Winner And Pinworthies For Our Winter Magic Challenge

Hello everyone, thanks so much for stopping by today.  It's time to announce our winner and Pinworthies for the Winter Magic challenge and let me tell you, you did not make it easy!  Such a wonderful and varied selection of beautiful projects, we were overwhelmed with your response to our December challenge.  Thank you so much to all who entered, we enjoyed seeing each and every one.

But before we announce our selections, we'd like to welcome one of our previous winners who is joining us today as a guest Creative Guide.  Nate of Le Scrap de Nate was the winner of our October Make It Spooky challenge, and she's here to share some inspiration for the current Going Round In Circles theme.  She's introducing herself in her native language, French, and I (Alison) am offering up the translation in italics - with a little assistance from Google Translate where I got stuck - so my apologies if I've misinterpreted anything.  Welcome, Nate!

___________________________

Je vous présente à toutes mes meilleurs vœux et vous souhaites pleins de bonne choses pour cette belle année 2017 remplie de créativités.

I offer you my best greetings and wishes full of good thoughts for this beautiful year of 2017, and hope that it will be filled with creativity. 

 Merci à toute l'équipe de A Vintage Journey   d'avoir  apprécier mes réalisations proposé aux challenges  est de me recevoir comme invité.

Thanks to the whole team at A Vintage Journey for honouring my project for the challenge and inviting me to appear here.

                                                           

Je suis NATE, j' habite la FRANCE et mon hobby est le scrap.

J'aime avoir les mains sale par la patouille , le bidouillage; j'affectionne particulièrement tout ce qui est objets de récupérations, rien ne ce jette tous ce recycle

j'aime le steampunk cette période d'art me fascine d'ou je suis actuellement

 DT chez Sandee & Amelie's.

I am Nate, I live in France and my hobby is crafting/scrapping.

I like to get my hands messy playing around, and altered art.  I particularly enjoy repurposing objects - nothing is thrown away, everything is recycled.  I love steampunk and vintage styles of art, which fascinate me, and I'm actually on the DT at Sandee & Amelie's Steampunk Challenge.

Je vous présente mon projet...

I present to you my project

Going Round in Circles

   un Cadre MUCHA

a Mucha Frame

Quelques explications du montage pour le cadre.

A few explanations about the making of the frame...

J'ai utilisé un canvas  11.cm5 x 11.cm5 , coupé un papier aux dimensions que j'ai patiné aux encres

pour lui donné un aspect vieillie, embossé  et tamponné a la poudre doré . Coupé une bande de papier métal puis  renforcé avec du cardox ,j'ai utilisé les ronds de couvercles boites conserve pour entouré l'image de Mucha.

I used a canvas 11.5 x 11.5cm, and cut some paper to those dimensions which I altered with inks to give it an aged look; then stamped and embossed with gilding powder.  I cut a band of metal paper, reinforced with cardboard, and I used rings from old tin cans to frame the image by Mucha.

     J'ai exploité  l’intérieur du canvas pour récupéré la profondeur,

en suite j'ai collé l'image,puis colorisé l'ensemble à la peinture métallic bronze.

I used the reverse of the canvas to make the most of the depth, and glued the image inside; then I coloured the whole piece with metallic bronze paint.

Merci à vous NATE .

Thank you.  Nate.

___________________________

And huge thanks to you, Nate - what a stunning piece of vintage art, such amazing inspiration for this month's Going Round In Circles challenge.

___________________________

Now, without further ado,

let's reveal the December winner chosen by Random Generator.

That's Vinita Jain of New Creations with this clever wreath, created out of wrapped yarn and with some yarn Christmas trees into the bargain!

Congratulations, Vinita.  Your badge and details of your prize will be with you shortly, and we hope you'll join us as a Guest Creative Guide some time in the future.

___________________________

And now onto our Pinworthies, as usual it was an incredibly difficult choice for myself and the Creative Guides to choose just three from all of your amazing projects but after much deliberation here are our choices in no particular order.

#49 Georgie C.

#63 Lisa H.

#85 Paper Profusion

Amazing creations one and all that I think perfectly capture the magic of winter.  Thank you for sharing your art with us and we will contact you shortly with your Pinworthy badges and an invitation to join us sometime in the near future as Guest Creative Guides.

Thanks again to all who entered our December challenge and we hope that you will enter Brenda's 'Going Round In Circles' January challenge, it's always exciting to see what you create.  And make sure to come back again on Monday when Amanda will be here with our next stop on the Destination Inspiration journey for January, hope to see you then!

