the words to highlight. You can pick out 'Relax', Inspire, 'Art', 'Imagine' in the photo below.

The stacked die cut is topped with one of Seth's 'Woodchips'- the Star which I crackled with Deco Art texture paste.

and embellished with a metal 'washer'

and the brass stud I'd saved from my jeans that I recycled earlier this year to make a journal (you can see that project here) 

To finish off, the tag hole was covered with a silver eyelet, a piece of ribbed jute threaded through and brought together at the top of the tag with a couple of Tim Holtz ideology 'clip bails'. 

Now for a few arty( coughs) shots 

 

that give you an idea of the dimension of the focal image from the sides 

and from the bottom to the top . 

Hard to believe that 'Talaya the Goddess of Rain' lies beneath!

I guess its worth 'messing up' sometimes ! 

If you haven't already be sure to stop by A Vintage Journey to see the fabulous gallery of tags created by some of my fellow teamies.

I would like to enter this tag into the following challenge
That's Crafty -'Anything Goes' Challenge

Creative Artiste Challenge #33 - Anything Mixed Media Goes! 

Thanks for stopping by today. I always appreciate you taking the time to visit, follow and comment . 

Thank you too for all your support throughout this year. It really means alot that you have stayed with me throughout the last '365' sharing in my creative journey. 

I am hoping 2018 will see me here more frequently and I hope you will be able to join me . 

Wishing each and everyone of you a very happy, healthy and peaceful New Year.

See you in 2018! 

Take Care

Amanda
x

Winter Wonderland- A Vintage Journey December 2017

Hi Everyone and Welcome

Happy December to you all! According to the calendar The Christmas countdown and Winter season both start today and so does our new Challenge over at A Vintage Journey. Lovely Sandy will be your host this time with the challenge "Winter Wonderland'. 

Here's what Sandy says :

'For the month of December let's think of the season as well as the holiday with Winter Wonderland. As the song goes, sleigh bells ring, snow is glistening! Let's see some snow, snowmen, bare trees would be nice or some snow covered pines in the meadow. Whatever Winter Wonderland means to you in your vintage, shabby, mixed media; art journalling; industrial or steampunk style'.

I bought a Kaisercraft advent calender a fair few years ago now and had all good intentions to make it ready for the following Christmas but yes, you guessed it - that never happpened! So I saw Sandy's challenge as an ideal opportunity to finally unearth it from the undergrowth (my stash) and rectify my unfinished business of yesteryear. I constructed and altered the calender with paints, mediums and papers and created a Snowy Winter wonderland scene in the central window box . 

I got so caught up in the creative process that I didn't get any process shots but hopefully the photos I do have, will, with a little narration speak for themselves .

Kaisercraft make a few different styles of this sort of advent calender. I had trouble sourcing any on their website but I did find this link that shows you a few of the different styles available on the market. They all come flat packed so you have to 'self construct'- that is assemble the calender structure itself and each one of the 24 boxes. Believe me there were times when I thought I was going to 'self destruct' during this process when things weren't going as smoothly as I planned and I knew I had a deadline to meet but I carried on regardless in the hope that it would come together in the end - I think it did! 

The main Calender structure 

This was primed with gesso and painted on all sides (inside and out) with white acrylic paint. The outside walls of the structure were then painted with silver acrylic paint 

and crackled with White Deco Art crackle paint . Once the cracks start to form they reveal the colour of the paint beneath - in this case silver. 

The boxes

These were each adhered together before being primed and painted with white acrylic paint. I then selected 3 different papers that I thought would compliment the colours and tones in the focal paper - the 'winter forest 'that would set the scene for my Winter Wonderland. Only one of the papers is from a Christmas collection pad- the type print from Tim Holtz Christmas paper pad ,2017 release , the other two are from 'Engraver' paper pad by Prima Marketing. 

I cut them to size (8 of each paper) and adhered them to the front of each box, trimming around each of the box front indents by hand.

The Winter Wonderland 

I came across this fabulous 12x12 scrapbook paper of a wintry forest by Kaisercraft and knew it would be be perfect for my project.

I measured, cut and adhered the main panel in place and then because I'd cut from the middle of the 12x12 I was able to use the remaining edges of the paper for the sides and top of the window box ensuring I lined them up well to achieve a continual flow of the forest.

The base of the window box is covered with Tim Holtz Grit Paste and DecoArt Snowtex, sprinkled while wet with a little Distress Stickles glitter- just to achieve the odd twinkle and glisten here and there. 

The 2 gates are mdf, primed with gesso, painted with Tim Holtz Ground Espresso distress paint, DecoArt Paynes grey media fluid paint

and finished off with a touch of snow!L

Looks like someone's managed to snag a selfie ...

Meet Buster and his best pal Jake who have enjoyed a fun filled day cross-country skiing in the Winter Wonderland - ok Jake skied, Buster ran! 

