Winners and Pinworthies for May's Challenge

Hi everyone and welcome to our Winners and Pinworthies day here at A Vintage Journey! We had so many amazing entries for May's 'Use A Quote' challenge - thank you to everyone who took the time to enter - and the Creative Guides really enjoyed selecting their favourites.

Let's start with today's winner drawn by the Random Generator...

And that is #38 Payal M Mittal, who shared this wonderful project reflecting her chosen quote;

Congratulations, Payal! Your voucher prize details from our generous sponsors for the challenge, That's Crafty! will be with you shortly.

Now on to our Pinworthy Creations who are as follows:

#1 Jannet Blay

#3 Froebelsternchen (Susi)

#26 My hobby scrap (Maria)

Please do visit our Pinworthies blogs to see more of

these fabulous projects - there's more to see than initially meets the eye with all of them.

Congratulations to all three of you! Your Pinworthy Badges will be on their way to you shortly and we hope you will join us here as Guest Creative Guides at some point in the future.

Many thanks again to everyone who joined in with the May challenge. To be in with a chance if winning make sure you enter this month's challenge 'Canvas' and of course don't forget our Destination Inspiration each Monday - as always there are some amazing goodies/techniques in the travel bag this month.

Take care of yourselves and get creating! Jenny xxx

Use A Quote

Hi everyone and welcome! Jenny Marples here, hosting the next of our 2017 challenges here at A Vintage Journey. The theme for this one is called 'Use A Quote' so unsurprisingly we need you to use a quote! Any quote! Whether it be on a stamp, a sticker, handwritten or sourced from the internet, make it the focal point of your vintage, shabby chic, mixed media, art journaling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk project.

Our generous sponsors this month are That's Crafty!

That’s Crafty! are an online retailer and bricks and mortar shop based in the UK. They sell an extensive range of papercraft and mixed media supplies along with a large range of branded stamps & stencils. In addition they produce and sell their own stamps, stencils and surfaces. Surfaces include shrines, tags, hearts, panels, journals, uprights and stacks and come in varying materials - MDF, white/grey board and acrylic. 

That's Crafty! are offering a £20 voucher to their store for our randomly chosen winner.The Creative Guides will also choose three Pinworthy winners who will receive a badge to display on their blogs, as well as an invitation to be a guest designer here at A Vintage Journey for one of our future challenges.

Let's get you started with some inspiration from the Creative Guides, who have each selected a That’s Crafty! surface for their project this month.

Julia

I just loved creating a scene inside this beautiful little Matchbox Art Shrine from That's Crafty! Being newly retired - this is how I'm looking at the next phase of my life - who knows what adventure awaits! If you'd like to see how I put my Adventure Awaits scene together - please venture over to my blog!

Brenda

I had an acrylic stack from 'That's Crafty!' in my supplies and decided this would be a good time to try out stamping and painting the layers. Well actually if you visit Bumblebees and Butterflies I tell you the real story lol, but I had great fun playing with the stamps and acrylic paints to get this artsy layered look and I learnt a lot along the way. Pop over to see how I did it if you have time. xxx

Astrid

I decided to go all out vintage with my craft surface and had great fun playing with paints and inks. These surfaces from That's Crafty! are fabulous to work with and so easy to put together. To get a quick run down of how I  created this, just visit me here.

Sara Emily

When I first laid eyes on this beautiful Upright Arch at the That's Crafty! shop I knew I wanted to create a vintage garden. But when I actually received the surface and held it in my hands, I was so impressed with it's size and sturdiness. I knew then I had to build the hardscape before I could landscape. I hope you'll find some time to stop by sarascloset to see how this came together.

Anne

My craft surface from 'That's Crafty' is a very sturdy 9" x 4.1/2" MDF rectangle. I used my favourite quote and lots of other Tim Holtz products. You can see more on my blog here.

Jennie

I had a vision of a cascade of spring flowers flowing around this little gothic arch and just about managed to fit in one of my favourite quotes! It was great fun working with the That's Crafty! MDF surfaces and there are more detailed photos on my blog (plus a little secret!)

Nikki

I created this very aged piece with my That's Crafty! rounded top MDF upright - featuring Seth Apter's new Steering Wheel die, a quote from Gandhi and so many layers of paint and texture! Do hop over to Addicted to Art where I have all the details.

Tracy Evans

As soon as I saw the challenge, I knew which quote I wanted to use, as I am a great believer that "it's the little things that make life big". This sentiment may not take centre stage on my piece of art today but it makes a big statement! Pop by my BLOG for the step by steps.

Autumn

I challenged myself to create a tribute to my favorite quote of all time, thus this "tree house." I used a variety of die cuts and inking techniques to create the foliage and background in my woodland scene.  That's Crafty! substrates accept ink like a dream! I hope you will visit SewPaperPaint for the inside scoop and closeups.

