I Can See Clearly

It is time for another new challenge at Sugar Creek Hollow and this time it is called I CAN SEE CLEARLY.  We want you to put a clear element on your vintage or shabby chic card or other crafty project.  By clear we mean items made from acetate or clear packaging such as the window for a shaker, a clear butterfly or even stamping on a clear panel.  Now we understand that photographing clear is difficult so you must describe your clear element in your blog post.

I have made a shaker card so my clear element is acetate to create the window and then I have used some clear sequins along with some pale turquoise bugle beads inside the shaker.

I started with some white card stock from Recollections for my 6" square card.  I added some digital background paper from Summertime Designs but it was too bright so I lightly dry washed it with some Liquitex Gesso before I distressed it with my scissors and glued it down.  I added a strip of lace from my stash.

To make the shaker, I started with an image from Homestead Vintage and then I cut two frames from white card stock.  The smaller one was inked with some Evergreen Bough Distress Ink from Ranger.  Once the shaker was in place using lots of strips of double sided adhesive foam I randomly inked some scrap card stock with more of the DI and then used a couple of Martha Stewart punches to make the snowflakes.  Pearl stickers from Recollections were added to the centre of each.

The sentiment was created on the computer, cut into a banner shape, the edges inked with the DI and a couple of pearls added to finish it off.

Finally I used a Marianne Creatables die to make the poinsettia from a scrap of green card stock, a scrap of yellow and some leftover shimmery white card stock (too bad the camera doesn't pick up the shimmer.  The green layer was inked with some of the DI.

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

Polkadoodles  - Christmas Fun
Christmas at Sweet Stampin' - Snowflakes
Crafting by Designs - Get Ready for Christmas
Divas by Design  - Festive Florals/Christmas Flowers
Crafty Little Fairies - Only One DP
Inky Chicks - Christmas
Crafty Bloggers Network - Christmas

Thanksgiving Wall Hanging

The new challenge at Frilly and Funkie starts today and Rebecca is our hostess and she is calling it A Grateful Welcome! Whether you celebrate the American holiday of Thanksgiving or your gratitude for the family, friends and sustenance in your life, create an invitation, table decor, decoration for a door or home decor item with gratitude or Thanksgiving theme in mind!

Thanksgiving is a celebration that really only takes place in Canada and the US.  Here in Canada we celebrate the second Monday in October so it was over when I created this piece but I will pack it away to hang up next year.

My inspiration was the vintage turkey that I found online.  I started with a 6" x 8" piece of mat board and after my husband drilled the holes for me, I gave it a coat of Gesso.  Next I used some texture paste through the Wendy Vecchi Checkmate Stencil on opposite corners.  The next step was to sponge on some Wild Honey Distress Ink and then a bit of Dandelion Archival Ink.

Next I used my Cuttlebug to cut the large leaves using the Tim Holtz Tattered Leaves die and some scraps of Pion paper from the Grandma's Schoolbook pack as well as scraps of Color Core card stock and set them aside.  I used one of the oak leaves as a mask and inked over it in random spots with some Orange Blossom Archival Ink.  The last step for the background was to use Coffee Archival Ink through a TCW Chicken Wire stencil.

The tattered leaves got some inking on the edge with Rusty Hinge and Forest Moss Distress Ink and then I used some Coffee Archival Ink and Wendy's Vintage Wallpaper stamp to give them more interest.  I ran the red leaves through the Tim Holtz Bubbles Texture Fade and then inked the edges with some Aged Magohany DI.  Before I added the leaves to the background I cut some gold mesh ribbon in half and added a couple of sections.  Next came the turkey that I also fussy cut.

The butterflies were stamped from a Stampabilities set I picked up on clearance and then I inked them with some Orange Blossom and Red Geranium Archival ink and fussy cut them.  I added some wire for the antenna and some pearls from the dollar store for bodies.

The corn stalks are made from rafia that I found during my craft room re-organization a couple weeks ago.  I glued a couple layers together, tied it in the middle with another piece of rafia and then fringed the top and added some Antique Linen and Walnut Stain DI.

The pumpkin was hand cut and then parts were cut again and the edges were inked with some Walnut Stain DI before they were added to give the pumpkin a bit of dimension.  I made the apple basket from some scraps of kraft card stock and inked all the slats with Walnut Stain DI.  The apples are card candy and I indented one edge, added a teeny stem and then inked the apples with Aged Mahogany DI and the stems with Forest Moss DI.

