Friday 1 April 2016

Spring Is In The Air for A Vintage Journey

Hi everyone. It's time for a new challenge at A Vintage Journey. This month, the lovely Sandy is our host and here's what she has to say:

Leave those winter blues behind. Make anything which says SPRING using pastel colours. It is your choice: a card, canvas, 3D, a card or a tag etc. Please remember it should be in one or more of the following styles we favour: shabby,vintage, mixed media, art journalling, industrial or steampunk.

I always associate little lambs, chicks, bunnies and gorgeous flowers (which brighten our gardens and hedgerows after the winter) with Spring. I decided to make an ATB for my project. (Thanks to the lovely Anne Redfern who sent me some ATB's as die cuts many moons ago!).

Here's my Spring inspired ATB:


A super sweet vintage scene with the little girl, lambs, bunnies (playing trumpets!) and some gorgeous spring inspired blooms.


I made a rusty fence from two die cut pieces of grunge paper.



The little girl image is printed from Pinterest then stuck onto card. She's fussy cut, sealed with matte medium then given a coat of crackle glaze to age her. The edges are inked and some raw umber acrylic paint has highlighted some of the cracked areas.


Her hat was a little bare so I added a small crackled flower with a gem to pretty it up.


The bunnies were found on Pinterest too. To give a good group of them, I printed out two bunnies as they came but flipped the image to get two facing in the opposite direction. They then received the same treatment as the little girl.


Die cut leafy stems were stuck onto the shape after constructing. A layer of gesso was applied. Four faces of the ATB were layered with DecoArt fluid acrylic green gold paint. Next came dry brushing in two colours to tone the green down a little. This was followed by some stencilling with DecoArt chalky paint in a toning green shade. The flower stems are dry brushed with gold metallic fluid acrylic then everything is give a coat of crackle glaze. The gorgeous lamb image was made in the same way as described before and also came from Pinterest.


The stencilling which gives a lovely vintage look to the sides and echoes those wonderful Spring green shades.


Little die cut leafy stems for the flower blooms to sit on.


Four feet are made out of silver beads which are given some colour using a DecoArt Metallic Lustre cream. The edges of the block are finished by applying some jute string to unify the look of the edges.


The tiny blooms are punched from scraps of gelli plate prints. They are given a layer of crackle. some inked edges and a little raw umber fluid acrylic highlights the crackle. Each flower is then shaped with the end of a paint brush, glued together and finished with a toning stick on gem.


The top of the block is painted as before but without stencilling. To complete the look I've added some real moss collected whilst walking my dog and a range of blooms all made as before. Love how the little girl's feet look as if she's stood in the grass amongst the flowers.

So there you have it - an almost cute little project from me but still with enough grunge to hopefully give it some street cred!!

You really must pop over to A Vintage Journey and see the beautiful projects made by my teamies - you will absolutely love them! 

Our generous sponsor this month is Country View Crafts who have kindly donated a £20 voucher for the winner of this challenge. you need to be in it to win it remember!! You could also be one of our Pin Worthy mentions so it really is worth linking up and having a play with us.

Thanks so much for popping by. If you are interested in any of the techniques and/or products I used for this project please just drop me an email and I'll do my best to answer you as soon as possible.

This is one of two posts I'm sharing today. If you'd like to see the other post, please click here.

17 comments:

  1. I share your love of lambs and rabbits (and ATB's too!!) and this piece is an absolute delight that really shouts 'Spring is here'. The crackling is fabulous and gives a wonderful vintage feel to your piece - beautiful, really beautiful Julia!! Hugs, Anne xx

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  2. Fabulous Julia! The wonderful crackled surface really looks like vintage porcelaine ! Toni x

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  3. What a wonderful spring project! Julia The images are delightful and I love how you have aged them all with crackle. Along with all your other crackle surfaces and elements you have created a lovely vintage scene .
    have a lovely weekend x

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  4. Oh so many wonderful spring themed elements on your box Julia. The rusty fence is divine and the crackled lamb just stunning. But as a whole, it just shouts spring! Have a wonderful weekend and looking forward to seeing you the following weekend. Jennie x

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  5. What an adorable springtime ATB. I love the vintage crackle on the image and the flowers, and the rusty fence looks amazing. Fab twine edging and very cool beaded feet - love it!
    Alison x

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  6. Oh my gosh Julia, what can I say, this is amazing! Love each and every detail from the perfectly rusted fence to the crackle glaze on all of those wonderful vintage images and flowers to the bead feet and jute trim! Gorgeous, thank you so much for sharing it! Deb xo

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  7. Street cred galore in this piece Julia. I just adore this fabulous 3D project full of wonderful imagery, gorgeous colour and amazing techniques, it truly sings to me and has refired in me an excitement for vintage printables. I love the scene of the sweet girl and rabbits and then to crackle them and the flowers is pure inspiration and so clever. I love it.
    Enjoy your weekend.
    Hugs Brenda xxx

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  8. This is totally adorable and fabulous Julia. Love the images - they are the very assents of spring. Thanks for sharing your talents with us. Sandy xx

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  9. Oh Julia this is one of the most gorgeous ATBs I have seen in a long time!! The cracked vintage images are such a delight and that rusty fence is just brilliant! It sings Spring to me and is so beautifully put together, love it and am so glad Alison managed to sort out the link issue! xxx

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  10. Beautiful Spring ATB and very sweet of Anne to send you those die cuts. You made great use of the die and this does have some good street cred. So many wonderous techniques ised and all of that crackle is awesome sauce! Really enjoy the bunnies! Totes adorbs and fantabulous design! ~Niki

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  11. Spring on a box! LOVE this Julia - the crackle, the cutest lambs, and even moss! You've got it all here and it's wonderful xx

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  12. Hi Julia - what a fabulous creation. I am in love, really in love with your crackled flowers! The whole project is just full of wonderful details. xxx

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  13. What a wonderful ATB, Julia! So lovely designs and the textures! Fantastic!

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  14. Precious and fabulous in every way! LOVE that crackle!!!

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  15. Wow Julia, you would think this is an old porcelain ornament with all that wonderful crackle. Stunning project, amazing rusty fence and lovely details.
    Julie x

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  16. This ATB has a great vintage vibe to it. The crackle on your bunnies and the little girl really adds a lot. Your project is very appealing.

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  17. Julia, this is just amazing! I love the bunnies, the crackle and OOOOOOH!!!! The RUSTY fence! I would love to have this spring time ornament in my home--it is a work of art! Hugs!

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Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. Juliax