BE THANKFUL BLOG HOP AND TUTORIAL

Hello there!  How is your week going?

I am pleased to be a part of a joint Blog Hop for Craft Hoarders Anonymous and My Artistic Adventures. The theme for this blog hop is "THANKS" ... very appropriate for this time of year, don't you think?  Now, your project doesn't necessarily have to be about Thanksgiving, but "THANKS" needs to be included somewhere.

This will not be a blog hop where you have to go from one blog to another to get the next link.  Each of us are listing all of the designers participating and you can visit whoever, whenever. So let's get started with all of the gals participating ...

Heather Hudson of My Artistic Adventures ~ Host & Sponsor 
Gloria Stengel of Craft Hoarders Anonymous ~ Sponsor

Amber Milone of Pink Chic
Christy Butters of Creating With The Girls
 Debbie Seyer of A Peek Into My Stamping Room
 Donna Idlet of Creative Lady
Ginny Nemchak of Polly's Paper
Glenda Brooks of Magpie's Corner
Helene of 2amScrapper
Shawn of Poetry In A Pot Of Tea
Carol of Scrappy Daze
Lizette of MrsBeez
Sandi of Scrapbookin' With G
And myself...but you're already here!!

Have fun as you hop from blog to blog seeing everyone's "take" on this challenge theme.  In keeping in the spirit of using "hoarded" items to create for the Craft Hoarders challenges, everything except Heather's collage sheet images was made from stuff I have proudly hoarded and forget that I have from time to time.  (smile)

Heather Hudson of My Artistic Adventures is not only co-hosting this event but 
she is also sponsoring it with a
 $25.00 gift certificate to her Etsy Store.  

And ... she is also hosting her own sponsored challenge at her My Artistic Adventures Blog with another $25.00 gift certificate! So be sure to check out her blog for all of the details and enter it as well as this challenge!

Now...onto the "THANKS" challenge!

I will gladly share with you what I created and how I did it.

I have chosen three different collage sheets from Heather's vast array of fun images to create my little "thanks" scene that could be used in several different ways.

 

Here is my finished project featuring Heather's images, a Tim Holtz Postage Stamp Die cut frame, and several other die cuts from Simon Says Stamp and Memory Box die cuts.  This could be mounted on a canvas background to be used as a wall hanging, pieced as card fronts or as I have chosen to do here; create a little scene that can be free standing on a table. 

Here are several parts of the parts I have used in my piece. The Bingo Card, the little girl sitting next to the pumpkin and the harvest man in the moon are all Heather Hudson designs and are available in her ETSY shop.

The picket fence, postage stamp frame are Tim Holtz and the banners and tree are either Simon Says or Memory Box die cuts.

The picket fence is cut on a piece of plain grungeboard and crackled using Picket Fence Distress Paint and Gathered Twigs distressing. 

I began by die cutting three frames using Tim's Postage Stamp and middle Sized Rectangle die cut out of black chipboard.  I glued them together then I coated them with Distress Embossing Ink.  Next I sprinkled Vintage Photo Distress Embossing Powder randomly over the black inked frame and wiped away some of it with my finger, creating a random pattern of powder with black showing through.  Then I repeated this step using Tea Dye Distress Embossing Powder and heat set them to the chipboard. I absolutely LOVE the grainy texture of the frame and the almost rusted appearance of it.

I ran my finger with some gold paint from Paint Dabber over the edges of the frame to highlight the edges and give a more distinct appearance. 

Next I used Tim's smaller ray Texture Fade on my vintage Bingo card. I then highlighted the rays with the Gold Paint Dabber followed by a light topping of White Fire Treasure Gold Guilding Wax.  I also added some White Fire to the man in the moon to give him that warm, harvest glow.  I glued the Bingo card in place on the back side of the frame, pop dotted my man in the moon in place and laid my frame to the side.

Next it was time to make some little autumn leaves for my tree die cut out of brown cardstock, distressed with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and given a "moon glow" with the Gold Paint Dabber.

 

I sprayed some manila cardstock with Dylusions Pure Sunshine, Tangerine Dream and Postbox Red.  I also dabbed some of the punched leaves with Pine Needles Distress Ink to give them a greenish cast.

Once the leaves were punched out,  I began gluing them to the tree and the picket fence with Glossy Accents.

I decided on this banner for my "THANKS".  I cut it down to the size I needed it to be and transformed it from plain manila cardstock to flags colored with Scattered Straw topped with a touch of Rusty Hinge and the "string" is Vintage Photo Distress Marker.  I wrote "THANKS" on the flags using a small Brown Permanent Marker then covered the flags with Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint.  I also added Rock Candy to the pumpkin sitting by the little girl.

I decided to take a small battery operated tea light and add it to my scene. I painted the top of the light with Gathered Twigs Distress Paint. 

I added Tim's Tissue Tape all around the outside edge and then distressed it with Rusty Hinge.  Finally, I added some more leaves using Glossy Accents.

Once all of the elements were complete, I simply needed to glue, pop dot and put everything together.  Here is a closeup of the frame portion of my scene with the man in the moon shining his rays of light onto the tree.

Here is a photo of the tree portion of my scene, catching the moonlight as the little vintage girl sits quietly underneath resting against her pumpkin and gathering the falling leaves

And here is a photo of the finished piece without the tea light.

"THANKS" for checking out my blog and I hope that I've inspired you to join in on the fun of Heather's Blog Hop in conjunction with Craft Hoarders Anonymous' Challenge and also Heather's challenge at My Artistic Adventures.

I hope you have fun hopping around from blog to blog and that you get all sorts of "THANKS" ideas from everyone you visit!

HAVE FUN!!