CELEBRATE with Anything But a Card's Final Challenge

It's with mixed feelings that I write this post.  I'm thrilled to have been on the Design Team for Anything But a Card since November of 2013; it was my first design team ever and due to my fellow teamies and Susan Brown's encouragement, humor, help (lots and LOTS of help) I have been blessed with designing for a few more manufactures and such.  I have always loved making things other than cards and this experience definitely enabled me to learn, experiment and grow as a person and a crafter.  So, before I get started on my project I want to shout out to all my fellow DT's, both past & present and to all the beautiful creations that people have entered! Now, as you see, the theme for this last month is Celebration.  I hope you can make a Celebration project and join us. You still have until September 6, 2015 to whip something up and join us (and keep checking the Anything But a Card blog, I hear there may be some surprises in the works!). My favorite holiday is Halloween, so I made this wall hanging to celebrate my favorite holiday:

What I Used to Make my Project:
White Memory Tray - postcard sized squares (I painted it black)
Graphic 45 Papers in Steampunk Spells & Rare Oddities
Rare Oddities Journaling & Ephemera Cards
Retro Art Cafe - Pumpkin pods, paper skeletons, skull cameo, chipboard feather, acrylic black cat & bat 
Prima Resin Frames #572372
Tim Holtz Sizzix Small Bird & Cage Die Set #657207
Tim Holtz Simple Sayings Set, #CMS155
Blood Drip stamp is from Viva Las Vegas!
Potion Bottles from The Porkchop Show
Plastic Bone, Black Cat Kittens & Fiber (stash)
Distress Ink in Frayed Burlap (colored embossed bone & edged sign)
Wendy Vecchi Archival Ink in Potting Soil (colored resin frame)
Ranger Embossing Powder in Rich Red
Homemade Embossing Powder (SU! Black & Hologram Highlights mixed, used on feather)
SU! Antique Ivory Embossing Powder (on the bone)
Clear Embossing Powder

I figured it would take me too long to explain this piece step by step, plus, I worked on it for about 3 weeks (on and off) and can't recall them all, so, I am just going to explain some of the embellishments.  Every square uses either Steampunk Spells paper, Rare Oddities paper or Rare Oddities Journaling & Ephemera Card for the background. 

Square #1 "Ravens" - I used a piece of flower stem from my backyard for the tree & mixed my own embossing powder for the feather. Also, the Raven Feathers advertisement is a Rare Oddities Journaling & Ephemera Card.

Square #2 "Cats" - I think the little blood drip is awesome. I admit, I was nervous that I would mess the paper up (I hoard Graphic 45 papers like crazy), but it came out fine. Whew!

Square #3 "skull" - I antiqued the Prima frame with Frayed Burlap ink, but I was concerned about it drying, so I threw a bit of clear embossing powder on it. 

Square #4 "Happy Halloween Sign" - it took me forever to get the plastic bone covered with the embossing powder, but I am really happy how it came out.  I had originally wanted the sign to hang freely, but the fiber was creased, so the sign is glued to the background. This is what the bone looked like when I started next to the finished bone. 

Square #5 "Potions" and Square #6 "Skeletons" are fairly self explanatory.  I loved making this to celebrate Halloween - it's never too early to get your freak on! 

Another Look

Thank you so much for stopping by & please consider following me. I am on a mission to get 100 new followers in the year 2015 (i'm almost there!).  I hope you have many reasons to celebrate! ~ Christi

I am entering my Halloween Wall Hanging in the following challenges:
My Sheri Crafts - #163, Show Me Your Decor
Simply Create, Too - #92, Anything Goes
Simply Papercraft - #11, Anything Goes
Quoth the Raven, Nevermore - #47, Pick Any 3
Decorate to Celebrate - #106, Anything Goes
Crafty Gals Corner - #32, Any Holiday

Frosty Love at Anything But a Card, #49

It's getting hotter here in Colorado so I decided to get a little frosty.  A local stamp store just had a tremendous sale on Memory Box dies and I got a bunch for a really good price (thank you Cathy at Simple Pleasures!) so I decided to get to playing with my toys right away.

