Shabby Something?

Hello y'all! Keeping with my goal to try many different styles and colors, I have decided to delve into a more feminine canvas today. Now, anyone that knows my blog understands I tend toward the darker color palettes but this design is none of that! Eek! I received some new LSG sprays for Christmas (from Alleystamp.com) and am using these today. Talk about a new path, and a new beginning.

I started with a 5x7 canvas and some gesso. Then added some script stamping randomly. I totally forgot to take pictures while I was working on the background. Oops. I then added the HS stencil and some texture paste. Once that was dry, I grabbed my LSG spray and sprayed it through the HS stencil to get a soft pattern. 

I painted the gate with white acrylic paint and the ornate frame was painted with Inka Gold-Turquoise. I used the LSG sprays to spray the small flowers. The leaves are made from a mold and Clay and painted with Luminarte Lucky Apple Primary Elements. The cheesecloth is added for texture. A MS branch punch was also used to create more texture. 

The butterfly was heat embossed and then "painted" in some spots with my new Liquid Pearls-Pewter. The sentiment was stamped onto vellum and little dots of the LP was added to the banner. The square green gems are new as well. I then splattered the entire canvas with all the colors I used and stamped another script stamp with Adirondack Mushroom ink. 

I know I forgot some steps but I was in the zone and just kept trying different things. :) Carpe Diem right? Hugz! ~Niki

I would love to share this design with these challenges: 

More Mixed Media-Blue

Stamps and Stencils-Oh So Blue

Mixed Media Place #16-New Beginnings

Stamplorations Stencil Sunday #27-Anything Goes

Happy Little Stampers-January Mixed Media Challenge

Rich Grunge Tag

Well it has been freezing in my neck of the woods and I have been in the art studio creating away. I'm trying new techniques and types of designs because I don't want to be boxed into a certain genre (more to come about that later this month). With that said, I finished my tag for this months Tim Holtz tags of 2016. I didn't finish last years, oops. Who knows what the new year will bring? :)

I just had to try this design because of the dark colors and papers used. So happy that I finally got some Black Soot DP! Whoot whoot! I used a new EF from Sizzix (

For the chalkboard technique I went and did my own thing. I used my stamp and some white ColorBox ink. I always smudge it so it reminded me of a chalkboard. I stamped 2 images and fussy cut the butterflies and watch. All three are popped up on foam dots. I finished by adding the sentiment.

This is a tag I really enjoyed making, dark and elegent at the same time. Hugz and Carpe Diem! ~Niki

I would like to share this dark and saucy tag with these challenges: 

Emerald Creek Dares-NEW

 (I used my new brads, new Black Soot DP and a new embossing folder)

Tims 12 Tags of 2016-January

The Artistic Stamper-Anything Goes

(Must use rubber stamping)

Try It On Tuesday-Letters and Numbers

BLOGGER CHANGES-Due to the recent changes made by Google, it seems that my Follow By Email button is not working and those that follow me through email are not getting an email. I am not sure how to rectify this situation but I will keep looking for an answer. Maybe try to follow me by email again? 

DecoArt at SanDee&Amelie's

Hello y'all! Today starts another challenge at SanDee&Amelie's Steampunk challenge. There have been a few changes but I promise you'll like em. We start with our new sponsor-DecoArt! How cool is that? At SanDee&amelie's Steampunk Challenge, we have the great honour and pleasure of having gained DecoArt as our "one and only" prize sponsor from now on, the whole team decided to put a special spotlight on some of the fabulous products from their wide range of media and paints. 

So this month each DT member not only used DecoArt paints and media on her DT project, but also introduces more closely one of the products she has used. 

Here is what I decided to make. This is my first time trying this Andy Skinner technique (which you can see HERE) and of course I put my spin on it. Enjoy! This is going to be a long journey.

I have had this art journal for over a year and only have 4 pages done in it. So I decided to start with the cover thinking if it looked better, I would be more inclined to use it. Hehe! 

I added some texture paste through 2 stencils, the number stencil is from Andy Skinner. I then added some sand texture paste thus starting the painting technique showcased in the video by Andy Skinner. 

I kept adding paints making sure everything was dry between layers. 

Then came the clock and gear chipboard piece. I watched another video (HERE) and used this technique (first time trying this one as well) but changed up the colors. Yellow green for the base. 

Then Cobalt Turquoise Hue applied using a new texture stamp. This is where I added my own spin to the painting technique because I just kept adding color until I was happy. 

The clock/gear chippie was glued down with DecoArt Liqui Glass and then whitewashed with DecoArt Titanium White antiquing cream. 

