Time Project for River of Creativity's June Theme

Hi all!! I am here presenting my design team project for River of Creativity's June Challenge where the theme is Time; I'd advise you to get a nice drink and relax because this is picture heavy and there are a lot of great things to see! Now, I could have done the whole clock thing, or even a birthday thing {after all, when does time bite you in the butt the worst?} but I really wanted to get messy and have fun.  I am a night creature; some people get their second wind at a nice normal time, say 5ish, or even 7ish but me? Nope.  If I am not in bed by 9pm, my second wind comes around at 10 pm.  In fact, I am typing this post at 12:30 a.m.  So, for my June piece I've turned Time into Nighttime.  Clever if I do say so myself.  My mom can tell you stories of a young me fighting my bedtime {no matter when it was} as early as 3 years old when I told my mother I was not yawning because I was tired, I was yawning because my brain needed more air.  I was such a joy, but I digress.  My hope for this project was that you'd see something new each time you looked at the panel; let me know what you think! 

Before you start I wanted to let you know you can click on the photos to make them bigger; I made collages out of what I feel are the important details so you wouldn't have 10 or so pictures to look through.  If there is any problem with getting the pictures bigger, please let me know!

 

I have been making this panel for the last few months as it has paper clay pieces and I needed to get molds and the actual clay to get the forms I wanted.  I used DAS Paper Clay which is available at any local craft store or online and made the moon and the stars.  I used a panel that is 9" x 12" from Artists Loft, but any panel or canvas would do. I also accumulated a bunch of molds from Amazon because they
have such a selection, and you know that Prime shipping is addicting!  Some of the molds I got were too small, some just didn't fit the look I wanted, and I ended up using a simple Moon and Stars mold to make the paper clay pieces.  I also got some keys, gears and clock metal bits and now I have enough to make a gazillion projects. Other supplies I used included Stickles in Crystal, Tim Holtz Foundry Wax {all the colors, I even layered them}, Picket Fence Gem Mixes, no name gems from my sash,

 Cosmic Shimmer Glitter Jewels in Midnight Snow, Krylon Leafing Pen in Silver, Golden Gel Medium in soft gloss, Lumiere Paint in Silver as well as beads and the like.  I think the most important part is the background and I first painted my panel with Golden Black Acrylic Paint and once that was dry I used some Distress Oxide Ink Pads {I just smooshed them onto the panel} and Sprays in various blue and purple hues, sprayed water here and there, dried with my heat gun, added more ink, more water and so on.  The shimmer was created by using Distress Mica Spray in Crooked Broomstick {it was a Halloween release from Ranger, but you can still find it online} and any Mica Spray would work. 

I fiddled with the background until I liked it and then set it to dry for actually a few days.  Once it was dry, I had painted, inked and waxed the items I wanted to and set about the placement as well as the swoosh of clear glass beads {the tiny kind with no holes} glitter and gem placement.  I wasn't concerned with placing too many gems as I really wanted this to sparkle being the night sky.  I could probably have added many more gems, but I was struggling with glue sticking to the paint and ink on the background.  I initially used hot glue, but after Sylvester knocked it off my desk and most of the gears and metal came off, I switched to E6000.  I'm not a huge fan of either glue but the E6000 worked much better than the hot glue.  Now I know and you know, too, so pry the top off your E6000 if you are gluing onto paints and/or inks.  I've linked to most of the items that were easily found online, and it there is something you want the specifics on please use the email option on the right side; I'll happily supply you with the actual links to the items.  

 

Another Look at the Entire Panel

 I am happy with my Nighttime art, and I had SO much fun making it.  It's been a long time since I have made such a piece, running with abandon with colors and paints and inks and goodies.  But that is what the River of Creativity challenges are all about! We would love for you to join us, either using Anything Goes or the theme of Time, for our June challenge; the only thing we won't accept is cards. So, get your inks, paints, clay and molds out and have some fun! Hope to see you soon! Christi

 I am entering my piece into the following challenges:
We Love to Create - Anything Goes
Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
Creative Artiste, #83 - Anything Mixed Media Goes
Mixed Media Lovers, #14 - Anything Mixed Media Goes
Country View Challenge, June Challenge - Seeing Stars

Thanks!!

