Cricut Monthly Challenge - Mixed Media Maddness

 

Each month we will announce a new Monthly Challenge. The challenges are designed to inspire you to stretch your creative wings. Have fun with it! You will have the entire month to create a project for the challenge. The project must meet the challenge requirements in order for your name to be entered into the prize drawing.

MARCH MONTHLY CHALLENGE: Creative Sharing Challenge!

March is National Craft Month. Whenever I think about my hobbies, I am so grateful for the opportunity to express myself creatively. It’s a great way to decompress from daily life and feel productive while I create art that means something to me, my family, or the people around me. This month, we want you to display your passion for your craft by creating a piece of wall art to display in your home, office, or wherever! The topic can be whatever you wish . . . just use your craftiness to make something you can display and share with others.
The WINNER of this challenge will receive a $150 Credit to Cricut.com!

The Challenge: Create a piece of wall art (canvas, art board, sign, vinyl directly on wall, framed art, shadow box, etc.). Use at least three colors.
Rules and Guidelines: Circle Blog Challenges are open to Cricut Circle Members only. Your project must be newly created for this challenge and include at least 2 Cricut Image Cuts. You must submit a project to be entered into the Challenge Prize Drawing.
How to Enter: Submit your entry using the InLinkz tool found at the bottom of this post. Please post your full name along with your entry. Entries are due by 9:00 pm MST on Saturday, March 31st, 2012.
Prize: This month the winner will receive $150.00 in credit to Cricut.com.

Hi Friends and Fellow Crafters! And now for something completely different! Today I am posting a project that is really unusual for me, a mixed media project. I have always loved seeing this type of art, but it's the first time I have ever created something like this. I thought about trying to do a mixed media project a couple of years ago when I picked up a magazine called Cloth Paper Scissors. I went out and bought a package of 2 11x14 canvases that promptly went into the black hole that is my stash and sat untouched until I saw the monthly challenge. LOL!
I originally misread the challenge rules and thought that I could only use 3 colors. I had the idea to use the word "Create" and wanted to use the paper on the letters as my inspiration colors. I was able to make the letters easily, then couldn't figure out how to incorporate my ideas with only the 3 colors, then I went back to the challenge a few days ago, re-read the requirements and was thrilled to see it was to use "at least" 3 colors. That opened the creative gates for me and I went back to work on the project.

Here are the details: 

Machines:

Cricut E-2 and Gypsy

Cricut Carts :

Letter Envy (Create and Swirls)

Cricut Alphabet (Birds)

Hannah Montana (Music Notes)

Live Simply (Butterflies and Dragonfly)

Graphically Speaking (Arrow)

Sweethearts (Scalloped Heart)

Paisley (Small and Large Green Hearts)

Cupcake Wrappers (Butterflies)

All The Rest:

Tim Holtz Small Rosette

Idea-ology Adage Tickets

Idea-ology Numerals

Idea-ology Corners

Idea-ology Tissue Wrap - Composer and Terminology

Idea-ology Grunge Paper

Jenni Bowlin Bingo Card

Stampotique Artsy Flower Stamp

Stampin' Up Melon Mambo Ink

Assorted Stash Items

Ranger Alcohol Ink

Twinkling H2O Paints

K&Company Paper - Brenda Walton Mira

Martha Stewart - Coarse Glitter and Decoupage Gel

Ranger Glossy Accents

Ranger Stickles (blue)

Hot Glue Gun

So if you finished reading the supplies I used and are still here, Thank You for sticking around. LOL!

I can't believe I squeezed so much on to one canvas!

I started by painting the canvas with the Twinkling H2O watercolors, but didn't like how it looked. I went back to my stash and found the Tim Holtz Idea-ology tissue paper and started tearing away! It was so much fun to decoupage the papers on the canvas.

I painted the Twinkling H2Os Wild Blueberry, Ocean Wave, Pink Azalea, and Sunflower again on the papers. I sealed it with the Decoupage Glue and sprinkled some Martha Stewart Coarse glitter on it. If you look closely, you can see where I stamped an image from Stampotique in the upper corner. I was going to stamp more images on the canvas, but was unsure if I liked how it looked. I think I will brave that territory again in the future, but for right now, I'll wait. LOL! I dug into my stash and pulled out some Grunge Paper that I must have had for well over a year. I used the Grunge Paper to cut the shadow. I used a multi-cut of 2 on them. I painted them with Ocean Wave Twinkling H2O. For anyone wondering about cutting Grunge Paper on their Expression, it cuts smooth as silk. Now that I finally used it on a project, I'm hooked!

The papers are all the from the same K&Company Paper stack. One thing I learned by trial and error is to cut thin top layer of the letters on speed 1. I wrecked a couple of pieces of papers trying to cut the layer on speed 3. Once I finished the letters, I added Blue Stickles

 I also cut 4 music notes using the Grunge Paper and painted them. This time, I decided to cover them with paper, so I cut them again with my Cricut and adhered the K&Company paper to the Grunge paper using my Ranger Glossy Accents. I had a green heart Cricut cut sitting on my craft table from some other project that I decided to use as an anchor for a music note. I painted the heart with Ocean Blue Twinkling H2O and adhered them with Glossy Accents. The little arrow in the corner is from Graphically Speaking and was a saved cut that was laying around. The glittered swirls above the birds are leftovers from the 50th Birthday Party Banner. The little chipboard heart on the bottom corner that says "Joy" dates back to 2007 when I began crafting. I bought a pack of Chipboard embellishments in AC Moore that this was included in. It finally found a project! :-)

Once I found the little heart, I started asking myself what else have I been saving for something special? I went to a box with Idea-ology supplies and pulled out a few packages of unopened goodies. I decided to add the number 17 somewhere since that is my birth date. I inked the numbers with Alcohol Inks and glazed them with 3D Crystal Lacquer, then sprinkled more Coarse Glitter on them. I had the rosette on my table and the time piece that I used as the center is from a pack of clock pieces I bought from Making Memories. I went to my stash keeper and pulled out this draw.

Look at those goodies! Everything in this draw was from an eBay auction that cost me 4.00 plus 1.50 for shipping. I "won" them over 3 years ago. At the time, I had no clue what to do with most of the stuff, I think I wanted it because of the keys. I started to build a corner on the canvas. I used a Jenni Bowlin Bingo card, a couple of scraps from the K&Company paper, the rosette, a clip from my draw and a butterfly cut from Cupcake Wrappers that I adhered with pop dots.

I added a couple of hearts to the corner where I stamped the Artsy Flower and added an arrow from the what was now becoming a "go to" draw for the project. Then I found the two book plates in the draw and decided to use them. I inked a couple of Idea-ology Adage Tickets and used hot glue to add them to the canvas.

Finally, I added the butterflies and dragonfly to the letters. They are covered with Coarse Glitter. I added the Idea-ology corners to the canvas and signed it.

This was a blast to create! It was messy and sticky! I was covered in glitter and paint, but I can honestly say it was fun and liberating. Even better, everything was from my stash!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Happy Crafting!

Colleen