Flower Box

It is time for a new challenge at Frilly and Funkie.  Nancy is our hostess this time and wants us to Welcome Spring!  She describes it this way:

Springtime! It's fresh, soft breezes and fragrant blossoms are just around the corner. Create any vintage or shabby chic project that welcomes the advent of this glorious season. Think budding trees, birds and nests, butterflies, and beautiful blooms!

In keeping with our celebration of all things Wendy Vecchi, I decided to use some of her new and old floral stamps and create a flower box hanging on a fence, rather than a window.  I was going to make a card but decided instead to use a canvas as the substrate for my flower box.

I started by coating an 8"x8" canvas from the dollar store with Gesso and then painted around the edges with some Espresso acrylic paint mixed with a bit of black Gesso.

To make my "fence" I cut a square of grey card stock and scored it every 1/2".  Then I turned it over and on the side where the score marks are raised I ran down the length with Pumice Stone Distress Ink followed by Walnut Stain.  I used the ink pads themselves and went in one direction.  Then I took a brown marker and made lines and dots to show the ends of the board and the nails.

Next I made a shallow window flower box from scrap card stock and used the rust pastes from Prima to make it look rusty.

Now it was time to make some flowers to fill the box.  I used a couple of the new floral stamps as well as one of the older stamps.  All the flowers have been coloured with prismacolors and fussy cut.

I have an urn that I fill with flowers for the summer and I always make sure that there are vines or ivy that is going to hang down so I decided my box should have something similar and that was accomplished by cutting some branches from a Tim Holtz die called Garden Greens.  I used some scrap card stock from Bazzill and then spritzed them with Shabby Shutters Distress Spray Stain before I cut them up.

The flowers and leaves were all shaped using a large embossing tool and then planted in the box.  Finally a little butterfly from a Martha Stewart punch with some dollar store gems for a body was added to the canvas.

Spring Nest

It is time for a new monthly challenge at Stamps and Stencils and this time Rachel is our hostess and is calling it Spring Is In The Air.  She describes it this way:

"I want you to think about what the coming of spring means to you? Is it a colour burst, or maybe flowers? Whatever it is I would like you to show us in a mixed media piece including stamping or stencilling or both! Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!"

I am hoping that spring really is in the air because we haven't had a harsh winter as we normally do but it has been up and down with brutal cold followed immediately by really mild temperatures.  Luckily the snowfalls have been light but just as it all melts we get another snowstorm, like the one we got yesterday.  Pretty soon I will be complaining that it is too hot and humid - that is the way it is when you live somewhere that has four seasons.  Now on to my project.

I was surfing the web and saw something here that inspired me, especially since spring usually comes with lots of new birds but of course I had to add my own touches to my project.  I started with a 9" x 12" canvas that I picked up from Dollarama and I covered it with Liquitex Gesso.  Then I used some Mod Podge and torn pieces from an old book to completely cover the canvas.  Once it was dry I covered it with some watered down Gesso.  Then I used a TCW stencil called Mini Bricks and Golden Light Molding Paste to cover the canvas.

The eggs were made next by shaping some Martha Stewart Crafter's Clay into an egg shape and then once it was dry, painting it with Craftsmart Robin's Egg acrylic paint, adding spots with a Copic marker and then covering it with Gloss Mod Podge.

I found the bird template in my stash, traced a couple onto cardboard and then fussy cut them.  I coated them with Fresco Finish Blood Orange chalk acrylic, then Folk Art Crackle Medium followed by Folk Art Country Twill acrylic paint making sure each coat was dry before adding the next.

I decided I didn't like the end result so I added some Lindy's Moonshadow Mist Burnished Brass, FW Antelope Brown ink and some Liquitex Transparent Burnt Sienna ink - happy now.  I stamped the wings with some Jet Black Archival Ink and a stamp from a Kaisercraft stamp called Sheet Music and added some teeny pearls for eyes.

The next step was to make the nest.  The ground was covered in snow so I had to go digging through my craft room and despite what my husband says, it pays to hang on to certain things because I found a couple branches and some dried weeds in a box with some silk flowers.  I broke the branches and weeds up and arranged them along with some jute string, burlap ribbon, bits of bark and strips of old book paper.  I found that Liquitex Matte Super Heavy Gel made a great adhesive.  I went over the whole nest with more Gesso.

