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 28 August 2020

Creative Card Making with Ann

Hi Everyone and Welcome
It's Ann from Ann Chuang Crafts here with you today as we head out on the last leg of August's journey with our regular "Creative Card Making" post. I used Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink Alloy to make the background. Hope you like it.


Here's the tutorial : 
I started with dripping 75% Alcohol on Yupo paper. Then drop some alcohol inks and gold Alloy. Using a hair dryer to make it flow. Then, I let it dry completely. 


I stamped the flowers from PaperArtsy JOFY97 in Simon Says Stamp Intense Black ink.
 

I stamped another flower image on watercolor paper and colored it with Zig Clean Color Real Brush. 



To finish this card, I added the sentiment from Tim Holtz Tiny Text stamp set.


Thank you for joining me on the Creative Card Making journey today and don't forget there is still a little time to join in our current challenge which is "Tag you're It!".


Wishing you all a lovely weekend.


Ann

Friday 21 August 2020

Tag you're It! Tutorial

Hi Everyone 

Amanda (ink-a-pink) here today sharing a tutorial for my 'Finder's Keepers' tag that I created for our current Challenge, Tag You're It! My original post, shared when the challenge launched on the 7th August can be seen here

There's nothing complicated about the creativity so hopefully the techniques, steps I share will be 'user friendly'. 
It is a long post so you may want to grab a cuppa or at least get yourself all nice and comfy before scrolling on. 


My substrates ,of course were 'Tags', one That's Crafty MDF Tag #10 and one That's Crafty Greyboard Tag #8. I gave them both a quick coat of white paint/ gesso so they were all prepped and ready for all that came next! 


Starting with the large tag... 
Cover it with Tim Holtz Typeset Collage Paper (or any other paper of your choosing)
Cut/ Sand off any excess 'overhang'. 
Seal with Matte medium or Collage Medium 


Spray some Tim Holtz Distress Resist Spray on to the collaged paper tag. 
Break the pointed end off a cocktail stick so you have a flat end. Use this to apply dots of Gesso around the tag.
Not so easy to see in the photo above so let me get you closer ....


... hopefully you can see them better now. 


Take a selection of Seth Apter/ Aladine Izink Dye Sprays. I used Turquoise, Seaspray, Honey and Tea. 
Spray the collaged paper tag with colour. 
Once the collage paper is covered with an initial layer of ink dry with a heat gun or leave to air dry before spraying more. 
Then continue spraying and drying, building up colour for as long as you want. 
 Have fun, enjoy and just follow your creative instinct's as to when to stop. 

Tip: You may want to put your tag in a box while you are spraying. This will help prevent any 'rogue' sprayed ink going everywhere!!! 


Dry thoroughly with a heat gun or leave to air dry. 
Take a very lightly dampened cloth and rub very gently over the inky colour. 
As you rub you will see that the distress resist spray and gesso you applied before the inks has resisted the ink and those areas (after gently rubbing) are either far lighter in colour or white. 


Spray one of the colours of ink you are using onto a glass matt. I chose Honey.  
Pick up some of the ink with a paint brush 
Hold the loaded brush over the tag, tap the brush to create some inky splatters. 
 Create as many splatters as you want by repeating the process. 
I love splatters so always have to 'proceed with caution' as I have been know to get a little carried away!


Tear the top off a sponge scourer. 
Apply PaperArtsy Snowflake Fresco paint ( or any other paint) to the scourer and stamp around the tag to create some tiny white speckle detail. 


Apply some DecoArt Quinacrodine Gold around the edges of the tag. 


Add some textured stenciling, as much or as little as you want . 
I only did a little using Tim Holtz 'Grime Layering Stencil with Ranger Texture Paste tinted with Turquoise Izink Dye Spray. 

With the large tag background now finished I moved on to the smaller tag....

This was to sit centrally on the large tag and I wanted the design on the collage paper to flow through the two tags seamlessly.


 Lining up the collage paper design was key! 


Here's the 'method' I used:
Roll out the collage paper and find the same part of the collage design used for the tag. 
Cut that part away from the roll. 
Position the #8 tag centrally on the #10 tag
Place the piece of collage paper over the #8 tag and line up the design with the design on the #10 tag beneath. 


Take a spare #8 tag, place it directly on top of the #8 tag underneath the collage paper. 
Draw round the tag with a sharp pencil. 


Lift everything off everything else and cut out the tag shape drawn on the collage paper. 
It's worth just double checking at this stage that the collage paper design is continuous through the two tags before continuing. 
Then repeat all the creative steps taken for the #10 tag.

Moving onto the focal feature... 


Using Tim Holtz Steampunk Parts die and greyboard die cut 2 portholes. 


Adhere the 2 portholes together. 
Cover the 'porthole' with Pinflair Rust it! 
Leave to dry.
When dry lightly catch the rough rusty surface with DecoArt Quinacrodine Gold and Patina Antiquing Cream. 


Die cut a circle slightly larger than the porthole with heavy card stock. I used Seth Apters Steering Wheel die cutting away the inner part of the steering wheel. 
(sorry the actual die did 'a runner' when it say the camera!) 
Cover it with DecoArt Crackle Paint and set it aside for the paint to dry and the cracks appear.  
When they have, add touches of colour using a few of the paints and inks used for the tags. 
Lightly stamp the crackle die cut using a fine detail stamp. I used one of Seths from his PaperArtsy ESA13 stamp set. 

