Destination Inspiration - Arriving at Terminal 2

Hello all, it's Alison here, arriving at Destination Inspiration.  I hope you saw Tracy's fantastic creation at Terminal 1, and now's your chance to see what I got up to with the contents of this month's luggage.  Just to remind you, here's what's in the travel bag:

Substrate - Journal/Notebook cover

Product - Patterned Paper

Technique - Altered paper techniques

Colour - Orange/Rust

Well, regulars at Words and Pictures will guess that I went for the rusty end of that colour spectrum.  I did some basic paper tearing and distressing for my altered papers, and here's what I ended up with...

It started out as one of those basic black notebooks you can pick up almost anywhere.

I used one of my favourite Andy Skinner techniques to get the rusted look - spritzes of the DecoArt white Media Mister with Quinacridone Gold over it.  It's part way through the process here.

Quin Gold was probably my most-missed product while I was away, so I had to use it for this first project back in the craft room.  I love the variegated look of decay you get with its translucence.

I generally add a darker wash over the top for a grungier edge to the rusty look.

As I said, I kept my paper altering on a fairly simple level.  They're all Tim Holtz papers, and all from the subtler end of the colour spectrum.

I tore and inked the edges, and then ruffled them up at the edges once they were stuck down.

I also added the lovely thorny stamp in Sepia (as close to orange as I'm generally willing to go with my stamping).

I used Quinacridone Gold again, with some Paynes Grey in layers, on my Idea-ology Quote Band, and secured it in place with some rusty wire.

The leaves were actually a bit of an afterthought, but I'm very glad my brain went on thinking, as I really like the result.

They're Calico Craft Parts, and they've just had a touch of the Quin Gold for that burnished autumnal look.

The notebook is rusted on the other side too, but otherwise unadorned on the reverse.  You have to be able to use the thing, after all!

And that's my altered notebook cover for you.  Thirteen photos - unlucky for some, but hopefully not for us on our Vintage Journey!

Thanks so much for dropping in today.  Do come back on Friday to see our fabulous Pinworthy guests, and next Monday another Creative Guide will be stopping at Destination Inspiration.  In the meantime, why not come and play along with my Cracking Up challenge - we'd love to see you there too!

Happy Crafting all!

Alison x

Winner and Pinworthies - Make It Spooky Challenge

Hello and welcome everyone, Anne here to reveal the Winner and Pinworthies for the Make It Spooky Challenge, hosted by me last month.  It was a hugely difficult task to choose just three as we had so many fabulous spooky entries!  We certainly had fun visiting all of you!

Before we announce our Winner and Pinworthies, though, we are delighted to welcome Tone of Tone's Scrapperom as our guest.  Tone was the winner of our August Stencil It challenge, and we're delighted to have her here today with some inspiration for the current Cracking Up theme.  Over to you, Tone...
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I am 48 years old and I live in Norway nearby the capital Oslo. I live with my partner Vidar and our son Daniel who is 16 years old. I also have a stepdaughter who is 31 years old.

I have always put photos in albums, but scrapping in the way I do today started in 2004.  In 2012 I started making cards and now I make cards, LO, PL and tags about each other.  I do not know what style I have in crafting, I like to vary.  Inspiration I have to say that I get basically from net…both domestic and foreign.

My blog: www.tonesscrapperom.blogspot.com

I have used a brown paperbag. I covered it with a thin coat of white gesso and stamped it with crackle-stamp from Kaisercraft with Distress Ink - Vintage photo.

I have used corrugated cardboard and put on some crackle-paint on the edges. When dry I inked the edges with Distress Ink.

I distressed the paper under the corrugated cardboard and use a window die cut from Poppystamps.

In the end I add a bow made of lace with a brad, die cut snowstar from Magnolia, tree from Creative Expressions and "God Jul" (means Merry Christmas) die from Rox Stamps and made a tag.

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A gorgeous shabby chic crackled project, Tone, thank you so much.

