NEW YEARS EVE SHARES

Hi everyone!! I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. I can't believe the Year has gone already!! Before I get started today I would like to apologize for my absence the past couple of weeks. Aside from family time and all the busy holiday cheer, my Son has been very sick, which left me no opportunity to share. Thankfully he is better now, and as he is off spending the New Year festivities with his Dad. I have decided to spend New Years Eve at home, it's not often I get a goodnights sleep anymore, so I decided I would make the most of a night to myself to catch up on some well earned sleep. It is also a perfect opportunity for me to stop by and share with you one of my latest creations, and also highlight some of my favorite pieces from this year. 

'Only 19'

I created this layout a couple of weeks ago using some of my new Prima products, along with some old ones, for their December BAP. I noticed the other day that I was yet to share a layout with you focusing soley on myself. I have shared a journal page but not a layout. After a visit to the Prima blog and seeing the sketch by Magda Bolinska I realized that it was perfect for expressing myself at age 19 in a creative piece. It's very different to anything I have worked with previously and I found it quite a challenge, particularly finding a suitable place for at least one embellishment cluster.... You can find the sketch, along with others, product sneak peeks, gorgeous design team work and much more on the prima blog.

The sketch: 

Here are some close-ups for you:

As I mentioned earlier, I have used a combination of some newer products, along with some old, along with some very very old Prima products that I found hidden away in my stash!! The bright Pink sheet of paper was Prima but silly me spilt stuff on it, and I just didn't have any other Prima paper that I thought would suit the layout. Somehow I came to the conclusion that painting it Pink would work, and I'm glad I went that way as it adds the perfect girly touch!!

The background paper, along with the metal frames are from the Engraver Collection, whilst the paper layers are Sunrise and Sunset, Printery and Just Us. I Have also combined the Sunrise and Sunset bottle caps, with part of a Prima flower from the Gillian Collection and a resist butterfly from the Romantique Collection (the little yellow rose is from a 2 dollar shop), to create a feature for one of the frames.

 Lots of gorgeous Prima flowers as always. Once again, as you can probably tell, there is quite a mix of new and old flowers here..

One thing I love about watercolors is they still allow you to see any original background on the paper. I love the effect created in this layout especially. To achieve this fantastic texture and color combined with the original pattern I have simply coated the entire background in a very thin film of gesso so that the pattern was still entirely visible, and also so the watercolors didn't soak into the paper, allowing me to really play with them on the page without damaging the paper. When my gesso was dry I added texture paste using my fave Prima mask, and then I painted it. 

As you can see I have used this technique on quite a bit of my layout, however this top half of the layout also combines stamping, lots of glitter and small glass beads. I was aiming for a much more arty look with this layout to better show my creative personality, and even though I have used almost all the same materials and techniques I normally would, I feel that I have done well in achieving that desired result.

Here you can see some of the small glass beads in the background. I really love adding these at the moment!! Even though they are such a small detail, they are fun to use creating  more texture and depth on my layouts.

I finished off my photo with some creamy/white waxed twine, and some ribbon, whilst I finished off my page with some art tiles, enamel dots, another big white bead from a broken necklace and more glitter, paint drips and flicks. 

I hope you all enjoyed my final creation for the year, I'm sorry I don't have anything else new to share with you tonight but it's very late here and I want to keep some surprises for the early weeks of the New Year. Before I go however I thought I would quickly share with you some of my favorite creations for 2013.

'Treasured Moments'

'My Perfect Little Dreamer'

'Watch you go'

'Oh so Cute'

'The world is Full of Wonder'

'Cute as a button'

'Baby Got Blues'

I would like to thank everybody who has stopped by to visit my blog this year, in particular those of you who have become followers and taken the time to leave such wonderful comments. I'm ever so grateful for all your support and I hope I can continue to inspire you in 2014. 

I'm off to bed now, terrible I know as it will be the New Year here in less than 40 minutes, but I can no longer stay awake that long!! I wish you all the best for 2014. Happy New Year!!!

MEMBER ISSUES

Hi everyone! Just thought I would stop by quickly and let you know that I am having issues with the member Friend Connect button on my blog. When you click to join it says it is unavailable and to please try again later. I have discovered that even if you click it and it says this, you don't need to try again. When I come and sign into my google account each time it then shows the new members even though it said it was unavailable. Why this is I don't know. So please if you want to follow my blog still click it and next time I sign in it will be added to your reading list and show on my blog as well. I have emailed google anyway so hopefully it will be fixed soon and there will be no more confusion. Thankyou so much for your patience and support!!
Have a great weekend!!

