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Saturday 5 December 2015

You've Got Happy Mail !

Hello Everyone

It is time for a new challenge at Anything But Cute and our host this month is the wonderful Niki of Pawsitively Creative Crafts. The theme is 'You've Got Happy Mail' and Niki says she would love to see some mixed media Christmas cards, ATCs or whatever papercrafts you are mailing to a friend, inspired by the Spirit of Christmas.


I love giving and receiving cards from friends and family, especially those we do not see as often as we would like.  For me the Spirit of Christmas is all about family and friends and less about gifts. I love non traditional colours for Christmas and blue and white are my all time favourites.

(Apologies for the darkness of my photos, the light here is so poor at the moment)
     
I was inspired by Niki's wonderful challenge to make this card for a special person in my life.  I used lots of crackle, texture paste and a hint of sparkle to create my 'Happy Mail' card.
I took a piece of heavily patterned paper (this is a great way to use up patterned paper that you may not like) and I painted the whole piece with a mix of DecoArt paints in Primary Cyan and Titanium White.  The paints are pigment rich and you only need a small amount of the dark blue to create a beautiful soft blue.
Once the paint had dried (it only takes moments) I gave the whole piece a coat of  DecoArt Weathered Wood Crackle Medium.  I applied it quite thickly with an old credit card.  If you are in a hurry, use a thin coat, but I wanted quite large crackles.  I left this overnight to dry thoroughly.
The next day I applied a thin coat of the Primary Cyan and Titanium mix again and then some beautiful crackles appeared.  I took a small paint brush and dipped it into a watery mix and also some plain white and flicked these over the entire piece, to create a kind of snow effect.
To create the frame I applied some coarse modelling paste (purchased from Indigo Blu) to a Tim Holtz die cut frame and left it to dry.  It is an amazing texture paste that dries to a beautiful white finish, it would be wonderful to create snow effects.  It is the same paste that I used for my church project (if you missed it and want to see it you can find it HERE, it was my first DT piece for Anything But Cute).
The Poinsettia and leaf embellishments are Tim Holtz dies, the Poinsettia was cut from some blue patterned paper from my stash.  I added some Stampendous Shabby Blue and Shabby White Embossing Powders for added texture.
To create the silver ball in the middle I coated a plain silver bauble with Cosmic Shimmer dries clear glue and dipped the whole thing into some Stampendous Silver crushed glass glitter.
The sentiment is a Tim Holtz stamp which was stamped with Wendy Vecchi's Cornflower Blue Archival Ink.

To finish off I added some white baubles, gauze, some dyed vintage seam binding and a few pearls from my stash.  I also used some beautiful Maja Design paper to mat onto my card before adding my crackled layer.

I hope you like my card and that you feel inspired to join in with us at Anything But Cute, we would love to see what you have created for a friend.  I hope you will pop over to see what my talented teamies have created for your inspiration too.

 Thanks so much for looking, I hope to see you again soon.

I have, rather belatedly realised I could enter this into Craft Stamper's latest challenge - Take a Technique, Sharing the Season - details can be found HERE.

Hugs, Anne xxx

36 comments:

  1. Wow, I so enjoyed watching your process Anne! I love the idea of using up old paper that you don't necessarily like as is, I have some earmarked already! I am so drawn to your gorgeous blue tones and with all the snowy white accents, it's truly a frosty wonderland piece of art!! The textures are just wonderful and Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a touch of glitter!! Stunning Anne! hugs :)

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  2. Such a gorgeous creation Anne,love all the texture and a fab design.xxx

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  3. Oh my, Anne, what a stunning winter frosty card you've created! You used the most beautiful shades of blue and your weathered wood background is marvelous! Amazing Christmas card with a perfect touch of glitter! Huge hugs to you! Branka xxx

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  4. Anne, this is simply BREATHTAKING!!! I say that, and it feels so trite! Love the blues (can you tell?--I promise I am breaking away from that in the near future!) and your fabulous crackled background (two minds with similar thoughts-- to use up unloved paper). That frame is wonderfully textured, (again, two great minds...you'll have to see--upcoming project) and your poinsettias in blue are probably the prettiest I've seen this season! Using that patterned paper is genius, and then you took them up 50 notches by adding that embossing enamel! Great touch, that is, as well as the lovely glittered bauble!!! Really a masterful work of art! Someone's going to be very lucky to receive this Happy Mail! Big hugs to you, Anne!

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  5. How beautiful is this! I feel cold just looking at it. I love the icy blues and white together. All that yummy texture too! Tattered Poinsettia is one of my favorite out of all the Tattered's!

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  6. Anne, I love your card and so will that special person! The blue poinsettia is so gorgeous and love the crackle and icy effects! Happy Weekend. Hugs!