Deb and all the Creative Guides

Destination Inspiration - Arriving at Terminal 1

Hello all, Alison here from Words and Pictures.  Thanks so much for joining me at the first stop at Destination Inspiration for 2017.  We're at Terminal 1 with a whole new bag full of goodies to play with, and here's what's in the luggage this month:

Substrate - Wood

Technique - Wrinkle Free Distress

Product - Crackle Paint/Paste/Glaze

Colour - Hues of Blue

And here's what I've cobbled together whilst waiting for the next stage of the journey...

I need to show you inside as well as out, though the contents of the travel bag are all involved in the exterior, as it happens.

I started with a small, simple, wooden diptych.

On the outside I used the DecoArt Chalky Finish paints and crackle.  Relic - a.k.a. dark grey...

... then Crackle Glaze - the one designed to work with the Chalky Finish paints, and eventually Everlasting - a.k.a. white - over the top.

On the inside I put just a coat of the Everlasting, and then blended Pumice Stone Distress Ink over the top to highlight the wood texture.

I left the crackling to do its business overnight so that it would be thoroughly dry, and then I put Stormy Sky and Chipped Sapphire onto my craft mat, with just a touch of Wilted Violet, and dipped and smooshed my diptych into the water-spritzed inks until I liked the look of it.

It's one of my all-time favourite techniques.  I love the random splotches and blotches...

... though of course it's not entirely random - you can encourage certain effects, just as you can manipulate where the colours go on the mat.

With the travel bag contents dealt with, I decided to keep the rest nice and simple.  I added some of the fabulous Tim Holtz wild grasses.

They're stamped in Versamark and embossed in Wow Bark powder.

And around the edges I blended on some Vintage Photo Distress Ink followed by a touch of the darker Ground Espresso.

Well, it wouldn't be very me to have blues without any browns, would it?

And on the inside it is, if anything, even simpler.  The grasses are there again, this time stamped in Potting Soil.

The texture of the wood means you get a roughness to the stamped image which gives it a nice rustic feel I think.

And the sentiment is one of my favourites too - a Tim Holtz stamp, taped so that I could stamp each half separately.

Again, I've used the Bark embossing powder to give it extra presence against the wooden background.

So that's my stop at Destination Inspiration.  I hope you'll come back next Monday to see who's waiting to meet you at Terminal 2.

And of course we'd love to see you Going Round In Circles for Brenda's challenge this month too.  Do come and play along if you can but, whatever you're up to, I hope you have fun.

Alison x

Going Round in Circles

Welcome to 2017 and our first challenge of the new year.

Going Round in Circles

Actually that is how I felt before Christmas with so much going on but all has calmed down a bit now. So what can you do to join in our challenge? Here is our description for this month -

Whether large or small, 2d or 3d, clock face embellishments, buttons, eyelets or created with paint pot lids, stamped, stencilled, doodled or finger painted let’s see what gets you going round in circles. This challenge theme particularly fits with the art journaling style we love to see but can also be incorporated into a vintage; shabby; mixed-media; industrial or steampunk project.

Now I think you'll agree that leaves it wide open for you to join in and apart from the theme please check the travelling instructions in the side bar which outlines what we look for when choosing our winner and pinworthy mentions. Most importantly we look to see vintage; shabby; mixed-media; art journaling; industrial, timeworn and steampunk genres, if you comply with one of those you are almost certainly going to be eligible to join in, but just check it out to make sure you have covered the other elements as well.

So now let's pop over to see what the Creative Guides have made to whet your appetite, to stir your imagination and inspire you to take part oh and there is always a prize for the winner and for January we have a fabulous sponsor -

The Funkie Junkie Boutique

with a $25 Voucher up for grabs.

So what are you waiting for, let's see how you have included circles in your project.

Nikki

I planned at the beginning of 2016 to find time to do more in my art journals - a goal I actually achieved! I do love geometric shapes in my art and this theme is just perfect for journal pages. Be lovely to see you at Addicted to Art today for more details.

Jennie

I am a great lover of paper clay and button moulds and I decided to use a whole heap of them for my project for this month's fabulous challenge.  I love the way the paper clay buttons have taken the pigments and the resulting piece is very light weight.  Hop on over and join me at Live The Dream if you would like more details.

Tracy

I opted for a book for my first challenge piece of 2017, using Eileen Hull's Passport Book Die. Circles are abundant inside and outside the book. Pop by my BLOG to 'go around in circles'.

Deb

For our Going Round In Circles challenge this month, I created a mixed media home decor plaque representing the perpetual circling of the seasons.  With Christmas and New Years behind us my thoughts are already turning to Spring and so this piece was created with that in mind.  I've a few step out photos on my blog on how I made it, hope to see you there!

Alison 

I've been playing in my small journal (this spread is 7 x 5.5 inches in total), and using book page circles, gesso and salt to create these layered pages.  I hope you'll be able to come round to Words and Pictures to check out the close-up textures and details.