Home Sweet Home Recycled Wall Hanging

 I had been perusing Pinterest to find something to do with all these friggin' buttons I had left over from when it was a big thing to put buttons on your cards {something I never really got into, but HAD to have all the stuff in case the moment grabbed me and I felt the urge to make hundreds of cards with buttons on them} and I found all these Christmas wall hangings with button trees on them So I actually made the Christmas wall hanging during the season this past year and decided I needed to make one that could be used all year long.  I came up with the Home Sweet Home wall hanging that I am using for this month's recycle challenge at River of Creativity {remember we are an Anything But a Card challenge!!}:

I started with an 8" x 10" wooden shadow box frame {no covering on this frame} that I had painted with white gesso and rubbed some gesso on the actual frame part to soften the darkness of the wood.  I took some Scrabble tiles I had {I have SO many of these tiles I am sure I could cover an entire wall

Making the Heart

with them} and spelled out Home Sweet Home to make sure the sentient would fit.  Then I cut out the largest heart using Tutti Nesting Stitched Hearts, #TUTTI-216, and covered it with the buttons.  I could NOT get the shape of a heart to work when trying to do it by hand, so I used the die cut as a template.  Since the background of the shadow box is white it is really difficult to see the white paper heart beneath the buttons.  Once I had finished the heart and glued it to the center of the shadow box, I glued down the Scrabble tiles.  I am really pleased how this came out! I think I could almost actually sell them if I could find a cheap source for the shadow frames; I have sourced a few and they are just too pricey right now - at least if I wanted to make a marginal profit and I can't see having to spend more money to use up the stash I already have.  But, I do have a project I made for my sister for Christmas that I was SURE I posted but can find no record of it, so more button projects on the way!

Getting back to the challenge on River of Creativity, this months theme is RECYCLE so if you'd like to use the theme make sure your entry has some sort of recycle, or upcycle in it.  We can't wait to see all the gorgeous entries! I am personally so pleased at how you all have embraced the changes we made to this challenge and it's a testament to how people are still creating other things besides cards! Thanks SO much and I hope to see you at the challenge ~ Fondly, Christi

I am entering my Home Sweet Home Wall Hanging in the following challenges:
Mix it Up Challenge, #59 - Anything 3D Goes
Creative Artiste Mixed Media Challenge, #82 - Anything Mixed Media Goes
A Perfect Time to Craft, #5 - Anything Goes
Mixed Media Lovers, #13 - Anything Goes
The Creative Crafters, #51 - Anything Goes
We Love to Create, #5 - Anything Goes

Spring ATCs at the River of Creativity

I have done it AGAIN - this post is too early - the challenge doesn't start until tomorrow {4/5/22}!! So take the rest of today & create something for us :) I apologize for the confusion!!

Hello! Time for another challenge at River of Creativity! For challenge #12, our theme is spring as well as anything goes but a card - that's right, put away your card blanks and get inky with us!  I had planned on making something completely different than these Artist Trading Cards but nothing seemed to coalesce, so I listened to the universe and made a set of 6 ATCs instead of struggling to create something that just wasn't working! I've had a small box of scraps that I have amassed over the years {small die cuts, pieces of Dresden, punched patterns, stickers, scraps of paper, etc} and I decided to use what I had in the box to make set. I'd had the box for so long I really needed to go through all the things I had saved and figure out if I was truly ever going to use the pieces or not; so I went through the box, set aside what I really wanted to use and threw the rest away so a lot of what you see on these is from that scrap box and is almost vintage {grin - ok not really, but I have had it for a long time!}.  Enjoy!

