March Already!!!! What happened to February! LOL!

Happy March Everyone!

I want to Thank you all for being so patient,

as I said in the last Blog Post, we have

a ATC Challenge coming, but somehow

between that post and this post, things got 

a little crazy in my life!

On a personal note, those of you who know me,

know that I have a 'zoo' in my home, and outside

of my home! Well, we've had an emergency a

week ago, with our dear dog Oliver Howard:(

In a 24 hour period of time last week we ended up at the Vet's Clinic, ( a Fabulous Clinic here in Victoria, B.C. that we have been clients of for nearly 25 years, Juan de Fuca Veterinary Clinic, You guys Rock!!!), which ended up the next day with Emergency Dental Surgery for Dear Oli and a diagnosis of Bladder Stones!

If you look at this above picture of our Beautiful Boy...this is

what he looked like when we brought him home:(

Poor swollen face:(

They even took a top fang!!!

He's been resting on pain med's 

since last week and is coming along fine, 

a new prescription diet and we'll see 

what happens in the coming weeks about 

the Bladder Stones...ouch I hope they pass!

(Luckily they're really tiny on the x-ray, so

we're fingers crossed that we caught it all

really early, and the diet will turn this around:).

Anyway my apologies to you all for being so

late with this post....but with a little face like 

that, it's no wonder my life stood still for awhile:)

(and believe me, the other two 'elderly ones' sucked 

as much sympathy as dear Oliver was getting to boot! LOL!

But's that's another whole story!)

So here we are March 3rd already!!!

So are you all ready for another

ATC SWAP CHALLENGE

and

Gift Certificate Giveaway?

As a Guest Designer for

www.Melissa Samuels.net

It's my absolute pleasure to launch

another

Co-Hosted 

ATC Swap Challenge

and this time

Gift Certificate Giveaway!

Woo Hoo!!! LOL!

When Melissa and I Hosted the last 

ATC Challenge that Highlighted her 

Fabulous Assortment of Products

for making ATC's, it was so much fun to 

Swap the Winning ATC's with you all

that I decided to do this again! 

So here's the Skinny! (grin)

The 'Theme' for this 

ATC Challenge is

'SWEET'

Which could be anything!

With Easter coming it could mean desserts, candy, or

it could mean cute animals, or anything that you

think is SWEET:)

So get those thinking caps on, and lets begin and 

here's what will happen!

Before Friday March 23rd, 2012

Email pictures of your

ATC Challenge Entries

to me at

GIMPY@telus.net

You can submit up to 3 Entries,

 as I'll be using a 

Random Generator

to pick...

5 ATC Entries 

as the 

ATC Swap Winner's

who will be swapping

ATC's with me.

Then leave a Comment 

here on this post to be

Entered!

(You don't have to be a Google Follower,

but sure would appreciate if you'd sign

on as one!)

The 5 ATC Swap Challenge Winners

will have their 

ATC's Highlighted in a 

Future Blog Post here

on 

Birdnuts Mixed Media:)

 

along with swapping the 

ATC Winning Entries by mail,

I'll be sending along

an ATC that I've made with

some 'Extra' Goodies from

Melissa Samuels Shop

to encourage you to make 

more ATC's:)

( I'm really hoping you all will find this

fun, as I'd like to do this every once in

awhile as it's so much fun for me, and

I so Enjoy Co-Hosting with Melissa:)

But wait!

The 5 ATC 

Swap Challenge Winner's 

are the one's that

I will use a Random Generator

to pick 1 Winner of the

$25.00 Gift Certificate Giveaway

to 

Melissa Samuels Shop!!!

Woo Hoo!!!

So there ya go!

Email a picture of your Entry

(or up to 3 Entries!), and

Leave a Comment on this Post

that you're Entered by 

Friday March 23rd, 2012

and on 

Saturday, March 24th, 2012

the Swap Winners will be

Announced and the

Winner of the 

$25 Gift Certificate to 

www.MelissaSamuels.net

Will also be Announced!

