Tic Tac Toe Time

Hello all!  It's time for a new Vintage Journey challenge - there's just time to squeeze it in between all the PaperArtsy excitement! - and our host for this fortnight is the wonderful Annie.  She's created a Tic Tac Toe board for us to play with, and for my turn I've created this pair of metallic ATCs.

Here's the board and, as you can see, I've played the first vertical line - Idea-ology or any Metal Embellishment/Paint/Foil Tape.

Idea-ology or any metal embellishment	Sprays	Ribbon/twine
Paint	Ephemera	Die cuts
Foil tape	Texture fades	Stains

I've also, as it happens, played the bottom horizontal line Foil Tape/Texture Fades/Stains, but that was an accident!

I'd given myself the additional challenge of trying to see if I could use only the three chosen ingredients (absolutely not part of the main rules, you can use as many extra ingredients as you like, as long as you tell us about the three in your chosen line).

Then I realised as soon as I used the Texture Fade on my foil tape covered card that I'd failed, so a couple of other ingredients found their way in too!










Even so, they're pretty simple in the making.

I stuck a sheet of foil tape to some card and ran it through the BigShot with the Subway Texture Fade embossing folder.

Then I applied lots of blue/grey Distress Paints and spritzed with water to let them do their marbling magic.










After the paint was dry, I sanded back the raised areas to reveal some of the metal underneath.












I also did some extra distressing with the Craft Scratcher for a really weathered look.

I added some paint to my metal embellishments too, and there's some Distress Stain dribbled into the lettering too.














I also applied Mushroom alcohol ink over both the embellishments and the backgrounds.













I took my cue from one of the recent CHA videos where Tim was talking about how the Mushroom alcohol ink gives a really vintage look.













Finally, I mounted the ATCs onto black card which I daubed with Weathered Wood Distress Paint for a softer look.

And that's that!










Do hop over to A Vintage Journey and see the fabulous inspiration created for you by my team-mates, and we'd love you to come and Play Tic Tac Toe with us this fortnight.












Be sure to check out the challenge details in full as well as our Travelling Instructions to make sure you qualify for the prize voucher generously sponsored by Country View Crafts.  Hope to see you on the journey soon.

And I'll be back in almost no time with another exciting PaperArtsy release post... see you then!





Life is more fun if you play games.
Roald Dahl

There'll be some new twists to the games we play on A Vintage Journey after next month.  In March - can you believe it? - we celebrate our first birthday, and we're shaking things up.  Check out some of the details today over at A Vintage Journey, and we hope you'll enjoy travelling along with us for many years to come!

A Manly Beginning...

Hello all, so happy you could drop in today - there's a lot going on as it's the first of the month!  

First of all, I'm very excited to share my news with you.  I'm delighted to be able to announce that I'm joining the team at Country View Challenges - so happy! - and so here's my project for the June theme of Only Men Allowed.

Later in the morning, I'll be back (with a completely contrasting tag!) to share my inspiration offering for the new Our Creative Corner challenge.  But first let's check out the men!  The Country View Challenges team have created some fabulous makes to inspire you, so do hop over and check them out when you're done here...

I'm starting out with a tag - what else?! - and drawing inspiration from my favourite crafty men: Tim Holtz and Umbrella Man.  There's a list of ingredients at the end of the post, so you can click on the product links if you feel an uncontrollable urge to go shopping!

I had a ball creating the background for this... I stuck some Metal Foil Tape Sheets to a Size 8 tag, and then ran it through my BigShot with the glorious Subway folder.









I splurged some paint onto the surface, black acrylic and Faded Jeans and Weathered Wood Distress Paints.  








The first layer ended up far too dark for my liking, so I added more of the two blues, spritzing and drying until I was happy.











Once it was all dry, I sanded the surface of the embossing to reveal the metal tape beneath - v. cool look, I'd say!

Glancing around the craft table, I spotted a steely blue mop-up tag which was hanging out over in one corner... perfect for Umbrella Man.  
Once cut, I blended on Black Soot Distress Ink from the left to create a shadow effect.

He's stamped with grungy numbers from the Ultimate Grunge stamp set, and mounted on padded tape to create a pop of dimension.

He needed somewhere to stand, and since he's trying to work out which way he should go in life, I thought this arrow (a.k.a. a clock hand/Game Spinner) might help.












And I added some other Idea-ology bits and bobs, as well as some other metal pieces to help on the journey - Sprocket Gears and a Compass Coin, for instance.













The ChitChat stickers are edged in Black Soot and have a touch of Weathered Wood DP to add to the stormy steely bluesy look.














The topping is made with tissue tape - Commute, to co-ordinate with the embossed background - stuck to some seam binding to create a stiff ribbon, and it's tied with Paper String.











So, that's my first masculine make for you.  I'll be back later in June to share some more inspiration.  Do hop over and check out what my amazing new (to me!) team mates have created, and we hope you'll come and play Only Men Allowed some time this month.  There's a prize draw generously sponsored by Country View Crafts.

And, as I mentioned, I'll be back all too soon to play over in Our Creative Corner, with something completely different... hope to see you then!

To map out a course of action and follow it to the end requires courage.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

I'd like to enter this in the following:
One for the Boys at the Pan Pastel UK Challenge Blog
For the Guys at Allsorts

Click to go shopping at Country View Crafts:
Metal Foil Tape Sheets
Size 8 Tags
Subway and Stencil Texture Fades
Stampers Anonymous - Ultimate Grunge
Idea-ology Game Spinners, Sprocket Gears, Compass Coins
Commute Tissue Tape
ChitChat Stickers
Paper String - Solids
Umbrella Man has been discontinued - shock, horror, tears!