52 Week Mini Art Card / Tag Challenge 2024 - Week 5

The challenge for 2024 is weekly.  I will provide you with a prompt/theme each Sunday morning through out the year.  The challenge is very relaxed.  You can do as much or as little as you like.  You can create cards, tags, Artist Trading Cards (ATC's) or index cards, the choice is yours. You just go with what ever is in your head at the time.  You can stamp, get inky, use patterned papers, texture, embellish it is all down to you.

There is a dedicated private Facebook Group, with a lovely bunch of people who are already sharing their makes from previous challenges.  You can find the group by clicking this link.  I'd love you to join in.

The Crafting Niche 52 Week Mini Art Card/Tag Challenge 2024:

The prompt for Week 5 is "Paint Play"

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This is my Week 5 tag.  There are so many different ways paint can be used, so I enjoyed having the freedom to "see what happens" making this tag.  It's unusual for me as my tags tend to be more structured but I went a little out of my comfort zone making this one.

I used a plain white tag and three shades (a light and medium green and a turquoise) of Cosmic Shimmer Iridescent Shimmering Water Colour Paints.  I used them with a little water and allowed the paint to run down the tag.  I used a Tim Holtz hand held blowy tool (sorry I don't know what the correct term for it is, but I'm sure you'll know what I'm talking about) to blow the paint down and across the tag.  After each colour, I used the heat gun to dry the paint before I used more.

I then used gold and white paint to create fine splatters across the surface using a fan shaped paint brush and tapping the paint off the brush on to the tag.

Once dry, I mounted the tag on to a teal coloured card and then stamped the sentiment, which is part of the Lavinia Stamps set called "Heartfelt Verse" stamped in Versafine Clair "Twilight Ink".

Here's a photo of the first five tags of the challenge that I have made.  All very different in theme and techniques.

52 Week Mini Art Card / Tag Challenge 2024 - Week 4

The challenge for 2024 is weekly.  I will provide you with a prompt/theme each Sunday morning through out the year.  The challenge is very relaxed.  You can do as much or as little as you like.  You can create cards, tags, Artist Trading Cards (ATC's) or index cards, the choice is yours. You just go with what ever is in your head at the time.  You can stamp, get inky, use patterned papers, texture, embellish it is all down to you.

There is a dedicated private Facebook Group, with a lovely bunch of people who are already sharing their makes from previous challenges.  You can find the group by clicking this link.  I'd love you to join in.

The Crafting Niche 52 Week Mini Art Card/Tag Challenge 2024:

The prompt for Week 4 is "Print"

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This is the tag that I have made for the Week 4.

I started with a white tag that I swooshed through "Tea Dye" Distress ink to give a mottled background.

I tore up a page of an old book that had text and balance sheets on it, tearing the pages into small sections then sticking, using a wet glue on to the tag. 

I then used the Funky Fossil Designs "Funky Circle" stencil with Ranger Distress Matte Texture Paste.  I used my heat gun to accelerate the drying.

I then lightly spritzed the Dylusions "Lemon Zest" ink spray over the tag, again using the heat gun to dry it.

I used the Funky Fossil "Alpha Numeric" stencil with "Leaf Green" Archival Ink in the non raised areas of the tag. 

Next I decided that the "Funky Circle" textured area wasn't standing out enough, so I went around each section with a black fine liner pen, then added dots of black Ranger "Enamel Accents" to highlight the circles.

I decided the tag needed something vertical.  I used the Funky Fossil "Vintage Script" stamp with Versafine Clair "Shady Lane" green ink.  I inked the edges of the tag in the same ink while it was out.

I got out my Sizzix "Big Shot" die cutting machine and cut the Funky Fossil "Zen Mandala" in white card and stuck it into position using wet glue.

Finally, mounting the tag on to black card, I added the finishing touches by using a Tim Holtz Idea-ology "Small Talk" sticker and added white dots of Ranger "Enamel Accents".

Funky Fossil Designs "Indian Mandala" Card

A quick card, using the Funky Fossil Designs "Indian Mandala Stencil" with a metalic copper/gold coloured paint, applied through the stencil with a finger dabber.  It flooded a little bit in one area, which lost some of the stencil pattern, so I decided that was where I was going to put the sentiment.

I used a piece of kraft card and a sentiment from the Simon Says Stamp set called "Tiny Words - Birthdays", stamped in Wow! Clear embossing ink and then coated with Wow! Earthtone Blueberry Embossing Powder and then heat set.  

I then mounted the mandala on to a piece of kraft card and then on to a white card blank. I mounted the sentiment on to a piece of the dark blue card and used black foam pads to elevate the sentiment over the problem area of the stencil.

Tim Holtz / Stampers Anonymous "Time Travelers CMS157" Tag

I am still not 100% right after my pneumonia, which has meant I've not really been in the right frame of mind for crafting.  

Today, the weather is so bad, with raid hurtling against the window, crafting seemed to be the natural thing to turn to. It was so lovely to spend a little time at my craft desk, but I am totally exhausted now, so will likely take a nap later.  Anyway, the result of my little crafting session is the grungy looking tag.

