Crow's Woes - A Story of A Halloween Raven

Re-edited: Yeeppie!!! I am a Designer Spotlight with this project over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge! Yaaay!!!

Happy Halloween to all!

I haven't blogged for a long while but I've finally been able to find some crafty time and the inspiration came for this Halloween themed project! Just in time to join in the finale of 31 Days of Halloween!

I've decided to alter an old photo frame for this handsome fella. The stamp I used is the Raven Background from Stampendous. I took the inspiration from the JUGS #417 Challenge Photo:

The autumnal colour splatters, the bird theme, feathers...

The frame was first painted with DecoArt's black gesso and then treated with random dollops of alcohol inks in a range of colours.  When the inks dried I applied some Dazzling Mettallics wax in Iced Esspresso to highlight the raised areas, along with a touch of Cherry Red acrylic paint.

I also framed the image further with Black Glass Glitter from Stampendous.

At the top I added an ornament cluster with hidden bat wings, mystic medallion and raven's feathers, complemented by a smaller ornament at the bottom with a scull and crossbones. All straight from the pantry essentials for witch's brews and potions... :).

If you'd like to indulge in more Halloween inspiration, do also have a peek at my Halloween lantern and Halloween Witchcraft tag projects. And make sure to check out of the spookylicious projects over at the Stampendous blog with the links to the whole month's worth of Halloween inspiration!

Thank you so much for stopping by and for all your lovely (or terrrrrifying!) comments! Happy Halloween!

Big crafty hugs!




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I would also like to enter the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - All Creatures Great and Small
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes
Frilly and Funkie - Trick or Treat (bat wings - treat for a witch)
A Vintage Journey - Crazy for Autumn Colour
Country View Challenges October - Mixed Media With Autumnal Hues 

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Stampendous and DecoArt - Medialicious Blog Hop Finale!

Hello! And welcome to our Stampendous and DecoArt blog hop finale! We have been hopping (and hoping!) all week to bring you the latest, most awesome products, techniques and inspiration projects! I hope we didn't disappoint and oh boy, I have been drooling over the projects shared by both DTs! If you've missed my Steampunk heart card, that I shared on Monday, you can check it out here. Be sure to check out other projects shared this week as you don't want to miss out on this treat and on the fabulous prizes!

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Here's what you need to do to enter into a draw for the Mega Prizes!!!!! Comment to win one of three HUGE prize packages that includes Andy Skinner stamps and DecoArt Media™ Paint plus more! US winners only, please see Stampendous Official Contest Rules here for more details. Want to see all that’s in each prize package? Take a look below:

Stampendous:

ASCRS07 Cling Handle with Care

ASCRS08 Cling Skuldoggery

ASCRS09 Cling Unexplained

DecoArt:

Quinacridone Magenta

Cobalt Turquoise Hue

Cobalt Teal Hue

Primary Magenta

Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide

Paynes Gray

Carbon Black

Titanium White

Prussian Blue Hue

Phthalo Blue

Quinacridone Gold

Diarylide Yellow

Pyrrole Red

Green Gold

Primary Yellow Media Mister

Titanium White Antiquing Cream

Patina Antiquing Cream

8oz Bottle Lamp Black Americana Acrylic Paint

Now, onto my today's make. For the focal point I used my all time favourite butterfly stamp from the Butterfly Trio set which I die cut using Butterfly Die Sets die. I stamped it with Sepia Archival ink and painted it with diluted acrylic paints.

My background was stenciled with paints over the Mandala Stencil and I added some stamping with the Script Lines and Andy Skinner's Unexplained Stamp Set. I distressed my background panels with paints and distressing tool.

The sentiment is from the Bible Promises Perfectly Clear Stamp Set which I heat embossed with Detail Black Embossing Powder.

My butterfly was inspired by this gorgeous canvas from Kirsten Sheridan. The little plastic spoon was painted with acrylic paints before it received a Fran-tage Magic treatment with Copper Lux Mix and Champagne Crushed Glass Glitter. This is how it looked before the paints/Fran-tage make over...

And that's after the make-over...:-)

To finish off my card I added some splatters with Perfect Pearls Mist in Heirloom Gold.

DecoArt paints used: Americana Country Red, Bittersweet Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, Island Blue, Golden Straw and Media Fluid Acrylic Quinacridone Gold (perfect for vintage rusty makes).