The text was cut on my Cameo from Grunge Paper and inked with Forest Moss DI.  Finally I made the hanger by stringing some beads on head pins and eye pins and added them to some chain with jump rings.

I am going to enter this in the following challenges:

Cards and More - Leaves
Cuttlebug Mania - Use Leaves
Love to Create - Anything Goes/Fall Colors
Stamp and Create - Fall/Autumn
Crazy Challenge - Autumn Gatherings

The following products used in the creation of this wall hanging came from the most wonderful online store, The Funkie Junkie Boutique:

Colouring Outside The Lines

A dear friend of mine, Sue Carrington, is involved in a wonderful new challenge blog called Artist Trading Post Exchange.  This is a mixed media challenge and it launched at the beginning of October so I thought I would play in their first challenge - Anything Goes.

I decided to make another page for my art journal and focus on the warm changing colours surrounding me.  I also decided to give it a pile of texture and that was fun.

I started by gluing two blank pages together to give it more strength but it still buckled a bit with all the texture which started with gluing some drywall tape, crumpled tissue paper, netting and gauze in random spots along with a strip of lace.  The next step was to add Golden Light Molding Paste in random spots through a Heidi Swap stencil and through the netting.

After the paste was dry I start wiping Smoked Paprika, Blood Orange, Pumpkin Soup and Hey Pesto Fresco Finish paints on touching up some of the missed spots with a paintbrush.

Next I pulled out some Prima and Recollections flowers, changed the colour of a few with paint and gave them a light spray with Tattered Angels Pearl Glimmer Mist before I added buttons for centres.  Some of the leaves were stamped with Coffee Archival Ink from Ranger using the Shabby Chic Autumn Leaves set from Just Right and then inked with Scattered Straw, Old Paper, Crushed Olive, Aged Mahogany, Spiced Marmalade and Ripe Persimmon Distress Ink from Ranger before they were fussy cut.

The rest of the leaves were cut from scrap card stock and embossed with a lace embossing folder and then inked with some Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  The butterfly is a wood piece that I picked up at the dollar store and it was already coloured so I just inked the edges with some Vintage Photo DI.

The letters for the word "fall" are chipboard and I painted them with some Haystack Fresco Finish paint and then stamped some script with Coffee Archival Ink using a stamp from Recollections.  I gave them a coat of Mod Podge to seal everything.

Finally I made the rest of the text on the computer, inked the edges with Vintage Photo DI and then added them along with a few beads for some bling.

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

Artist Trading Post Exchange - Anything Goes (mixed media)
All Crafts Challenge - Anything but a Card
Artistic Inspirations  - Anything Goes/Make Your Own Background
Cheerful Stamp Pad - Fall Leaves
Timbro Scrap Mania Stamping Challenge - Fall is in the Air
Stamping Sensations  - Autumn
So Artful Challenges - Leaves
Crafty Catz  - Autumn

One, Two, Three - Go

The new challenge at Sugar Creek Hollow starts today and the theme is called ONE, TWO, THREE.  We want you to make cards with one focal image, two patterned papers and three types of embellishments (e.g. a strip of lace, a few pearls and some ribbon).  You can add multiples of any of the three types you choose but we don't want you to add a 4th type of embellishment.

Provided we have at least nine entries in the challenge we will choose one random winner who will receive a little piece of word art along with a winner's badge to display. The Design Team will choose their Top Pick and that creator will receive a winner's badge and also be in the running for a monthly Guest Designer spot.

I made this card while I was in Virginia visiting with my friend Patti and decided it would be great for my husband's birthday.

I started with some Recollections green card stock for my blank and added two papers from First Edition.  Next I stamped the vintage truck from Stampin Up with Jet Black Archival Ink from Ranger and coloured it with Spectrum Noirs.  The leaves were cut from scraps of card stock on Patti's Cameo and I then I stamped them with a Gina K. script stamp.  Everything was inked with some Vintage Photo Distress Ink from Ranger.  Finally I added a button and some hemp from Patti's stash.

While I designed this card and put it together, Patti supplied everything that went into it so you might say that she made it too :)  So there you go, one truck image, two papers and three types of embellishments - leaves, button and hemp.

I am going to enter this into the following challenges:

Add A Little Dazzle - Fall is Here or Anything Goes
Ruby's Rainbow - Autumn Leaves
Crafting Musketeers - Autumn Colours
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge - Anything Goes with Patterned Paper
Craft-room Challenge - Seasonal Colours (Fall)
Docerela Creations  - Fall Colours

Autumn Colours

The new challenge at Frilly and Funkie starts today and Sue is our hostess and wants us to make shabby chic or vintage projects that showcase Autumn Colours - your project does not have to be about Autumn, it just needs to be in the colours associated with Autumn.

