A FEW SHARES....

Hi!! I can't believe its the last day of October. The year is nearly gone, and I keep wondering where it all went! It will be Christmas soon, my son is 2 and a half now, my brother is graduating high school. There is so much still to come this year and so much that has happened already. Anyway.... This week has been fantastic for me! I have been really creative and managed to come out with a few projects in the last couple of days. We've had some nice weather, my boy and I have even been swimming!
So I have a few things to share with you today... first is a layout I created for ScrapFriends October sketch challenge #18. You can view the challenge post and all the wonderful DT work and other entries at: http://blog.scrapfriends.com.au/2013/10/sketch-challenge-18-october-2013.html

Here is an image of the sketch:

 

And here is what I created:

'Watch You Go'

As you can see I have stuck with the same basic layout as the sketch keeping most, if not all of the elements the same, as well as adding my own embellishment clusters. A page without lots of embellishments just doesn't feel right or suit my style.

I chose to use three photos that were taken in sequence to keep it easy on the eyes. These photos are some of my favorites, which you may have noticed as I have used them quite a few times on previous layouts and journal pages. Using more than one photo was a real challenge for me as I rarely use more than 1 small photo. 

Here are some close-ups for you:

 A bit of a mix of brands on here yet again! We have Prima, MME, AC, Echo Park and Studio Calico. There are a few small things on here from other brands as well.

As always I have used gesso, texture paste and watercolors in my background.

I love my brick mask, it's my new fave!! And how cute is that little car sticker with the heart window from American Crafts!!

As you can see, to help flow with the sketch, I have added this cute peg and cut out a few chevrons from patterned paper, which I distressed before sticking down. I have added some rolled up twine behind the bottom photo to give it some dimension and to keep each photo separate while at the same time drawing the eye through. The top photo was raised on foam tape.

These cute wood veener bikes, cars, boats and planes from Studio Calico are a must for me at the moment. I have been using them on just about everything.

Still keeping with the sketch, I have added paint drips off to the side of the page along with some chipboard banners from MME and Echo Park. I also added more chevrons!

I really love the mints and greens of my watercolors on here. Its so fresh and great for Spring/Summer layouts! For the title I have used Prima Alphas.

How gorgeous are these blue La Mia roses from Prima?? I got them the other day and I just can't get enough of them!! I have used a really small paint splatter brad in place of an actual big paint splatter as I didn't want to take anything away from the brick masking and watercolors. In the sketch there was a little frame behind the top photo, and I loved the way this looked, so I have added my own little hand cut paper frame behind my top photo too!!

The Prima pebbles I have had for a couple of years now and I found them hiding away in the draw the other day and thought they would look fantastic on here. As you can see I have more paint drips and splatters of orange paint, and of course that cute little lady bug brad.

More wood veeners from Studio Calico, and a Tim Holtz light Bulb!!

Next up I have a canvas to share with you, although it's not really a canvas, more like a recycled plank of wood from my little brothers old computer desk. When Dad pulled the desk apart there was one piece probably only 5 inches in height but about 16 inches long and I thought it would make a really cute little piece for the family room. I've had it sitting on my desk for a month now and only just yesterday decided to do something with it.

'The Sweetest Thing'

I love this photo of my boy he would have been about 9 or 10 months old here, and its just such a cute photo, he's got such chubby cheeks!!
The brands I've used are once again a mix of Prima, AC, MME, Studio Calico and Echo Park, with a few small things of other brands as well.

Here is what the background looked like before:

I used lots of gesso and texture paste, coating the wood and drying with a heat gun to get all those little bubbles. I then used my Prima Mask with some texture paste and dried this as well. The final step was to paint with watercolors. I have slowly built the color up on this to get that combination of mints, blues, greens and yellows, although I only used two different paints.

Some detailed shots:

Prima flowers, and a little Kaisercraft resin flower. The little blue bike is a Studio Calico wood veneer that I painted to tie in with the photo.

The peg is from American Crafts, as is the star paper clip. I have also used another wood veneer this time I used a boat, and I love how it looks like its sailing on foamy water!!

The papers are Ac, Echo Park and MME.

 

A few paper layers along with twine and calico.

 I chose to use this wood veener as my title as it described perfectly what I see when I look at this photo, and how I view my son all the time... Well most of the time!! :-)

The little blue rose at the bottom was originally white. I painted it with watercolors and did the same again to the one at the top, as everything on the canvas was already quite light and needed a few things to tie it with the photo to help draw the eye around the page. I have achieved this using a little visual triangle, the two roses, and a touch of the same color on the bike.

 To finish off the page I added a little butterfly from Collections Elements to the top of the page, completing that springtime/summertime feel.

Last but not least today I have a door hanger I made for my Mom. Being Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the final day of the month I decided to make it in Pink. Before I share this with you however I thought I would share a little story of luck and hope with you.

My Nanna was diagnosed with breast cancer the year I was born, she beat the cancer, but only after having a mastectomy. 17 years later she was once again told the cancer had returned, and once again she beat it, then just a couple of years ago, after being in remission for almost 5 years she was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer that had spread to her lung. Now this was a hard time for my family as most people know that once it spreads its usually to late. The doctors here in Perth said all they could do was chemotherapy, and that her chances were 50/50. Now my Nanna is a fighter and to her that just wasn't good enough, so she flew over to Sydney to consult with her doctors over there. In the end they decided on a more radical approach and she underwent surgery to have half of her lung removed. She was a long time in recovering from the surgery and as she is getting older, being short of half a lung has made simple things, like cleaning and climbing steps difficult for her, but the surgery saved her life. She has to take chemotherapy tablets to help stop the cancer coming back and will likely take them the rest of her life. She also sees a doctor and has tests run every three months now, but she is alive and has been in remission for almost 2 years. Not a trace of cancer. Three times my grandmother has suffered this fate and three times she has prevailed. She has always been a believer in positive thinking and I believe that, along with luck and love is what gets her through every time. 

So for my Mom, who I love very much and also has to undergo tests for breast Cancer on a regular basis as she is classed as a high risk, I have created this cute Pink door hanger.

'Mom'

The door hanger is from the Kaisercraft wood collection. I have covered it using paper from simple stories which in turn I covered completely in watercolor paints. For the paper layers I have used Bazzil cardstock in black, Prima packaging and MME Chalk Studios collection.

The flowers are mostly Prima with a few cheap 2 dollar shop roses, and a Kaisercraft resin roses. I have also used some resin by Melissa Frances at the bottom of the page, and some Prima resist canvas and canvas alphas.

Some detailed shots:

Well that's all from me today. It's almost time for dinner here and I got a little boy who needs to eat!! Besides I've not eaten today and I'm hungry... Lol!!

Before I go I'd like to wish a Happy Halloween to those of you who celebrate this tradition, and thank everyone who has stopped by. I will be back sometime early next week with more to share!! Have a great weekend everyone! Xoxox!!