The Craft Barn Song Challenge - Driving Home for Christmas

Here we are at the final Craft Barn Challenge of the year. This month's song title is Driving Home for Christmas by Chris Rea and I've taken the line "Top to toe in tailbacks" as my inspiration.

I started the postcard by sticking a piece of an old road atlas of my local area - I'm up at the top - onto a piece of card. I then gave the map and some die-cut trees a watered down wash of gesso. Snowflakes were then stamped over the map and the edges of the postcard sponged with ink. The die-cut trees were glittered with Stickles and glued onto the background. I brushed a die-cut vintage car with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and then stamped it with a PaperArtsy background stamp and embossed it along with the wheels, wheel arches and bumper with copper embossing powder. The car was then cut in half and glued on "bumper to bumper". I finished the postcard with the computer generated song title and artist's name added.

Postcard Recipe
Card/Paper
Card
Part of a road atlas page
Xerox ColorTech+ card 200gsm
Inks/Paints
Claudine Hellmuth Studio Gesso
Brilliance Pearlescent Sky Sky Blue
Ranger Archival Cornflower Blue
Versamark
Stamps
Snowflake - Crafty Individuals  
PaperArtsy Hot Picks HPXT01
Other
Anita's Embossing Powder - Copper 
Die-cuts - vintage car, trees 
Diamond Stickles
Song title - computer generated “Please write me a song” font

My thanks go to the Craft Barn for hosting this challenge through the year and to Karen Gist for her inspirational pieces each month. Also thank you to Mickie for running the blog, to the Design Team who show us some amazing projects and to Sandy, the Craft Barn proprietor, who makes it all possible.

Finally, thank you to everyone one who has visited my blog during this challenge and to those who have left comments - it is very much appreciated. I wish you all a fabulous 2018.

The Craft Barn Twelve Month Challenge - December

December and the finale of the Craft Barn Twelve Month Challenge. It certainly has been a challenge some months but it has made me think about what I actually have stashed away in my craft room that was in dire need of an airing.

This month's verse from the poem "The Months" by Sara Coleridge is -

Chill December brings the sleet,

Blazing fires and Christmas treat.

Combining sleet, fires and treats onto one page had me stumped so I've done a bit of lateral thinking. The family are inside the little cottage sitting by a warming fire with lots of treats on a side table - nuts, dates, figs, sugared orange and lemon slices.........oops I've drifted back in time to the Christmas's of my childhood!

I started my page by stamping the background snowflake image with Pearlescent Sky Blue Brilliance ink. This stamp was a freebie with Craft Stamper magazine several years ago and I have used it such a lot - it stamps beautifully. I then stamped the cottage image onto a circle of white card and sponged Broken China Distress Ink around the top edge. The house, trees and snowy bank were glittered before the circle was glued onto the background. The leaves were stamped onto white card and watercoloured using Distress Inks. They were then cut out, given several coats of PaperArtsy Gloss Glaze and glued around the edge of the circle. I finished the page by adding the computer generated verse and sponging around the edge of the page.

  
Page Recipe
Card
Anna Marie Designs High White 300gsm
White card 280mic
Xerox ColorTech+ 250gsm
Inks
Brilliance Pearlescent Sky Blue
Versafine Onyx Black
Memento Tuxedo Black
Distress Ink - Peeled Paint, Pine Needles, Broken China
PaperArtsy Gloss Glaze
Stamps
Cottage - Create-It
Leavers - PaperArtsy JOFY
Snowflake  - Craft Stamper magazine freebie
Other
Verse - computer generated with "Papyrus" font    

My thanks go to the Craft Barn for hosting this challenge and to Claire for her inspirational pieces each month. Thank you also to everyone one who has visited my blog during this challenge and to those who have left comments - it is very much appreciated. Finally, I wish you all a very "Happy Christmas!".
  

The Craft Barn Song Challenge - Paint It Black

This month's song in the Craft Barn Song Challenge is "Paint It Black" and there is only one group you associate with this song - The Rolling Stones.

I've taken the line "I see a red door and I want it painted black" as the starting point for my quick and simple postcard. It probably took longer to make the mask than to stamp and complete the piece!

I started at the bottom edge of the card and stamped a row of  houses, then masked them before stamping the next row, continuing in the same way up the postcard. The front door was coloured with a Copic marker and the computer generated song title and artist's name added.

It may have been a quick offering this month but a welcome distraction from Christmas card making.

 Postcard Recipe
Card
White card 280mic
Inks
Versafine Onyx Black
Distress Ink - Hickory Smoke
Copic marker
Stamp
Crafty Individuals CI-467
Other

Song title - Computer generated “Please write me a song” font

The Craft Barn Twelve Month Challenge - November

Here we are at the penultimate month of the Craft Barn Twelve Month Challenge. How can it be November already? It certainly doesn't look like a November day here in Bedfordshire today. It is a bit chilly but there is a beautiful blue sky. The garden seems to very confused with the seasons. I have an azalea that has just started to bloom, a clematis that is flowering for the second time this year and roses which refuse to believe it's winter.

