YUMMY LAYOUTS TO SHARE!!!

Hello everyone! I hope you are all having a fantastic week. Mine has been a little stressful, but otherwise it was mostly okay. Somehow though I have managed to fall even further behind on my blog.... I think I have 8 or 9 layouts sitting there now waiting for their turn to be blogged, and more seem to appear out of thin air every day!!! So hopefully, if things go to plan I shall be able to share a couple of layouts with you today.

Once again I have used a photo of my son on the swing at our local park. I know I have used this photo on a couple of layouts now, but it is one of my faves. This is the original photo, no changing the tone, or making it black and white. I have also used a very dark black and white version of this photo in the other layout I will be sharing today. I know, I really need some new photos, but I only have a cheap camera, and its not very good at capturing clear pictures of a 2 year old boy who never stops moving long enough for me to take a photo. It's adorable, yes, but on the downside it means that when I want to scrapbook lots of pages in a short amount of time, I end up having to use the same photos. The upside though, is I get to pick which of the layouts using the same photos are my faves, then put the others into an album for either my Mom, or my Nan!!

First up is a beautiful bright, Spring-time layout. It is now Autumn here in my corner of the world, and as I much prefer the spring and summer months of the year, I decided create a yummy sun shiney page. 

'This....'

As you can see I have once again used lots of yummy Prima flowers, junkyard findings, wood-icons, and newsprint frames. There are some mechanicals and even a pebble on here too!!

 I have also used MME. Kaisercraft, Teresa Collins, Bo Bunny, Studio Calico, Tim Holtz and Pink Paislee papers and embellishments!!

I am really loving this layout, and must admit I'm pleasantly surprised with the result as I really just went with it, not thinking about what the finished page would look like!!

Some details:

As always my page includes lots of gorgeous dimension. I like to achieve this by stacking lots of items (including paper) on top of one another.

I have scrunched up some calico and placed it beneath my photo for extra texture.

I have chosen to use the black twine as a frame this time to contrast some of those lighter colors, and also to draw the eye to the focus of the layout.

My paper layers were built up mostly with old paper scraps, and some flowers tucked beneath and in between to help with dimension.

The sideways '0' is from Finn's mechanical's collection. I turned it on the side as I just wanted it for added interest and not to represent an actual number.

I am so in love with these timber Sunnies from Bo Bunny right now. I have been using them on just about everything. They are gorgeous!! They come in a pack with matching moustaches'.... Awesome!!

How perfect is this flower for my page. When I found it hidden in my stash I was like 'I think Prima made that for me and this page!!'

 As you can see, for my title I have chosen to use the flair badge. I really enjoy finding little sayings or words on embellishments to use for my titles. It saves me having to think about one.... My pages would take years to finish if I had to think one up on every page..... Or they would all end up with the same title!!

At the very top I have placed one of Pink Paislee's Mistable's on some washi tape, then just brush with the tiniest bit of water color, letting it seep into the cracks. I chose to place it there because the point of the flourish points down toward the photo. 

I have always loved blue and green together, and have created quite a few pages using this combo, but it has never turned out so vibrant. I'm thinking it is due to the white background. I can't believe I never liked using plain white card for my backgrounds before. Its amazing.

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The next layout I have to share with you is very different from the last one, even though they are both using the same photos. This time, the photo is in black and white and has been darkened quite a bit. I was experimenting with photoshop and came up with quite a few very different looking photos just by experimenting with the brightness and contrast. I admit, I don't really like how dark the photo turned out, and was unsure about using it, but in the end I created one of my fave layouts. I enjoyed creating 2 totally different pieces with the same picture, and I love them both.

'....These Little Moments'

The background on this is one of the best I have ever done. The background paper is from Maja Designs.... brilliant quality for mixed media work, among the best I have ever used. I had almost no warping at all. The background was built up using many mediums and techniques, including gesso, texture paste, crackle paint, alcohol ink, acrylic inks, mists, watercolors, masking and stamping. 

Some close-ups:

As always I have used lots of Prima on here, though I have added bits and pieces from other companies too. 

I have placed messed up bundles of string beneath some of my paper ans my embellishments for added texture.

