Vintage Easel Card - Creative Cardmarking

Hi everyone, Nikki here to share an idea for this months Creative Cardmaking post. I am not normally one for fancy card folds but I recently saw a version of this card and thought it would make a great 'special' Christmas card.

The card is based on a square - so any size could be used. I used a 6 inch square card. I added an extra fold at 1 1/2 inches. All I then needed to do was remove the corners. I marked in pencil at 3 inches along the short edge and cut to the additional fold. I could then mirror this at the other end easily.

 You can see in my picture above some extra bits of card. There are 2 squares to fit the base and the easel part of the card, and an extra piece for the inside, although I used cream card in the end as you can see below.

I covered my 2 squares with some Christmas themed paper - I added a little ink to the edges. I didn't have quite enough and wanted an extra bit for my greeting on the base so I cut a square out of the top piece and replaced with the cream square stamped with some Christmas words.

The focal point on the card is the Poinsettia - I die cut several layers from Tim Holtz Tattered Poinsettia die and used Festive Berries and Aged Mahogany Distress inks to colour.

Tim's Holiday Greens dies were used to add some Holly and greenery behind the Poinsettia - again I used Distress Inks (Pine Needles and Mowed Lawn) to get some colour variation.

I chose one of the greetings from Tim Holtz stamp set Festive Overlays - stamped on card and then layered before using foam pads to raise this - so the easel stands up!

And it also folds flat - well it would if the flower wasn't a little dimensional - but I found it would still - just - go in the envelope which came with the card - but I won't be putting it in the post!

Now to decide who to give it to!
Thanks for stopping by today. Our latest challenge - Window on Your World - still has 2 weeks to run as there are 5 Fridays this month. That also means we will be back next week with Tag Friday.

In the meantime - have a great weekend.
Nikki
xxx

Pinworthies - Neutral Challenge

Hi everyone and welcome to our Pinworthy post where we announce the Creative Guide favourites from our last challenge. The challenge was 'Neutral Zone' where we asked you to create with no colour and use a neutral palette.

We probably say this every time but selecting three is very difficult! I asked all the Creative Guides to select their favourites and over half of the entries received at least one vote!

Here are the three that I have selected from the most popular choices of the Creative Guides - in no particular order.

No 10 - Macarena

No 18 - Angela

No 33 - Irina

Congratulations ladies - I will be emailing your pinworthy badges shortly.

Our current challenge invites you to 'Book It' - did you see the inspirational designs from some of the Creative Guides - I missed this one but loved what everyone created! If you missed them do pay a visit and we would love to see your entries in the challenge.

Happy Crafting

Nikki

xxx

Neutrals Project Tutorial - Crackled Pebbles and Mottled Faceted Heart

Hi everyone, Nikki here with this month's project tutorial.  I thought I would share how I created my project for our current Neutrals challenge but also re-created it in different colours too! 

Here is the original:

The base of these projects is an 8inch square piece of MDF - on top of which I have added 4 coaster size altered pieces of greyboard (each 4 inches square).

Although it may not be obvious the coasters were done in pairs, with slight differences between them.

Apologies - I realise the text on the above image is not clear! My first step was to paint the surfaces - 2 in black and 2 in an off white colour. Onto these I then added crackle paste through my selected stencil. I went for a pebble effect but anything should work. Once dry I added Deco Art Antiquing Cream - I added white on the black coasters and black on the paler ones. I wiped away until I was happy and left to dry.

I sealed each surface with matt medium so I could add more paint without the antiquing cream moving, and added watery washes of  black and metallic paint to add tonal differences.

The blue version was an identical process just using varying tones of blues.

The hearts were die cut from heavyweight card stock and the creases burnished to make this easier later. 

I painted the surface with Silver paint and once dry created a resist using hair wax - adding in patches so as not to cover the entire surface. I then added black paint over the surface and allowed to dry naturally, so as not to melt the wax, before wiping away the black paint.

Next I created a watery wash of black paint and covered the surface before sprinkling salt over the surface. Leave to dry and then rub off excess salt.

I didnt add the salt on the blue version but sanded the edges carefully and emphasised with more silver paint.

