Ringing in 2015

Happy New year everyone and welcome to 2015. I hope it's a good one for everyone.

Just before Christmas I was chosen as the winner over at the Frilly and Funkie blog with my Christmas box book I made for my son. This is the link to my project which was a real labour of love. The challenge prize is to be their Guest Designer. Frilly and Funkie have a new challenge which runs for the next 2 weeks and it is an anything goes theme so do join in. This is the link for the challenge. For those of you who are first time visitors to Jane's Journal can I give you a very warm welcome and I hope you enjoy having a browse around my blog.

Now I have one of those brains which likes to take time to consider what to make for GD posts. I like to jot down ideas for a couple of days.  I knew my post would be put up on New Year's day and I eventually  decided that it had to be something inspirational for the year ahead and also to "ring in the new year". As my winning Christmas piece was made for my darling son I decided that I would make another piece for him....a 2015 wall hanging....for no other reason than "just because".

I also appreciate that life during the any year is never a smooth journey, there are often changes of direction and focus but life is there to be lived and enjoyed. I wanted to include some little inspirational phrases on my piece to look at and to remember during the year when life gets a little busy.

I made a fun festive shadow box which I showed in my Christmas Eve post and the one part of the frame we did not use was the mount. This is made of strong board and I decided to use this as my base and I gave it a coat of gesso to seal it. I then added some tissue tapes, vintage dictionary pages and some texture paste through my Dutch Doobadoo stencil (a win last year)

I wanted to "age" my frame so I added some cracks with my Visible image crackled stamp using archival ink.

Next it was time to colour my frame and I used a mixture of distress ink and paints, acrylics and some bronze gilding paste.

 I always love getting inking and my hands were brown by the time I finished it.

I wanted to used Tim's weathered clock die on my piece so I gave this a coat of antiqued bronze distress paint. I also added some crackle paint which you will see later on.

I also wanted the effect of looking through a window into the new year and seeing flowers in the garden and sunshine so I "made" a window using a Tim floral sheet and some vellum which I stuck onto another piece of mount board

As it is the new year I wanted to "ring it in" I used Tim's bells die and had fun aging my die cuts with different distress inks and paints.

I added some metal Ideaology quotes and some string. I didn't have the correct colour string so I dyed some with my inks.

 I also wanted butterflies to feature as they are always to me a symbol of beautiful new life through their metamorphosis so I stamped and embossed some Visible image butterflies and fussy cut them out. I made the card I stamped them onto using distress inks and the wrinkle free technique.

So armed with all my components and a few other ideas, which always occur as I start to put things together, I set to work and put on my creative hat. 

Here is my finished wall hanging

 and some close ups and other thoughts behind my composition.

The bells are ringing in 2015.  I added some charms too to represent time and having the keys to you family's heart forever.
The view through the "window" represents a summer garden and the endless beauty of nature..."smell the flowers while you can" and live life to the full.  The chit chat words are to remind us what we have to be thankful for. I added some "leaded lights" to the window using coffee stirrers which I aged using ink and crackle paste

The sentiment is a Tim Holtz stamp and one of my favourites. The photo below shows up the details of the crackle paste on my weather clock and the pretty butterflies.

an "arty pose"

and one more look

I love entering challenges and I would like to enter my piece into the following ones;

A vintage journey ring out the old ring in the new I think my step by step explains how I was inspired by the poem, I am looking forward to the new year and all the challenges it may bring in life and crafting!

Natalie and Amy all things new my new is the great butterfly stamps and the weathered clock die.

Loves rubberstamps something old/something new my old are the tags/words and the new is my butterfly stamps and weathered clock die

The Mirror cracked recycle/upcycle something I recycled the mount from a picture frame which I used for a shadow box.

Mixed Media something new for the new year my "new" was to alter a frame mount and upcycle it into a wall hanging. I also used several new products; my butterfly stamps, the bells and the weathered clock die.

Cute card Thursdays anything goes

The Artistic stamper new beginnings

Simon says stamp anything goes

Winter Wonderland fussy and fancy

I hope you have enjoyed your visit here and that you can take some of the words I have added to my wall hanging and hold them in your heart during the year ahead. Thanks to the Frilly and Funkie team for having me as your Guest Designer today,

I think these words are an apt conclusion to my post;

“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.” 
― Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Happy New Year, take the time to enjoy it. Remember to open that book and live life to the full, the first chapter is yet to be written.........

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x