The birdcage is from Tim Holtz. I have randomly painted it with gesso and added a little paper butterfly on top.

 The title '....These Little Moments', was taken from this saying here, which I discovered on a transparency sheet from Kaisercraft. I love this saying, as not only does it describe my feelings about this photo, but rather all of the memories I have of Jet.

If you look closely just above the Prima Gillian flower (the flower above the light bulb), you will see some of the smaller cracks that are on the background. These were highlighted by letting some black watercolor paint seep into the cracks.

The canvas frame around the photo is homemade. I had a large canvas that I was painting earlier last year, which Jet then decided to try and use as a slide. When he set it on the couch and went down it fell onto a toy and tore a 15 inch slit right through the center. I came inside from hanging washing out to discover what he had done. I learned my lesson not to leave things I did not want damaged lying around. I decided however not to throw it out, although I knew it couldn't be fixed. Last week I decided to cut it up even more and use the canvas to make embellishments and frames. I was pleasantly surprised with the result!!

More Prima flowers and little metal pieces. I have had the little Prima chipboard bird for years, though for some reason I never thought to use it before... I am glad I saved it though as it looks really good on here. 

I finished off the page by swiping some gesso randomly over papers and embellishments just to make it a little shabbier. 

That's all I have to share with you tonight as I have been out most of the day chasing around 3, 3 year old kiddies, a baby and 6 and 7 year old girls at a family members birthday, and I don't think I have ever been this exhausted in my whole life. For some reason every time the family get together I get left alone to watch my own child plus 5 more while they sit around and chat.... I suppose that's family for you. Good thing I love kids!!! 

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend, and that you found something here to inspire you this week. I will be back soon I hope.... before my blog falls too much further behind! Thanks so much for stopping by!! Xoxox!

FAMILY.....

Hey everyone! Hope you are all having a great week! My creativity has been in overdrive these past few weeks that I am struggling to keep up with blogging, mostly because I have been spending every spare second I have scrapping!! I decided it would be a good idea to have a little break this afternoon and share a layout with you that I created yesterday. I recently came across a sketch challenge blog with a journaling theme, called Once Upon A Sketch. I was very inspired by this months challenge, not just the sketch and journaling theme, but also the design team work. It was truly amazing. I also really loved CSI Color Stories Inspiration case-file 113 so I decided to combine both challenges together. 

Here is the journaling theme and sketch, from Once upon A Sketch:

 

 

And here is case-file 113 from CSI:

 

 

 With the sketch I have rotated it once in an anti-clockwise direction. 

My journaling, or my Testimony, is based on the theme "You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough", from Once Upon A Sketch, which I have combined with all three inspiration words Love, Family (I have used this word for my title), and Memory (I used memories), and the Letter (mine is more of a note) of Appreciation prompts from CSI.

My journaling says: 

"I am so grateful to have you kids in my life, you have given me so many wonderful memories . I wish you kids nothing but a bright future filled with love, laughter, and happiness. Make the most of your lives, you only get one shot at it!! Xoxox"

I chose to use a photo of my cousins children for this layout and to journal about my hopes for their future. I have expressed these hopes for my own child so many times, and sometimes we forget about our hopes for all those other special children in  our life, and much of the time we never tell them. Even though they are my second cousins, our Family is all very close and they call me Aunty Jaki, and I view them as my nieces and nephew. I hope that when they are older, and see this layout, along with others I have scrapped of them, it will be a remind them just how much I loved them and cared for them, and how blessed I was to have them in my life.

For the evidence I have used:

 Camera, typewriter: I have used a camera paper clip on the right side of the photo.

Hearts, Stars: I have used a silver metal heart charm in the small cluster beneath the 'y' in 'Family'.

Birds, owls, butterflies: I have used chipboard butterflies around the page.

Doodling/pen work: Aside from my journaling being handwritten, I have used a black pen to doodle a border on the title.

Beads: The center of the beige flower, above the photo, is made up of lots of little beads glued into a ball shape.

Stripes: The bakers twine is striped as is the grey washi tape at the top and bottom of the layout. 

