Keep It Simple with Stickers...

Time to play along with Keep It Simple Only Stickers Challenge! I have to admit, I did find this challenging, until I realised I have a truckload of gorgeous alphabet stickers, just waiting to be upcycled LOL! These American Crafts Topography letters were a perfect match to create this "I'm lost without you" sentiment.

Remember to stop by the blogs of the Keep It Simple DT 

for some more terrific Only Stickers inspiration...

Christine

Mia

Tanja

Tenia

Love to see how you are inspired this fortnight!

Inspired by the subway art with a twist by Shari Carroll, over at CASE Study.

Celebrating with Curtain Call Anything Goes Challenge too!

The Mixed Media Card Challenge... Bliss

SO excited to share with you for the inaugural The Mixed Media Card Challenge. 

The theme for July is Touch of Nature, and the optional element is Tag.

This month I went close with the optional element, but ended up using a canvas flag, rather than a tag (or maybe it's actually a hole-less tag LOL!), and incorporated a Touch of Nature in the textures, colour palette and floral and dragonfly images.

Created by applying Brushed Corduroy Distressed Ink around the edges of the Kaisercraft woodgrain paper and Francheville stitched canvas flag then layered these on a pale Kraft cardstock base. Tarnished Brass Distress Paint was applied to the grungeboard Tim Holtz flowers. The Tattered Angels dragonfly was stamped in Versamark Watermark Ink and Zing Gold embossing powder onto blue mulberry paper, and added the Studio Calico wood veneer sentiment.

I hope you take the opportunity to have a play with Mixed Media, I'd LOVE to see your creations!  In case you're wondering what qualifies as a Mixed Media Card, I have posted details here, and they can be found on The Mixed Media Card Challenge blog. 

While you are there, grab some more fabulous inspiration 

from the amazing Design Team!

Julia Aston

Shirley Bampton

Charlene Cundy

Maria Fischer

Jan Jenitis

Kripa Koushik

Maria Levine

Sanna Lippert

Deepti Malik

Jenny Martin
Shery Russ

Elina Stromberg

Loll Thompson

HOW TO PLAY

1. Create a mixed media CARD based on the theme, with or without the optional element.

2. For this challenge only, you may create a mixed media TAG based on the theme.

3. Display the challenge graphic on your blog post and link back to this challenge post.

4. You may enter as many times as you want, as long as each entry is different.

5. You may combine a maximum of 7 challenges (6 other challenges plus ours).

6. Submit your projects by July 25, 11:55 p.m. PDT (GMT -700).

7. We’ll announce the winner and favorites on July 31.

Playing along with Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes too!

Never too old to get distressed & dirty...

 

Had the most fun getting distressed and dirty at a Surreal Creations weekend scrap retreat with Ruey, Michelle and Jorja!  

Playing along with One Little Word - Will, with this piece. At the moment I am at a cross-roads, and I need to take a deep breath and summon the will to set a new goal and dream a new dream, and with it find the courage to turn that dream into reality.

Learnt an important lesson creating this mixed media piece - always dry your layers first!  I had forgotten to let the first coat of gel medium dry over my die cuts when I started adding my first layer of colour, and everything kept reacting from there, but in the end it was worth it! This was created using layers of heavy watercolour paper die cuts, colour sprays, gelatos, Twinkling H2O watercolour paints, a chipboard butterfly covered in Metallic Melts embossing powder, Darkroom Door script stamped on the poppies and base layer, Heartfelt Creations dimensional die cut flowers also covered in Metallic Melts embossing powder with gold highlights and this gorgeous Verve sentiment stamped on white tissue paper and adhered with gel medium to make it disappear into the background layer.  

If you're feeling daunted about mixed media, don't be - it's all about experimenting and letting yourself get distressed and dirty LOL!

Playing along with Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge The Artsy Stamp,

 Catered Crop Garden Party Recipe Swap,
Love to Scrap Anything Goes, and

 All Crafts Challenge Anything but a Card too!

Hey!... You're Cute as a Bug

 

First up toady is a card combining this rather literal interpretation of this cool CAS(E) this Sketch with the gorgeous colours in this weeks Color Q (some of my favourites!)  I had started off using a peacock feather, but I just couldn't get it to work, so I broke out my feather dies from My Favorite Things, combined these with a range of chevron papers from Echo Park and My Minds Eye and this cute wooden speech bubble from Basic Grey, together with this fab stitched rectangle mat from Lil Inkers.

 

Next up I dug deep into my stash of chipboard to find inspiration from this tag, flourish and three leaves to play along with this weeks Use What You Have over at the Sweet Stamp Shop (photo of my stash below).  I glued the chipboard pieces together before covering them all with Gesso.  Once the Gesso had dried, I oversprayed with Dylusions Vibrant Turquoise and Fresh Lime.  I stamped the Sweet Stamp Shops You're Cute as a Bug! then decided it needed some extra shimmer so I oversprayed with Heuys Calico Shine.  (Note to self - stamp last as the added liquid tends to make the sentiment run LOL).  I went a bit overboard with the Calico Shine, so once it had dried off I grabbed my Distressed Ink Mowed Grass, and highlighted my flourish branch and leaves, before adding extra shine with Dimensional Magic.  The cute as a bug Sweet Stamp Shops ladybird was stamped in black over red cardstock before adding Dimensional Magic to its wings.  I attached my tag to some black cardstock to make the colours pop - and to play along with this weeks Keep It Simple Black Background Challenge, and Shopping Our Stash No Patterned Paper too!

Chipboard Stash

Sew Beautiful...

Have you ever had one of those cards that just stuck in your head and wouldn't let you do anything else 'til you get it onto paper?  I'm not sure why, but this was one of those cards for me - perhaps it's my love/hate relationship with my sewing machine - I love the look, but not so much the process! 

Back with details after I've been shopping - grocery shopping that is ;)

I'm back!

This card was inspired by the soft colours, corrugated cardboard and mannequin from this weeks gorgeous vintage CASE Study, this gentle CR84FN colour palette, this gorgeous Cardabilities sketch and some glitter from DYSU for fun.

Papers are a combination of MME Lost & Found Two, Crate Paper and Basic Grey, with the cool corrugated kraft alphas from Jillibean.  The Beautiful stamp is part of a set by My Little Yellow Bicycle.  I stamped the sentiment in Essentials Glue, then added Making Memories Pink Glitter.  The chipboard accents are from Maya Road.  The cotton spool was rubbed with Tim Holtz Brushed Corduroy ink, then cotton wound around the spool, with an length looped back over the mannequin.  The mannequin was first inked with Versa Colour Old Rose, then dipped in Making Memories Pink Glitter.  The sewing machine was painted in Making Memories Manila paint.

Hope you have a creative day too!