For both I layered the heart on some altered circles / cogs and added flowers and a word chip.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Don't forget our Neutrals Challenge runs until 2nd May and we would love to see your designs. Sandy is here next week with our monthly card making tutorial.

See you soon!

Nikki

Addicted to Art

Neutral Zone - April Challenge

Challenge and Creative Guide Call

Hi everyone, Nikki here from Addicted to Art to host our latest challenge - Neutral Zone. But before I introduce this month's theme we are excited to be holding a Creative Guide Call!

Creative Guide Call....

Are you interested in joining our popular challenge blog as a new Creative Guide? We are looking for one or two new people to join the team, to create projects in one of our favourite styles and to share in the hosting of challenges and commenting on entries. We are an extremely friendly group, helpful, supportive and positive in all ways. We have a flexible schedule for completing a minimum requirement of projects and you can choose which months suit you best, you are not expected to join in every one. If you would like to find out more about what you would need to do as a Creative Guide then email Brenda at brenda_brown25@hotmail.com and she will send you more information for you to see whether the commitment is right for you. We're looking forward to expanding the team a little more so as to provide even more flexibility for our wonderfully talented members. 

Challenge time......

Back to our April challenge and it is time to banish colour! We are creating in the Neutral Zone. You can create with blacks, whites, greys, beiges, creams and browns but whatever you make, and whatever style, it needs to stay in the neutral zone. And remember to create in one of our preferred styles of vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journaling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk.

Here are our designs which we hope provide a little inspiration to get you started.

Nikki

My 8x8 inch panel is full of varying textures but only black, grey, silver and white. For some close ups and a sneak peak of a second version I made, do head over to my blog. I will be back here in 2 weeks with our project tutorial (April 19th) - with all the details of how I made this.

Brenda

I have taken the chance to create a wrapped journal using one of Eileen Hull's fabulous dies. The outside is shabby vintage in a neutral palette but I have left the option to add some pastel colours when I create the inside pages. I decorated the back of the journal too. Lots more photos and details can be seen at Bumblebees and Butterflies if you have a moment to pop by. xx

Deb

I decided to create a mixed media shadow box for Nikki's 'Neutral Zone' challenge filled with all of the wonderful Tim Holtz Wildflower dies that we now have available to us.  Pop on over to my blog to take a stroll through my neutral garden!

Sara Emily

I really gave myself permission to play in my art journal for Nikki's Neutral Zone challenge. I hope you stop by my blog for the details.

Astrid

I made an eggshaped tag for Nikki's fun challenge seeing this month we will celebrate Easter. I then thought to use the tag to decorate the cover of my latest journal insert. In the last moment I decided to add one of my dried ferns, which of course adds a little spot of colour, but I hope this will still qualify as most of it is definitely in the neutral zone....If you want to see how it all came together, all you need to do is click here.

S@ndy

When I hear neutral - my mind automatically goes to brown, yellow and manila.   I made a card front for a future card that will go to a family member who is coming to town later in the year.  My parents are celebrating their 75th wedding anniversary.  You can see more details on my blog here.

Amanda

I have created a Mixed Media Canvas for Nikki's challenge working with a neutral palette of black white, grey and silver - one of my favourite palettes to create with!  It features one of the many 'Faceted Hearts' I have had lying around my desk for the past few months - Thanks Nikki for providing the ideal opportunity to finally feature one of 'the many' in my art. You are more than welcome to pop by my blog to see and read more.... 

Alison

Well, I don't need much persuasion to step into the Neutral Zone... and this made for a lovely return to the craft room after two months away.  There were some long-neglected leftover bits and bobs on the table which all just fell into place on this MDF tag.  Do come over to Words and Pictures to see all the details.

******

We very much look forward to seeing how you use this neutral palette in your projects! This challenge is open until 2nd May so lots of time to get the thinking hat on and the fingers messy. In the meantime we will be back next week with our Pinworthy winners announcement from the last challenge. Happy crafting everyone.

Nikki xxx

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Creative Card Making - Christmas!

