Challenge #19 - Rustic Glam

Hello Everyone!

Niki here and I am your hostess this for this month's challenge here at Anything But Cute. Thank you to everyone that was able to join us last month for Autumn's challenge. It seems that the theme was a big hit with you all and so many lovely entries! Don't forget to check back with us on November 12th, when Autumn and the team announce the winners of the "Autumn Day" challenge. Now on to this month's theme.

Can you believe that it is November already? I hope all of you had a spooktacular Halloween and got to see some amazing costumes! Now that we are into November and the weather is turning cold I find myself starting indoor projects. This challenge theme was inspired by my major overhaul of my master bedroom. I made a DIY rustic whitewashed wall and the entire room has a rustic glam vibe to it thanks to the wood accent wall and a chandelier. Isn't it fun to combine two hobbies?

RUSTIC GLAM

Think of Southern charm meeting some Bling Bling. Create a mixed media design featuring rustic elements such as whitewashed wood, chicken wire, burlap, soft subtle tones and neutrals. Don't forget to add the GLAM part with some sparkle and BLING!

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


Anne - Redanne

I decided to challenge myself and use everything that Niki asks for in her fabulous challenge and I had lots of fun making it!

Autumn - SewPaperPaint

I decided to create a framed mixed media home decor item for my bedroom.  I've had this awesome deep frame for ages and decided to do a little collage featuring one of my favorite Verve stamps inside.  I used neutral tones with touches of sequins, vintage glitter and pearls to complete my rustic glam framed art.

Branka - Vintage Handmade

I used my mini burlap panel (reversed side), my DecoArt white crackle paint and my Chalky finish paints, a Stampendous Shabby Blue embossing enamel, some dies and some flat back pearls to create my rustic Christmas window for this wonderful Niki's challenge theme.

Lisa - A Mermaid's Crafts

I love Niki's theme of Rustic Glam!! I upcycled an old bamboo box lamp by covering it in super-heavy gesso and then crackle medium. Once the cracks appeared, I added antiquing medium and replaced the bamboo with chicken wire mesh decorated with glitter. For added glam, I finished it off by stringing crystals that sparkle in the light :)

Niki - Pawsitively Creative Crafts

I went with a faux deer head (the only type that I would ever have in my house) and added some wood stain, acrylic paints, sanding techniques, stencils, modeling paste and of course I had to add the bling bling with some diamonds and faux snow. Yeppers, snow. Carpe Diem!

Sara Emily - sarascloset

Niki's theme is so much fun! Rustic and glam is such an interesting combination of elements! I used crackle and wood grain, burlap and chicken wire, gilding and bling to make my mixed media card. I have a brief tutorial on my blog for the easy peasy wood grain if you'd care to take a look.

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Can you believe my teamies?!? Such a talented group of ladies we have here! 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. It brings a smile to our faces. :)

I hope that we have inspired you to try something new and maybe even take it a step further and just enjoy the challenge of being challenged. I know this one was a challenge for me and I am super stoked I was able to do it!

The winner will receive the honour of being our Feature Artist 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 December 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! Carpe Diem!

An InLinkz Link-up

Feature Artist - An Autumn Day - Welcome Zubaida!

Hello Everyone!

Lisa here, and I'm so excited to introduce you to our Feature Artist for October! She was the runner up for my Shabby Garden Mood Board challenge in August! Please help me welcome Zubaida from ColorPaperScissors!

I've been a huge fan of Zub's for a long time! Whether she's creating a mixed media project like the incredibly gorgeous and textured tag she made for the August challenge, bringing an image to life in color, or simply creating a beautiful card, all of her projects are exquisitely designed with attention to detail and an eye for beauty! There really isn't anything she can't do!

Zub has created a stunning canvas for Autumn's An Autumn Day challenge that showcases her amazing style and creativity! Check out this beauty!

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Hello friends!