This project was really simple to make and this is how I did it:
What I Used to Make my Project:
Scrap Wood 7x7
Red Glitter Paper
Red "Suede" Paper
Memory Box Snowflake Heart Die, #99031
Silhouette Cameo
Cut File "Love with a Flourish", Silhouette Store, #55227
Silver Cardstock
Oblong Piece of Red Cardstock

I have had this piece of scrap wood for some time and when I saw Challenge #49 at Anything But a Card was Anything Goes I knew it was time to use it. The hardest part of making this was folding the glitter paper. I used a generic manufacturer and I don't know if that had anything to do with the troubles I had, trying to fold the paper around the wood and get it to stay glued was quite an ordeal.  Fortunately, armed with my bulldog clips and waxed paper I got the job done.

The next step was die cutting the heart - I even saved all the little snowflakes! I used suede paper (sometimes called velvet paper) to make the heart. I trimmed around the heart and them mounted it on an oblong piece of scrap red paper, then mounted that onto the glitter paper.

Then I used my Silhouette to cut out the Love word out of of heavy silver cardstock and placed that on the piece.  Once that was dry I was done :) I felt like I bit into a York Peppermint Pattie - hehehe! I hope you enjoyed my "Frosty Love" project and that your summer (or winter) is going well. Hugs. Christi   

Another look

I am going to enter my Frosty Love Project in the following challenges:
2 Creative Chicks - #28, Anything Goes (July)
Decorate to Celebrate - #104, Anything Goes
Crafting with an Attitude - #5, Anything Goes
Simply Papercraft - #9, Anything Goes
Cut it Up - #75 Use a Word or Phrase With a Die Cut

Roaming around with Anything But a Card #48

I'm thrilled to be back designing for Anything But a Card after a two month break!  This months theme at Anything But a Card is Out & About so I made a neighborhood.  I am on a bit of a time crunch this month so I am actually typing this in advance so I am going to be done a head of time!  Since I am in a rush, I didn't take as many photos as normal (plus, this project is fairly cut & dry), but please do enjoy a stroll around my neighborhood.

What I Used to Make my Neighborhood:
Tim Holtz Artful Dwellings Movers & Shakers, Sizzix #657218
Wendy Vecchi Art Comforts Stamp Set, #SCS110
BasicGrey Paper, Scarlet Letter & Perhaps
Die from LifestyleCrafts/Quickutz Wildflower Spring Gift Set
Thin Cardboard
Golden Acrylics in Cobalt Teal, Pyrrole Orange, Titan Buff, Quinacridone Violet, Hansa Yellow, Phthalo Blue, Pyrrole Red & Burnt Sienna
Scraps of Ribbon from Stash
Piece of Foam Board

I had planned on doing a triptych so I had cut out a bunch of the little houses using the cardboard and the die cut.  I painted the houses with the different

acrylics and let them dry, then I painted all the roofs with burnt sienna.  I decided then that I'd rather have a wall hanging than a triptych, so I found a piece of Foam Board.  

I painted all of the houses and then I decided to use a few of the smaller houses as decorations on the larger homes.  I wanted to spruce them up a bit more, so I raided my stash and found some ribbon that I thought enhanced each house and glued it the houses.  I had cut out the "trees" using one of the dies from the Lifestyle/Quickutz Wildflower Spring Gift Set (it's retired, but you can find tons of them online), I'm not sure the actual die name, but it's in that set, and I used the Basic Grey paper. I had to leave out a few of my houses as

they wouldn't all fit on the foam board, but I've kept them and I'm sure they will debut on another piece.  The final step was stamping the sentiment using Wendy Vecchi's Art Comforts stamp set on a scrap piece of card, using a bit of brown ink to edge it and gluing that to the board.  

I hope you enjoyed your stroll around my neighborhood!! Please think about subscribing to my blog and helping me meet my goal of 100 new subscribers for 2015 ~ thank you Christi!

Another look - you can see the shine and brush strokes in the acrylic paint

I would like to enter my "Out & Above" piece in the following challenges:
Love to Create - #13,  Anything Mixed Media Goes
Stamping Sensations - Use Dies and/or Punches (June Challenge)
Allsorts Challenge - #316, Use a Stamp (no digi's) ~ entry #2
That's Crafty! - Housey, Housey 

I am Green with Envy at Anything But a Card

March is all about green - green grass, green shamrocks, spring green, well, how about envious green?  This months challenge at Anything But a Card is just that - and when I heard the challenge topic (way back in, I think it was, November?) I knew right away what I'd be using for this project.