Other Supplies:
Inks: Spiced Chai StazOn Mini, Sepia Archival, Jet Black Archival, Walnut Stain Distress Ink
Papers: Authentique Latest & Greatest, BazzillBasicsPaper Ambrosia
Adhesives: Multi-Medium Matte, E-Z Runner® Grand Dispenser, 3D Foam Squares - Black, Small

Here's the full line-up of the blogs playing today:

Stampendous Blog

Pam Bray

Jamie Martin

Louise Healy

Asia King

Janelle Stollfus

Lea Fritts

Alison Heikkila

Katy Leitch

Mark Gould

DecoArt Blog

I hope you've enjoyed today's post! Thank you for stopping by and for all your lovely comments. Have a fabulous weekend!

Big crafty hugs



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A Light-Bulb Moment - A Christmas Wish to All Part 3

Hello Friends! How have the first weeks of 2017 been for you? Mine quite eventful, to say the least, but all in a good way! The Christmas tree and all decorations are gone now but I still have a Christmas/winter project left to share with you. This make is part of the Christmas lights trio I created for the Craft Stamper Magazine and you might have already seen my Altered Christmas Lantern and my Decoupage Christmas Candle. If you haven't,  be sure to check them out!

This is an upcycled large light bulb turned into a Christmas bauble ornament. After painting the bulb with Chalky Finish paints,  the image was transferred using a dry decoupage technique with Adhesive Sheets rather than through a traditional way of wet decoupage with decoupage glue. Then I heat embossed it with Kaleidoscope powder and coloured it with Inktense pencils, before sealing it all with matte varnish.

There's lots more of wintery and snowy inspiration on the Stampendous blog this week. Be sure to check it out!

Supplies:

Stampendous: Snow Queen; Crystal Micro Glitter, Champagne Crushed Glass Glitter; Kaleidoscope Embossing Powder; Spoonful of Pixie Dust
Memento Ink: Tuxedo Black
Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L®: 3D Foam Snowflakes; Adhesive Sheets 4"x6"
DecoArt Americiana Decor ® Chalky Finish: Everlasting; Vintage
DecoArt Snow-Tex, DuraClear Ultra Matte Varnish
Sizzix Tim Holtz Alterations Die: Tattered Poinsettia
Derwent: Inktense Pencils
Large light bulb
Seam binding ribbon
Pearl lace
Cheese cloth
Spray of foam berries
Decorative pins
Tissue paper

Thank you for stopping by and for your lovely comments!

Big hugs




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Sharing Some Love - Mixed Media Magazine January 2017 issue

Hello Friends! If you are looking for my Seasons Givings post and giveaway please click here.

I'm just popping in to say that the new issue of the MixedUp Magazine is now available to download! This is not an ordinary digital mag - if you'd like to find out why, check out this post Why digital?

The mag is full of super inspirational projects and oh boy, you really want to see the AMAZING cover project by Helen Chilton!

I am also thrilled to say that I have a Valentine's Day inspiration project featured in the magazine and you can see some cheeky sneak peeks above :).

Be sure to get your copy of the mag - you will find all the details here!

Big crafty hugs

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A Christmas Wish to All - Part 1

Hello Friends! I've been promising to get back into regular blogging routine and this is still to happen - please forgive me! Hopefully I will be a much better blogger in the New Year! :)

For now, please allow me to wish you all a very happy Christmas, full of love, peace and kindness and also hope that the magic of Christmas can conquer any obstacles and sadness that may be thrown your way. May this festive season be the happiest one ever, one to remember for years to come!

As I haven't done much Christmas crafting this year I thought I would share with you a winter project that appeared in the December 2015 issue of the Craft Stamper magazine. This is actually a trio of mixed media/altered items and today I'm kicking it off with this altered winter lantern. The idea was inspired by the Halloween altered lantern I created some time ago.

If you have an old lantern that has suffered some damage to the glass panes, this is a perfect up-cycling opportunity. You can alter and decorate the lantern to your heart's content, just like I did with layers of 3D foam shapes, crackle paste, paints and DIY shimmer mists. I make my mists quite subtle as I use them more for vintage ageing and delicate shimmer than for intense colour tinting.

You can also replace the glass panels with illusion film sheets - they reflect the light beautifully and guarantee an attention-grabbing look to the whole project. And yes, they are also perfect for stamping! I found that StazOn ink works great on them and the stamped image shows through on both sides. If you want to add more colour to your images, I recommend using alcohol markers on the reverse (unstamped) side – as the markers will make the StazOn ink smudge. The blending pen will then help you move the colour around the image.

The final touches were made with textural snow (toned down with paints after it was dry) and Glossy Accents glittered icicles. To embellish my lantern I added cheese cloth, seam binding ribbon and handmade poinsettia flowers.

