Sammy Jean

Morning all,

It's August! And a new month means a new challenge over at Altered Eclectics!

For my DT project this month, I had a play with an MDF tag, and went for a steampunk/industrial look.


I started off with some embossed foil tape, which I aged with distress paints, then embellished and added Finnabair's waxes before finishing with a TH sentiment.
The embellishments are a combination of  Snipart, Mitform, random metal and die-cut gears and an MDF ATCoin from Fernli Designs.

Now it's over to you. Do come and play with us over at Altered Eclectics, where anything altered art/mixed media goes!

Have a fantabulous day!

Sammy-x

Morning all,

It has been summer for just a little over a week in the northern hemisphere, and we actually got a little sun in Leeds for about a day and a half. This may not seem like a big deal to many people, but in Leeds that's something of a minor miracle, lol.
but it's raining again now, and likely to be overcast all week again, so I guess it was fun while it lasted!

Now I had actually planned to make something summer themed for my dt inspiration for Altered Eclectics this month, but guess what..? I was too busy actually enjoying the sun!

So I'm afraid my offering is more spring than summer themed, but hey, maybe next month...

I used a cloth canvas I got in a Craft Box a while ago, and loved the look of. Unfortunately, though they look fab, they're not so great to work with, as the material gives far more than regular canvas or burlap panels do, and it's harder to get things to adhere. But where there's a will, and all that...


For the base, I used a page from The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady, layered on some magenta coloured tissue paper. for the focal image I used an image out of the same book and framed it, then covered it in crackle accents (it was originally going to be crazing distress collage medium, but when I opened the tub it was rock solid :(  )
I added die-cuts, flowers, a resin bird in a nest and a sentiment, then finished off by splattering the whole thing with Distress Inks.

All in all, it was rather a lot of fun...

And that was me. Don't forget to go check out the blog, as my fellow teamies have some fab inspiration for you too!

Have a fantabulous day!

Sammy-x

Hello all,

Apologies for the late post today, something went wrong with my scheduling! Oops...

It's time for a new challenge over at Altered Eclectics, and as I've been playing with ATCoins recently, I wanted somewhere to store them.

So I waited patiently for my son to polish off a tube of Pringles (which didn't take very long at all!), and set about turning it into something pretty I wouldn't mind having on display, as I craft in the living room, and pretty much everything is on display there at least for a little while...

And this is how it turned out:


And yes, I did use just about en entire roll of twine on it! But I love how it turned out.

I also made a few more coins, these ones using Art by Marlene supplies.


My plan, rather than trade them, is to write messages on them, and leave them in places for people to find, as part of Flood the streets with Art in November.

And now it's over to you! Come show us your altered art/mixed media work this month, as we'd love to see it!

Have a fantabulous weekend,

Sammy-x

Morning all,

Time for our May challenge over at Altered Eclectics!

I decided to have a play with a wooden box my mum gave me, which once had some kind of cheese inside. I may not be much of a fan of cheese, but I really like these boxes!



The flower in the middle is a Prima one which I won in a tombola in the LotV shop quite a few years ago now. A TH sentiment, Hessian ribbon and some trim to finish it off, and there you have it; one keepsake box, ready to be filled with treasures.

We hope you'll come and take a peek at what the team have prepared for you, and then do come and play along with us this month!

In the meantime, have an awesomesauce day!

Sammy-x

Morning all,

I can't believe it's April already. I'm sure some joker got up in the middle of the night and ripped a heap of pages out of the calendar... It's the only explanation, lol.

But I guess if it really is the first of another month, I'd better be getting on with showing you what I prepared for the Altered Eclectics challenge this month.

I took a Kraft covered notebook, some gorgeous Ciao Bella papers and elements and a super pretty digi stamp from Ching-chou kuik I'd been wanting to play with for aaaaages, and made myself a book journal.


I'm absolutely loving the vintage look, and the rusty grunginess of it. Whether or not I can actually bring myself to write in it is a whole other matter!