What I Used to make my Green with Envy ATCs
Stampsmith Stamps (I used Maude, The Look and stamp from a sheet that has been discontinued)
Glossy Paper
Ranger Archival ink in Jet Black
Small Stipple Brush
Ranger Archival ink in Lettuce
DCWV - The Luxury Stack - 4.5 x 6.5 size (mat stack)
Stickles - Diamond, Crystal & Disco
Small Crown Punch
Wink of Stella in Clear
Lots of bits and pieces from my Stash
Various gel pens, Stickles, Pearls and markers

First things first, stamping the photo-realistic stamps on glossy paper with

permanent ink.  Any photo stamp looks so much better on glossy paper, and they can stamped on photo paper, but they really pop on glossy paper.  So I stamped the 3 images on the glossy paper and let them dry for a while.  While  they were drying, I looked for what I was going to back them with and I found some beautiful papers in the DCWV "The Luxury Stack" - you can't really see it in the photos (unfortunately) that I took, but the papers are nice and thick, perfect for backing an ATC.  When I looked on the DCWV website, they have a new Luxury stack, so I am guessing the mat stack I used is discontinued - but as always, if you do a search for "The Luxury Stack" there are plenty to be had. Just so I can show you how beautiful these papers are I stole borrowed a picture from online.

The next step was, to help me keep them straight in my mind, was to name the ladies in the cards - I named them Fern, Annabelle and Martha, and they are all envious of each other.  I also used my computer to make little sentences about each one and who they are envious of.  These are the final 3 cards along with their "story" and some info on what I did to each card.

This is Fern, and she is envious of Annabelle's wealth, even though she is obviously beautiful.  Fern's lips have been sparkled with the Wink of Stella pen in clear, and her earrings are filled in with Stickles.  Her eyebrows are colored with a black gel pen.

This is Annabelle and she is jealous of Martha's love, even thought she is obviously wealthy. Annabelle has a choker made from a piece of scrap Dresden along with a crown made just for her.  I used a small crown punch, punched out 3 crowns, glued them together and decorated it with Stickles. And each point has been topped with Liquid Pearls in Platinum.

This is Martha and she is envious of Fern's beauty, even though she has been lucky enough to find love.  Martha has a glitter paper red heart, a scrap of Dresden bracelet and her dress has been covered with fine black glitter. Her lips were colored with a red gel pen, and her lover's lips got colored with another gel pen.  Martha's hair got some cool waves with a clear gel pen.











And, all of their faces have been stippled with a small stipple brush and Lettuce Adirondack Ink.  I used post it notes to mask them and that helped me stay on their faces.  It was a very fun project to do and I keep forgetting how cool ATC's are.  Here are some close up pictures of each woman's special feature:

Annabelle's crown

 Fern's lips and earrings

Martha's dress









Maybe someday I'll be able to put them all in the same image, but I don't know how right now.  And I have no Photoshop, poor me! (I wouldn't have the foggiest idea on how to use it if I did have it - LOL)

So there you have it - my three envious ladies for the Anything But a Card March Challenge.  You have until the end of the month to join; that's plenty of time!  So get your Green with Envy on and join! If you enjoyed what you read, I'd love if you'd become a follower of mine and help me meet my goal of 100 new followers in 2015.  Thanks for stopping by! Christi

I am entering my Green With Envy ladies in the following challenges:
Hiding in my Craft Room - #191, Super Scraps Saturday
Pixie's Crafty Workshop - #168
Inkspirational Challenges - #78, She Art (or image of a woman)
Naughty or Nice Challenge -(M) #13, It ain't Easy Being Green 
Not Just Cards Challenge - #14, Anything Goes

New Beginnings at Anything But a Card

The finished product.

The blank journal I used.

