Good things come in threes.....

Hello!

Last week I got 'together' with Alison Bomber from Words and Pictures and Brenda Brown from Bumblebees and Butterflies. Well it was a virtual meet up over Skype! You may recall Brenda and I did this last year to create our 'Skype Journals'. This time it was lovely that Alison joined us too, we had a great few hours crafting together with lots of laughter along the way.

We had decided we were going to work on a large mdf surface in advance but the rest of the session was decided as we went along - each of us selecting a step in the process. Brenda was very organised and documented our steps!! Some of these steps took alot longer than others. It was fun listening to each others thought processes without actually telling the others what we were doing - that had to wait for the BIG REVEAL at the end. 

B - Seal substrate with gesso

N - Use some texture paste any way you wish. 

A  - Dilute one colour of paint and apply in any way you choose. 

B  - Add crackle in anyway you want.

General - We gave ourselves time to start to gather embellishments and give time for the crackle to dry 

N - Add texture to one or more of the embellishments. 

A  - Add colour to one or more of your embellishments. 

B  - Create a panel to use in building layers. 

N - Apply a coat of paint to the background any way you like. 

A - Stamp ...... Alison said 'it's in your hands' but it must be pure stamping over the background. 

B - Dip, drip and dry watery washes. 

N - Edge the base in whatever way you want. 

A - Trial the composition and design and finalise the embellishments. 

B  - Do an Alison and add some words. 

N  - Add a touch of metallic. 

A  - Splatter.

Alison and I both worked on a large MDF tag - Tim Holtz Etcetera or That's Crafty - GiganTAG. This is a large surface - around 15 x 7.5 inches - a little scary when it comes to composition! I kept my embellishments smallish but then struggled with all the empty space - I don't do empty space very well. I confess I added the square / rectangles onto the mesh after we finished as it just seemed too empty!

The background had quite a few layers of texture, crackle, paint and stamping!

I think the Tim Holtz Ornate frame is my favourite part of this project. I layered a few up and gave a thick stippled coat of gesso before adding PaperArtsy Infusions and a bit of water. I blasted it dry and stippled some matt medium over it to help seal the Infusions before adding touches of gold paint.

Brenda's step of adding a panel resulted in me grabbing this old mesh I have and adding some paints!

Once we were all done it was time for the big reveal - so  if you havent already do head over to Alison and Brenda's blogs to see their amazing designs.

Alison

Brenda

Thanks to both Brenda and Alison for a fun day! We are all a little short of crafting time these days so it was wonderful to take this time out.

I would like to join in the latest challenge at Frilly and Funkie - Creatures Great and Small and Anything Goes at Stamps and Stencils.

Nikki xxx

Forever Autumn - That's Crafty Challenge

The new challenge at That's Crafty is Forever Autumn. As always there is a chance to win £20 to spend in the store so do play along! All the details can be found here.

I decided to use one of the That's Crafty Dinky MDF uprights - a crackle background with some of the That's Crafty greyboard leaves. I sponged the leaves with various colours of paint before stamping one of the fabulous new quotes from Alison Bomber / PaperArtsy - The Autumn Edition.

It's one of those busy 24 hours at Addicted to Art! 3 posts in 24 hours. Yesterday I posted my final design for the That's Crafty DT project blog - my Christmas shadow box:

Details here.

and earlier today my tag for Tag Friday at A Vintage Journey - well two actually!

Details here.

Thanks for stopping by.

Nikki

xxx

Hochanda Christmas Shadow Box

Hello. Today is my regular slot over at That's Crafty where I am sharing how I created this Christmas shadow box for the recent Hochanda shows. 

Today is also a farewell as I am sad to leave the That's Crafty team. A new job means I need to cut down my other commitments for a while. 

So I may be a little quieter for while - but hopefully I will strike a good balance and keep my crafting and blogging alive!

Nikki

xxx

Happy Birthday to me....

It's true - but just a coincidence that I am sharing this birthday card today over at That's Crafty!

I am blending Distress Oxides to create an ombre effect....

Nikki

xxx

Fly Away

Today we have a new challenge at That's Crafty and we invite you to Fly Away - a project with birds, butterflies etc. 

I have made this relatively simple 4x4 inch card with a Distress Oxide background with a little sponged paint here and there! 

Nikki

x

Eeek - first Christmas Cards!

Quite early for me but I have made 2 Christmas cards! All the details are over at That's Crafty this morning.

Nikki x

Wildflowers and Oxides

Time for my weekly post over at That's Crafty today and I am playing with Distress Oxides and the wonderful Wildflower stamps and dies (Tim Holtz) - a real go to item these days!
Joining in with Simon Says Stamp challenge this week - Stamp It

Nikki

x

Altered Notebook Version 2 - New Challenge at That's Crafty

Hello again. It's been a busy 24 hours here at Addicted to Art. I am back with Version 2 of my altered notebooks - this time for the new challenge at That's Crafty - Rustica - use rust techniques in your project.

