A scraplift

There are days when I find a layout that just speaks to me and I know I have the perfect photo to do a scraplift... well this page was one such.

I saw it on instagram and saved it to pinterest for a later date... well on Sunday I felt like scrapping a quick page and so hauled out this one... the longest part was doing all the stitching... which I dithered about doing but felt that the page need something.

The best part about this page is I got to use up a whole bunch of letter stickers that would otherwise just gather dust... I don't tend to use to many z's as a rule... hehe.

Scrapbook Generation - Island Crop Layouts

For National Scrapbook Day celebration, the website Scrapbook Generation hosted an online crop event on Facebook called Island Crop ... all about a tropical holiday. I decided that this year I would take part... especially as it was a week long event and we have till the end of the month to make pages for these.

I did 9 of the challenges ...yippee a few more pages off my to do list. Most of these pages are also based on layouts by Jowilna.

This is a scraplift of a gorgeous Prima layout Jow made for The Wholesaler.

This next page is a scraplift of a Bo Bunny travel page that Jow had made a few years back... I loved this page so much that I have been waiting for the perfect pics to do this page... these are from Keith's trip to Canada last year.

Another scraplift ... I used this one of Jow's

These next few are all from classes that Jow has done over the past few years that I have piling up and needing to do.... I even cut titles on my Curio machine!

This last one is based on a Scrapbook Generation sketch. I used project life cards as the base for my page and added a few gears for embellishments.

I really had fun creating all these pages. Some of the challenges were fairly simple, eg create a double or single page of any theme. Others were for specific themes, eg holiday or food. And then there were the sketch challenges or use a list of products. I don't hold much hope of winning any prizes in these challenges, but I count it a win in that I completed 9 pages.

Scrapbook Challenges - Sketch 484

It's amazing how each Monday feels like the last one was just here, yet it's another week later and time for another sketch reveal.

I took a fairly simple route with the layout but added a bit of pazzazz on the background.... stamped the scout emblem in watermark ink then brushed perfect pearls copper dust on top and sealed with a mist of water... just a subtle addition to the page. Also added a bit of stitching.

Remember to check out the blog for lots more ideas with this week's sketch.

Scrapbook Challenges - Sketch 483

It's been a crazy week so far... yip already Wednesday before I get to post this reveal... but hey it's up!

Work has been busy, yet frustrating in that our phones and electricity have been on/off for a few days. Traffic getting to work has also been a nightmare. Yesterday Mom was affected by a huge power outage, so eventually I brought her to our house to use our electricity for charging her tablets and then fed her supper. Her power only came on around 7:30pm. Makes life interesting and also makes us appreciate the little things we have that we take for granted.

Scrapping is for me a stress relief as well as a creative output... so I definitely think Iwill be needing to find a bit more time this week to get some done. At least I can show you stuff I have already made.... like this layout:  

I got out my trusty coffee stain stamp to do the side embellishing... even did some reverse inking over letters for the title.

Check out the blog for a few more ideas with this sketch.

Scrapbook Challenges - Flashback Friday Sketch 204

It's Friday.... yippee.... and hopefully a weekend of scrapping ahead for me.

I had fun creating this page... and just using cardstock and then adding speckles of paint... which I ended up getting on myself at the same time... hehe.

Remember you can upload your creation using this sketch on the blog to stand a chance at winning the monthly prize.

Scrapbook Challenges - Sketch 482

I blinked and Monday past.... eeck and I missed my blog post. Oh well it's Tuesday and better late than never, as they say. I am busy editing photos for the three pages that I did this past weekend, so did get a bit sidetracked. Plus having upgraded my pc to Windows 10 I have issues with my wifi connection... it bombed out the hardware in my laptop and so I bought a usb wifi adaptor but when I tried to use it downstairs it wouldn't connect... grrr. Will need to fiddle when I have a bit more time.