 

I used a bunch of assorted products on these little guys, and I stuffed them full of bling! I used gems and sequin mixes from Picket Fence Studios, Dresden scraps from Alpha Stamps and many other sources, washi tape (and matching die) from Pinkfresh Studios as well from my stash, a ton of Dream Drops {I used  Indigo Eclipse, Cloud 9 and Love Potion} from Tonic Studios and many other bits and pieces, including stickers and more that are from my huge stash.  The background paper for these ATCs is from ModaScrap from the Fly and Scrap Collection, 6" x 6" paper {I could not find it on the ModaScrap site, but I did do a search and it is available}. I also used a bunch of small alphabet stickers and tiles, most from companies that aren't in business anymore, sadly.  All this stuff I've saved over the years

needs to be used so I can get new stuff! I had so much fun making these ATC's; I am finding myself using lots of bling and glitz in my work lately and I just went nuts with these. Knowing that if I really didn't like how something came out, I could just throw the paper away {I have so many blanks that I have amassed over the years, I could probably make an ATC a day for the next year!} and begin again with no harm.  Something about these little canvases is so freeing!

I was showing these to my roommate and explaining how "back in the

day" we'd make a bunch of ATCs, using the same design and bring them to stamp conventions and trade.  I think I still have a notebook full of traded ATCs. Do you remember those good old days? Hopefully, soon, we will be able to attend stamp conventions again - I miss the energy and all the cool products! Thanks for dropping in and get out your creative muse and create anything but a card and join us at the River of Creativity, optional theme of Spring - hope to see you there :) Christi

PS: To see the smaller pictures bigger, just click on them. If that doesn't work please let me know ~ Thanks!

I am entering my Spring ATCs in the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Easter/Spring
Country View Challenges - Spring is Coming
We Love 2 Create - Anything Goes
Four Seasons Challenge - Spring Challenge
The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers, #207 - A is for ATC 

Squares at River of Creativity March 2022

 Hi everyone!! I am so excited that River of Creativity is back with a revamp! We have a few changes that we have made to the challenge; first, we are now ANYTHING BUT A CARD - yup, no more cards allowed! We really want to see you stretch yourself and work outside the box; well except for this challenge because our theme is SQUARES and all my squares happen to be boxes.  I suggested it when we were all discussing what we should start with and, surprisingly, we have decided to use it as our first challenge. My very first thought was to make a menagerie of these adorable little critters that Lawn Fawn puts out. Let's get to it, shall we?

As you can see in the picture I've made a fox {he's the orange guy standing up}, a white bunny, a green frog, a bumble bee, a gray bat, a raccoon and 2 cats.  Each one of these begins with the Tiny Gift Box
as the body of the critter, and then the Add-On set brings the critter alive with all the accessories to make that particular animal. One of the best features of this Tiny Gift Box is how easy it is to put together; the creases are perfect coming out of the die cut machine, no need to go over them with a bone folder or anything, 2 strips of double sided tape and the box is done!  And these are tiny, the assembled box is 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" x 1 1/8"; Kelly, the box creator {and owner of Lawn Fawn}, made this to be part of an advent calendar but the ideas kept coming and so as of now there are a total of fourteen cute little animal Add-Ons to decorate the Tiny Gift Box!  OK, enough about that let's check out my creations! Grab a cuppa and let's go!

I did take the liberty of giving a few of these little lovelies googly eyes and they just make me happy.  I got an assortment of eyes from Amazon for cheap - I think they range from 3mm to 8 or 9mm and I doubt I will ever use them up, but the price was right and now I have googly eyes for every occasion.

First up is the frog; he would of looked a bit different if I had waited for Lawn Fawn to send me the die I lost! While cutting the dies apart the freckles {some of you might call them warts} went flying somewhere in my craft room and I have learned if I don't find it right away, it's probably gone.  I proceeded to make him anyway and of course got the freckles die in the mail {cause all you have to do is ask for a replacement die and Lawn Fawn will happily give you one - amazing!} the day before yesterday.  That's OK, he is still a handsome little frog in my opinion.   

