The last few letters for the Craft Barn, here's the i

And I picked immortal. I have a serious addiction to vampire films and series which started with the Twilight sage. Read the books and have seen all the pictures (more than once, blush). Now I'm into the Vampire Diaries and the spin off called the Originals. Henceforth my choice of word. I did the background and the flames with acrylic paint and used a black Pitt pen to shade around the flames.

De digi is by Rick St Dennis, he makes the most fabulous images, but the are a challenge to colour, so much detail. Can you see which famous actor this gorgeous vampire looks like? ..................................
yes, it's Johnny Depp. I coloured him with my Copics and used a grey Pitt pen to shade around the image and make him stand out more against the background.

 And of course I owe you the word.

Challenge:
http://www.thecraftbarn.co.uk/blog/alpha-challenge-last-two-letters/

I'm joining in de Round Robin art journal and this is my first page.

Next year the Craftorij is organizing a Round Robin art journal. That means I make the first page in my own journal and then send it to the next person on the list who will add a second spread and send it to the third person and so on. Somewhere in September I will (hopefully) receive my art journal back, filled with lots of inspiration from other people. Meanwhile I will receive art journals from all the others on the list and make a spread in their journals. I just love the idea!!

Now the technique I used for the background is one I had seen on a video by Andy Skinner on You Tube. It's really quite easy. I glued a colourful background page down and sealed it with 2 layers of acrylic varnish. Then I used some modeling paste and a stencil to make my owls. After drying I painted the entire background with black acrylic paint. While that was stil wet I splattered drops of acrylic retarder on the background which prevents the paint underneath those drops from drying. When the reast of your black paint is dry, you simply take a piece of kitchen roll and wipe away the retarder which reveals the colours underneath. How cool is that?!

I used a black permenent marker to colour the modeling paste extra black in order to make them stand out against the black background. I then scanned the Internet for 'owl' quotes and found two I liked. Using my white Sharpie I wrote them down on the left page around the edge of the page and on the right at the bottom of the page. I then used the marker to make white paintsplatters.

Hope you like my spread. I wish you all Merry Christmas!!!
Challenges:

http://craftingfromtheheartchallengeblog.blogspot.nl/2013/12/challenge-3.html
http://bunnyzoescrafts.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/our-last-challenge-of-2013-wings.html
http://artisticinspirationschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/
http://www.sparklingblackrose-craftmylife.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/all-crafts-challenge-decemberjanuary.html
http://hobbycutzchallenges.blogspot.nl/2013/12/merry-christmas-challenge-30-anything.html
http://www.creativeinspirationspaint.blogspot.nl/2013/12/inspired-by-anything-goes-week-2.html
http://challenges4everybody.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/challenge-36-anything-goes.html
http://craftcreatoins.blogspot.nl/p/new.html
http://thatcraftplaceblog.blogspot.nl/2013/12/the-last-challenge-for-2013-so-we.html

Yeahhhh, December is finished even before the month is over LOL!

I did it! I finished December before the month is over! I'm so happy. I will try to keep this up in 2014....

I started with a background of Avec Red glimmer spray combined with Fuzzy Navel Peach spray by Lindy's stamp gang. The page has this lovely shimmer. On this picture the shimmer shows a little. The Christmas trees were made with Christmas papers by Kaisercraft Merry and Bright collection and I got these in a PIF recently. Love these papers!!

December and 2013 were stamped and embossed with gold embossingpowder. The numbers on the trees were made with printable Christmas numbers and were a free downloadable printable from Ephemera's Vintage Garden, and so are the white and creamcoloured Christmas bulbs. I stamped snowflakes here and there and embossed them with Bridal embossing powder by Ranger.

The small Christmas bulbs at the top of this spread are matching stickers. Alle the Christmas bulbs have some gold embossing where the hangers are. The white speckles were made by flicking a white Sharpie pen.
I hope you like my spread, I sure enjoyed making it!

