Friday, January 27, 2017

A Taste of Spring



I don't know about you, but I'm ready for Spring! Since it's only January, I guess we'll have to make do with this layout based on the January sketch from Swirlydoos, featuring my DGD in April, 2015.


The Swirlydoos January kit features beautiful papers and embellishments from Lemoncraft and I've taken advantage of the colors and pattern of the Gossamer Blue 04 to start my Spring layout. Because I was going to do some heavy stenciling, I first gave the paper a thin coat of clear gesso to cut down on the warping. (It won't prevent it completely, but it does make a big difference.) When both sides were absolutely dry, I applied Ranger Grit Paste through one of my favorite stencils (Natural Flourish by Art Stamps) and let it set for a few hours.
The photo was matted with plain white cardstock and then a layer of light blue, with packing in between each layer to give it a lot of dimension. I knew that I wanted to tuck bits of embellishments underneath, so I taped only the center of my bottom layer to the paper.
Next, I selected a piece of ephemera from the sheet that came with the kit; I cut it out, inked the sides, and cut it in half down the middle. I arranged the halves next to my photo, turning the bottom piece upside down to use the border edge.
From the kit, I used one of the Kaisercraft blooms, as well as some of the Lemoncraft flair buttons and a bit of the Lemoncraft trim.
The rest of my flowers (and the scattering of pearls) are from my stash. The vines were cut from a Poppy Stamps die.

The metal butterfly - treated with a light coating of Vintaj Patina - is an EBay find.
There was still a bit of gap in my mind, so I did a bit more rummaging through my embellishment and came up with this resin birdhouse that I've been er, saving and that was the perfect way to finish off my cluster.


As always, thank you so much for stopping by; I truly appreciate your visits.





Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Ready for Snow



This layout featuring a very grumpy Nick last January all dressed to go out and play with the aftermath of the Blizzard of  '16 was created for the CSI Case File #222  http://csichallenge.blogspot.com/2017/01/case-file-no-222-deadline-january-31.html


I used all of the colors: light grey, black, pale powder blue, white and cardinal red.

My Evidence:
Snowflakes
Something fuzzy (the jute)
Bow
Stamp
Glitter

My Testimony:
Something about Winter
Haiku


I started by applying Tumbled Glass distressed ink through a stencil on white cardstock. I tore a sheet of pattern paper (Good Tidings from Kaisercraft's Silver Bells collection) in two and placed the smaller piece on top of the larger and stamped a corner image on top.
The photo was matted with black cardstock, glued to a piece of packaging and wrapped in a length of fuzzy jute.
I covered the Maya Road chipboard snowflakes with gesso and then with glitter and allowed them to dry before gluing them to the page.
The journaling strips were printed on plain cardstock, lightly inked and taped next to the photo.


Sunday, January 22, 2017

Out with the Old, In with the New



The theme of this month's Swirlydoos Round Robin challenge is "New Beginnings". Ginny Hickmont led our team with a layout featuring her daughter's life post tonsillectomy and Bec Genet followed with the best possible "beginning": her newborn son. I had been scratching my head, trying to come up with something, when I remembered my Granddaughter's loss of baby teeth and the beginning of her permanent teeth last Summer.

I've used a bit of a variety of papers and embellishments on this page: a sheet of the LemonCraft pattern paper that was included in the January "Delicate" kit, scrap papers and stickers from the Kaisercraft Silver Bells collection from December 2015 kit and embellishments from my stash.
Ginny's faux stitching around her borders reminded me that I've been neglecting my sewing machine, so after rough distressing the edges of my pattern paper and adhering it to a cardstock base, I created a frame with black thread using a decorative stitch.
Again following Ginny's design, I stenciled some scattered hearts with the Memory Box Heart Confetti stencil and Prima Platinum Crackle texture paste. While that was drying, I gave my chipboard embellishments (Creative Embellishments' Flourish 15 and from Rae Moses, a pretty "Remember" frame) a base coat of gesso and then a thick coating of the same texture paste.
To build a background for my photo, I cut up some of the Silver Bells scraps into varied sizes, added a couple of Prima journaling cards, lightly distressed the edges and applied some rub-ons from a partly used package in my stash. Next, I played around with the pieces until I was satisfied with the design. I stapled them together in the middle and glued it all to the page.
After I matted the photo with one more scrap, I glued on some packaging to give it dimension and adhered it to the background.
After placing some stickers and a couple of punched pieces on either side of the photo, I scattered the remaining rub-ons (all butterflies) here and there around the page.
I tucked the frame chipboard piece under the photo and the flourish down the side and added flowers, basically combining Ginny's and Bec's designs.
The title was printed out on plain cardstock and matted with bits of scraps.
To finish my page, I scattered a few Prima gems around and added a mirrored heart to the corner under the chipboard.

