DV #139 Monochrome

Our challenge today at Dream Valley is monochrome. You could, of course, go down the black and white route, or as I have done, just shades of one colour.

We are sponsored by Crafty Ribbons.

I have used Stampendous’ The Look, which also comes with a feather, which I have used and a rose, plus a stencil.

I stamped the face and then masked it off before stamping the Justrite script background with Forget Me Not Archival ink. I coloured the face in with Neocolor II watercolour crayons. I stamped the feather twice onto the first of the background papers that I used, in the same Archival ink I used for the script stamp. My papers are from NRN and K & Co. I distressed all my edges and then inked them with the Forget Me Not inkpad. I used Glossy Accents on her lips, and Spectrum Noir sparkle in clear over her eye makeup. A flower and small pearl/crystal spray finished it off.

The glossy accents and sparkle show up better in the pic below.

I am entering this into:-

Colour Crazy Challenge - #20 Anything Goes Craft Colouring Challenge
Crafting From the Heart - #125 Anything Goes
Crafty Creations - #322 Words/Letters on the Background
Ellibelle’s Creative Moments - Let’s Colour Linky Party 11 Anything Goes
Oh La La Creations - #212 Girlie
PDE Linky Party - 135 Bold, Bright Colours
Polkadoodles - #34 Something Beginning with F (Feathers)
Simply Create Too - #116 Use Feathers
Stamping Sensations - Aug: Anything Goes
The Pencil Case - #27 Anything Goes

CCM 171 By Or Under The Sea

Good morning and Happy Monday. Did everyone enjoy the Olympic Games? I am so proud of our Great Britain team. We even outdid our performances from the home games in 2012. Congratulations to all the medallists, and better luck next time for the ‘near misses’.

Right over to our challenge at Crafty Cardmakers, which this time is being hosted by Bec, By or Under the Sea.

We are delighted to be sponsored for this challenge by Woodware Craft Collection with a fabulous £12 voucher for our winner.

Apologies this is picture heavy!

My Under the Sea is a bathroom cabinet that I purchased from my local recycling centre (or The Tip as we like to call it) for just £2. It started off as the most awful dark mahogany colour and boy did it take some sanding down to get it to the stage where I could even consider painting it. Ignore the ‘false’ mirror, but the reflection of the camera wasn’t exactly enhancing the pic so I photoshopped in a pretend mirror over the real one.

Unfortunately I forget to take a pic before I started work but this one is after about three hours of sanding!

I mixed some emulsion to get an aquatic type colour and having gessoed it first I painted with the new colour. It was still a little too bright though so I dry brushed in some white paint to tone it down a little.

This was actually finished in two stages, because my ME got really bad half way through and I pushed it to one side and didn’t get round to finishing it until I saw this challenge was due to be published so I cracked on at that point and finished it. However, when I started it, I only had a couple of underwater type stencils and a set of Magnolia dies which were ocean/underwater themed.

I textured pasted a mermaid and also bubbles through stencils. No idea where the mermaid stencil came from but the bubbles stencil is actually called Wave and is by Dutch Doobadoo. I also made my own embellishments from the Magnolia dies, and the tiny turtles which was a turtle border die, which I die cut several times and then layered up before painting.

As you can see from the pic below, I moved things around before I was happy with where they all were, and before finally sticking them down, I painted them with Maya Gold paint, and also painted the mermaid and dry brushed some maya gold onto the top of the bubbles to give them a bit more definition. It was at this point it got pushed to one side and forgotten.

Then the Heartfelt Under The Sea collection was released and I just knew I had to use it. I couldn’t face starting again, but hope that the addition of the Heartfelt pieces enhances it!

I took a couple of sheets from the paper pad and stuck them inside the cabinet, adding extra diecut fish to the background.

Before I stuck anything down, I placed various pieces to see if I liked them

But I decided there were too many, and also it needed bubbles to match the front. After I stuck it all down I sprinkled Glamour Dust over the fish, you can just see some of the twinkles in the pic below, but in real life it’s must more twinkly.

and the other side

Before I put it all back together I gave it several coats of Plasti-Kote satin transparent paint spray, because obviously going into a bathroom it will have to deal with a lot of steam and I wanted to make sure that all those lovely paper pieces didn’t just fall to pieces in the heat and steam. Word of warning, if you go down that route yourself……. do it outside, the fumes and smell nearly choked me and Poppy dog.

Finally a view inside with everything re-assembled and the shelf in place. Can you spot the non deliberate error? Yep, I forgot to measure where the shelf was going to be so I could hide the join in the two different sheets of paper! Ooops

As you can just see above. I stamped a gorgeous little Stampendous sentiment at the front of the cabinet. Near the sea We forget to count the days. I love this sentiment because it’s exactly how being near the sea makes me feel.

And here it is in more close up

Looking at it from the left, this is the view on entering my bathroom, well not quite. This is on top of my cooker at the moment, but after it has sat outside for a few days to get rid of the smell from hell, it’s the lefthand side you will see more of as you enter the bathroom.

Sadly it wasn’t until it was all re-assembled I realised that I should have tried to find a way to remove the mirror before sanding down as you can see, at this angle, the reflection of the dark mahogany areas I was unable to reach with the sander! I may have to see if I can sort that out over the coming days. I also had to die the knob as I forgot to get a new one and the original one was bright white and stuck out like a sore thumb.