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  7. OH Anne your 'happy mail' christmas card is stunning ! Those beautiful blues coupled with the frosty white - perfect and my fave christmas colours too . I love how you have completely transformed the patterned paper into a sheet of fabulous crackle and your textured 'snowy' frame is gorgeous ! You always rock the poinsetta . I don't think there's a version of it that you've created that I haven't loved and this one is no exception with all the detail and a touch of sparkle . Your altered baubles and crisp white foliage are the perfect embellishment. .
    I'm sure your special person will be beyond happy to receive this beauty in the post .
    Big hugs x

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  8. This is totally gorgeous Anne! Love the wonderful textures and colours and your poinsettia with the sparkly centre is beautiful! Lovely work ! Toni xx

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  9. Wow! This really is fabulous Anne! A brilliant transformation for the paper and a wonderful crackle going on! The centre of the gorgeous poinsettia is just perfect! Happy mail indeed! Chrisx

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  10. This is so gorgeous Anne, and I loved seeing your process,

    Lucy x

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  11. OMG!!! Anne, this MUST be one of the prettiest cards you have ever made!!!!! I am saving your tutorial - would love to try out some of the product as well as your techniques!!!!!
    Fabulous Sugar!!
    sandy xx

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  12. I absolutely love this Anne - the crackle and the colours are amazing! Gorgeous!! Hugs rachel x

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  13. This is so gorgeous and the blue poinsettia is absolutely awesomely pretty! xxx

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  14. It does not get any more special than this. Gorgeously elegant and I love the depth of the crackle you achieved and the gorgeous flower with the sparkly ball at the centre.
    This is a card to treasure.
    Wishes
    Lynne

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  15. Stunning once again, Annie! Crackle doesn't get any more cracklier than this! And I'm with you on blue and white for Christmas. That blue poinsettia is spectacular centered by a sparkly sphere and surrounded by your other delicious Annie Elements! I always love your step-by-steps and how you make it seem so effortless! NOT!! You're the BEST!! Hugs, Darnell xxoo

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  16. Love this Anne, the modelling paste looks great and the mix of colours are lovely. Your church is beautiful. X

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  17. Stunning card Anne. The beautiful colours look so wintery - fabulous.
    Toni xx

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  18. Thanks for this post. The poinsettia die is one that I have never managed to make look good in my opinion. I am going to give this a try and see if I can make it work for me. I love the card you made.

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  19. A great design on a fabulous card Anne it has a real mystical feel to it. The crackled background makes everything stand out.

    Warm crafty hugs from Shirl x x x
    ShirlsCards.

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  20. Bring on the crackle! You had me at crackle and weathered wood. Your cracks truly are amazing and so yummy! I love the blues you are showcasing and a genius idea to use paper you don't like to create such a stunning card. Your poinsettias are beautiful. That die is now on my wish list. An icy dream card. The recepient with be absolutely stoked to get this. I agree with you about Christmas-it is all about friends and family. Hugz to you muffin! ~Niki

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  21. SO beautiful in the blues and white - a wonderfully frosty card! love the crackle and lovely blue poinsettia! Julia xx

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  22. Nearly missed this gorgeous card Anne. Love the colour scheme and the lovely frosty feel. Happy crafting, Angela x

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  23. Really a masterful work of art, gorgeous Anne !!
    corinne de france

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  24. Really a masterful work of art, gorgeous Anne !!
    corinne de france

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  25. Wow Anne! What a gorgeous card! Love all the texture and stunning Poinsettia!

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  26. Beautiful as always and I love all the colour and texture. Fabulous poinsettia too! Elaine xx

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  27. Stunning creation Anne! Gorgeous assortment of textures and colors!
    Hugs

    Samra
    Paper Talk with Samra

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  28. LOVE that you altered an old sheet of paper, and LOVE the blue poinsettia! Just gorgeous Anne!

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  29. A stunner Anne! What beautiful winter wishes. The texture paste looks wonderfully snowy and I love the glass glitter baubles. Nicola x

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  30. How cool is this. I love the colour palette - so serene and so winter! The poinsettia and pine branch are gorgeous. Thanks for sharing your creative steps. I have no access to classes so I get very excited when someone as talented as you shares so I can learn.
    Hugs!
    Cec

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  31. This is exquisite! I adore the tattered poinsettia in this color and with this gorgeous bead center! WOWZERS! Such a beautiful card. Hugs, Autumn

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  32. What a beautiful Christmas card Anne. Love the frosty colours and texture and your blue Poinsettia is awesome!! Hugs Lottie x

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  33. So, so pretty, Anne... frosty and ethereal and full of amazing texture. I promised myself some of that Indigoblu paste after your church project, but still haven't got around to getting it... Maybe now?! Beautiful card - I'm sure it will be treasured.
    Alison xx

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  34. So beautiful! Love the cracle background, the soft blue tones, gorgeous layered poinsettia, and all the little details! Simply amazing!

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  35. LOVE your creation for our challenge, love all the detail!
    Thanks for joining in with the TIMI challenge...

    xxx Ellie Knol xxx

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  36. This is stunning Anne ..... I love the frosty feel to the design and the textures look amazing. Thank you for playing along with the Craft Stamper Challenge .... and a very Happy and Healthy New Year to you. Linda xx

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