Cobblestone Church

 Hello Friends!

This is sooo exciting--I am a guest designer today for The Funky Junky Boutique Blog challenge. This is the first time I have had a project win overall winner.  I am very honored. :)

The challenge "Rather Blustery Day" is all about using supplies or techniques that you having a hard time using. I chose the Village Collection dies from Tim Holtz.  I have made 2 houses and they are still floating around in my craft space. They are ok-I didn't like how they turned out.. And after I made those two houses-I haven't touched this die set again.  Until now! I thought this is the perfect motivation to use this die set.  So I set out to make a church. I was going to try to make a steeple. deep breath

Here is my finished project. I used a lot of products and techniques, and it was super fun.  I know why I don't automatically reach for this set and that's because it is more of an exact type of craft. I'm not great at measuring (I like to eyeball) and I am not always tedious-a little more messy and just see how something turns out kind of person. However when you build a structure there needs to be some precision.  

This church makes my heart so happy! So I am going to post more pictures of it.  Here the lights are dim to show off the tiny lights and "stained glass" windows.

 Also, I am going to post process pictures-those will show what colors I used (for the most part). I take photos to remember what I used-it's a little easier that way. You will see my messy desk LOL just disregard that. Yeah, I'm a messy crafter for sure. LOL :)

So first more pics of the cobblestone church. One goal I had was for the bell to ring. And it does! 

Before I show you my process here are the links to help. They helped me. And I just want to show how I created mine-but these are better tutorials:

Tim Holtz's Village Collection

Cottage Tutorial by Bibi Cameron -It was cool to see her create the house from start to finish.

I used these embossing folders for the cobblestone and wood (bell tower roof).  As you see-I have the whole collection but didn't use the bricks or foundry on this project.

At Christmas I received two set of cutting pads. So one set I saved for the day I would use the sticky grid and cut out houses. Yeah that the day has come! :)

So I thought I measured right-but no I didn't. The windows on each are different. So I cut more and maybe have enough for another house. (that's in a pile marked later lol)

So the base of my house is regular cardstock. I have watched videos and Tim says to build it out of something a bit more stronger. Next time I will. LOL maybe that's why things get a little wonky.

We have windows and doors.

So I think next time everything should be cut out of black cardstock. Originally, I wanted to save time and just do the front and tower out of cobblestone but when I added black distress ink to the corners it wasn't clean. So cobblestones for all the walls! 

Here are the inks and crayon I used for the cobblestones.  The crayon is awesome!

I have mica tiles which I have never used before. I used alcohol inks and cut the pieces down to size. Then I glued them to the windows before sealing up the house.

Love! And that's when I knew that I needed to find my clear tiny lights.

It's shaping up. I used Allene's tacky glue to adhere it together and put on the cobblestone. 

So for the tower before I put on the cobblestone piece I colored the windows with this marker from faber-castell.  Below the marker you can see the cobblestone and the gold frame windows. The gold is from Tim's gold cardstock. 

I got out my heavy mixed media paper from Tim and sprayed it. This is what the roof shingles are made from. I chose this paper so it wouldn't warp. 

So here is the front of the church. I am mounting it on a vignette box-the 2nd largest one. I painted it with white gesso.  The tiny lights are on.

Here is the back side. I used a hole punch to make a small notch in the back of the church for the wire to go through.  I made a hole in the vignette box using a hand crank drill by Fiskars.  The battery pack is on the underside and the lights fit through the hole.

I painted the vignette box.  Here I'm trying to figure out how I am going to cover the vignette box around the church.

I used grit paste mixed with black paint to make a mortar type thing, and I put it where the tower is on the roof and underneath the roof and the spire.  I applied it using a toothpick since those spaces are so small.

I added a gravel walk way.  The little little rocks are from the dollar tree.

Then I decided that I didn't like the green paint. I repainted the base black. The arrow is pointing to where the wire comes in.

Here's a close up of the gravel walk way.

I sprayed mica spray on these ideology flowers. 

I had to watch another video to see how to glaze metal-LOL This was magical. 

This isn't the best picture but here are the thimbles glazed. I am going to use these for planters :)

Here is the battery pack. I hot glued it to the roof of the vignette box.

And that's it friends. Thank you for stopping by today. Extra thanks if you made it to the end! 

I'm so thankful for this challenge to make this church. It was a lot of fun. I look forward to the next structure in the village collection. :) 

Until next time my friends-keep on makin'! 

Limited Edition Mixed Media

 Hello Friends!

I am so excited to share with you this 6X6 Canvas Magnet that is all sorts of grungy fun!

I am submitting this into The Funky Junky Boutique Blog Challenge: For the Love of Mixed Media.

I love love love mixed media and knew I had to participate in this challenge. Also, I watch Ana from Finnabair do a live stream on her new products and I was totally inspired to make something. She had these canvases that had some clay pieces and they were showcasing her new waxes-but they easy looking to make. So I knew I wanted to make something like that and this evolved from it.

This is what I started with: the 3-d gear folder from Tim Holtz/Sizzix, Ranger foil sheets, and the canvas magnet itself. The canvas magnet is a thin canvas that has a magnetic backing. Look at how shiny that embossed foil is!

Then I painted it black and once dry I scuffed it up with steel wool.

