Winners and Pinworthies - June Challenge - Canvas

Hi everyone and welcome to our Winners and Pinworthies day here at A Vintage Journey!
We hope you enjoyed our Canvas challenge - we certainly had some fabulous entries. The Creative Guides always have a tough job selecting our favourites.

Before we share them with you, here's a fantastic project from one of our former winners.  Iris of Whimsy Touches was the Random Generator pick from the April challenge, The Magic of Three, and she's here today with some more inspiration for the current All Squared Up theme.  Over to you, Iris...

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Hello makers! I am so excited to be a Guest Designer at Vintage Journey and share my Assemblage piece, I call "X Marks the Spot". A little about me; I live in the Washington DC metro area and I am around Arts and Crafts Enthusiast. I have never met an art medium I did not like. I enjoy creating with clay, acrylic paint, sprays, metallic waxes, texture medium, paper, and metal. I like sculpting, creating mixed media canvasses, assemblage, altering bottles, making jewelry. My style ranges from modern, Shabby to Steampunk/Industrial.



I got excited about the the July "All Squared Up" theme; it invoked several ideas. But before starting, wanted to see if I had anything square in my stash, then go from there. I found a Thrift store picture frame I bought a long time ago. The frame has this square within squares type thing going; how perfect is that? Now the frame inspired ideas too. Being that the frame has this shapes within shapes, I wanted to keep going on the same concept. So I decided to add a different shape in the center square. Went ahead with a circle and inside the circle...mystery.





Painting the Frame

I started by priming the frame with Gesso. Then painted the first layer with Golden Quinachridone Nickel Azo Gold. I painted the top layer square with Golden Teal. I have also adhered texture paper.







Making the Corner Squares

I cut the corner squares out of chipboard. Inside the squares, again going with my shape within shape theme, I cut out circles with an Xacto knife and added mesh wire. I created faux rivets using Viva Pearl Paint and painted the squares black.

I added Golden Fiber paste on the outer edges of the corner squares and blended with the rest of the frame. Sorry forgot to take a pic of this process when I first started. I do have some images of a second layer after painting the first layer.

I adhered an image of a compass onto the back of a one inch glass cabochon using Diamond Glaze and added it to the frame.

I then painted the frame with Golden paints: Red Iron Oxide, Titanium White, Teal, Buff and Titanium White. There was some back and with blending the colors. I painted the square on the top layer using Buff, Titanium White and Red Iron Oxide.

The corner squares and edges were painted using Golden Red Iron Oxide (great for a rust color effect) and used DecoArt Media Fluid Payne's Gray around the edges.





Embellishments

The embellishments; chipboard gears, metal key, letters, watch parts, and washers were treated with iron metal paint and rusting oxidation solution by Modern Masters following their instructions.



The Center Square

I cut a square for the frame's backing out of chipboard. This is where the X will go. I decoupage it with map scrapbooking paper. I then sealed it with Matte Medium. Added light wash of Red Iron Oxide and Teal to give it a distressed vintage look. The Matte Medium keeps the paper from getting too soaked with paint.

I did not have a desired size stamp of an X. So I drew it using block letter format, then cut it out with an Xacto knife. I used the negative space as a stencil and inked in the X using a makeup sponge and red ink.

Next, adhere a 1.5 inch diameter glass cabochon over the X. I gently squeezing out a drop of Diamond Glaze; measuring about 6 mm. You can also use Ranger's Glossy Accent, both work equally well. I then placed the cabochon over the X, ensuring to push downward and firmly and ensuring to eliminate any bubbles. My ink was not archival, so I added another coat of Matte Medium to seal it before affixing the cabochon. I stamped the X because if you're going to use a cabochon; the surface needs to be even or else you get a lot of bubbles and are impossible to get out as long as the surface is uneven.















Putting it all Together

Last but not least, I glued the embellishments to the frame and fastened the backing to the frame.



Below are some close up images. Well, my journey ends here. I hope you enjoyed my X Marks the Spot Assemblage.









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Thanks so much, Iris.  What a fantastic project - definitely All Squared Up! - and so many great tips and techniques in your making-of details.

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So now, let's move on to today's winner drawn by the Random Generator.

