Welcome to our December Challenge.
This time of year always brings us festive cheer and a focus on seasonal projects to inspire and motivate us leading into the winter and up to Christmas. We continue with this focus but with a twist as we have some important news. Sadly this is the very last challenge theme on A Vintage Journey.
2020 has brought us all many different kinds of opportunities and challenges and while many people are hunkered down enjoying their hobbies and pastimes others of us have taken the opportunity to completely change and explore new paths. There's no doubt about it, wherever you are in the world and due to the Covid-19 virus, life as we knew it has become different and as individuals we've had to make changes - both big and small - to our everyday lives.
What has become particularly noticeable to us is how we, as a creative community, seem to have changed our habits using the internet and over past months a wider use of differing social media platforms has allowed us to reach into each other's studios and meet together to learn and share our creations in a fascinating variety of distanced ways. Internet relationships for many seem not to have suffered but blossomed allowing us to diversify and explore hobbies and interests we might never have had before.
A Vintage Journey has always been a place to motivate, inspire and share our creations within a likeminded community, a place to teach and learn, to excite and stretch the boundaries of our imaginations. But within this new world we live in and the changes to how we interact, blogging seems to be less popular than it was. It can be a very time consuming way to 'show and tell' whilst elsewhere 'like' buttons that are quicker and easier to express our feelings enable us to move around the community in much faster ways.
It is, therefore, with great sadness that we see fewer visits, entries and communications on our very successful blog and feel it is time to close it down and give ourselves time to see out the pandemic and watch with interest how the community relates to the changes it has brought to how we will all operate in the future.
We have come together for our last challenge to bring small ATC creations that focus on that Christmas cheer we look forward to and some nostalgic reflection in saying goodbye.
Merry Little Christmas
Celebrate the season by making one or a set of ATCs depicting Christmas scenes or colours.
A mixed media background and some festive embellishments with my favourite reds and green for that wintry Christmassy feel. Once I had finished them I decided I needed to use them for decorations at home. Do pop over to Bumblebees and Butterflies to see how I achieved that.
With this Christmas ATC I would like to wish everyone a blessed and joyful Christmas time. May Peace replace anxiety, fear and all the upheavals this year has brought so many. A Merry Little Christmas to you all!
As the last make for Vintage Journey I have made two of my favorite things to share with you. The flower of the season is one of beauties of the year. Who wouldn't love a Candy Cane Heart to say, not goodbye, see you again soon.
I've been playing with Rustic Wilderness Distress Inks and Oxides to create the winter greenery in the background of these festive ATCs, and then there's lots of lovely Tim Holtz ephemera collaged over the top. Come and see more over at Words and Pictures.
For our final AVJ Challenge - Merry Little Christmas ATCs, I created a snowy woods using a Dox Spray for the background and Distress Ink and Embossing Paste through stencils. The sparkle I added to the snowflakes is not showing in this photo but I have one on my blog that hopefully does! Please come see how I created my Merry Christmas Winter Woods on my blog post here.
Goodbye AVJ
“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”
My ATC celebrates my seven wonderful years creating for A Vintage Journey. It has certainly been a journey of discovery with a wonderful team of supportive and creative friends from around the world. Each member of the team (both present and past) has been an inspirational star and this has been reflected in the wonderful entries we see each month from you all. Hopefully this is not goodbye .... but au revoir x
As one of of the original Creative Guides, creating this farewell ATC was a very special moment on my crafting journey, and what a special journey it has been. This team has always had a special place in my heart, and I know that my fellow teamies will remain my friends as our creative journey continues, albeit on different platforms perhaps. I would like to use this moment to thank everyone, team mates and participants of our challenges, thank you for all your inspiration!
It's time to say goodbye to A Vintage Journey! I'm very happy and honored to be a part of this amazing team, thank you for your kindness and support. I'll miss you.
It has been Awesome seeing the talent of our followers and sharing creations here at A Vintage Journey. As they say "all good things must come to an end" but that does not mean that we won't be dropping by for a visit now and then. It has been my great pleasure to be part of this great adventure. I will not be sad that it has ended but happy that it happened.
I will really miss the appointment with A Vintage Journey and with all the Creative Guides that have always inspired me! I want to tell all of you who have always followed us that this group was a truly wonderful group, a group where you could always find support and friendship, and yes I say it again I will miss it very much! I know that I will not lose their friendship and that we will all stay in touch as I hope will happen with you who have always followed us. With love.
It has been one of my greatest, crafting pleasures, to have hopped on board A Vintage Journey, as one of the Creative Guides. It's been a real honour to have shared at least part of the journey, with such a fantastic group of talented women. I would like to thank Brenda and the rest of the team for creating such a special space in blogland x
I was thrilled to join AVJ back in November 2015 and have loved every minute being part of such an inspiring, encouraging, supportive, caring and creative team that I consider to be my family of valued friends. It's been an absolute pleasure and honour and an amazing ride AVJ and I thank you wholeheartedly for making my life so much richer both personally and creatively.
Thank you to to each and every who has visited, participated, commented and loved what we developed and achieved. We have enjoyed every moment of designing, creating and sharing our ideas and projects hoping to bring our experience, talents and new perspectives with every new creative project.
If you would like to participate in the challenge one last time please add your ATC projects depicting the Festive and/or 'Au Revoir' themes to the Linky below by 6 pm GMT on the 28th December and we will be back to publish the winners as well and say our final farewells on the 31st December. There won't be any additional posts this month, so we will announce the November Pairs, Trios and Sets Pinworthies in that farewell post on the 31st December too. We will also add the projects to our Pinterest Pages. Just remember to create your project in one of our preferred styles: vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journalling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk.
Thank you and Merry Christmas from us all.
hugs Brenda and the Team xxxx
