Home for the Holidays

Home for the Holidays is the name of the new challenge at Frilly and Funkie.  The super talented Kathy is our hostess this time and describes it this way:

"Let's get ready to Deck the Halls by creating some home decor for the holiday season.  You can make centerpieces, wreaths, banners, ornaments, wall hangings, or little vignettes  ...basically anything BUT a card for this challenge. If you don't celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, then just make some home decor with a wintry theme."

I decided to make another ornament for my tree and as those who have been following me for a while know it has a red and gold theme with some touches of white so this will fit right in.  The photos have been taken over a few days when the weather outside couldn't make up its mind whether it wanted to be sunny or grey so they are all over the map this time but the photo above is the best of the lot.

I started with a wooden circle that my husband cut for me on the laser machine and gave it a coat of Gesso.  Next I added crumpled tissue for a first layer of texture and then added some texture paste through a Tim Holtz Harlequin stencil.

The next step was to add lots of little bits and pieces, coat it with more Gesso to help unify the colour and then a layer of my favourite gold paint called Champagne Gold from DecoArt.  By the way, Linda has a number of the new Christmas Idea-ology products from Tim Holtz in her shop and I got some to use but they arrived too late for me to use on this ornament.  I encourage you to pop over to The Funkie Junie Boutique and check them out because there are lots of fun things for you to create with.

Next I added some Barn Door and Aged Mahogany Distress Sprays and then dabbed on some FW Crimson Acrylic Ink followed by some Perfect Pearls Heirloom Gold mixed with water.  I made a bead topper for a hanger and thought it was done.  Note:  The pearl headed stick pin shown in the first photo is not part of the ornament - I just used it to hang the ornament so I could take its picture.  I wire all my ornaments to my tree so the little gold loop at the top is where the wire will be attached.

I was sitting looking at the ornament on Su day and decided it needed a touch of white so I blended some Gold Mixative and Snow Cap Mixative Alcohol Ink and dabbed that on.  Now it was done and just in time too because we put the tree up on Monday.

Every year I think I have lots of ornaments but then I finish decorating the tree and there are holes that need filling so I guess next year I will have to come up with some more.  They are fun to do so I won't mind - as long as I have mojo when it comes time to create.

I am going to enter this project in the following challenges:

Crafty Cardmakers - Anything But A Card
We Love 2 Create - Anything Creative/Mixed Media Goes
Allsorts Challenge - Anything Christmas
Open-Minded Crafting - Christmas/Hanukkah

The following products used to create this ornament came from The Funkie Junkie Boutique:

More Inspiration for IndigoBlu

It is my turn to provide some inspiration over on the IndigoBlu blog today and this is a sneak peek of what I have created.  Pop on over there and you will see what I have created and how I did it.

Fireworks

I am sharing an inspiration piece for IndigoBlu today that was way out of my comfort zone.  The members of the International Design Team were asked to create projects inspired by Bonfire Night.

OK, so what is Bonfire Night I asked since it is not something celebrated in Canada.  It turns out it is a celebration recognizing the failure of Guy Fawkes and his cohorts who were plotting to assassinate the King and blow up the British Parliament Buildings on November 5th, 1605.  In modern times it is an occasion for families to get together and have a party with lots of fireworks and special food.  So for my first piece I decided to go with a fireworks theme in a vintage vibe.

I started with some Bazzill card stock for the blank, added a panel of black card stock and then created a background by inking a piece of card stock with Weathered Wood, Stormy Sky and Hickory Smoke Distress Ink.

Then I got my handy husband to create a fireworks stencil for me and cut it on the laser cutter.  I used my wonderful new stencil all over my night sky by pouncing Vodka Martini, Goldfinger and Miss Moneypenny Metallic Paint from IndigoBlu with pieces of makeup sponges going from the centre of each burst to the outside.

I found a vintage image of a young boy coming out of a store with his haul of fireworks online and after I printed the image I coated it with Tim Holtz Clear Rock Candy Distress Crackle.  When it was dry I inked it with some Vintage Photo Distress Ink and mounted it on a scrap of black card stock with dimensional foam.