Congratulations to:
Irit Shalom - No. 17

 Congratulations, Irit! This challenge was sponsored by Shimmerz Paints and your prize details will be with you shortly.

Our selected favourites become our three Pinworthies whose designs are pinned to our Pinterest board and you are invited to be a Guest Creative Guide. In no particular order, we have chosen:

No. 5 - Lys

No 6 - Jul D

No. 13 - Angela

Huge congratulations to you all. Your Pinworthy Badges will be on their way to you shortly and we hope you will join us here as guests for a forthcoming challenge.

Many thanks again to everyone who joined in this challenge. Our current challenge All Squared Up is currently underway - we look forward to seeing your entries. Check out the Creative Guide inspiration to see some of the diverse ways this theme has been interpreted.

Until next time - happy crafting!

Nikki

xxx

July Destinations Inspiration - Arriving at Terminal 1

Hello and welcome to the first Destination Inspiration of July.  Autumn of SewPaperPaint with you today to guide you along with the contents of our July travel bag.

Product - Flower Dies

Technique - Any Marbling Technique

Color - Purple

Substrate - Glossy Card

I came across THIS video on faux marbling with a Gelli Plate.  I was excited to give it a try and impressed with how cool the result was, though I didn't do an under layer of paint.  I wanted my marbling to be white.  

  

I cut a Stampin' Up butterfly die from the marbled paper and layered a Tim Holtz butterfly die over that, along with a sticker sentiment.  I layered my butterfly over basket filler and a couple of Spellbinders wreath dies.

I didn't have a single sheet of glossy card in my stash, so I used a sheet of Tim's glossy resist card for my background panel.  I dipped it in a mix of Milled Lavender and Seedless Preserves DI.  I sponged the edges and splashed the panel with Weathered Wood.  The black script and faux stitch stamp are by BoBunny.

I used the Tattered Florals die to make a handmade flower from my tutorial HERE.  I layered it with a dyed loopy bow.

I cut a Yvonne Creations Spring-tastic Flora die into two pieces and tucked into my bundle to complete the design.  That's it for me today.  I hope you will join us each Monday in July for additional stops along our journey.  Our current challenge, All Squared Up, is underway with an opportunity to win a MDF prize package from our fabulous sponsor, Tando Creative.  Come, play along!

New Monthly Challenge - All Squared Up

Hello and welcome! - Tracy here, hosting our new challenge for A Vintage Journey.

Our theme is 'All Squared Up'

Whether a frame, embellishment, die cuts, drawn square, doodles, or windows, let's see where inspiration takes you, let's get all squared up and show how creative those right angles can look!

Show us your squared up pieces in a vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journaling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk style.

Once again we have a generous sponsor this month - Tando Creative
who are offering an MDF package for the randomly drawn winner.

The Creative Guides also pick their Top 3 who become our Pinworthies who have their work pinned in our PINTEREST gallery, this could be you next month.

So let's see how we have all interpreted this theme to provide you with a little inspiration:

Tracy

I opted to decorate one of Tim's Etcetera tags this month adding lots of layers and texture to give a wonderfully tactile piece. If you would like to see how I incorporated all those layers and right angles, please pop by my BLOG.

Nikki

I took the theme very literally with this composition of stencilled squares on my large square canvas! More details on how I did this today at Addicted to Art.

Sara Emily

I think you can see I'm pretty much all squared up with my canvases on reverse canvas. The only thing that's not square is my butterfly! If you would like to see the details, please stop by my blog.

Anne

For Tracy's challenge I turned a square wooden seedling box into a tea light holder, you can see lots more detail over on my blog.

Julia

For my 'All Squared Up' project, I stamped and stenciled on vintage linen napkins found in an antique shop using Archival Inks. 

Please stop by my blog here for more details on how I stenciled these pretty 'SQUARE' linen napkins and to see the products I used.

Deb

Tracy's prompt of 'All Squared Up' led me down a very graphic path this month, it's not a style that I create in often but have to say I love the result!  I've a few step out pictures on my blog on how I created my Geometry Squared mixed media canvas, hope you can pop by for the how to.

Amanda

I've 'Squared up' a mini Note Journal and created a geometric patterned cover for this months Challenge.  Please feel free to pop by my blog to find out more......