Next up are the cats. Every other critter I made is a new die set except the cats
{I know, if you know me that is no surprise!} I had intended to make a black cat, but I forgot how some of the die cuts go together and needed a white die cut so I figured I just make both a black and a calico cat.  I used all the different pieces included in the set except the ball of yarn. I love how you can make the little paws hold onto something!

The racoon and the fox come in the same set, so it's a 2fer!  I made the fox standing up and I can use those standing up legs with many of the other critters, you can mix and match the dies as much as you want since they are all sized the same way! That would be an awesome rainy day activity if you had little ones, or even middle or big ones - a fox with wings, a cat with frog legs and on and on! I made my racoon hold a little red stitched heart that comes with the Add-On set; there is even a tiny bow tie I made to see if I could do it and I did!

Seems there are lots of cards and whatnot with bees on them lately and putting together this sweet bee was so simple! I love the little antenna {antennae?} and the stinger! I considered making the wings from vellum; or even
double up on the wings, one pair could be flat, the other bent to simulate movement or even this one pair could be bent {you'd be surprised at the ideas you come up with!} but I kept this bee traditional.  I really love all the little details on these critters; like the paws on the legs of the fox, the stripes on the cat and way you can put the paws on to hold something.

Spring is the perfect time for this adorable bunny Add-On; imagine a whole bunch done up in pastel colors and using them on Easter for pace tags, or even just around your home holding a few jelly beans!  Every one of these gift boxes are usable - I made sure each one could still be opened so they would all be as functional as they are cute! I also edged the bunny's legs and tail with Pumice Stone Distress Oxide Ink just so it would be a little easier to see his legs. For each one that comes with paws to cut out you can do it either way, have the long side of the paws at the top, closest to the head, or facing the bottom. For example, in the picture below the racoon has his paws with the long side facing down while the bunny has theirs facing up.  It all depends on what YOU want to do, and I think whatever the little guy is holding.  I used some clear tape to hold the pink in his ears, but you could just as easily leave them

open.

Lastly, we have the bat. I gave him some candy corn to hold so he wouldn't be too scary.  This critter has SO many possibilities for him I would have had to make a lot more than one to show them all off but the biggest change you can make to him, I think, are his wings.  I gave him the large, folded wings and the set also has a shorter wing that are more directly out of his body {it will make sense if you check out the link}.  I also used the tuxedo piece included with the set just to class him up a bit. 

All the Boxes Open

I was going to link the You Tube video for each critter but if you go to the link I have posted for each make there is the Introduction Video on that page. They aren't long, maybe 20 minutes and it is fun to watch these boxes come alive :) 

Wow - thank you for reading this far! Now,  the revamped River of Creativity will accept any project as long as it is NOT a card, and I am hoping for next month’s challenge I'll have some time to get messy with something! I have quite a few projects lined up, well, they are made, just need pictures taken, edited, blog post written, edited and then finalized; I need a secretary! Anyway, I hope to see you joining in and showing us some of the other things you made besides cards {but if it is chocolate, I will need to be bribed for my vote to choose you as a Shout Out, message me for details}.  We hope to have a list of upcoming challenges since we know that some projects take longer than others {as soon as we figure them out ourselves!} Thank you SO much for reading all of this and I hope you enjoyed my Square Critters and I hope to see YOUR Square stuff at River of Creativity! Hugs, Christi

I am entering my Square Critters in the following challenges:
Craft Rocket, #90 - Use an Animal (Or 8)
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Use a Die Cut
The Sisterhood of Crafting - Favorite Pet (Cats - there are 2 of them in there)
Creative Creases - Anything Goes w/ a Fun Fold (hope these qualify, they were fun!)
Critter Crazy Challenge, #90 - Anything Goes w/ a Critter
C.R.A.F.T. Challenge, #628 - Not A Card