(By emailing photo's of your ATC Swap

Entries, it will speed up the Giveaway

as the mail service to Canada takes so long,

also it gives me your return Email address 

so I can notify you when the Winner's are chosen,

I will include my mailing address to the 5 Swap

Winner's to mail their Winning ATC's to me

for the return Swap and Extra Goodies and

to give you a head's up on the Highlighted Blog

Post of all the Winner's ATC's once they've arrived!:)

So in the meantime...here's a quick mini tutorial 

I made (sorry it's a short one, with taking care

of the dog and all! LOL)

Using ATC Base Card Stock from

Melissa's Shop

and a little Gel Medium I took beautiful

paper napkins and peeled away the layers

to give me just the printed image on the

top layer. I glued them down carefully to

not tear the image, using the Gel Medium

to the card base:)

Then using Mr. Tim's :)

Tim Holtz 'Distress Stain' Picket Fence

I lightly covered the napkin graphic to

soften the graphic for a background.

Then using a variety of graphics that I

have from a Fabulous Assortment of

Companies that I occasionally Highlight

here on Birdnuts Mixed Media, here's a 

couple of examples of what I made using

this technique:)

I also like to use the ATC's in other ways

other than just swapping, as I do an assortment

of different sized journals, and one of my favourites

is a mini moleskin journal,

which I mounted the ATC on the journal page:)

Here's another one I mounted in my mini journal

using the same series of napkin based ATC's

With this one I didn't use the Picket Fence

Distress Stain, but instead used a Script Stamp

to embellish the napkin image, and then

mounted in my mini-journal:)

So there ya go Everyone!!!

Get to making those ATC Swap Challenge

ATC's and send me those pictures via Email and

leave the Comment on this Blog Post 

so we can get on with choosing the Winner's!!!

Thanks Everyone!!!

Enjoy!!!

Tutorial Cigar Box Assemblage Giveaway Winner!

Hi Everyone:)

Well here it is almost the end of February, and I'm 

feeling like, 'where is this year flying off to!'

Wasn't it just Christmas? LOL!!

The weather here in Victoria, B.C. Canada is

still like the Winter, cold, rainy, but I noticed

yesterday bulbs poking their heads up in my 

yard and pots. So I guess there is still hope

of Spring! 

So here we are, about to 

Announce the Winner

of the

'Cigar Box Assemblage'

Tutorial Piece that I made for

Shabby Cottage Studios:)

But in the mail last week, 

a bit of unfinished business to attend to first!

When I Hosted the 

ATC Challenge

with 

Melissa Samuels

I chose 5 Winners to Swap ATC's with

for the Tutorial ATC's I made for the Post:)

Well by the time the Blog Post was to be done,

one of the Winner's ATC still hadn't arrived.

Typical for the Postal Service to be late!

(but that's a whole different story! LOL)

So a bit late, but really so pleased to receive!

Annie's ATC

Isn't this Fabulous!!! 

I squealed when I opened the pack, as this

is so beautiful!!

And she sent it with this Fabulous Card to boot!

All the way from the U.K.!

Annie has a blog at

www.anniesatticroom.blogspot.com

So make sure you pop by and sign on 

with Annie, as she's really a creative and

talented soul!!!

Thanks so much Annie for Entering and

sending the ATC!! Love it!!!

Just to refresh your memory, (or mine! LOL)

I made this 'Cigar Box Assemblage' Tutorial

Piece for my Blog Post with 

Shabby Cottage Studios:)

And it was so kind of you all to show such interest

and to Enter to Win the Tutorial Piece:)

I really took great pleasure that you all

enjoyed it enough to Enter:)

So with Drums banging and confetti flying!!!!!

The Winner is!!!!

''''Artistamyjo''''

Woo Hoo!!!!

I will be sending an email to notify you

and to get your mailing information

to pop this into the post for you:)

Woo Hoo!!! 

Another Winner here on

Birdnuts Mixed Media!!!