Supplies:
Stampendous: Cling Sweater Snowman, Cling Sweater Square, Crystal Micro Glitter, Champagne Crushed Glass Glitter, Spoonful of Pixie Dust
StazOn Ink: Jet Black
StazOn Ink: Emerald Sky
Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L®: 3D Foam Stars, 3D Foam Snowflakes, DODZ 3D
Donna Salazar with Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L®: Pigment Powder - Gold, Pink, Brown
DecoArt Dazzling Metallics ®: Oyster Pearl, Silver Sage, White Pearl
DecoArt Americiana Decor ® Chalky Finish: Everlasting
DecoArt Snow-Tex, Texture Crackle

Sizzix Tim Holtz Alterations Die: Tattered Poinsettia
Crafters Companion: Spectrum Noir Alcohol Markers
Rowlux: White Moire Illusion Film
Glossy Accents
Lantern
Seam binding ribbon
Cheese cloth
Spray of foam berries

Thank you so much for stopping by and for any kind words you'd like to share to let me know you've been here :).

With big warm hugs


I would like to enter the following challenges:
Mixed Media Place - December mood board
Country View Challenges - Christmas
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Make It Sparkle
Fashionable Stamping Challenges - Anything Goes
Mixed Media Monthly Blog Challenge - Merry and Bright

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Shabby Chocolatier - Stampendous and DecoArt Blog Hop Finale

Hello everyone! Welcome to the big Stampendous and DecoArt blog hop finale! Throughout this week both design teams have been very busy tempting you with delicious designs and inspiring projects to get your creative juices flowing.

This collaboration has always been one of my absolute faves as I absolutely loooove playing with stamps and paints! I hope you will enjoy visiting the other posts published earlier this week, if you haven't seen them yet. The week has been packed full with fantastic projects - you really don't want to miss seeing any of them!

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

So what has this week really been about? The whole Stampendous gang along with our friends at DecoArt have joined forces to show off some fantastic stamps designed for Stampendous by Andy Skinner who's a great mixed media artist and DecoArt International Education Coordinator.



Andy will join us along with his team of international mixed media artists including Julia Stratford-Wright, Mark Gould, Mel Hookham and Jools Robertson. Plus there will be posts this week on the Stampendous and DecoArt blogs as well.

And let me tell you. You’ll want to get your commenting fingers ready… Each comment on a post this week will enter you to win a fabulous prize package! (one comment per post, per person). Contest open to everyone! We have three packages and each has a Fluid Media Starter Kit, all three of Andy Skinner’s new Stampendous Stamp sets and a Jumbo Acrylic Handle. Look at this great prize!

I have a super sweet project for you today! I altered an ordinary, boring, metal CD tin and created this choccie tin instead! Needless to say, the chocolates are long gone - just say'n, in case you wonder...lol.

Stampendous Supplies:

Andy Skinner - Shabby Chic and Toxic stamp sets 

Detail Embossing Powders - Black and Gold

VersaMark Watermark embossing ink pad

DecoArt Media: Titan Buff, Quinacridone Gold; Ultra Matte Duraclear Varnish

Other:

Color Solution Alcohol Inks: Pearl White, Creme Brulee

Ribbon - May Arts

Metal tin, self adhesive pearls

StazOn Mini inks - Spiced Chai, Ganache

Directions:

1. Using felt alcohol ink applicator cover the tin with Creme Brulee alcohol ink all around the edge.

2. Cover the top of the lid with Pearl White alcohol ink.

3. Using a cosmetic sponge dab Titan Buff paint all over the tin.
4. Add more Creme Brulee in places for more rusty look.
5. Stamp the 'scratches' with a texture stamp from the Toxic set using Spiced Chai and Ganache inks.
6. Add a wash of Quinacridone Gold paint, wiping some off with a baby wipe.
7. Stamp the labels from the Shabby Chic set and heat emboss in black and gold.
8. Finish off with a small bow and accent pearls.
9. Add choccies.
10. Eat choccies :).

So here's the full line-up of the blogs playing today:

Stampendous Blog

Wendy Price

Asia King (that's me!)

Pam Hornschu

Janelle Stollfus

Pam Bray

Jamie Martin

Louise Healy

Alison Heikkila

Lea Fritts

Amy Hurley-Purdie

Tenia Nelson

Debbie Cole

Laura Drahozal

DecoArt Blog

That's all from me for today. Your next stop is Pam Hornschu. Enjoy the hop and good luck in the draw! And have a wonderfully creative weekend! :)

Big crafty hugs

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On A Bed Of Moss And Berries, There Sleep The Woodland Fairies

Morning everyone! A very happy welcome to my newest followers - thank you so much for joining in! :).

