St. Patrick's Day Layers

It is time for a new challenge at Frilly and Funkie and this time Nancy is our hostess and wants to see us Layer It Up.  She describes the challenge this way:

"Create a shabby chic or vintage project that includes multiple layers."

When I saw this theme I thought it would be no problem but it is amazing how your mood affects your creating.  I have been dealing with some personal stuff for the past couple weeks and usually getting in my studio is just the ticket to make me happy and productive but this time I felt like I was spinning my wheels and this card with layers didn't translate as well from my head to finished product as I thought it would.  I am sure many of you go through the same thing from time to time so despite the fact that I am not really happy with this card I am forging ahead and sharing it anyway.

I started with some Bazzill card stock for the blank and then added a panel of paper from the Graphic 45 Once Upon A Springtime pad.  All the elements have been distressed and inked on the edges with Peeled Paint Distress Ink.  Next I took a piece of yellow paper from Maja Designs Vintage Spring Basics and ran it through a Tim Holtz Texture Fade called Collage.  I inked the highlights with Shabby Shutters Distress Ink.

The next panel is a piece from Graphic 45 Time to Flourish paper pad.  I created a calendar for March on my computer and highlighted the 17th with a Prismacolor pencil.  The vintage lady is from The Graphics Fairy and the Irish music poster is from Mallory and McCall.  I inked a piece of a Wilton doily with some Shabby Shutters DI and tucked it behind the music poster.

I added a clear disc to a shamrock chipboard piece from the Graphic 45 set and grouped it with some flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts and a button from my stash. 

I altered the colour of a Tim Holtz Typed Token with some Lettuce and Meadow Alcohol Ink and added a Making Memories brad from my stash.

Next I dyed some seam binding with Shabby Shutters to make the loopy bow, tied it with some burlap string and added a little flower from Wild Orchid Crafts to the centre.  Finally I cut the sentiment from the Time to Flourish pad.

I am going to enter this card in the following challenges:

Crafty Boots Challenges - No Stamps Allowed
Polkadoodles - Lucky Green
Really Reasonable Ribbon - Celebrate Theme with Ribbon or Trim

The following items used in the creation of this card came from The Funkie Junkie Boutique:

Friday Focus at Frilly and Funkie

I am presenting the new Friday Focus segment today at Frilly and Funkie.  Here is a sneak peek of my project.  To get the details, click here and check out the full post.

Love Is In The Air

It is time for another new challenge at Frilly and Funkie and Zoe is our hostess this time.  She is calling this one Love Is In The Air and describes it this way:

"Create a vintage or shabby chic project with love as the central theme. Think hearts, cupid, love and romance in whatever colour palette your heart desires."

I decided to use a new Graphic 45 paper pad called Mon Amour to make my card.  Great minds think alike because I wasn't the only gal on the frilly team that had the same idea.

I started with some Bazzill card stock for the blank and added a black and white script paper first.  Then I added three more papers on an angle, distressing all of them with my scissors and inking the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  I lightly coloured some venise lace with Antique Linen Distress Ink and tucked it under each of the angled edges.

Next I fussy cut the large image, the oval image and the sentiment from some of the papers, inked them with Vintage Photo DI and added them with some foam dimensionals. 

I altered the colour of a bronze filigree corner with some Folk Art acrylic paint called Promenade but still didn't like the colour so I mixed some Lindy's Magicals (Cosmopolitan Pink, Fuzzy Navel Peach and A Bit o'Bubbly) with some Winsor & Newton Gum Arabic and painted that on - better.

I used some crinoline to cut flowers from the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die.  It was a bit larger than I wanted so I just took some Fiskars fancy scissors called Deckle and cut the petals down to a size I wanted.  Next I dyed the crinoline with some Abandoned Coral Distress Ink.  When it was dry I shaped and layered the flower and added a big pearl for a centre.

The rest of flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and I have added some May Arts black crochet ribbon.

I hope you will join us and show us a LOVE-LY project.

I am going to enter this card in the following challenges:

Cardz 4 Guyz - Valentine or Love
Fan-Tastic Tuesday - Anything Goes with a Twist - So In Love (must be square)
Try It On Tuesday - A Fine Romance
Crafty Cardmakers - Love, Love. Love
Crazy Challenge - Love
Craft and Smash - Vintage
Creative Moments - Anything Goes with a Twist - Romance/Love
Eclectic Ellapu - Love Actually
Corrosive Challenges - Love, Love, Love
Creatalicious Challenges - Love Is In The Air

The following products used in the creation of this card came from The Funkie Junkie Boutique - a fabulous place to shop with the BEST customer service:

Grungy Valentine

The new challenge starts today at Anything But Cute and the lovely Sara Emily is our hostess this time and is calling the challenge Grungy Love.  She describes it this way:

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 be sure it's grungy!

