For the love of layers ...

Hi Everyone and Welcome 

Yet another week passes way too quickly for my liking so that's means today I'm over at That's Crafty  sharing my Thursday weekly creativity. 

Given that this weeks post is my last one before the DT's at That's Crafty take a short break for Christmas I was all set to share a final dose of Christmas creativity for 2018 that is until a flurry of last minute Christmas shopping, wrapping and card writing this week left me all 'Christmas'ed out '! 

I felt I needed a break away from anything 'festive' so instead decided to create a multi -layered mixed media tag that emits a 'hit' of rich colour with accents of black - well, it has been awhile since I 'bigged up the black'! 

Here's a peak of the finished tag

I hope it will tempt you to join me over at That's Crafty where I am sharing more details and pics of the creative process. 

 For the quickest and most direct route there just click here. 

Hope to see you soon 

Amanda 

x

Winter Snowflake....

Hi Everyone

Thanks for checking in today especially as no doubt your time will be short at this busy time of year. It's Thursday so my day to share my latest creativity over at That's Crafty. 

This week I am back getting 'messy' with paints, crackle and texture to create a piece of art with a wintry feel . 

Here's a quick glance of my 'Winter Snowflake' art panel 

If you would like to see and read more you are very welcome to join me over at That's Crafty. 

All you have to do is click here to be redirected over to the blog where I will be waiting to greet you .

Hope to see you soon 

Amanda 

x

I would like to enter this into the following challenges : 
Country View Crafts: December Challenge: 'Tis the Season' 
Stamps and Stencils : It's Got to be Christmas

Star Light , Star Bright.... A Vintage Journey December 2018 Challenge

Hi Everyone and Welcome

Back again today but this time with my latest creativity for A Vintage Journey. We begin our new challenge today and our lovely Julia is our host this time with the challenge theme

Star light, Star Bright .

'This month we are asking you to create with Stars. Fill up the winter sky with them or use one really big one as your central focus. Stencil them, stamp them, emboss them or die cut them . Make a box- maybe a star box, make a canvas, create a journal page- remembering of course to create in our preferred vintage, shabby,mixed media, art journalling, industrial or steam punk styles.'

For the last couple of years, around this time I have enjoyed creating a project/ piece of art that has a wintery, snowy feel. There was my mixed media canvas I created in 2016 (it would have been ideal for this challenge theme given it has a star as the central focus) and then last year there was my altered advent calender ((its on display again this year) so I saw Julia's challenge as an opportunity to continue my trend by creating a snowy scene with a winter blue sky full of falling snowy stars.

The scene itself is created on a panel which I then adhered to an altered upright. The background of the panel is cut from an A4 gelli print.

I added some stencilling, stamping and a little bit of doodling - all of which add extra detail

and of course there's lots of 'added 'snow' around the panel as well as falling snowy stars in their plenty.
 'Let it Snow' sits on a snowy ledge created from a shortened birdhouse post.

The bird houses are designed by Kate Crane, one of her lovely new Carabelle Studio stamp sets and again they are stamped onto a gelli print and fuzzy cut. I altered the numbers to 25 for that subtle nod to Christmas day. To give them rigidity they are multi-layered. I also resized a couple of the bird houses (for design purposes) simply by trimming down their posts. They are adhered to the panel to create a sense of depth and distance. Some light shadowing helps with this too .

The upright is painted and weathered

and the sides are crackled in white

There's a blanket of snow covering the ground and it looks like those falling stars have turned into tiny sparkly snowballs

adding a glimmering touch of iridescence! 

I hope you have enjoyed your time here today and that maybe I have offered some creative inspiration for our challenge . 

If you haven't already be sure to stop by A Vintage Journey to see all the fabulous projects created by our Creative Guides. 

We hope you will be able to join us in this challenge as we always look forward to seeing your creativity. As always there will be 3 Pinworthy winners chosen at the end of the challenge with each winner being awarded a Pinworthy badge for their blog and  their work will be pinned to our Pinterest board .

I would like to enter this into the following challenge:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge : B is For?
( B s for Birdhouses, B is for Blue) 

Stamps and Stencils: It's Got to be Christmas 
Country View Crafts Challenge December 2018: Christmas

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by today. I really do appreciate your visits, follows, subscriptions and comments. 