NEW LAYOUT AND CHRISTMAS CARDS TO SHARE!!

Hi!! Once again sorry I haven't had a chance to post all week. Things have been very hectic around here! So I thought I'd quickly jump on to share with you some of my most recent creations while my Son is busy swimming in the pool with Nana! Before I get started though I just wanted to let everyone know, for those of you haven't read my last post, that I have turned the word verification for comments off. I know it can be agonizingly difficult and time-consuming so no longer will you have to worry!!

First up today is a layout I made for Sketchabilities, challenge #104, you can see the post here. I had never actually heard of these guys before until I did a search on sketch challenges the other day, and instantly I fell in love. Of course I couldn't resist the temptation to make a layout based on their most recent sketch, so I pulled out some of my fave materials and got stuck into playing around!! I really love how this layout turned out, and I think I will have to use this color combo far more often in the future!!

Here is sketch 104 from Sketchabilities:

 

And here is what I came up with:

 

'Your Smiley Face is My Happy Place'

As you can see I have added lots of embellishments to suit my style, in place of the banner I have instead added a long title, and I have moved everything slightly down the page as well as placed my photo off center.

Some of the brands used on here include Kaisercraft, Pink Paislee, Prima, Studio Calico and Tim Holtz.

I have used my normal process for the background, gesso, texture paste and mask, watercolor paints, ink splatters and drips, however this time I have also added another hand-painted watercolor bow with rub-ons from the She Art Collection, embossing powder, gold glitter and glitter 'drips'. I had so much fun working with all this different media, and I love the final result!!

Lots of close-up::

In keeping with the sketch, I have of course, added the drips of paint all under the photo, along with some washi tape and a lightbulb (for the little ring under the bottom left corner under the photo). I have added cork arrows from Studio Calico as well, pointing down in the direction of the paint drips. 

In place the circle punched paper and staples on the bottom right of the sketch I have instead used a cluster of flowers and embellishments as I still wanted my own style to show through this design.

I have included quite a few layers in behind my photo. This was one thing I really loved about the sketch and felt no need to 'add' to. As I said at the start, in place of a banner I have instead added a long title, although I decided I would still be inspired by the chevrons that were behind the banner. For this I have added just a couple of triangles, just above the title, pointing towards my photo instead of away from it.

 

At the top of my photo I have added half a Prima flower along with some pegs. I didn't want to differ from the sketch too much, but at the same time, I don't do well with tabs, not sure I even own any!! This is why I decided to add some pegs, and the flower.

I have been dying to make one of these Indian inspired arrows for so long, the ones made by Leeann Pearce (check out her blog here), and then the gold-dipped feathers by Stacey Young (see here). These were among my faves and I had to give them a try! Thanks for the inspiration ladies!! I have wrapped the stem with some natural twine and cut the arrow from Prima paper. I then added some glue to the edge of the arrow and dipped in gold glitter. I love the way it turned out. As the arrow sits on top of the flower giving it a bit of height from the page I felt something was needed to help fill the gap. I have chosen to use one of my fave pieces from Pink Paislee's Artisan Elements collection,

In keeping with the sketch I have added a few side banners under my photo, though the sketch has just one slightly above the photo, I did not think this really mattered.

 Here you can see the bottom of my arrow.... I love it, can't wait to make another!! 

I have also added a Kaisercraft mini-bloom to the center of a bottle cap from Prima's mechanical's collection, and a Prima wood ticket.

You can see some of the dimension this layout has really well here.

 As I was going through some of my layouts the other day, I came across one I did using a picture of my Mom, which I had painted a bow onto. Looking at it I decided it was something I really liked and enjoyed and thought I would do it again. I'm actually surprised at how similar they look.... almost identical!!! However I decided that this one need something to mess it up a bit, so it looked 'not so neat', to better fit with the distressed style of my layout. That's where the Pink Paislee She Art Rub-ons came in. I used white and just roughly rubbed them on, scratching some off when I was done to distress the image even more.

I love the contrast this added to the bow!!

