Altered Tree Bark

Hello all! My have the hands been busy this summer! Between my crafting and my power tools, I don't know what keeps me more happy. I have decided to alter a piece of a tree trunk that was leftover from a recent cut down. The tree was dead and needed to be taken down because it was so close to the house. This piece is for my guest spot over at Xanderous Crafty Stash. She has everything from metal trinkets, bling bling, rhinestones, lace appliques and so much more!

I started with applying a white wash to the bark just to lighten it up a bit.

 After the wash I used multiple stamps with black Archival ink and added some more interest to the bark. 

While that was drying I started heat embossing all of the wonderful metal trinkets from Xanderous Crafty Stash. Each metal piece got at least two coats of embossing powder just so I could make sure none of the metal peeked through.

I layered the metal pieces to create a butterfly and some metal coral colored flowers. Then I added some moss and grass. The sign "This Way" is from Prima. 

Hugz and Carpe Diem! ~Niki

The stamping is subtle but in real life it pops more. Hopefully this picture below shows the stamping okay. 

I would like to share this design with:

Altered Eclectics-Anything Goes 

Mixed Media Place-June Moodboard

I was inspired by all things nature

Her Tool Belt Linky Party 179

Country View Challenges-Things with Wings

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge-Anything Goes

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

Little Garden Trellis

Wowzers! If any of you have had tendinitis in your hands, I just wanted to say-I feel your pain! I am a lefty but as all lefty's know, we have to be ambidextrous   That means I use my right hand to cut things, use sprays (mostly both hands at once) and use paper punches. Owwww! I thought it would go away but it has gotten worse. Luckily my husband has a Doctorate in Physical Therapy and is "fixing me". Lol!

I started this last month and only was able to finish it now. Not my usual style but it was fun, and inspired by Sara Emily-my teamie on Anything But Cute. 

I started by putting my base together. It is a Fernli Designs Dimensional wood. You have to glue the sides together and then add the top and bottom. Easy, peasy and so sturdy!

I then added an awesome brick background using some homemade texture paste and a TCW brick stencil.

Many Adirondack ink Dabbers were used to color the brick. Very good deal on these dabbers at Tuesday Morning! 

I then made the trellis from paper leftovers and painted it with gesso, chalky edgers and DI around the edges. 

Here is me piecing it together. Thanks Sara doll! 

I added the trellis to the base with foam dots after weaving some Spanish moss through the trellis. 

The flowers were sprayed with ColorBloom and the leaves were die cut then painted with Eggplant and white crackle paint. My butterfly was stamped onto white cardstock, then I used white embossing powder and a light purple copic marker to color it. Then is was fussy cut.

I added my sentiment with the tiny talkers stickers and edged those with chalk ink as well. 

This would have been much faster to make with 2 functioning hands. Live and learn and get some Physical Therapy! Hehe! 

Many thanks for stopping by and have an awesome week! Hugz to you all! Carpe Diem! ~Niki

This project will be shared with the following lovely challenges:

Anything But a Card-Out and About. In my neck of the woods everyone has hanging baskets full of flowers and my neighbor has this wonder wall trellis that is gorgeous near her front door. Of course the flowers are in bloom and the butterflies are out and about.

Craft Stamper-Take It, Make It Challenge-Take a Texture. I stamped my butterfly and used embossing powder to create the white outline. I also used the texture paste for the brick background.

Sweet Stampin'-Something Old and Something New My something new was creating a paper trellis by hand, my something old was the Fernli base as I have had it in my stash for over 8 months I believe. 

Little Red Wagon-Use It Up. I used my Fernli base and the little flowers that have been in my stash for ages. The moss is older as well but only by a month or two. :)

French Wall Scroll

I am finally back! What I mean by that is, I feel like my muse has finally returned and I am back to getting the mixed media ideas from my head onto paper. Thank goodness! I kept having this image of an ivy wall in my brain so I created this simple altered clipboard.

This is what I started with for $1.00. A clipboard made of recycled materials, found at a local craft store. I did add the piece of paper. :)

I created my background first. I used so many different colored Adirondack Dabbers I don't even remember all the names. I think it was 8 or 9 colors. But I did start with Pearl for my base coat. I also used numerous Distress Inks. I created texture with a baby wipe scrunched up. While I was layering the Dabbers I also added the brick stencil to create my wall. The last color I added to the bricks was Archival Fern Green. 

I just kept adding until I liked the look. 

And more colors...

I also used a TH stamp-Cracks to give it more depth. There are cracks in the mortar between the bricks, cracks with the stamp, crack texture created with the Dabbers. 

I worked on my scroll between drying times with my background. I added the French Script stencil from Americana Decor with Coffee Archival Ink. Then flicked it with black and brown watered down DI. 

 I then added a layer of Americana Weathered Wood over the entire scroll. You can't see the cracks very well because I only gave the scroll a thin whitewash to age it. It received a spritz of Frost Shimmer just because I could. :)

I added my scroll to the clipboard and glued Spanish moss and other moss to the left edge and behind the scroll. 

Lastly I added some hand painted roses and spring greenery with little dew drop crystals left over from another project. 

I feel like my old self again and have already started another altered clipboard along the same lines as this one. Carpe Diem! 

I will be sharing this piece with the following challenges:

Frilly and Funkie-Snap, Crackle, Crackle

Recycle, Repurpose, ReInvent-Must Recycle My clipboard is made of recycled materials.

Little Red Wagon #288-Distress It

Through The Craft Room Door-May 5-May 11th-Anything Goes

Rhedds Creative Spirit-Altered Art Anything Goes

All Crafts Challenge-Anything Goes, no cards