This is a unique challenge blog where we are inspired by and focus on the Vintage; shabby; mixed-media; art journaling; industrial, timeworn and steampunk genres and encompass the talent, flair, expertise and ideas of many artists that we are inspired by. We welcome all types of projects - cards, journaling, assemblage, layouts, albums, atcs, altered art in fact whatever you want to share (as long as it is in good taste).

Friday 29 January 2016

Tag Friday

Welcome to weekend eve and as January is a five week month we have the ever popular tag Friday post for you. There are no restrictions or themes for this event so the Creative Guides just have fun putting together a tag of their choice. Let's see what they have for you to feast your eyes on today.

*************



This tag started out as a stencil monoprint mop up that I'd made in December while making my version of Tim Holtz's December 12 Tags of 2015.  I had used Tim's Poinsettia layering stencil and the flowers and red colour immediately reminded me of a valentine, so I added a cascade of hearts to complete the Valentine's Day trifecta!  Come on over to my blog for all the details.

************




I am sharing my January Tim Tag for our Tag Friday showcase. I had great fun changing around the colours and experimenting with the techniques on linen cardstock to create a totally different feel. Please join me on my blog if you would like to see some more details.

************


S@ndy
 

Travel is what's on my mind with this tag that is serving double duty.  It's also my Tim tag for January and it is packed with lots of Tim goodness.  I added the #7 at the top of the band because that is the month we will be enjoying our big adventure.

************


Brenda


Having been doing lots of journalling and creating in bright colours recently I wanted to get back to some vintage collage. Using Tim's papers, photo booth picture, distress sprays and some ideaology combined with a mixed media background -  this just appeared and I'm really quite happy with it. I hope you like it too.

************




Often I use Tag Friday as an excuse to play with my favourite colours and stamps.  This time I used it as a nudge to experiment with a slightly different style and colour scheme.  If you'd like to check out some of the influences and see a few more details, do come and visit Words and Pictures.

***********




My tag was born out of my love of facial imagery and expression, especially the eyes, as they truly are the windows to the soul. If you would like to see how I created this tag there are more details on my blog.

************


Nikki
 
Addicted to Art - Tim Holtz punches

I was short on time for this tag so I raided my scraps box and found some mop up tags and inky scraps. These scraps are great for using with punches which I used for my flowers, twigs and leaves. There are more details today at Addicted to Art.


*************

What a dose of inspiration if you need one. My thanks to all the fabulous team members who have contributed to the TF post for January. I was just checking the calendar and we only have four more for the rest of the year so keep your eyes open for them.

Have a great weekend and enjoy whatever you have planned.

hugs Brenda and the Creative Guides. xxx

Monday 25 January 2016

Destination Inspiration - Welcome to Terminal #4

Hi, it's S@ndy here today welcoming you to Terminal #4.  We have enjoyed some wonderful inspiration from Jennie, Jenny and Amanda and now it's my turn to inspire you with all the same contents - let's review what's in the travel bag:

Product:  Archival Ink
Technique: Stamping
Color:  Dusty Concord
Substrate: Acrylic/Clear Packaging/Acetate
 


Here's how I used them.
 
 
 
Here's how I did it:
 
 
Begin with a piece of acetate, this one has a protective film on both sides. Trim corners and punch hole in top center.  Any clear acetate or packaging can be used.

 Emboss with embossing folder,  two passes were needed here since the tag is longer than the embossing folder.

Peel protective coating from back.
 
The conventional way to use Alcohol Inks is to drop them on felt that is on a blending tool.  However, I wanted a thicker coating on this so did it a little differently.
Drop several drops of Eggplant Alcohol Ink, enough to cover tag back.  Smear around and then pounce, let dry.  Drop on several drops of Gold Mixative, smear around and then pounce, let dry.  Be sure to cover the entire back of tag.
 
 
Using the Weathered Clock Die, cut 1/2 clock from Grunge Board.  Cover entire front of clock with Versamark Ink - add black embossing powder, heat until embossing powder is melted.
The arrow is a Grunge Board piece from my stash that was treated exactly the same way.

On front of tag, edge with Archival Black Ink - add lace and ribbon.  Items used here are both Graphic 45 Staples. Clamp in place until glue is dry.  Because this is acetate I used Glossy Accents as my glue.

Silk flowers were used here, white flowers colored with Dusty Concord Distress Ink.

Stack three flower parts - hold together with a brad in the center.  Add clock and arrow to tag.  Punch hole in tag and place flower with brad through hole.  Add leaves.
 
I used two chipboard gears from my stash and colored them the same as the clock and arrow.
One black brad was added to the small gear as well as to the center of the arrow. 
 
 Stamp sentiment on manila paper, this stamp is from the new Karen Burniston collection, using Dusty Concord. Tear edges and ink with Dusty Concord, add to tag with pop dots.
The final step is to add 2 lengths of ribbon through the top hole of the tag and tie with twine.
 

