Sunday 29 September 2013

Christmas Tag Set {Love - Wish - Cherish - Joy} for Scrapmatts Chipboard




My daughter has just downloaded a Christmas app on her phone &
 delights in reminding me daily how many days, hours & minutes are
left until Christmas!  I don't know about you but for me that is STRESSFUL!!  


Anyway, fortunately Scrapmatts set the Design Team a
challenge to create some Christmas tags this month &
I ended up having a lot of fun getting these made :)


You can see my post @ Scrapmatts HERE - where you will find all
 the product codes & links to the chipboard items in their store.


I started off by painting the Scrapmatts chipboard tags with white 
acrylic paint then created a collage effect using torn strips 
of paper, misting, stamping & embossing.


It really was fun using all the same type of product on these
 tags but mixing & matching them so they were all unique
 & individual yet still very definitely part of a set.


I used Lindy's Stamp Gang mists in Cheshire Cat Cherry
 & Tea Pot Purple,  Flat Fabios Pink Ladies Pink & 
Embossing Powders in Candy Cane Red, Magic Moon Pearls, 
Ghouly Green Goblin & Twilight Jade Slate.


The leaf you see above is metal that I embossed - love how that turned out!  Now that I am designing for Lindy's Stamp Gang I am getting to play about with Embossing Powders a lot more than I used to & they are very cool!!


Thanks for stopping by today!
I hope you are enjoying your weekend!!

If you are looking for challenges to play at don't
forget about the current one at Flourish with a Bling HERE,
the colour challenge at Lindy's Stamp Gang HERE & last
but not least the Mood Board challenge at my own challenge
blog, Scrap Around The World HERE.

All closing midnight EST on Monday :)



Saturday 28 September 2013

'New Beginnings' Layout - Scrapmatts {Prima Product Pick}




Yup it's that time of the month again!!  
AKA the END of the month LOL!!!
We are all going crazy catching up with our 
blog posts to link up to the challenges we love!  


So of course I have to show you my Prima Product Pick page before 
it is too late!  This is also my Design Team layout up at 
Scrapmatts at the moment, the DT theme ATM being "Anything New."


In my post there I have linked all the Scrapmatts products I have used to their store, where you can buy them directly, online, & have them shipped anywhere in the world for a nominal fee, as chipboard is flat & light. So I suggest snagging yourself some as they are constantly coming out with new releases!


I used paper from the new Prima 'Delight' Collection, together with lots of mists from Lindy's Stamp Gang, some new Prima stamps, & some new Prima chevron bling!  Love!! Plus some older Prima alphas (have had to use my Z's as N's there as I am running short :) 


Above you can see the Scrapmatts chipboard lampshade peeking out
over the photos - signifying "seeing the light" - in other words, my
daughter getting to grips with the realities of life now that she is
older & into the next phase of independence.


Above you can see I used the new Prima "Bubbles" mask, which is a really fun one, with lots of possibilities.  I added some textured layers by adding various different mesh & corrugated board.


Some new Prima flowers above, grunged up with inks & stamping.


Some hand-journaling {given up the computer generated strips in keeping with my style, some sugar dots (yum yum!!) & some rubber cord instead of thread this time.


Scrapmatts bridge which I dabbed with 4 different colours of Ranger Paint Dabbers before sealing with an antique varnish.  Old book pages peeking out & a glimpse  of the new stitched circle stamp from Prima - IN LOVE with this one!!


Used some thick black acrylic paint
 for the glorious coffee cup stains!


Some "kiss kiss" staples for my daughter & one of her dearest
 pals :)  Thanks for the visit!!  Hope you got to getting the 
Prima BAP & PPP done!  See you again soon :)



Friday 27 September 2013

'20 and 21' Layout - Inkido Special Guest Designer {Lindy's Stamp Gang, Flourish with a Bling. Webster's Pages}




Hello again!  This post has been forever in the making!!  I have been blogging left, right & centre this week, at every blog but my own :)  So here at last is my Special Guest Designer contribution to the Inkido blog this month!!!


You can see the post on the Inkido blog HERE.


I used Inkido papers, butterfly stamp & flowers & tried to see
 how colourful I could get with these classic vintagey papers.


I distressed all the papers then inked their edges with dark brown ink & bent, tore, 
scrunched & stapled them.  Inkido papers are just perfect for this kind of 
treatment as they strong so can withstand mists & water treatments too.


