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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Saturday, September 5, 2015

Challenge #5 - September - Mixed Media Makeover

Hello Everyone!

Niki here and I am your hostess this for this month's challenge here at Anything But CuteHuge thank you to all the artists that were able to join in with our last challenge! You all make this challenge blog amazing! We see such a wide variety of awesome sauce projects and details! You all rock! Don't forget to check back with us next Saturday when Georgie and the team announce the winners of the Making Magic Challenge. Now on to this month's theme.

Have any of you ever tried a new style or technique that didn't turn out the way you thought it would? Like maybe trying shabby chic when you are more of a grunge style artist and it ended up being a disaster? Or making hand made flowers that fell a bit short of the image you had in your head? I sure have! The rejects are laying around my art room looking sad. :( So I decided to try and turn some of these into designs I am proud of. Don't be embarrassed by the before picture (have you seen mine?) just have fun with this challenge and enjoy the process! Carpe Diem!

MIXED MEDIA MAKEOVER

Pull out an old card, tag, project, masterboard or embellishment that you weren't completely happy with or never completely finished. I want you to recycle it. We all make "mistakes" with our art right? Now's your chance to fix it. Redo it, hide the mistake, make it bigger, make it better, make it more beautiful or rip it apart and use the pieces! Give it a mixed media makeover! For this challenge you will need to include a before picture so we can see what you started with.

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And now for some gorgeous inspiration from the talented Anything But Cute design team!

Before

After
I just had to redo this disappointing canvas and make it over! This was a fun way to make something that I liked. I used so many supplies and found pieces from my stash. Metallics and textures are front and center for my dark chaotic textural fun. Fear No Art means create anything you darn well please and don't fear trying new things because you can always do a makeover!

Before

After 
As soon as I saw the theme Niki picked for this challenge, I knew that I was going to recycle one of my art journal pages I never liked. I decided to create something completely different from the original page using gesso, a lot of distress stain sprays, Lindy's sprays, Ecolines and acrylic paints. 


Before

After
My before item isn't something I didn't like but instead it is something that would not work for a project I had envisioned some time ago so I abandoned it.  (Note to self: Do not buy wood items from the dollar store if you want the surface to be smooth.)  I took it apart and created a wall hanging with a vintage peacock image and then I added lots of lace, flowers, buttons, beads and sequins along with paints and sprays to showcase her glorious colours.

Georgie - Little Blue Craft Box
Before
COMING SOON
After


Before

After
My message to all crafters is: Never try to save on materials if you want your project to turn out good...I tried to create my dress with ribbon leftovers and it turned out to be a huge mistake. So I used up the leftovers that you see in the before picture and added probably 4 times more ribbon and silk of all kinds to create this wedding dress card...

Before

After
When I create, I do it off the cuff, and usually make a few "rejects" before I settle on something that makes it to a finished product.  My before shot shows just a few things I pulled out of the recycle bin that weren't quite what I was going for the first time around. I wouldn't say this is a complete makeover, but a simple remodel.  What I've taken away from all this--never throw anything out! Recycle! Please pop over to my blog to see what made the cut, what didn't, and what else I've added to make this card!

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The fantastically talented design team here have come up with some whoppers! That's what I love about this team, such a wide range of talent and passion. Please hop over to the team blogs to see more photos and get some details on how these projects were made. And don't forget to leave some bloggy love while you're there.

We sure hope to inspire you with our unique challenge. Now it's your turn to head to your craft room and dig through everything you have to see what you can recreate or improve! Here is your chance for a total mixed media makeover!

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 lucky mixed media newcomer. We all have to start somewhere, right?

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


12 comments:

  1. What a fun challenge Niki has given us to work with this month! I hope we will get to see many entries! I can't wait! Looks like Blogger slept late on me this morning; I've got my post up and running on my blog now! Beautiful, creative makeovers by my teamies!

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  2. Unusual and interesting challenge..great samples from the team

    Love Chrissie xx

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  3. Brilliant transformations ladies - these all look fabulous! Nicola x

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  4. I love your challenge this month and the DT designs are fabulous. I'm making it my business to get back to play.

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  5. I love your challenge this month and the DT designs are fabulous. I'm making it my business to get back to play.

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  6. Hi,i have made a project for this challenge,but forgot to take a before picture,will it qualify?

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    1. Kavitha, thank you for wanting to join in this challenge. We do need a before picture for all entries so we can see the Makeover part of the challenge. :)

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  7. What a fabulous idea for a challenge, brilliant makeovers and inspiration from the DT. Ruth x

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  8. This was so much fun and I let myself be so much more free with colours. Thank you so much for the fabulous challenge and for sharing your gorgeous creations with us Karen x

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  9. Great challenge, I love make-overs, thanks!

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  10. Sorry my before tag was not photographed...dark and camera being tricky. Apologies that I don't fulfil the criteria, Samra!

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    1. Hey Julie, even if the photo is not good we will still accept it. I know how tricky and weird some cameras are! 50 photos later and still looking for one that is good. Lol!

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