Challenges:
http://allsortschallenge.blogspot.nl/2013/12/week-237-snowflakes.html
http://craftycalendarchallenge.blogspot.nl/2013/12/crafty-calendar-challenge-cold-and.html
http://craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge.blogspot.nl/2013/12/chnc-challenge-155-whatever-is-urgent.html
http://polkadoodle.blogspot.ca/2013/12/week-49-polkadoodles-challenge-make.html
http://stampinfortheweekend.blogspot.nl/2013/12/use-some-red.html
http://www.sarahhurleychallenges.blogspot.nl/2013/12/challenge-87-create-your-own-background.html
http://delightfulsketches.blogspot.nl/2013/12/weekly-challenge-color-challenge-red.html
http://4kraftygirlzchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/

Finally it is November, oops, November's gone already....

Story of my life, I have November ready and it turns out November has come and gone....bummer! But, December is only 5 days gone, so on the upside, I have 26 days to finish December and will still be on time (sort of LOL)!!
Anyhow, since I have always been a quilter, I decided to use the Amish quilt as a basis for my calendar. I started out by painting the entire spread black. Then I cut my triangles to make the pinwheel from bright coloured papers.

The feather pattern at the bottom of my 'quilt' was made with an actual quilting stencil that I used on one of my quilts. All the 'stitching' was done with a white Sharpie pen.

I stamped the month with a grungy stamp alphabet and white Stazon ink and accentuated again with the white Sharpie.

And just like in real quilting, all the points have to be sharp and matching.

Hope you like my 'quilt' spread! Have a great weekend. Hugs Frea
Challenges:
http://4kraftygirlzchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/
http://www.baffies-kreativladen.blogspot.de/2013/11/challenge-26-november-dt-call.html
http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.nl/2013/12/the-three-muses-challenge-art-journal.html
http://thestampingchef.com/Challenges/2013/12/04/welcome-to-our-new-tsc-anything-goes-challenge/
http://flourishes.org/2013/12/timeless-tuesday-249-stitch-it-up/
http://www.lovesrubberstampschallenges.com/2013/12/challenge-81-anything-goes.html
http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.nl/2013/12/anything-goes.html
http://www.anonymousstamps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/november-challenge.html
http://www.sparklingblackrose-craftmylife.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/all-crafts-challenge-decemberjanuary.html
http://www.ttcrd.blogspot.nl/2013/12/through-craftroom-door-challenge-dec-3.html
http://dreamvalleychallenges.blogspot.nl/2013/12/challenge-71-anything-but-card.html
http://tokbobok.blogspot.nl/2013/12/tbc-7-anything-goes.html
http://scribbleandscrapcrafts.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-6-always-anything-goes.html

Yess. I made top 3 and was a winner with my hearts.

Woop woop, I made top three at Creative Creations Challenges:

and was a winner at Craft my life challenges

and I won 4 gorgeous digistamps by Sassy Studios!!

S stands for ........

The background of this spread was an experiment. I saw a video by Andy Skinner the other day where he used this technique. I started out by gluing down the most ugle cheap scrap paper I could find in my stash over the entire page, a picture of a peacock. It did have lovely bright blue and green colours though.

And no, you don't see the peacock anymore, I'll explain. You cover the D.P. with 2 layers of acrylic varnish. Then you cover the entire page with acrylic paints (preferably in a colour opposite from the ones underneath). Now here comes the trick: you drop some acrylic retarder on the wet paint. Then you let the paint dry completely (you can't use a heat gun, so you will have to be patient). After drying you take a piece of kitchen roll and let it soak up the retarder which will stell be wet. Then you take a dry piece of kitchen roll and simply wipe away the paint which was underneath the retarder and which is still wet. This is the result:

The digital stamp is by Kenny K. and I printed her quite large in orde to make her fit the page. That did make her a lot more fun to colour in. I printed her twice to use on a card (which makes her a lot smaller) and just about needed a magnifier in order to colour her up LOL!  At least now I could manage with my regular glasses.

And then finaly I owe you the word:

Challenge:
http://www.thecraftbarn.co.uk/blog/alpha-dictionary-challenge-letter-s/

When you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there.

I am such an Alice fan, and this quote is from Alice in Wonderland, love it! I am also a huge France Papillon fan, and watch all her video's which gives me loads of inspiration, and thats how this page got started. I began this page with a coat of gesso after which I painted the entire page from lightpink at the top to darker and bruight pink on the bottom. I then 'stamped' with embossing ink and several lids of spraycans and other containers. I overlapped them and went for an imperfect look, and embossed with Ultra thick clear embossing powder.