I added some touches of black in the way of bling, feathers and netting to enhance the dramatic photos used then tied all the colours together through the use of mists in black, brown, yellow & pink by spraying & splattering.


I added some old book paper for a romantic touch. The photos I used are very 'young & funky' which one may not automatically imagine using with Inkido papers but I suggest you try it!  I kept the images small as I took them off my daughter's Facebook page & they were taken using a mobile phone camera.


As she is away at university most of the time this is the only way I get hold 
of any photos of her as I'm sure any other mothers of teenagers will understand :)  

As well as Inkido products I used netting from Webster's Pages, mists from Lindy's 
Stamp Gang & flourishes from Flourish with a Bling, as well as old book papers,
 staples, mesh tape, gesso & a feather :)  Happy Weekend everyone :)



Sunday 22 September 2013

A new Video! The first of my One-Minute-Wonders Series for Lindy's Stamp Gang!! {Ombre Photo Matting Tutorial}




Hello ladies!!  I hope you are all well!  I have some great news to share with you today!! I have a new video up at long last!!!  Video editing is great fun but a MASSIVELY time-consuming process & the learning curve is STEEP!!  {apparently not so much for Mac users but for pc users it certainly is!}.  My advice to any aspirant You-Tubers:- FORGET WINDOWS LIVE MOVIE MAKER!!

It is SO user-friendly & creates a happy ILLUSION that you are making fantastic progress UNTIL it co mes to actually SAVING your video.  My experience with it it that then you watch in soul-destroying DISMAY as it one-by-one corrupts each & every painstakingly edited clip until YOU HAVE NOTHING LEFT!!  

{If it hasn't happened to you yet chances are it probably will...} IT does work... SOMETIMES...but I knew that if this was going to become a regular event for me{I have to publish at least one video per month now for Lindy's Stamp Gang} I would need to get to grips with something more reliable!!

So I have spent MANY, MANY, MANY hours this week {getting behind on everything else}immersed in video programs {downloading free 30 day trials}, screaming {yes really...my family kept popping their heads in to ask if I was okay}!!!  Thanks to the help of some of my online friends who were generous enough to share their snippets of advice with me I have {hopefully} completed the most traumatic part of my initiation & it can only be downhill from here :-D



Don't forget to subscribe to my You Tube channel HERE
& to the Lindy's Stamp Gang channel HERE.

If you are feeling really generous you could leave me 
some love on the LSG channel HERE :) ♥



Thursday 19 September 2013

'Cam' Layout - My Debut Post at Lindy's Stamp Gang {Prima BAP}




I have my first post up on the Lindy's Stamp Gang blog!
Exciting or WHAT?!?  Definitely one of the highlights
of my scrapbooking journey to date!!  You can see the
the post on the LSG blog HERE.


I used the current Prima BAP {sketch} to direct my
 design. LOVED it - perfect for me - nice & messy!


I really love how my page turned out - these mists are just 
incredible & I now have a studio overflowing with them!


I used the new collection of Mad Hatter Mists & Embossing 
Powders - so colourful & outlandish - I really love them!


I went to town on the misting & embossing & have tons
of different techniques going on on this page...


I used Tweedle Dee Denim Flat Fabio Mist as well as I’m Late I’m Late Slate Flat Fabio MistDown the Rabbit Hole Starburts Toto’s Tornado Black Flat Fabios on my background, then I also used Queen of Hearts Red Flat Fabios & Teapot Purple Starbursts for my ombre photo matting {together with Tweedle Dee Denim again as well}!

I also used various embossing pastes such as Candy Cane Red,which I sprinkled randomly onto my page {see the top left hand corner as well as on the Ranger Pop Dots Negative Foam below my photo matting}.

I also used the Midnight Sapphire Embossing Powder plus heaps of  the Magic Moon Pearls Embossing Powder sprinkled into wet gesso on a large area of my page. It adds a brilliant shine & sparkle to the white of my page – absolute. L.O.V.E….!!!

Wednesday 18 September 2013

'No Regrets' Layout - Lessology 2nd Birthday Bash Guest Designer & E-Book Contributor





Hi there beautiful peeps!  I hope you are all well & haven't
 missed me TOO much!  I have been busy, busy with hubs 
away on business & battling some wisdom teeth issues.  


