Saturday Step x Step

Just a little reminder that the details on how I made my Flower Fairy Hanging are available at Frilly and Funkie today.

This was a very simple project so it won't take you long to see how I transformed something retrieved from the garbage into a pretty wall hanging with lots of Wendy Vecchi's flowers.

Flower Fairy Hanging

(Click on image for a larger view)

It is time for the new challenge at Frilly and Funkie.  Suzz is our hostess this time and she is calling it It's Not Easy Being Green.  She describes it this way:

"In honor of Earth Day, which is April 22nd, create an UPCYCLED project. Repurpose an existing item, Recycle an element that would usually be thrown away, or use your paper scraps in a creative way"

Until his recent retirement my husband worked for the traffic department of our regional municipality.  One day he came home with a couple of these and asked if I wanted them for my crafting - he had rescued them from the scrap heap.  This is a lens from a set of LED traffic signals and would cover one of the lights; red, amber, green or the advance arrow.  I stuck them in a cupboard in my studio and when Suzz set the challenge a light went off in my head (no pun intended) and I knew what I would make with it.

Normally this is where I would tell you how I made my project but to get all the details of this flower fairy hanging you will have to wait until Saturday when I will do a Step x Step over at Frilly and Funkie.

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

Avenue 613 - Anything Goes with a twist (use something recycled)
Eclectic Ellapu - Spring Flowers/April Showers
Creative Corner  - Spring Flowers
Altered Eclectics - Anything Goes - Mixed Media/Altered Art (no cards, ATCs)
Country View Challenges - Spring
Crafts and Me - Fairies and Magic
Moving Along With The Times - Spring Flowers

Inspirational Post for Stamps and Stencils

Hi there, today it is my turn to present the Inspirational Post at Stamps and Stencils and this is just a sneak peek at what I have to show you so hop on over there to get the details.

Trash to Treasure

The new challenge starts today at Stamps and Stencils.  Autumn is hosting this one and she is calling it Trash to Treasure.  She describes it this way:

"Don't we all love a good upcycled project? This month we'd love to see how you take something that you'd normally discard and give it new life in your art. Whether it's glamorized boxes, Styrofoam turned into a stamp, packaging that's been die cut, or another altered idea you have. Bring on your best mixed media repurposing! We can't wait to see what you come up! Don't forget to use stamps or stencils in your project."

I decided to make a wall hanging that could hang in someone's sewing room.  First I had my husband cut me a piece of masonite on his fancy laser cutting machine.  The next step was to add my recycled items - the squares.  OK, not square exactly but definitely recycled since computers these days will not take these old floppy disks.  My husband had piles of them and offered them to me.  I accepted them but at the time had no idea what I was going to do with them.

Once they were adhered to the masonite, I coated everything with Liquitex Gesso and then coated the floppies with Liquitex Super Heavy Gesso. As you can see the heavy Gesso didn't smooth everything out so I decided to add some texture paste.  I used Golden Crackle Paste on the floppies themselves and Golden Light Molding Paste with a TCW Mini Geometric Art Layers stencil and a TCW Tiny Circles stencil on the backing board.  To get the stenciling in between the floppies since they were already glued down, I enlisted the aid of my handy dandy husband who drew some tiny circles in a graphics program and then cut a very narrow strip stencil on the laser cutting machine.  Love that machine - him too!!!!!

Next I added all the little bits and pieces - Tiny wooden clothespins and metals from The Funkie Junkie Boutique, Flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts, Lace from Fancy Gap, Wooden Text created by my husband and sewing supplies from my stash.  I have discovered that Liquitex Matte Super Heavy Gel makes a great adhesive for most of the items and Glossy Accents is perfect for the beads and other tiny things.  Once adhered I covered everything with another coat of Gesso to unify the colour.

Next I painted everything with a coat of DecoArt Buttermilk Acrylic Paint and then a watered down coat of DecoArt Melon Acrylic Paint.   Ink sprays came next - Lindy's Starburst in Wild Honeysuckle Coral and a touch of Saxifrage Olive Coral, which had more green in it than I wanted (Olive - dah) so I used a natural sea sponge and dabbed on some Bronze Metallic Acrylic Paint from Craftsmart and some Folk Art Champagne Metallic Acrylic Paint.

Finally I added the sentiment which was stamped from a TPC Studio set and some seed beads that I picked up in the discount section at Michaels.

