Creative Artiste #117 July 2025

Even though we are now into July and most of the UK is enjoying a sunny heatwave, I'm still getting rained on doing the school run....

  ....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 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.

We were blessed last month with another beautiful granddaughter. I have decorated a canvas to go in her nursery. The canvas is 12"x 9" (30 x 23 cms).

1. I started by giving the canvas a coat of white gesso and when that was dry, I used a Tim Holtz stencil with some dark blue Memento ink to create a pattern of stars.

2. I chose a mix of chalk paints and acrylics in pastel colours to paint the canvas in random patches.

3. I stamped the word Dream using an old Bee Crafty stamp and the same blue Memento ink.

4. Once the stamp had dried, I dry brushed white gesso over the canvas to mute the colours and blend the patches of colour.

1. I bought the dream catcher from Samantha K Crafts. The MDF dream catcher came in a set with two other dream catchers.

2. I gave the dream catcher a coat of white gesso.

3. I then used the same 3 paints as on the canvas to paint the dream catcher.

4. I used Versamark and Utee to heat emboss the dream catcher to brighten the colours and give it a nice shine.

I used some Stampendous embossing powders to cover and decorate the canvas. 

One of the embossing powders is Shabby Blue Frantage which has a very fine shiny blue powder. It has given the canvas a lovely shimmer.

I heat embossed a selection of small metal elements in gold. Once the catcher was glued onto the canvas with Prima 3D Matt gel, I added the gold decorations.

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 

July challenge. 

I have entered this project in the following challenges:

Crafts Galore Encore July 2025

 It's still a mixed bag of changeable weather here in our little corner of Wales. So while the rest of the UK basks in a heatwave, I wasn't expecting to be dashing out in between rain showers in my coat at the end of June. Hopefully it will settle into some nice sunny days for summer soon.

Meanwhile .....

.... 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:

Fred She  Said

who are offering a $10 (Canadian) voucher for their store to the lucky winner.

I have made an 8"x 8" card to use for a special someone's birthday.

I didn't have any card that matched the pretty papers I wanted to use so I cut the matting layers from plain white card and used one of my Copics to colour the edges.

On the base layer, I used an old LOTV Nitwit paper from their Promises 8"x 8"collection. I also made a panel to add to the front before sticking down a length of large ric-rac.

I used the "I love you this much" image and coloured it with my Copics. I also printed off one of the sentiments that come with the image and cut it out for a banner.

The image I used comes with three sentiments and also is available as a pre-coloured set of six images.

I finished the card with some beautiful paper flowers from Prima.

Now please visit the  Crafts Galore Encore challenge blog where you can see the wonderful projects and cards created by our talented team using Fred She Said 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 #116 June 2025

June already? I've no idea where the first half of this year went. I'm pretty sure the weather has been caught out too as we've had mostly April showers for the past week. I'm hoping  we get some summer weather soon.

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 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 have made an 8"x 8" (20 x 20 cm) canvas based on an idea I've had for a while.  I started by covering the canvas with black gesso. Once dry I added some hexagons with texture paste and a stencil. I then glued scraps of lace and added touches of silver acrylic paint.

I cut some hexagons from thick greyboard and triple heat embossed them. Once cooled and set I fixed them onto the canvas with Prima's 3D Matt Gel.

I then covered most of the canvas with a mixture of Prima Artstones, some metal nuts and scraps of cotton.

Once everything was dry I painted most of the small elements with silver acrylic and added some splats of the paint 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 

June challenge. 

I have entered this project in the following challenges:

https://mixitupchallenge.blogspot.com/2025/05/miucb-77-anything-goes-optional-paper.html

https://lovetoscrapchallengeblog.blogspot.com/2025/05/ltscb-173-anything-goes-ltscb-172.html

https://lovetocraftchallengeblog.blogspot.com/2025/05/ltccb-86-anything-goes-ltccb-85-winner.html

https://craftrocketchallenges.blogspot.com/2025/06/challenge-126-no-designpaper.html

Crafts Galore Encore June 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:

Moondrea Designs

who are offering a prize of 3 digi images to our lucky winner.

I have made a simple A5 Happy Birthday card to show you.

I used gold mirri card to cover the base and matted it with a yellow textured card from Papermania.

I created two narrow panels with red card and gold mirri as a sort of frame for the image panel.

I chose to use the Poppy Fairy image and I coloured her with my Copics.

I then matted her onto gold mirri card.

I created a poppy embellishment by cutting two petal shapes from red card and adding a die-cut black centre.

I finished the card with a computer printed sentiment and some red 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 Moondrea Designs 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/2025/06/morgans-artworld-challenge-89.html

https://aperfecttimetocraft.blogspot.com/2025/06/a-perfect-time-to-craft-open-challenge.html

https://classicdesignchallenge.blogspot.com/2025/05/classic-design-challenge-05-2025-mayjun.html

Creative Artiste #115 May 2025

 ....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 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 have used some pieces of thick board to create a multi layered project with some products left over from a recent craft weekend.