Now it's over to you! Please take a peek at what my fellow teamies have prepared for you, and don't forget to share your makes with us this month!

Have a fantabulous day!

Sammy-x

Hello again,

Altered project #2 for today, is my piece for our March challenge over at Altered Eclectics.

Just like my other project, this one really didn't go to plan. I was going to do a set of individual writing-themed Mdf ATCs to go with the box I made. Several frustrated days and many aborted attempts later, I instead ended up with this:


The ATCs are there, but both the theme and the colourscheme have radically changed, and I ended up attaching them all to each other to make a wall decoration instead. And you know what? I kinda love it!
The MDF ATCs are from Fernli Designs, and I had loads of fun with some stencils and my gorgeous new Distress oxide spray inks (which I may or may not have insisted hubby get me for my birthday...). I did the backgrounds with the sprays, then used regular Black Soot and Brushed Corduroy distress inks with the stencils.

Of course this colour scheme doesn't fit with a single room in my house, but I'm determined to make it fit, lol.

Enough waffle from me, it's over to you. Come share your projects with us over at Altered Eclectics, and don't forget to see what my fellow teamies have been up to if you'd like some more inspiration.

Have a fantabulous day!

Sammy-x

Hello all,

You ever have one of those months where you seem to be suffering from the reverse Midas touch, and everything you do turns out the opposite of what you wanted?
Well, that was me this month, which didn't bode well for my March challenge project for Rhedd's Creative spirit!

Well, this MDF ATC box almost went completely wrong, after some paint that said it was white (in big, unmistakable letters, no less), turn out to be a rather unattractive shade of grey once it dried.
To cover up, I decided to go with a pale yellow hued paint instead, as trying to make it pristine white would have taken too many coats and I'd have lost all the detail. I then added some more colourful touches with pigment powders, and a generous helping of Finnabair's metallique wax.



And now it's over to you. Check out the gorgeous projects over at the blog which my fellow teamies have prepared, and then why not come and play with us?

Be right back with project #2 for today,

Sammy-x

Hello again,

Back with my second altered project for the day, this time for Rhedd's Creative Spirit.

I had a play with another canvas, but where the earlier one was full of colour, for this one I stuck to a neutral palette.

I signed up for Creative Jumpstart 2019, and for me the most inspiring project of the month was that of Mystele Kirkeeng. Her projects used all of my favourite supplies and techniques, and it served to remind me that learning new things is great, but that doesn't mean we can't have fun playing with what we know and love too!

So this is my canvas, inspired by Mystele. I hope I did it justice!


The creative jumpstart theme is "My home is my castle", and so I tried to incorporate a few things that I enjoy when I'm at home, such as book paper (I'm an avid reader), a teacup (because I adore tea. Especially really nice loose-leaf ones), and I included a pen nib alongside the heart, as hubby and I met at a time when we both wrote, and it helped to bring us together (I met him in the pub, where he was sitting on the floor in the back, with his manuscript spread out all around him!).

So there it is. One mixed-media home-themed canvas. I hope you have some ideas of your own about things you enjoy and want to turn into a piece of art. when you do, be sure to come share it with us!

Have a fantabulous day!

Sammy-x

Aaaaand we're back!

After an extra long 2-month challenge, it's finally time for a brand new challenge over at Altered Eclectics, and this month I have been playing with a canvas, and did a Finnabair style portrait.

The face was drawn by my lovely daughter, and I added the rest.


I love this kind of technique, because you can take all those bits and pieces you don't know what to do with, or are the wrong colour, or just plain ugly, and turn them into something prettiful!



Why not give it a go? Dig out some of those pieces you've been hanging on to, even though you don't really like them much, and transform them into something beautiful. Please do come and share it with us when you're done though!

Back in just a minute with my next project!

Sammy-x

Morning all,

Eek! It's December (and I've not even started my Christmas cards yet!) and therefore time for an extra long two-month challenge over at Rhedd's Creative Spirit, as the DT gets some time off for good behaviour over Christmas.