So it's another New Year and I have decided to keep my resolutions easy - at least I think they are easy now, we will see how well I do (but nothing hard like exercise or no chocolate!!).  Since the current theme at Anything But a Card, challenge #43, is New Beginnings I decided to fulfill one of my resolutions, and something I hope will help me creatively, which is to have an art journal and actually journal in it. My plan is to write, and make art, in the journal at least 2 times a month. I'm afraid if I make my goal too ambitious I'll rebel (I can be my own worst enemy) and I don't want this to become a chore.  I have a few many  blank books hanging around, but I decided to use the Strathmore Mixed Media Journal. The size I chose is the 9' x 12" so I would have lots of room to get messy.

LOVE these inks!!

I wanted to jazz up the cover and I knew I wanted to stamp on it - so I dragged out ALL my Adirondack Inks from Ranger (the first inks I fell in love with ages ago) and all my word stamps. I have been collecting word stamps for years and what a perfect way to cover a journal? Also, I had to use my art stamps, another collection, since I wouldn't only be writing in my journal, I'd be making art as well. Since the cover was a glossy brown I thought I'd cover it with gesso and then stamp away.  Nope.  Well, I suppose I could have, but I didn't like the look of the ink on the gesso - it sorta just sucked the ink in and the vibrancy was gone.  So, plan two - I cut a piece of white cardstock to fit over the cover and stamped on that.  I also stippled some color around in some of the emptier spots.

Even the stippling smudged

When I finally got the cover done (and it took me a few nights as I would work on it and then leave it. I like the perspective I get on my work after I leave it for a while) I wanted to protect the cover it so it wouldn't be susceptible to my mess and tea spills.  I first tried Glue 'n Seal from Ranger but it smeared the Adirondack ink horribly (thank goodness I learned my lesson long ago to test things out before you go full tilt).  So after that dried, I broke out good old Modge Podge, in matte.  That, too smeared some colors of the ink, but I actually think it looks cool and since I can still read the words, the smearing is fine. Adds character. Funny that only certain colors of the Adirondack inks bled.

Smudged but in a cool way.

The part of this entire process that took the longest for me was deciding on what letters I wanted to use for the "My Journal" title.  I have tons of alphabet stickers and an entire drawer full of alphabet stamps sets - I went back and forth for days, but finally settled on the very first alphabet I ever bought and a continued favorite by Stampers Anonymous.  I went to their website, but it looks like it has been discontinued.  In case you want to see if you can find one, this is what it looks like:

It didn't come in this case, and it has no real name, but I use this set more than any other. I had so much fun stamping like the "old" says - I forgot how much fun just getting down to basics can be. Scroll down for one more look at the finished journal if you'd like.



So now I am all ready to start my New Beginnings with my "new" journal - how about you? You still have loads of time to enter at Anything But a Card.  Come and show us what New Beginnings means to you. 

Thanks for stopping by ~ Christi.

PS: If you comment on a post and would like me to take a look at your blog, please note your blog address in the comment. When I click on your picture it only brings me to your Google plus page, not your blog. 

Shiny!

I would like to enter my brand new Journal into the following challenges:

Artist Trading Post - New Beginnings
djkardkreations - NBUS challenge #3 - Anything Goes
Crafty Catz - #262, New Beginnings
Country View Challenges - Use Something New to You
Mixed Media Monthly Challenge - #8 New to You

Autumn Candle for Anything But a Card

For my “Anything Goes” Project at Anything But a Card I decided to make my mother a centerpiece for her table.  Since I have five cats decorating here is a challenge so I often give my projects to my mom.  Besides, she is my #1 fan.  I started with a plain pillar candle that I bought years ago (I have boxes and boxes of candles – I just love them so much!) and spruced it up a bit for the fall season.  Here is my Fall Candle for challenge #41:

 

What I Used to Make my Project:

Sequin Leaves (gold, red, orange)

Pillar Candle

Heat Gun

Ribbon (Dollar Store)

Mini Wooden Sign Embellishment

Leaves to adorn the top of the ribbon (Dollar Store)

Straight Pin, preferably with colored top

 

The sequins

I wanted to make something that my mom could actually use; in this case actually light.  So I had a theory about the sequins and I needed to see if it would work. I took my heat gun (now, I have a Weller Heat gun, it is actually used for paint stripping - I think - so it is HOT. However, please use caution regardless of what heat gun you use) and I heated a spot on the candle and stuck a sequin leaf in the soft wax.  Some of sequins held on the first try, some didn’t.  If a leaf fell off, I just reheated the spot and stuck it back on (it helped that my candle had sort of a rustic look to it) and then I heated the spot a bit more to “set” the leaf.   I found out that sequins melt really quickly, so if you need to set your sequins, you must reheat them with just a quick burst of heat. I let the candle sit for a few hours and then reattached the leaves that fell off when I picked it up. 