This is what it looks like all put together with the rest of my Art journal. The picture above is closer to what it looks like in real life. I don't think the lighting does it justice though as it isn't this washed out and blurry (like the pic below shows). Darn photos. :) 

Here is a quick peek at the prize package you could win! You have to be "In it, to Win It!" Just remember to have fun and enjoy the process. Hugz and Carpe Diem! ~Niki

I would like to share this art journal cover with these lovely challenges:

Emerald Creek Dares-NEW 

(I have used 2 new techniques, and a new texture stamp)

Try it on Tuesday-Letters and Numbers

Altered Eclectics

(Anything Goes altered art)

Our Creative Corner-Make Time Mood Board

(I used numbers, some of the colors from the board and plan to make time to use my art journal) 

Rhedds Creative Spirit

(Anything Goes Altered Art/Mixed Media)

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

Let It Snow

It is crazy hectic with last minute details surrounding Christmas Day. Spend it with my fam or my DH fam? Or both? Can I eat 2 large meals?!? Yeppers, I sure can!  I retreated to my art studio and created some me time today and went about designing a canvas. Ahhh, my sweet canvas! How I missed you! Since its been snowing here I was inspired to make this:

I love love love the shimmer from my Primary Elements and Silks. Colour Arte has the most wonderful and brilliant colors. I used: Autumn Skies, Go Navy and a dash of Plum Crazy PE and Cielo Azul Silks. Enjoy and Merry Christmas to all of you lovelies! 

I started with a Prima stencil and some clear matte texture paste. I then heat embossed all three snowflakes and the mini canvases. Glitter glitter everywhere, glitter glitter in my hair! Hehe

I sprinkled the Primary Elements onto my canvas and sprayed with water, blotting and adding color until I was happy. The mini canvases are popped up with different sizes foam dots for added dimension. Once the canvases were added I used some watered down white acrylic paint to highlight all the "snow" bubbles. I then glued the sentiment down with Glossy Accents. I hand died my seam binding with a mix of the Primary Elements and some DI. I tried a new seam binding and in order to get it to crinkle I wrapped a rubber band around it and stuck it in my dryer, waited 20 minutes (agonizing!) and pulled it out. It ended up with crinkles but not as good as others I have used. I added the metal snowflake charm to my ribbon for more texture. The bow is set on a base of cheesecloth and leftover ribbon stuff. The small branches are a punch with Glitter added for some more shimmer. 

Lastly I added the Snow Tex and more glitter. Some of my snow bubbles were highlighted even more with glitter. This was a fun design and it is so shimmery and glitzy IRL but the sun is not out today. Thanks for stopping by during this busy time. Happy Weekend! Hugz and Carpe Diem! ~Niki

I would like to share this design with these lovely challenges:

Colour Arte #6-Winter Wonderland

Winter Wonderland-Christmas Bingo (I used Snowflakes, Glitter, Pearls/Rhinestones)

My Time to Craft #311-Last Minute Christmas Makes 

Brown Sugar Challenge #177-Anything Goes

Inspiration Emporium-Tis the Season Everything Goes

Another Christmas Card!

I keep on trying this Christmas card making phenom and am finally getting into it a bit. After watching countless videos (mostly Pamellia)  and reading different tutorials, I had a go at making a layered card with lots of textures. Enjoy!

I started by watering down DecoArt Metallic gold and silver acrylic paint. Then I swiped some glossy paper through it and slowly heat dried it. It started to look like hills! Yippee! 

I then took a stencil and applied DecoArt Titanium white acrylic paint through a stencil to create a snow texture. My rolling hill is a piece of scrap paper that has numerous layers of paints on it. I finished the hill with DecoArt texture paste stippled with my palette knife. When it was dry I added some DecoArt Snow-Tex randomly and some glitter. 

I layered my tree dies behind the hill. For the gold trees I added some DecoArt Snow Tex to create some depth and interest to the tree line. While it was still wet I sprinkled on DecoArt Crystal sprinkle on glitter. The white trees were painted with a thin layer of DecoArt Liquid Glass and the crystal glitter was sprinkled onto that. When it was dry I added some Snow Tex just like I did for the gold trees and the same glitter. 

The base behind the tree layer is painted with DecoArt Metallic Gold paint. I only went around the edge that would show though. 

The base of the card is embossed and hand painted with the gold metallic paint as well. 

I added a seam binding bow that was hand painted with watered down gold metallic paint. HINT-when using paint to color a seam binding bow, know ahead of time that the bow will be kind of stiff unless you use a fabric medium. The metal tidbits were attached with a thin metal wire that is wrapped around the back of the bow. 