This month I took a lovely mirrored half-birdcage, and made it a little more festive. I purposefully stayed away from anything too overtly Christmassy, so it can be used as a year-round decoration too.







Tell you what though... with the mirrored back it was nigh impossible to photograph. I ended up having to use hubby and some sheets of white card to stop reflections from confusing the picture.

And now it's over to you guys. Come and play with us, we'd love to see what you make!

Have a fantabulous weekend!

Sammy-x

Hello all,

December already, and it's dreary and miserable out. Which is why I decided my DT inspiration for Altered Eclectics this month should be bright and colourful!

I recently did a fantastic workshop organised by Art Workshops with the fabulous Marlene Meijer-van Niekerk. While the second day was pretty much my usual fare - a selection of tags - the first day pretty much had me quaking in my boots. The workshop was called Funky Faces, and we were required to draw!

Anyone who knows me is well aware that I don't, can't, draw. I don't draw, doodle or otherwise create an image from nothing without stamps and ink!

Imagine my horror when we were handed a huge board to work on and were told we were doing just that!

But after a few false starts, I managed to get the basics down, and after that it was playing with colours (and Marlene's gorgeous papers!), colours and more colours.

And this was the result:



Considering I never believed I'd even  get past the first step, I am so very pleased I managed to actually complete this! And it is quite possibly the most colourful thing I've ever made!

Right then, it's over to you. Let us see your fabulous makes (colourful or otherwise). You have two months to play along this time, as we take some time off over Christmas.

Be back shortly!

Sammy-x

Hello again!

Post number two today, to let you know we're starting a new challenge over at Altered Eclectics for November.

For my project, I rescued a book cover from work. The inner pages were coming loose, so it was getting thrown away, but the cover itself was a beautifully sturdy one, so I brought it home and turned it into my very first ever junk journal!


I threw literally a bit of everything in there, and used some gorgeous printables from Ephemera's Vintage Garden for the signature covers.






This was so much fun to do, I'm definitely going to have to rescue a few more book covers in the near future!

Now it's your turn. hope you'll come and join in with the fun this month.

Have a fantabulous day!

Sammy-x

Morning all,

November already, eek! And I for one am not ready! With both offspring's birthdays coming up still before Christmas, there is so much to do, and no time at all to do it in!

Especially as we decided we wanted to have a steampunk Christmas this year. Which means making a LOT of decorations. So, for my DT project for Rhedd's Creative Spirit this month, I have a handful of decorations ready to go on the tree.

I started with a couple of sparkly white reindeer that I found at work, and decided to give them a steampunk makeover...


I also altered an MDF tree from Fernli designs, and painted a whole heap of gears with metallic paint, which will be going in the tree instead of baubles. (methinks I'm going to need some more!)


Other things that'll be hanging in the tree? Penny farthing charms, lots more MDF christmas shapes, and a couple of real pocket watches!
No tinsel for us, but plenty of gold bead chains.

Well, that's it from me for now, but I'll hope you'll go take a peek at my fellow teamies' creations, and then come and share your altered art/mixed media creations with us!

Be right back!

Sammy-x

Hello again!

Back with my second post today, this time with some inspiration for the new challenge starting at Rhedd's Creative Spirit, and this month it is my turn to host the challenge.

I played with another 8x8 inch piece of MDF, only this one is only 6mm thick, so less backbreaking to lug around if needed, lol!


I'm not going to go into any detail right now, but will be back with a link to my tutorial on the 15th!

See you then!

Have a fantabulous day!

Sammy-x

Hey all,

October today, and another new challenge starting over at Altered Eclectics.

I have another special project today... this is an MDF block of wood that I went to town on at the recent Art Workshops workshop with the fabulous Autour de Mwa.


I had lots of fun playing with pinks and purples, and I just love the AALL and Create stencils I used on this.
This slab is 8x8 inches in size, and almost two inches thick. Darn thing almost put my back out lugging it home on the train! lol.

I'll be back in a moment with another post, but in the meantime, go take a peek at the fabulous project my fellow teamies have made, and don't forget to come and play along!

