LOVE TO CRAFT - #92

Here we are ready for another challenge at Love to Craft.  I'm sharing another tag from my tag book which I am currently working on with the theme of butterflies.  It has all the elements which I love to play with as a big Mixed Media fan.  You will see other examples of my book on my blog as I share some of them for other challenge groups I'm part of.

This one has used the Paper Artsy paint again in Snowflake and Seaglass.   I then added extra stamping by Alison Bomber and Creative Expressions. I have a lovely old set by CE which has signatures on it and I've used one of them here as part of the ephemera.  I cut out the lovely butterfly which is part of a free set by Shawn Petite and added it to some ephemera.  I stamped some linen and added it to the bottom of the tag.  The little tag sentiment is by Bipasha BK for Aallandcreate.

CREATIVE ARTISTE MIXED MEDIA CHALLENGE #105

Creative Artiste

Creative Artiste is a monthly challenge blog for everyone who likes to mix their media. So, as long as you like to use various mediums on your creations, we'd love to see you enter the challenge.

Its the first Friday of the month and that means a new challenge over at Creative Artiste Mixed Media Creative Artiste Mixed Media where we ask you to include at least 3 different mediums on your project.

I'm sharing another journal page - I just love how this one turned out.  I was even so disciplined that I let the layers dry in between throwing all my mediums at it.  After adding gesso to the page I added some paste with a stencil and then used some inks and lots of water to get that smudged look.  The inks I used were Liquitex Acrylic Muted Grey and Tim Holtz Faded Jeans and Wilted Violet Distress Oxides.  The image of the window top left is a Shawn Petite stencil and the little window and frame is actually from my husbands model railway buildings - one he'd thrown away and I nabbed it.  It's just perfect for this page.

The butterfly die cut is from Tim Holtz and I added a pen nib to the body.  I added some background stamping from Alison Bomber stamps and the seal is of a ship at sea.  She has told us the significance of this stamp to her set in one of her videos.  I used some washi tape with the word Journey underneath the butterfly and the sentiment is from Alison's stamps.  I used an oil pastel crayon around the edges of the paper.

I'm sharing my art journal page with Art Journal JourneyArt Journal Journey - they ask what makes you  happy?  Art journaling makes me happy - I never thought I would be able to be this creative! 

I'm adding this to the following challenges:

 Creative Fingers - AG 

 Creative Inspiration - AG 

This is my May calendar page - I've set us a challenge on my own Facebook craft group The Joy of Sets to create our own calendars for 2025.

CHRISTMAS CRAFT CREATIONS - NO STAMPING

Well I  must admit I found this challenge tricky.  Our challenge this month at Christmas Craft Creations is No Stamping!!! It took me a while to get a card I was happy with.  

I started off with a dots embossing folder and used some red cardstock for the background.  I then found another lovely Christmas words embossing folder in my stash and used the kraft paper for this one.  I had some wonderful Silent Night Christmas sheet music which I had downloaded from Shawn Petite where she gives us free downloads. 

 I used a Tim Holtz Wreath and cut it out of the notes part of the music.  The title was also part of it which really helped with the whole non-stamping part.  I added some red dots and the bow and finished with some white splatters. 

I'm adding this into the following :

Everybody Art - Die Cut 

The Holly and Ivy - AG Christmas 

52CCT - Music 

Jingle Bells Rock - No Stamping 

Delighted to have had my card chosen in the following challenges - and to think I very nearly threw it in the bin! 

New Design Team - The Male Room Challenge

I am delighted to be part of the Design Team at The Male Room Challenge.  It will be a challenge for me too to think of 'male' cards - I wonder why we find them so difficult.

Our theme this month is Tag.  I added my tag to my card.  I started off by creating my background with my brayer and a gel press. I used blues and purples for my card and used Arteza acrylic paints.  I used a Shawn Petite stencil of the feathers for the background and added some washi tape to the sides.

For the tag I used a Tim Holtz die cut to create the tag.  I used similar paints for the background.  The feathers are from an old set by Stampin Up called Feather Together.  I added some background stamps from one of Tracy Evans sets and added a real feather in the middle.  I added a brad to the top and some more of the washi tape.  The Happy Birthday was white embossed.

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Crafty Friends - For a Man 

Paperbabe Stamps - AG 

Creative Artists Mixed Media - AG 

Creative Inspirations - Masculine 

Paper Funday - Masculine 

Stamping Sensations - Masculine

Make The Card Challenge - Masculine 

JOURNAL PAGE

My new obsession over the past few months has been journalling.  Inspired by Shawn Petite to actually think I could play with paint I've found it very helpful over the last six months during the frustration of a house move that just hasn't happened.  It has been such a help during sleepless nights to come and put something down on paper and I found it much more satisfying than just making cards.

I recently purchased some of Shawn Petite's stencils and when they arrived they had a lovely little card with them with this quote on it - I wanted to turn it into an art journal page and came up with this during a sleepless night.

The background has been made with a Tim Holtz stencil - one of my favourites the mosaic - and some textured paste.  I used Distress Inks for the background and various stencils and stamps from my stash.  

The heart stamp is one of my favourites from Visibile Image called Follow your Heart and I love using it not just for the obvious valentine's cards.    The heart beat, top right, and the little heart, bottom left, are also part of the same set. The heart in the middle was stamped onto tissue paper and added with some Matte Medium.  I cut out the words from Shawn's card and added them to the piece.  

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Path of Positivity - Quiet Time - my quiet time helps my creativity

More Mixed Media - AG 

Simon Says Stamp - Monday -Stamp it 

Use Your Stuff - AG 

Sir Stamp a Lot - favourite stamp

We love 2 create - AG mixed media

SPARKLES CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE

Welcome to another monthly Christmas challenge at Sparkles - this month it's my choice of theme and I chose Tags.  I'd love to see either Christmas Tags on their own or on your cards.

My card uses a wonderful stencil from Shawn Petite with the word Joyful.  The background snowflake stencil is Tim Holtz and the words on the tag are from Visible Image.  I kept my piece monochrome also using Stampin Up Bermuda Bay cardstock and ink.  I've added SU Glittering Diamonds for the snowflake and some of the words on the tag.

I'm adding this into the following challenges - 

Christmas Crafts All Year Round - the letter J ~(monthly)

Merry Little Christmas - Anything Goes

The Holly and the Ivy - AG

FabnFunky- Christmas 

Christmas 24 Challenge - add some glitter

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS #IC352

Look at our gorgeous images to inspire you this week from Hand Stamped Sentiments.  I've been releasing my inner mixed media vibe lately and this card was no exception and I was inspired by that Santa and the tree behind him.

I started off by using some Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium in Vintage and covered my cardstock and added some of the lovely Tim Holtz Christmas Collage papers. I also added some free papers donated by the lovely Shawn Petite on her website.  The music paper at the top and bottom is from TH  Christmas sticker book.

The Santa and the tree are from Kaisercraft and I added some glitter to the tree.  Tucked at the bottom is one of Tim's new deer dies.  The sentiments are from the sticker book and Tim's new stamps Tiny Text Christmas.  The Dec 25th wooden embellishment is from my stash - covered in Distress Ink Festive Berries and a touch of glitter.  I added some suede ribbon from Stampin Up and one of Tim's metal embelishments - with a touch of white Distress Crayon which helps to make the numbers pop.

I think we can safely say this has a real nostalgic feel to it - maybe it's the sign of the times at the moment.