I'm travelling into a new way of working, a new country, a new language, and a new hobby which I'm passionate about. Come with me for some of the journey...

Wednesday 1 May 2013

Imagine, Inspire, Create


Hello everyone, and welcome!  I'm here on my first official duties for The Artistic Stamper.  The new monthly challenge starts today, and - what could be more perfect? - the theme is Words.

So here's my little piece of inspiration for you...  If you visit the Creative Team blog, you'll find lots more inspiration from some of my fellow team mates, as well as all the challenge (and prize) details.

It's a busy day today, so if you're looking for my GD piece for Country View Challenges, it's here.

And don't forget today is the launch of the first challenge at the all-new Our Creative Corner (thankfully I'm not on duty until halfway through the month, or I'd've been on a hat-trick of posts today!).  






I'm not going to go in to how much cursing and swearing was involved in the making of this but, you can take it from me, there were plenty of Words involved that I shouldn't repeat here in Craftyblogland!  


But the words we're really focused on here come from the Journalling Words II plate, and from one of the lovely Calligraphy Mats (mini 19, in case you're interested). 


I started with one of the delicious papier-mâché hanging boards - the small size (which is about 5 x 2 inches and half an inch deep).







Alert followers will notice that this is the second hanging board in a row, but I so enjoyed making the first one that I dived (dove?) straight back in.  (Click that link if you want to see what it looked like before I started playing.)






For this piece, I turned the board on its side and snipped off the original hanging twine.  I painted it with Distress Paints in Picket Fence and Antique Linen, then sanded back the edges for a slightly shabbier look.  










Then some inking - of course! - with Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain.  I love the chalky, aged look of the finish, like a medieval fresco on a plaster wall.

I randomly added some of the Calligraphy, stamped in Coffee Archival - I love this stamp.













The central words are embossed with Wow embossing powder onto kraft paper.




I did some more inking, and a little bit of spritz and flick, as well as sanding the surface and scratching it with the Craft Scratcher for a little extra texture.










I added some Vintage Photo DP to one of the Idea-ology Philosophy Tags, wiped it back to leave the word Imagine highlighted, then fastened it to a twiggy heart with some rusty wire.











The wooden "logs" I picked up in the cheapy shop, Kik, here in CZ (always a useful bargain to be found to add to the stash).  

They've also had a lick of DP and some inking so that they tone in with the rest of the piece.





Then it was just a question of roping the whole thing together with some burlap twine and some more rusty wire... and this is where the cursing came in.









The brilliantly simple idea in my head turned out to be a little more complicated to put into action than I'd thought.  And curling the rusty wire was, for once, more of a pain than a pleasure!







In the end, I had to press some tissue tape into service to hold things in place.  

Since it was doing an "engineering" job, I used the da Vinci-esque tape full of cogs and gears... so I actually rather like the look of the back of it too - purely accidental, I assure you!!












There were a number of points during this make where I thought I might have to chuck it all in and start again, so I'm thankful that - in the end - I do love where it's finished up.  

I hope it inspires you to jump in and create something for the Words challenge at The Artistic Stamper this month... just make sure that what you imagine is workable in real life before you start!!




Thanks so much for stopping by today, and sharing in the first step of this new journey with me.  Your generous comments and feedback always put a huge smile on my face, and I'm so grateful for your continued support. 

Do one thing every day that scares you.
Eleanor Roosevelt

Ingredients used (click to go shopping!): 
Journalling Words II
Mini Calligraphy Mat 19
Papier mache icon, small
Distress Paints: Antique Linen, Picket Fence, Vintage Photo
Distress Inks: Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain
Wow Embossing Powder
Idea-ology Philosophy Tag
Hemp twine
Tissue Tape, Commute
Retractable Craft Scratcher
Twiggy hearts, rusty wire, and wood sticks from my stash


I'd like to enter this in the following:
Fashionable Stamping Challenge's current Sentimental challenge
At My Time To Craft, they are Using Kraft
At the Vintage Udfordring they would like to see Paint or Gesso - my background and logs are painted for the shabby chic vintage look

43 comments:

mark gould said...

just saw this over at as, congrats on the new dt, you will be a great addition.
this is beautiful. love all the little details and the stamping on the back x

Kate Yetter said...

Love the natural look to this hanging! The twine heart is a lovely touch.

Unknown said...

This looks absolutely Gorgeous, I love it :)

Nan G said...

Wonderful first piece for your new duties! Tried to drill holes in a small round object did you? :) result...strong words. Ah yes a familiar situation.

barbarayaya62 said...

great piece! wonderful stamp on the back and natural look! Hugs Barbarayaya

froebelsternchen said...

a wonderful creation - I love those shabby chick look and the feeling of antique treasure on it!

have a nice weekened Alison!

Inkypinkycraft said...

A really beautiful,piece ,ilove these colours, and this piece is gorgeous trace x hugs x

Chris said...

Is gorgeous Alison and I love the natural look withe colours and twine. I can imagine getting everything lined up to knot together was a real labour of love. Chris x

Unknown said...

You are such an amazing creative soul. This is fabulous!