I am extremely delighted to be invited as a guest 'Featured Artist' here at "Anything But Cute" Challenge and I would like to say a big THANKS to Pamellia and her Team for the invitation. 

My name is Zubaida and I blog over at ColorPaperScissors. I started with paper crafting since 2012 and its been a wonderful ride ever since.I am honored to be here with my guest post at 'Anything But Cute' mixed media challenges.

I love this month's chosen theme 'An Autumn Day'. The beautiful autumn colors are here to give us inspiration to create lovely projects. I have taken these colors as an inspiration for my Reverse Canvas project.

I started on the back of a plain white canvas, covering the edges of the canvas by cork ribbon for a wooden look. I then added texture paste through a Dina Wakley 'Jungle' stencil to create a forest background look.

Next, I measured the inside dimension of my canvas and trimmed a patterned paper to be pasted inside. I also applied a thin layer of gesso, added additional texture paste and glued ' Holiday Green' die cut from sizzix, inked with distress inks.

I have also glued some fabric leaves after inking and spraying them with different shades of orange and red for the autumnal look.

The bottom part is covered with heavyweight card stock, after stamping and inking and then applying crackle paste to it. Some more texture paste here and there and then glued my patterned paper inside.

As I wanted to create an autumn scene, I cut out silhouette of a couple with my cameo and painted it with black gesso.

Finally, I embellished my canvas by adding micro beads, pearls, jute ribbon, butterfly resin icon with heavy gel medium and placed the couple in the front.

I hope my autumn look day will be 'A memory that lasts forever'!!!

Here are some close ups

I hope that you all enjoyed my autumn themed project.

Thank you Pamellia once again for giving me the opportunity of being a guest this month. I really enjoyed sharing my project here :)

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WOW, what a stunning canvas with incredible color and texture! It's the perfect representation of an Autumn day! Thank you so much for sharing your talent with us today, Zub! It's been a pleasure to have you here!

I hope you are as inspired as I am and will join in the fun for Autumn's challenge, An Autumn Day!

You have until the 4th of November to play - and you'll find all the challenge details as well as lots of inspiration from the brilliant Anything But Cute design team by clicking on the challenge link.

Happy Crafting
Lisa :)

Winners - Challenge #17 - Friendship

Hello, everyone! Branka here and firstly I would like to say a huge thank you to those who entered our 'Friendship' challenge! I am totally amazed at how many beautiful and wonderfully creative entries we received! Choosing one winner and a runner-up was a huge dilemma for me but after much debate in my had, I have chosen the winner:

WINNER - #17 - Joi@RR

This canvas completely stole my heart! Joi has created an unique piece of art full of passion, love and good thoughts. Her use of those DecoArt media products is amazing and I really enjoyed watching her video! I love her fabulous colors and awesome drawing! This spectacular canvas is one of those creations that I would love to hang on my wall! 

Congratulations Joi!  Pamellia will be in touch by email to send you a personalized winner's badge and to provide details about being our Feature Artist for the next challenge.

RUNNER-UP - #14 - boozybear

Glenda's use of colors, layers and textures has totally blown my mind! She has managed to achieve some dreamy and magical effects with a wonderful combination of dark and light tones. I love her brilliant way to incorporate so many awesome elements together into such a beautiful composition! 

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Now let's have a look at our DT favourites:




Anne's Favourite - #10 Mary Elizabeth

I was completely touched and moved by Mary Elizabeth's remarkable post which is about the most wonderful friendship. Elements of that friendship are beautifully displayed and celebrated in this wonderful creation.

Autumn's Favourite - #4 Max from MAXymalnie Papierowo

I am an absolute sucker for messy (particularly neutral) layers!  This collage is so artistically combined and the focal image is the perfect resemblance of friendship.  The beautiful watercolor background sets the perfect stage for every gorgeous detail.  Max, I cannot wait to see more of your stunning work!