I've used some thick laminated board for the base and layers. The base board measures 12"x 7.5" (30 x 19 cm).

1-3. I used Cadence gold Relief Paste through a sunflower stencil to cover the base and left it to dry. 

4. I then used a mix of DecoArt acrylics and water to add colour to the base.

1. I cut up more board for the layers.

2. I designed and printed a paper using images from Art House Whimsy. I took a  paper from Shabby Neutrals Collage Collection and overlaid some PNG flowers from the Muted Elegance Autumn Flowers collection.

3. I glued the images to the boards with soft matt gel. 

4. I dabbed some gold Cadence Relief Paste on the images with the side of my palette knife.

1. All the elements, apart from the wooden gears, string and the two large metal flowers, were leftover from the craft weekend in January with Finnabair.

2. I cut up the business card from Finnabair and added some of the smallest elements to the metal flower dish.

 3. is a badge with a fabulous sentiment.

4. I used Prima gold gilding wax as a highlighter on the metal pieces 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 

May challenge. 

I have entered this project in the following challenges:

https://mixitupchallenge.blogspot.com/2025/05/miucb-77-anything-goes-optional-paper.html

https://lovetocraftchallengeblog.blogspot.com/2025/05/ltccb-86-anything-goes-ltccb-85-winner.html

https://aperfecttimetocraft.blogspot.com/2025/05/a-perfect-time-to-craft-open-challenge.html

https://classicdesignchallenge.blogspot.com/2025/04/classic-design-challenge-04-2025-aprmay.html

Crafts Galore Encore May 2025

Welcome to May! It's starting off with some glorious weather. Of course, the children have just gone back to school after their Easter break. They will have to wait until the weekend to make the most of the sunshine.

Meanwhile .....

.... 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:

Conjurer of Dreams

who are offering 2 sets of images to our lucky winner.

I have made a card with a different fold so I could display as many of these beautiful papers as I could on one card. 

I started by putting a narrow fold in the front of an 8"x 8" (20 cm) card blank. The card can now be displayed as a sideways easel card.

I've used the Soft Beauty set of papers. There are four wonderful panel papers in the set. I matted the papers on blue card and arranged the panels to cover the card blank. I added blue gems to the edge of the right hand panel to act as a stopper for the easel.

One of the papers features the beautiful woman. I matted her, and the computer generated sentiment, on a lighter blue card.

I printed some of the flowers and cut them out so I could use them as embellishments. They are the flowers mounted on the bottom of this panel and above the focal point panel.

The card can fold flat for postage.

Now please visit the  Crafts Galore Encore challenge blog where you can see the wonderful projects and cards created by our talented team using Conjurer of Dreams 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/2025/05/a-perfect-time-to-craft-open-challenge.html

https://morgansartworld.blogspot.com/2025/05/morgans-artworld-challenge-88.html x

https://classicdesignchallenge.blogspot.com/2025/04/classic-design-challenge-04-2025-aprmay.html x

https://lovetocraftchallengeblog.blogspot.com/2025/05/ltccb-86-anything-goes-ltccb-85-winner.html

Creative Artiste #114 April 2025

  ....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 had some seashells, resin pieces and beads left over from another project and decided to display them all together in an underwater scene.

I've called this "The Shipwreck II".

I have worked on a bigger canvas than I usually use this month. The canvas measures 16" x 20" (40 x 50 cms). I started by priming the canvas with a coat of white gesso.

I randomly stamped Aall & Create stamp #310 Bubble Block over the canvas using Versafine Clair ink. Once dry, I spread 3D Matt Gel through Aall & Create stencil #87 Totally Dotty with a palette knife.

I arranged the shells and resin pieces on the canvas and fixed them in place with Prima's 3D Matt Gel. I added a few extra leftover pieces like the gold leaves, glass cabochons and starfish.

Next I used lots of water with DecoArt Fluid Acrylics in Prussian Blue, Cobalt Turquoise, Cobalt Teal and Quinacridone Gold. I started with the darkest colour and dried the canvas in between each one to set them in place so they didn't run into each other.

I finished the canvas by adding lots of flat backed pearls with 3D Matt Gel and a few silver charms.

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 

April challenge. 

I have entered this canvas 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

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:

https://morgansartworld.blogspot.com/2025/04/morgans-artworld-challenge-87.html x

https://aperfecttimetocraft.blogspot.com/2025/04/a-perfect-time-to-craft-open-challenge.html 2nd place

https://classicdesignchallenge.blogspot.com/2025/03/classic-design-challenge-03-2025-marapr.html x

https://hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com/2025/03/march-2025-anything-goes-woptional.html x

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 DT Fav

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