Helen said...

Gorgeous, Alison! Great words of inspiration...

Redanne said...

A wonderful shabby chic hanging Alison, love the wooden hanger and the gorgeous little hearts - and of course, the inspiring words. Hugs, Anne x

chrissie said...

Love the rustic feel of this with so many beautiful, natural textures and colours

Have a great day

Chrissie x

Kelly said...

I love the tonal sign and the simple sentiment, you are so good at this.
Hugs Kelly

Jenny Marples said...

Beautifully executed piece Alison. Has all your usual panache. Hugs, Jenny x

craftytrog said...

A gorgeous piece of rustic art Alison! Great to have you as a teamie!
Alison xxx

Anonymous said...

Fabulous project Alison ! Love the design and the wire and twine bringing it all together. Sue C x

Bonnie Irvine said...

So glad you didn't chuck it, Alison. It's gorgeous. I love the natural elements and how beautifully aged it is. Wonderful choice of stamps and materials. The engineering while a pain for you is very inspirational for me. Love that curly wire, too :)

Jennie Atkinson said...

This is just so gorgeous Alison - the natural elements are wonderful and judging by the size of some of the embellishments I can imagine it is quite small. I want one!!!! x

Renee said...

Hi Alison, I had to say how stunning this turned out! Really worth all the effort.

Carol Q said...

now wouldn't that look inspirational on the wall of anyone's craft area. love the organic quality of this Alison.

pearshapedcrafting said...

Brilliant! Can't imagine you cursing and then producing something as fantastic as this! Chrisx

Vanessa (aka V'ness, Nessa, oldschool) said...

Love this!!!

Dorthe said...

I love this :Inspire-Create piece, the simplicity of it, and the earth tones, and how it kind of makes me think of old metal signs swinging in the wind :-)-love your hearts and amazing what you did with the Philosophy Tag, Alison!!
xo,Dorthe

cathylynn said...

Alison this is one fabulous piece! Wow all the cursing proved to be very productive. LOL! What a great look front and back! You've created lovely beauty!
Hugs, Cathy-Lynn

Lucy Edmondson said...

Beautiful!

Lucy x

sara j said...

I did note it was your second hanging piece...this one is a great piece too. Love the subtle colors and the sentiments. Even tho hearts can be a bit too much for me, you've done a fabulous job at creating a mood and matching the hearts to the mood. I'm glad you kept going on this piece...it's a great piece.

Dianne said...

I knew you would get another fabulous project before I could comment, you are too busy girly :):).Look at all the beauty,packed into that small area, its splendid back and front, they way you hung it is perfect, with all that twine, curly ques. Love it...

Brenda Brown said...

Just gorgeous, live the rustic feel to this piece.
Hugs Brenda xox

Lisa Minckler said...

The country girl in me jumping with joy over this one!!! So, SO beautiful. ;)

Silvia(Barnie) said...

Such a cool idea, your hanging looks wonderful. Thanks for joining us at FSC this fortnight.

Heidi said...

Beautiful work!
Thanks for joining us at Vintage Utfordring:)
Hugs, Heidi:)

Paper Profusion said...

In a nutshell, I looked at your gorgeous hanging and all I could do was smile and say yes this most certainly does inspire me to create - right now! Gorgeous work. Nicola x

Anita Houston The Artful Maven said...

Fabulous hanging Alison...love what it says, and you have perfected the hanging of the piece of wood at the bottom of a plaque! You do this so well! Gorgeous!

Mrs.B said...

Fabulous hanging Alison, love the embellishments. Can't imagine you using anything but the right words!
Avril xx

Mrs.B said...

Forgot to say - Thanks for sharing with us at FSC
Avril xx

Ephemera said...

How beautiful and fabulously shabby, love it. Thanks so much for sharing your gorgeous project with us at FSC. XX

Margaret said...

This is beautiful and worth every minute of those 'forbidden words'!! I love that you turned the back into an equally wonderful display!!

On a side note, I had a complete 'duh' moment as I read about how you distressed the papier-mache piece. I see these all the time in the craft stores but never bought any because they looked too 'finished' and I thought the end result would be too cutesy. Never thought to grunge up the edges... Thanks for enlightening me!!

Unknown said...

So beautiful - love it! :)

Fliss said...

An absolutely fabulous wall hanging Alison. A stunning background and the simple text addition is so lovely.
Thanks so much for joining in with our FSC sentimental challenge, this is just perfect for it.
Fliss xx

Marjie Kemper said...

Soooo dreamy... I love this! Also so glad I get your updates by email because I can keep them as new and then come over for a long visit. Glad to catch up today on all your latest makes... fantastic, as always!

Ellie Knol said...

I've really missed a lot of beautiful ART!

Anonymous said...

amazing...what a creation so happy to see your work at the vintage challenge...lizzi

Kezzy said...

Wow so loving this hanging, the texture as always makes me want the technology to be able to touch it lol and the back looks fantastic as well. I can imagine it hurting lol, I have been working with wire (on Blog in a bit) and ouch I have so many scratches lol. Happy Crafting :-) hugs Kezzy xxx