Amanda

For this challenge I have created a piece of grungy Art using a That's Crafty! 6x6 MDF Panel that allows my chosen 'Quote' (one I use often) to take centre stage. There are more details on my blog if you fancy stopping by .

Deb

That wonderful quote from Wendy Vecchi's Fun With Art stamp set and the shape of That's Crafty's Large House art shrine led me down a creative path that resulted in my Circus Fun art shrine.  I couldn't think of anything much more fun than a circus or much more fearless than putting your head in a lion's mouth!  I've some step out photos on how I created it on my blog, hope you can pop by for the how to.

Annie 

For Jenny's fabulous challenge I am playing with a That's Crafty Surface Extra Large Art Shrine House, which is 6.16ins x 8.64ins x 2ins deep. My Quote is very true in that "Knowledge is the Key to Success" in all aspects of daily living. For project and product details please hop over to my blog by clicking HERE.

Jenny

As soon as I saw this clear acrylic light bulb surface on the That's Crafty! website I knew it was a match made in heaven with a brand new, as yet unreleased, A5 stamp set from IndigoBlu. Yes folks, you're getting a sneak peek of some of the images/words from the set right here first! And what encouraging wise words they are from everyone's favourite Hogwarts master. The fun bit was working out how to paint and stamp in reverse as all the colour is on the back of this once clear bulb! Find out more on my blog HERE.

So that's all of the amazing inspiration from the Creative Guides for this challenge. We do hope you will join in with us and 'Use A Quote' this month - you can link up your entries below to be in with a chance of winning. 

(Do remember to check the Travelling Instructions to make sure you qualify for the prize draw and Pinworthy badges).

Take care of yourselves and get creative! Jenny xxx

An InLinkz Link-up

Destination Inspiration - Arriving at Terminal 5

Hi everyone and Happy New Year to you all! Jenny here with the final Destination Inspiration in the current series. As a reminder the contents of our travel bag this time round have included;

Product: Lace

Technique: Heat Embossing

Colour: Silver

Substrate: Chipboard or Cardboard

This set of ingredients came to my rescue when assembling and finishing a canvas which, at first, had stubbornly refused to come together. In the end they became the key elements...

Recently I followed one of Wendy Vecchi's fabulous tutorials to create a set of 'cracked glass floral specimens' on pieces of mountboard. They've been sitting on my craft table teasing me ever since, so I started a canvas background for one of them to sit on. Great fun was had applying multiple layers of orange and pink shades of Distress Paint (from the vibrant Picked Raspberry and Ripe Persimmon to the palest Wild Honey and Tattered Rose) before wiping the remains of Hickory Smoke and Gathered Twigs paint from my brush to add a touch of vintage. Trouble was that made it a bit too drab so the gentlest of silvery swipes with Brushed Pewter added an essential shimmer. Finally I broke up the colour with a look of torn lace, courtesy of some white texture paste and a Vintage Quilt stencil.

The floral plaque needed something to make it stand out so I framed it with a piece of silver embossed card before layering it onto a raft of other snippets of card (kraft, patterned and corrugated). I also wanted to add some rusted silver metal elements to the collage but it looked too harsh for such a feminine canvas so the lace, dyed to match, provided the perfect foil, as well as being a way to guide the eye across the design.

So that's it for my contribution to this round of Destination Inspiration projects. In case you missed any of them make sure to stop by the other posts from Julia A, Deb, Anne and Sandy.

Our 'Winter Magic' challenge closes on Thursday 5th January so there's still time to get those last minute entries in. Then the team will be back on Friday with the first challenge of 2017. Until then take care of yourselves and may you have a successful and creative year ahead.

Destination Inspiration - Terminal Four

Hi everyone and welcome! Well we've already had some fantastic projects from Nikki, Jennie and Sandy. Now it's Jenny here reporting for duty. So here we are, arriving at our fourth terminal for this month's Destination Inspiration and it's my turn to create with the contents of the travel bag this month.

Just as a reminder, this is what's in the suitcase:

Product - Texture or Modelling Paste

Substrate - Fabric/Burlap

Colour - Autumnal / Fall colours - orange, brown, rust

Technique - Collage

And here's the canvas I came up with...

This is an 8x8 canvas and I had to start by covering it in a piece of burlap. Anyone who has tried covering a deep sided canvas will know that the corners are the tricky bit,especially when the fabric used is thick and I decided to make mine more presentable by using Prima paper clay and an IOD mould to create bespoke trims. Painted with black gesso and dry brushed with IndigoBlu gold and coral Luscious pigment powders they worked a treat.