Brb,

Sammy-x

Hello again everyone,

My third post of today, and this time I'm here to let you know that there's a new challenge starting for September over at Rhedd's Creative Spirit.

This month, I have a mixed media journal cover to show you. And it's not just any journal cover. It's one I made under the expert tutelage of the fabulous Abs - better known as Autour de Mwa - at a recent workshop with Art Workshops.


This was so much fun to do! We started with the board journal blanks, and kept on layering and adding elements. I had a lot of fun working with colours I'd not often pick (I'm always a little scared of yellow!), and using elements and images I often see people incorporate but never do myself. It can be really freeing working outside your comfort zone, I think!

So to play along with us at Rhedd's this month, why not try something outside of your comfort zone? It can be so much fun, and you never know, you might discover something you absolutely love!

Have a fantabulous weekend!

Sammy-x

Hello all!

September already, and of course time for another challenge over at Altered Eclectics. This month I altered a small box with a seaside theme.


I used crackle medium to weather the paint, and turquoise sprays followed by brass mica spray for colour and shimmer. I absolutely adore the seahorse key. It is quite possibly one of my single most favourite craft items I've ever owned!

I hope you'll come and play with us this month!

Be right back with one more post for today!

Sammy-x

Hello again,

Back with post number 2, to tell you about the new challenge over at Rhedd's Creative Spirit. As always, anything altered art goes, and the team have put together some fantastic projects for your inspiration.

For my project, I played with a couple of Tim Holtz Burlap panels. I couldn't make up my mind whether I wanted to do a seaside or vintage themed one, so I did both!




The sea themed panel was achieved with crackle paste, distress paints and a lighthouse napkin, and embellished with various suitable bits and pieces. I have to admit I'm hopelessly in love with the Tim Holtz Typography letters, and will probably have to stock up on them before I run out and find they've stopped selling them! lol.


Some Glossy Accents make the water look rather inviting...


The vintage panel also uses crackle paste and Distress paints, as well as a Stamperia rice paper clock and a handful of suitable embellishments.

I really enjoyed making these!

I suggest you go check out what my fellow teamies have made, and I hope you'll come and play with us this month!

Have an awesomesauce day!

Sammy-x

Morning all,

It's August and the sun is shining (which makes a nice change from the past few - very soggy - days!) and there's a new challenge starting at Altered Eclectics.

This month I decided to play on a small-ish canvas, and have fun with some mixed media supplies.

And a teaspoon...


My apologies for the lighting on this picture. I have a new all-bells-and-whistles camera, and I haven't quite cracked it yet. The dismal weather this past week hasn't helped either, and the result is rather grey, instead of white!

I highlighted the letters, heart and tops of the pebbles with Finnabair's silver metallique wax. Not only do these waxes look amazing, but they smell absolutely gorgeous too. Seiously, I can't stop sniffing this canvas!

In other news, I was a bit of a silly goose the other day and decided to have a dizzy spell just as I was cutting some card. I don't have any kind of paper trimmer, I still cut everything with a knife and ruler, and long story short; a hospital trip to patch my finger up was required.
It should all heal nicely, but in the meantime I have this huge bandage on my finger, and it definitely gets in the way when trying to craft. I'm also not allowed to get it wet, which creates all kinds of other problems.
Oh well, when we have our charity craft fair on Saturday, I can charge them extra, as blood, sweat and tears literally went into making the stuff, lol.

Anyways, enough waffle. Go take a peek at what my fellow teamies have been up to, and come play with us!

brb,

Sammy-x

Hello all, me again,

I've come to share another piece of altered work today, this time for Altered Eclectics.

I was given a little wooden trinket box by a friend recently, and was asked to give it a make-over. This is what I did:

I painted it with chalk paint, and decoupaged a pretty napkin onto it. Isn't it cute?

This is what it looked like before:


Now it's your turn. We're looking for your lovely altered projects over at Altered Eclectics, so go take a peek at what the DT have been up to, and then come and play along!

Have an awesomesauce day!

Sammy-x