March challenge - Rhedd's Creative Spirit

Hello all,

You ever have one of those months where you seem to be suffering from the reverse Midas touch, and everything you do turns out the opposite of what you wanted?
Well, that was me this month, which didn't bode well for my March challenge project for Rhedd's Creative spirit!

Well, this MDF ATC box almost went completely wrong, after some paint that said it was white (in big, unmistakable letters, no less), turn out to be a rather unattractive shade of grey once it dried.
To cover up, I decided to go with a pale yellow hued paint instead, as trying to make it pristine white would have taken too many coats and I'd have lost all the detail. I then added some more colourful touches with pigment powders, and a generous helping of Finnabair's metallique wax.

So not the pale, delicate, barely-there colourscheme I was hoping for originally, but I think it works!

I also adore the wings, which are from a pack of Tim Holtz ideology wings I picked up recently, and the stripy stencil I used is my current favourite, from AALL & Create.

And now it's over to you. Check out the gorgeous projects over at the blog which my fellow teamies have prepared, and then why not come and play with us?

Be right back with project #2 for today,

Sammy-x

February challenge - Altered Eclectics

Aaaaand we're back!

After an extra long 2-month challenge, it's finally time for a brand new challenge over at Altered Eclectics, and this month I have been playing with a canvas, and did a Finnabair style portrait.

The face was drawn by my lovely daughter, and I added the rest.

I love this kind of technique, because you can take all those bits and pieces you don't know what to do with, or are the wrong colour, or just plain ugly, and turn them into something prettiful!

Case in point: The large gemstone/diamond looking embellishment just to the right of the big flower below. I got a whole packet of them in a craft box a couple of years ago, and I really thought they were awful. They were really tacky-looking plastic things in not very nice colours, and they'd been taking up space in my craft stash for too long. But on this project it doesn't look out of place at all!

After all the paints and waxes are added, you get a lovely uniform look, that can hide even the most (formerly) ugly embellishments!

Why not give it a go? Dig out some of those pieces you've been hanging on to, even though you don't really like them much, and transform them into something beautiful. Please do come and share it with us when you're done though!

Back in just a minute with my next project!

Sammy-x

August challenge - Altered Eclectics

Morning all,

It's August and the sun is shining (which makes a nice change from the past few - very soggy - days!) and there's a new challenge starting at Altered Eclectics.

This month I decided to play on a small-ish canvas, and have fun with some mixed media supplies.

And a teaspoon...

My apologies for the lighting on this picture. I have a new all-bells-and-whistles camera, and I haven't quite cracked it yet. The dismal weather this past week hasn't helped either, and the result is rather grey, instead of white!

I highlighted the letters, heart and tops of the pebbles with Finnabair's silver metallique wax. Not only do these waxes look amazing, but they smell absolutely gorgeous too. Seiously, I can't stop sniffing this canvas!

In other news, I was a bit of a silly goose the other day and decided to have a dizzy spell just as I was cutting some card. I don't have any kind of paper trimmer, I still cut everything with a knife and ruler, and long story short; a hospital trip to patch my finger up was required.
It should all heal nicely, but in the meantime I have this huge bandage on my finger, and it definitely gets in the way when trying to craft. I'm also not allowed to get it wet, which creates all kinds of other problems.
Oh well, when we have our charity craft fair on Saturday, I can charge them extra, as blood, sweat and tears literally went into making the stuff, lol.

Anyways, enough waffle. Go take a peek at what my fellow teamies have been up to, and come play with us!

brb,

Sammy-x

May Challenge - Rhedd's Creative Spirit

Hello again!

I'm back with my second post of the morning, this time for Rhedd's Creative Spirit, where we have another fab altered art challenge for May.

We have some amazing new teamies joining us this month, so please do go see their makes and leave them some love!

I had a little fun with an 8" square piece of MDF this month, inspired by some of the ideas and techniques I picked up from Finnabair during last month's workshop.

I just love playing with the Art Alchemy Metallique waxes. I used White Gold here. Most of the embellishments were leftovers from the workshop kit, except for the MDF circle and large gear in the centre, which are Fernli Designs, and the key and filigree which came from Amazon. A Tim Holtz word sticker added a finishing touch.

It's over to you now. Come see what our fab new teamies have designed for you, and then please come and play along!

Have a most fantabulous day!

Sammy-x

Rusty ATCs

Hello all,

Just wanted to pop in and share some ATCs I made for a recent swap at a craft retreat. We didn't have a theme, so I just grabbed my rust pastes and had fun!

These are only half of them, as I forgot to take a picture of the second batch! (there were 10 of us in the swap).

The retreat itself was fantastic! With a vibrant colour theme on the first day courtesy of the always fabulous Kassa Hayselden and an amazing mixed media affair on the second day taught by none other than the amazing Finnabair, it could only have been more perfect if there'd been a third day with Tim Holtz (hey, a girl can dream, no?), lol.

The workshop/retreat itself was hands down, no contest the best arranged and executed workshop I have ever been on. No others have been even close to the same league.. Do yourselves a favour and book yourself on a workshop with Art Workshops next time you fancy going on one. You can thank me after... ;)

I will share photos just as soon as I've managed to take a decent picture of the HUGE project we did with Finnabair!

In the meantime, it would be rude not to share my ATCs with A Vintage Journey for their Rusty Crusty challenge, now wouldn't it?

Have a fantabulous day everyone!

Sammy-x