Where I live the trees are all turning and now that it has cooled off (long pants weather) you can bet those vibrant colours won't last too long.

I started my card with some Recollections kraft card stock for the base, added a layer of olive green card stock that I found in my scraps and topped that with a layer of Tim Holtz Color Core card stock.

Next I took a scrap of white card stock and inked it up with Ripe Persimmon, Rusty Hinge, Wild Honey and Crushed Olive Distress Ink.  I did a little water flicking before I added some dots with Wendy Vecchi Dandelion Archival Ink and her Polka Dotty stencil.  Then I proceeded to pretty well cover it all up - WUWT!  Oh, and all the layers were distressed with my scissors and then had the edges inked with Vintage Photo DI.

I recently had the joy of spending a day with Pamellia Johnson and learning how she creates her fantastic shabby projects.  She taught me a cool crackle paint technique so I made the heart using her technique.  It started with a scrap of cream card stock, followed by a layer of cheap white glue from the dollar store and then while it was still wet, a layer of Barnyard Red acrylic paint from Plaid.  The heart was then hand cut once everything was dry.  I need to keep practicing because I was really aiming for more cracks horizontally and I seem to be very good at getting vertical cracks.

Next I dyed a piece of Venise Lace and some lacy netting with some Wild Honey DI.  I also cut two butterflies from vellum using a Martha Stewart punch and inked them from the back with some of the Ripe Persimmon DI.  Once I put them together I added some dollar store pearls for the body.

Using the Wendy Vecchi Daisy Art set and Coffee Archival Ink by Ranger, I stamped the flowers and leaves four times, once on Tim Holtz Kraft Glassine and three times on a linen card stock that I discovered leftover from my daughter's wedding 13 years ago (I guess I should have done a craft room reorganization long ago - lol).  I coloured the glassine leaves using Crushed Olive DI and cut them away from the flower.  Then I fussy cut the other three flowers  One was coloured with Wendy Vecchi Orange Blossom Archival Ink and one with her Dandelion Archival Ink.  Both were sprayed with Perfect Pearl spray and then microbeads from Recollections were added for centres.  The third flower was coloured with Wendy's Red Geranium Archival Ink, stamped with a Recollections script stamp and then coated with Tim Holtz Clear Rock Candy Crackle Paint.  It didn't crack as I hoped but I like the shine.  I re-coloured a wooden button with a Copic marker, used some burlap string to fill the holes and added it to the centre of the red flower.

The sentiment was stamped from the Wendy Vecchi The Beauty of Art set using Coffee Archival Ink on some of the linen card stock and inked with some Wild Honey and Rusty Hinge DI.  The bow is seam binding dyed with Wild Honey, Crushed Olive and Aged Mahogany DI.  Finally I added a sun charm from Arton Bead Supply that I re-coloured with some Ginger and Caramel Adirondack Alcohol Ink.

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

Craft-Room Challenge - Seasonal Colours
Shopping Our Stash - It's The Most Colorful Time Of The Year
Robyn's Fetish - Autumn Colors
Paper Creators Crafts - Use A Charm
Aloha Friday Challenges - Fall Colors

The following items used in the creation of this card can be found at The Funkie Junkie Boutique:

Body Beautiful ??

It is time for the next monthly challenge at The Mirror Crack'd and this time the theme is called The Body Beautiful so we want to see your mixed media project featuring the human form. A hand, an eye or a mannequin to represent a body are just some suggestions you could use, but we would love to see how your imagination works and what you can create. Just remember - no cards.

I decided to make doorknob hangers for Halloween for my Grandchildren (a girl aged 8 and a boy aged 5 1/2) so my body references are not beautiful unless you are a Pathologist or an Undertaker but the skulls suit the theme I chose.

Each hanger started as a double layer of thin chipboard that I cut with my Cameo and glued together.  Next I painted the backs with black acrylic craft paint and the front with Gesso.  Then I crumpled up some tissue paper and glued it to the front of each hanger.  Next I spritzed each one with some purple and green spray inks and hit them with some canned air while they were wet.  Once everything dried I covered them with Black Soot Distress Ink.  They seemed a bit dark so I took a baby wipe and removed some of the Black Soot.  You will notice that my Grandson's hanger is more green and that is because it is his favourite colour.