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Now, without further ado, here is the randomly selected winner of a £20 Gift Voucher from Countryview Crafts to spend in their online store:

That's Nate of Le Scrap de Nate with this truly terrifying creation!  Do hop over to her blog to see some scary close-ups and angles on this piece of recycled artwork.

Congratulations Nate, your badge and Gift Voucher will be with you shortly and we hope you will join us as Guest Creative Guide here in the near future.

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And now on to the Pinworthies, selected by me and The Creative Guides.  Here they are in numerical order:

#15 Nicole Wright Designs

#34 Leslie Lineberry

#44 - Mary Elizabeth

Three very different but very spooky projects!  Congratulations, your badges will be on their way shortly, along with an invitation to join us as Guest Creative Guide here at A Vintage Journey soon!

A huge thank you again to everyone who joined in.  We do hope you are enjoying Alison's fabulous challenge this month - 'Cracking Up' and that you will join in!  We also hope that you inspired by our Travel Bag this month.

Take care,  

Anne and the Creative Guides

Destination Inspiration November - Arriving At Terminal 1

Hello travellers, Tracy Evans here, welcome aboard to Terminal 1, the first leg of our journey for November.

So what do we have in our bag to inspire you:

Product: Patterened Paper
Technique: Altered Paper Techniques
Colour: Orange/Rust
Substrate: Notebook or Journal Cover

My challenge piece is an organic, rustic bird cage housing a Tim Holtz layered bird using Tim's Sizzix Bird Silhouette Die.

I began by using the cover of a Notebook, the back cover.

I covered the front and back of the Notebook cover with Tim Holtz Regions Beyond Paper Stash, the colours were perfect for the challenge brief.

I then covered the paper with a good layer of DecoArt Crackle Glaze and allowed to dry completely.

Once the Glaze was completely dry I applied a coat of Raw Umber Antiquing Cream, applying with my finger and removing any excess with a damp baby wipe.

I love how the Antiquing Cream settles into all the fine cracks, highlighting the wonderful texture.

I then applied a coat of DecoArt Matte Medium to make sure the Antiquing Cream was then permanent and could no longer me manipulated or moved in any way.

I cut 8 lengths of rusty tin wire, folded them in half and then used Eileen Hull's Twist and Style Tool to twist the wire together; this tool makes it so easy!

I then created my rustic/organic bird cage.

I added Vermilion and Raw Umber DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics to a non-stick craft sheet.

I mixed the two colours together.

I then painted a Prima frame with the mix of paint and allowed to dry; adding a second layer of colour for good coverage. I also die cut 8 lots of the Silhouette Bird from thick white card.

I adhered all the layers together and allowed to dry completely.

I covered the dimensional bird with book pages and then covered with a layer of DecoArt Crackle Glaze and allowed to dry. Once again I applied a layer of Raw Umber Antiquing Cream to highlight those wonderful cracks. I added a piece of driftwood to adhere the bird to and to ensure he stood securely.

I found a number paperclip in my drawers and thought this made a perfect eye and the colour was just what I needed, don't you love it when that happens!

I gave my bird a hat which I covered with DecoArt Media Texture Sand Paste, applying with my finger and allowing to dry completely before painting. I then painted the hat with Quinacridone Gold, Raw Umber and touches of Carbon Black.

A copper letter has beed added to the base of the stand and I also included coiled pieces of rusty tin wire for added texture and dimension. I attached my cage by drilling holes through the base and feeding the wire pieces through the base.

I added a sentiment to one side of my cage base. I also added stamping around all four sides using Tim Holtz background stamp.

I added natural moss around the base of the bird.

I added a piece of cotton tape, stamped with the word BIRD to the top of the cage which I coloured with a touch of Gathered Twigs Distress Ink.

Thank you for travelling along with me, I hope you enjoyed the journey! Please pop back next Monday to see the next creative step along our journey from our next Creative Guide.

Please check out our current challenge (link in the side bar) and of course there will be more inspiration for you over the next couple of weeks.