Wishing you all a wonderful time leading up to Christmas . 

Take care 

and 

keep on the 'happy side' 

Amanda 

x

7 of Hearts - Remastered ...

Hi Everyone 

Its my day of the week (Thursday) to be sharing some weekly creativity over at That's Crafty. 

This time I have been taking a break from the paints and inks, dabbling instead in a spot of paper crafting - something I don't often do and I have to say I have enjoyed changing things up a bit. 

I have created a piece of 'Postcard Art' using papers by 13Arts, surfaces by That's Crafty and adding some of my own individual embellishing touches. 

Here's a quick glance of the finished Postcard

If you like what you see and would like to find out more you are welcome to join me over at That's Crafty.
 Just click here for the quickest route there 

Hope to see you soon

Amanda

x 

Tag Friday At A Vintage Journey- November 2018

Hi Everyone and Welcome

Today over at A Vintage Journey its Tag Friday! I'm sure many of you are familiar with our Tag Friday tradition but for those of you who aren't let me explain. When there are 5 Fridays in the month, the 5th Friday sees some of the Creative Guides create and share a tag. There are no rules or themes just a chance for us to follow our creative muse, go with the flow and create a tag however which way we choose.

This year we decided to invite you to join in with our Tag Friday tradition and hope you will share with us your tag creativity. To enter all you need to do is link one or as many tags that you have created this month (1st - 30th Nov). Entries must be submitted by midnight on the day the new challenge starts for the following month (7th Dec). 

Sandy, our challenge host this month will chose one tag as our Pinworthy tag and it will be pinned to our pinterest board and showcased in the following months Winners post.

We hope you will join in the Tag Friday fun! 

For one reason or another I haven't been able to contribute to our last couple of Tag Fridays so I have to say its good to be back this time.

Its been a busy creative time for me of late and my work desk seems to have gotten cluttered and some what messy with 'leftover bits and pieces' from projects I have been making during this time. Its not my usual mode of practise as my theory is cluttered space = cluttered mind= inhibited creativity! So in a bid to 'kill 2 birds with one stone' so to speak (rest assured I haven't been harming any of our feathers friends 😉) I decided to challenge myself to clean up the 'clutter' and use only 'that' to create my tag. 

Here's the resulting tag 

Fortunately alot of the leftover bits and pieces were from a recent project which you can see here and here so it did made the creativity a whole lot easier. The tag (one of many laying around my desk as I'm always 'gonna make a tag' and more often that not get side tracked) is covered with what was left of a A4 gelli print.  This was one of the success stories of that particular gelli print session and I have to say I love it and you don't often hear me say that about my work! 

Here it is undorned

I added some stenciling using acylic paint with a couple of stencils that needed to be tidied away 

and some stamping with a Seth Apter stamp- a real favourite of mine .

Both of which added extra layers of detail to the already multi layered and detailed gelli print.

The focal feature is the sum of a few parts (as is often the case with me) all of which were laying around my work desk. White Card, white mountboard, gelli print scraps, a lightly crackled heart, an 'X' die cut and hex nuts

I couldn't believe my luck when I uncovered a few Quote Chips buried beneath a pile of offcut card and paper bits one of which was ideal for my tag! 

The tag not only has layers and depth of colour and detail but great dimension too

Did I rise to the challenge I set myself ? Ya know I think I did! 

If you haven't already be sure to stop by A Vintage Journey to see a fabulous gallery of tags created by very talented teamies. Don't forget you can join in with us too. So get linking your tags up as we are really looking forward to seeing all your tag creativity.

Thank you so much for stopping by today and for all the lovely kind words you always leave for my art. 

They are greatly appreciated as are all your visits and follows. 

Hope you all have a lovely weekend

Take Care 

and

keep on the 'happy side!'

Amanda
x

Christmas is coming ......

Hi Everyone

Another week passes and Thursday's here again so as usual I am over at That's Crafty today sharing my latest creativity. This week as time's been short and I'm growing ever more conscious that the countdown to Christmas is almost upon us I decided I best make a start on creating a few Christmas cards. I have a fair few to make so have kept the 2 designs clean and simple working with stencils, inks and colours we don't ordinarily associate with the Christmas Season- Black, Red and White! 