Besides the vintage skull images each hanger needed some fun embellishments so I got to work.

For the one on the left I made a computer generated date and then I printed some vintage poison labels, coloured them with Spiced Marmalade  DI and then joined them together with a brad from Making Memories.

The mummy head is a glass block covered with strips of gauze bandage that I dyed with some Antique Linen Distress Ink.  His little eyes were created from some acrylic packaging that I coloured with Alcohol Ink, punched with a small circle punch and then added a black pearl sticker for eyeballs.  The 3D pumpkin is made from punched circles that were embossed with a Tim Holtz Texture Fade and then the highlights were inked with some Black Soot DI.  The stem and leaves were hand cut and inked with Forest Moss DI and the tendril is a piece of wire.

Finally the word BOO is made from some wooden letters that I painted with acrylic craft paint and then highlighted with some Rose Quartz Treasure Gold wax paste.  A little hand cut bat tops off the letters.

For the hanger on the right I used larger wooden letters to make the word BOO, painted it the same way as the other but before I added the wax paste, I stamped each letter with a script stamp.  Then I added a couple of brads and another little bat.

I made a little book of spells from some card stock that I embossed with the Texture Fade from Tim Holtz, highlighted with some Black Soot DI and then coated with a layer of Mod Podge.  The book pages are taken from an old book and the book is tied together with some burlap string.

A girl has to have flowers so I added two with buttons from my stash for centres and another with a little rose that I coloured with a Promarker.  Finally I made some bead charms and hung them from chain.

If you are wondering why the little bats don't have eyes - it is because they are "blind as a bat" - lol (cheesy, I know).

Here are the supplies I used to create this project:

Papers: Chipboard (Silhouette), Tissue Paper (Dollarama), Card Stock (Recollections)
Images: Skulls (The Graphics Fairy, The Cottage Market), Poison Labels (Palace Puppy), Bat (Plumrose Lane)
Inks & Paints: Black Soot, Antique Linen, Forest Moss, Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink (Ranger), Crushed Grape, Dirty Martini Dylusions Spray Ink (Ranger), Caramel, Ginger Adirondack Alcohol Ink (Ranger), Rose Quartz Wax Paste (Treasure Gold), Avocado, Black Acrylic Paint (Americana)
Embellishments: Wooden Letters (Dollarama), Flowers (Prima and Wild Orchid Crafts),  Beads and Beading Supplies (Arton Bead Supply, Michaels, Dollarama, Wal Mart), Patchwork Texture Fade (Tim Holtz), Buttons (My Stash), Pearl Stickers (Recollections), Burlap String (The Funkie Junkie Boutique), Brads (Making Memories), Wire (Artistic Wire), Glass Block (Michaels)
Miscellaneous: Gesso (Liquitex), Matte Medium (Ranger), Mod Podge 

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

Fab 'n Funky - Halloween
Corrosive Challenges - Halloween Colors
Creative Corner - Anything But A Card
Pattie's Creations - Embossing (must use an image - skulls)
Simply Create Too - It's A Special Occasion

Hide and Go Seek

It is time for a new challenge at Sugar Creek Hollow and this one is called Hide and Go Seek.  We want you to make a vintage or shabby chic project with a hidden element.  Make sure you mention what your hidden element is in your post.

Here is my hidden element:

My husband and I recently went on a two-week road trip to the US and in addition to some sightseeing we visited with some of my crafty friends along the way.  We spent a week in Virginia with the lovely Patti Painter and her husband and while there Patti and I managed to get a couple of crafting sessions in.  I had taken some of the elements for this card with me but also used some of Patti's supplies, such as her die set, Spectrum Noirs (a.k.a. her magic markers according to her husband - lol) and rubber stamps.  We also had dinner and spent a fun evening in Richmond, Virginia with Cheryl Grant of Sassy Cheryl's Stamps and spent a fabulous weekend in Maryland with Ann English and her husband.  Patti and Ann have been on design teams with me and I must say - my crafting friends are the best.

I started with some Recollections card stock for the blank.  Then I added some Pink Paislee papers from the Queen Bee collection for the background, distressed them with my scissors and sponged them with some Black Soot Distress Ink from Ranger.  I cut the large horizontal die cut from more of the Pink Paislee paper using Spellbinders Labels 18 die.

The image die is cut from white card stock using the same die set.  Next I stamped the Lemon Stamp from Stampin Up using Jet Black Archival Ink from Ranger and coloured it with Patti's Spectrum Noirs (my first effort but I think it is fine considering I am a Prismacolor gal). 

