Elements of Nature and Guest Designer

Hello y'all! Happy day to you and what a good one it is so far. I am happy and excited to share some news with everyone. I am a guest designer today over at Stamps and Stencils. Hehe! The very talented team has been challenged to design something inspired by the Elements of Nature! Hop on over to check out what they have created, you'll enjoy looking at everyone's creative talents. I decided to make something that features moss, bark, sticks, rocks, butterflies, paints, and a secret door. Here is my mini garden top hat.

If you would like to see more details and close ups head on over to Stamps and Stencils where I do a step out about the process. 

I used so many materials and tidbits from nature, even some coffee beans for the dirt. The hat is made from crafters foam (that's how all my hats start out). 

And here are some pictures of the sides of the hat. The door was made with polymer clay that was stamped into. The brow edging around the door is leather and the door itself was painted with about 3 colors of brown paint, a white wash and some Emerald Green Viva Decor. 

I wouldn't mind living in this hat! The "feather" looking piece in the picture above is made with polymer clay and an Iron Orchid mold #6. Then it was distressed with the same paints that were used on the door. 

Thank you to the entire team for letting me share in such a wonderful challenge theme! You all rock! Carpe Diem!

I would love to share this top hat with these lovely challenges:

Always use Rubber Challenge #2-Winter/Spring
I used Spring. Flowers blooming, gardens growing, butterflies out and about.

Creative Artiste Challenge #19-Anything Mixed Media Goes

Mixed Media Place #21-Paint the Sky, Make it Yours!
I totally enjoy making mini hats and this design is my new favorite. Anything mini makes me smile and laugh.

Mixed Media World #19-Assemblage/Altered Art

Scary Fairy Garden

Hello lovelies! Halloween is in my top 2 for favorite holidays and it seems I have started my own tradition of creating interesting Halloween decor. I wanted to showcase some very special embossing powders and art supplies while creating this Scary Fairy Garden. Today I am a guest for Emerald Creek Dares. So excited and honored! Kim and her entire team are fantabulous and so sweet!

Now I have a new hobby with flowers and planting em. I am still learning but I wanted to merge my two hobbies to see what would happen. This started off as just a plain old small garden thing. An ivy plant and another plant. Some rocks were thrown in, a mini white pumpkin, and moss with faux spider webbing. But I wanted more! Bwahaha! 

The spider webbing got me to thinking about Halloween and thus began my Scary Fairy Garden journey. I grabbed some fancy fence chipboard pieces and cut some parts off then double embossed all the pieces with Burnt Copper Leaves EP and then sprinkled some  Charred Gold and Hammered Metal EP randomly on the pieces. Once everything was heated I stuck the chippies into the dirt. The cage was embossed with the same powders but I didn't heat emboss, I just used some Tombow glue to add the powder to make the cage look textured and dirty. 

The Bat Charm and Rose Charm that are on top of the cage were heat embossed with Burnt Copper and Charred gold then adhered to the cage with a glue gun. See what a bit of embossing powders can do to a metal charm! Loves it. :)

 The mice that are hidden throughout the garden are colored with the Ground Espresso distress marker. It makes the mice look wet and stinky. 

The pebble path that lead the fairy to her doom is covered in her fairy dust and Hammered Metal embossing powder. It makes the path look more ominous. This powder was sprinkled on the small white pumpkin as well. Then I painted "Beware" in silver acrylic paint. 

You can see the heat embossing on the fence and the pumpkin better in the picture below. SIDE NOTE-I didn't use the Grim Reaper in the finished design. 

Little spiders and other creatures are lurking throughout the garden so BEWARE or you may end up in the cage. 

The skeleton fairy was one from a dollar store that is on a string with multiple skeletons. I used some hot water to bend the arms and legs into the sitting position you see. Once the appendages were the shape I wanted I plunged the skeleton into some cold water. And that is how you can shape your plastic skeletons. I used a butterfly stamp to make the wings and built a wire frame to shape the wings those were painted with Silks and then added to the fairy skeleton. (Don't mind that random skeleton arm in the pic below, some skeletons were harmed in the making of this design)

The skeleton was painted white and then added to the cage. I did add some small pearl beads for the fairy eyes. 

The scary tree that is near the gate lights up and the light blinks but I couldn't get a good picture. Can you see the small red light in the mouth of the tree?

Here is an over head shot of the Scary Fairy Garden

Does the skeleton look like she is freaked out? I think she does. 

Another overhead shot, let's call it an aerial view.

Thanks for touring the Scary Fairy Garden with me! Hopefully your creative juices are flowing and you can join the fun! Hugz and Carpe Diem! ~Nikij

I would enjoy sharing this design with these amazing challenges: 

A Vintage Journey-Make It Spooky

Frilly and Funkie-A Very Vintage Halloween

Rhedds Creative Spirit-Anything Goes Mixed Media

Try It On Tuesday-Handmade by You

Creative Embellishments-October Challenge 

I was inspired by the pumpkins, the metal, the graveyard and the tombstone

More Mixed Media-Anything Goes/Optional Orange 

31 Day of Halloween at Anything But Cute

October is here and that means another challenge at Anything But Cute. Our super inspirational, and Halloween loving hostess is Sara Emily! For this challenge she would like you to make a mixed media card or project for Halloween. It can be spooky or not, but you MUST include the number "31" somewhere in your project. Let your creativity take over and enjoy! 

