Thursday 3 March 2011

Art Journey Challenge

I saw the latest Art Journey challenge on Paula's blog and thought it would be a fun one to play along with. It's been set by Jo and is called "You used WHAT?" - the idea being to use something you wouldn't usually use as part of stamping or inking your design.

My entry is just for fun, not for the prize draw since although my stamp is an Art Journey design it's the cover-mount freebie from Craft Stamper Magazine (March 2010 issue).

I used a piece of netting from a produce bag (Christmas-time tangerines, I suspect - it was a bit I saved in my "might be useful" stash of stuff!). I taped it to my cutting mat to stop it moving around while I sponged ink over the top of it to make my background piece.

I added some starfish and used alpha stamps to stamp the word "dream" along one edge, added a swoosh of colour with some watersoluable pastels and then added the image of the girl (coloured with a mixture of Copics and the same pastels). The top left corner is raised up on foam pads.

A couple of lines of wonky machine stitching and a collection of gems, jump rings, washers etc finish it off. The grey cardstock for the mat is a soft pearlised/metallic one, not sure if the photo really shows that up. I really must remember not to use that silver thread again though - I lost count of how many times the top thread snapped while I was doing this and no amount of twiddling with the tension made any difference!

Stamps:
Craft Stamper magazine freebie (designed by Art Journey)
My Type alpha stamps (Ma Vinci's Reliquary)
Starfish from Seaside set (Crafty Secrets)

Paper:
Black
Stardream pearlised (I think this is the Quartz colour)
Smooth white

Ink:
Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass, Stormy Sky, Chipped Sapphire)
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)

Other:
Netting bag
Neocolour II Watersoluable pastels by Caran d'Ache
Copic marker
Sewing machine and silver thread
Mother of pearl button
Washer
Jump rings
Gems
Irridescent "bubbles" (2mm no hole glass bead)


Thanks for stopping by - if you have Art Journey stamps, I'm sure the team would love to see what unusual objects you can find to create with for the challenge.

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ingenius (why didnt I think of that!) Just a truly beautiful cards....you do this style so well.

Effie said...

Love that background.... I must try that!

Sue said...

Super idea for a background and the colour is just right.
Sue x

Rika said...

Fabulous card,
I love the background!

Hazel said...

This is lovely - I tried to use some of that for stamping once, but couldn't get it right - yours is perfect x

Kathy said...

What a fab mix of "stuff" you used for this Joanne - the net bag effect is really lovely, what a great idea!

Caroline said...

Great use of a net bag which is usually just thrown away - looks really effective!

Hearts Turned said...

So beautiful, Joanne! Love your "wonky" stitching lines--that's the only way I know how to do it!

Hope your day is wonderful, my friend!

Julie

hazel said...

Gorgeous card, I love the background, what a great idea.
xxx Hazel.

Hillie said...

Wonderful this background. Great idea!

Willy said...

Great idea and fabulous card! Thanks for joining us at AJC # 7.

Jo Capper-Sandon said...

What a fabulous effect Joanne. Thanks for joining in with the AJS#7 chasllenge :0)

Kaz said...

Fabulous card Joanne. It's amazing how you can make a fruit net so classy!!!! xx

Vicky Hayes said...

What a brilliant idea to use the netting for your background - it works beautifully.

Scrappy~Sarah said...

Gorgeous, love the feeling that this gives

Karen said...

Wow, doesn't that netting make a fabulous background? Gorgeous work as always xxx

Minxy said...

Great to see you put your free stamps to good use,the card is fab x i always forget about mine!

Orsolina said...

Fantastisch.

NETTI said...

This is lovely!

scrappychica said...

just jumping in to say that this card is amazing, it is very inspiring and uplifting. I am floored at the amzing effect of the mesh bag and colors. tfs
p.s is the thread you used "metallic?" if so the breaking can be do to the needle, I just learned in a sewing class that metallic threads require a metallic needle. :-)

Anonymous said...

Your card is really beautiful Joanne, I love the background, & the little collection of washers etc. look great! xx

Sue said...

A beautiful card, fabulous idea to use the netting, and the stitching really sets it off x

Sija said...

Great idea and fabulous card! Thanks for joining us at AJC # 7.

Silvia(Barnie) said...

Wow, that's fantastic, wonderful background and colours.