To finish off my page I added the title, using a combination of Authentique word stickers and Glitz alphas, some MME enamel dots, and half of a Prima flower down the bottom of the page for balance.

This sketch was really great to work with, so many exciting possibilities.... I'm really happy with the way this layout turned out, how could I not be, the best part about it is that gorgeous little smile on Jet's face!!!

Next up today I though I would quickly share these 2 fun Christmas cards I made. Whilst visiting Pink Paislee's Studio Blog last night, I noticed that they had a couple of free Christmas printables, and I was really inspired. I instantly had endless ideas pouring through my head so I sat down, and here is what I came up with.

'Peace, Love, Joy'

This first one is probably my favorite of the two!! The card itself was made with a sheet of card from my 12x12 Mistables Pack by Pink Paislee, to which I have added masking and texture paste, green glimmer mist red watercolor flicks, ranger liquid pearls in white and gold embossing powder (not heat-set).

 I have also used paper's and rub-on's from their She Art Collection and of course the free printables. See their blog here.

I printed out the title, 'Peace, Love, Joy', on plain computer paper then backed it onto some Kraft card, layering it on twine, calico and the side banners. I added some red baker's twine on top too! Then I cut out the reindeer very carefully and placed it on the top.

To finish off I have added half a Prima flower behind the title at the top, some ribbon, broken jewellery pieces, button and thread and some green Woolworth's paper clips.

This second card was made using much of the same process and materials though this time, aside from adding blue, I have made the 'Peace, Love, Joy' print out, a part of the background, instead using chipboard letters from the Mistables collection for my title.

I have also covered the reindeer for this card in gold glimmer mist and gold embossing powder, which once again I haven't heat set. This gave the reindeer the appearance of having fur which was an unexpected but welcome result.

So that's it from me today, I hope you found something on here to inspire you as it did me. The inspiration you can find these days be it a sketch, or a free printable is just amazing and the finished projects that it can lead to. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!! Thanks for stopping by!

END OF WEEK SHARES....

Hiya!! I hope everybody had a good week and managed to find time to create with Christmas and all the craziness that goes with it now so close!! I have had a very hectic week... Christmas shopping, wrapping, my brothers graduation, my boy. my blog..... yet somehow I have managed to find time for all of that and fit in time to scrapbook!! 

So first up today I thought I'd share with you the layout I made for CSI's most recent case-file. If you haven't been on their site before, be sure to check it out here. It's jam packed with inspiration for all kinds of scrappers!!

Here is their most recent case-file.

'Case-file 100'

How awesome are these colors.... yes that's right, almost the same as ScrapFriends current color palette that I shared with you earlier this week. I loved the combination of the yellows and neutrals so much that I couldn't resist another play around. It's not a combination that I would normally use.... maybe that's why I liked it so much!!

"My Perfect Little Dreamer'

For this challenge I chose to use a layout of Jet when he was still so tiny.... Just a few months old!! I loved how the sepia toned photo went with this color combination. As you can see I have added a touch of orange watercolor to the background for added contrast.

For the evidence I have used stripes (the washi tape, wood (veneers), grid (stamping on the background), frames (twine frame on the photo), bricks (masked on the background with texture paste), lightbulb, borders (around the outside of the layout.
For my Testimony I have kept it short and simple using the Inspiration words stay and light.

Some close-ups:

Lots of Prima flowers on here... as always!!! 

I have added some yellow glitter randomly around the page whilst under some of the embellishment clusters I have added a charcoal embossing powder, though I haven't heat-set it, just glued it on. I love the effect this gives especially over the brick masking.

For my title I have used a combination of Prima, AC Thickers, and Glitz alphas.

 After I had placed the yellow thickers on the page I decided to lightly trace around them with pen and then remove them. Inside the outline I added glue and more embossing powder, tapping off gently, then placing the letter back on top. This create a very cool textural, shadow effect!

More flowers, glitter and some stamping. The wooden hot-air balloon is by Kaisercraft, which I have also covered with glitter.

Lots of layers and dimension!!

It's been a little while since I added some side banners to a page so I thought this layout the perfect oportunity to do so!! I have covered the little chipboard arrow in black Kindy Glitz adding the little acetate butterfly on top!!

So with all the fantastic Christmas Inspiration that has been everywhere lately I thought I would give creating a Christmas layout another go. While there was nothing wrong with the last one I created. It wasn't really in Christmas colors and didn't have a Christmas feel to it. I have always kind of sucked at X-mas layouts so I was extremely happy with myself when I finished this layout this afternoon.

