March Challenge Tutorial - Brenda

I am sharing the process steps for the project I made for the birthday challenge this month. I loved making my shabby piece of home decor and added a word banner I made to fit the title.

Background

The background paper was a piece of a paper mixing palette left over from a brayering session some time ago but the colours are so beautifully neutral and perfect for stamping on. I chose images that represent something for AVJ, the challenge and our birthday. The large gear represents transport, the whole idea of moving on this journey, the clock face is about time and that we have been travelling together for five years now. The typewriter is about the blog posts that we write and how all the Creative Guides share the running and workings of the blog including the communication between us all. Five little stars for the 5th birthday, a shabby border pattern for one of the genres that we like to use and see and part of a map that is representative of the fact that we are a multinational team and you our readers pop aboard from all around the globe too.

Candlestick and box

I used chalky finish paint (heirloom, rustic, relic, everlasting and primitive) and roughly stippled and blended these neutral colors over it and let it dry. Then I repeated with a second coat. I rubbed a little candle wax in random places and then stippled on everlasting, primitive and restore. Before it was fully dry I rubbed with dry kitchen paper to make it look more aged and worn and finished with three waxes clear, deep brown and white, rubbing some away with water before buffing to a beautiful shine.

I did the same to the circular board. 

The Tim Holtz box also got a paint job with similar colours and then some crackle paste trowelled on with a palette knife and when dry I edged with dark grey value 6.

Embellishments

I collected together lots of stamped, die-cut and metal embellishments to use to decorate the top and create a diorama and I made my own word banner.

The suitcases are showing we travel with our supplies and unpack them at every destination and the paper doll is representative of our fabulous team of ladies - The Creative Guides.

The word banner was typed on the computer, printed out and mounted on a strip of greyboard. I covered it with matte medium to seal the surface.

You'll probably see some other bits that were added to the project which is what frequently happens once I start putting things together.

I could have added more to the sides and the back but I didn't want to over do it - less is more they say and I think I have hit the right balance.

I hope you've managed to see the wonderful line up from the Creative Guides and there is some lovely work that has already been entered. You still have time to play along at the AVJ challenge blog, we'd love to see you cone and join in the celebrations.

Thanks for stopping by.

hugs Brenda xxx

Bumblebees and Butterflies

CELEBRATE THE JOURNEY - Happy Birthday AVJ

Wow we are celebrating another birthday here at A Vintage Journey can you believe it's 5 years since we started this challenge blog?

Back on the 7th March 2014 we tasked ourselves to design, devise, invent, imagine and construct to inspire and encourage you to take this path with us and what an incredible journey it has been so far. Many of you have been here since the beginning hopping on board when you can and it's been amazing seeing all your contributions as we've travelled together.

We are hoping that lots of you will join the journey for our Birthday challenge. To do so we are asking that you include the word or any images that depict a 'journey' or even something that shows a creative journey you are on. Please tell us how your project fits the theme in your blog post and remember to create in one of our preferred styles of vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journaling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk.

Let's take a look at what some of the Creative Guides have produced for this leg of the journey.

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Brenda

Well I had great fun creating something special for the birthday challenge and this is a sneak peek really but it does contain all the main details. To take a look at the whole project please pop over to Bumblebees and Butterflies where all will be revealed. If I say it is a piece of home decor does that give you a clue? xx

Jennie

I decided to go back to my very first project for A Vintage Journey and choose some elements from it to make a journal page to highlight my mixed media journey over the last five years. Do please join me over on my blog Live the Dream if you would like to see more.

Deb

Happy birthday A Vintage Journey!  While contemplating Brenda's 'Celebrate The Journey' prompt, I came to the realization that I have always followed my heart and done what I loved no matter where my creative journey has taken me.  So I created this mixed media vignette box to represent my personal journey and hope that you will be able to stop by my blog to see how it all came together.

Nikki

I am celebrating my crafting journey as we begin a new year at AVJ. My project includes many of my favourite techniques and products. Be lovely to see you at Addicted to Art for more details and photos and a few of the other projects I have made for AVJ along the way!

Astrid

So many of my teamies here have become close personal friends, so I thought it would be fun to share a project recently created when visiting one of them for a fun crafty day. To find out more about what we did and how this project has become part of my personal crafting journey, do come and visit me

S@ndy

For our birthday celebration I have decided to focus on an artistic journey and this year I am spreading my wings by venturing into the world of video.  I have made a few but have decided that this is the year for me to travel a new road.  My card depicts the spirit of a new journey. 

Alison 

In these art journalling pages I'm celebrating the people we share our journeys with - especially this wonderful team of Creative Guides, who have become such close friends over this five year journey.  Do come over to Words and Pictures to see all the details.

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We hope you enjoy wandering through our inspirational projects and look forward to seeing those that get entered for this special occasion. Please use the link below to join in.

I would like to take a moment to thank all the Creative Guides that have been part of this journey over this five year period. You have all given so much time, support and amazing inspiration to all our readers and to each other. It is this that has made the journey so exciting and a pleasure to be part of.

To all our wonderful readers and participants thank you too for sharing the journey with us. We so enjoy looking at your contributions and reading the comments you leave us.

We look forward to the next 12 months of fabulous themes and amazing creations.

hugs Brenda and the Creative Guides. xxx

An InLinkz Link-up