Finally the embellishments... 

Unfortunately,  I can't tell you how I created these as they were made by either man or machine and they were rusted by natures elements.  I call them my 'street swag' - rusty bits and pieces that I find when I'm out and about. I've gathered quite a collection over the years. 


These are the ones from my collection that I thought would be great for my tag, along with the rusty porthole I created. I love how all the 'rusts' are so unique to themselves. 
Oops, I forgot to include the rusty wire and the copper brads!

Sure you'll spot them in the few close up pics I'll now share of the rusty elements in situ....


There's the copper brads embellishing the rusty porthole that frames the rusty hardware...


.... and the rusty wire wrapped around the large tag.


The rusty holed bar (don't know what its called in 'the trade') fastened down with a rusty winged nut made a great tag hanger. 
 
I love finding and using rusty treasure like this in my creativity and often as I pick up 'the pieces' I catch myself thinking, sometimes saying out loud .... 


Finders, Keepers! 


I hope you have enjoyed your time here with me today and that maybe I have offered some creative inspiration. 
Thank you so much for stopping by. 
If you would like to join us in our Tag You're It! Challenge head over to the launch post where you will find all the details about the challenge and how to enter. There's also a fabulous gallery of inspiring tags created by some of our talented Creative Guides.
We would love for you to share your your Tag Creativity with us as we always look forward to seeing all the entries. 
Wishing you all a lovely weekend. 
Take Care, Stay Safe
and 
Keep on Creating! 
Amanda
x

Friday 14 August 2020

Watercolour Wonders Pinworthies

 Hello everyone, Deb here to announce our Pinworthy winners for July's Watercolour Wonders challenge.  As usual we had many fabulous entries and we want to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to enter our challenge.  But we had to narrow it down to our three favourites so without further ado here are our choices.

#8 - Cassandra

We loved Cassandra's use of the vintage elements in her background along with her lovely watercoloured flowers and textural elements.

# 15 - Tracey

Tracey's faux ceramic tiles are amazing!  We loved the dimension and texture combined with the gouache, background stamping and triple embossing, simply lovely.

#20 - Christine

And what's not to love about Christine's lovely Christmas In July card.  The soft watercolour washed sky in the background combined with that wonderful watercolour pencil stamped bird made for a delightful wintery scene.

Thanks again to everyone who joined in our July Watercolour Wonders challenge and we hope that you will also be able to join us for our current challenge, Tag Your It!  Can't wait to see what you create,

Deb and the Creative Guides

Friday 7 August 2020

Tag You're It!

Hi Everyone 

Amanda (ink-a-pink) here to welcome and introduce to our new challenge here at A Vintage Journey!
The chosen theme this time is 

Tag You're It! 

'We would love to see what you create with, or on hang tags. Your hang tags can be created from any material or be any size. We would just love to see that iconic 'hang' shape front and centre in your design. Just remember to create your tag project in one of our preferred styles: vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journalling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk.' 

I have little doubt this will be a challenge in the true sense of the word as I'm sure there are many of us who enjoy creating on or with tags including all of us here at AVJ.  Some of our talented Creative Guides have been busy enjoying some Tag Creativity so lets take a look at the Tags they have created. 
 Be sure to click on the links the guides have provided to find out more about each of the Tags. 



Being a grungy girl at heart who's also partial to a touch of colour and has 'a bit of a thing' for 'rusty bits and pieces' I've drawn on these loves to create my mixed media 'Tag on Tag' project. You are very welcome to pop by my blog, ink-a-pink to see and read more. 



I love making tags, so decided to make three while I was at it, all in similar style. Like usual, they are part of one of my journals, and if you want to see more, just come and visit me on my blog



Well, you know I'm always happy to play with a tag, so how to play Tag, You're It and make it a little more special?  Play with two tags!!  This layered tag has plenty of Speckled Egg Distress going on, even on the speckled eggs themselves.  Come and see how it all came together over at Words and Pictures.



We all enjoy our tags - so how wonderful to have it as our monthly theme. I have been experimenting for my creation and things didn't quite work out how I hoped! For all the details - good and not so good, it would be lovely to see you at Addicted to Art.



Our monthly theme is the perfect opportunity for my first Halloween tag! I know that we are still far away but Halloween and Christmas are two super creative occasions for me ... If you want to see how I made this project, I'll wait for you on my Blog Yayascrap & More!

Creating tags as part of Art Journaling is always fun, so today I'm sharing my nature inspired art journal page featuring lots of layered tags. To find out how it all came together please pop over to my blog Let's Art Journal.


I just had to join in with Amanda's fabulous challenge theme as, like many, I love tags and the versatility they provide when you alter them. For more details you can visit my own blog by clicking HERE

************************************ 

I'm sure you'll agree our Creative Guides have shared some fabulous tags offering lots of inspiration. 
We would love for you to join us in this challenge as we are really looking forward to seeing your Tag Creativity. 
At the end of the challenge the Creative Guides will choose 3 Pinworthy winners who will each be awarded a Pinworthy badge to display on their blog and their winning projects will be pinned to our pinterest board. 
The Challenge begins today and remains open for entries until 3rd September 2020. 

Creative Wishes  
Amanda 
x
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