Here at Anything But Cute we love to see all the seasoned and expert mixed media artists, but we also want to encourage those who are just getting their feet wet. Our design team will always be on the lookout for these exceptional artists, and you just never know when we might be giving out something special to a talented mixed media newcomer.
Make sure to put 'newbie' after your name in the linky so we know who you are.
(new refers to 'new to mixed media' NOT 'new to our challenge')
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Sunday, July 5, 2015

Challenge #3 - July - Summer Romance

Hello dear Anything But Cute friends! Samra here hosting this month's challenge: "Summer Romance".

Thank you so much to everyone who played along with us last month for our Make It Masculine challenge. There were so many amazing projects and each one was a gorgeous work of art! Don't forget to check back with us next Sunday when Cec and the team announce the winners. Now on to this month's theme.

I have found some beautiful romantic sea inspired photos that our dear Pamellia put together into this gorgeous mood board. What I would love to see is projects with a romantic theme a beach/sea theme or both, but they must be strongly inspired by the colors of this mood board. 

THIS MONTH OUR MOOD BOARD MUST BE DISPLAYED IN YOUR POST.
For your convenience, here is the image URL - http://bit.ly/1LFu5ND


I hope you will find some seashells that you brought home from vacation, get that Bahama Breeze paint that is waiting to be used and put them all into good use and "whip up" a mixed media piece for this month's challenge!

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And now for some gorgeous inspiration from the the talented Anything But Cute design teamI hope you will take a few minutes to click on their names, so you check out all the details up close.


I chose this theme because I love the summer and sea. I altered an old fancy chocolate box and gave it a new life as a sea and love themed decorative box. I painted the box with 3 different paints to give it this weathered seaside look. I used a lot of real seashells and some gypsum starfish, painted them all white to match the seashells and starfish from our mood board. I also used cheese cloth, dew drops and some Cricut cutouts to complete this design. 

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Branka - Vintage Handmade

I love everything related to summertime and sea. 'Summer Romance' is just a perfect theme for this time of year so I decided to create a canvas full of seashells and blue/green tones. I used a lot of mists, sprays and paints, crackle and sand paste, distress crackle paint in Clear Rock Candy and some embellishments. To imitate coral reefs I used Tim Holtz's Tattered pinecone die. 

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Cec - CW Card Creations

For this project I decided to concentrate on the romance aspect and use the colours from the photo inspiration.  This is a Tussie Mussie that would have been carried by a bride in Victorian times but I added some shabby twists.  The cone is made from paintable wallpaper and I have added a variety of handmade fabric flowers, some embossed feathers that were fussy cut, a crackle lock and key and a handmade stick pin.

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I absolutely love the theme Samra set for us... romantic blues, teals, turquoises and white are just perfect for this time of year and I felt inspired to create this card. The background was created using Spellbinders Shell Beauty 3D embossing folder and inked with Ecolines. The netting chipboard was some left over s from another project from Dusty Attic. 

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Summer Lovin happened so fast! Yes, I just watched Grease a couple of weeks ago, anyhoo. This wonderful and soft theme made me think outside my comfort zone and try my hand once again at a sea and blue piece (the last one ended up in the trash). I love love because I have found my true love and I do believe that "True Love is Deeper than the Ocean". I even made my own seashells and sand!

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I was so inspired by Samra's mood board! All of those blues and aquas with the surf and sand, who can resist the beach! I decided to put together a mixed media frenzy of waves and sand using lots of crackle pastes and glitters. The sand dollar, starfish and seashells are all authentic and the hand painted wood piece is a memento from a vacation taken many moons ago.

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Sara Emily - sarascloset

I made a canvas this time using lots of texture and natural objects found at our local beaches.  A ton of mixed media products were used including pastes, inks, paints, stains, and sprays as well as fibers,beads, die cuts, rub ons, stamped images, and more! What could be more romantic than a walk on the beach with your sweetie!