Lisa's Favourite - #10 Mary Elizabeth

Wow, not only was I blown away by the rustic beauty of Mary Elizabeth's gorgeous frame, but I was so inspired by her story of friendship and family and the meaning of the chair in the photo!! The details of her piece are amazing!!

Niki's Favourite - #15Cathy Potosky

I am so very intrigued about anyone having friends for a year, let along 40 or 25 years! That is amazing! These ladies sure know what friendship is all about. The texture on the wood and the stenciling is gorgeous. That blue and black tone with the rusty awesomeness is superb! Wowzers and wowzers!

Pamellia's Favourites

#3. Veronique

Not only this card gorgeous with tons of interesting bits and lots of texture that I would love to touch, but the tribute of Friendship toward an animal tugged at my heart strings! Veronique and Lily have a special friendship and she has showcased it beautifully with the lovely neutrals and that amazing photograph!! Well done!

13. Brenda Brown

I absolutely love everything about this page. The colours, the flowers and most of all that amazing poem about Friendship that rings so true. Dedicated to a recently lost friend, and inspired by all the things her friend loved, Brenda touched my heart with her creativity and her tribute.

Sara Emily's Favourite -#10-Mary Elizabeth

Not only did Mary Elizabeth create this beautiful rustic frame for our challenge, she wrote the most touching post about what true friendship is.  She didn't just write about it, she lived it! Wow! If you are having a bad day or not, you NEED to get over to her blog and read this post word for word. While you are there, take a look at her incredible techniques for creating that amazing wood panel frame and rusted #1 token.

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A huge congratulation everyone! Thank you so much to everyone who played along with us last month and don't forget to grab your badges! You earned them!!

There is still plenty of time to enter Autumn's current challenge 'An Autumn Day'! We can't wait to see what you come up with this time!

Hugs to all, from the 'Anything But Cute' Design Team

Challenge #18 - An Autumn Day

Hello Everyone!  Autumn here and I am your hostess this for this month's challenge here at Anything But Cute. Thank you so much for entering our September challenge.  We were floored by your stories of friendship and amazing creativity.  Don't forget to check back with us next Wednesday when Branka and the team will announce the winners of our Friendship challenge. Now on to this month's theme...

AN AUTUMN DAY 

I could not help but chose October as my month to hostess here at Anything But Cute. This month, we want to see your creations inspired by An Autumn Day. Anything goes mixed media with an fall color palette, or Autumnal elements.  Be inspired by nature with the sights, smells, and sounds of this beautiful season.  We cannot wait to see the amazing artwork you turn out!

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

Anne - Redanne

I love this time of year, the changing leaf colours, finding acorns and chestnuts, the crisp Autumn air.... all of it!  I have tried to capture the colours of Autumn in my wall hanging, made with Tim Holtz products, including dies, burlap and Distress Spray Stains.

Autumn - SewPaperPaint

I was inspired by our fearless leader Pamellia and her love for nature, particularly squirrels.  With today being Pamellia's birthday, I just had to do a canvas in her honor.  I used the beautiful colors of fall along with natural elements and a sweet squirrel image.  It is such a joy to share with her a love for mixed media and for nature.  Happy birthday Pamellia!  I hope you have an amazing autumn day!

Branka - Vintage Handmade

I was inspired by Autumn's fabulous challenge theme to create an abstract mixed media canvas using  my new favourite products from Pebeo mixed media line. I had so much fun playing with Fantasy Moon, Prisme and Vitrail  paints. I also used my golden leaves and contour paints in creating my canvas.

Lisa - A Mermaid's Crafts

I love Autumn's fitting theme of a project inspired by an Autumn day!! Fall colors are some of my favorite...vibrant reds and oranges and yellows!! I incorporated them into my project using a mixture of Dylusions inks to create the background, along with distress inks, texture paste and crackle medium.

Niki - Pawsitively Creative Crafts

When thinking of an Autumn Day, I think about harvesting season for all the farms and also about the changing of the leaves on all the trees. So many gorgeous colors! For this canvas I decided to use lots of Distress Inks, some stencils, chippies, and acorns that I gathered from my Grandmothers house last year. Carpe Diem!