Before I added the eggs, birds and a few feathers I added some shading around the nest with some watered down Craftsmart acrylic paint called Espresso.

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

Art Journal Journey - If You Go Down To The Woods
Artistic Stamper - Springtime (wings are stamped)
Crafts and Me - Spring
Live and Love Crafts - Signs of Spring
Lunagirl - Spring Flowers and Birds
Cards und More  - Spring (wings are stamped)
We Love 2 Create - Anything Mixed Media/Creative Goes
Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers - M is for Mixed Media (wings are stamped)

Springtime with Dies

The new challenge starts today at Frilly and Funkie.  Nicole is our hostess this time and she is calling the challenge Spring Time Die Cuts.  She wants to see vintage or shabby chic projects that include die cuts, especially those that make you think of spring such as flowers, foliage and butterflies.

I don't own many steel dies but I do have a Cameo die cutting machine so I cut all the petals for my flowers and the filigree egg to make an Easter card.  This one will have to be for next year since I didn't finish it in time to give to my family.

I started with some scrap card stock for my blank and then added a background layer of paper from the Maja Design Vintage Spring Basics pad.  The squares are cut from that same pad and the Coffee in the Arbour pad.  All the paper has been distressed with my scissors and then inked with some Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  I then did some faux stitching around each square using my piercing tool and a white Signo pen.

The flowers petals were cut from white card stock in two sizes, spritzed with some water and then inked as follows:

One large and two small - Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint DI
Two large - Scattered Straw DI
Four small - Worn Lipstick DI

 The petals were folded and twisted and allowed to dry slightly before they were opened carefully and shaped.  Once dry they were glued together with some Wilton stamens for centres.

I also hand cut some leaves and inked them with Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint DI.  The flowers and the leaves were then inked on the edges with some Vintage Photo DI.

The filigree egg was cut from some grunge paper and then painted with some Antarctic Fresco Finish paint.  Once dry the flowers and the egg were coated with Perfect Pearl Perfect Pearl (no there is no echo, that is the name - lol).

I cut the sides off a filigree corner and the charm loop off a butterfly charm and painted both with some Folk Art Tapioca acrylic paint before inking them with Worn Lipstick DI and adding a bit of Rose Quartz Treasure Gold wax paste.

The loopy bow is seam binding dyed with Worn Lipstick and Scattered Straw DI.  I also tucked a couple pieces of lace and scattered some pearls around to finish the card off.  The stick pin is made from a dollar store pearl headed pin with some added beads from my stash.

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

Creative Card Crew - Handmade Flowers
Fan-Tastic Tuesday  - Anything Goes with a twist to use a die or punch
Inky Chicks - Stitching (Real or Faux)
Card Mania - Flowers
The Crazy Challenge - Floral
The Pink Elephant Challenge - Pastels
Pile It On - Die Cuts or Punches
That Craft Place  - Easter/Spring
Suzy Bee's Bloomin Challenge - Anything Goes with a twist to use pastels
Card and Scrap - Easter/Spring Colours

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

Spring Blooms

A couple years ago, in a moment of sheer madness,  I offered to make a nightgown for an elderly friend.  She gave me the money for the fabric and I immediately went out and bought it and then I panicked that I wouldn't be able to make it fit her since she is almost 6 feet tall, so it sat in my sewing room - out of sight, out of mind.

Last week, the overwhelming guilt got to me and I finally made the nightgown and took it to her.  Since she is 80 years old, I had to make sure she was sitting down when she opened the package because I didn't want her to faint from the shock.  She loved it and if it doesn't fit, she hasn't told me. 

The scraps of fabric have been sitting on my desk and gave me some inspiration for this art journal page, which was completed a whole lot faster than the nightgown.

I started by gluing two pages from my journal together and then added some Golden Light Molding Paste through a stencil from TCW called Mini Hexagons.

Next I gave it a couple coats of Fresco Finish paint, first Lake Wanaka and when that was dry a coat of Antarctic, which I wiped back a bit with a baby wipe.  Then I added a coat of Robins Egg Blue acrylic paint from Craftsmart and wiped it back too.