Version 1 can be found here -  a little more feminine.

And talking of Altered Art and challenges the new challenge at A Vintage Journey is Altered Art and I have used Andy Skinner techniques to alter a coffee tin. Again if you missed it earlier today - here is the link.

So back to the Rusty Altered book!

Like the first book I began with a coat of black gesso and sealed the surface with varnish. I painted a piece of card with black chalk paint and embossed before sanding to reveal the white areas. I used washes of paint to colour adding Quinacridone gold at the edge to give that rusty effect.

For my embellishments I die cut Seth Apter's Steering Wheel and cut it in half and adhered to his Pathways die. I sponged paint in yellows/reds/brown and black to create the rusty tones. The cog and corner nuts are That's Crafty greyboard embellishments which were treated in the same way and a little PaperArtsy Green Patina added for some contrast.

For the back and spine I took That's Crafty Alphabet stencil and sponged white chalk paint through. Once dry I added a 'dirty wash' - Paynes Grey and Quinacridone Gold.

I would like to enter Frilly and Funkie latest challenge - A Little Rusty.
Once again thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend.

Nikki

x

Altered Notebook - Version 1

Hello and welcome to my regular Thursday post. Today I have all the details of this project over at That's Crafty.

Do pop back tomorrow for Version 2 - the second one is a little more grungy! 

Nikki

xxx

Autumn Leaves

It is Thursday again which means I am not really here but over at That's Crafty! Today a card with new That's Crafty paint and stencils - and a quote from Alison Bomber's PaperArtsy stamp set.

Nikki xxx

New challenge, new products...!

Hello :)

Today we have a new challenge over on the That's Crafty challenge blog and it's an easy one (at least I think it is!) - CARDS. 

Today That's Crafty also launch more new goodies on Hochanda - some new stencils, stamps, greyboard embellishments, paints and more. Do check out the shows on TV or on the Hochanda website. 

My card features one of the new stencils, this fabulous tree and one of the greyboard pieces - the cute little Robin. I have sponged layers of That's Crafty paint and added Black Soot Distress Ink over a red shimmer paint to get the darker areas. The photo doesn't really show but it is cool effect!

Nikki

xxx

Abstract Journal Page

Just a sneak peak today of my project over at That's Crafty, a journal page featuring texture stamps.

Back tomorrow.

Nikki 

x

Shimmering Upright

Lots of crackle and shimmer on this MDF upright over at That's Crafty today. Be lovely to see you there.

Nikki

x

Anything but cards for That's Crafty!

I am having a busy few days here at Addicted to Art and I am back tomorrow too with something a little different.... 

But for now it's a new challenge at That's Crafty! Do join in these fortnightly challenges for your chance to win a £20 voucher to spend at That's Crafty.

The theme this time is Anything but Cards so I took at 4 inch square white / grey board panel and used one of my new Zinski mini stamps. I did a card recently with the little cat and now it is time for the dog! I followed a very similar process and you can see how I made it here.

See you tomorrow!

Nikki

xxx

More Oxide play!

Hi everyone. Playing with distress oxides today over at That's Crafty for my regular weekly post.

Nikki

xxx

Grungy Wall Hanging

All Things Grunge is the new challenge today at That's Crafty!

Do play along for your chance to win £20 to spend in the shop.

I decided to share a design I did for Mixed Media Magazine a few months back.  I used the That's Crafty MDF Rectangle Hanger Kit.

Here are steps I took, many of which are based on Andy Skinner techniques:

Base

1. Painted with burnt umber

2. Stippled Paynes Grey, Cobalt orange, cadmium red and quincridone gold

Blue Panels

1. I added texture paste through That's Crafty bubble stencil

2. Covered in silver paint

3. Added black antiquing cream, wiped and sealed

4. Added a wash of Cobalt Teal Hue and sprinkled salt. Wiped salt away once dry.

5. Added Quin Gold to the edges 

Hearts

1. Coated in gesso

2. Crackle texture paste through stencil

3. Added washes of quin gold and raw umber

4. A little antiquing cream and treasure gold to finish

Top

1. I started as the Base (above)

2. Added Vaseline to the edges to protect

3. Brushed white gesso over the surface

4. Once dry added washes of raw umber / quin gold and added salt. 

5. Finally I stamped the words and wiped away the Vaseline revealing the darker edges.

Nikki

xx

Altered MDF Clock

Welcome to my Thursday post for That's Crafty. For all the details on this altered MDF clock do head over to the That's Crafty blog.

Nikki 

xxx

Trees and Flowers

It's Thursday which means I am not really here but over at That's Crafty today. More designs using the wonderful stamps from Alison Bomber! Be good to see you there.

Nikki

x

Time for more Shimmer

Hello - I am over at That's Crafty today with another project featuring the new greyboard embellishments and Shimmer Paints.

Nikki

xxx

Shimmering Moments

Another creation today using the fabulous new That's Crafty Shimmer paints and greyboard embellishments. More details today over on the That's Crafty blog.

Nikki

xxx