I made a loopy bow from black satin ribbon that I picked up at Fabricland and added a Recollections polka dot button to it.  The large die has some Recollections pearl stickers added and is popped up with foam dots.  The hidden sentiment is from Stampin Up and has been stamped with Jet Black Archival Ink on a hand cut tag and then sponged with some Black Soot DI.  The narrow yellow ribbon came from my stash.

Finally I added some black lace that came from an outlet store in Fancy Gap, VA and a computer generated sentiment that I hand cut.

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

Simply Create Too - Special Occasion
The Sisterhood of Crafters - Lots of Layers
Cuttlebug Mania - Anything Die Cut
Bunny Zoe's Crafts - Lace
Crafty Cardmakers - Ribbons/Lace and Pearls
Timbro Scrapmania - Lace and Pearls

Boo

The new challenge at Frilly and Funkie starts today and Nancy is our hostess and is calling the challenge A Haunting Halloween, which is so timely since Halloween is just around the corner - at least that what the merchandise in the stores tell us and the calendar.

I have made a card for one of my little Grandchildren so it is an eclectic mix of vintage and shabby with some child-friendly elements.

I started with some Tim Holtz Color Core card stock for the blank.  Then I created a background with some coated card stock that I covered with Scattered Straw DI and then sponged on some Wendy Vecchi Orange Blosson Archival Ink using a sea sponge.  A little Black Soot and Bundled Sage DI was sponged on the background and then I used Jet Black Archival Ink to stamp some splatters from the Tim Holtz Ultimate Grunge stamp set.

I cut a triangle of the Color Core card stock, embossed it with the Tim Holtz Patchwork embossing folder and inked it with some Black Soot DI.  The rosette was also made from the same card stock and then I added a burlap string bow and a computer generated sentiment.  The rosette is mounted on some cheesecloth that was dyed with some Black Soot DI.  The Halloween ticket is from a Tim Holtz stamp called Odds and Ends and was stamped with Jet Black Archival Ink on grey card stock and then fussy cut while the skulls were cut with my Cameo.

The vintage image is from vintagehalloween.com and the mummy head was made by crisscrossing strips of paper inked with a Recollections script stamp across a punched circle.  I added some googly eyes and some hand cut teeth.  Finally I added some spiders that were stamped, fussy cut and then covered with a black metallic Sakura gel pen.

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

Friday Focus at Frilly and Funkie

I am presenting the Friday Focus today at Frilly and Funkie and it is all about Venise Laces so here is a sneak peek at what I made.  Pop over to Frilly and Funkie where I will give you all the details.

Floral Chic

Two weeks have gone by quickly and now it is time for another new challenge at Sugar Creek Hollow.  This time it is called Word Play and we want to see vintage or shabby chic projects that include a word or words, which could be a sentiment but does not have to be.

I think this card is more chic than shabby but I love how it turned out.

I started with some Recollections card stock for my blank and then created the background from a piece of scrap white card stock.  I sponged Squeezed Lemonade, Scattered Straw and Dried Marigold Distress Ink from Ranger over the piece and then did some stenciling in Wild Honey DI with the Wendy Vecchi checkers stencil.

I cut some leaves from Tim Holtz color core card stock using my Cameo and then inked them with some Forest Moss DI from Ranger.

I added a strip of black ribbon from Fabricland to a strip of patterned paper from My Mind's Eye and fastened that on the right side.  I stamped the sentiment from The Daisy Art set from Wendy Vecchi.

I also stamped the flower from the same stamp set twice and fussy cut it.  Each flower was coloured with Prismacolor pencil crayons and blended with Gotrick odourless mineral spirits.  I popped the top flower up with some foam dots and added some black seed beads from Michaels for the centre.

Finally I made a big bow from some gradient organza ribbon that I picked up in Fancy Gap, Virginia.

From the Heart

The new challenge at Frilly and Funkie is called From the Heart and Trace, our hostess this time wants us to make vintage or shabby chic projects with hearts as the focal image.

For my shabby card, I started with some pink card stock as my blank and then added some paper from the Maja Designs pack called Coffee in the Arbor for my background and for the gathered pieces.

Next I added a little piece of venise lace with hearts and a piece of seam binding across the bottom.  I added a bronze toned cabochon topped with a little rose from Wild Orchid Crafts.