Time for another post for Scrapbook Adhesives By 3L® and my today's offering is still very much in an autumnal mode. I really enjoy driving through roads lined up by old trees displaying their full autumnal glory. And I love watching the leaves flirtatiously dancing in the wind :). And the smell of the wood smoke from nearby fields and gardens... hmmm... I always think it's quite a romantic time of year. Would you agree?

Today I have a mixed media wall art for you to enjoy. This project was quite 'involved' so here you will find out more about the medialicious part of it, whereas over at Scrapbook Adhesives By 3L's blog I am focusing on the adhesive side of things :).

This altered shadow box was so much fun to make. It's full of textures, flowers and vintage flavour - I am really happy with the way it turned out :). Despite the fact that it evolved completely from the original plan - but which creative play doesn't? :)

My woodland fairy started its life as a little resin-plaster mask which I was hoping to decorate in a Venetian style with layers of frilly fabrics and lace. I bought this mask ages ago in a charity shop - it had some flourishes painted in bright colours and covered in glitter. But that wasn't the 'look' I was after so I decided to cover it all up with layers of base paint.

The picture above is to show you what the mask looked like before the big make-over :). Inspired by the autumn season I painted the mask yellow. I tried to add some fancy features to the mask with a stenciled butterfly. I also added some stenciling to the background. Click through to read more about the stenciling process and supplies I used.

At that point I thought the mask looked rather tribal and I couldn't find anything else in my stash to help me with my Venetian theme. So I took a different route altogether and decided to go with a woodland theme :).

The mask was going to become my woodland/tree witch. After painting my mask again the texture of the stenciled butterfly still showed through and it looked like little tree bark wrinkles, which I quite liked.

As I wanted the mask to look more like a face, I needed to find eyes for the empty eye sockets. After a long and unsuccessful hunt I decided to try to create the eye lids with my trusty DODZ™-3D. Let me tell you a secret - I can't live without my DODZ™-3D! This stuff is unbeatable in so many ways, waaaaay beyond its primary function of big glue dots :).

With a little help of texture paste to smooth out some parts, the DODZ worked perfectly! That's how my fairy became a sleeping fairy :).

I painted the face with Enchanted Chalky Finish paint (so appropriate for my enchanting fairy! lol) and then gave it a couple of washes with Quinacridone Gold and Dazzling Metallic paints. I rested the fairy's head on a bed of dry flowers, fruits, berries and faux moss (most have been rescued from old charity shop finds) and secured in place with lots of glue.

For the frame I first added heaps of Texture Crackle, layering it quite thick in places and I let it dry overnight. Next I chipped some chunks off, exposing the raw wood of the frame - I wanted to create an old, rough, chipped paint effect. I painted the frame with Enchanted, Coffee Bean, Country Red and Quinacridone Gold, wiping it off in places with a baby wipe. Then I misted it with White Linen and a DIY Gold Mica spray.

Finally I added some gold highlights with a Rub-N-Buff wax.

Supplies:

DODZ™ – 3D; Dodz™ XL; Quick & Easy Dual Tip Glue Pen; Pigment Powders: Gold, Pink, Brown (Donna Salazar with Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L®), DIY Gold pigment powder mist

Media:

Color Wash ink sprays (Ranger) – Red Pepper, Butterscotch, Lettuce; Dylusions White Linen Ink Spray; Vermillion Archival Ink (Ranger)

DecoArt: Dazzling Metallics: Silver Sage, Oyster Pearl; Americana Acrylics: Country Red, Multi-Surface Satin: Muted Gold, Coffee Bean; Chalky Finish: Enchanted; Media Fluid Acrylic Quinacridone Gold; 
DuraClear Ultra Matte Varnish, Texture Crackle, Fabric Stiffener, Vintage Butterfly stencil

Dreamweaver Translucent Embossing Paste; wooden frame, resin-plaster mask, Gold Rub-N-Buff wax

Stampendous – Cling Vintage Letter; The Crafters Workshop Mini Chickenwire Reversed stencil

The cheese cloth head scarf wrapped around the face and the frame was first inked up and then soaked in the Fabric Stiffener.

I would love to know what you think of my Sleeping Fairy :). Please also check the stenciling and adhesive details over at Scrapbook Adhesives' blog - and I would really appreciate it if you had a comment to leave a comment over there as well :).

Thank you all so much for all your kind words - your comments are always so appreciated! Have a fabulous week my friends!

Big crafty hugs




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Challenges for this project:
Country View Challenges #32 - Add some texture
JUG #316 - Hexagons
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Wrap It Up
Rhedd's Creative Spirit Altered Art Challenge October - Anything Goes
Fashionable Stamping Challenges #104 - Changing Seasons
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Throwback (inspired by Autumn is in the Air challenge)
Try It On Tuesdays - Lots of Layers

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Dressing Up With Spellbinders, Stampendous And Scrapbook Adhesives By 3L

Re-edited: I am absolutely thrilled to bits - my dress form is the Top Pick at Frilly & Funky challenge! Yaaay!!!