Next I used some of Wendy Vecchi's Cornflower Archival Ink through her Checkmate stencil and some Tumbled Glass Distress Ink from Ranger through her Polka Dotty stencil in random areas.  I followed that with her Watering Can Archival Ink through a Dylusions stencil called Letter Jumble.  Finally I used a natural sea sponge and pounced some Deco Art Americana Peacock Pearl acrylic paint all over.

Next I cut a stencil of sun rays on my Cameo and used it with some Wendy Vecchi Metallic Gold Embossing Paste.  It looks like butterscotch pudding in the jar but just wait until it dries and you get gorgeous shine.

My friend Pamellia gave me a stamp that mimicked some of the flowers on the fabric and I found some other small ones in a bucket of little used stamps so I decided to use them for this project.

I pounced some of Wendy Vecchi's Red Geranium, Dandelion and Orange Blossom Archival Ink on my craft sheet, spritzed it with rubbing alcohol and dragged some Specialty Stamping Paper through it.  Then I stamped a bunch of flowers using Jet Black Archival Ink and fussy cut them.

I then created another sheet in the same manner using some Wendy Vecchi Fern Green and Ranger Olive Archival Ink. Then I used a Pigma Micron Pen from Sakura to draw stems and leaves and fussy cut them as well.

I also stamped a couple of butterflies from a Hampton Art set onto the Specialty Stamping using Dandelion and Red Geranium Archival Ink and fussy cut them as well.

The sentiment is computer generated and then inked with Tumbled Glass and Broken China Distress Ink.

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

Artist Trading Post Exchange - Springtime
Make Art Challenge - Stencils
Fashionable Stamping - Springtime
Mixed Media World - Anything Goes
Craft Stamper - Anything Goes (must have stamping)
Country View Challenges - Anything Goes
Inspiration Journal - Spring Blooms
Stamplorations - Stamps and Stencils
Dream It Up - Marching Into Spring

April in Paris

The challenge this week at Frilly & Funkie is called April in Paris and since I was the lucky random winner in their last challenge, I thought I would play again.  The project must depict springtime in Paris and include a French icon or word so I have made this shabby (almost gaudy) card with lots of flowers.

I had intended to stamp an Eiffel Tower since I have some stamps thanks to my enabling friend Sue but then found this great striped paper from My Mind's Eye in my stash so this became my starting point.  The french text paper was found online but I don't remember where (oops).  The butterfly image is from Imagenes Vintage and I coloured it with Prismacolors blended with Gotrick OMS.

The lace comes from stash and the crinkle ribbon is just Hug Snug rayon seam binding with a little button from my stash in the centre.  I used two different Martha Stewart punches to create the butterflies from some metallic card stock from DCWV and then added some pearl stickers from Dollarama.  The flourish is from the Spellbinders Venetian Motifs die set and was inked with Worn Lipstick Distress Ink (Ranger).

The flowers were all made from different materials.  The yellow one is Toile Paper (Recollections) and cut with the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals Die.  I inked it with some Wild Honey Distress Ink (Ranger).  A Dollarama pearl sticker coloured with a Mustard Promarker makes the centre.  The leaves are Recollections card stock cut with the Tim Holtz Tattered Leaves Die and inked with some Crushed Olive Distress Ink (Ranger).  The pink flower was cut with a Marvy Uchida punch using paper from my stash, sponged with some Worn Lipstick Distress Ink (Ranger) and then has a little clear dewdrop from my stash added for a centre.  The tiny purple flowers were made from scraps of card stock with an EK Paper Shapers punch and have little Dollarama pearls added for centres.

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

Frilly and Funkie - April in Paris
Clear It Out - Theme - Spring, Stash - Flowers
Papertake Weekly - Bingo (Lace, Free, Blooms line)
Card Mania - Punches and/or Die Cuts
Lexi's Creations - Punches and/or Dies
The Pink Elephant - Spring Colors
Joanna Sheen - Spring Into Spring

Spring Flowers

This week our challenge at Phindy's Friday challenge blog is called SPRING HAS SPRUNG. We want to see cards with a Spring theme or even lots of Spring flowers.

