Here at Anything But Cute we love to see all the seasoned and expert mixed media artists, but we also want to encourage those who are just getting their feet wet. Our design team will always be on the lookout for these exceptional artists, and you just never know when we might be giving out something special to a talented mixed media newcomer.
Make sure to put 'newbie' after your name in the linky so we know who you are.
(new refers to 'new to mixed media' NOT 'new to our challenge')
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Saturday, December 5, 2015

Challenge #8 - You've Got Happy Mail

Hello Everyone!

Niki here and I am your hostess this for this month's challenge here at Anything But Cute. Can you believe it is already December!?! Wowzers, how time flies when you are having fun! You all made such amazing ornaments and decorations for our last challenge, I bet your homes look so very festive and cheery! Huge thank you to everyone that was able to enter the challenge, and another thank you to everyone that had a gander at this blog! Cheers to that Holiday Spirit! Don't forget to check back with us on December 12th when Cec and the team announce the winners of the "It's Ornamental" challenge. Now on to this month's theme.

December is too cold for me where I live but Christmas is my favorite holiday! The lights, the atmosphere, the cozy fires, and the Happy Mail all make this time of year special. With that in mind I wanted to create a challenge for you lovelies to share some of that Happy Mail.

You've Got Happy Mail!

We all like Happy Mail right? That feeling of being spoiled rotten when you receive a handmade card from someone is better than being wrapped up in a soft blanket near a fire, sipping on a hot latte (although I would be sipping on a Pumpkin Spice Latte-loves it!) So, for this challenge I would love to see some mixed media Christmas cards, tags, ATC's or whatever papercrafts you are mailing to a friend. Make sure they are inspired by the Spirit of the Season! Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

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Guest Designer - Lynn

Hello Everyone! Sara Emily here, and I'm so excited to introduce you to our Guest Designer for December!  She was the winner of my "31 Days of Halloween" challenge in October.  Please welcome Lynn Price of Experiments in Paper!!

Lynn is an outstanding artist! She has such a creative mind and is willing and eager to use her products in unique ways to expand her creative boundaries. I think you will  agree Lynn is a creative force to be reckoned with, and I am so proud of the project she put together for this challenge.  Feast your eyes on this magnificent Happy Mail card! What an incredible work of art this is!


Hi, Lynn here, and I am delighted to be a Guest Designer for Anything But Cute!! I absolutely love the design team here, and am honored that they asked me to play along with this month's challenge by Niki - "You've Got Happy Mail"!

I am a nurse practitioner living on the northeast coast of the US.  I stumbled into paper crafting from art quilting, and finally put my toe into blog land just over a year ago. I really love playing around with different media, and a challenge!  And making cards is for me a huge challenge, lol!  I am not a good correspondent by snail mail, and I have a hard time working "small" - but I had a lot of fun coming up with this card.

The desire for a snowy holiday, and a peaceful 2016 inspired my design - I hope you like it! This is a double gate-fold card, with a variety of die-cuts, inks, glitter, and gilding flakes, as well as a bit of paint.  You can see full step outs at my blog for all the techniques and the development of the card itself. This is a thank you card to my many blog land mentors - a full list is in the tutorial!





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And now for some inspiration from the talented Anything But Cute design team!

I love non traditional colours for Christmas and blue and white are my all time favourites. I made this card for a special person in my life and used lots of crackle, texture paste and a hint of sparkle to create my 'Happy Mail' card.



I was inspired to create this layered tag card using some non traditional Christmas colors and that is why I used pink color. I cut tags out of canvas and used some Distress ink sprays as well as my Dylusions sprays, Tombow watercolor markers, stencils, Distress inks and some embellishments to achieve a vintage festive look.

The vintage image of Santa was the driving force behind this card.  I have used distress inks, spray inks, embossing powder, texture paste and paint to create my happy mail. Unfortunately because this is so thick I will have to be the postman and deliver it or I would have to rob a bank to pay for the postage.

I wanted to use some non traditional colors and this black/white/red color combo is my favorite! Its even how I designed my wedding, including the damask pattern. Cards are difficult for me (not sure why) so I tackled this design by pretending it wasn't a card at first and then adding the panel to a card base. My mind works in mysterious ways. Happy Holidays and Carpe Diem!

Recently we had our first snowfall of the year and I just found myself so inspired by the frosty whites and purple and blue tinted winter skies. I have used lots of Gesso, paints, inks and DecoArt snow to create my mixed media Christmas Happy Mail card.