Hello everyone! So lovely to see you popping in here today. First of all - a special heartwarming welcome to my newest followers - thank you so much for joining the 'gang' :). If this is your first visit here - welcome to my blog! Please, grab a cuppa, make yourself comfy and enjoy the read.

I am so thrilled to be taking part today in the Spellbinders Partner Hop featuring supplies from Spellbinders, Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L, DecoArt and Stampendous!

During Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week partnering companies will be joining in the fun offering inspiration and fabulous prizes. Each day selected companies will share fabulous project tutorials from their featured designers. And I am blessed to be Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L's featured designer for this Springtime Hop :).

Join in the Hop for great project tutorials and fantastic prizes!

My offering today is an altered papier mache dress form. I recently found this old gal at a charity jumble sale in my town. She was originally decoupaged with Decopatch papers by the previous owner and she's definitely seen better days. The stand was also quite wonky and it broke off when I tried to straighten it. But I wasn't at all worried as I didn't like it anyway. I knew I would want to replace it and I already had something in mind for the job (more on that in a moment).

Luckily I could see the potential in this girl so I altered her with this shabby chic number.

From drab to fab - an altered shabby chic papier mache dress form

True to the nature of my special assignment, I have a lovely tutorial for you - to see the full details, you'll need to hop over to the Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L's blog. Simply click on the photo below and I will magically transfer you to the tutorial post :). I truly hope that these following pictures will tempt you (even more) to check it out (not to mention the prizes that are for grabs!).

Give an old papier mache dress form a shabby chic make-over! Click on the photo to access an easy to follow tutorial.

I have recently fallen madly in love with the crushed glass mosaic finishes that are currently trending in the home decor stores across the UK. You can see them on lamp bases, vases, mirrors, frames and even small table tops. For me the most exciting thing was to discover that you can easily recreate this sophisticated look with Adhesive Sheets and Mica Fragments.

On-trend - crushed glass mosaic effect that can be easily created with Adhesive Sheets and Mica Fragments

You don't have to be limited to the straight lines of your Adhesive Sheets either. And that's because you can die cut your Mica covered sheets with a guaranteed full coverage and no gummed up dies :) - just as I have done to create a rose lattice trellis in my recent Roses of Friendship card.

The inspiration for the outfit was drawn from this beautiful project made by Gail Schmidt from the Shabby Cottage Studio. I created my layers with Canvas Ribbons, Lace Ribbons and a paper trim die cut using Spellbinders Oval Regalia set. The flower was made using Peony die set.

Flower skirt created with Peony die set and Canvas Ribbons and lace

Supplies:

Adhesive Sheets 6x12", DODZ™ - Small, DODZ™ - 3D, Extreme Double-Sided Tape 1/8", Extreme Double-Sided Tape 1/4" (available soon); Canvas Ribbons and Lace Ribbons (Donna Salazar with Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L®)

Other supplies:

Spellbinders: Peony and Oval Regalia die sets; Ephemera Papers

Stampendous: Pearlized Mica Fragments, Vintage Ladies and Charmed Art Perfectly Clear Stamps

DecoArt Americiana Decor Chalky Finish in Lace and Primitive, StazOn Mini Cloudy Sky ink by, seam binding, ribbon roses, decorative pins, pearls.

If you follow me on Instagram you might have seen this picture (below). I also invited guesses what I would be making from these old chess pieces...

Although I can't play chess, I can still put old chess pieces to good use :).

And here is the answer... I used them to make my new stand and a top/head for my dress form :). Up-cycling at its finest ha ha ha! :)

I up-cycled old chess pieces to create a new stand and top for my dress form.

So what do you think about my dress form? Better before or after? I'd love to know what you think!

If you've enjoyed your visit here, feel free to hang around a bit more :). And if you choose to follow my blog (which would be awesome!) be sure to let me know how I can visit you back and return your kindness :).

Have a fantastic creative week and good luck in the prize draw!

Big crafty hugs




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Challenges for this project:
Vintage Stamping Challenges #30 - Olde Worlde
Rhedd's Creative Spirit - An Altered Art Challenge Blog March - Anything Goes
Frilly And Funkie - Bring On the Bling
Our Creative Corner - Junk In Your Trunk
Country View Challenges - Anything Goes
Craft Stamper Magazine - Anything Goes
Retro Craft Shop #9 - Retromania

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