'Family'

I ran out of white card stock, so I have used the plain white side of some old patterned paper that I didn't particularly like anymore for the background. It has been so long since I used plain white as a starting point for my background, I have always used patterned paper or kraft card, though its been a while since I used that either.

I added color and texture to the background with my fave Prima netting stencil, gesso, modeling paste, and a combination of pink and blue watercolors. These have mixed in some sections to create hints of puple, so I have chosen to use this as an accent color, in the butterflies and title as well.

Some details:

 The title is chipboard from Scrap FX. I painted it white with gesso, then using watercolors I painted the top half blue and the bottom half pink, letting them blend in the middle, creating purple to tie in with the background. I doodled around the edges with a black pen, before randomly scraping gesso on the sides.

 As always lots of layers, below and above my photo. I love these little wood glasses from Bo Bunny, they are so cute!!

Lots of yummy prima goodies, along with some lace, Tim Holtz gears and a mini chipboard butterfly. I brushed some gesso over all my embellishments and papers to tie everything together and to soften in up a bit.

The camera paperclip is from American Crafts. I just love it. It is so much fun to use and a great finishing touch to my page! The chipboard butterflies are from dusty attic and were also treated to a coat of gesso and watercolors.

As you can see here there is lots of great dimension on this page. The arrow was made using some super soft feathers, twine, and a skewer, with a paper arrow on the end. Also finished off with gesso.

I tried to match my blues as closely as i could to the palette, however my background clearly did not turn out quite so vibrant. I really enjoyed these two challenges. It's the first time I have ever thought to do more than one for a single layout, and I couldn't be happier with the final result!! I hope you like this as much as I do!!

That's it from me today. I will be back during the week with more, but right now its time to put my boy to bed!! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and enjoy the week to come. Thanks for stopping by!! Xoxox!!

HE IS SO HANDSOME.....

Hello! Hope you all had a wonderful, creative and inspiring week!! Just dropping by quickly today to share with you a layout I made for this week's challenge over at CSI, case-file 112.
I really loved this palette.... though I will admit my colors are not a very good match. It looked like it match perfectly on the piece I printed it out on.... Then I finish take my photo's, edit them, and get ready to upload them only to discover that they are much much brighter and darker on the paper than they were on the computer screen. I love the final result though!!! You can check out the current challenges, gallery entries, have a chat and much much more over on the CSI website.

Case-file 112:

 

For the evidence I have used:

A patterned background: Light blue and white striped paper from MME, along with my mixed-media work.

Something puffy: The little white heart was covered with a very thick coat of liquid pearls to make it puffy.

Wood: The pegs and wood veneers.

Frames: The twine frame around my photo.

Flowers: Gorgeous Prima flowers, as always!

Ruffles/pleating: The yellow prima flower is ruffled.

Buttons: The silver Prima button, placed on top of the leaves to the bottom left of the photo, and a small threaded button right next to it.

Floral Pattern: The yellow floral patterned paper in my layers.

Crystals: The blue crystal brad in the center of the butterfly beneath the photo.

For my testimony:

As most of you know a lot of the time I prefer to journal on the back of my layout as I never leave enough space for it on the front! Once again this is the case for this layout. I actually wrote my journaling before beginning this page, I just forgot to leave space again! Instead of just writing my journaling on the back though I have created a vellum pocket to place it in, inspired by the prompt. I actually really like this idea, because now I don't need to pull my layout out of a page protector to read it, I simply slide the journaling from the pocket. I have also used the inspiration words light, and tranquility.

My journaling says:

'This photo of you was snapped in our living room as you stood smiling up at me with those adorable big blue eyes you have. I realized in that moment how very blessed I was to be your Mommy. I love the peace and tranquility your smile brings to my heart. You are the light of my life. It is the simple everyday moments like this that make me realize just how true those words are. I love you so much, my handsome, sweet little boy.'

'He Is So Handsome'

What I tried to do when creating this layout was express the feelings of peace and tranquility that I explained in my journaling onto the layout itself, through my choice of media, papers, patterns, and embellishments, and the way I put them all together. It's actually the first time I have done something like this. Usually i just start a page and see where I go. Sometimes i don't even choose a photo until its time to stick one down. This time I chose my photo and wrote my journaling before doing anything else. It felt good to try it differently for a change and it was fun trying to express those feelings in my creation, instead of just making it look pretty.