Then I used another piece of the Maja Designs paper to make one heart and then some more of the pink card stock for the second big heart.  I ran that heart through the Tim Holtz texture fade called Bubble.  Both hearts were distressed with my scissors and the edges were inked with Milled Lavender Distress Ink.  I topped the big pink heart with a loopy bow made from burlap string and added a metal heart that I picked up in England a couple of years ago.

I found the Life metal tag in my stash and covered it with Gesso and when it was dry I scuffed it up with some sand paper.  Finally I added a few more flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts and Excelsior Wholesale, some pearl stickers from Recollections and a couple of swirls made with wire from Artistic Wire.

I used the following products from The Funkie Junkie Boutique in the creation of this card:

Metal Mania

Today is an exciting day because it is the launch of a new challenge blog called The Mirror Crack'd. This blog will have monthly challenges devoted to mixed media/altered art projects - but no cards.  I am honoured to have been asked to be on this new team and to invite you to join us for the first challenge, which is Anything Goes.

For my first project, I made a small canvas.  I started with a 7" square of framer's mat board and gave it a coat of Gesso (Liquitex).  Next I added some drywall tape and Light Molding Paste (Golden) through a Mini Hexagons stencil (TCW).

The next step was to add some paint and this time I used Pumpkin Soup, Mocha Mousse and Cinnamon (all Fresco Finish).  I used a baby wipe to wipe it back in some areas.  Then I did some stenciling with Black Soot Distress Ink (Ranger) and three stencils; Dots and Stripes Border (Wendy Vecchi), Letter Jumble (Dylusions) and Dotted Flowers (Dylusions).  Once it was dry I rubbed the raised embossing with some Classic and Rose Quartz wax paste (Treasure Gold) and the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink (Ranger).

Next I started on the embellishments.  I cut a couple pieces of cardboard from an old box and removed the top layer to reveal the corrugated layer.  I wanted to paint it with a dark brown paint but since I didn't have any, I mixed together some acrylic paint called Coffee Bean and Black (Folk Art) and painted the valley portions of the corrugated cardboard.  I also rubbed the peaks with the same wax pastes.

I created the text on the computer and inked the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink (Ranger).  Next I used Jet Black Archival Ink (Ranger) and stamped some script (Recollections) onto some Hopsack Tape (Fancy Gap Outlet).  Then I inked the edges with Walnut Stain and added a couple of brads (Making Memories).  Tip:  I always remove the legs from the brads and use pop dots to adhere them so everything lies flat.

The next step was to create the wings for the clock.  I used paper-backed foil tape used in the heating and air-conditioning industry and hand cut three layers for each wing.  Then I took an embossing stylus and other metal working tools (Walnut Hollow) and gave them lots of texture.  They were painted with Coffee Bean acrylic paint (Folk Art) and then that was wiped off.  Next I blended some Adirondack Caramel, Rust, Ginger and Gold Mixative Alcohol Ink (Ranger) and coated each layer before I adhered them together.

The rest of the embellishments were not altered - Key (Kay & Co.), Clock, Trinket Pin and Lock (Tim Holtz), Gears (Bead Landing) and Button (my sewing basket).

I hope you will join us at The Mirror Crack'd for our first challenge and show us your mixed media/altered art project - but remember, no cards.

Tag - Tim Style

The new challenge at Sugar Creek Hollow this time is called Tag, You're It and we want you to make vintage or shabby chic stand alone tags or put them on your cards or other projects.

I have never participated in one of the Tim Holtz tag challenges but thought I would give it a go this month (12 Tags of 2014 August).  I checked out his tutorial and then started digging through my craft room to see what I had on hand to accomplish a tag that sort of resembled his masterpiece.

Since I followed the tutorial pretty closely, I won't repeat the steps here but will just give a list of supplies this time:

Stamps:
Gentlemen (Tim Holtz Curious Possibility)
Vintage Ads (Recollections Vintage Ads)

Tissue Wrap:
Tim Holtz Melange

Stencils:
Letter Jumble (Dylusions)
Moroccan (Heidi Swap)

Distress Stains:
Wild Honey (Ranger)
Faded Jeans (Ranger)
Barn Door (Ranger)
Peeled Paint (Ranger)

Metals:
Button and Trinket Pin (Tim Holtz)
Gears and Ruler (Bead Landing)
Word Bar ( Kay & Company)

Alcohol Ink:
Meadow (Ranger)
Sailboat Blue (Ranger)

Other:
Light Molding Pate (Golden)
Glue and Seal ( Inkssentials)
Seam Binding (Hug Snug)
Walnut Stain Distress Ink (Ranger)
Burlap String

This was a ton of fun to create and I might have to tackle another one soon.