 

Close up of the cute sign

Then I cut a length of ribbon that matched the autumn theme of the candle.  I simply tied it in a bow – my ribbon was wired so the bow didn’t fall exactly like I wanted it to, but, it looked pretty.  Then I notched the ribbon ends and glued the wooden plaque onto the ribbon, not the candle. 

Lastly I used a straight pin with a red top to pin the three silk like leaves to the top of the ribbon. Being able to remove the large silk leaves was very important, since if they stayed on I am sure they would of been a fire hazard.  Everything

else can stay on the candle while it is being used as long as it isn't left unattended.  The ribbon is tied on, not glued on and the wooden plaque is glued to the ribbon.  As the candle melts the sequins should just fall with the melted wax. Besides, who knows how many of them will be left by the time I give it to her (just kidding - I hope!) 

There you have it! Honestly the entire project took me about an hour, and the longest part was getting the sequins to stick, as they would initially stick, and once the wax was cooled, they'd fly off. But they are fine if you don’t touch them (hehehehe).  In spite of the minor sequin trouble, I think this candle came out lovely! And I am proud to say I didn't buy a thing for this project; everything came from my stash (not going to say how I celebrated as it may incriminate me). There is still plenty of time to get your muse going and to make a project for Anything But a Card – as it says on the blog, “Whatever strikes your cre8tive fancy” (but, no cards!).  Fondly, Christi

I am entering my candle in the following challenges:
Allsorts - Anything But a Card
Really Reasonable Ribbon - #106, Winter Holiday & Ribbon
Quick Quotes Challenge - #45, Gratitude
Not Just Cards Challenge - #6, Anything Goes

Spooky Skeleton Shadow Box ~ Autumn Magic with Anything But a Card

The current challenge over at Anything But a Card is a seasonal one; you can choose between "Autumn Magic" and "Spring Wonder".  Since fall is my very favorite time of year, with my very favorite holiday smack in the middle of the season, I chose to work with "Autumn Magic".  What is more magical than Halloween?  How about a skeleton in a cemetery? OK, so not exactly magical, but I had so much fun making my Skeleton Cemetery Shadow Box that I had to share it!

The cool stand with the skeleton heads isn't part of the box - but it's awesome isn't it?

What I used to Make this Project:
Tim Holtz Configurations Box - 5 3/4 x 5 3/4, TH92883
Big Shot machine
Tim Holtz Mover & Shakers Die, Vintage Cabinet Card Mini, 657206
Scraps of Grey (various shades) & White cardstock
Scrap of Chipboard
Skeleton (Dollar Store)
Wendy Vecchi Archival Ink in Potting Soil
Somerset Studio paper "Dark Woods"
Distress Paint in Gatherd Twigs
Tim Holtz Mover & Shakers Die, Mini Bat & Skull Set, 657458
Pumpkins (I got mine from Alpha Stamps)
2 Small Red Gems
Dresden "Arch" - black
Embellishments
Crafters Pick The Ultimate Glue

Almost looks like wood

First, take all the little boxes out of the configuration box and set aside. You won't be needing them now but won't they make cute Holiday Ornaments?  Then paint your box with Distress Paint in Gathered Twigs, I just used the sponge dauber on the bottle and rubbed it all over the box, both inside and out.  I took the Somerset Studio paper and cut  it to size so it would fit in the box, covering the back wall and the sides.    