Today I am sharing a layout with you that you can find 
up on the Lessology blog HERE.   Lessology is a cool 
challenge blog that has been around for 2 years already!


It is owned & run by my dear friend Yvonne Yam, who I 
had the pleasure of meeting IRL this year in Singapore!
They are in the midst of a huge birthday bash on site ATM!!



Check out their latest challenge HERE, which is what my
layout is based upon - BIRTHDAYS!  There is a LOVELY
package for the winner PLUS a publication guarantee!


 I journalled my thoughts as they came to me when
 looking at my children - my greatest achievement in
 my life for sure!  For some people it seems getting
 older is dreadful but  I always focus on the positives!


Almost everything came from 13arts, who stock a wide variety 
of wonderful papers & mixed media products such as string,
 zipper pulls, & feathers - all recycled in a sense. I also added 
some of the negative areas from my Ranger pop dots that work
 great as a layering embellishment & count as my recycled item.


I had a wonderful birthday party that went on all weekend 
as my birthday fell the day before the Easter weekend 
this year so we headed down the South Coast of
 Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa & enjoyed a lazy beach
 weekend complete with lots of rest & seafood :)


I created this page with a rare photograph of me with all 
4 of my children together. This is an unusual thing as I 
am normally the one behind the camera!   As such any 
photos I have of us all together are very precious to me.


Thanks for stopping by today to check out my page!
Do support LESSOLOGY when & if you can.  Their
challenges are always fun & varied & focus on using
the stash you have in new & interesting ways & recycling.



Thursday 12 September 2013

'You are Pretty Gorgeous" Layout - FLourish with a Bling {Mixed Media} Prima




Hi everyone!  I'm here to share my layout up at 
Flourish With a Bling already. In my post there
you can find the exact product names & links to
their store for all the FWAB products I've used,
 namely their new flowers & the pearl flourishes. 


I really love how this one turned out & promised to share my
 process.  I began by adhering some gauze to my watercolour 
paper, using gel medium.  I then painted over it with gesso, 
sprinkling some glass beads into the wet gesso & used a wad of 
gauze pressed into the thick layer of gesso to create the texture.

Without drying it off I sprayed on a few different colours of mist 
then dried everything off with my heat gun, close to the surface 
to create bubbles. I added some white acrylic paint to the sides
 of my page to create a vignette. To achieve this effect my paper 
became completely saturated which caused warping, so once it 
was dry I adhered it to another sheet of cardstock to flatten it.


I stamped randomly with my Prima brick stamp, using Ranger
 black archival ink & used Prima stickers for my title & sentiment.


For my layers I used some Prima papers that I distressed,
as well as some mesh tape, mesh fabric & pleated burlap.


I also tucked in some old film tape that I stapled on.  
Notice the tiny glass beads under the flourish above.


I also added some teeny bits of corrugated board for further
 texture, first colouring some with a Ranger Gold Paint Dabber.


Don't forget about the September Challenge at Flourish with a Bling 
HERE. There is always a lovely big prize-pack up for grabs!



Wednesday 11 September 2013

My Creative Scrapbook September Kits!





Hello again!  More bad news from me :/  
My 'My Creative Scrapbook' kit never arrived last month
 so I don't have any creations to share with you this month :( 

 It's the FIRST TIME a parcel hasn't reached me & I am so 
surprised - I keep expecting it to arrive but it never does!

I feel terrible not being able to make my usual design team contribution
 & create my projects & tutorial this month but I can share the kits with 
you so you can see what some of you (and me this month LOL) are 
missing out on!  Head over to the site to get one for yourself here

The rest of the Design team have been cooking up tons of samples 
with these kits to inspire you. Check out the DT Gallery here...

The Main Kit



The Creative Kit



The Limited Edition Kit 
{this is the one I usually get to work with}



The Album Kit


Recently some new "Add On" Kits have been introduced at My Creative Scrapbook so you are now totally spoiled for choice :)

 September Spotlight on Your Life- Today
(Project Life Style)



September Spotlight on Your Life- The Best
(Project Life Style)


September Mixed Media Kit


September Flower Kit


All  these kits can be found in the Add-on section of the My Creative Scrapbook website although they are flying off the shelves so hurry over to place your order if you are keen to snag one for yourself!