This is a foundry number from Tim Holtz and I edged the outside of it with black paint and wound up wire through the holes. When it gets glued down I actually glue it on top of 2 pieces of craft foam to give it dimension.  Underneath this is a Tim quote chip that I also edge with black paint. It it thick on it's own so I glue it straight to the canvas.

I used metal gears for depth. But I wasn't feeling the copper color so I painted them black.

The main centerpiece with the gears and the gentleman are clay pieces. I used finnabair and stamperia molds. On the  main gear I added some paper stones and microc beads.

Here is the canvas-now it's time for Finnabair waxes! 

This is so cool to me-lol. It's a gear painted black with a word coin from Tim Holtz (I used distress picket fence to make life pop.) Then I put a Finnabair Melange on top and it made the word life bigger. The glossy accents seemed to have dried weird but that's ok. 

Here are all of the colors of waxes that I used on gears. Old silver is just a favorite-what can I say?  :)

Here's a side view of my project.

Here's a close up of the gears and area "painted" with the Finnabiar wax.

Looks like there's a little patina on the big gear :)

And here is a picture of the finished canvas. It was awesome to make a steam punk project again-it's been a little while ;)

                                               

Thank you for stoppin by! :)

Shaker Christmas Tag

 Hello Friends!

I did not manage my time well,  and I am entering this tag at the Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog at the very last minute! LOL   It was like one minute I was lounging around eating turkey and today it's like it's Christmas time--GO!  LOL. 

So here is my tag for their challenge Tag it.

Here are some details: I used Christmas minis-the gingerbread man and the circle die. That is a sizzix dome and I put Ranger mica flakes in there for a little shakety shake. I used an impresslet and cut the circle using the circle die from the Chirstmas minis and it all fit perfectly. I used foil cardstock for the red circle decoration. I used gold foil cardstock (both Tim Holtz-I love that paper!) for the for you which is a sizzix die from a tag die cut set.  

The green ribbon is from the dollar tree. And the paper is from Paper Pizzazz and is a bit old LOl. And I used a stampin up stamp circa 2004 for the to and from.

Thank you for stopping by! 

Today is Full of Possibilities-Mixed Media Canvas

Hello Everybody!

Do you ever have one of those projects that you just start and little by little you add stuff but don't finish it?  I do or did :)  

Here is the finished project-it's a mixed media canvas I did.  I had started it.  Added this or that and put it to the side.  I knew what color I wanted to make it but maybe I was scared?  LOL I don't know until I saw the challenge at The Funkie Junkie Boutique-Tickle Pink-using pink in a vintage or shabby chic project.  And then-I knew this was destined to be pink, which was floating in my head but I just wasn't ready for a commitment yet.

So this canvas started a while ago when I had received some lace and ribbon from a friend.  I have lots of ribbon, but I thought how can I incorporate this into mixed media?  So with mod podge for fabric (which I believe is a wonderful adhesive for fabric) I created this and covered it with gesso.  I also added crackle paint.  I had no idea what what going to be the theme except maybe shabby chic.  

So then I got into making clay molds.  And I thought this would be a good place for some of them.  So the 3 stars and the flower a the bottom (on top of a metal filigree) are Finnabair and the row of flowers is a mold from Mod Podge.  Then I glued some little wood pieces and buttons. 

Then it was time to paint or spray the canvas.  I thought I had pink distress oxide spray.  Surprise! I don't.  First I tried to make my own.  LOL-this is why I don't make paints or sprays or any of those things-because I am not good at them.  I took a small bottle of water and added spun sugar distress re-inker and it was so light.  Then I added worn lipstick to the bottle which was better-but not really. So then  I took Festive Berries oxide spray, white distress stain, water, and Dylusions white spray and sprayed until I could get the festive berries light enough to make pink. :)

So here are going to be closeups.  I added this string of hearts to the cluster of ribbons.

I used clear Wedny Vecchi embossing paste to give some dimension behind the the ladies but when I pull up the stencil some of the paste came with it.  But it pulled up some of the spray and I thought that was cool.

These clay hearts are painted with Sparks paint by Finnabair.  Can I tell you how much I absolutely love this paint-it's called Unicorn Hair.  Fun name beautiful color! 

Here is a closeup of the buttons.  I used heather hills and sweet rose Finnabair waxes on the feather and sewing bodice.

These bottom flowers are made with clay and a Mod Podge mold.  Then I painted them.  Let me show you with what in the next picture.

This is close to my heart paint which I have had forever.  It's a bit iridescent.  It mixes with reinkers and the spray without getting weird. And that's how I painted those flowers.

Then I knew I needed a little more.  I stamped a couple of times in the background with weathered wood and stamps from Stamper Anonymous.  I added these fun paper flowers from Prima that you paint.  I painted them with Spun Sugar distress paint.  I added little pearls.  The really small flowers are from the paper studio (hobby lobby). And the sentiment is a theories quote chip from tim holtz.  I am really starting to love these.

Here are my ladies with the background behind them.  I colored their dresses with spectrum markers. This is one of my favorite Tim Holtz paperdolls because I think their are smiling and happy.  LOL. 

Here is my canvas all done. It's a 8X10 canvas.  

I am also entering this into:

The Arty Divas Challenge: Anything Goes #23

Through the Craft Room Door: Anything Goes 

Love to Craft Challenge: June Anything Goes

The Funkie Junkie Boutique Tickle Pink (mentioned at beginning)

Thank you for stopping by today!  :)