But I have scrapped and that is the most important thing going on at the moment:

This is a very versatile sketch but I decided to go more the "boy" root than girly with doilies and flowers. Found some Simple Stories RAD stash and used the cards to create the centre strip. I dug out a texture stamp and my white ink to add more details on the dark background.

Check out the blog for a few more ideas.

Scrapbook Challenges - Flashback Friday Sketch 129

It's another Friday and time for a new flashback... even in memories for me seeing as I am still scrapping 2014 photos.

I added in an extra photo on my page and instead of the threads I used tickets, then added a few extra ribbons, buttons and bling. A very quick page to put together.

Check out the blog for some more layouts with this sketch.

Couture Creations 2016/17 Design Team Audition

I have decided to take the plunge and try out for the Couture Creations Design Team... I love using dies and embossing folders in various ways on my layouts... not always as they were intended. So this would be a perfect way to showcase some of my scrapping.

As per the requirements of the application, here are some pics of my work (most of them seen before) that showcase my style and use of products.

Up first is a layout that I created using Couture Creations paper that I received as a prize last year for correctly guessing that they are the sponsor of the upcoming Secret Scrapbooking Event (can't wait... less than a month to go!)

On this layout I used lots of little quilled flowers that I cut from a die that I have. As the paper I used is double sided, the flowers look different depending which colour is rolled on the inside. The layout was finished with border punches, bling and ribbons. The title was cut on the Silhouette machine and then covered with diamond glaze.

For my next layout, I used a border die which I cut four times, to create two strips above and below the row of photos on the bottom on the page. The top strip just has the scollops hidden under the photos whereas the bottom ones overlap the pics.

This layout was finished off with a self-designed title cut on my silhouette (I think this was the first time I had used my machine!), and some ink splats. Simple embellishments that lend to the theme of the photos.

My third page that I am showing is fairly simple, yet effective in it's design... just a few hexagons cut with my nesting dies in various papers to lend pattern and movement to a page.

Now on to some fun, for this page I created a tag with my embossing folder, which I had inked with red and green before running through my cuttlebug. I also coloured the ribbon and then added some glittered texture paste through a stensil and a few coffee stain stamps.

Here is an upclose shot of the tag and stencilling:

My final layout is a new one I made specially for this application. I found in my ever-growing stash of free cutfiles, a few Christmas ornaments. After finding the perfect sketch and printing my photo I dug out my Christmas range from Couture Creations to find the perfect matching paper.

I cut the ornaments on my new Curio machine (yes I blush in saying it's been sitting in it's box since BEFORE Christmas - was a learning curve in setting it up!). Once the paper was cut, I chose three different embossing folders and three different inks to use. I rubbed the ink on the folder and then added an ornament before running through the cuttlebug. Some I did on the positive side, and some on the negative... the blue and small green one I embossed first and then ran the ink over the raised bits.

The title strips are from another embossing folder (all these Christmas ones were part of that same prize pack mentioned earlier). I dithered a bit on what to do with the whole block of words, but then inspiration hit... I cut it up and applied different colours to each piece to tie in with the ornaments.

To finish off I used a date stamp and then added in a few coloured blings scattered around.

So there are my layouts... but that's not all. While thinking about this application I also did a few other "off the page" items which I have blogged about earlier this week in step-by-step tutorials.

My CREATE wall art... you can read about it here

and a card I made for The Wholesaler's 10th birthday... again you can read about how I made it here.

So now I am off to send in my application email and hold thumbs I hear back in a positive manner. Till then I shall continue to scrap up a storm.

Happy birthday card: step-by-step

When The Wholesaler turned 10 last month, they had a competition on Facebook for everyone to wish them a Happy Golden Birthday in whatever manner they wanted... well I was sort of inspired but didn't really get butt into gear until the very last minute almost (competition closed on Monday!). I spent part of Sunday creating this golden card:

Here's more on how I made this:

1. Stick 9 buttons and string onto the background white card using gel medium. Make sure it is very dry before trying the next step. (yip I learnt the hard way by not using the right glue and it all came undone when I tried to dry it with my heat gun... hehehe!)