Besides Tim's challenge, I am going to enter this tag in the following challenges:

Eclectic Paperie - Embossing
Tag Along - Vintage Inspired
Make My Monday - Tags and Toppers

A Summer Garden

It is time for a new challenge at Frilly and Funkie and I am the hostess this time so I chose a theme called A Summer Garden.  I want to see your vintage or shabby chic projects that remind you of a summer garden.  It doesn't have to be just flowers but could also be the landscaping or even fruits and vegetables.

Share your Summer Garden projects with us to be in with a chance of winning a Guest DT spot at Frilly and Funkie or a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique! To enter you must create a new project, link it using the linking tool and make sure you add a link in your post back to this challenge. You can combine our challenge with up to 10 challenges (including this one) to be in with a chance of winning. If you are entering through a public forum please sue the keyword F&F. Also, please be sure to turn off your Word Verification so our Design Team can leave you comments.

I don't have a veggie garden anymore although I wish I did because nothing tastes better than freshly picked produce.  I do have greenery and some flowers, mostly in pots so that is where I went with my card for this challenge.  It is also a bit of a wishful thinking type card because I also don't have a gazebo or climbing flowers.

I started with some green Bazzill card stock for my blank and then added a layer of background paper from the Maja Designs Coffee in the Arbor pack.  On top of that I added a piece of paper from the Maja Designs Autumn Basics pack and tucked a row of venise lace on the side.  Both pieces of paper were distressed with my scissors.

The gazebo was cut on my Cameo from Tim Holtz grunge paper and given a coat of gesso.  Then I decided to add some texture with texture paste before I painted it with some Picket Fence Distress Crackle Paint and swiped on some Frayed Burlap Distress Ink.

The grass and leaves were cut on my Cameo from Tim Holtz Color Core card stock and then inked with some Iced Spruce DI.  The little flowers were punched with a Marvy Uchida punch using all the scraps of Maja Designs paper and then I added some little pearl stickers from Recollections as centres and inked the edges with Aged Mahogany DI.

The sentiment was created on my computer and inked with some Frayed Burlap DI.  The sweet vintage fairy is from Israblog online.  The butterfly is a venise lace applique and I added a row of pearl stickers from Recollections for the body.

I hope you will pop over to Frilly and Funkie, check out the wonderful DT projects and then come back to show us one of your creations.

The following products used to create my summery card came from The Funkie Junkie Boutique:

Frilly Steampunk

Last month I was honoured to be selected as a Top Pick at Country View Challenges and asked to do a Guest Designer spot for their Word Play challenge this month so I created this frilly steampunk card.

I started with some grey card stock from Recollections for my card blank.  The background was white card stock that I inked with Pumice Stone, Frayed Burlap and Black Soot Distress Inks from Ranger, stenciled with a harlequin stencil from TCW and then distressed with my scissors.  The text was computer generated and then inked with the same colours as the background.

The vintage clock piece was cut on my Cameo with Tim Holtz Grunge Paper and then coloured with a black Copic marker.

The steampunk lady is from a Hampton Arts set and was stamped with Jet Black Archival Ink from Ranger.  I fussy cut her before I outlined her gears with a black Sakura gel pen and coloured her face with Copic markers.The hand is a digital image from The Graphics Fairy and was fussy cut and coloured with Copic markers and some Fired Brick and Aged Mahogany Distress Ink.  The balloon digital image from Free Vintage Printables and the corset from The Graphics Fairy were both fussy cut and coloured with Fired Brick and Aged Mahogany Distress Ink.  Then I added some dollar store gems to the corset along with a skirt of tulle and organza.

Other embellishments are gears from Bead Landing and a metal arrow from The Paper Studio that I coloured with a black Copic marker, a washer from my husband's tool box and a black button from my sewing room.  The flower is made from paper-backed metal tape used in the heating and air conditioning industry.  It was cut using the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die and textured with an embossing stylus.  Then black acrylic paint was applied and immediately wiped off leaving paint in the depressions.  One it was dry the highlights were inked with Cranberry Alcohol Ink from Ranger and a black gem was added for a centre.

Birthday Celebration

The new challenge at Sugar Creek Hollow starts today and it is called Let's Celebrate.  We want you to make vintage or shabby chic celebratory cards for birthdays. weddings, anniversaries, etc.