Some details:

On top of the pegs I have place a small white rose in the center of a flower, cut from the floral paper in my layers, which I then placed on top of a white moustache. Beneath the pegs and amongst the papers, I have layered a combination of flowers, wood veneers, and the metal heart gear,  before finishing off the cluster with the cork arrow, and some pearls.

As you can see here, there is lots of yummy background texture and detail.

The title, along with the blue zig-zagged stip of paper, were cut from a piece of paper in the Echo Park All About A Boy Collection. The little yellow arrows were cut from a piece of Studio Calico paper.... It took quite a while for me to cut these out as they are very small and fiddly, but it was worth it.

 

Some Prima resit canvas leaves, along with Prima flowers, metals, wood-icons and a button. I have kept the excess chipboard from my ATC hearts and coated it with some crackle paint and alcohol ink, before outlining the edges with some Kindy Glitz.

I found this flair badge in on of my containers full of bits and pieces and knew it was perfect for this layout. Not only was it the right color, but it matched my photo perfectly.

Some more Yummy Prima flowers, layered beneath my papers, along with another flower cut from the floral paper. I chose to add this buttery from MME because of the green in the wings. It ties in perfectly with the flair badge and the green flower at the top of the photo. I also really adored the blue crystal brad in the center.

That's it from me today.... just a quick post while I wait for my Boy to come home from his Daddy's. He's only been there since yesterday morning and I miss him so much already, and can't wait for him to come home, you would think he had been gone for weeks!!! I think its because he hasn't gone to his father for nearly a month now that I have just gotten used to him being here all the time. I hope you found something in this post to inspire you today! Thanks for stopping by, i hope to see you all again soon. XO!!

PINK OR BLUE?

Hey lovely blog reader's.... Hope you are all having a great weekend!! As promised, I am back again with another post, though I have decided to share with you 2 layouts today instead of just 1. While I have created some girl layouts recently, it has been a very long time since I created one that was so feminine, and so pink. I have used a photo of my cousin Simone's two eldest girls for this creation. It is one of the sweetest photo's I have of them.

'XOXO'

As you can see I have used lots and lots of pink combined with some soft neutrals. I have distressed the edges of the background and added some tears. When I folded back the edges, I knew instantly that the pattern on the back of the sheet would not go with what I was trying to create. Using scraps of some patterned paper that I thought would match the look I was trying to create I attached them beneath, tearing and distressing them to match those that were already in place on the background, before folding over so the pattern was visible and securing. I wanted it to look as though it was the pattern on the other side, and not a separate sheet of paper. This helps tie the entire page in with the dark background in the photo. The background was created using my usual process, though this time I also added some flicks and splatters using very watered down gesso. This gives the background a more shabby feel and a little extra texture.

Some detailed shots:

I have torn a sheet of patterned paper and attached it across my page slightly up from the middle. My photo mat was built up on this strip to the right of the page. As always my layers consist of distressed edges, calico and twine. This time, not only have I added the white twine on top of the photo, but I have also placed some red twine beneath it. The little chipboard hearts are by Collections Elements, painted white with gesso. I have also added the excess frame from the hearts underneath my layers, also painted white.

As you can see my title doesn't really need explaining. I was trying to think of what to add for the title, and what kept coming to mind was the Prima, xoxo, wood-icons, but sadly I have been unable to get a hold of these. It gave me the idea though to do the same thing using some old AC thickers.

Lots and lots of yummy Prima flowers here..... I love the Le Mia roses, and have been using them on just about everything lately. In fact I love all my prima flowers. Usually, because they are so hard to find here in Perth not to mention super expensive, I always try to make them last as long as possible. 

As you can see I have added in a Prima Mechanicals bottle cap under the petunia and a Tim Holtz bookplate under the pink rose, to add some darker contrast to my cluster and help it stand out a little. Once again, this also helped tie everything together with the photo.

For balance and added interest I have added a heart gear and a bolt from Ingvild bolme's Junkyard Findings Collection, a Prima art tile from the Romantique Collection, and a couple of cork arrows from Studio Calico.