And finally the view from the right. By the way, my Daughter informs me I should have cleaned the mirror before taking a photo! But it took me so long to get a pic from the side that didn’t show the mess reflected in it, that a couple of finger prints are neither here nor there!

I am entering this into:- (way too many! but this has taken me ages, so I am showing off!)

Alphabet Challenge - M For Mythical (the Mermaid)
Altered Eclectics - Aug: Anything Goes
Bastel-traum - #44 Mask/Stencil/Die Cutting
Classic Design Team Open Challenge - #05 Anything Goes
Crafting Musketeers - #40 Anything But a Card
Crafty Boots - Anything But a Card
Crafty Hazlenut’s Patt Paper - Aug: Anything Goes
Deep Ocean Challenge - #135 Seaside/Beach
Delicious Doodles - Aug: All Creatures Great and Small
Ellibelles Creative Moments - Critters and Creatures Linky Party 6
Fantasy Crafters - #2 Aug: Anything Fantasty Goes
Fantasy Stampers - #69 At The Beach
If You Gave A Crafter A Cookie - #50 Photo Inspiration
Little Red Wagon - #355 Surf’s Up
Love To Create - #17 Anything Mixed Media Goes
Make My Monday - #28 Photo Inspiration
Melonheadz Friendz - Use Diecuts and/or punches
Mixed Media World - #17 Summer/Sea/Nautical
Morgan’s Art World - #17 Anything But A Card
Not Just Cards - #35 Aug: Anything Goes
Pile It On - #115 Die Cut Embellishments
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Go Fish
Sparkle N Sprinkle - Aug: Anything Goes with loose glitter ( I promise it is there, please read post!)
The Crafty Addicts - #22 Use Die Cuts
The House That Stamps Built WIW Photo Challenge - A1716
Worldwide Open Design Team Challenge - Aug: Anything Goes

DV 138 Pretty In Pink

We are sponsored today by All Dressed Up for our Pretty In Pink challenge. We were lucky enough to have one of their gorgeous images to use in the challenge. I chose Fairy Flowers.

I coloured her with copics and used some Stabilo fine point pens for the flower which were very small because of the size I printed the image at.

She is matted onto some pink mirri cut with a spellbinders label die. The diecut area in the corner is one of Tim Holtz’s Mixed Media dies and the sentiment die is another Spellbinder die.

I am entering this into:-

Come and Get It - Punches and Dies
C.R.A.F.T. - #376 Anything Goes
Crafting When We Can - #125 Things With Wings
Crafting with An Attitude - #18 Anything Goes
Crafts Galore Encore - Use a Digi or Stamp
Crafty Girls’ Creations - #24 Anything Goes
Happy Little Stampers - Aug: Anything Goes with Dies
Stamping Sensations - Aug: Anything Goes
Star Stampz - Add a Sentiment
Through The Purple Haze - #106 Anything Goes

CCM 170 Time

It’s my turn to host over at Crafty Cardmakers this time and I have chosen Time as my theme. I am happy for you to interpret that anyway you like, but if it’s not obvious then please tell us how it relates to time.  I am a little tardy with my post because I have had a nightmare week and didn’t get it finished on time.

I started with a 5x7 canvas panel that I had already started but really didn’t like, but it was in the finished colours so that influenced everything else I did. I splodged various Paper Artsy Fresco colours on and then added a couple of stamps from the Ding and Dong range in the background. The main image is also from the same range. I stamped the components onto three different shades of Elizabeth Craft Shimmer Sheetz with stazon. The main body/clock I embossed around the two large circles and then flipped it over and embossed between them to give it some body (no pun intended). I also coloured the beak in yellow to give some definition and added some colour to alternate stripes on the legs, and the clock edge.

The wings and head plummage I accentuated with a white sharpie poster paint pen. I used brads for the eye and to hold the hands of an old clock, I had dismantled, in place. Finally I popped a few tiny gems into place in the centres of the stamped clocks in the background. The craft sheets were a nightmare to stick to each other. I ended up having to use Glossy Accents, but sadly it did leak onto the front of the bird and I had to try and repair it with copics. The upside is it’s really shimmery in real life. The photo doesn’t pick up how the colours change on the metal sheets.

I am entering this into:-

Art Journal Journey – Nature’s Wonders
Crafting When We Can – #125 Things With Wings
Crafty Boots - Use a Stamp
Creative Corner – Anything But A Card
Delicious Doodles – All Creatures Great and Small
Digi Choosday – #32 Anything Goes
Ellibelles Creative Moments – #6 Critters and Creatures Linky Party
Happy Little Stampers – Aug: Mixed Media Chall – Metal
Kitty Bee Aloha Friday – #77 All About Animals
Lemon Shortbread – #21 Anything Goes
Love To Create – #16 Anything Creative/Mixed Media Goes
Pile It On – #114 Make Your Own Background
QKR Stampede – #203 Things With Wings
Rhedd’s Creative Spirit – August
Try It On Tuesday – Leftovers and Scraps (my clock hands were left over from a clock I dismantled for the cogs)
Unicorn Challenge – #12 Animal Kingdom