Saturday, January 21, 2017

The End of Vintage Winter...



I've been able to create a few last things with the December Vintage Winter kit from Swirlydoos featuring the Bo Bunny Winter Wishes collection; I'd like to share them with you.

This tag was created from some leftover stripes and a cut-apart. Also from the kit are the DIY Chalkboard Clothespin and the dollop of Aleen's Glitter Snow. The Darice silver bling is from the November kit (I kept it out just knowing that I'd need it!); the Prima resin frame and the pretty snowflake trim are from my stash. 
 I used a Wink of Stella pen to add a little shimmer to the clothespin and wings and basket of flowers. It doesn't show up that well here, but up close, it's so pretty!!!



Another tag - this one with a woodlands feel contains more bits and pieces layered and tucked under. The frame is from another cut-apart. I've added the flowers and a butterfly from the package of Prima Melody collection flowers and a few of the Darice Rusted Jingle Bells. The icicles (cut on my Cameo and covered with Aleen's Glitter Snow) are leftover from my Winter Memories page. The sheer trim is from my stash.



I had put this gigantic (6" x 6-1/2") silver snowflake by Darice aside, intending to use it for a Christmas ornament, but in the end I decided that it would be fun to use it on a card.
I took a 12" x 12" piece of cream cardstock, cut it down to 11" x 6-3/4" and scored it at 4" and 10". Next, I cut some pieces from my scraps: from the Magic sheet 1 @ 5-3/4" x 6-3/4" and 1 @ 6" x 6-3/4" and 1@ 5-3/4" x 6-3/4" and 1 @ 2" x 6-3/4" from the Whimsy sheet.
With the cardstock open to the inside, I glued the 6" Magic sheet to the middle section and the two Whimsy pieces on the sides. (The larger of these will overlap the cardstock; this is how I was able to make a card that actually opens to 13-3/4".) I turned the card over with the front facing and glued on the 5-3/4" Magic sheet, covering the cardstock and the exposed back of the Whimsy paper.
I used a cut-out featuring a winter songbird to decorate the inside of my card and to give it a bit of a pop.
And now for the front - I used Fabri-Tac to glue on the snowflake, letting it overlap the opening edge and then I scattered a few of my remaining Kaisercraft self-adhesive pearls here and there.
I took out some of the 49 and Market blooms that came in the November Flower Add-On and this so sweet angel (a gift from Rae Moses) and arranged them until I was happy with the result.






Friday, January 20, 2017

Two Tired Wookies



Saving the galaxy is exhausting work; these two Wookies seem to have had a very, very hard day. 

When I first opened my Vintage Winter kit from Swirlydoos and started examining the enclosed Bo Bunny Winter Wishes collection, I knew that I wanted to use the Flurries sheet to scrap this photo that my DIL had texted me. As I was working on my other layouts, I had visions of gears and rockets and whatnot embellishing the page; but in the end, I decided that it would work best if I were to keep it all simple, using some of the embellishments from the kit that I had left.
After matting the photo with scraps, I trimmed the Prima SIIC swirl and moved it and the photo around the page until I was satisfied with the placement and glued it all down.
Using the Sixxiz Stacked Snowflakes Bigz L die, I cut some shapes from the Core'dinations Glitter Silk cardstock and placed them around the page. To finish, I scattered a few of the Kaisercraft self-adhesive pearls here and there to fill the empty spaces.