Here's a sneaky peak of one of the designs  

If you like what you see and fancy seeing more then be sure to join me over at That's Crafty. For the quickest route there just click here

Hope to see you soon 

Amanda 

x

Be True....

Hi Everyone and Welcome 

Thanks for checking in today.😊. It's my day of the week to share my latest creativity over at That's Crafty so I am hoping I can tempt you to join me over there with a quick glance at the project I have created using a Gelli plate print, along with some That's Crafty Surfaces, Carabelle Studio stamps, Dina Wakley Acrylic paints and some of my favourite dies and stamps by Seth Apter.

  

I'm pretty new to the Gelli plate so am still very much a novice with lots to learn but I'm enjoying practising and discovering a whole new way to create some great prints to use in my art aswell as plenty of not so great prints to discard to 'the bin'! 

From my latest Gelli print session I did get a few successful 'pulls' that I can see have potential, one of which I have used to create today's piece of 'Mixed Media Postcard Art.'

 If I have  managed to tempt you to join me over at That's Crafty all you have to do is click here to be whisked right on over there where I will be waiting to greet you 

Hope to see you soon 

Amanda 

x

' Con Art'..

Hi Everyone

I have just a short post here today inviting you to join me over at That's Crafty where I am sharing my Thursday weekly creativity.

After trialing 13Arts Magic powder for the first time last week on my 'Heat and Soul' tag I wanted to experiment with the product a little more so this week I have created a textural piece of 'Art on the Round' using 'Magic Mixes' that has a kinda grungy feel and holds at its centre a salvaged badge from a well worn and much loved pair of my old Converse sneakers!

For full details of how I created this be sure to join me over at That's Crafty. For the quickest route just click here and you will be transported over.... 

Hope to see you soon

Amanda 

x

Heart and Soul .....

Hi Everyone

It's that day of the week again for me to be sharing my creativity over at That's Crafty.

This week I've created a 'Grungy Mixed Media tag using Paper Artsy Fresco Finish Paints, That's Crafty Texture Paste, Seth Apter's Baked Texture's and 13Arts 'Magic Powder'!! 

If you would like to see and read more then just click here to be transported over to That's Crafty where I will be waiting to greet you... 

Hope to see you soon 

Amanda

x

Sweet Eyes....

Hi Everyone 

Hope you are all doing good and that this week is being kind to you all?
I have some good news to share today as well as a little creativity.  I am really happy to be joining That's Crafty as a permanent member of their Design Team 😊
Thank you so very much Laura and Graham 😘

So for my debut DT post I have created a couple of mini art panels using a fabulous Carabelle studio stamp set designed by Alexi . It's called 'Sweet Eyes' -hence the title of the post! For those of you who know me you'll know I love 'eyes' so you will understand why this stamp set was a 'must have' for me. As there are 2 mini art panels it seems only fair to share 2 sneak peaks ....

I hope they will tempt you to join me over at That's Crafty where you will be able to read and see more....

Here's the link to the quickest route there . 

Hope to see you soon 

Amanda 

x

Own Your Story....

Hi Everyone and Welcome 

As Today is Thursday I'm over at That's Crafty sharing my latest weekly project as a Guest Designer. 

This week I have created an 'art card' that features a couple of resist techniques and a few of my favourite stencils from StencilGirl® products.

If you would like to find out more details about my 'Own Your Story' art card then just click 

here for the quickest route there 

Hope to see you soon .....

Amanda 

x

Butterfly Bubbles ....

Hi Everyone

Just a short post today inviting you to join me over at That's Crafty where I am sharing my weekly creativity as a Guest Designer. 

This week I have created an art panel that began its life as a 'mop up' of surplus paint and a desire to try out a new AALL and Create stencil designed by Autour de Mwa- Digital Bubbles! 

If you fancy joining me over at That's Crafty to read the details and see more pics of my 'Buttterfly Bubbles' Art panel just click here and you will be transported over. 

Hope to see you see you soon
Amanda 

x

I would like to enter this into the following challenges:
Stamplorations October Mixed Media Challenge 

Beware! Mid month inspiration for That's Crafty 'Spookilicious challenge.

Hi Everyone and Welcome 

Hope you are all doing good and are having a great week so far.