As I mentioned, it's almost the end of

February, and there's so much going on

here on my Blog coming up!!

I have another

ATC Challenge Coming!!!

It was so much fun, and I loved working

with 

Melissa Samuels 

doing the Challenge,

and giving the 'Shout Out's for all the 

Winner's and their Wonderful ATC's

that I've decided to Host Another one!

Give me a couple of days more to get all the

details together, and to get all the 

prizes together to boot!

I will give you a head's up on the theme, so

you can get a head start on making up

some ATC's!!!

'Desserts and/or Sweet'

I figured not all of us covent Desserts so 

I threw in Sweet so it could encompass 

anything 'Sweet' LOL!

I'll be posting the New ATC Challenge by

next week, so do be sure to check back for

all the details and the Giveaway Goodies!!!

And in the meantime.....

A bit of Eye Candy of some Journaling 

I've been up to and a project or two....

As many of you know, I'm Deer nuts as well as

Birdnuts! LOL!

So this next project I have had in the works for

awhile, and I'm so pleased to have it finished:)

My kitchen clock died.....and I just couldn't 

bare to throw it into the recycling trash as

it was in good shape, and was 'telling' me

that it could be made into something.....

Meet 'Oh Deer Fur Bearer'

LOL!!!

I had great fun making this collage, 

and I always enjoy coming up with new

themes for using my deer photos:)

So I also followed it up with a journal page....

'Oh Deer Safe Keeper'

(grin)

I really enjoyed making this journal page

as well, as I used a few more goodies

than just regular graphics and Vintage Papers, 

as the

Watch and Cupcake 

are both

Lazier Cut-Outs

from

Retro Cafe Art Gallery!

Do check out Kristin's selection as

they're great fun to play with!!!

Well there ya go!

Thanks again to 

Everyone who Entered

the Giveaway!!!

I always appreciate you all taking the time,

and a 

Big Thank you 

to all my

Google Followers, 

as if you hadn't noticed

I now have over

300 Followers!!!

And!!!

April is my

1 Year Anniversary

of

Birdnuts Mixed Media!

Look Out!!!

There will be some 

Celebrating and Prizes

Coming!!!

(GRIN:)

So get busy on those ATC Ideas!!!

And see you in the next couple of days with

the ATC Challenge Post!!!!

Enjoy!!!

Woo Hoo! Shabby Cottage Studio Time:) :) :)

Greetings One and All

(Well it was different from Hello Everyone! LOL)

Here we are again, with one of my 

Favourite Internet Shops and the 

Lovely and Talented

Gail Schmidt

of

Shabby Cottage Studios

Who I am so proudly the

Artist in Residence for:)

Gail Offers Up a Fabulous Assortment 

of Workshops and Classes

on

Shabby Cottage Studios

by a plethora of Wonderful and Talented Artists!

And today, Gail has posted a

New Workshop Class

of her own!

'Exploring Digital Brushes

Artfully'

by 

Gail Schmidt

And to Celebrate She's put it on Sale this Week

to Introduce you all to it!!!

So please do pop on over to see the Fabulous Collection

of Workshop, Classes and Gail's New Class as well as

New Products beginning to arrive for her 

Wonderful Shop!

But in the meantime, I have a 

Brand New Tutorial

which I hope you will enjoy and to inspire you

to try some of these ideas yourselves!

Cigar Box Assemblage

by Denise Phillips

Using Products from

Shabby Cottage Studios

It may only be a few more days until 

Valentine's Day

but Love should be Year Round!!! 

(grin).

So Lets Get Started!

Using Gail's 7gypsies 'Roma' Book Covers

I wanted to come up with something a little 

different than what would come to mind first

off in using them.

I love using them to make Mini-Books, Cards even!

Backgrounds for wall displays but this is what

I chose to do this time....

Gail also sent me these 2 wonderful 

New Products 

Maya Road 'Vintage' Wood Doily's

I love these Lazier Cut Doily's!!

