Ring Out the Old, Bring in the New at Anything But Cute #9

I do hope everyone totally enjoyed their holidays! We are back at it again and our lovely sweet and talented hostess this month at Anything But Cute is: Anne. She has created a wonderful challenge theme to help you use those wonderful art product Christmas gifts you received! Ring Out the Old, Bring in the New

Here is what Anne says "To celebrate the New Year, we would like you to create a mixed media card or project using something 'new'. Perhaps you got some fabulous new craft item for Christmas or you have something new that you have not used yet - just remember to tell us what the new item is!"

Exciting isn't it? I had an extremely lovely and generous Christmas this year. My DH felt bad about last year so he kinda went all out. Hehe! Everything I used for this design is new, well almost. Even a new craft mat!

Lets get started on the process! I started with these canvas tags and applied gesso to one. Dried it with my new heat gun and then used some new modeling paste and a Ledger stencil, dried that with my new gun as well. The base of these canvas tags are made of some very sturdy material, not sure exactly what it is but, dang are they sturdy little suckers. 

The Liquitex modeling paste is exquisite! I usually make my own but this is awesome sauce stuff! Thick, easy to spread and dries kinda fast.  

The real fun started with these new LSG magicals from the Industrail Chic set. Those have been on my wish list for over a year! I sprinkled Steampunk Sepia and Shabby Turbine Teal onto the tag and spritzed with water. Heat dried and then dabbed on some LSG starburst Bachelor Button Blue and Cowabunga Copper and sprayed with water. Always dry between layering colors, even though you will get some merging of the colors even if they are dry. Next came the Rusty Lantern Lime magicals, I applied this color over the texture paste with my new Waterbrush (detailed tip). Took me a bit to figure out how to use the thing but it was fun.

The cheesecloth was also colored with the Rusty Lantern Lime magicals and hot glued to the tag. I added a metal anchor between the cheesecloth and layered my heart knot on top. The heart knot was kinda hard to tie but after about 20 failed attempts, I did it! Thank you YouTube for the tutorial. I watched so many I have to give credit to anyone that made a video about it. :)

The last little bit added was really micro! These new micro beads are fantastical to add some texture but those little, I mean LITTLE, buggers are a handful! Finally I just put some mod podge onto my craft mat and dipped my brush straight into the bead container and "painted" 'em onto my tag. Whew! I had a bit of a mess going for a minute. I ended up using Copper, Bronze, and Splash micro beads. 

The photo below shows a closer look at the heart knot. Hopefully you can actually see that it resembles a heart shape? This is also a close up of the micro beads. The anchor is an old piece from my stash.

Cheers to 2016 and all of the new journeys everyone will be taking, whether it be through art, life, or a planned adventure! Hugz to you all and don't forget to check out my what talented teamies have designed! Carpe Diem! ~Niki

I would thoroughly enjoy sharing this tag with these lovely challenges:

Our Creative Corner-Make Time Moodboard Challenge
(I thought the picture from the wonderful moodboard looked like a sea captains navigation compass, I also made time for myself to design this, being sick and under the weather had me out for a bit)

613 Avenue Create #157-Anything Goes w/ optional twist Create a CAS card/project

Crafty Boots Challenge-Something Old, Something New
(my cheesecloth and metal anchor are the something old, everything else is something new)

Craft Your Passion #293-Anything Goes

Crafting from the Heart #93-Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge-Something New