Art With Heart - Ten Minute Project?

Hi Everyone

Eileen Hull has challenged her Inspiration Team to make something CAS - Clean and Simple, something that can be done in about 10 - 15 minutes - now I am a pretty slow crafter so this was quite a challenge!  There was nothing for it but to get my overflowing 'bit box' out and have a rummage.

I gave it my best shot but ended up on the 15 minute side of the time limit, but what I did learn is that preparation is the key and with a little effort it is achievable!  The background I used was made with DecoArt Mixed Media Fluid paints along with Andy Skinner's Industrial stamp set.

I started with a piece of left-over background card (that I created for a project which will appear later this month) and an Eileen Hull for Sizzix Recipe Box (659876) die cut.  These boxes go together very quickly, with just two edges to glue. I made up a few of these a while back and had already painted this one with Deco Art black Gesso.  If I was doing another one, I would only paint the edges of the box, as the rest is not going to show.

I turned the background card over and used a blank die cut box, laid this over the card and drew around the edges to create a cover for my box.  You could, of course, sit and measure each piece and cut carefully around the pieces but I find if you cut a faction 'inside' your lines, it works just as well and is much quicker - and I was under time pressure!

Once I had cut all my pieces, I went around the edges with a black Promarker, simply because I hate white edges but if I had left out this step, it would have saved me some time.

I then took some strong wet glue and glued all the pieces to my box.

The metal embellishment on the front would normally be attached with brads but for quickness I attached mine with strong wet glue.  It looked a little 'bare' so I attached a crackled heart from my left-over box, I like the pop of red against the blue background.

So there you have it, not traditionally CAS but definitely quick and easy!

Thanks for looking and I hope to see you again soon.

Hugs, Anne xx

Grungy Love

Hello Everyone, this is one of two posts today...

The lovely Sara Emily is our host at Anything But Cute where we are celebrating Valentine's Day with a 'Grungy Love' theme.

In Sara's own words - "To celebrate St. Valentine's Day, we would like to see you make a Grungy Valentine's project for your sweetheart!  It can be a card, tag, or anything else you might give a loved one to show them how much you care.  Just make sure it's grungy!" 

For my Sweetheart's Valentine creation I used a 6 inch square wood base (purchased from Indigo Blu), lots of paint in some of  his favourite colours, some random stamping, a grungy crackled heart and some 'industrial' embellishing.

I gathered together some of the items I wanted to use.  DecoArt Media Gesso in white, Indigo Blu Gesso (Gee-so-good) in black and my favourite background stamps, Rugged Edge by Limor Webber for Indigo Blu.

I painted the wood board with a good layer of the white gesso and once dry I added a few pieces of Tim Holtz tissue tape.

I then added some colour, not too heavy, I just lightly loaded my brush, first with Tim Holtz Distress Paint in Scattered Straw and then some Indigo Blu English Cottage acrylic paint in 'Grandma's Teacup' - this paint goes a long, long way and you only need a tiny amount.

It was a bit too blue for my liking so I added some more of the white gesso to knock back the colour a little bit.  Next, I took a couple of the stamps and stamped randomly using the Indigo Blu black gesso.  I still wasn't entirely happy so I got out my Andy Skinner Industrial set of stamps and I stamped randomly over the entire board, using Wendy Vecchi's Archival Ink in Watering Can.  I love the way the gesso stamping comes to the fore and is slightly dimensional - and the Archival Ink stamping goes to the back.  I am happy with my background now.

Next up is the heart embellishment.  I cut a heart freehand and coated it with the Indigo Blu gesso in black.  Once dry I added a coat of my favourite crackle medium - Weathered Wood by DecoArt.

Once the heart was dry I painted the heart with DecoArt Qunacridone Magenta Media Fluid Acrylic, with just a tiny drop of Paynes Grey added in to give the heart a slightly more grungy look.

As with all crackle techniques it is best to 'seal' the crackle and I used the DecoArt Ultra-Matt Varnish, it really does give a beautiful matt finish.

To grunge the heart a little more I twisted some black wire and added two lengths to my heart.

I thought the base looked a little bare so I added some cogs to two of the corners.  The cogs were cut from some thick card using my new Memory Box Cog die.  

To make the heart 'pop' a bit more I went all around the outside edge of the heart with a charcoal pencil and then smudged it with my finger.  In real life it makes the heart look really dimensional.

To finish off I added some chit chat words by Tim Holtz.

I hope you like my grungy, masculine Valentine Project and I hope you will join us at Anything But Cute this month in our 'Grungy Love' mixed media challenge.

As I have used Indigo Blu stamps and paints I would like to enter this into Indigo Blu's latest challenge - where the theme is Anything Goes.

I would also like to enter into Countryview Crafts challenge where the theme is Make your

Own Background.

As always, thanks so much for looking, I have another project up already today - sorry for bombarding you but it is just the way it is sometimes!

