CCL Red, White, and Blue Holiday Challenge: Patriotic ATCs and Tag

I'm in a patriotic mood this week so I completed two more projects to enter the challenge over at Creating the Crafty Life.

A friend of mine over at CCL is on a big ATC kick and it must be contagious because after watching her video, I needed to make some too. :-)

For those who don't know, ATC is short for "Artist Trading Cards". They've been around a while. Cards are typically 2.5"x 3.5" and are supposed to be traded never sold. It's a great way to use up scraps and a challenge because of the small size. I created the ones below from scraps of Authentique's Glory papers.

The next project I created was a tag shaped like a 4th of July rocket. 

Both projects were quick and relatively easy to do. The hardest and longest part of my creative process is ALWAYS deciding what to do and how to do it!

!!!HAPPY 4TH EVERYONE!!!

Blessings!

Melissa

CCL Red, White, & Blue Holiday Challenge: Patriotic Altered Canvas

!!!HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SUMMER!!!

This month, Misty over at Creating the Crafty Life is hosting a Red, White, & Blue Holiday Challenge. It's a fun challenge and the prize is awesome as usual.

We can make anything we want as long as it incorporates the colors red, white, and blue. I decided to alter a 5"x5" preprinted canvas that I picked up at Joann's a while ago in their $1 bin. The canvas started out looking like this:

Cute, but not very patriotic so, after several coats of gesso, inks, papers, paint, and modeling paste,  I turned it into this:

Most of the papers for this project came from Authentique's Glory collection from last year. I found the image of the pretty lady on the Internet. Everything else is from the "hoard vault" (my stash).

I dyed the little crochet doily using Tim Holtz's Distress Inks in Fired Brick and Faded Jeans. The flag and the blue star on the bottom left were cut from a Tim Holtz Movers and Shapers die I scored at AC Moore this week on clearance for a whopping $1.50! I wanted a fire cracker/rocket on there somewhere so I made one from the papers and used hemp to make the whatchamadingies on the bottom (sorry, the name escapes me right not-will edit later...)

In the back, I painted the canvas a light blue, then used my script stencil to apply some modeling paste for dimension. The metal piece and blingy halo were also clearance finds from Michael's and AC Moore. The white fringe on the bottom has been in the vault for quite a while. 

The challenge runs until July 6th, so, if there's time, I might be able to squeeze another project in. Up for grabs is this great little prize package:

To enter, you must be a member of the CCL community. It's free to sign up and it's a great way to connect with fellow artists and crafters from around the world. Sign up, then view the guidelines for the challenge here. 

Blessings, 

Melissa

G45 BY THE SEA: SHIP IN A BOTTLE

This is the third project using Graphic 45's By the Sea collection. I wanted to do a ship in a bottle but since my chubby fingers couldn't fit into a narrow necked bottle, I decided to recycle a pickle jar. Even with the extra room, it was still a little bit of a challenge for my pudgy hands. But I'm happy with the results.

I constructed the boat origami style and then attached

the pretty blue check papers. I used a dowel for the sail

and did a lot of fussy cutting. I love the little boy images.

They remind me of my own sons. :-)

The top and bottom of the jar is wrapped with twine and 

I attached a pretty crystal bobble for the knob at the top.

For the "ocean" I used blue cellophane, cut into strips and

melded together with my heat gun. I was able to insert the boat 

without glue because its just tall enough to reach the top

and bottom of the jar without being crushed. 

I used one of the chipboard tags from the collection, a 

Tim Holtz compass piece, an anchor from my son's toybox,

and assorted roses and shells. I cut a fence from some corrugated paper

using a Tim Holtz On the Edge die.

Blessings,
Melissa