And this adorable Tin Heart Pan!!!

So being the main elements used in this

Project, I had an assortment of 

Vintage Faux Pearls.

Using Ranger's Glossy Accents

I put a layer of the Glossy Accents all over

the bottom of the Tin Heart and

filled the Tin Heart with the Pearls:)

Doesn't take long for the Glossy Accents

to dry, with a not too thick layer to

adhere the pearls.

Next was the Maya Road Wood Doily

Using ('Mr. Tim's':)

 Tim Holtz 'Distress Stain' 

(which Gail also offers in her shop:)

I coloured the Wood Doily with ease.

I love these Stains, they're so easy to use!!

I then took one of my favourite Script Stamps

and using StazOn Ink Pad 

I gave a gentile stamping

of the script on the Wood Doily.

Then using Tim Holtz 'Distress Ink Pad' 

Walnut Stain I Distress Inked all the 

edges.

So now, using the 7gypsies Book Cover

and the Maya Road's Wood Doily 

I added a Tim Holtz Metal Clip

and using what I find works great if

you need a little extra bond strength 

when glueing, 

Bathroom and Kitchen Clear Caulking!

It takes longer to 'cure' actually overnight is

best to really let the caulk set up, but it's such

a 'pain free' way of gluing something that

is questionable in weight or material.

In this case it was weight, because next...

I glued the Tin Heart Pan to the Doily:)

Then playing around with a salvage edge of

a Vintage Dictionary Page, I printed with stamps,

then used Distress Ink to rough up the edges.

I cut a piece of chipboard to back the little 

banner piece, as the Dictionary salvage edge

being Vintage you can imagine how fine the

paper is. But I love the look using the

Vintage paper:)

Then using the Ranger Glossy Accents again,

I glued the little banner to the pearls in the tin.

I deliberately made the banner wider so that

when it was mounted on the cigar box it 

would 'flow over' the pan.

I had this Fabulous Vintage Cigar Box 

( a gift of an assortment of them from a friend!)

That was already lacquered in the black on the

outside, with rich details of wood on the inside

(absolutely gorgeous!!!!)

So I printed up one of Gail's Fabulous

Digital Graphic Background Sheets

'Damask'

Cut it down to size and used an edger punch to

round the corners to match the box and the

book cover to mount to it.

And while the other piece was still drying

I worked on the inside lid of the box.

Again using Gail's 'Damask' Graphic Background Sheet,

I lined the top of the lid,

(I will explain later why I didn't do the bottom:)

Then I used the other 7gypsies Book Cover 'Roma' that

came in the package, and using the Glossy Accents

glued it onto the Digital paper.

Using one of Gail's Shipping Tags from her shop, I covered

the tag with Tim Holtz Tissue Tape,

then glued it to the top of the book cover, then

Using one of Gail's wonderful charms that she

has in her shop, this one is by Blue Moon

Angel Key:)

I glued it using the Bath/Kitchen Clear 

Caulking to get a good hold:)

Again using the Bath/Kitchen Caulking

I glued the book cover to the top of the Cigar Box

and there ya go!!!

Cigar Box Assemblage!

Now there's a reason that I didn't do the inside

bottom of the box....

Here's the reason:)

If you are interested in having my 

Cigar Box Assemblage

Tutorial Piece....

yes, I'm giving it away!!!

Then please leave a Comment

on this Blog Post, 

sign on as a Google Follower

here on my blog,

then go on over to 

Shabby Cottage Studios

and sign up for 

Gail's Newsletter

and leave a Comment on

her blog and

you'll be

Entered to Win

my 

Tutorial Assemblage:)

Deadline for Entries is

Thursday, February 23rd, 2012

With the Winner being Announced on

Friday, February 24th, 2012!!!!

So I hope this Tutorial gets you inspired

to do some assemblages yourself!!

And please stop by 

Shabby Cottage Studio

To check out all the fun New Products

Gail will be offering soon!!!

Till next time!

Enjoy!!!