Sara Emily - sarascloset

Fall is my favorite time of the year, and I always have a blast crafting for the season. Most people who know me, know that I am a Halloween nut, so it took everything I had to resist putting something spooky on my wall hanging. Lots of mixed media techniques were used on this, but I also just did some plain old coloring of my stamped pumpkin and vines--what fun! Thank you to Autumn for choosing such an inspiring theme!

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I am simply amazed with the beautiful work of my teamies!  Their projects are simply stunning and most inspiring.  Please hop over to each team member's blog 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 hope that we have inspired you to break out those autumnal palettes and mixed media products to create your own autumn masterpiece.  The winner of this challenge will receive the honour of being our Feature Artist 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 November 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!

An InLinkz Link-up

Feature Artist - Friendship - Welcome Brenda!!

Hello Everyone!

Anne here, to introduce the winner of my Summertime Fun Challenge in July.  I am completely thrilled to introduce you to the super talented Brenda Brown of Bumblebees and Butterflies.

Brenda has a wonderful vintage/shabby style, her art is always stunning, beautifully crafted and always incredibly elegant!  Not only that but Brenda loves to share her techniques on her blog.  She is a published artist, a tutor and is part of an international design team.  She is one very inspirational lady!

Brenda's project is perfect for Branka's Friendship Challenge, it celebrates Friendship so well.  The project includes some wonderful techniques and celebrates Brenda's style perfectly.  Brenda has included a quote about friendship at the end which is so very true too!

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Hi fellow crafters and artists, it is Brenda here from Bumblebees and Butterflies I am super excited to be here today with a guest post and project for you

I love my 'work', I am able to get up every day and choose what I would like to do. I always seem to have a to-do list of projects that need making but I always seem to get them done even if it is by the skin of my teeth sometimes. This year has been amazing with so many doors opening for me and I feel blessed and honoured that people follow me on my blog and on Facebook and often leave me wonderfully supportive comments. 

Thank you for being here today to see what I have designed. What makes it thrilling is that I don't get the chance to enter challenges very often these days and was so pleased to be able to take part part in the Summer Fun challenge and then found myself totally flabbergasted when Anne and the amazing team chose my frame as the winner. Thank you all so much.

I love the theme Branka has chosen for September, FRIENDS are such an important part of our lives and need to be loved and celebrated often, so here is my contribution to add to all the other wonderful makes from the super talented team and the entrants who have already taken part.

Process steps

~ Adhere a piece of designer paper to the board, sand the edges to smooth them and rub ground espresso distress ink all round them.

~ Stamp a patterned stamp using black archival and paint in some of the design, I used raw umber fluid acrylic from DecoArt.

~ Seal with a layer of clear gesso.

~ Start to gather the added layers for a collage, I did a quick rust technique on some wooden letters to spell the word 'friends'

~ Begin by painting over the letters with raw umber, make sure you catch the sides and dry.

~ Stipple over some paynes grey and yellow oxide.

~ Apply a coat of quinacridone gold.

~ Repeat any of these steps if you need to add more layers to get your required effect.

~ Rub coffee archival ink pad round all the edges.

~ Gather other collage embellishments some of which are left over pieces from other projects. I also found a vintage picture of a group of friends together which fitted the challenge theme and focus for my board perfectly.

~ Add some colour to the clipboard, I used watery washes of  quinacridone red, yellow green light, vermilion and titanium white. I also added some of the paint to the actual clip mechanism and attached it back on the board then rubbed in some iced espresso metallic lustre.

~ Finally I layered all the pieces up  to complete the board ....,.

...... splattering with white paint .....

 .... and finding the 'just celebrate' which seemed to fit in perfectly.

Thanks for letting me be a part of your 'Friendship' group this month 'Anything But Cute' I have so enjoyed it.

