Chalk It Up

The new challenge at Frilly and Funkie begins today and this time Shelly is our hostess.  She is calling this one Chalk It Up and describes the theme this way:

Chalk is such a versatile medium and we want to see how you can use it in your vintage or shabby chic creations. You can choose a faux chalk technique, chalk inks, powdered chalks, or even a stick of chalk - it's up to you!

I created this floral card but that is about all I am going to tell you about it today because I am presenting the Saturday Step x Step feature this week (September 26th) to Frilly and Funkie so if you want to know what I did with chalk, then please pop over there on Saturday and you can get all the details.  I know it is mean but now you have something to look forward to - right? :)

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

Craft-Dee Bowz - Anything Goes with a Handmade Bow
QKR Stampede - Three is a Crowd
Time Out Challenges - Case Tracey (Flowers)

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

Friday Focus - Idea-ology

It is my turn to present the Friday Focus segment over at Frilly and Funkie and this time it is about Idea-ology.

Here is a sneak peek at one of the two projects that I made so click here to pop over to Frilly and Funkie and check out what I made and then you can take advantage of the 15% discount on Idea-ology products that Linda is offering at The Funkie Junkie Boutique for the next two weeks.

No Stamps

It is time for a new challenge at Frilly and Funkie and this time Pamellia is our hostess and is calling it Stamps Be Gone.  She introduces the challenge this way:

"How would you decorate your project if you didn't own any stamps? Embossing folders, stencils, or perhaps a little hand doodling? Well, let's put it to the test for this challenge. Other than a small sentiment, I would ask that you use no stamps at all on your vintage or shabby chic creations."

I don't use stamps as much as many others do so this challenge was right up my alley.  I started with some white card stock from Staples for the card blank and added lovely Maja Designs papers from the Coffee in the Arbor pad that I distressed to create a background.  I added some venise lace to the bottom section.

Next I altered the birdcage, which is my husband's design (he is teaching himself how to use Adobe Illustrator) and was cut from some mat board on his new laser cutter.  I painted it with white paint and then covered it with Picket Fence Crackle Paste.  When it was dry I inked it lightly with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink and added some burlap string as a hanger.

The bird was made with some Martha Stewart Crafter's Clay and a Wilton silicone mold.  It was also inked lightly with Frayed Burlap DI.

All the flowers were made from card stock.  The big yellow flower uses die cut petals given to me by Pamellia and was inked with Scattered Straw DI before I started scrunching and shaping the flower.  Since I didn't have another petal to pull the flower in a bit, I just cut a section out of the top layer to make it smaller and then I added some Wilton stamens.

The rose was shaped from petals cut with the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die and some off-white card stock.  I created it by following Pamellia's video tutorial on her You-Tube channel.  It was inked with some Antique Linen DI.

The purple flower was also made from petals Pamellia gave me (love my visits to her because she is always so generous) and I coloured them with Seedless Preserves DI before shaping them and adding some Wilton stamens that I coloured with Deco Art Wild Orchid acrylic paint.

I added some Stampendous iridescent glitter to the edges of all the flowers.  The leaves were had cut and were inked with Old Paper DI, which looks yellow in the photo but has a green hue in real life.

Next I painted a metal filigree leaf and corner with some white paint and then coated them with Stampendous clear embossing powder.  The final touch was to add some Prima pearl flourishes.

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

Creative Knockouts - Flower Power
Card Mania - Pastel Colours
Crafty Cardmakers - Floral Embellishments
Make My Monday - Something Beginning with F (Flowers)
Sparkle N Sprinkle - Anything Goes - Use loose glitter, embossing powder and/or flocking
Allsorts  - Lots of Layers
My Time To Craft - Flowers

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

Peacock Wall Hanging

The new challenge at Anything But Cute begins today and is hosted by Niki.  She is calling it Mixed Media Makeover and here is how she describes it:

"Pull out an old card, tag, project, masterboard or embellishment that you weren't completely happy with or never completely finished. I want you to recycle it. We all make "mistakes" with our art right? Now's your chance to fix it. Redo it, hide the mistake, make it bigger, make it better, make it more beautiful or rip it apart and use the pieces! Give it a mixed media makeover! For this challenge you will need to include a before picture so we can see what you started with."

A year or so ago and before I got into mixed media I purchased this wooden shadowbox frame with the intention of painting it some lovely colour and filling the inside with mementos of either my grandchildren or perhaps of my daughter.  I wanted the frame to be nice and smooth but after hours and hours of sanding that wasn't going to happen most likely because I was going cheap and got it from the dollar store.  Once I reached my frustration level because it was staying rough, I stuck it in a plastic bag along with the latex gloves and sanding block and shoved it in a cupboard and there it sat until Niki told us her challenge and then I could actually create something with it that I knew I would be happy with. 

I yanked the little hinges off and set the cover aside and perhaps it will be something in the future if I can cut the plastic window out of it - yes plastic, I told you it was cheap.  Then I got to work transforming the bottom.  I decided to make a wall hanging out of it and treated it much like you might treat a canvas.

First I gave it a coat of Liquitex Super Heavy Gesso just to eliminate the chance of giving myself slivers since this thing was so rough.  Next I crumpled up some tissue paper, opened it back up again and glued it all over using Mod Podge.

I used a Prima flourish stencil with some Golden Light Molding Paste and gave the piece some texture on the sides and top.  Then after that was dry I glued cheesecloth all over the top, letting it hang over the edges.  I also added little pieces of an open weave fabric to the sides.  I didn't add any additional texture to the back since you won't see it.

The next step was to dig into my stash and add lots of lace strips and motifs, flowers, buttons, beads and bauble trim using Mod Podge.  Once everything was dry I gave it a coat of Liquitex Gesso to unify the colour since everything was a different colour.

Then I painted the whole project, including the back with some Craftsmart Aqua acrylic paint.  To create the peacock colours I dripped on some FW Silver Moss, Sun-Up Blue and Antelope Brown Inks and spritzed them with water to make them run.  Then I followed with Deco Art Peacock Pearl, Ice Blue Pearl and Purple Pearl acrylic paints that were dabbed on with a natural sea sponge.

Next I created the image by making the background of a free image from The Graphic Fairy transparent and adding it on top of free digital vintage script paper from Creavapeur.com.  Once the image was printed and cut to size I inked it with Tim Holtz Frayed Burlap Distress Ink and distressed the edges.  I added a piece of chipboard to the backside in order to raise the image up a bit before I glued it to my hanging.  Then I added a few sequins from the dollar store to the image and the background.

Finally I covered a couple of screw eyes and a length of wire with some Ranger Aqua Alcohol Ink and then added beads from Arton Bead Supply, Michaels and Dollarama to create the hanger.  In order to ensure that the beads stayed where I wanted them, I added bead crimps.

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

Altered Eclectics - Anything Mixed Media Goes (no cards or ATCs)
Shopping Our Stash - Put a bird on it
That Craft Place - Mixed Media Anything Goes
Mixed Media World - Gorgeous Textures
We Love 2 Create - #18 - Anything Creative/Mixed Media Goes

I hope you will join us for the September challenge and show us what you have made over.