 
I certainly hope you've enjoyed this stop on the journey.  Don't forget to add your link to the current challenge, Vintage Travel & Luggage.
 
See you at the next stop,

Friday 22 January 2016

Welcome Nicole

It's another Friday Guest day today and what a fabulous artist and project we have for you. Let's get straight over to see what's in store.

***********************


Hello Travellers I am thrilled to be back on A Vintage Journey to bring you today's tour!  

Let me start by welcoming you and I'm Nicole, creative travelling blogger of Nicole Wright Designs.  There is a lot to see on today's tour and I'm all about the photo's.  Let's head off and create some inspiration on this Passport Journey.


I started off with Sizzix Designer Eileen Hull's Passport Scoreboard die, Tim Holtz Vintage Market XL Die and the mini movers and shapers airplane.


This is my first time creating with the passport die and ya, that was so fun and messy!


I created a leather passport book using vintage photo distress spray stain, ground espresso distress ink and Kraft Glassine.  Add a coat of clear rock candy distress crackle and that leather look is achieved.


I have some awesome vintage looking leather luggage.  This tag comes on the bags.  I thought it would look awesome!  Love it...


I cut the "TRAVEL" and mini airplane on mat board then I grunged it up.  I used 8x8 Collage Paper Stash for the pages and some Ephemera. 


Each piece of Ephemera is coated with Ranger's Glue n' Seal.  Once dried I used Black Soot Distress marker on the edges then smudge.  This really grunges the pages up.


I stamped the inside of each page and the books covers using the Ledger Script stamp.  I left the pages empty.  


This world traveller is heading for Europe in a couple of weeks.  I thought it would be nice to add some tickets, photos and who knows what when I get back.


I hope you enjoyed my Vintage Travel Passport Book!  Thank you to the AVJ Team for including me!  I am always thrilled to be asked.  It's always fun to see what creative inspiration they create to share.  

Thanks for joining me on my tour.  I look forward to new adventures and filling this book up with memories.

Cheers



*****************************

Wow thanks Nicole what a fabulous project to add along side all the others we have seen over the last few weeks and thank you so much for taking the time to create such a fabulous post too.

Nicole has not long been back from the CHA trade show in Anaheim USA and whilst there she launched her own stamps, Fallen Blossom and Upstream.  They are her own drawings so they have that sketchy look and they will be availible in February. Congratulations Nicole that is such good news and we wish you all the success in the world with the new venture.

Well that's us for another week, we look forward to seeing you again on Monday when we have another stop at the Destination Inspiration post. 
See you there and have a fabulous weekend.

hugs Brenda and the Creative Guides. xxx




Monday 18 January 2016

Destination Inspiration : January 2016 : Terminal #3





Hello Everyone and welcome! 

Jennie here with you for our weekly Destinations Inspirations journey and today you are at Terminal #3. We have enjoyed fabulous projects from Jenny and Amanda already this month and now it is my turn to share my creation using the contents of this month's travel bag which are:

Product : Archival Ink
Technique : Stamping
Colour : Dusty Concord
Substrate : Acrylic/Clear Packaging/Acetate



I am afraid that my packaging tag is not very easy to photograph and with the dull weather we have had just lately nigh on impossible!


I started with my piece of plastic packaging and cut a tag with it and then ran it through the Big Shot with one of my favourite embossing folders. 

For my stamping technique I went back to a technique we did with Tim on Creative Chemistry 101 : Archival Resist. 


I used Hydrangea Archival Ink to stamp onto Ranger Glossy Card.


When this was dry (and it takes a little while) I blended Dusty Concord Distress Ink over the top. The Archival Ink acts as a resist and all you need to do is wipe away the excess Distress Ink with a soft cloth to reveal the resist.


I wasn't too happy with the dark colour so I gave everything a spritz of water and got the softer look I was looking for.


I did the same with another piece of glossy paper this time stamping in Venetian Orange Archival Ink. These provided a little contrast to the original piece.


I then layered my embellishments onto the clear tag. The tag was a little short as I was limited by the size of the packaging, so I added a die cut pediment inked and (lightly) overstamped with Dusty Concord. I wasn't too sure whether all the colours would work together but I quite like the pop of orange!


I stamped a little banner on glossy card using Dusty Concord Distress Ink and die cut a reinforcer from some of the scrap pieces left over.


And the finished tag again which if I can work out a way of covering the bits that show at the back will be a birthday card for a favourite aunt. I like to send something other than a card now and then and as a crafter it is much appreciated.

Thank you for stopping off at Terminal 3 and joining me today and do pop back next week as another Creative Guide will be waiting for you at the next Terminal with another project using the same items in the travel bag.

And of course, don't forget our fabulous challenge this month which is


The challenge is open until the end of the month and we would love to see your projects inspired by this wonderful theme.

Have a great crafting week!

