Creative Artiste #101 February 2024

 ....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 our centenary challenge in December. Your projects were all wonderful and our winner and Top Three 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 a made a memory box to store some precious photos and  mementos from my beloved brother.

 I've stuck with the theme of blue butterflies for him, to match the photo frame I made last year.

 

This project started out as an empty chocolate box measuring 10" x 7" x 3" (25 x 18 x 8cm) . I gave it a couple of coats of black acrylic paint before adding a layer of DecoArt Americana Weathered Wood Crackle Medium.

I then added a layer of DecoArt Americana Baby Blue acrylic paint and watched the crackles develop. Once that layer was set I dry brushed white gesso over the box to lighten some areas and add to the distressed look.

To decorate the box top I made some resin pieces using Prima's Clock Faces and Machine Parts moulds. I coloured them with DecoArt Fluid Acrylics in Cobalt Teal Hue, Cobalt Turquoise Hue, Prussian Blue Hue and Hansa Yellow Light with lots of water. I arranged them on the top of the box with Prima's Heavy Body Gel.

I used part of an old stamp for the word Remember. I stamped it with Memento Paris Dusk and sealed it with clear embossing powder before mounting onto blue and black card.

I lined the inside of the box using some butterfly paper napkins and glued them in place with Prima Soft Matt Gel. I added a couple of magnets to make a secure closure.

I finished the box by decorating it with some of the butterflies from the napkins and gave the whole box a coat of Prima Soft Matt Gel for protection.

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. 

I have entered this project in the following challenges:

Crafts Galore Encore February 2024

 So far this year has been a challenge healthwise. We've been plagued by a range of viruses and bugs causing everything from chest infections and flu to pneumonia. Finding the time, or desire, to be creative has been difficult. But I'm hoping we'll soon turn a corner and that February will be a better month.

At least I've managed to create a card for the 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

I have made an 8"x 8" (20 x 20 cm) card using one of the image sets from our sponsor. I thought the set was perfect for Valentine's Day.

I took a section of one of the watercolour areas from an image and enlarged it to create a matching background paper. I fixed a length of pink lace across the card before adding the images.

The image set I used is Water coloured Pandas set 3. There are eight different images in this set. I couldn't decide which of the adorable images to use, so, I used four of them. All the mats are made with a Papermania pink card and a pearlised silver card from my stash.

I created the sentiment on the computer. I punched out some hearts and dotted them around the card. I finished by adding lots of tiny 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 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 card in the following challenges:

https://aperfecttimetocraft.blogspot.com/2024/02/a-perfect-time-to-craft-open-challenge.html x

https://classicdesignchallenge.blogspot.com/2024/01/classic-design-challenge-01-2024-janfeb.html x

https://morgansartworld.blogspot.com/2024/02/morgans-artworld-challenge-73.html DT FAV

https://2craftycrittercrazies.blogspot.com/2024/02/challenge-83-anything-goes-with.html x

Crafts Galore Encore January 2024

 HAPPY NEW YEAR

EVERYONE!

I'm hoping that 2024 will be a year full of good news, laughter and lots of joy for all.

To start the new year off I have a card to share with you and to Thank You for your support ....

.... 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:

Jan's Digital Stamp Shop

who are offering a prize of $6 to spend in store.

I have created an A5 (21 x 15 cm) card to celebrate the New Year.

I started by covering the card base with a glossy turquoise card from my stash. I then layered a paper from The Gift of Giving 12" paper pad by Craft Consortium. I used another of the papers  to create the band across the centre of the card.

The image from our sponsor that I chose to use is from the Happy New Year digital stamp set. I coloured it with my Copics and matted it onto the turquoise card.

This champagne bucket image is also part of the New Year's Eve digital stamp set.

The sentiment is from the Happy New Year digital set and I've matted that onto turquoise card too.

There is a page of extra images with the Gift of Giving paper pad. I've cut out the champagne bottle and some glasses to add to the card. I finished the card with 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 Jan's Digital Stamp Shop images.

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

I have entered this card in the following challenges:

Creative Artiste #100 December 2023

 This is my second post for today. The first one is a set of Christmas cards for Crafts Galore Encore. Please scroll down for a look.

I am approaching the end of 2023 with mixed feelings. The year started off with such promise with two much anticipated weddings in the spring. Then it took a terrible turn with the events of the summer, ending with my beloved brother passing away with hardly any warning. I really don't remember much of autumn. It's all a blur through the tears. Winter is going to be a difficult season with Christmas and birthdays to get through as the family still grieve. But, I'll wear a smile and soldier on through.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that 2024 will bring only good news and happy events. For everyone.