Hugs, Anne xx

Industrial - for Vintage Journey

Hello Everyone

The talented Tracy's 'Industrial' theme at A Vintage Journey was perfect for me as I needed a birthday card for my Brother who has retired from the Navy.

Here is what Tracy had to say....
Use your foil tape, or metallic card stocks with your texture fades/embossing folders
to create an Industrial creation of your own.  Whether it's a background or bloom or anything,
don't limit your paint colour to black - the Industrious technique looks great
with all colours of paint.

To create the background I used a piece of cream card and Tim's Spritz and Flick technique with Tea Dye Distress Stain and when it was dry I added some splatters with Ground Espresso Distress Paint.

To create the industrious layers I used Ranger's foil sheets adhered to some black cardstock and these were passed through two different Texture Fade embossing folders (by Tim Holtz) and then I applied Tim's Industrious Technique (as used by Tim for his January tag) which you can see demonstrated by Tim here.  I just love the way the red has turned out - I used Festive Berries Distress Paint.

For the 'birthday' sentiment I used Tim's Alphanumeric die set, cut from black card and backed onto an offcut from the base card.  The 'wishes' is one of Tim's chitchat stickers.

This really was a quick an easy card to make.  I mounted it onto black card and then onto a cream card base, edged with Tea Dye Distress Ink.

We hope you will join in this month at A Vintage Journey, as usual there is a £20 voucher from Countryview Crafts for one randomly drawn individual and the Creative Guides will choose

their top three projects to receive a Pinworthy Badge.

Thanks so much for your visit, I really appreciate it!

  Hugs, Anne xx

Tim Tag January 2016

Hi Everyone

Apologies for not being around much, I am not firing on all cylinders at present.  Apologies too
 if I have not been to visit you, hopefully I will get there soon.  Since I was

here last though, Blogger/Google has deleted nearly 20 Followers, I do wish they would

not mess with things!

Anyway, just a quickie today, having no internet connection today meant  I could do my Tim tag, this is my 4th year, how time flies when you are having a good time!

I won't describe all the details as Tim does that here.  Tim is doing things slightly differently this year and re-visiting previous techniques, in what he calls Technique Remix.

This month Tim is re-visiting the Industrious Technique and also the Chalkboard Technique.  I have to admit to loving the Industrious one but I do find the Chalkboard one a little challenging. 

A close-up of the fan, warts and all.

Thanks everyone, hope to see you again next week .

Hugs, Anne xx

Artist Trading Block Favourites

Hello Friends

I apologise for my long absence and lack of visits, hopefully by early next month

I will be be in a better position to rectify that, I hope you will bear with me....

This month at Art With Heart we are not having a challenge (and things are being changed up for future months).  Eileen Hull has released some fabulous new products at CHA (like the cantilever sewing box I featured here and here) and Eileen has also re-released some all time favourite dies.  One of these is the large Artist Trading Block (ATB) die (Szzix 658983) which is my personal favourite.  The Design Team are showcasing these re-released dies during this month. 

First up is my Artist Trading Block Storage Cabinet, details of which can be found here.  I used some fabulous G45 papers to cover the cabinet.  This shows how versatile the ATB die is, you can create 3D projects with it.

Next is my Valentine Heart Box, details can be found here.  This was the first ATB I ever made and DH still has it out on show to this day.

My next choice is my Circus themed ATB using Tim Holtz's Big Top Circus stamp set (details here).

Another favourite is an Andy Skinner inspired ATB, made using DecoArt products and Andy's Faux Letterpress Technique (details here)

My final choice is a project made for our lovely DT member Anna-Karin, we held a virtual baby shower for her, following the birth of her beautiful baby Leo (details here)

I hope you can see how wonderfully versatile the Artist Trading Block (ATB) die is.  I have made houses with it - and even a steam train, it is such a fun die to use.

Edited:  I have had some very exciting news.  Thanks to Eileen Hull and Jo Packham of 'Where Women Create'  I have had four pieces published in Sizzix's newest book release 'Make it a Party'.  I am so thrilled and honoured, it is a beautiful book and wonderfully illustrated and it is my first time ever being published!!

Thanks for looking, take care and I hope to see you soon!

Hugs, Anne xx

Ring Out the Old, Bring in the New at Anything But Cute

Hello Everyone

I hope you have had a great start to the New Year!  I am thrilled to be the Host this month at Anything But Cute, and since it is the beginning of a new year I have chosen 'Ring Out the Old, Bring in the New' as my challenge theme.  To celebrate the New Year, we would like you to create a mixed media card or project using something 'new', perhaps you got some fabulous new craft item for Christmas or you have something new that you have not used yet - please do remember to tell us what the new item is!

For my birthday and Christmas this year I received some beautiful Sandra Evertson Archival Casts, by Prima and I really wanted to use the beautiful Archangel from the Archangels set. 