Brenda

Squares - we all use them but do you think I could think of a different way to use them for this project? It took me ages!!! But I got there, in fact if this was a puzzle I'd say I can see 40 squares, so I'm sure I've met the theme challenge for my CG piece. See those tiny squares in the background well they are all cut from larger ones and each can be seen over at Bumblebees and Butterflies if you'd like more information about them. Thanks Tracy for a great challenge. xxxx

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I hope we have inspired you and we look forward to seeing your creations this month. You can link up your entries below for a chance of becoming a Pinworthy or to receive our sponsor's prize.

Monday we will have the start of our Destination Inspiration posts for you!

An InLinkz Link-up

June Destination Inspiration - Arriving at Terminal #5

Hello vintage travelers! You have safely arrived at Terminal 5! I'm so happy you joined us for the final leg of our June inspiration journey. It's Sara Emily here with my project using the items in our traveling bags for the month of June. To refresh your memory, here's a list of what's in our travel bag:

Product - Paint

Technique - Any Resist Technique

Color - Shades of Orange

Substrate - Beer Mat or Coaster

Here's a recap of all four of our previous stops on this month's journey: Terminal #1 with Annie, Terminal #2 with Deb, Terminal #3 with Julia, and Terminal #4 with Amanda. You can click on the Terminal number and be magically transported to see the details of their creative journeys.

This is what I made with these items--a set of functional coasters. 

Substrate:

I picked up a mixed set of 5 coasters for just 25 cents at a yard sale just days after finding out I would be creating for this month's Destination Inspiration. Here's one of the coasters before I altered them.

I sanded the coasters first, although I had a change of plans, and this step proved unnecessary. I found this fun soda cap design (it's got orange in it, after all!)  in one of Tim's old paper stashes and cut some to fit my coasters. I had a little fun with this, trying to pick out areas of the paper that had the 'best' bottle caps.

I adhered the paper with Distress Collage medium and smoothed out the bubbles with a brayer. I sanded around the edges to remove any excess paper and to give a nice round edge.

I blended Vintage Photo Distress ink around edges and over the top and gave it a coat of the collage medium. I guess I could have used my Vintage Distress Collage medium here and saved a step. But if you don't have the vintage medium, it's nice to know you can make your own using this method. I love the matte finish.

Technique, product and color:

Dry the coated coaster thoroughly and apply petroleum jelly (I used my finger) in areas you want the paint to be resisted.

While it's still wet, brush on paint color. Dry with a heat tool (I burnt mine out on this project!) just until the paint is no longer shiny. You want it to be a little tacky. I wiped vertically, then horizontally with a clean paper towel. This leaves behind just some of the paint.

Repeat these steps with the petroleum jelly and different paints. Apply some jelly over areas where there is already paint so that color will show through. Make sure to use a clean paper towel to wipe away the paint each time.

I used DecoArt Cadmium Orange acrylic, DecoArt Red English Oxide Media  and Cobalt Teal Fluid acrylics and Distress Carved Pumpkin and Spiced Marmalade. I varied the order of their application on each of the coasters, which gave each a different look, some more pleasing than others. You can see that the more layers of paint you add the more the paint will bead up, even in areas you haven't applied more jelly, because of the build up of the oils from the previous petroleum jelly applications. I love the random outcomes you get with this technique.

Finishing up...

To me, no grungy project is complete until I bring out the sanding block. I sanded each one to give it a more time worn appearance. I wiped them with a damp cloth to remove any dust and applied Tim's Remnant Rubs and other rub ons from my stash. These coasters were a little gift for a very special friend, so I tried to choose words that fit her and were appropriate for our friendship. I purposefully added the rub ons around the edge so they would be visible even when a glass or cup was placed on them.Lastly, I finished with three coats of DecoArt Ultra Matte Varnish so the artwork would be resistant to any liquids. Here are photos of the four separate coasters:

That's it for me today! I hope you will stop back on Friday when our newest monthly challenge goes live! But you have until July 6 to get your projects linked up to our current  "Canvas" challenge for a chance to win a $25 gift voucher to Shimmerz Paints or a chance to be one of our Pinworthy Guest Creative Guides in the future.  Thank you for coming along with me on my journey! 

Sara Emily