Fussy and Fancy challenge #197 Shabby Chic

Oh my goodness where did September go here we are again with another Fussy and Fancy Challenge, this time our host is  Jules and she has chosen Shabby Chic as her theme ...... that is very good timing because on Monday my granddaughter Lorna has her birthday. She has just moved into her first ever house and it is very obvious her style is Shabby Chic. So here is the card I made for her using Crafters Companion Dies this time and some lovely shabby chic papers from one of their cds, I do like to mix it up and try various types of crafting .... Jack of all trades ...master of none as My old granny used to say...... back to the card:

I still love making my own flowers so the rose is one of mine but I did cheat and use some pretty bought ones too.

At the moment I am trying out something new, it's a steep learning curve for me and my waste bin gets very full but I do find Clarity's Groovi system so therapeutic, I get lost for hours at a time. I also find it satisfying as I have tried traditional parchment in the past but I was too heavy handed and too impatient, so groovi really fills the gap. Here is the card I made for Lorna's housewarming:

and a Get well card for my lovely Daughter in Law Wendy:

These are very basic some of the more expert ladies make exquisite work, but I am enjoying the process. Please enter our challenge we love to see what you have made you can find more details here

Bye for now Annie xx

F& F Challenge#195 Anything Goes Mixed Media

So another Friday another Fussy and Fancy Challenge #195, this one is hosted by my very dear friend Jo Rice whose work I have followed and admired for many years. Jo has chosen Anything goes Mixed Media.
Now this is a challenge for me, I admire Mixed Media artists and I love their work as a result I have dabbled in the past but not very successfully .....but I had to give it another go .....for Jo

I decided it was safer to keep it small so decided on a large tag. Like so many crafters I have bought many things and never used them, well for this challenge I had to crack them open .I started by giving my  tag a coat of white gesso, then a coat of one of Andy Skinner's beautiful  dark blue Deco Art fluid Acrylics and let it dry ... then applied a coat of Deco Art Crackle paste with a palette knife. The instructions said crackle would be larger and deeper the thicker you applied it,  so I tried to vary the thickness and let it dry ....then the magic happened and my mdf tag began to look like a piece of weathered old wood:

Then I made a dragonfly with Sheena's perfect partners die and stamp, used a stampendous sentiment stamp 'Dance like nobody's looking' and added some flowers and butterflies made with Tina Cox's flowers and butterflies groovi plate and suddenly I was done. Mixed Media 'my way' using some of my favourite techniques using stamps, die cutting and groovi parchment.

Fancy having a go ... it's good to challenge yourself sometimes ... Mixed media is what it says: mixing up all your tried and tested techniques in another way. You can find out more about how to enter here it couldn't be easier. We would love to see what you come up with, most of all have fun!
Bye for now xx Annie.