I created a good old "Christmas Wreath On The Door" card for this challenge. Cards like this always make me feel so warm and cozy wanting to open the door and greet the family behind it. The door was made using very thick cardboard and the "stone" wall was made with egg carton. You can see the step by step if you visit my blog :)

I seem to be stuck in a snowstorm this season! I just love the snow, but here in the south, we usually have a warm summer day on Christmas! So I'll just have to dream of a white Christmas.  I used gesso, paint, texture paste, embossing powder in a non traditional way, ink and lots of glitter to make my mixed media card.

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I love how diverse this team is and how different the designs are! Wowzers! So much talent with these lovely ladies! Please hop over to the team blogs to see more photos and get some details on how these projects were made. And don't forget to leave some bloggy love while you're there. We appreciate the feedback and love reading comments. 

I hope that we have inspired you to head to your craft room and get to spreading some Happy Mail! 

The winner will receive the honour of being our Guest Designer for an upcoming challenge!

Here at Anything But Cute we just love to see all the seasoned and expert mixed media artists, but we also want to encourage those who are just getting their feet wet. Our design team will always be on the lookout for these exceptional projects and artists. You just never know when we might be giving out something special to a lucky mixed media newcomer. We all have to start somewhere, right?

Challenge runs until January 4th - we can't wait to see what you come up with! Happy Crafting from the entire team and thanks for visiting Anything But Cute! Merry Christmas!


22 comments:

  1. Ladies, you have truly blown my mind with these amazing cards!! Such a wonderful diversity and every one is truly a wondrous work of Christmas art!! Thank you so much for all the inspiration! hugs :)

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  2. Hi ladies I would love to join your challenge but cannot find a linky button my entry is on my blog at http://coldwaters2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/fully-festive.html
    hugs
    lorraine x

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    1. Lorraine, we are working on that now! Thank you for the heads up, and we'll be sure to get your entry in the challenge! Hugs! Sara Emily DT

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  3. Beautiful happy mail...the recipients are going to love these! A special thank you and welcome to Lynn ! Even though making cards is not your thing, you really stepped up to the plate and made an amazing work of art to share! I can't wait to get around to see your details and those of my teammates! Of course, I can't wait to see those inspiring projects our players will create! Bring 'em on! Hugs! Sara Emily

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  4. Huge thanks to Lynn, your card is absolutely stunning!

    Ladies, I am so happy to be part of this wonderful team, all the creations are gorgeous with lots of inspiring ideas. I look forward to seeing what our entrants will share with us. Hugs, Anne xx

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  5. Oh Mee Gee!! What fantastic happy mails you have all done!! Plus its a great challenge - go to get my thinking cap on now! Cxx

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  6. Beautiful projects, Ladies! Great theme this month! Hugs xx

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  7. So fun and fabulously gorgeous makes from you ALL. Great inspirations. I have never done a handmade happy mail before... hmmmmmmmmmm - never even thought of it!!! Another challenge for me!!!! j.

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  8. Beautiful cards from the design team..... always find so much inspiration here! Thank you again for the honor of being a guest designer! xxx Lynn

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  9. What a great theme and wonderful DTpieces. Well done all x

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  10. What a great theme and wonderful DTpieces. Well done all x

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  11. My goodness these are amazing projects by everyone! Thanks for showing this lovely work! I am the newbie - entered last month by invite - looking forward to entering something again this time - have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Enjoy your day!

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  12. What a magnificent array of cards - and a stunning offering from Lynn as the Guest Designer. Great inspiration all round.
    Alison xx

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  13. Such fabulous and gorgeous inspiration. All so very creative and all so inspirational, thank you x

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  14. Amazing inspiration from an uber talented design team.
    Hugs, Julie x

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  15. Thank you, ladies, for your sweet comments! We can't wait to see what you make for "You've Got Happy Mail"!

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  16. Wow, that's what I call inspiration!!!!
    How gorgeous are all your creations to illustrate a 'You've Got Happy Mail' DT ladies, I'm really in awe!
    Also the one by Lynne your guest DT is fabulous, I love it to bits....
    Thank you for this new challenge, great idea!
    Hugs, Coco xx

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  17. First time here...linked up my project :) tried a shaker card for 1st time :)

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  18. Thank you Pamellia for the lovely comment on my blog, & for suggesting that I link here. I'll definitely be joining in with the challenge again.
    Fantastic inspiration from your talented team.
    Merry Christmas,
    Alison x

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