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

Everybody Art Challenge - Pastel Colors
Altered Eclectics - Anything Goes - Altered Art, Mixed Media (no cards or ATCs)
Crafter's Cafe - Use Some Lace
Rhedd's Creative Spirit - Altered Art, Mixed Media (no cards or ATCs)
Take a Word  - Sewing
We Love 2 Create - Anything Creative Mixed Media Goes
Fussy and Fancy - Pastels

Dapper Gent

It is time for the new challenge at Frilly and Funkie and Jenny is hosting this time and is calling it Boy oh Boy!.  She describes it this way:

"Create a vintage or shabby chic project with a man in mind. Let's see those male themed creations come to life."

I need a couple of birthday cards for some men in my family so the timing of this challenge was perfect.

I went pretty simple with this card letting papers from the Tim Holtz Dapper paper pad take centre stage.  I have done a lot of distressing with my scissors and inking with Gather Twigs Distress Ink to make it look even more vintage.

I started with some card stock from my stash for the blank and added the panel of ticking.  Then I embossed a piece of Recollections kraft card stock using a Tim Holtz embossing folder called Collage.  Next came the numbers and ticking mini panels.

I cut the zig zag from a large paper and added it next topped with a strip of burlap.  The ad panel followed along with the little fishtail ruler, also cut from the paper pad.  The gentleman was fussy cut from the same page as the zigzag.  Finally I added a pocket watch and some carved coconut shell buttons.

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

Paperminutes - Card for a Man
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
A Bit More Time to Craft - Anything Goes
ABC Challenge - "E" is for Everything (Anything Goes)
Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
Our Crafty Corner - Anything Goes
One Stitch at a Time - Anything Goes with Distressing
Morgan's Art World - For The Men
Simply Papercrafts - Anything Goes

The following items used to create this card came from The Funkie Junkie Boutique:

Rain Forest

It is time for a new month-long challenge at Anything But Cute and this time Samra is our hostess and calls it Earth Day.

Before I tell you about the challenge and my project, I want to let you know that this will be my last post for Anything But Cute.  I want to say thank you to Pamellia for the opportunity to be in from the start of her challenge blog and I want to wish her and the rest of the gals on the team all the best.  

Samra describes the challenge this way:

"Create a mixed media project inspired by this mood board and the beauty of our planet. Please tell us what inspired you. Entries for this challenge can be echo friendly, or even recycled/upcycled items; or depiction of the sea, mountain, river, forest, flowery meadow…let’s celebrate our planet!"

I decided to go to the rain forest for my Earth Day offering and was inspired by a trip I made in 2008 into the rain forest of Costa Rica.  I went on Google to see what kind of snakes live in rain forests since I didn't come across any on my trip and discovered that there are some bright blue species so I added some to my project, which is as close as I want to come to them.  There are lots and lots of trees in the rain forest and I was conned into going zip lining between some of them.  I did it twice that day - the first time and the last time - LOL.

This is a 5"x7" canvas that I picked up at the dollar store.  I coated it with Liquitex Gesso and then I covered it with various die cut and punched leaves, vines and butterflies.  Another coat of Gesso was added and then I painted it with Guacamole and Hey Pesto Fresco Finish paints.  I used some Wendy Vecchi Tree Branch Archival Ink and a stamp from the Tim Holtz Ultimate Grunge set to add a  few splatters.

I used a Dylusions stencil called Leaf Flourish Small and some Wendy Vecchi Fern Green Archival Ink to add the hanging vines.  After the ink was dry I replaced the stencil and added some Wendy Vecchi Translucent Embossing Paste.

I made the branch and bird from Martha Stewart Crafter's Clay and a Wilton Silicone Mold.  The branch was painted with some Folk Art Coffee Bean Acrylic Paint and then inked with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink.  The bird was painted with DecoArt's Pumpkin and Dark Scarlet Acrylic Paint, Tangerine Acrylic Paint by Folk Art and Liberty Blue Acrylic Paint from Accent.  Then I handmade a couple snakes from Crafter's Clay and painted it with Ice Blue Metallic Acrylic Paint from DecoArt.

Next I made a couple of ferns from Crafter's Clay and painted them with DecoArt Plantation Pine Acrylic Paint and inked them with Forest Moss DI.  I picked up a really cheap and really ugly floral pick from Michaels, took it apart and altered it by coating it with some Ceramacoat Acrylic Paint called Leaf Green mixed with some DecoArt Fabric Medium so it would stay flexible and now I had rain forest flora and fauna.

I thought it needed some earth so I mixed some large seed beads with some light molding paste and dabbed that on and then painted it with some Coffee Bean Acrylic Paint from Folk Art.