The Mini Cab Card Die

I discovered the tombstones by messing about with the Mini Vintage Cabinet Card die.  I noticed if you trim down the sides of the die cut you can make some pretty cool tombstones.  So that is what I did.  I actually made 3 to use, but I ended up using only 2.  The white stone was to be my focal point because the skeleton fit nicely behind it.  I made the tombstone names in Word and printed them on cardstock and trimmed them to size, as well as the

other shade of grey I used behind the names (in case you can't read them, the white tombstone says  "Eve L. Minion" and the grey reads "Reid N. Weep").  I also drew some cracks into the grey tombstone using a Micron Pen and aged the white one using Wendy Vecchi's Potting Soil ink (truthfully, I wanted the white one to stay white, but I got a bit of the Gathered Twigs paint on it after it was all ready to go and there was no way I was making another one. Don't tell anyone).

Next I fixed the tombstones so they'd be sturdy enough not to bend.  I had already cut them out of cardstock, and I considered re-cutting them out of chipboard, but then I decided to make chipboard "brackets" to glue on the back of them that would be fine.  At the bottom of each tombstone I bent a small lip and attached the bent strip of chipboard to the back of the stone so the

bottom was a longer lip (and stronger) part of the chipboard was available to glue to the scene (picture a long L made of chipboard). Shockingly, it worked like a charm! No one was going to be poking or touching the stones, so they didn't need to be seriously anchored down.  Next was attaching the skeleton to the white tombstone.

 Since the skeleton was too tall, I snapped his legs off and daubed him with the Gathered Twigs paint to age him a bit more. I really wanted to get some dirt and roll him in that but I wasn't about to go out in the freezing cold yard and try to dig some up - plus it was late (after midnight) and we have a sensor light in the back of the house.  So I settled for some Gathered Twigs paint and dried him with my heat gun (the paint didn't really dry on the plastic, so be careful! You don't want a situation like I had above).  I also glued some little red gems in his eyes, reminiscent of the skeleton I used here.  I draped him behind the tombstone and set him up to dry overnight.

I already had the bat cut out - it was cut out of chipboard and painted black with acrylic paint.  The pumpkins, black cat, cameo and leaves are from my stash. I do have to tell you about these leaves. I am not sure where I bought them, but they were made for people who make those elaborate railroad displays and this bag has lasted me many, many seasons.  The Dresden arch came from a sheet I had gotten many, many moons ago.  I was tempted to hang a Happy Halloween" banner of some sort on the bottom of the box, but, after consideration (and the fact that somebody wants to display it all year long in his room) I decided to leave it off.

 

And another look.  Hope you enjoyed the tutorial!

So there we go - my first ever Configurations box! I have been pinning them and drooling over how amazingly creative people have been using them, but I haven't had the occasion to actually use one (and I have a few more in the stash).  I had a blast making it and the weight is so light compared to wood.  And, as I said, those little divider boxes that I didn't use will make cute ornaments, in fact, the top and the acrylic cover will make a nice frame. . .hmmm.  Better go write this down!   There is still time to enter the "Autumn Magic/Spring Wonder" challenge at Anything But a Card - even if you don't want to enter, pop over and check out the amazing creations my teamies have made.  We recently had a DT call and now we have so many creative people on board that you will want to check the blog at least once a week - trust me! Have a great day and thank you so much for stopping by.  If not for you. my followers, I would have no reason to do this.  Blessings to you & yours, Christi 

I am happily entering my Spooky Skeleton Shadow Box in the following challenges:
Delicious Darkness - #3 (October Challenge), Anything Goes, optional Halloween Twist
Buckwells Crafty Challenge - #1 (October Challenge), Anything Goes 
Altered Eclectics - (October Challenge), Anything Goes

Crafting at the Weekend - #6, (October Challenge), Anything Goes
Stuck on U Sketches - Die Cut Challenge, Anything Autumn
Open Minded Crafting Fun - #21, Pumpkins/Jack 'O Lanterns
Punk You Girl - (October Challenge), Anything Goes with an optional Halloween Twist


On another note, we are looking for some help over at Challenges for Days - it's really simple to help us keep the lists updated, you only need about an hour a week.  Why not help others (and yourself) find some awesome challenges to enter? If you think you can help us out, please drop an email to our wonderful founder, Zoe (zoechaos@icloud.com).  Even if you can't help right now, please take a look at all the exciting challenges we have listed and don't forget to bookmark us - we update the list daily and we are always adding new challenges!