Hi everyone, Nikki (Addicted to Art) here with our monthly Creative Card making feature. I have created a set of Christmas cards featuring two of Tim Holtz's recent products; Festive Overlay stamp set and Shifter Stencils.

My cards are 5 x 7 inches. I began with my stencilled layers - each card using a different stencil - Shifter Stencils - Trees and Stars plus 2 older layering stencils - Stars and Snowflakes. For the shifter versions I used white embossing powder on versamark for the first position and then shifted the stencil and added texture paste.

Once I completed all four I added Distress inks and oxides in varying colour schemes. I brayered over the surface of some of the texture with white gesso to highlight the texture. 

Here is close up of the Snowflakes with Gesso brayered over the surface.....

....and the shifted stars - some embossed and some texture paste. I let the ink absorb into the texture paste on this one to contrast with the white embossed stars.

I then stamped the Festive Overlays in coordinating colours and die cut ovals to place on the cards. I added various embellishments - seam binding, twine, rhinestones and punched stars to complete the cards.

Thanks for visiting today. We are back here at AVJ next Friday for one our favourite Tag Fridays. In the meantime do join in this months challenge - Paper Stash.

Nikki

xxx

Get Sentimental Pinworthies

Hello!  Nikki here to share our Pinworthy choices with you from our challenge last month where we asked you to 'Get Sentimental'.  Thank you to everyone for the wonderful, diverse creations which made our job of picking just three very difficult.

It was wonderful to see how everyone used their 'sentiments' in such creative ways. The three selected pinworthies really matched their artwork to their words. In no particular order this months pinworthies are:

#11 Preeti 

A stunning journal page full of depth.

#12 Jo

A wonderful celebration of creativity and an event Jo attended.

#22 Amanda

A fabulously textured, layered triptych.

Congratulations to you all, your Pinworthy badges will be on their way to you shortly and your creations will be pinned to our Pinworthies board on Pinterest.

This month's challenge 'How can you resist' started last Friday and we look forward to seeing more creativity.

Nikki and the Creative Guides xx

Tando Mini Book Tutorial

Hi everyone, Nikki, from Addicted to Art, here today to share our mid challenge project tutoral post. This month's challenge is all about using Sentiments on our projects and for the challenge I shared this large canvas. (You can see the post here.)

Today I am sharing the same process but on a much smaller scale - this time to decorate 2 mini books - each 6 x 6 cm. These pre cut greyboard books are available from Tando Creative Ltd (here).

The greyboard base consists of two 6cm square pieces of greyboard and one 6 x 1.5cm for the spine. 

Here I have them laid out and painted:

To create my cover, which also joins the spine to the 2 outer covers I cut some kraft card - adding 8mm for the spaces between the spine and the covers. So my card is 6+6+1.5+0.8 = 14.3cm by 6 cm and I score at 6cm from each end. 

Now the fun bit! This is the same process I used on the canvas - just on a larger scale. Firstly randomly adhere scraps of paper / thin card before adding a little more texture through a stencil with texture paste.

Once dry I reached for my paints - selecting Dina Wakley Media Fluid Acrylics for their vibrancy. I did each book slightly difference to give a subtly different end result.

For one I began with white paint and covered quite a bit of it - but not all and for the other - black paint.

I then built up colours - working in patches of colour - drying in between. Mostly I used my finger, but used a brush to ensure I reached the crevices of the texture paste.

A bit of pink!

Blue and turquoise....

Green....

You can see how I left patches of the black showing. With the black base the pink is less vibrant but the green pops a little more.

Once dry, I dry brushed over the entire surface with white chalk paint...

On this small project I added this fairly evenly all over - but on the canvas I highlighted the textured areas more with my dry brushing.

Finally I adhered these covers to the pre painted greyboard - sorry forgot the photos at this point. I lightly sand the edges so that the covers sort of merge with the greyboard base and then added gold paint around the edge with my finger.

For each book I selected some Dina Wakley Collage words and adhered with matt medium. On the canvas I stamped (in archival) my words on tissue paper before adding them.

A few close ups to finish!

Thanks for getting this far! Don't forget our Get Sentimental challenge runs until the 2nd August and we would love to see you designs.

Nikki

xxx