Crafts Galore Encore April 2025

 April already! This year is starting to pass by quickly. We have some fun family times to look forward to this month and a few of them even involve chocolate! I hope those days don't fly by too quickly. 

There is a new challenge starting today at

Crafts Galore Encore Challenge Blog. 

Thank you to everyone who joined in with last month's challenge. The winners have been announced on the challenge blog. This is a month long challenge and you can enter up to three times. There is a full list of rules on the challenge blog.

Our theme every month is the popular

"Anything Goes"

and our sponsor this month is:

WendyLynn's Paper Whims

who are offering a prize of two collage sheets from their store to our lucky winner.

I made an 8" (20cm) birthday card for a lovely family member.

I loved the bright, cheerful colours in this image and knew it would work perfectly with G45's Flight of Fancy papers.  I used the 12" (30cm) paper set and chose two of the papers for the card, one for the base and the other as a panel across the card. The papers are matted on blue and reddish pink backing papers also from Flights of Fancy.

This image is from the Frida Kahlo printable collage sheet from our sponsor, which has gorgeous images showing Frida as a child, teen and adult. I chose the butterfly image to match with my papers and matted it onto blue paper. I tucked some ribbon loops behind the image before sticking it in place.

I added a trio of butterflies from the Flights of Fancy ephemera set with foam pads to the card. I matted a thin border from the papers behind the butterflies. I matted a second thin border to go across the top of the card.

I printed the sentiment on my computer and added some blue gems. I finished the card with a simple ribbon bow.

Now please visit the  Crafts Galore Encore challenge blog where you can see the wonderful projects and cards created by our talented team using WendyLynn's images.

Grab some inspiration while you're there and enter your "Anything Goes" creations in this month's challenge.

I have entered this in the following challenges:

Creative Artiste #113 March 2024

 March has started nicely, the temperatures are improving, the sun has been shining and we have been making some nice plans for later in the year. Exciting times ahead ....

.... Meanwhile ....

....Welcome to a new challenge at

Creative Artiste

Creative Artiste is a monthly challenge blog for everyone who likes to mix their media. So, as long as you like to use various mediums on your creations, we'd love to see you enter the challenge.

A big Thank You to everyone who entered the challenge last month. Your projects were all fabulous and our winners have been announced on the blog.

Our theme is always
"Anything Mixed Media Goes"
We have opportunities to be a Guest Designer for all our winners.

I have finally finished a project I started a couple of years ago. Sometimes the creative process takes time.

I'd cut out and painted the porthole grey then set it aside. It took me a while to decide which creative direction to take. Once I saw these amazing 'Steampunk' fish last month I finally knew what I wanted to make. 

I've titled this project 

"A view from the shipwreck".

The porthole measures 12" (30 cm) across and is cut from thick greyboard. It's mounted onto a circular canvas board.

I had originally painted the porthole in black gesso. I had added a coat of grey acrylic and wiped some off with  a baby wipe before it dried to give a patchy look. Then I set it aside.

In the second phase I painted the porthole with DecoArt Quinacridone Gold Fluid Acrylic mixed with water. The bolts are from an old set by Tando Creative.

1. I gave the canvas a coat of heavy white gesso and used Brushos in Ultra Marine, Turquoise and Sea Green sprayed with water to colour it.

2. I got these fantastic fish from Creative Fabrica and printed them out in different sizes, then fussy cut them. I gave them a coat of Prima's 3D Matte Gel on the front and back to strengthen them. 

3. The die cut ferns are Sizzix Thinlets Holiday Greens set. I coloured them with Emerald and Leaf Brushos.

4. The cogs (gears) are MDF from Samantha K. I bought a huge bag and these are just a few. 

I used Cadence Createx Rust Effect Paint and Powder to add the rusty colour and texture.

I fixed the cogs to the porthole with Prima's 3D Matte Gel and finished them with some Cadence Antique Powder paint in turquoise. I also painted the bolts and some patches around the porthole edges.

I added the ferns to the canvas with the matt gel, only gluing at the bases.

I mounted some of the fish onto greyboard blocks to give them dimension and tucked them in amongst the ferns.

I finished by fixing the porthole to the canvas with the 3D Matt Gel and adding some glass cabochons as bubbles.

Now it's your turn to have fun and create your mixed media projects. You can enter our challenge as many times as you like. A full list of the rules is on the challenge blog. For more inspiration please visit the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog to see the fabulous mixed media projects created by our multi talented team.
Remember to have fun crafting and enter your "Anything Mixed Media Goes" creations in our 

March challenge. 

I have entered this project in the following challenges:

https://mixitupchallenge.blogspot.com/2025/03/miucb-76-anything-goes-optional-layers.html

https://lovetocraftchallengeblog.blogspot.com/2025/03/ltccb-85-anything-goes-ltccb-84-winner.html

https://aperfecttimetocraft.blogspot.com/2025/03/a-perfect-time-to-craft-open-challenge.html

https://classicdesignchallenge.blogspot.com/2025/02/classic-design-challenge-02-2025-febmar.html

Crafts Galore Encore March 2025

If you think you've seen this card before, you're right. I mistakenly blogged it last month but put it back in draft and published the correct card for February once I realised what I'd done. Silly me! Or was I just wishing that Spring came quicker? Our family could have done without February altogether as it turned out to not be a very good month for us. Here's hoping March is better ...

.... There is a new challenge starting today at

Crafts Galore Encore Challenge Blog. 