I've been busy creating my latest projects for That's Crafty- one I am sharing here today, the other will be over on That's Crafty blog tomorrow.

The current challenge theme at That's Crafty is 'Spookilicious' and as we are half way through the month the Design Team and Guest Designers are today sharing another piece of creativity inspired by the theme. 

Here's my Spookilicious Art panel featuring That's Crafty 'Drippy Skull' stencil 

This began life as a 'test run' trying out the stencil with texture paste, working on a blank sheet of mixed media paper taken straight from the pad. I wasn't sure where I was going with it or indeed if  I was going to use it so I it sat waiting in my W.I.P pile while I wondered........

It was while I was working with alcohol inks that it caught my eye again and so taking the stenciled piece I 'mopped' up the alcohol inks I had on my mat at the time. As I'd used mixed media paper and not yupo the paper absorbed the ink so the colours weren't as intense but they added some necessary colour to get the creativity flowing.
Its a shame I failed to take a photo at this stage as you would be able to see what I mean so much better with a visual.
Using some of the 'mopped up' alcohol ink colour tones as a guide I stengthen their intensity with distress inks applied with a blending tool so the panel had full colour coverage.

I felt the texture paste skull needed to be darker so I repositioned the stencil and heat embossed it with black embossing powder- much better! 

 I added background detail using stamps with Archival ink both around the edges of the panel 

(the branch - Tim Holtz Mr Bones stampset) 

and in and around the skull (text stamp from Tim Holtz Undertaker stampset).
I also added some background stenciling ( Tim Holtz Dot Fade leyering stencil)

some white highlights in the relevant places and of course some painty splatters!

 I'm not a  big fan of high gloss but I do think the skull is rocking the look!

 The four sides and corners of the panel were also heat embossed with black EP and the panel was spritz with Cosmic shimmer spray - the lens hasn't picked up the 'glisten' too well but you can see a few golden speckles if you look ever so closely.

Finally came the words: 'Beware!' (Tim Holtz Mr Bones Stampset) and 'creepy, kooky freaky spooky'

'chills and thrills' (Tim's small talk stickers). Thought they kinda suited!

The panel is mounted on white cardstock, kraftcore shattered collection and finally black mountboard to give it rigidity to display.

I hope I have offered some mid month inspiration with my Spookilicious 'Beware!' Art panel. 

Full challenge details can be found over at That's Crafty along with a gallery of Spooky projects created by the Design Team 

I will be back tomorrow with a sneak peak of the weekly project I mention at the start of this post so hopefully I will see you then and be able to tempt you over to That's Crafty's weekly blog to see the project in full. 

I'd like to enter this into the following challenge:
Frilly and Funkie- Haunted Halloween Challenge
Stamplorations October MIxed Media Challenge

Thank you so much for stopping by today, for your follows and for your kind comments. 

All are very much appreciated. 

Wishing you all a wonderful day 

Take care 

Amanda 

x

Be True to yourself .... TIMI Winners Guest Design Spot At The Craft Stamper

Hi Everyone and Welcome 

Today I would like to share with you an art panel I have created for my 'TIMI Winners Guest Design spot' on Craft Stampers Challenge blog. My art features alongside Craft Stampers Design teams as inspiration for this months TIMI challenge and can be seen here

 Big thanks to Trish and the Craft Stamper Design Team. It means alot that you deemed my 'Shades of Blue Canvas ' Winner Worthy and I am so happy and very grateful to be given this opportunity to be your guest designer today.

My featured art panel  

This art panel was created as one of two, the other, 'Break the Rules' can be seen here or here. Both were made in the same way. 

The background is Dina Wakley collage paper adhered to mixed media paper, sealed with matte medium and painted with Dina Wakley Acrylic paints. 

There's some white pen highlights and scribbly marks added which really bring the painted design to life. There's also some thin strips of 'offcuts' added at various points around the background.

Dina's silhouette is stamped on speciality stamping paper using Archival ink,

As are the words 'Be True to Yourself'! 

The panel is mounted onto white and black cardstock before finally being adhered to mountboard cut to size.

There's still plenty of time to join in this months Craft Stamper TIMI challenge. All the details you need can be found here. Who know's, you too could be chosen as this months Winner! 

Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to stop by. 

Your visits along with your kind comments, follows and support are sincerely appreciated.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend 

Enjoy 

and keep on the happy side 

Take care 

Amanda 

x

A Mini Journal -

Hi Everyone 

As its Thursday, it's my day over at That's Crafty where I am sharing my latest weekly project as a Guest Designer. 

I don't often create projects using papers from paper pads, even though I have quite a collection so this week I have created a mini journal using some fabulous 13Arts papers designed by Olga Heldwein. 

The paper collection I've worked with is called 'Mr and Mrs Remastered' and with my love of the darker tones it had my name written all over it! 

If you fancy joining me over at That's Crafty to see my mini journal in full and read all about how I created it then just click here and you'll be transported over.

Hope to see soon 

Amanda

x
 I would like to enter my mini journal into the following challenge:
Mini Album Makers: October Challenge 

Star Bright...

Hi Everyone and Happy October!

Just a short post today inviting you to join me over at That's Crafty where I'm sharing my weekly creativity as a Guest Designer.

I've had fun with colour again this week creating a piece of art/ journo page . I've 'bigged' up the 'brights' but of course I found room for some black and white 😄 . As with my That's Crafty monthly challenge project that I posted yesterday (to see click here) I have scaled up my usual working size to A4!!! I am hoping to eventually be able to create an A4 folio/ journal to house some of my larger pieces of mixed media art - well that's the plan anyway ....

Here's a sneaky peak of todays piece of Art

If you fancy joining me over at That's Crafty to see my creativity in full and read all about it just click here and you'll be transported over .
I'll be there waiting to greet you . 

Hope to see soon 

Amanda 

x

Spookilicious- That's Crafty October 2018 Challenge : Guest Designer

Hi Everyone and Welcome 

Today sees the start of a new challenge over at That's Crafty and as I am currently one of their Guest Designers I have some creativity to share with you. The challenge this month is 'Spookilicious'. With Halloween approaching we would like you to share with us all your super spooky creativity . Dance with the devil, funk up your freak and have fun trick and treating us with your take on all things spookilicious. 

I am currently enjoying creating art panels/journal pages so that's what I've created scaling up my usual working size this time to A4!!! 

Let me introduce you to Mr Trick and Mr Treat ...

Here's the background story ....

It began with a piece of A4 mixed media paper. Colour was applied with fingers using Tim Holtz Distress Paints (Twisted Citron, Carved Pumpkin, Wilted Violet). I love painting this way - I find its helping me abandon my 'perfectionist' traits (to some degree) as well as being a fun way to create a really loose spread of colour super quick .

Sorry painty fingers = no photo at the 'colour only' stage but here's how it looked after stamping and stenciling.

The stenciling was outlined and highlighted with a white pen and there's some mark making n scribbly doodling too .

Here's some close ups of the stamping and stencilling - I used a couple of Tim Holtz Layering stencils (Twisted and Crossed)

aswell as a couple of Seth Apters (Discovery and Transform) Stencils by StencilGirl®Products

There's also some crackle stamping and 'For the eye' stamping (Tim Holtz Mr Bones stamp set).

So thats the background story...

...Now for the stars of the show themselves 'Mr Trick and Mr Treat (Tim Holtz / Stampers Anonymous  stamp set- Mr Bones). They take their place amongst the tangled twigs (Tim Holtz/ Sissix Tangled twigs thinlits die) and painty splatters

Mr Trick is stamped with Archival ink

and Mr Treat is created in just the same way,  only as he's the one with the 'Treats' he's been treated too (seemed only fair) with some heat embossing.

They both have a goggly eye -they are twins after all

and of course they both want to wish you a 'Happy Halloween!' 💀💀Mwahhhh

Mr Trick, Mr Treat and I hope you have enjoyed your time here today and that we have offered you some 'Spookilicious' inspiration .

Full details of the challenge can be found over at That's Crafty challenge blog along with a gallery of inspirational projects made by the talented ladies on their design team.

I would like to enter this into the following challenge
Craft Stamper TIMI Challenge- October

I'll be back tomorrow with a sneak peak of my weekly GD project so hopefully I will see you then and be able to tempt you over to That's Crafty's blog to see my project in full. 

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

Hope you all have a lovely day 

Take care and keep on the happy side 

Amanda

x