'The Cutest Little Santa'

 This time round I decided I would stick with the traditional Christmas colors.... red, green and gold.... with touches of white, silver and yellow!!

I went through every piece of paper I own and only found 3 that were actually X-mas papers... sad really but I made do, choosing to use other papers for most of my layers and of course the background.

Some close-ups:

More Prima flowers... and another mixed media background!!

I cut out 2 each of these cute little trees from some paper then placed on on top of the other with some foam tape.

I made the little flag myself by cutting the 'Dear Santa' from paper and adding it to a stick with some waxed twine.

I have also added some Prima Mechanicals and Junk Yard Findings behind my flowers and layers for extra visual interest.

Lots of layers here again... twine, papers, and calico.... washi tape and my fave cork chevrons from Studio Calico.

The little white metal ball above the trees is from a broken necklace. I'm loving using these on my layout I will be disappointed when there are none left!

I have used words from Authentique along with Glitz alphas for my title.

I used Kaisercraft paper for my background before adding a star mask with texture paste, lots of gesso, gold glimmer mist, glitter and some sequins. I have hand cut little stars from patterned paper and added a gold embossing powder and a silver gold glitter to them, randomly placing them over the layout. 

The pale grey, black and little green rose are from some of Prima's newer collection... Le Mia and Charlotte.

So that's it from me today. I hope you found something here to inspire you this weekend. Before I go though just wanted to let everyone know that I have turned the word verification for comments off, as I know that it can be quite difficult to understand and time consuming... I had no idea it was even on until today. I will try and stop by sometime early next week with some more shares.... Have a great weekend!! Xoxoxox!!

SCRAPFRIENDS SHARE

Hey again!! Sorry I'm late posting again.... I had hoped to get this up yesterday but my brother is graduating from year 12 this week and with all the preparations and nerves in the house, I have had no time to do much of anything. I'm so proud of my little brother... he hated school but he stuck with with it and finished, where so many others just quit.
As most of you know I created a layout for ScrapFriends October sketch challenge, #18, where I was fortunate enough to have my layout selected amongst the top 5. This means I was invited back this month as a Guest Designer for December's sketch challenge, # 20. I'm so excited as this was my first Guest Spot ever..... Big thanks to Angela and the Design Team at ScrapFriends for having me on board! You can check out the current challenge and all the awesome DT work, entries, ect.... here.

Here is this months sketch:

And here is what I came up with......

'3 Angels'

   
 As a Mommy I really wanted to use photo's of my boy for this layout, but I didn't have any on hand that were a set or went well together. I also didn't feel comfortable eliminating any of the photo's as I quite liked the layout, although it was a little difficult to work to my style. In the end I chose photo's of my cousin Simone's 3 eldest children. Alyssa, Kayla and Riley who is just 2 weeks younger than Jet.
I have stuck with the main layout of the sketch, having swept paint across the background, the title is in the same place, I've even included the film strip. The only major change was the photos. I have chosen to use rectangles instead of circle photos, which also resulted in me having taken up a lot more space on the background. I have used lots of paper layers behind my photo's and flowers in place of the circle background pattern.
 On the background I have used gesso, texture paste with a brick mask, watercolors, stamping and mists.

Some close-ups:

I have used lots of different brands and products on here though the main ones are Prima, AC and MME.

For the title I have used Prima canvas alpha's, whilst amongst the embellishment cluster's, made up mostly of Prima flowers, I have added some paper straws cut into smaller pieces, chipboard covered with black Kindy Glitz, and some Studio Calico wood veneers.

 The little butterfly stone from Prima I have placed in the same position as the heart on the sketch. I have also added a few broken jewellery pieces and acetate hearts. 
For finishing touches I have added some black watercolor underneath paper layers and embellishments to create a shadow effect, along with some chunky blue glitter and dark pink liquid pearl dots.

As you all know I love my pegs, and so, I have added twin mini peg clips to the top of all the photo's, alternating sides between each for balance. I chose to add a cluster of flowers here instead of circle elements, using mostly blue in place of pink, as the layout is a combination of girl and boy photo's and I wanted to reflect that through the embellishments and finishing touches.