Tracy Evans

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November Challenge - Cracking Up!

Hello everyone! Alison here, and I'm delighted to welcome you to our November challenge here at A Vintage Journey. It's been a crazy old year for me, so I've named this month's theme "Cracking Up!", but don't worry, I'm not looking for crazy projects... I'm just looking for plenty of crackle (though you're welcome to go crazy with the crackle if you want to, of course).

Your crackle can be stamped, painted, stencilled, made with a glaze, paint or paste, or even just good old fashioned craft glue, but to be a winner or Pinworthy the crackle should be a significant feature in your work, and your project must fulfil our Travelling Instructions and be in a mixed media, vintage, art journalling, shabby, steampunk, or industrial style, or any combination of those genres.

Of course there are some projects from the Creative Guides to get your creative crackle juices flowing... I think you'll enjoy taking a look at how we've all been Cracking Up!

Alison

I've got a crackled canvas for you - an abstract in its creation, but it wasn't until I was photographing it that I discovered there's a shadowy figure emerging from the paint and crackle. Do come over to Words and Pictures to see more of this 8x20inch canvas in close-up crackle texture detail.

Jennie

I had great fun with the challenge theme altering a small bottle with a fairly thick layer of crackle paste. There are the usual suspects in the decoration (!) but if you would like to find out more then please do visit me over at Live The Dream.

Deb

I hadn't planned on making a Christmas project for Alison's Cracking Up challenge but once Tim Holtz's Scribble Woodland deer and Tree Line die came together all I could hear was Christmas carols and away I went! I used just about every crackle medium I own in making my Merry & Bright reverse canvas, hope you will be able to stop by my blog to read my how to.

Julia Aston

For my crackle project - I used a background crackle stamp, stenciling half of Talaya's face on one side with embossing paste. I water colored the background and added encouraging sentiments with stamps and Small Talk stickers. I adhered an easel on the back so this can stand up for display!

Please stop by my blog for more photos and details on how I put my panel together!

Astrid

I chose to continue with my mission of getting my Christmas cards done in good time. I also wanted to show that using crackle does not always have to mean making complex 3D projects. So, if you want to see a few steps as to how I got to my finished card visit me.

Anne

I was so totally inspired by my talented friend and team-mate Jenny Marples' September project, using Seth Apter's dies, that I bought one of the sets to make my 'Cracking Up' project for Alison's wonderful challenge. If you would like to see more, please pop over to my blog.

Tracy Evans

I opted for a clean and simple design this time around and even in a simple design crackle can have a huge impact adding wonderful texture. Pop by my Blog for step by steps.

S@ndy

I love Alison's great challenge this month because I had a chance to try some new products. I've had this Clear Crackle Texture Paste for awhile now but just getting around to using it.

We are celebrating Thanksgiving this month in the US so wanted to express my thankfulness for all the blessings in my life. Hope you will stop by my blog for more information on my project by clicking my name above.

Brenda

Now Halloween is over I am starting to gear up for Christmas and have used an Ikea frame to alter and 'crackle up' and now I am adding pages to make this into a countdown to New Year calendar, yes I'll have a page for every day of the month of December. More photos and details are over on Bumblebees and Butterflies if you have time to pop over and take a look.

I think you'll agree that's a pretty fabulous line up of inspiration - thanks to all my amazing team-mates for rising to the challenge yet again.

Our fantastic sponsor this month is Tando Creative, and they are offering one of their brand new Art Journalling Kits to our winner, who will be chosen by Random Generator. The kit includes the covers, spine and the pages, it even includes sewing thread and a needle for binding as well.

As always, the Creative Guides will also be nominating their favourite creations so that we can announce three Pinworthy projects too. Remember to check the Travelling Instructions to make sure you qualify for the prize draw and Pinworthy badges.

Now it's over to you. You have until 6pm GMT on Thursday December 1st to enter, and we can't wait to see what you create as you are Cracking Up!

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