 It just seemed right to create a shrine for the Archangel.  I did some research on Pinterest to get some ideas and found a great board here.  Near where I live there is a real life shrine (photo at the end of this post) which has fascinated me for years. 

I started by cutting two Tim Holtz Cameo frames from black mount board (mat board) and I used Tim's Sized rectangle die to cut an aperture in one of the frames.  I measured the opening and created a 'box' to go between the two frames.  The spool was later trimmed to fit in the gap to create a sturdy stand.

The next view shows the assembled box, this was painted with black gesso all over and once dry I applied a coat of Americana Weathered Wood Crackle Medium.  This is part of Andy Skinner's Mega Crackle technique.  You can see a video of Andy using the technique here.

To create the base crackle I added a little DecoArt Media Fluid in Raw Umber to some DecoArt Media Crackle Paint.  You can use up to 20% of coloured paint in the crackle paint to colour the Crackle Medium but I just wanted a hint of colour so I just used two little drops of the paint.

Once the paint is applied, this is how the result looks.  It starts to crackle immediately and dries fairly quickly, but you really do need to let it completely dry before moving on. 

To tint the shrine I used a thin wash, a mix of DecoArt Quinacridone Gold and water.  Before the first layer dried I mixed some Prussian Blue Media Fluid with water and lightly brushed this over the entire piece.  In real life it looks a little mottled, which I like.  This is a view of the back.  I always seal all of the crackled area with a sealant, in this case I used Ranger Glue and Seal.

To give the Archangel an aged look I first painted it with a thin coat of white gesso, followed by a very thin layer of Weathered Wood Crackle Medium and then finally a coat of DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylic in Titanium White.  The cracks are quite subtle.

Here is a close up showing the mega crackle on the shrine and the lighter crackle on the face of the Archangel.  The hair was lightly tinted with DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylic in Quinacridone Gold.  The crown was painted with DecoArt Media Fluid in Metallic Gold

I also used my new Tim Holtz flower punch to create some flowers to decorate the shrine.  The flowers were punched and then coloured lightly with Candied Apple Distress Spray Stain.  I scrunched the wet flowers and used three sets of petals for each flower, adding white stamens from my stash.

I attached the finished flowers along with some Tim Holtz Holiday Greenery.

As I mentioned earlier, we have a real life shrine near where we live, it fascinates me because no matter what day of the week, or hour of the day you visit, it is always filled with flowers.  It is on a steep hill on a very narrow road and stopping to have a look is not easy.  It think it is beautiful and there is a great view of the Derbyshire hills behind.

Thanks so much for joining me here today, I hope you feel inspired to join in our challenge at Anything But Cute and I hope to see you again soon.

Hugs, Anne xx

A Vintage Journey - Vintage Travel and Luggage

Hello Friends and Happy New Year to all of you!

What better way to start the New Year at A Vintage Journey than to have a 'Vintage Travel and Luggage' theme for our next challenge?  Brenda is our lovely and talented hostess this month.  For this challenge we would like you to let your imagination carry you back to the bygone eras, setting off on an exciting journey for the New Year.  Keeping it in Tim's style, we would love to see what item of luggage or mode of transport you would use on your journey - think hand luggage, travel trunks, hat boxes, hot air balloons, ships and trains.

I would love to have lived in a bygone era and perhaps travelled on the original Orient Express but since the Tim Holtz stamp I used features a North American steam engine, I will have to go with a wonderful trip I did a few years back, up the western seaboard of Canada, on one of these beautiful trains.

To create the background I used Tim's travel embossing folder, being careful to match up the pattern for the second pass through.  I used Tim's Sized Oval die to cut the aperture.  I lightly coloured the embossed surface with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink.  I wanted the oval to be raised so that the train would look like it was coming through a tunnel.  However, it looked a little too dark so I simply used Blueprint Sketch Distress Ink and the spritz and flick technique to create a sky background instead.  The embossed layer was added to the top using foam pads to create a raised aperture.

The train was stamped and coloured using Distress Markers and I fussy cut it and added it through the aperture hole.  I attached a game spinner to one of the wheels for added interest.

The word band was first coated in Rusty Hinge Distress Paint to make the words more visible, I wiped away the excess before adding it to the card.

The tickets are from the same stamp set, I stamped and cut them out and aged them with Antique Linen Distress Ink.  I punched out a date to make the ticket look more authentic.

I mounted the piece onto black card and then onto a Kraft card blank.

I do hope you will be able to enter Brenda's challenge over at A Vintage Journey.  As always there is a great prize of £20 from our amazing Sponsor, Country View Crafts, for one randomly chosen entrant and the Design Team will choose three other Pinworthies.

As always, thanks for stopping by, all comments are greatly appreciated.  I do hope I don't lose any of you with the changes Blogger/Google is making over the next couple of weeks.

Take care.  Hugs,  Anne xxx