This month's verse from the poem "The Months" by Sara Coleridge is -

Dull November brings the blast

Then the leaves go whirling past

I started my page (measures 5.75ins square) by brushing Hickory Smoke Distress Ink over the card. I coloured some homemade texture paste with a little Black Marble Dylusions Ink. (I would have used acrylic black paint but it seems to have disappeared into the black hole that exists in my craft room. When I came to finish this piece my little glue applicator had joined it!) I spread the texture paste thinly through a stencil and set it aside to dry. 

On another piece of card which was also brushed with the Distress Ink I stamped the tree image. With several cotton buds taped together as a "brush" and using autumnal colours of PaperArtsy Fresco paints I dabbed on the leaves. I then added some Distress Ink stencilling before distressing the edges. The tree image was attached to a piece of corrugated card and then a leaf brad added.  I finished the page by adding the computer generated verse. 

 

Page Recipe
Card
White card 280mic
Xerox Colortech+ 200gsm
Corrugated card
Inks/Paints
Distress Ink - Hickory Smoke
Versafine Onyx Black
PaperArtsy Fresco paints - Chartreuse, Yellow Submarine, Tango, Toad Hall
Stamp/Stencil
Tree - Crafty Individuals CI-209
Swirls - Andy Skinner stencil "Whirlpool"
Other 
Homemade texture paste coloured with Black Marble Dylusions Ink
Leaf brad
Verse - computer generated with "Papyrus" font 
 

The Craft Barn Song Challenge - Autumn Leaves

A seasonal song this month for the Craft Barn Song Challenge - Autumn Leaves. This song has been sung by a plethora of artists and I have chosen the Eva Cassidy version. No fancy production just a beautiful voice and a guitar.

I took the line "When autumn leaves start to fall" as my starting point and gathered together autumnal colours of Distress Ink and created a wrinkle free technique background. Once I was happy with it I stamped it with the Hero Arts "Pod Branch" in Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

It's such a long time since I used my alcohol inks I decided to make use of them to colour the leaves. I dabbed suitable seasonal colours onto a piece of glossy card and then stamped the leaves and cut them out and glued to my postcard. I finished the piece off with the computer generated song title and artist's name.

The scan of the postcard doesn't capture the shininess of the alcohol ink on the leaves.

Postcard Recipe
Card
White card 280mic
Glossy card - Craft Creations Chromolux card
Anna Marie Designs Super Smooth Printer Card 250gsm
Inks 
Distress Inks - Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo, Crushed Olive, Peeled Paint, Ripe Persimmon, Mustard Seed
Ranger Alcohol Inks
Brilliance Graphite Black
Stamps
Hero Arts Pod Branch E3651
Leaf - Inkadinkado
Other

Song title - Computer generated “Please write me a song” font

 

The Craft Barn Twelve Month Challenge - October

Another month, another verse in the Craft Barn Twelve Month Challenge and October's verse from the poem "The Months" by Sara Coleridge is

Fresh October brings the pheasant

Then to gather nuts is pleasant.

My Brusho colours have been little used since I bought them a few years ago so it was time to unleash them to make a bright autumnal background on some watercolour card. As I don't have a pheasant stamp I had to resort again to the web to find an image - I seem to have done that a lot for this challenge through the year. I coloured the images with Coloursoft pencils. Then I had a marathon die cutting session to cut the leaves and acorns which were all edged with Vintage Photo Distress Ink before arranging on the page. The piece was completed by adding the computer generated verse.

Page Recipe

Card

Watercolour card

Anna Marie Designs Super Smooth Printer Card 250gsm 

Scraps of card

Inks

Brusho - Orange, Leaf Green, Lt. Brown, Brilliant Red, Yellow

Coloursoft Pencils

Distress Ink - Vintage Photo

Other
Die - Tim Holtz Sizzlits Decorative Strip "Autumn Gatherings" 657454

Verse - computer generated with "Papyrus" font 
 

The Craft Barn Song Challenge - Parisienne Walkways

The current song in the Craft Barn Song Challenge is Parisenne Walkways. It's not a song that I am familiar with. In fact most music between 1978 when my eldest son was born until the late 80's when his interest in music began just seemed to pass me by.

I started my postcard by brushing a selection of beigey coloured Distress Inks over the card. I then stamped the image of the couple with Versafine. The number was stencilled with Distress Ink and then the stamped words added. The die cut heart was coated with several layers of ultra thick embossing powder and then a couple layers of sparkly red embossing powder. The postcard was finished with the computer generated song title and artist's name.

Postcard Recipe
Card 
White card 280mic
Anna Marie Designs Super Smooth Printer Card 250gsm
Inks
Distress Inks -  Old Paper, Pumice Stone, Frayed Burlap, Walnut Stain
Versafine - Sepia
Versamark
Embossing Powders
Ranger Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel
Impressions Embossing Powder - Ruby Red Sparkle
Stamps
Main image - maker unknown
Quote - maker unknown
Paris - Tim Holtz Papillon set CMS106
Stencil/Die
Number - student alphabet/ letter stencil
Heart - Sizzix Tim Holtz "Heart Felt" 660233

Other

Song title - Computer generated “Please write me a song” font