Ring out the old - Ring in the new.

Welcome everyone, it's Brenda here wishing you and your families happy Boxing day. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas day yesterday with family and friends and hopefully some lovely presents too.

I am hosting this last challenge of the year, and what an amazing year it has been since March when we started AVJ. We have the most amazing group of regular Creative Guides, some fantastic guests and pretty awesome readers and challenge entries.

So to complete the year and take us into 2015 we would like you to -

Ring out the old and Ring in the new.

I found this poem to help focus us -

“Ring out the old, ring in the new,

Ring, happy bells, across the snow:

The year is going, let him go;

Ring out the false, ring in the true.” Alfred Tennyson

Think about the key words from the poem - old, new, bells, snow, year etc. and interpret one or more of them in anyway you like. So for instance use something old/new on a project; include bells or snow on a card; design a new year card/project/invitation etc. Be creative in your interpretation and just tell us what your links are to the theme and/or key words from the poem and what your Tim inspiration is on your project.

Let's have a look at how the Creative Guides have interpreted it and what Tim inspiration they have incorporated.

Brenda

Ok what has a telephone book got to do with the theme you might ask? But every new years day we ring family and friends to wish them a Happy New Year, we ring out the old and ring in the new. My telephone/address book is getting old but holds a wealth of information collected over the years. Being part of this wonderful group of talented crafters this year and running the Secret Santa, I realised I could do with a separate telephone/address book to keep their details in. This is just a kraft coloured book with pages made of what seems to be brown wrapping paper which I have made into an ideal place for all those useful numbers.

Terry

For my take on Brenda's fun challenge, I focused on old and new along with snow and bells and all while "ringing out" the craft year with Tim's 12th tag of 2014! For all the details, please click Here. Wishing you all the best of 2015!

S@ndy

My interpretation of Brenda's fun challenge was to upcycle one of my previous projects.  I used Tim's Assemblage Clock for a second time.  Please come on over to my blog here to see the details.

Wishing all of you a "safe" and  Happy New Year

Jennie

Here in Scotland the last day of the year, Hogmanay, is very important to the New Year celebrations and much used to be made of getting everything in order for the New Year on that last day. But for those few minutes before the ringing of the Midnight Bells it is the time to wish for health and happiness for the year to come. As soon as the bells have rung, the visiting and partying starts! 

I decided to interpret those few moments before midnight by making a New Years Card using one of my favourite Tim dies - the weathered clock. There are more details on my blog if you would like to know more.

Jools

My focus is the bells ringing in the New Year as the clock strikes midnight on my snowy wreath

Using Distress Inks, Sprays, die cutting and embossing 

Please click here for more details

Happy New Year, all the best for 2015!

Julia

For Brenda's challenge this fortnight - I highlighted the fresh beginning we all get with the ringing in of a new year.  My main focus is a portion of The Prayer of St. Francis that I photocopied out of a book.  I used several techniques from Tim's Dec 2014 tag on my project - using Distress Paint to color my grungeboard die cut figures, sprinkling Clear Rock Candy Glitter on the moon, covering the arch with Frosted Film, adhering some Industrious Stickers in various places and adding a little bell!

To see more details and close up photos of how I put this together - please visit my blog post here

Alison

My card has old rusty (but happy) bells ringing in the New Year across the spattered snow; my old Christmas neutrals bumping into the bold vivid blues and greens that I reach for in January; and lots of new Tim Holtz toys - the Festive Gent (all new and sparkly, and in a hurry to get to the party before midnight!), the Holly Bough embossing folder, the Holiday Greens and Distress Sprays.  Come and see more details as well as the decorative envelope for the card over at Words and Pictures.

Chris

As a lover of windchimes, I decided that I would create my own as my way of ringing out the old and ringing in the new.  My main inspiration for these, other than angels, is Tim's fabulous 'Riveted patchwork' technique which you can find in CCC VII, P57.  The products and steps are featured on my own blog here if you want to see them.  Chris xxx

As always the winner of the challenge, as chosen by the team, will receive a £10.00 gift token from our wonderful sponsor Country View Crafts. Do check them out as they carry a huge amount of Tim products as well as other amazing lines. We also choose three other people as a Top 3 who become out Pinworthy mentions and all winners are pinned to out Pinterest site.

My thanks to all of the amazing Creative Guides for their wealth of ideas, their inspiration and their eagerness and enthusiasm in making projects and sharing everything with us all. Don't forget to use our labels in the side bar if you ever want to find something 'old' on the blog and to become a Follower if you want to keep up with all the 'new' posts coming through.

Before we finish today we are announcing the winner of the Secret Santa Giveaway. Thank you to all 27 of you who took a jaunty trip around all the Creative Guides blogs and left such wonderful comments. we really appreciate you taking part and joining in the fun of the season. We didn't get to include the second and third prizes but stay with us on our regular trips out as I will include them in another Giveaway soon. Random Org has chosen the winner ...........

...... and she is -

SHARI from 'Ain't that Artsy Fartsy'

Congratulations Shari on your win, please email me with your address so I can get your prize in the post to you. My email address is brenda_brown25@hotmail.com

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(picture courtesy of the Graphics fairy)

So as we ring out the old and ring in the new we all wish each and every one of you 
HAPPY NEW YEAR
with peace, joy and good health in 2015.

huge hugs Brenda and the Creative Guides xxx

An InLinkz Link-up

Secret Santa bonus post and Christmas Giveaway

Hello and welcome to a very special extra post here at A Vintage Journey. Nikki gave you the heads up on her challenge post on Friday that the Creative Guides were participating in a special gift exchange with each other and here we are with the big reveal to see what each person received.