*I've copied this introduction from my earlier post as there really isn't anything more to say.*

Now, on a happier note ....

.... There is a celebration going on at Creative Artiste this month as it's our 100th challenge!

 Welcome to the 100th 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"
But we have decided to add an optional theme of

'Christmas' for December.

And for this month only, there will be a prize for our winner!

We still have opportunities to be a Guest Designer for all our winners though, as per usual.

As we have the optional theme of 'Christmas' this month, I've made a very typical Christmas decoration.

I made a nativity scene using some foam characters our little princess was given at church last year. They were to make an advent calendar but she wanted to play with them instead. This year they have been given a more permanent purpose.

The stable measures 7" w x 6" h x 3" d (18 x 15 x 8 cms).

Most of the project was prepping and creating the stable. I started by cutting out the pieces for the stable from strong greyboard and giving them a couple of coats of DecoArt Dark Chocolate acrylic paint. I then used a Tim Holtz woodgrain stencil with Black Soot Distress Ink to add the appearance of texture.

I assembled the stable using Heavy Body Gel. And then mixed texture paste with the Dark Chocolate acrylic paint and tapped it around the arched entrance. The tiles for the roof were created using greyboard, painted with Docraft's Burnt Sienna acrylic paint and fixed in place with more texture paste coloured with the paint. The last bit of prep was the 'straw'. I coloured some tissue paper with Squeezed Lemonade DOX and Scattered Straw DI before cutting it into thin strips.

I arranged the characters and fixed them in place with Heavy Body Gel before scattering the straw around them. Some of the pieces were glued to the outside of the stable.

The last angel is dangling on a thin strip cut from an acrylic sheet and fixed to the roof so she can happily  bounce around.

All the characters are firmly glued in place, so, it's not an interactive plaything. Instead, it makes for a cheerful, and thoughtful, decoration lest we forget the true meaning of Christmas.

Now it's your turn to have fun and create your mixed media projects. The 'Christmas theme' is only an option for December so you can still play along with your 'Anything Goes' 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 creations in our 

100th challenge. 

Have a fun festive season everyone, however you celebrate!

I have entered this project in the following challenges:

Crafts Galore Encore December 2023

I am approaching the end of 2023 with mixed feelings. The year started off with such promise with two much anticipated weddings in the spring. Then it took a terrible turn with the events of the summer, ending with my beloved brother passing away with hardly any warning. I really don't remember much of autumn. It's all a blur through the tears. Winter is going to be a difficult season with Christmas and birthdays to get through as the family still grieve. But, I'll wear a smile and soldier on through.

Now, the first of my two challenge posts for today ...

Welcome to the last  Crafts Galore Encore Challenge for 2023

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:

Gecko Galz

who are offering a very generous prize of a $25 store voucher for our lucky winner.

I have made a set of 6 Christmas cards using three different collections from the Gecko Galz shop. 

The cards are all 6" (15 cm) square. All the coloured card for the mats and layers is from Papermania. The cards were all finished off with ribbon bows and gems.

I was allowed to choose the images and papers from the store for these cards. I chose Altered Christmas Digital Collage Sheets, which has two pages of gorgeous images and tags. 

And Christmas in Nature ATC Set which has six beautiful pages for the backing papers. Plus a sentiment.

A couple of the images on the cards are from another collage set that has since, unfortunately, sold out.

The lovely vintage looking papers on these cards are from the Christmas in Nature ATC set and the tags are from the Altered Christmas set. I fixed the tags to the card with brads so the top one can swivel to reveal the second tag.

The Santa image toppers are, sadly, no longer available.

I printed the gorgeous poinsettia paper from the Christmas in Nature ATC set a few times, and slightly larger, so I could cut out the flowers and decoupage them using foam pads. The Peace on Earth sentiment is also from the ATC set. The sentiment and music sheet on the bird card are from the Altered Christmas set.

The card on the left is made using another wonderful vintage paper from the ATC set and my two favourite tags from the Altered Christmas set. For the card on the right, I printed out the red cardinal a couple of times from the bird paper and decoupaged it with foam pads. I teamed it with a sentiment from the Altered Christmas set. The background is the lovely ribbon and holly paper from the ATC set and I used an off cut  from the bird paper as a panel across the front.

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

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

Thank you everyone for supporting us throughout this year. We hope we have inspired you on your creative journey as much as you have inspired us.

Enjoy a merry festive season, however you celebrate.

I have entered this card set in the following challenges:

https://morgansartworld.blogspot.com/2023/12/morgans-artworld-challenge-12.html