Jennie x

Friday 15 January 2016

Pinworthy Inspiration

Every month we are delighted to welcome our pinworthies from a previous challenge to join us as guest Creative Guides. Our pinworthies are the selected winners of our challenges and today we are pleased to be joined by Shilpa who was a pinworthy in October for our 'Art Journaling with Tim' challenge. It is very apt that Shilpa is sharing some more of her wonderful journal creativity today but this time on our current theme - Vintage Luggage and Travel.

Hello Everyone, Shilpa here. It's a great pleasure to be back as Guest Designer at A Vintage Journey, many thanks to the team for this opportunity!
I am from Bangalore, India. I love everything related to colour and texture. I enjoy creating art journals, working on canvas and altering found objects. I share my creations on my blog - Neon diary.
Today, I would like to share with you a double spread art journal page.
This is a collage journal page and I've used all Tim Holtz designed elements.
For the background, I chose one of the papers from the Wallflower collection. On that I applied a thin layer of antique linen distress ink layer randomly. The leaf branch is die cut from Sizzix garden greens, which I coloured with peeled paint distress stain and vintage photo distress ink.
I've also created layers with Numbers Rubons.
Industrial stickers and Framed Alpha parts are a perfect fit on this masculine page.
As we have A Vintage Travel theme for January challenge, here, I decided to use Tim's Old Jalopy die, I cut it out from the Menagerie paper stack, behind that I adhered metal clocks and ephemera.
Thank you so much for again for your visit, I hope you liked my journal page!

-------

Thank you Shilpa - a wonderful double page!
If this inspires you, do join our latest challenge - Vintage Travel and Luggage.
We are back on Monday with the next stop this month for Destination Inspiration.

Have a creative and enjoyable weekend.
Nikki on behalf of the AVJ Team

Monday 11 January 2016

Destination Inspiration - January 2016 - Terminal #2


Hello Everyone,
Amanda here (Ink-A-Pink) and welcome to Terminal #2, the second leg of this months Destination Inspiration . 
Jenny greeted you all last week at Terminal #1 and she certainly offered lots of inspiration. Here's a reminder of what Jenny created 


Now its my turn to pick up our travel bag, remind you of its contents and continue our journey. 
1.Product- Archival ink 
2.Technique -Stamping 
3.Colour - Dusty Concord 
4. Substrate- Acrylic/ Clear packaging/ Acetate  
                                          
Yes that's it , just a few creative supplies but then I believe in travelling light so let's get started. 
When I make cards I like to think that after the event they are made for they don't necessarily have to be thrown away or stored away in a box somewhere gathering dust but instead can be turned into a piece of wall art so that is  what I have chosen to make!
I began with the Substrate, which for me was Acetate and using Tim Holtz Layered Butterfly and Emboss folder I created my butterfly. 
 
 
As acetate is clear and has a slick surface I used alcohol inks (love them)  to add colour to my acetate butterfly. I then manipulated the acetate with my fingers to give the butterfly dimension . 
 

Once happy with the colour I then applied gilding wax to the butterfly with my finger to enhance the emboss. I love how the wax transformed the appearance of the inked acetate giving it a real metallic look.
 

My altered acetate butterfly then guided the rest of my creativity so next I will show you  how I used the other items in my travel bag .
I selected a paper from Tim French Industrial paper pad


and added detail by stencilling and stamping using a few of Tim's Layering Stencils, Stamps, Distress Inks and Ranger Archival Inks. 


I also added some subtle paint splats using Antique Linen Distress Paint and my Tim Holtz Splatter brush. (Personally I think a worthy investment, if you haven't already got one). I distressed the edges of the paper panel with Distress Inks.
I adhered the background panel to a mount of Dusty Concord Coredinations paper cut to size. I ragged and distressed the edges of the mount with Dusty Concord and Ground Espresso Distress Inks.
Here's a few close ups of the background paper once complete




My card needed a quote so I stamped 'There is Beauty in Simplicity' onto a piece of cream card stock using Hydrangea Archival ink and mounted it onto Grey board. I inked the edges of both the Card stock and Grey board with Distress Inks - Dusty Concord and Ground Espresso respectively .


I also die cut three circles, two larger ones out of Grey board, one smaller one out of Cream Card stock and again applied Distress Inks to their circumferences. (Nearly said edges there!).  These would provide a grounding for my butterfly when I adhered in place which is all that was left to do. I adhered all the elements of my card with high tack double sided tape apart from the quote. This I adhered with foam pads as I wanted to lift it slightly off the background - it seemed to look better that way!


Thank you for accompanying me on this 2nd leg of the our Destination Inspiration. I hope I have inspired you to go and have some fun creating . Be sure to pop back next Monday when you will be able to see whats on offer at Terminal #3.
Our current Challenge is all about Vintage Travel and Luggage and we welcome you to join in with us. There's still plenty of time left as the challenge is open until the end of the month
We always love to see what you create and appreciate each and every one of your entries.

Hope you all have a lovely week and don't forget to visit us again soon . 
Take care 
Amanda
xxx