The sentiment was computer generated and added with some dimensional foam.

I mixed some of the Vodka Martini Metallic paint with some Super Thick Slap it On and added it to a scrap of card stock through the Stars stencil.  Once dry I fussy cut a few stars and added them along with some sequins to my fireworks panel.

Even though this is not a bright piece that one would normally think of for a party, I love my sparkly fireworks in the night sky and hope I have done some justice to the theme.

Bountiful Harvest

The new challenge starts today at Frilly and Funkie and Nancy, our hostess for this one is calling it Bountiful Harvest.  She describes it this way:

"Create any vintage or shabby chic project celebrating the bounty of the season in the rich hues of Autumn."

I began with some Bazzill card stock for the blank and added a full panel of paper from Graphic 45 Voyage Beneath The Sea for the background. Next came a vertical strip of paper from the same pad along with a wider strip of paper from Prima's Vintage Emporium pad. All panels were distressed with my scissors and inked with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

I used the Prima crochet doily die and some scrap master board that I had to cut the doily.  The chevrons are scraps from the Graphic 45 pad.

Next I found a freebie cornucopia online at Education.com and coloured it with my Prismacolors before I inked it all over with Vintage Photo DI and mounted it on a scrap of card stock.

The flower was made from vellum using the Shabby Posies die from Tammy Tutterow and coloured on the back with Candied Apple, Rusty Hinge, Fossilized Amber and Spiced Marmelade Distress Crayons that were blended with a water brush. A carved shell button was added for a centre and some leaves were die cut from the Kraft Core Shattered Collection and his Garden Greens die.

The following products used to create this card came from The Funkie Junkie Boutique:

A Little Giveaway

Tomorrow I am leaving my husband at home and taking off for a week in England.  The purpose of the trip is a get-together of the Design Team at IndigoBlu headquarters, some time with crafty friends and a too short visit with a special personal friend. 

To celebrate my exciting trip and with the blessing of Kay Halliwell-sutton, the owner of IndigoBlu I have a little giveaway for you.

This fine quality red rubber stamp set could be yours as long as you follow the simple rules shown below:

1. Leave a comment on this post telling me what you might make with these stamps
2. Become a follower of the IndigoBlu challenge blog (I will be checking to see if you do)
3. Become a follower of my blog, if you aren't already
4. Post this on your sidebar until the drawing date

The giveaway is open until Saturday, November 26, 2016 at 3:00 pm EST and the winner will be picked by random draw. 

Good Luck! 

Broken Silver and Gold

I decided I wanted to make something just for fun, especially after I saw the fabulous canvas created by my friend Jenny of Pushing the Right Buttons. 

To get a closer look at my canvas click on the photo to bring up a larger view.

My Mother-in-Law passed away earlier this year and when we were cleaning out her room at the nursing home I decided to bring all her costume jewelry home with me just in case I could use it for something.  Well this is the first something and the butterfly brooch was the jumping off point.  The gold on the outside was too bright so I altered it a bit but more about the altering later.

I started with a canvas and coated it with Gesso.  Next I covered it with a coat of acrylic paint called Country Twill, allowed it to dry and added a coat of crackle medium and after that was dry added a coat of Silver Gray acrylic paint.  Then I dry brushed it with Tapioca acrylic paint and Champagne Gold metallic acrylic paint.  Finally I spritzed it with some Tarnished Brass and Brushed Pewter Distress Spray Stain.

I collected a variety of metal pieces, beads, a broken watch face gifted by my neighbour, a wee flower and some buttons and dabbed on some Gold Mixative Alcohol Ink and Silver Mixative Alcohol Ink to alter them and tie the colour together.

I added some silver crochet ribbon and some lace horizontally and then a strip of burlap vertically.  Then I hung a large bead and a key from some crinkly yarn meant to be doll hair, added a couple more pieces and adhered that to the burlap.  Then I added all the bits and pieces with little bunches of large silver and gold seed beads tucked here and there.