2. Apply gesso over everything to give a solid base to work on.

3. Using Tea Stain mist and Perfect Pearls in Gold I sprayed the whole card... I of course was in a bit of a hurry and hadn't let the tea stain dry too much before applying the perfect pearls spray, so a lot of it ran and mixed.... but in the end I actually like the mottled effect. As they say there are no mistakes in scrapping, only new techniques.

4. As the buttons didn't take the spraying too well, I then applied the gold paint dauber to them as well... worked like a charm.

5. Next up I applied that same gold paint to some white cardstock and used it to cut out the girl and boy from my Couture Creations die set. I also embossed the Happy Birthday greeting before punching it out with a circle punch.

6. Once everything was nicely dry I stuck the happy birthday circle on as the final balloon and then stuck the whole piece onto a folded card.

Thanks for looking... hope you get inspired to make a card too.

Create Wall Art - step-by-step

I have been doing a sort of scraproom makeover (or reshuffle) over the past few months... I push stuff this and that way till it works. I have also added in a few extra drawers... reorganised some stash and made space so that I can have my cutting machines available all the time (maybe then I will use them more!).

As part of my planning, I was pinning loads of ideas on pinterest and not really doing much with them. Well I did collect the toilet rolls and tuna tins for two projects, but haven't made them yet. Another project I pinned, was to make a new word for my wall... I really like this one and used it for my starting point.

As I really wanted to make it my own and didn't have the letters as above, I knew I would have to make another plan. That's just what I did last week while on my long weekend break and now this is what my scraproom looks like with my new word up on the wall.

In more detail, here is how I went about creating my new word art:

1. Firstly I kept some old milk box cartons till I had enough for all the letters.
2. Using Coreldraw I typed out my word, chose the fonts I wanted and resized them. Once I was happy,I reveresed some of the letters and then printed a letter per A4 page.
3. I then stuck the letters to the back of the cardboard and cut them out.

When it came to decorating them, I treated each letter differently... as follows

I covered all the letters,except the A, in gesso first to give me a good starting point.

I started with the C and the last E... I applied some embossing paste which I tinted teal, through a stencil to part of each letter. For the C I added strips of some Couture Creations Vintage Christmas paper and then a few ribbons. I finished both letters off with some coffee stain stamps, plus a layered flower on the E.

Next up was the T... this letter I left fairly plain... covered it in full with a sheet of dotty paper, added a strip of stripes and then some buttons. Once I started the coffee stain stamp on the other letters I decided to add some here too... just subtly finished it off.

Next up was the R... this letter I wanted to pick up the reddish colour of the dots and strips, so started with a base of red stain then used orange distress ink to apply a chevron pattern over the while letter. I added in some white word stickers and then using some dimensional glaze stuck on a few blue beads to add interest.

The next fun letter was the second E... this one I turned blue with a demin stain and then while still slightly wet went over it with a pale blue distress paint... it ended up with a funky pattern. Well I didn't stop playing there... I then applied walnut ink to a Couture Creations pinstripe embossing folder and used it to stamp a plaid pattern all over the letter... first stamped the one way and then turned the folder and stamped the other direction... pretty funky. Once it was all dry, I stuck on a layered flower.

The last letter that I did was the A... this one I applied a mixed media/art journalling technique that I learnt a few weeks back from Jowilna... such fun to be able to apply techniques to different mediums. To begin I stuck various bits of ribbon to my plain letter with gel medium. Once that was dry, I gesso-ed over it all and allowed to dry. Next up, I applied paint and distress stain in three colours in various parts of the letter. Once it was all dry I stamped a bit on the edges with an alphabet stamp.

I then put all my letters together and took a pic while it was drying... and again after it was up on the wall... pretty chuffed how it all turned out.

So there you have it... making art from an idea off the internet.... why not give it a go too?