Either way it was one of those 'Remember the Now' kinda days

Snow buddies forever!

My 'Winter Wonderland' project!

I'm not sure at present whether I will use this as an Advent Calender or as a storage unit, so have held back on adding numbers to the drawers until I have decided?? I'll keep you posted :) .

I hope I have offered some creative inspiration and that you will look to joining in Sandy's challenge. Be sure to stop by A Vintage Journey to see the gallery of wonderfully inspiring 'Winter Wonderland' projects created by some of our very talented Creative Guides.

As always at the end of the challenge there will be one lucky winner chosen by Random. Org who will receive our Sponsors Prize who this time is 

Andy Skinner

The Creative Guides will also choose 3 Pinworthy Winners who will not only win a Pinworthy badge to display on their blog but will also be invited to join us as a Guest Designer for a future challenge.

I would like to enter this project into the following Challenges:

CountryView Challenges: December 2017 Christmas

Creative Artiste Challenge #33 Mixed media 'Anything Goes'

Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #43 'Believe' 

(Create a Mixed Media holiday project with your interpretation of our inspirational photo) 

The 'colour tones' and the 'glisten' in the photo were my inspiration

Emerald Creek Dares - Happy Holidays, Anything Goes 

Thank you so much for stopping by today, for your follows and for always being so kind and generous with your comments. It always makes my heart happy to know my creativity is appreciated. 

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend

Take care

and 

keep on the happy side

Amanda

xxx

Mini Marvels- A Vintage Journey November 2017 Challenge

Hello Everyone and Welcome

Its good to be here again all ready to introduce our new challenge that starts today over at  A Vintage Journey.  Its lovely Anne who is hosting this month with the Challenge theme
'Mini Marvels'
This month's challenge is to create something in miniature - it could be a little book, a tiny scene, a small canvas, a wall hanging or even a box. It MUST be 4" or less in size and be created in your vintage; shabby; mixed media; art journaling; industrial, timeworn or steampunk style.

 I don't often create on a really small scale so initially this theme  seemed like a bit of a challenge for me but after a few false starts and the clock ticking I decided to just go with the flow and follow wherever my creativity would take me .... and in doing so I had a great time using paints, texture, stamps and stencils to create 2 pieces of 'Mini Art' with a bit of grungy feel.

Both pieces are 4 x4 inch square and what I did to one I did to the other, working on them both simultaneously:
The squares were primed with gesso, torn tissue tape was adhered and texture paste was applied through stencils - I used Seth Apters 'Discovery' and 'Explore' stencils

Then acrylic paint in various tones of blue was applied with brayer and fingers adding in black and white acrylic paint, when I felt it needed it, either to knock back any over zealous application or to add a touch of drama.- no rules just building up those layers detail and texture.

At this point I seemed to have neglected to take any more 'step' shots- guess I was enjoying the creativity too much so the rest of the photos are close ups of the 2 finished pieces.

More detail came in the way of stamps - one of Seth Apters Border line stamps (the X's) and one from his faded fragments stamp set (not very noticeable as it was stamped in a pale blue ink). I think a speckle stamp made its way in there too and a couple of others

There's also some scribble pen marks and sketchy paint lines,

some drop shadows and highlights around the letters,

the numbers,

and the dots.

There were a few paint splatters too- I'm sure you spotted them as those of you who know me will know I love the splatters!
The finished panels were mounted onto white and then black card stock and one was embellished with a wire bound crackled mdf heart I had made at some point previously

the other with a crackled butterfly- one of the butterflies from Tim Holz 'Flutter' stamp set stamped onto heavy card stock, fussy cut and altered with crackle paste - just love how grungy it looks!

A Tim Holtz small easel was die cut and adhered to the back of both the pieces

to enable them to stand either alone

as individual pieces

or together as a set.

I hope I have offered some inspiration with my 'Mini Art' project . If you haven't already be sure to pop by A Vintage Journey to view my fellow Creative guides fabulous inspiring 'mini' projects.
We hope you will be able to join in with the challenge but remember 'Miniature' is key! 

At the end of the challenge there will be one lucky winner chosen by Random.Org will will receive our Sponsors prize which this month is a $50 varied selection of chipboard and wood veneer laser cut embellishments generously donated by Southern Ridge Trading

The Creative Guides will also choose 3 Pinworthy Winners who will not only win a Pinworthy badge to display on their blog but will also be invited to join us as a Guest Designer for a future challenge.