I decided to make a birthday card for a woman and use up some patterned paper that has been in my scrap stash for ages - so long I can't remember who made it.  It was two-sided and I used the floral side for the background and the plain side for the panel that I punched with a Martha Stewart edge punch.

I added a piece of lace that I bought from an outlet in Fancy Gap when I was visiting my friend Patti.  I added some pearls from Dollarama and then topped it with a sentiment that is inside a fancy frame from The Graphics Fairy.  I coloured the frame with some Bic markers.

The image is Lilly Elise from Imogemes and she is mounted on a piece of card stock that has been inked with some Walnut Stain Distress Ink from Ranger.

The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and from Excelsior Wholesale and the brown ribbon is from Fabricland.

Saturday Step X Step at Frilly & Funke

Today it is my turn to present the Saturday Step X Step at Frilly and Funkie and as I promised on Wednesday, I am going to give all the details about how I made my Artist Trading Block for the current challenge.  Here is a little peak at one of the sides of the block.  Pop over to Frilly and Funkie to see all the steps.

Artist Trading Block

The new challenge starts today at Frilly and Funkie and this time Jenny is our hostess. She is calling it Hip to be Square and she wants you to create a 3D vintage or shabby chic project based on a cube shape.

The Design Team have used Artist Trading Block cubes (available at The Funkie Junkie Boutique and further discounted by 15% for the length of this challenge) but let's be clear, you can use your own templates, dies or hand cut cubes if you would prefer. Decorate, embellish and alter them in any way you choose as long as they are cube shaped and have a vintage or shabby chic feel.

For this challenge we are teaming up with our friends at 'The Artists on the Block'. They have a dedicated Design Team using Eileen Hull Designs cubes (and many other 3D die cut shapes) in incredibly imaginative ways so make sure you take a look for some added inspiration. Their companion challenge blog 'Art With Heart' is having an 'Anything Goes' theme this month so you've got the option to enter your creations there as well to be in with a chance to win a brand new Eileen Hull Designs die!"

My little box is only 2 1/2 inches square on each side so I decided to go over the top and create a super-sized peony for the top.  I am going to be hosting the Saturday Step X Step feature at Frilly and Funkie on August 16th so come back then to see how I made the flower and put all of this together.

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

Fan-Tastic Tuesday - Anything Goes (must be square or rectangular)
Through The Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
My Craft Spot - 3D Flowers

Edited to add:

Art With Heart Challenge - Anything Goes

In the meantime, I will tell you that I got all of these products from The Funkie Junkie Boutique to make my little block.

Sizzix Sale

STOP PRESS


The Funkie Junkie Boutique is having a Sizzix overstock sale. From now through August 11th, all in-stock Sizzix products are an extra 15% off. That includes Tim Holtz Alterations dies and texture fades. Some of the older dies are discounted even more. The sale does not include pre-ordered products.

Check the 'On Sale' tab at the boutique to see what's on sale. It's a great time to stock up on all the seasonal dies and texture fades.

Shop early because quantities are limited.

Summer Sunshine

It is time for another new challenge at Sugar Creek Hollow and this time we are calling it SUMMER SUNSHINE.  We want to see vintage or shabby chic projects with the bright colours of summer - oranges, reds, strong yellows, etc.

Many of my neighbours have trellises in their gardens with climbing roses or clematis but since I don't, the closest I can get to having a trellis is to put it on a card.

I started with some Bazzill card stock for my blank and then added a background paper from Basic Grey.

The hexagon "trellis" was cut from Tim Holtz Grunge paper on my Cameo and then I sponged it with Crushed Olive Distress Ink from Ranger.  Next I added all the climbing roses from Wild Orchid Crafts and some twirls from the cut-off flower stems.  I made the stick pin by adding some beads from my stash to a pearl-headed pin from Dollarama.

The bird cage is a wooden die cut from The Paper Studio and I rubbed it with Classic Gold wax paste from Treasure Gold.  The crinkly bow is some Hug Snug Seam Binding that I dyed with a mixture of Aged Mahogany and Ripe Persimmon Distress Inks from Ranger.  The bird is a silver charm from Arton Bead Supply and I re-coloured it with Terra Cotta Alcohol Ink from Ranger.

Finally, the sentiment is from Create with TLC and I distressed the edges with my scissors and inked it with some Ranger Antique Linen Distress Ink.

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

Deep Ocean Challenge  - Summer Colours
Perfectly Rustics - Bow or Ruffle
Lacy Sunshine Challenge - Flowers