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Wow, what an amazing line up of creations from our design team...and now it is your turn to let your imagination loose and take our breath away with your makes! I hope that we have inspired you to head to your craft room and put those summery paints and embellishments to work.

The winner will receive the honour of being our Guest Designer for an upcoming challenge!

Here at Anything But Cute we just love to see all the seasoned and expert mixed media artists, but we also want to encourage those who are just getting their feet wet. Our design team will always be on the lookout for these exceptional projects and artists. You just never know when we might be giving out something special to a talented mixed media newcomer. We all have to start somewhere, right?

PLEASE NOTE - WHEN WE USE THE TERM "NEWBIE" WE ARE REFERRING TO THOSE ARTISTS WHO ARE NEW TO MIXED MEDIA...NOT MIXED MEDIA ARTISTS WHO ARE NEW TO OUR CHALLENGE. Thank you.

Challenge runs until August 4th - we can't wait to see what you come up with! Be sure to review our guidelines. Happy Crafting from the entire team and thanks for visiting Anything But Cute!


26 comments:

  1. Wow, Ladies! Looks like some beautiful summer romance in your parts of the world! I can't wait to see what our mixed media artists, seasoned and new, create for this challenge! Hugs to all!

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  2. I'm with Sara! I found Samra's mood board to be such an inspiration and our team really came up with some stunning pieces! I can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with! hugs :)

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  3. Gorgeous makes ladies!!! Can't wait to see what our dear readers will create!

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  4. Amazing, romantic work! Thanks for the inspiration!

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  5. Fantastic creations, ladies! Can't wait to see what other artists comes up with! Samra, thank you so much for such a wonderful challenge theme! Hugs :)

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  6. Oh my goodness, I am in sea heaven looking at each of these wonderfully romantic sea themed creations! Each one is stunning and so inventive. I love everything to do with the sea and you have provided SO much inspiration - what a fantastic team you are! Anne xx

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    1. Thank you, Anne! That really made my day! The girls on this team really are so special! I can't wait to see what you create! Hugs!

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    2. Thank you, Anne! That really made my day! The girls on this team really are so special! I can't wait to see what you create! Hugs!

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    3. Thank you sooo much Anne, hope you'll join us :)

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  7. Gorgeous DT creations I must get one in.xx

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    1. Yay!! Thank you for your continued support Annie :)

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  8. Stunning inspiration ladies, hope to visit your blogs soon for a closer look.
    Julie x

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  9. Well lovely DT ladies I must say you girls have rocked this challenge....I think I'll have to go a long way to find much that rivals these makes!
    Big hugs
    Donna xxx

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  10. What a gorgeous mood board....so summery. You have all made wonderful inspired pieces from it...I can smell the sea and feel the sunshine. Looking forward to joining in xx

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  11. I did not have your article on my mail :-(
    but now I've seen it and I will participate :-) Thanks for the inspiration , love it !
    corinne de france

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    1. I am soo glad you joined the challenge Corinne :)

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  12. Awesome makes...what lovely inspirations! The color palette is so soothing.

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  13. Thank for all the amazing inspiration and for the fun challenge!

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  14. A time for firsts, my first time entering your challenge, my first mixed media piece and my first canvas. Thanks to the DT for all of your inspiring pieces and the chance to enter. I chose to go with the romance part of your mood board and the colors which I love!

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  15. Wow fantastic challenge and gorgeous pieces of art from the Design Team, I can feel the sea breeze from here, and loving all those blues. Wonderful attention to detail from everyone, love them. I will be popping by everyone's blog later. Tracy x

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  16. Hi! I'd like to read your blog posts regulary, how can I join your blog? I cannot find any tools to do it)))
    Thank you!

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    1. Hello Nataly, we have a follow by email option. Just go to the right hand side of the blog, near the top and under our Pinterest button, enter your email and click on submit. Please let us know if you experience any problems! Hugz ~Niki DT

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  17. So many amazing entries from so many wonderfully talented artists out here in bkog land! Y'all are super duper awesome sauce!

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