I finished off the page with some sequins, some Kaisercraft pearls and a few more chipboard hearts.

 Secondly, I have a layout to share which I created a couple of weeks ago. As I have mentioned on previous posts I have been trying out new things, and using techniques that i haven't used for years. I wanted to create a layout using a photo where I have cut out the subject, a silhouette. I have used this technique once in an art journal page, but never before on a layout. I wanted to see if it was possible to use a silhouette photo and still create lots of paper layers and dimension with embellishments, staying true to my style. I was worried it wouldn't turn out the way I hoped, or that it would be very difficult to work with. In the end I discovered it was not really much different to using a normal photo, and the final result was far more than I ever expected. 

For the first time ever I have decided not to add a title to the page. It does have a title, just not one that is written on there. I plan to frame this layout, and one of the things I love about it is the story it seems to tell all by itself, with no help from a title or journaling. 

'Imagine'

I see so many things when I look at this page. A winter garden, an ice palace, a little snow bear..... and so much more. The photo was taken on our living room lounge. Jet was just 2 months old here, and it was one of the coolest days in winter that year. Obviously where i live we don't get snow, or even freezing temperatures, but when it's the only weather you have ever know, and compared to our summers, it was cold enough. My mom had bought him the little bear onesie when he was born, and even at 2 months it was far to big for him, but i didn't want it to go to waste and he wasn't likely to grow into it that winter, so I put it on. He looked so cute in it.... He was my baby bear. Now when I look at this photo on this page, I think of him as my little snow bear. 

Details:

I was concerned I wouldn't be able to create my usual dimension because of how I cut out the photo, somehow it ended up one of the most dimensional pages I have ever created.

The background was created on a sheet of paper from Lily Bee Designs, using my Prima netting stencil, Perfect Pearls mist in pewter, gesso, texture paste, water-color paints and some stamping. The paper in my layers is all Kaisercraft.

The chipboard is from Dusty Attic, painted white with gesso, and then layered on top of paper and flowers to give it lots of dimension. I have also added a piece of chipboard below the Le Mia rose by Prima. I have broken the back of an MME brad and layered it up on my papers.

I love Prima flowers..... I think i have told you that a hundred times by now but I can't help it. I don't just love their flowers though..... I love everything they create. Even items that I normally wouldn't use seem to spark creative ideas in my mind and I sit there thinking, 'I so must have that'.

The resin piece is from Melissa Frances. I have had it for a couple of years now, but I always seemed to have difficulty fitting it into the design of a page. As i was making this layout, I had been wishing for some of Prima's gorgeous resin pieces, but I have never been able to find them in any local stores, so sadly that wasn't going to happen. I did spark my memory about this piece though, and after some digging around I managed to find it. I couldn't be happier either. It was perfect for my page.

Once again, this chipboard piece was popped up on top of paper layers and flowers, really lifting it up off the page. However it needed something on top of it, to tie in with all the elements below. I placed the light grey rose on top, close to the photo, and then placed the small blue flower farther out. Almost as if it was a vine. I folded one of the petals on the green serenity flower up to cover one of the tips and bent some of the crystal palace vine upward as well. I didn't want it to look like a flourish placed between layers, I wanted it to look like a vine growing upward through a garden.

These faucet wheels and heart gears by Ingvild Bolme are some of the coolest embellishments i have been fortunate enough to use. They are so versatile and add a real touch of magic to any creation. The flourish at the top is the antique mirror embellishment from an old Prima Collection. I have broken it in half, placing the second piece to the left hand side of the photo. The mini rose I have placed inside one of Finn's mechanicals bottlecaps. I love how awesome this looks.

I thought I would share this image with you, just so you could get a rough idea of just how bulky this page is. It is so heavy that I thought the paper wouldn't hold the weight at one point. I finished off the page by tucking pieces of loose thread around the embellishments and adding some blue pearls.

I couldn't be happier with the way this page turned out. It is one of my favorites. The photo is just so adorable.... he was so tiny! I love how all the different embellishments came together so well. The majority of them are Prima, and they are all bits and pieces from different collections and designers, some are even a few years old, yet looking at this you would never guess. It's like they were made for each other.