I decided to make a grungy valentine card with some feminine touches.  I started with some grey card stock from Bazzill for my blank and then added a red panel of card stock from my stash.

The next panel had a number of steps.  First I took some Black Soot Distress Ink and patted it in on my craft mat, spritzed it with water and smooshed it onto a piece of Terra Skin paper.  This paper is very thin and has a plastic feel to it but it will not warp when you add lots of wet mediums to it, which is a good thing.  The downside is that it is best left to dry on its own and if you do use a heat tool you have to keep it very far away or the Terra Skin will start to buckle and shrivel.

Next I added some Golden Light Molding Paste through a Tim Holtz Flourish stencil in opposite corners.  Then I dripped some FW Crimson Acrylic Ink in various spots and blasted them with some canned air.  I watered down some white acrylic paint and dabbed it all over with a natural sea sponge, let it dry for a few minutes and then carefully blotted it with a paper towel to take a bit back off.  Then I gave it a light spray with Hickory Smoke Distress Spray and again blotted it to take some off.  Finally I used some Wendy Vecchi Red Geranium Archival Ink through a heart stencil that my husband cut for me on the laser cutter.

The next step was to dye some cheesecloth with Black Soot DI and lay it down.  I had the crackled heart already made from a cracker box, coated with paint and then topped with Clear Rock Candy Distress Paint but the colour was all wrong so I painted it with some Deco Art Dark Scarlet Acrylic Paint.

The metal key and lock were in my stash and I painted them with some Deco Art Black Coal One Step Metal Paint and then highlighted them with some Treasure Pewter wax paste.

The flourish was a little wood piece I picked up at WalMart and I covered it with Folk Art Metallic Silver Sterling acrylic paint and then rubbed it with the Treasure Pewter.

The sentiment is from TPC Studios and was stamped with Jet Black Archival Ink, distressed and inked with some Black Soot DI and attached with a little red clothespin that came in a little goodie pack from The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

Finally I added a big button from The Funkie Junkie Boutique along with some buttons from my stash and some beads from Michaels.

I hope you will join us for this grungy challenge.

Inky Valentine

The new challenge starts today at Stamps and Stencils and Sue is our hostess and here is what she has for us:

Splatter, Spritz, Smoosh! What can be better that getting messy in your craft room, so for this challenge it's time to get out those sprays, paints and inks and really get messy ! We want to see splattering, spritzing and smooshing ! Just remember to include either some stamping or stencilling.

To make this inky valentine I started with a piece of Recollections card stock for my blank and then I made an inky background.

I started with a piece of Yupo paper, which didn't warp when I added all the wet mediums to it, which was a good thing but it is a little pricey.  First I patted Worn Lipstick, Picked Raspberry and Fired Brick Distress Ink on my craft mat and spritzed it with water before I dragged the Yupo paper through it.

Once that layer was dry I dripped a few drops of Wild Plum Alcohol Ink on it and spritzed it with some Rubbing Alcohol that I picked up from the dollar store.

For the next layer I sprayed some Lindy's Starburst Ramblin Rose on it.  Finally I used some Wendy Vecchi Translucent Embossing Paste through a Dylusions Dotted Flowers Stencil in opposite corners.

The lace is from a wholesale warehouse in Fancy Gap, Virginia and I dyed it with some Worn Lipstick and Picked Raspberry DI.  I topped that with a filigree medallion that I painted with some Folk Art Plum Metallic acrylic paint.  I also added the word Love that was cut on my husband's laser cutter out of mat board and inked with Worn Lipstick DI.

Next came the hearts.  The one at the top was hand cut from card stock and then I ran it through a Cuttlebug embossing folder called Victoria.  It was painted with some Craftsmart Pink Blush Pearl acrylic paint and then inked with Worn Lipstick DI.

The middle heart was cut from a cracker box, coated with Gesso, painted with some Clear Rock Candy Crackle Paint and when it was dry it was inked with Worn Lipstick DI and then some FW Sundown Magenta acrylic ink was dabbed on with a natural sea sponge.  I took some beads from my stash and twisted them in some Artistic wire to add to the centre.

The bottom heart was also hand cut, painted with some Fresco Finish Blush chalk acrylic and then stamped with a script stamp from Recollections using Deep Purple Archival Ink.

The big flowers are from Recollections and the little roses are from Wild Orchid Crafts and all have been in my stash for ages.

Finally, the butterfly was stamped using Jet Black Archival Ink and a hero Arts stamp, fussy cut and then coloured using a Lavender Prismacolor pencil blended with Gotrick OMS.  I used some Artistic Wire to add back his antennae.

Here are some close up views since I wasn't able to take any process photos along the way. Just click on the photos to get a larger version.

I hope you will get inky and join us for this challenge.