Then I coated the entire page with a coat of transparant gesso. That has a slightly absorbant quality which I wanted for the sprays I was going to use. I then sprayed the entire page with Lindy's Stamp Gang Fuzzy Navel Peach and a little bit of Dylusions Squuzes Orange here and there. I tried to take a picture to show of the lovely shimmer on the page, I hope you can see it.

I stamped this cute Stampotique fellow because of his sign, which I thought would be perfect for stmaping some questionmarks on. I coloured him with my trusted Copics.

On the right side of the page I added a large questionmark brad and on the inclusion I added a gorgeous butterflu with some bling. I used a grey Pitt Pen to make a slight shadow around the circles and the stamped image. On the edges of my spread I distressed with some Distress Ink Black Soot.

I added some paintsplatters with diluted black acrylic paint and used an old giftcard to make some lines here and there. I printed the quote on craft cardstock, but regretted that later on. It was very hard to glue down. My journal is quite warped, I have only 5 spreads left and it's pretty thick, so it was hard to glue down.

So that was it for today, hope you enjoyed my page, and thank you France for your inspiration.
Challenges:
http://stampotiquedesignerschallenge.blogspot.nl/2013/11/sdc-november-2013-challenge-links.html
http://blog.docerelashop.com/2013/11/november-stamp-release-challenge-50_22.html
http://crafts4eternity.blogspot.nl/2013/11/r151-glitter-and-sparkle.html
http://brownsugarchallenge.blogspot.nl/2013/11/challenge-69-anything-goes.html
http://delightfulsketches.blogspot.nl/2013/11/weekly-challenge-anything-but-card.html
http://4kraftygirlzchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/
http://www.4craftychicks.blogspot.nl/2013/11/lets-make-it-anything-goes.html
http://www.baffies-kreativladen.blogspot.de/2013/11/challenge-26-november-dt-call.html
http://www.cardsbyladyanne.com/2/post/2013/11/last-anything-goes-stamp-challenge.html
http://whimsyinspires.blogspot.nl/2013/11/challenge-65-anything-goes-rubber-team.html
http://scrappers-delights-challenge-blog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-11-anything-goes.html
http://pennyschallenges.blogspot.nl/2013/11/pennys-challenge-153-winners.html

Hearts in my journal!!

In my Donna Downey journal I made this spread.

I started out with a coat of creamcoloured acrylic paint and then glued some Tim Holtz tissue wrap melange here and there. Then I added some crackle medium here and there and after drying coated with a layer of taupe coloured acrylic paint.

Then I did some vintage stamping, and added the turqoise grunge hearts with a stencil and acrylic paint. I used masks from Tattered Angels and texture paste to make the large and small heart. After drying I started spraying with Lindsy Stamp gang sprays, Buccaneer Bay blue and Bachelor Button Blue, which not only gives a lovely colour but also a gorgeous shimmer.

I found this great quote on the Internet, don't you just love Internet?! You really can find just about anything there.

I used the inclusion in the middel in a way to bind the two pages, so I made sure the hearts continued onto the page itself.

I really enjoyed making this spread, I hope you all enjoy viewing it. Hugs Frea
Challenges:
http://www.ttcrd.blogspot.nl/2013/11/through-craft-room-door-challenge-nov.html
http://createdwithlovechallenges.blogspot.nl/2013/11/cwlc-67-anything-goes.html
http://www.creativecreationschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/23-sparkle-and-shine.html
http://www.sparklingblackrose-craftmylife.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/all-crafts-challenge-octobernovember.html
http://www.anonymousstamps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/november-challenge.html
http://scribbleandscrapcrafts.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-5-always-anything-goes.html
http://onestitchatatimechallenge.blogspot.nl/2013/11/challenge-190.html
http://challenges4everybody.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-33-anything-goes.html
http://smudgyantics.blogspot.nl/2013/11/anything-goes-week-1_18.html

Catching up, here's October...