I would like to enter these into the following Challenges:
Country View Crafts November Challenge: Stencils.
I would like to enter the heart embellished piece into the following Challenge
The Craft Stamper TIMI Challenge: November- 'Anything Goes' Stamping Challenge'
Creative Artiste Mixed Media Challenge #32- 'Anything Mixed Media Goes'

I hope you have enjoyed your time here today - thank you so much for stopping by.
I really do appreciate every single one of your visits, comments and follows.
Wishing you all a lovely weekend
Take care
and
keep on the happy side
Amanda
xxx

Destination Inspiration terminal #5- A Vintage Journey

Hi Everyone and Welcome

Hope you are all doing good and the Autumnal season is treating you kindly so far. Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I'm hoping its only a short visit and you will hop on over to A Vintage Journey where I am all ready to greet you at Terminal #5, the final stop of our September Destination Inspiration. 

I have been busy creating with the contents of our travel bag 

and would love for you to join me there to see all the details. 

Hope to see you soon ...... 

Amanda 

xxx

I would like to enter this into the following challenge:
Country View Crafts Challenges, Oct 2017- Mixed Media with Autumnal Hues .
Stamping Sensations - October 2017 : Autumn Glory 
(The focal wood chip is stamped with Gesso  and the long focal panel is a stamped gesso resist) 

 

Altered Art- A Vintage Journey, September 2017 Challenge

Hello Everyone and Welcome

Hope you are all doing good and have enjoyed a really great summer. Where did it go , I find myself asking? It seems like it came and went all too soon. So as we kick start September we have a new challenge over at A Vintage Journey . Its our lovely Alison hosting this month and her chosen challenge is 'Altered Art.' Here's what Alison has to say:

'We'd like you to get creative with recycled objects in a vintage; shabby, mixed media; art journalling; industrial, timeworn or steampunk style, . Turn something unloved and unwanted into a work of art. Try some repurposing - make something new out of something old, or incorporate an unwanted object into your artwork. Think tin cans and jars, old bottles, toothbrushes - the more inventive the better.'

For this challenge I've made a journal by recycling some strong packaging and an old pair of jeans that were well passed their 'wear by date'. Yes, I had well n truly worn these jeans out and after numerous patchings to try and prolong their wearable life the day finally came when I had to give them up for a new pair. I kept what was left of them thinking I could use them for future patchings but Alison's challenge came along and I thought my much loved jeans deserved to be more than just a patch. I would salvage what was left of them and make myself a journal .

I die cut the journal covers from some strong packaging using Eileen Hulls much sought after Journal die.

I then cut 2 pieces of denim from one of the legs of my old jeans and two of the pockets.. Taking one of the pieces of denim (the front cover) I positioned the pockets and hand sewed them in place.

I then adhered the 2 denim pieces to the journal die cuts (the front and back covers) and lined the inside of the journal covers with Graphic 45 Core'dinations colourcore cardstock trimmed around the edges, sides and spine with Tim Holtz Ideology 'Correspondence' Design Tape.

I then adhered the two covers together and threaded some elastic up and down the spine to hold the signatures .

At this point my signatures are shop bought, one lined , one graph paper ,as I was running short of time but I am hoping to create some of my own soon to either compliment or replace these. Maybe use some recycled papers in keeping with the challenge theme.

The top and bottom strips that cover the spine holes are 2 lengths cut from the jeans inner leg seam adhered in place and finished off with a metal button both back and front .

I also adhered the jeans label/ tag to the back cover .

I made a belt from what was left of the jeans inner leg seam attaching a buckle at one end and  punching out buckle holes along the other end . Fastened around the journal this belt keeps the journal closed and having a number of buckle holes it will accommodate any change in thickness. It could be adhered at the spine but I chose to leave mine loose .

I always love how my lovely teamie Anne adds a charm to her journals so I followed her lead (hope you don't mind Anne) and made a charm using an Ideology philosophy tag and an old phone charm that I was gifted some years ago now. Look whose name it spells 😊

I also adhered a quote chip 'Salvaged' ,distressed around the edges with distress ink -well after all that is what I have done with my jeans to make the journal

and popped an Ideology wooden ruler and a recycled pencil into the pocket...

....a perfect fit!

Yesterdays jeans makes Todays Journal!

I really enjoyed recycling my much loved old jeans, giving them a chance to live on and I hope I have offered some creative inspiration and that you will join in Alison's challenge. Be sure to stop by A Vintage Journey to see the gallery of fabulous inspiring Altered Art projects created by some of our very talented Creative Guides.

As always at the end of the challenge there will be one lucky winner chosen by Random. Org who will receive our Sponsors Prize which this month is a $25 gift card for 

Simon says Stamp Store

The Creative Guides will also choose 3 Pinworthy winners who will not only win a Pinworthy badge to display on their blog but will also be invited to join us as a Guest Designer for a future challenge.

I would like to enter my journal into the following challenge: 
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: School or Study related. 
( My journal would be ideal to use for School, College or  University! I remember when I was studying I always had to have a new journal at the start of each new academic year.)  

Thank you so much for stopping by today and big thanks too for always leaving me such lovely comments. Both are so very much appreciated.

Have a lovely weekend Everyone

Take care 

and

 keep on the happy side

Amanda

xxx