Thank you to everyone who joined in with last month's challenge. The winners have been announced on the challenge blog. This is a month long challenge and you can enter up to three times. There is a full list of rules on the challenge blog.

Our theme every month is the popular

"Anything Goes"

and our sponsor this month is:

Last Minute Manda

who are offering a prize of 5 digi sets to our lucky winner.

I made an 8" (20cm) birthday card for my wonderful friend.

The first layer is a dark green Papermania card. I used a thin sliver of the dark green card to create a border between the two pretty papers from Graphic 45's Secret Garden.

I used one of the lovely images from the Shabby Chic Cups and Books colouring page and coloured it with my Copics. I mounted the image onto light green card and cut out two flowers from the Secret Garden papers for decoration.

I fixed a strip of green ribbon across the card before attaching the mounted image and tucked another small piece of ribbon under the side of the image.

I finished the card with a double bow, three gold gems and a computer printed sentiment.

Now please visit the  Crafts Galore Encore challenge blog where you can see the wonderful projects and cards created by our talented team using Last Minute Manda's images.

Grab some inspiration while you're there and enter your "Anything Goes" creations in this month's challenge.

I have entered this in the following challenges:

https://aperfecttimetocraft.blogspot.com/2025/03/a-perfect-time-to-craft-open-challenge.html

https://classicdesignchallenge.blogspot.com/2025/02/classic-design-challenge-02-2025-febmar.html

https://paperfundaychallenges.blogspot.com/2025/02/january-2025-challenge-73-anything-goes.html

Crafts Galore Encore February 2025

There is a new challenge starting today at

Crafts Galore Encore Challenge Blog. 

Thank you to everyone who joined in with last month's challenge. The winners have been announced on the challenge blog. This is a month long challenge and you can enter up to three times. There is a full list of rules on the challenge blog.

Our theme every month is the popular

"Anything Goes"

and our sponsor this month is:

Polkadoodles

who are offering a prize of three digi images to our lucky winner.

I have made a birthday card with a lovely paper craft set from our sponsor. The set includes the papers and a choice of sentiments as well as gorgeous coloured peony images and black and white peony digis.

The card base is an A5 card and I covered it with gold mirri card. I printed three of the papers in the set, matted two of them, and added them all to the card.

 I used the Perfect Peony set. I chose one of the pretty images and printed it four times so I could cut out the different layers and decoupage the flower. I printed a birthday sentiment and mounted it on mirri card before placing it across the image.

I added one of the sentiments in the set onto one of the papers before printing it. I finished the card with a double ribbon bow and some pink gems.

Now please visit the  Crafts Galore Encore challenge blog where you can see the wonderful projects and cards created by our talented team using Polkadoodles images.

Grab some inspiration while you're there and enter your "Anything Goes" creations in this month's challenge.

I have entered this in the following challenges:

https://morgansartworld.blogspot.com/2025/02/morgans-artworld-challenge-85.html

https://aperfecttimetocraft.blogspot.com/2025/02/a-perfect-time-to-craft-open-challenge.html

Creative Artiste #112 February 2025

 Welcome to my first post for Creative Artiste in 2025! The team is back from its winter break and we have some exciting news to share! Visit the challenge blog to see.

I was lucky enough to attend a fantastic weekend crafting workshop in January. It was hosted by Art Workshops and had 3 fabulous mixed media tutors, Anna Dabrowska (aka Finnabair), Olga Heldwein and Nuneka Box. They can all be found on Facebook. We were taught 4 wonderful mixed media projects, tried lots of fabulous techniques and worked with some amazing mediums. I hope to be able to use them in the coming months.

Meanwhile ....

 ....Welcome to a new challenge at

Creative Artiste

Creative Artiste is a monthly challenge blog for everyone who likes to mix their media. So, as long as you like to use various mediums on your creations, we'd love to see you enter the challenge.

A big Thank You to everyone who entered the challenge last December. Your projects were all wonderful and our winners have been announced on the blog.

Our theme is always
"Anything Mixed Media Goes"
We have opportunities to be a Guest Designer for all our winners.

I made a 'Dragon Box' as a present for a very special 'Dragon' lady.

The box is made from MDF and is 6" (15cm) wide.

I removed the lock and gave the box a coat of white gesso. Then I used texture paste and stencil #70 from All & Create. Once that was dry I made a paint spray using a dark blue mica powder and mixing it with water. I sprayed the box inside and out. The last process was a light touch of gold wax from Pebeo to highlight the texture paste.

I bought the resin dragon*  already made and gave it a coat of black gesso. I then mixed a blue pigment powder and a turquoise pigment powder with liquid medium to create the two paint colours. I finished with a gold mica powder and liquid medium for the highlights on the spine and wings.

I fixed the dragon on the box with Heavy Body Gel and gave it some pearl beads and 'diamonds' to guard. They are stuck down with Soft Matt Gel.

I tucked some gems behind the dragon and replaced the lock to finish.

Now it's your turn to have fun and create your mixed media projects. You can enter our challenge as many times as you like. A full list of the rules is on the challenge blog. For more inspiration please visit the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog to see the fabulous mixed media projects created by our multi talented team.
Remember to have fun crafting and enter your "Anything Mixed Media Goes" creations in our 

February challenge. 

*If anyone knows who makes this dragon mould I'd love to know. Thanks xx

I have entered this project in the following challenges:

https://theoutlawzchallenges-saturday.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-outlawz-anything-goes-in-card-free_02003369360.html

https://hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com/2025/02/challenge-020325-anything-goes.html