To make this tag, I used some patterned paper by Funky Fossil Designs, from their "Textures" pad for the background.

I inked the edges in Versafine Clair "Acorn" brown ink.

I then added some darker blue areas using Versafine Clair "Blue Belle" ink, applied with a finger dabber.

Over the top of that using a Brilliance "gold" coloured ink, I stamped the shapes using the Funky Fossil Designs stamp set called "Abstractions".

Using Versafine Clair "Nocturne" black ink, I stamped the gentleman, which is part of a Tim Holtz / Stampers Anonymous stamp set called "Time Travelers CMS157".  I then stamped the image again on a piece of white card.

Using the image on the white card, I painted areas using Distress Oxide Inks, using "Victorian Velvet "for the skin, "Tumbled Glass" for the eyes and the shirt and "Gathered Twigs" for the jacket and waistcoat.  I fussy cut the image and inked the edges using Versafine Clair "Nocturne" black ink, then using wet glue, stuck the image on to the tag over the stamped image.

I dug out my Cosmic Shimmer "Summer Meadow" gilding flakes and added some to the surface of the tag.

I used two Tim Holtz / Stampers Anonymous Idea-ology sets for the word stickers, using the "Small Talk" and "Chit Chat" sets.

Finally, I mounted the tag on to dark blue card, drawing round the edge with a gold gel pen.  I also drew around the word stickers using the same pen too.

Lavinia Stamps Birch and Elm River Walk Card

 

This evening I had a play with some of the Lavinia Stamps trees making this card.

I started by stamping the Lavinia Stamps "Birch",  "Elm" and one of the "Small Trees", stamped in "Acorn Brown" Versafine Clair ink. I used a white gel pen on part of the tree trunks and a black fine liner on the other side of the tree trunks.

I used three Q-tips (one for each colour) to create the leave canopy using Versafine Clair "Verdant", "Shady Lane" and "Green Oasis".

Once the ink was dry, I gave the card a wash of Distress Oxides, using Tumbled Glass, Weathered Wood and Bundled Sage.  I then built up the colours using Peeled Paint, Rustic Wilderness, Mowed Lawn and Faded Jeans Distress Oxide inks.

I drew on the fence mid way on the card then coloured it with a brown Derwent Inktense Pencil,

I used the Lavinia "Foliage Set" of stamps with three shades of Versafine Clair inks (Verdant, Shady Lane and Green Oasis).  I added dots of different colours of Posca Pen to give the impression of flowers

I added depth to areas colouring in using a 2B pencil.

Personal Impressions Boy's Favourite Things" Robot Birthday Card

Our Grand Son will be eight years old in February, this is the card I have made for him.  He's a very young eight as he has Downs, so I feel he will like the robot on this card.

I stamped the robot figure and balloon in Versafine Clair "Morning Mist" grey ink and then stamped them again on post-it notes, fussy cut the image and used them as a mask.

With the masks in position, I used a Creative Expressions rubber cling stamp with Versafine Clair "Warm Breeze" ink, across the surface of the card.

I then used two shades of Ranger Archival Inks, Chrome Yellow and Orange Blossom through a Tim Holtz / Stampers Anonymous "Strings THS004" stencil.

I then used one of the stamps in the Funky Fossil Designs stamp set called "Abstractions", stamped in Versafine Clair "Blue Belle" mid blue ink for the dashes area and the trio of circles.  Using a blue and orange Posca Pens for the dots, adding extra colour.

I used an orange and red Posca Pens to colour the balloon.  Using wet glue to add a die cut numer eight, stamping a "Happy Birthday" sentiment using Versafine Clair below the die cut.

I decided the robot didn't stand out enough with my original plan, so altered it by stamping the robot on to red card and fussy cutting it.  I used wet glue to stick the head and limbs, using foam pads for the torso to make it stand out more.  

I stamped the robot torso on to a piece of white card, colouring it with a metalic gold gel pen, fussy cutting the rectangle and inking the edges in Versafine Clair "Nocturne" black ink.  I used wet glue to stick it on top of the elevated chest area of the robot.

Finally, I added touches of white and gold gel pen to areas of the card, before mounting the card on to blue and then orange paper and then on to a white card blank.

Penny Black "Doggone Sweet 40-391" Birthday Card

I keep a list of cards I need to make, and although this isn't needed until mid February, I like to try and keep on top of my list, so that I don't have to make something in a hurry, or worse still have to buy a card.

I thought the dog on this stamp was a double of the recipeints dog, so I felt duty bound to use it. The stamp in question is a rubber cling stamp by Penny Black called "Doggone Sweet 40-391", which I stamped in Versafine Clair "Morning Mist" grey ink.  I used thes same ink to stamp the Simon Says Stamp sentiment, which is part of their "Tiny Words - Birthday" stamp set.

I painted the stamped image using Distress Oxide Inks.  The colours that I used are:  Spun Sugar, Antique Linen, Twisted Citron, Mermaid Lagoon and Weathered Wood for the shadowing/grounding.