We are having some glorious weather right now and it is unusually warm so many of the trees are already starting to bud and I have noticed some crocuses starting to pop out. It is really early so I sure hope there aren't any negative affects on the summer garden.

I don't have any spring bulbs in my garden but I know that if I did I would certainly plant Hyacinth bulbs because they have the most gorgeous aroma and come in the most gorgeous purples, pinks and white - like my Lilacs.   That is why I chose this image called Hyacinth and Ivy to work with this week.

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

Gingersnap Creations - Border Punches
Little Darlings Challenges - Colors of Spring
Stampavie & More - Spring/Easter
Digital Tuesday - Think Spring
Sweet Stamps - Spring
Catered Crop - Ribbon
One Stitch at a Time - Use a Digi
Crazy 4 Challenges - Spring

Image: Hyacinth & Ivy (Phindy's Place)
Sentiment: Create with TLC
Card Stock: Recollections
Papers: Forever Friends
Colouring Medium: Pencil Crayons (Prismacolors) with OMS (Gotrick)
Tools & Embellishments: Charm (Arton Bead Supply), Circle Punches (EK Paper Shapers), Fleur de Lis Rectangle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Edge Punch (Martha Stewart), Chalk (Mungyo), Victorian Scissors (Fiskars), Butterfly Punch (Marvy Uchida), Pearl Stickers (Recollections), Ribbons (Michaels)

Spring is in the Air or Is it?

The challenge this week at Phindy's Friday Challenge blog is to create a card celebrating Springtime.  For those of us in traditional snow belts, spring is ages away yet and we can only dream that it is in the air.

When I was a kid, we had a really long clothesline and no dryer so everything was hung on the line all year round.  In the kind of weather we are experiencing now, the sheets came inside frozen stiff so then my Mom would have to drape them over every chair to allow them to thaw and warm up.  The clothes smelled divine when dried on the line but the best was the way they smelled in the spring.  My dryer broke last summer and I had to put some clothes outside to dry on a rack and even with warm weather, the clothes took ages to dry and weren't soft and fluffy so I concluded that I am sticking with a dryer.

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

Pile It On - Bright and Breezy
One Stitch at a Time - Do it with a Digi
Catch the Bug - Anything Goes
Alphabet Challenge  O is for Orange

Image:  Spring Breeze (Phindy's Place)
Sentiment:  My Design
Card Stock:  Orange (Recollections)
Papers:  Floral (Sandylion Sticker Designs), Orange polka Dot (My Stash), Orange (Provo Craft)
Colouring Medium:  Pencil Crayons (Prosmacolors) with OMS (Taltine)
Tools & Embellishments:  Label one Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Chalk (Mungyo), Orange Peel Stickles (Ranger), Flowers (Wild Orchid Crafts), Branch Punch (Martha Stewart)

Spring Is Here

Despite the cooler temperatures and the threat of snow, the calendar says that spring is here and I for one am ready to celebrate.  And yes, I made a card to show that.

I found a whole bunch of challenges that I think this card qualifies for so I am entering it in the following:

Mo's Digital Pencil  - 3 Punches
Crazy 4 Challenges - Spring
Bee Crafty - Spring
Secret Crafter - Spring has Sprung
All Sorts - Spring is in the air
The Pink Elephant - Spring
Crafty Catz - Spring
Frosted Designs - Think Spring with a Flower
Challenge Up Your Life - Flowers
Die Cut Dreams  - At Least 2 Punches
Daisy Doodles - Artist's Choice with Digi
Creative Cottage  - Flowers

The image was a generous freebie from Mo Manning for her group on Paper Craft Planet and has been coloured using a combination of Prismacolor and Koh-I-Noor pencil crayons.  The papers are both from my stash and the cardstock is Color Mates.  The sentiment is computer generated.  Other supplies used:  Border and Branch punches (Martha Stewart), Corner Rounder Punch (Marvy Uchida), Corner Punch & Emboss Punch (Ecstasy Crafts), Chalk (Mungyo), Ribbon (Michaels), Pearl Stickers (Recollections from Michaels), Pearl Spray (Michaels), Ribbon (Michaels), Flowers (Bridal Supply Store).