I didn't have much time to create so there isn't as much texture as I would have liked to add but I had fun and it was a great break from the design team commitments I am finishing up.

Canvas: Dollarama
Paints: Country Twill Acrylic Paint (Folk Art), Silver Gray Acrylic Paint (Craftsmart), Tapioca Acrylic Paint (Folk Art), Champagne Gold Metallic Acrylic Paint (DecoArt), Crackle Medium (Folk Art)
Inks: Burnished Brass Distress Spray Stain (Tim Holtz, Brushed Pewter Distress Spray Stain (Tim Holtz), Gold Mixative Alcohol Ink (Tim Holtz), Silver Mixative Alcohol Ink (Tim Holtz)
Fibres: Silver Crochet Ribbon (May Arts), White Burlap (The Funkie Junkie Boutique), Lace (Fancy Gap Warehouse), Cream Yarn Doll Hair (Michaels)
Other: Gesso (Liquitex), Super Thick Slap it On Adhesive (IndigoBlu), Metal Charms, Buttons, Filgree Medallion, Beads (My Stash)

I am going to enter this canvas into the following challenges:

Anything But Cute - Rustic Glam

A Vintage Journey - Cracking Up

Creative Artiste  - Anything Mixed Media Goes
Mixed Media World  - Assemblage/Altered Art
Rhedd's Creative Spirit - Altered/Repurposed

Altered Bag

It is time for a new challenge at Stamps and Stencils and I am the hostess this month and am calling it Tags, Bags and Boxes!  Here is what I am looking for this time:

"With Christmas coming up and the gift buying underway, we are going to need something to wrap them in. Let's make some mixed media tags, bags & boxes that will be as treasured by the recipient as the gift itself. Don't forget to include some stamping or stenciling."

I decided to alter a bag when I saw some white paper sacks at Michaels for a pretty decent price on par with the dollar store - rare for Michaels.

I started by painting a section of one side with some Deep Red Acrylic paint from DecoArt.  Next I tried to add some stenciling but since the bag is not flat with the handle inserted, it looked horrible so rather than send it to the garbage I figured out a way to save it.

I tore a piece of card stock the size of the area already painted and painted it.  Then I used a stars stencil from IndigoBlu and their Vodka Martini Metallic paint to make a deep stenciled frame of stars.

Using Jet Black Archival Ink and some elements from a Cloud 9 Design stamp set that I picked up at a yard sale, I stamped randomly around the frame.  The edge of this panel was inked with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  Before I added it to the bag with dimensional foam I used a natural sea sponge to add some extra paint to the bag itself.

Next I printed some Christmas music paper, tore it and inked the edges with Vintage Photo DI before I adhered it to the painted panel with dimensional foam.

The next step was to make the trees.  They were cut on the laser cutter from 100 lb card stock and inked with Evergreen Bough, Peeled Paint and Forest Moss Distress Ink.  I coated them with Wendy Vecchi Crackled Texture Paste.  When they were dry I realized that the cracks might flake off so I coated them with Mod Podge.  After they were dry I re-inked them with all the same colours of Distress Ink and then mounted them on the music paper panel.

This was an easy transformation and the only thing that slowed it down was drying time but definitely made the white bag look much more fun.

I hope you will join us at Stamps and Stencils and show us your creation.  You have until November 30th at 8:00 pm UK time.

Mesh for Christmas

It is time for a new challenge at Frilly and Funkie and this time Pamellia is our hostess bringing us a challenge with a really fun title - What a Mesh!  She describes it this way:

"The challenge this time is to use any type of mesh (crinoline, cheesecloth, tulle, burlap, canvas etc) in your vintage or shabby chic project."

I decided to take this opportunity to create another Christmas card - 4 down, only 40 or so to go.

 I will be back on Saturday over at the Frilly and Funkie challenge blog to present the Step x Step feature and show how I made this card so I hope you will pop over and check it out - just click here.