I adhered an old piece of Prima 6x6 paper with glue to the centre of the canvas and used Tim Holtz new Autumn Layering Stencil (in it's mini version) to add black embossing paste foliage across the top and down the sides. The Luscious pigment powders were used to colour them, this time with the addition of the bronze option, to add a gentle Fall palette and a touch of shimmer.

Now for a spot of collage - I added a die cut Ornate Frame and centre covered with more of the coordinating Prima paper and a brush of Luscious. You'll notice I repeated the stencilling/colouring with more Autumn foliage in the centre of the frame. Yet more Autumn Foliage was die cut and embossed with Tim Holtz Thinlits set and layered on top of the stencilled leaves. This really helped to bring the design to life and add a sense of depth.

The canvas was completed with the addition of some metal embellishments and crystal drops in keeping with the soft Fall look and colour palette. Here are some close up photos so you can see more of the detail;

So now you've had four creations using this month's travel bag. Make sure you come back next week to see the final Destination Inspiration from another of the Creative Guides and in the meantime there's still time for you to enter our current challenge 'Create Within a Frame'.

Have a fantastic week ahead and take care of yourselves.

Jenny xxx

Final Stop - August Destination Inspiration

Hi everyone and welcome! Jenny here reporting for duty. So here we are, arriving at our final stop for this month's Destination Inspiration and it's my turn to create with the contents of the travel bag this month.

Just as a reminder, this is what's in the suitcase:

Product - Paint

Substrate - Tag

Colour - Smoky Grey Blue (think Stormy Sky and Weathered Wood)

Technique - Resist (paint, embossing or mediums)

And here's the tag I came up with...

I started with a jumbo manilla tag, trimmed on each side to fit a DL card base. Smearing it with Weathered Wood Distress Paint using my finger gave a nice uneven coverage which acted as a resist to the Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink blended over the top.

A little 'spritz and flick' with water allowed the Distress Ink to do it's magic and I added a little Walnut Stain to the edges to create a more distinct edge.

One of my new Patchwork Pieces borders was ideal for creating a border around the tag. Simply remove the gold embossing powder from the corners where you overlap the design before heating and the joins are seamless!

The whole thing needed a little va-va-voom so I used Tumbled Glass Distress Paint on the larger of the Patchwork backgrounds and covered the entire tag.

From the same Patchwork set I used the smaller design on a piece of black card, stamping with Picket Fence Distress Paint.

I HAD to play with the new Distress Crayons that have just arrived in the craft room courtesy of Tim and Mario, and reached for my all time favourite, Tumbled Glass, to coordinate with the tag. If you add a little to the uncovered areas of the Wildflower stencil and blend through with your finger you get a fabulous translucent effect with a distinct opaque border.

With the two main layers created I combined them, using a strip of Textile Surfaces, Linen Ribbon, some Idea-Ology Ephemera and stitching. To make the Wildflower die cut less one dimensional I blended a little of the Frayed Burlap Distress Crayon with water and painted it on. And as this is going in my card stash a die cut sentiment provided the finishing touch.

Here are some close ups of the completed tag...

As this is our final stop on this month's Destination Inspiration journey, let's take a look back at the wonderful projects created by my fellow Creative Guides.

Anne

Deb

Alison

Once again a simple travel bag of ingredients has resulted in such varied and wonderful creations from my uber-talented fellow Creative Guides. They never fail to amaze and inspire me and I'm sure that's true for you too.

Thanks so much for travelling along with us this month. September will bring a new travel bag and another amazing Destination Inspiration journey. And remember, there are still a few days left to join in the fun with the August challenge 'Stencil It!'

Have a wonderful week and whatever you're up to, take care of yourselves.

Jenny xxx

Destination Inspiration - Arriving at Terminal 3

Hi everyone and welcome! Jenny here for your next stop on this month's Destination Inspiration adventure. Let's undo the travel bag again to remind ourselves what is in there.

Product: Lace

Technique: Texture Paste through a Stencil

Colour: Bubblegum Pink

Substrate: Canvas

Confession time - guess which bright spark suggested Bubblegum Pink as a colour and immediately regretted setting such a challenge (one which I must say my fellow Creative Guides, Alison and Jennie have tackled superbly!!!) Having taken a very deep breath I started down the path of creating a new canvas and here are the results;

I'm pretty sure you'll be wanting to know how this came together so I've put together a short Snapguide tutorial for you;

Check out How to Create a Dramatic Pink Textured Canvas by Jenny Marples on Snapguide.

And to finish here are some close ups of the completed canvas;

So that's it for Terminal 3. Make sure you join us here next Monday for the next scheduled stop on this month's journey, and if you feel inspired by today's post don't forget to get those entries in for our current challenge 'Texture or Embossing Paste'.

For now take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx