Monday, June 22, 2015

{Introducing the New Mixed Media Card Challenge Designers}

I'm excited to introduce our newest mixed media card artists! These 7 ladies will be joining the mixed media card challenge design team beginning July. Check out their blogs -- you'll be wowed and inspired by their creations! Needless to say, the current team and I are looking forward to having them!


BECCA CRUGER
"I've been a crafter my whole life but started my blog, the Damsel of Distressed Cards, just under a year ago. The inspiration and camaraderie I've found in the blogosphere keeps my crafty ideas flowing! I'm from the frosty wasteland of North Dakota, so many of my days are spent huddled in my craft room making cards and avoiding the weather. I began my crafting journey by sitting across the table from my grandma, playing around with stamps and glitter. As I got older, I discovered Distress Inks and I've never looked back! My cards are eclectic and I like playing around with many different styles of art. No matter what aesthetic I'm working in, though, my designs are usually filled with texture and saturated with color."


LEE-ANNE CROSS
"I reside in Regina, Saskatchewan Canada with my ever-supportive hubby of 40 years and adorable border collie. We’re so very blessed to have one grown son who lives in the same city. Thanks to a family friend with a commercial stamp business, I’ve been an avid stamper for 30 years (gasp!) and love to work with all types of media. When I’m not in my studio creating, you can find me in my garden, or reading a book."


LYSA COLLINS
"Hello, I am Lysa (like Melissa without the "ma"). I currently reside in Washington State, USA. I have lived in the beautiful Pacific Northwest my whole life and I cannot imagine living anywhere else. I have been crafting pretty much my whole life, starting at the age of 5 with my grandmother. I found a love for paper crafting about 12 years ago when I made my very first scrapbook after a trip to Disney Land. These days I dabble in all things paper such as card making, scrapbooking, and making ATCs. I love to make mini albums, alter items, and I have recently found a LOVE for mixed media crafts. Paper crafting is not just a hobby but more of an outlet for me to express who I am or how I am feeling. I love being able to help my fellow crafty friends express themselves and help make their ideas become a reality. This is why I am excited to join this wonderful team."


MELISSA DAWN LANE
"Hi! I’m Melissa Dawn Lane, Jesus follower. I'm also the incredibly blessed wife of 21 years to my best friend, Chris. We were high school sweethearts and just passed our 27 year dating anniversary. :) I'm mother to four fun and wonderful kids. S (19), I (16) H (12) and A (10). I'm a Home Educator to my 4 children and have a B.S. in Human Nutrition and Dietetics. I'm also the daughter/dil of two sets of incredibly special parents. My father is a talented artist and my Scottish mother can do just about anything, including being the most fun person I know. I grew up surrounded by paint, paper, brushes, photography, knitting, crocheting, basket-making and a variety of other arts and crafts. Both of my parents are incredibly gifted artist/crafters in their own ways. For years I have loved gardening, photography, cooking international cuisines and organizing anything and everything! Over the past 20 years, as a military wife, I have enjoyed these pursuits in many locations around world. Chris and I hail from the state of Maine in the U.S.A."


MICHAELA SVATOSOVA
"I'm young woman living in Prague, Czech republic, with my boyfriend and our dog, Lajka. Scrapbooking and cardmaking have been my hobbies for the past 5 years and I love it! My nickname is MS Design. I love the colour pink, flowers, and butterflies on cards :)"


TENIA NELSON

"Hello, my name is Tenia Nelson and I am a 30-something wife, momma, doggie momma, jazz pianist, music teacher, soccer player and paper crafter that lives in the 5280 (Denver, CO)! I am married to a wonderful guy named Tim, I am momma to my awesome son Thelonious (Theo), and I have two wonderful doggie "kids" Miles and Brillo. I love me some paper, inks, paint, stencils, stamps and embellishments...and just LURVE to create! I have been making stuff since a little girl and will be doing it till well......FOREVER!"


YASMINA TIN-SANG
"I'm French and I live in Reunion Island (Indian Ocean). I'm a 40-year-old stay-at-home mother of three children (Maurane, 15; Manon, 14; and Mathis, 5) and I've been married to Eric for 17 years. I discovered scrapbooking in 2009 and it become my one and only hobby! I can't stop! I don't have a unique style because I love trying new things. I love making cards and layouts, and I have been art journaling since last year."

Challenge #12 {A Couple More Inspiration Cards}


A little over 3 days left in this month's challenge. Have you linked up your collage-inspired mixed media cards yet? Share them here.

Sanna are Maria F. are sharing their mixed media cards today. Check out their awesome creations!




Monday, June 15, 2015

Challenge #12 {More Inspiration Cards}



A little over 10 days left in this month's challenge. Have you linked up your collage-inspired mixed media cards yet? Share them here.

Sanna, Shirley, Julia, and Lyndal are sharing their mixed media cards as inspiration.

Card #1

Card #2




A collage of patterned paper, stickers, metal game spinners and a flash card. I used a Stabilo pencil to 'frame' the card panel and stickers.


A collage of bits and pieces left over from previous cards with stamps, die-cuts and fussy cutting.

Monday, June 8, 2015

Challenge #12 {Inspiration Cards}


Hey, mixed media card artists! We'd love to see your gorgeous collage-inspired cards in the gallery so if you've got one (or some), link 'em up here!

Sanna and Lyndal have awesome mixed media cards to share and get you inspired. Check them out!





Friday, June 5, 2015

MMCC Design Team Call Update

Just a short update: I'm running a bit behind and will be contacting the new design team members on Monday :o)

In the meantime, we'd love to see your collage-inspired mixed media cards! Link up here.

Have a wonderful, inky weekend! :o)

Monday, June 1, 2015

The Mixed Media Card Challenge #12 {Collage}

Hello, June! Welcome to our 12th challenge! It's amazing how the year has flown by. Next month, we're entering our second year. Thank you so much to everyone who has made our little mixed media card challenge blog a success. This challenge is a little bittersweet, as 5 of the original design team members are stepping down: Char, Deepti, Jan, Loll, and Lyndal. They'll be sharing their last mixed media cards in this challenge. I and the rest of the mixed media card girls are going to miss them. Thank you so much, ladies, for being part of this team! 

As we say goodbye, we're going to be saying hello to 5 8 new mixed media card artists in July. So thank you so much to those who expressed interest in becoming part of the design team. I will be contacting our new recruits this Friday :o)

For June, our theme is "COLLAGE". Show us your collage-inspired mixed media cards. "Frame" is an optional element.



HOW TO PLAY
1. Create a mixed media CARD based on the theme, with or without the optional element.
2. Display the challenge graphic on your blog post and link back to this challenge post.
3. You may enter as many times as you want, as long as each entry is different.
4. You may combine a maximum of 7 challenges (6 other challenges plus ours).
5. Submit your projects by June 25, 11:55 p.m. PDT (GMT-7).
6. We'll announce the winner and highlights on June 30.


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So how did the design team interpret the theme?  Take a look at the cards below. We hope they inspire you to play along with us! We look forward to seeing your beautiful cards!

Cabinet Card Frame distressed with ink and embossing powder; Found Relatives photo card colorized with Distress Markers; Mirrored Stars, Word Band and Arrow colored with Alcohol Ink.
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Diecuts, tissue, gold pearl texture paste, washi tape, gold thread.
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Magazine and book pages, produce net, texture paste with stencil, embossing.
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Stamps, archival ink, stencils, embossing paste, found natural materials-bark, flowers ferns, Krylon make it acid free, handmade paper with string and paper with bark, gel media, acrylic paint, Inka gold and microbeads.
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Stencil Monoprint background on mixed media paper using sprays and honeycomb stencil. Collage stamping with script background, flowers and bees.
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Woodgrain background paired with stenciled texture paste and all the die cut elements to dress up the card makes for my mixed media card.
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Layered stamping with pigment and dye inks, water- colouring, stitching, buttons, charm and lace
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Patterned Paper pieces glued down than drybrushed paint over the top, then I used different stencils with molding paste that I colored
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Dylusions paints in on background. Ripped paper collaged over the painted background. Stamps and doodling over it all. Stamped the butterfly and colored with watercolors.
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Felt, dictionary paper, button and thread flowers, wood veneer birdcage, copper medallion,
Crate Paper Lemongrass diecuts, Lil Davis "treasure" and MME sentiment stickers.
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Blue, green and white Distress paints in the background, mixed together with water. Fish hand-cut and decorated with black and grey markers, see weeds die-cut from blue and green cardstock. Old book page strips inked and glued down with gel medium.
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A piece of watercolor paper covered with old border stickers, silver ribbon and pieces of patterned paper. Then added a layer of pastel green (chalk) in dauber over that layer. Next stamped randomly with black ink here and there. After that added some Glimmer Mist here and there. After that ran thru Big Shot to cut the frame form. Next applied some black Glimmer Glaze and glued down on the card base. Finally, added the puffy sticker sentiment and some enamel dots and some doodling around the edges.
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A friendly reminder: We are a CARD challenge, therefore please only submit card projects (no layouts, altered projects, ATCs, etc.). Non-card projects will be deleted.

May Challenge Winner and Highlights

Hey, mixed media card artists! The May gallery had 80 amazing wings-inspired mixed media cards. Thank you so much for playing! :o) Time to announce the winner and highlights.

Here's the mixed media card that the design team voted as the winner:

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Congratulations, Yasmina! Please grab your winner badge below to display proudly on your blog.


And now here are the highlights. The girls in the design team picked an entry to highlight. It's the entry that uniquely impacted us in some way -- a specific technique that was used, the colors, the creativity, or something in it that touched or impacted us.

Elina's highlight: #2 Robyn Oliver
Elina says, "Beautiful combination of soft watercoloured background and gorgeous stamped and layered butterflies."


Jenny's and Shirley's highlight: #24 Lee-Anne
Jenny says, "I love the dramatic look of the black flowers on the vibrant background and the touches of foil for bling!"
Shirley says, "I love the drama of the black-stencilled flowers, which make all the other colours really pop."

Julia's and Sanna's highlight: #30 Samra
Julia says, "Love the beautiful color on butterfly and bow and her touches of metal with word band and butterfly "arrow' body!"
Sanna says, "This card just jumped out of the gallery right away. I love the colored seam binding in combination with the beautiful pink butterfly. The background, the metal accents and the pink details work together so well. Such a beautiful card!!!"

Maria F.'s highlight: #39 Catchy Design
Maria says, "Deepti's card brought a smile to my face. Those butterflies tumbling out of the mason jar, how sweet. And those spots of bright colors, how cheerful."

Char's and Jan's highlight: #51 DeeZigner
Char says, "Absolutely beautiful colors, layers  and dimension."
Jan says, "Wonderful use of scraps and color to create many artistic layers of texture and dimension."

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Deepti's highlight: #54 Yasmina T.
Deepti says, "A beautiful mix of colors and elements, love her card!"

Kripa's highlight: #64 LauraJane
Kripa says, "The lovely bright flowers are the perfect background for the kookaburra. The little hints of turquoise adds subtle contrast."

Loll's highlight: #77 Irma Tirza
Loll says, "Love the combination of beautiful colours and all the fantastic texture and depth.  Gorgeous creation, Irma!"

Congratulations, ladies! Grab your badge below to display proudly on your blog.


Get your artsy supplies together and check back in a few hours for the June challenge. We'd love to see your mixed media cards!

Be artsy. Be messy. Be creative! :o)