Remember - 

BEST FRIENDS

are people you don't need to talk to every day.

In fact you don't need to talk to each other for weeks,

but when you do, it's as if you'd never stopped talking.

I'm sure we all have some of these.

hugs Brenda xxx

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WOW, what a beautiful project!  Isn't that a wonderful way to celebrate friendship?  We would love to see you join in Branka's Friendship Challenge and we hope that Brenda's project has inspired you to do so!

You have until the 4th of October to play - and you'll find all the challenge details as well as lots of inspiration from the brilliant Anything But Cute design team by clicking on the challenge link.

Happy Crafting
Anne xx

WINNERS - Challenge #16 - Shabby Garden Mood Board

Hello, everyone!! Lisa here and I want to sincerely thank each and every one of you who participated in our Shabby Garden Mood Board Challenge!! It made me so happy and inspired to see all of the creative and amazing projects you designed!! Wow, I had the hardest time narrowing it down to select winners!! I truly wish I could pick each of you...that's how fabulous all of your projects were!! But in the end, I decided on:

WINNER - #25 Paper Talk With Samra

I fell in love with Samra's romantic, dreamy card full of gorgeous texture and shabby beauty!! It's exactly the kind of project I imagined when I chose pictures for the mood board!! The stenciled background provides the perfect base for the beautiful handmade flowers climbing up the garden trellis adorned with pearls!! The two-toned, hand-dyed ribbon is such a beautiful touch!! Stunning interpretation of the shabby garden challenge!!

Congratulations Samra! Pamellia will be in touch by email to send you a personalized winner's badge and to provide details about being our Feature Artist for the next challenge.

RUNNER-UP - #5 Zubmomi

I could spend hours staring at Zub's amazing mixed media tag!! What phenomenal texture!! The colors she achieved with glimmer mist and ink sprays are so gorgeous!! The flowers, the pearls, the micro beads...everything blends together perfectly!! It's positively shabb-tastic!!

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Now let's have a look at our DT favourites:




Anne's Favourite - #10 Paper Profusion

Nicola's card is delightful, there is so much to look at - the stencilling, the dies, the beautiful clay birdhouse and birds, the curled corners with wonderful little elements hidden under them, all pieced together to create the most wonderful garden scene!

Autumn's Favourite - gibonik

This amazing and romantic altered bird house just screams shabby garden to me!  I love the sweet text inside of the heart window and gorgeous crackle on this pair of birds.  All of the layers (especially the lace "roof") are in perfect harmony.

Branka's Favourite - #25 - Paper Talk With Samra

I am totally blown away by Samra's elegant and absolutely beautiful interpratation of Lisa's gorgeous mood board! I adore those neutral tones, stunning handmade flowers, amazing stenciled background and that fabulous two toned ribbon! It's a real shabby stunner!

Niki's Favourite - #12 Marlei

This little gem caught my attention with the drywall tape that you can actually see and those little signs! Such wonderful layers and the blues with the whites are beautiful. I could sit on that garden bench for hours and listen to the sounds in the garden. Awesome sauce design!

Sara Emily's Favourite - #27-Joi "Enter in Peace"

I really loved looking at Joi's beautiful backdoor garden for it's beauty, but it also gave me such a sense of peacefulness, too! Don't you just want to step in and enjoy what lies within? Maybe some warm cookies fresh from the oven? I adore Joi's cracked wall, fence and cobbled path, the patina on the door, and her hand painted flowers are lovely, too!. She even shares her process on her blog, so be sure to stop over see her lovely artwork in detail.

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Honourable Mentions:

4. Beatriz            6. Paper Puddle             9. Jana K.          26. Wieczna Jesień

      

A huge congratulation everyone! Thank you so much to everyone who played along with us last month and don't forget to grab your badges! You earned them!!

There is still plenty of time to enter Branka's current challenge FRIENDSHIP! We can't wait to see what you come up with this time!

Hugs to all, from the 'Anything But Cute' Design Team