And of course October had to be Halloween, it does make sense doesn't it? I sprayed my pages with Dylusions on the edges and in the middle I used Lindsy Stamp Gang purple sprays which gives a lovely shimmer.

I printed the pumpkins on orange paper and cut them all out, a hell of a job! Then I printed the tombstones and stamped the days on in black embossing powder. The bat was also embossed in black and painted in with Creative Inspirations paints and H2O, lovely shimmery paints.

The Simply Betty Image was also painted in with H2O with exception of the face which was painted in Distress Ink.

Isn't that the cutest little bat?! From a Penny Black stamp set, and so are the pumpkins at the bottom and the spider in his web. I love the way the shimmer on his wings shows in the picture, usually it's really hard to catch that in a picture.

Dying to know what you think of my spread. Have a great weekend, hugs Frea
Challenges:
http://scrapping4funchallenges.blogspot.ca/2013/11/challenge-6.html
http://stampinfortheweekend.blogspot.nl/2013/11/autumn-fall-colours.html
http://graphitmarkers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/wk-21-lucky-7anything-goes.html
http://jwscrapshack.blogspot.ca/2013/11/ffc-26-anything-goes.html
http://kittybeedesigns.blogspot.nl/2013/11/aloha-friday-challenge-12.html
http://4kraftygirlzchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/
http://www.addictedtostamps-challenge.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/challenge-71-anything-goes.html
http://whimsyinspires.blogspot.nl/2013/11/challenge-65-anything-goes-rubber-team.html
http://scrappers-delights-challenge-blog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-11-anything-goes.html
http://fabnfunkychallenges.blogspot.nl/2013/11/challenge-193-its-our-birthday-whoop.html

Q stands for 'quilt'.

One of the most difficult letters in the dictionary if ofcourse the Q, however, having been an avid quilter myself, to me the word choice was pretty obvious. I started the page with a background of Distress Paints and stamped with embossing ink end Seafoam white quilt stamps in the corners.

The mini quiltblock was made calico quilting materials. I gave it a thin fiberfill backing before stitching through on the machine in order not to make the sandwich it too thick for the book.

And of course I owe you the word.

Hope you like my Q-page!! Will stop by later to visit your's.
Have a great week, hugs Frea
Challenge:
http://thecraftbarnblog.blogspot.nl/2013/11/alpha-dictionary-challenge-letter-q.html

So, here's my September calendar page.

It's taken me a while, but here's my September calendar page.

 I started out with pieces of a paper hankerchief which I loved because it had all these gorgeous birds on. Then I stamped some birdcages on and feathers with my brandnew Paper Artsy feather stamp. I then added som gesso here and there with an old gift card.

Then I started spraying some Glimmer Mist and Lindy's Stamp Gang sprays which not only give a beautiful colour but also a lovely shimmer to the page. Unfortunately that doesn't show up on the pictures.....

I had this roll of washi tape that patched the page perfectly, so decided I would stamp the month on there and add some more. I used a Pitt Pen to create the shading around the tape.

So ladies, that was it for today. Hope you like my page. Hugs Frea
Challenges:
http://brownsugarchallenge.blogspot.nl/2013/11/challenge-67-anything-goes.html
http://crafts4eternity.blogspot.nl/2013/11/r149-anything-but-card.html
http://leftofcenterchallenges.blogspot.ca/2013/11/challenge-18-loc-washi-tape-or-twine.html
http://craftingbydesigns.blogspot.nl/2013/11/anything-goes-with-smeared-ink.html
http://www.4craftychicks.blogspot.nl/2013/11/anything-but-card-167.html
http://scrapping4funchallenges.blogspot.nl/2013/11/challenge-6.html
http://www.lovesrubberstampschallenges.com/2013/11/challenge-77-anything-goes.html
http://pennyschallenges.blogspot.nl/2013/11/welcome-to-pennys-challenge-152.html
http://whimsyinspires.blogspot.nl/2013/10/challenge-65-anything-goes-digital-team.html
http://bearlymine-challenges.blogspot.nl/2013/11/challenge-111-anything-goes.html
http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.nl/2013/11/anything-goes.html
http://www.ttcrd.blogspot.nl/2013/11/ttcrd-november-5-11-challenge.html

The letter 'N' and I picked 'Nymph'.

