MY ARTISTIC ADVENTURES CHALLENGE (APRIL 2/14) EASTER (OR FLOWERS)

It's time for the 1st of Heather's monthly challenges at MY ARTISTIC ADVENTURES !  Make sure you check out what Heather, Helene, Carol and Shea are doing for this challenge - I am working with such a creative group the ideas just keep coming!

Have you been to Heather's Etsy shoppe?  Run over there and check out the goodies!  It's a great place to shake out those "crafty voices" you are hearing!

I love crafting holiday projects and chose "Easter" as the theme to go with.  I had to do a "spring twist" on the Christmas themed peat pots I have started doing.  Vintage of course!  You might notice that I get onto doing a particular project and twist it every way possible until the next project captures my imagination.  And as luck has it the Vintage Dragonfly Easter swap is altered peat pot baskets, so my little bit of fun already has a home.

I used Heather's Vintage Easter Eggs to create the main focus in my basket.   Each egg is double sided, I stuffed them with a tiny bit of cotton batting for dimension.  I used Glossy Accents Crackle and Distress Ink to age them and Stickles around the edges for more sparkle.

The base is a 3" peat pot which I painted with white gesso as my first step.  Make sure you let it dry, the peat pot will be doing the job it is supposed to do and sucking up the moisture LOL  I cut an embroidered doily apart for the next layer.  I used DST (double sided tape) to adhere the doily and ribbons.  At the bottom are two layers of trim; ruffled gingham topped with a pansy trim.  Next I punched the holes on each side (Crop A Dile) for the handle which is two chenille stems twisted together.  I trimmed the top edge of the pot with some mini purple tinsel garland (E6000 glue) for a little bit of sparkle to show through the crocheted doily which I then lined the pot with.

I have stuffed my basket with white waxy paper grass (more like the Easter grass from my childhood) some tiny speckled eggs, a chenille chick and tiny flocked flowers.  A satin ribbon bow finishes it off.

PEAT POT POPPET! - SPRING

My version of the inspiration provided by Nancy James Maxwell, if you aren't familiar with her work and SugarLump Studios...oh you are in for a treat!  A generous artist she often provides all you need to create your very own project.

Again the image I have used is from PaperWhimsy, 4" peat pot from a local nursery, a bit of floral foam (I do despise working with that stuff but nothing works better for this LOL), paper covered wire (a new discovery), a paper doily, shredded Easter grass, coloured cheesecloth, vintage millinery flowers, seam binding and my favourite Platinum and Pink Stickles. 

PANORAMIC EASTER MATCHBOX SWAP - MY CREATION!

I am so having fun with the swaps hosted by JoAnne of The Vintage Dragonfly.  I sent my creation for this swap to Kimberley of artJOYstuff.  Do check out both of their blogs for a huge dose of inspiration!  With all of the this and that going on with me these days, I didn't take a picture of my Easter matchbox before I sent it off - so the pictures (and they are better than I would do!) are courtesy of Kimberley!

We were to use the large 250 count boxes, create an Easter themed scene inside and decorate the outside cover.  The outside..

The inside ..I used a vintage postcard from my collection for the background, tucked  colored cheesecloth around the edges to simulate straw, used fussy cut chicks from another card to add dimension, added vintage millinery flowers and a lot of glitter!  For a bit of extra I put in teeny chenille chicks, a basket charm and a Purdy's (a well known BC purveyor of fine chocolate!) chocolate.

EASTER EGGS - DYED WITH SILK TIES (A LA MARTHA S)

Several years ago my daughter Allison spotted the directions for dyeing eggs using old silk ties!  I checked and you can still find the directions at Martha's website if you are interested.  These are mine from several years ago.  The yolks are just starting to rattle LOL

EASTER HANGING - USE A VINTAGE DOILY MAT!

I made this last year actually but it is one of my favorites because of  it's simplicity.  I had picked up a vintage doily hot mat.  It was pretty heavily starched and clean so I left it.  Using one of my own vintage Easter postcards and a lot of glitter, I made a new center piece for it.  Some vintage satin ribbons and an old brooch finish this piece off.

JAPANESE CHIYOGAMI PAPER COVERED EGGS!

I have absolutely fallen in love with  Japanese Chiyogami papers!  Three of us gathered last weekend to learn from our crafty friend Kay Zywicki,  how to cover eggs with these delicious papers.  Thank you Kay for a wonderful introduction to the Chiyogami papers, letting  me take my pick from your stash, sharing your pattern and being oh so patient with us!  E-mail me if you would like the pattern (it really is the magic that makes this work so well!) and a bit of direction!   I bought these egg ornaments in this divided box which I couldn`t resist covering with a piece of faux bois patterned paper and a bit of washi tape.

COLLAGED EGGS - EASTER BASKET TAGS!

I had so much fun with these.  A couple of quiet hours pawing through my scrap box, looking for ribbon bits and glitter - always glitter!  The backing for these are some egg shaped coasters I scooped out of a hotel room but you could easily draw an egg shape and use any sturdy cardboard or stock you have around.  These are about 5.5 inches high.  Trace onto pp, stack these and cut a ``crack`` with pinking shears - then mix and match!

 These are for McLean, Lucy, Liam, Phoebe, Olivia and Madison who are all 5 and under so nothing too delicate or fussy!

"TRY OUR FRESH EGGS" - GINGERSNAP CREATIONS VISITING ARTIST SUBMISSION

The last of my four submissions as one of the Visiting Artists for February at Gingersnap Creations  The challenge this week is to use Jewel Colours with Gold.  Ruby, amethyst, sapphire and topaz for me!

Why don't you check out the site and considering submitting your own project? 

What an honour it is to be participating at Gingersnap Creations this month.  I consider this to be the go to site to check out the work of  an extremely talented design team (past and present), interesting challenges and  wide variety of technique tutorials.

I used an 8x10 piece of chipboard to freehand my egg shape.  This is covered with a vintage sheet of music, which I inked with Milled Lavender and Concord Distress Inks.  I used several different colors of glitter glues to create lines of sparkly color on the sheet music.  A couple pieces of vintage yellow ric rak, amethyst velvet ribbon, purple pansy trim and red Bloomers create the base for my image and "garden". The edging is some red vintage gathered lace and teeny gold ric rak which I had in my stash.   The title and dragonfly are K&C0 (thanks Heather!).  The title comes from the milk bottle top (copy) I used in the "garden".