When organising this event it was decided that we wouldn’t share with each other who we were making for or who we received from so much of this is just as much a surprise for each of us as it is to you. Only I have known all the details.

We are sharing a photo here of each project with you on the AVJ blog and if you click on people’s names you will be transported to their blogs to see more details about the project they made. Please read on to the end of this post to also find out about our Christmas Giveaway and what to do to be entered into the draw.

Brenda

I made an altered book for Anne as a special place for her to keep all her Tim tags for 2015. Anne might like to embellish the cover but there is lots of me inside. All is revealed at Bumblebees and Butterflies.

Astrid

The person that I had to give to was the wonderful Alison (Butterfly) from Words and Pictures.
Well, it being Alison that I had to give to, I knew words would have to be a main feature in whatever I created. So in the end I made her a little mini, holding my favourite Christmas poem that I will share with you all at the end of the post on my personal blog

Jennie

My gift was for Annie and having spent a couple of days crafting with her back in September, I couldn't ignore the fact that she loved candles. I decided to make this T-light book/box which holds six Mulled Wine Christmas T-Lights using Tim's Merriment Paper Stack.

Nikki

I decided to make a little Tim inspired personalised chocolate box for Jools. I used stamps and stencils to decorate it and a crackled die cut ‘J’. 

There are lots more photos and details over on my blog today – Addicted to Art. 

Jenny

"It was a privilege to be chosen to create a present for my lovely teamie Jennie Atkinson (Live The Dream), but it also filled me with trepidation - well have you SEEN the incredible works of art she creates?!! I settled on altering a journal with the idea that she could take it with her on one of her sailing holidays for doodling, drawing, making notes or whatever else takes her fancy."

Jools

I created a snowy starry night journal for Brenda as she loves journals, I was inspired by Tim's November Tag technique and used his Layered Snowflake die and added a little sparkle! 

Julie

I was delighted to find out I was to make a Christmas gift for the ever so talented Nikki. My gift to her is a Tree Decoration nestled within a Keepsake Box for safe storage.

Anne

Jenny loves vintage sewing themes and I love creating 3D objects, so I combined these and created a perpetual calendar for Jenny using Tim Holtz papers, Distress Spray Stains and Tim's Word Play die'. 

Julia

For my gift to Astrid - I stamped or stenciled both sides of a little muslin bag adding some stampings and some Idea-ology findings. I made a card using Tim's Artful Dwellings die, some spray stains and stamps - to slip inside along with some extra die cuts of the Artful Dwellings for Astrid to use on some projects!

Chris

"My make for the team Secret Santa event was quite a challenge! What do you make for someone as talented as our teamies? What can you think of that hasn't been done before? (Well, it probably has been done by someone as they say nothing is original anymore but at least I thought it up, lol!) My tealight stand can be adapted for any occasion but this is my Christmas one sent to Julie with love and best wishes for Christmas! Chris xxx"

Alison

I drew the lovely Julia Aston out of the virtual hat - eek, an earlier deadline to get it to the States on time! - and created a card which keeps on unfolding its secrets... from the front cover, to the inside, to the tags, to the reverse of the tags. I can't show you all that here, so you'll just have to come over to Words and Pictures to see the rest. I hope Julia likes it... I was certainly a bit reluctant to send it away!

Sandy

I was delighted when I got to make a gift for my lovely team mate Chris. 

I made a (battery operated) candle votive using a Graphic 45 Box; I decorated it with some beautiful snowflake ribbon, Tim's snowflake embossing folder and some of his fabulous legs, then made some tattered pinecones to embellish the front. I kept the theme all snowflakes and blue with a matching card. 

Annie

For my gift, which was for the very talented Sandy Diller, of 'My Crafty Life on The Internet' blog, I made an 8 by 8 Tri-Fold card. The base is plain card stock that I covered with Tim Holtz Seasonal Papers. The centre photograph/verse on sides are from the same paper stash and were matted on red and black card. Papers were distressed using Vintage Photo Distress Ink and some burlap ribbon tied it all together, with a few jingle bells attached. A few crafty goodies were also included and in particular some Tartan Ribbons. It has been great fun taking part in our first Secret Santa swap and I certainly hope we can do it again. Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas with Best Wishes for the New Year too xx

Special Christmas Give-Away

We would like to give each and every one of you who enter our challenges and who read our blog posts a Christmas gift and the nearest we could think of doing this is to offer our Christmas Give-Away.

This is a lovely present for one lucky person.

Now just to be friendly we would like you to -

1. Visit all the blogs of the Creative Guides above and leave them a comment. Just click their name to be transported to their Secret Santa posts.

2. Come back here and leave a link up on the Linky below to a post on your blog where you have mentioned our Give-Away and linked it back here - this might be a new post just with the Give-Away info in it or you could include it in a post you are writing for something else - just like you would if you were entering a challenge.

If we get more than 30 links there will be a second prize Giveaway added .........

..... and if we get more than 50 links there will be a third prize.

Make sure you have linked by 23.55 on Sunday the 21st of December which is when the Linky closes. The winner will be chosen by Random Org and announced on our following challenge post which will be on the 26th December.

Good luck everyone, enjoy the hop and thank you in advance for taking part.

hugs Brenda and the Creative Guides