This card will be shared with the following challenges: 

Frilly and Funkie-Tis the Season

Mixed Media Monthly Challenge-Silver and Gold

Try It On Tuesday-Snow, Snowflakes, Winter Whites

Country View Challenge #34-Create a Scene

You've Got Happy Mail! #8 at Anything But Cute

Can y'all believe it is December already!?! December is too cold for me where I live but Christmas is my favorite holiday! The lights, the atmosphere, the cozy fires, and the Happy Mail all make this time of year special. With that in mind I wanted to create a challenge for you lovelies to share some of that Happy Mail. I am your hostess this month over at Anything But Cute and our challenge #8 is:

We all like Happy Mail right? That feeling of being spoiled rotten when you receive a handmade card from someone is better than being wrapped up in a soft blanket near a fire, sipping on a hot latte. So, for this challenge I would love to see some mixed media Christmas cards, tags, ATC's or whatever papercraft you are mailing to a friend, inspired by the spirit of the season! Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas! 

I'll be completely honest here-making Cards scares me! There, I said it. I have no rational explanation for this but it is true. I have done a few in the past but nothing crazy. So, I wanted to challenge myself and cards it was! For this design I decided to go non-traditional for Christmas. Black/White/Red are my fave color combo (I even used it for my wedding) and the Damask print is my fave as well (also used for my wedding).I started by painting some cardboard pieces with Black Gesso and then applied DecoArt Liquid Glass to get the shine. I kept telling my mind I was making a plaque. :)

The Damask background was inspired by Samra's design (HERE) and also my love of the pattern. It is a TH stencil, with DecoArt crackle paste applied through it. I added some Distress Rock candy to the paste while it was wet and set it aside to dry naturally. 

The wreath is part of a feather boa than I cut apart and glued to a round template I made. I just used the bottom of a cup and traced around it. :) I then used my new MS branch punch and metallic red cardstock to create the blinged branches peeking through the feathers. The snowflake in the center is a BoBunny design that is heat embossed with Red Tinsel EP. 

Here is a close up of the Damask crackle and Distress Rock candy. Awesome sauce! 

The back of the card was heat embossed with a TH stamp and Black Tinsel EP then edged with Black Soot DI. My thoughts are still with Paris and the horrible attacks. They stood behind America during our September 11th attacks and we stand by them. 

I made the base of the card with some matboard, not sure if this is suitable for cardmaking but it sure is sturdy! The inside of the card has a sentiment stamped and this will be mailed out to a dear friend. I don't seem to have the best of luck with the parcel service. Lol!

Spread the Happy Mail cheer and join in on the fun! I know how happy I get when there is a package in the mail for me. A big thank you to all of my peeps and to my new peeps! You all are so very sweet and the positive reinforcement comments sure make me happy as well. Hugz! Happy Crafting and Carpe Diem!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND MERRY CHRISTMAS 

I would love to share this card with these amazing challenge

Emerald Creek Dares-Bringing Bits of Cheer, Let the Festivities Begin!

Crafting By Design-December Anything Goes

Artistic Inspirations #146-Anything Goes with a twist of Christmas

Card and Scrap #108-Anything Goes

Papertake Weekly-Anything Goes

Through the Craftroom Door-Dec 1st-7th Anything Goes

Steampunk Christmas Ornament

On this episode of Pawsitively Creative we are going to sit back, enjoy, and get messy! Raise the Roof! Over at SanDee&Amelies Steampunk Winter Challenge we have an ongoing 2 month challenge of Anything Goes! How's that float your Steampunk boat? My mind came up with this star ornament:

This star started life as a plain paper mâché piece crying out to be made over into some Steampunk goodness! Using aluminum tape and alcohol inks, along with an EF and my fave-Rusting Powder, I designed the base. 

Alcohol ink Pool and Rust are my go to  for creating this patina color. Add some rusting powder to the mix and Viola!

After all the tape was applied to the star, I  painted over it with DecoArt Matte Varnish. I knew the matte wouldn't dull all the shine. By applying the varnish I am able to handle the aluminum tape with the rust on it and it doesn't come off onto my hands. :)

The design for the central image wasn't planned, just came to be what it is. The cog was heat embossed with 4 or 5 embossing powders. Then the metal filigree corners were added. The gentleman was inked onto some tissue paper with Black Archival ink after being fitted into the metal frame. The metal wings were from my stash.

I then added some greenery from leftover Christmas picks. Everything was glued to the star with Glossy Accents! And that's my first real Steampunk ornament for my Steampunk tree! Hopefully by next year I will have enough ornaments to complete my tree and I still need to order my copper tree. Ahhhh fun! Hugz and Carpe Diem! Happy Holidays y'all!

I would love to share this ornament with these challenges: 

Altered Eclectics-25 Days to Christmas-Anything Goes Altered Art

Our Crafty Corner #3-Anything Goes/Lace and Pearls

I joined in on the Anything Goes

The Crazy Challenge-Everything Goes

Sweet Stampin-Sparkle and Shine

I think my star sparkles and shines because of the aluminum tape, the metal and hey-it is a star and stars shine bright! :)

Frilly and Funkie-An Altered State

I believe my altered state of this star is vintage-ish :)

Mixed Media World #9-Anything Goes

That Craft Place-Anything Goes Mixed Media