Unfortunately I have to go, I would have loved to have made this post longer, but sometimes short and sweet is all I have time for. Thankyou so much for stopping by, I hope you found something here to inspire you... I have more coming soon.

Thanks once again to ScrapFriends for having me on board this month. Don't forget to visit their site, you will find the link at the top of this post. Have a great week everyone!! Xoxoxox!!!

SUMMERTIME SUNSHINE....

Hi again! Hope everybody is having a good weekend? Mine has not been to bad, although it is unfortunately raining right now.... yes my post title has nothing to do with the actual weather but the lovely colors on the layout I have to share today!! I'm actually surprised I found the time to make this page today as my Mom and I went out Christmas shopping nearly all day.... We didn't get home til 4!! Maybe it's because my Son is spending the weekend with his daddy. I hate it when he goes.... he's still so little and I miss him too much. It gives me time to do some things though.... like this blog post!!
So today I decided that I really love yellow.... I brought a whole heap of clothes for Christmas that have yellow in them, a gorgeous fluro yellow.... and I decided I would participate in the ScrapFriends current Yummy Scrap color challenge... all because of the yellow!! It's a little strange because while I use touches of yellow in scrapbooking occasionally I rarely make it the focus of a page and I have never liked yellow clothes before.... I won't complain though because the clothes look great, and I love my layout! Check out ScrapFriends Yummy Scrap challenge here. It's totally stunning and the design team work is fabulous! You will not be disappointed!!

The color palette:

Before I get to sharing my creation I have to mention that I couldn't work out whether that top color was meant to be a blue or a medium grey so I have gone with the latter and the last two colors look identical on my computer so I've gone with black and chocolate brown (like the rim of the bowl).... anyway I hope you like what I came up with!!

'You Grow Up So Fast'

As you can probably tell the background is shiny. It was actually the packaging from Pink Paislee's Mistables collection. I've cut the top off and a little from the edges, added texture paste and watercolor (I didn't use gesso because I really loved how the watercolors came up on the raw background), and distressed the edges, adding some tears here and there.

I used my Winsor and Newton watercolors lemon yellow and cadmium orange. They are very vibrant and you only need the tiniest bit as they have a lot of pigment.

Here is what the background looked like before I added papers and embellishments:

Behind my background I've added a sheet of chocolate brown paper, helping to make the distressed edges and tears really stand out. It also makes watercolors pop.

 

Some close-ups:

 

 

Lots of Prima flowers, along with some AC, Echo Park, Pink Paislee, Studio Calico, and Tim Holtz. There are a few other brands here as well.

I totally adore the black Le Mia rose from Prima. The grey ones are fantastic too, but black is rare and therefore beautiful. Besides it's a perfect match for this color scheme.

 

 

A Collections Elements butterfly and a little wood veneer yacht by Studio Calico. I even managed to find some funky bright yellow paper flowers, by Prima, in my stash. It took a little searching though as I have a cookie jar full!!

 

 

I have had this Kaisercraft mask for a few months now and I've only used it once before, which was on an art journal page I completed last month, I think! I really like it so I believe I will make an effort to use it more often!!

 

 

I cut a frame from a sheet of acetate, then cut it in half, placing one each on opposite corners of the photo. For my little twine frame, I actually unraveled some twine. I had planned to use my black waxed twine, but unfortunately I ran out, and oddly enough my yellow baker's twine looked horrible on here.... My next best option?.... Unravel some baker's twine and just use white. I really like how it turned out!!

 

 

It's been a while since I used Thickers on a layout.... I have so many that I never use, along with loads of alpha sticker sheets. I tend to have my fave's that I use on almost everything, while the rest gather dust. It was nice to change things up a bit.

 

 

I really adore this bright yellow arrow, though I was a little disappointed because something stuck to it and tore off some of the color leaving quite a large white patch. In an attempt to fix it I painted the missing section with yellow paint. In the end however, it was still quite noticeable. I was tempted not to use it but I liked it too much. In the end I placed the little bike over the patch and then tucked it behind the Prima flower. Now you can barely tell it's there!!

That's it from me again today, though I will be back early in the week with a few things to share, been working on a few little projects!! Don't forget to pop over to the ScrapFriends blog (You can find the link at the top of the post) and check out the current challenge, DT work and other entries. Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you back again soon!

Have a lovely weekend everyone!!! Xoxoxoxox!!!!!