You wouldn't believe what type of pictures I found when I googled  'nymph', LOL!! But I also found a photograph that depicted what I have in mind when thinking of a nymph. I cut out the picture, and using the background as reference, sort of painted the background after the picture. I used one of those cheap children paint boxes to do so. Not too happy about the water, but I do like the background of trees. I did that making small 'dots' with a paintbrush. Of course the dots aren't really dots, they have all type of shapes.

I cut out some tiny butterflies from the Studio Light 'Easy Vintage Line' and glued them only in the middle in order to give them some texture. Around the image I added some charcoal to give her some shade and make her stand out against the background.

I still owe you the word, so here it is.

So I hope you like my page and obviously I am entering the Craft Barn Dictionary Challenge. Have a great week, hugs Frea
http://thecraftbarnblog.blogspot.ca/2013/10/alpha-dictionary-challenge-letter-n.html

I'm late (what else is new LOL!!!)

Of course I 'm late with my entry for the Craft Barn challenge. I have just been so darn busy lately, can't help it ladies! Anyhow, I just managed to get this page done in the nick of time. The letter L wasn't a problem, I had the idea straight away, it was that bl.... window that caused me trouble! I just couldn't bring myself to put it across my lovely Make it Crafty's March Hare, so I ended up with making the window out of acetate, in order not to cover up my page too much. Loved the endresult, but then I had to make the pictures. Ever tried taking a picture of something with acetate on? PFfff...

I started my page with a background made with gelatos, for the sky I used Snow and for the grass Margarita combined with Pistachio. I printed the March Hare against a background called Cobblestone Path on tissue paper. First I cut it out roughly around the image, and drew thin pencillines on the background. I painted that area white and then glued the image down with matte gel medium, after which I coloured it in with my Copics.

The clouds were made with gesso which I heated with my heatgun until is started bubbling. That gives is some texture. I then coloured a little bit of grey here and there with a Copic maker.

And then I owe you the word so here it is. I'm off to visit you all! Have a great weekend, hugs Frea

Challenge:
http://thecraftbarnblog.blogspot.ca/2013/10/alpha-dictionary-challenge-letter-l.html

Hello ladies, autumn is here....!

I wanted to try out my new Pan Pastels and had seen this video by France Papillon, where she used them as a resist. So here's my take. After gessoing the page I added letters with a stencil and texture paste. I then coloured the entire page with green and yellow Pan Pastel, after which I painted the paige with a green acrylic paint. Before that was completely dry, I wiped with a baby wipe and where I wiped the PP colours reappeared. Then I took some Distress Paints which I added just here and there, and sprayed water on them in order to let them work their magic and drip (love drippage).

I stamped the spider directly on the page but all the other figures were stamped on DCP paper and coloured with Copics. The forest 'soil' was made with some washi tape which I glues down with matte gel medium.

The cats have eyes made with a tiny drop of Glossy Accents. The autumn leaves I bought ages ago for next to nothing, and I have loads left.

Now this little fellow is my latest Stampotique stamp and I think he is so adorable, in a quirky sort of way LOL!

 Love the colours of this spread and love the way it turned out. I sure hope you like it too. Hugs Frea
Challenges:
http://panpasteluk.blogspot.nl/2013/10/wk42-pan-pastel-uk-challenge-autumn.html
http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge/challenge-spooky/
http://www.sparklingblackrose-craftmylife.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/all-crafts-challenge-octobernovember.html
http://artisticinspirationschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/
http://cheerfulstamppad.blogspot.nl/2013/10/challenge-71-lets-stencil.html
http://haunteddesignhouse.blogspot.nl/2013/10/hdh-178-macabre-monday-zombies-and.html
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.nl/2013/10/mim-163-with-bugaboo-stamps.html
http://craftcreatoins.blogspot.nl/p/new-challenge-2110.html
http://challenges4everybody.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/challenge-31-anything-goes.html
http://creativeinspirationspaint.blogspot.nl/2013/10/inspired-by-anything-goes.html
http://onestitchatatimechallenge.blogspot.nl/2013/10/challenge-186.html