Annie

Hi everyone...I decided to incorporate a Journalling meets Vintage/Shabby Chic style for my CG project. I used inks, paints, stencils, stamps, bottle caps, credit cards to create a journalling background on the die cut circles, then decorated with some ribbon flowers, pearls and other finds.

For more details and photographs, please pop over to my blog HERE

S@ndy

I love this challenge, I got a chance to make a birthday card for a friend and use some of my favorite dies as well as a big helping of glitter.  Hope you will stop my blog here to see more details.


Brenda

To get me going this year I thought I would use one of the canvas boards I so love with my acrylic paints and have fun mixed-media style. I've used stencils, stamps, embellishments and collage with patterned papers to create this design and the steps are all over at Bumblebees and Butterflies if you'd like to see how I created it.


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

My huge thanks to the amazing Creative Guides who have taken part with their wonderfully inspiring projects. So if you'd like to join in and have fun with circles please link your project below so we can come and see more of it on your blog.

Happy weekend.

hugs Brenda and the Team 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.

Tag Friday for the last post in December

Hi Everyone - how did your Christmas go? We hope it was full of figgy pudding, fun and laughter and great times with family and friends, but didn't it go quickly? Anyway let's get on with the treat for today and that's our fifth Friday post where we show you some tags we have made just for the fun of it, no restraints, no challenge theme, no DI bag contents, just pure unadulterated inspirational art.

Tracy Evans

I opted for a tag accordion for our tag friday post, giving me a little more space to play around with the Evolution stamp set from Tim Holtz. I have not made a masculine piece for a while and I used this opportunity to indulge myself. Pop by my BLOG for more details.

Alison 

I've been being playful for this Tag Friday, inspired by a fabulous SkillShare class from Anna-Karin Evaldsson of Layers of Ink.  Instead of one tag, I have many, so do come and visit Words and Pictures to see the full set and discover some more of the details.

Astrid

I decided to go the Shabby Chic route this months and created my tag mostly with leftovers from previous projects still flying around. My new year's resolution? Keep a tidy work desk....

Anyway, if you would like some more details, just hop over to my blog

Anne

Whilst attempting to tidy my Craft Room I found some bits and pieces that I wanted to use to make a tag.  It was lovely doing something just for fun and that was not related to Christmas.  If you would like to see more you can visit my blog HERE.

Jennie

What better way than to finish the year with a tag using all your favourite bits and pieces! In actual fact they were all pieces lying around the desk from previous projects in line with my resolution at the start of the year to use all my leftovers (both in the craft room and the kitchen). I must have done well as my "bits" box is a lot less full than it used to be (and we've had an awful lot of soup during the year!).

  Do join me over on my blog if you would like to see some more details.

Deb

For my Tag Friday tag, I decided to dive into my ever expanding pile of leftover bits and bobs from projects I've created over the last year (and to be honest, I'm sure there are more than a few bits from previous years too!).  It's amazing what can be created when your throw all of those lefovers into one pot, think I shall have to make a New Year's resolution to do it more often.  I've a few step out photos on my blog of my 'tovers tag, hope you can stop by for a peek.  Happy New Year to one and all!

S@ndy

The thing I love about Tag Friday is that, there is no theme, we can make anything we want.  For my tag I made a reminder to myself to make more time for ART in 2017.  I simply reached for all the embellishments, images and colors that I love and put them all together on one large tag.

Happy New Year and make time for ART!

S@ndy

Brenda

Having bought some new Seth Apter dies I thought I would have a play in his style using left over backgrounds from other projects or experiments. It was lovely to get into grungy, timeworn mode again after all the fun of the Christmas cards and build layers and dimension. More details can be found at Bumblebees and Butterflies if you have to to pop over.

Amanda

My tag was born from an alcohol inked panel created earlier this year. I'd saved it for 'later', forgot about it (along with a whole lot more) and came across it whilst 'tidying' !! There's more to see on my blog if you fancy stopping by.....



Well thank you to all the Creative Guides who have joined in and created a tag for you today, as always I marvel at the incredible range of styles and ideas that come through and the most wonderful designs on display. So it's time to be self indulgent and to take a little you time to see how these were all made and put together and it looks like many of us have been using up our leftovers and not just Christmas ones.

Before you go I would like to wish you all a very happy, healthy and peaceful new year.
May you have new hope, new aspirations, new passion, new dreams, new enthusiasm, new confidence and new understanding as the year unfolds.
May we guard, protect and keep the world from harm so that everyone can live their lives without the fear of violence, abuse and harm and let us be perceptive, receptive and responsive to the needs of individuals and ourselves.

Have a wonderful new year weekend and may 2017 bring you everything that you wish for yourself.

Huge hugs from us all at A Vintage Journey, we look forward to sharing more of our projects with you over the next 12 months and hope that you will come and share your talents with us and our challenges.
xxx