That's it from me today. I hope you enjoy what I have created and that it has inspired you in some way. Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to leave me your sweet comments!! I hope you all have a wonderful week!!

MEMORIES.....

Hello!!! How is everybody today? Good I hope!! Also, I noticed I have a couple of new followers.... Welcome! How quickly did February go by? I can't believe its March already. It seems like just yesterday I was wishing everybody a Happy New Year. I never realized how quickly time went by until I became a mother. People always said to me, 'Enjoy them while they are young. They will be all grown up before you know it', and I would think to myself.... I have years and years before that will happen. Not so. Already my Son is almost 3 and I know now, that the next time I blink and open my eyes again he will be a teenager..... Before I know it he'll be a young man with a family of his own. I want to remember the little things. The way he smiles, the little games he plays, how he is starting to get a little cheeky and how adorable it is, I want to remember the things people take for granted, and in the end forget as time goes by. Hence the title of this layout I have to share with you today.....

'Memories'

As you can see I have gone for a very different color scheme to what I normally work with. I'm not sure what made me decide to team up the green with grey, though I am very glad I did. The majority of the embellishments on here are from Prima, although there is a little bit of Tim Holtz and some Dusty Attic chipboard. The papers are quite a mix..... Teresa Collins, Kaisercraft, MME, Fancy Pants Designs, AC, and the beautiful background paper is by Maja Designs. I love these papers. I have been dying to get my hands on them for sometime now, but no where local sold them, so as you can imagine I was super excited when I went to my local store the other day and they had about 60 new papers from Maja Designs. I wanted to buy them all..... but they were very expensive, almost 3 Aussie dollars per sheet, so I settled with 6. I'm working on my next project using them all, which I will hopefully be able to share with you soon.

Here is what the background looked like after I had painted it:

I began my background by randomly scraping gesso with a palette knife. When that was dry, I added my stamping. I used a Kaisercraft texture stamp, and also a broken piece of foam for some interesting texture. Next I added some texture paste using my Crafter's Workshop 12x12 punchinella stencil. When it was dry the watercolor paints came out. I started with just Emerald green, but soon decided it needed another shade, so I grabbed a medium yellow, and using the tiniest amount, lightly blended into the green in some areas. Giving me a great combination of different shades of green. I really love how the green pops off that grey background, with some areas looking quite fluorescent. I let the green drip in some areas, before adding some black too. I finished off by flicking green, black, and a touch of blue, watercolor paints randomly around the page and outlining some of the circles with led pencil. 

Some close-ups:

As always I have used lots of yummy Prima flowers on here, I love how the black, grey and white flowers really stand out from the background, whilst the green flowers keep them from being overpowering, helping to tie it all together.

I really love this feather arrow. This is my second time making one of these and yes, it is just a coincidence that the first time I made one of these it happened to end up on a page that also had green as the main color. To make it I painted the tips of the feathers very lightly with glue so they didn't stick together, and then dipped them in glitter before attaching to a skewer with baker's twine. The arrow at the bottom was cut from a scrap piece of patterned Prima paper. I used glue to attach it to the opposite end of the skewer, and to draw lightly around the edges before once again dipping in the silver glitter.

The title is from Dusty Attic, just this cute little chipboard word that I have had forever, probable 2 or 3 years. I painted the entire piece black, to tie in with some of the other elements on the page.

The little light bulb and the mini paper clip are from Tim Holtz, while the black arrow, and the white flourish are also from Dusty Attic.

The hanging industrial light, the faucet wheel, the white heart gear, and the jeans buttons, are all from Ingvild Bolme's Junkyard Findings Collection. I brought almost everything Prima that came into my local store a few months ago and its almost gone already. It will be a sad day for me when I run out. 

I have used a few of Prima's wood Icon leaves on here, cut apart to fit better, and also extend the life of them. The little pebble at the top of the page is really old. About 4 years! It fell of an old layout a couple of weeks ago, so I decided to use it on here.

That's it from me tonight..... I had planned on sharing a second layout with you, but it's getting late, and I am super tired as I have been awake since 3am!! I'll try and get my next post up within a day or two. I hope you like!!! Thanks for stopping by.... Have a great weekend everyone!!! xoxo