Let me take you through "31 Halloween Hauntings!" Mwahahahaha! Enter if you dare!

I started with a Tim Holtz assemblage clock and applied so many different sprays, inks, DecoArt crackle glaze, DecoArt texture paste, and acrylic paints as well. Let's see the process! 

I applied 3 coats of gesso and dabbed some texture paste and texture sand here and there. Then waited forever for it to dry! 

This is after the first coat of LSG sprays and DecoArt Turquoise Waters Satin acrylic paint and DecoArt Patina Green Antiquing Cream (I used the Cream after all the layers were on the clock as well as before)

While the clock was drying (when you heat metal it gets hot so I opted to wait for some stages to dry, my fingers thanked me), I started on my moon background using Distress inks and TH crackle paint for the tree. The moon is yellow and orange and the black smudges are dark clouds. The smallest gravestone includes the number 31. 

The graves are all handmade out of polymer clay, I used various objects to create the graves and then I "aged" the graves using a wash of DecoArt acrylic paint in Zinc and gesso, as well as LSG spray. 

The skeletons were purchased at a local dollar store (4 on a string) and I sprayed those with Heidi Sawpp's Black Velvet spray, I dry brushed both skeletons with DecoArt black acrylic paint. I made the females clothes with leftover fabric tidbits from other projects. Both skeletons accessories are made from polymer clay. 

The small pumpkins are made from polymer clay and painted with black DecoArt acrylic paint and the brushed over with Silks-Spiced Pumpkin. You can see one of the pumpkins beside the lady skeletons head and one in the graveyard.

I added some Halloween stickers and moss that I handpicked near a friends cabin, and some Spanish moss was used for the floor of the gaveyard. The bats are inked with alcohol inks and attached to rusty wire that I twisted around the end of a paintbrush. I adhered those to the clock with a glue gun. 

Here is a close up of the inside of the clock. These 3D designs are sometimes hard to photograph!

I do hope you have enjoyed reading this post and it gets you to thinking about the number 31 and also Halloween, which is right around the corner! I have my hat almost done for October 31st! I wear a hat for the trick or treaters that come to my house, never too old to join in the fun! 

Thank you all for reading this, I know it was a long one! Hope you all have a terrific October and remember: this month candy has no calories, right? Snickers and Milk Duds here I come! What is your favorite candy? Carpe Diem! ~Niki

I would really love to share this altered clock design with the following challenges:

Creatalicous Challenges #79-Halloween

Country View Challenges #32-Add some Texture

Lunagirl Moonbeams October Challenge-Gothic

Altered Eclectics-Anything Goes Altered Art

The Corrosive Challenge Blog #234 Halloween Bingo 

I used the center of Bat, Free Space, Moon

Left of Center Creative Challenge #98-Monster with Ike's Art or LOC

I chose to go LOC with the Halloween theme and Horror theme

DecoArt Mixed Media Haunts Challenge-Showcase their mixed media product line

The Gentleman

Today I am sharing the story of The Gentleman and what awaits behind a raised curtain. This month at SanDee&Amelie's Steampunk Challenge is all about "Raise the Curtain". Let's begin!

The Gentleman comes home and lays his goggles and pocket watch on the table, he looks up at his beloved's portrait knowing he will always keep her in his heart. He then turns with a light step and can not contain the glee he feels as he opens the curtains to his...........

Lab! He knows he is so close to figuring out how he will see his beloved again. His beloved is waiting for him to come home after he finishes inventing his latest creation, the "BopperDopper Dimension De-Tangler". His beloved actually lives between dimensions and they have only met through her dreams. But Alas! He is done and finally they can be together in real time! To be continued......

                                                                          ********

I started with an Altoid Tin. I cut some papers to fit the front, back, and insides. 

I used washi tape to line the inside edges, as paper is too thick for the top edges, and the tin won't close properly. 

I then added the front key piece and knob with E6000. I edged the paper with black archival ink. Adding a scrap piece of fabric completed the front. 

Next came the goggles, brooch and frame around the brooch (this is the Gentlemans Beloved "portrait").Then I added the watch and passport to the inside lid. 

 The Lab section was made using bits and bobs from my stash. I made the curtain rod from a small dowel piece that was leftover from a previous project, the dowel was painted black. I used some TH fabric and added small hoops to the top of the fabric to represent the curtain hooks and I love that the curtain can actually open and close. 

The big copper piece in the back lower left corner is from a watch I had that stopped working, so I took its guts out. And of course there has to be a periodic table, every scientist needs one right?

Are you ready to try out this challenge? I bet your head is spinning with possibilities for Steampunk curtains of some sort. What will you come up with? Carpe Diem! Happy crafting! ~Niki