Wednesday 29 October 2014

'Extraordinary' Canvas Pair for 2Crafty Chipboard
plus some simple Mixed Media Tips!





Don't forget about my 3 Christmas Giveaways HERE.


Hello everyone :)  I'm back again today with a couple of mini-canvases I created
 for this month's projects at 2Crafty Chipboard.  You can see my actual post HERE.  


I now have them hanging on the wall of my studio & they remind me everyday to just be
 who I am & take risks & chances as I have always done with my art.  Thanks to staying
 true to that for the last few years I am happy to say that now I am heading in exactly the 
direction I want to go in irrespective of whether what I do is loved by everyone or not.  


I used tonnes of yummy 2Crafty Chipboard on these little beauties. 
 Behind the sentiments I have used a Polaroid Frame on each then trailing down
 from that I have used my favourite 2Crafty piece, the Berry Branch, on each piece
 too & at the top of each I have used an Ingrid's Frame.  I love the symmetry of 
them & the gorgeous dimension & texture the chipboard pieces add.  


You can read ALL the details of how I created these canvases & exactly 
what I did to treat the chippie, over on the 2Crafty blog if you are interested.  


There is just something magical about white chipboard in my opinion 
& coupled with chunky glass glitter you'll be in for the win if you ask me!!


I used Soft Gel Medium by Finnabair for Prima to treat the canvas boards before applying
 my Color Bloom Sprays & as a result there is some great texture & sheen going on!


I use a regular kitchen sponge (the small one that comes with the green scourer on top)
 that I cut into 4 pieces, to dab my white acrylic paint or gesso on to the top of my
 flowers (in this case white acrylic paint works fine & saves a bit of money for me 
as it is manufactured locally rather than the gesso that is imported).


Gauze is another GREAT addition to mixed media scrapbooking products & a pack of pharmaceutical gauze is one of the most inexpensive scrapbooking supplies you will ever buy :)


I often tone down my colours with White mist I make myself using thinned down white acrylic paint to mute the colours slightly & take the garishness out of my colourful creations. 
If you make your own don't make it TOO thin as you want to be able to flick it on
 & not have it be readily absorbed or it will start reacting with your mists all over again...
I just make it up as needed in a glass ramekin as it blocks up the nozzle of a spray bottle.


I am so happy micro-beads are back in fashion.  I have a tonne of them from years gone by & am loving adding them to projects using my glue gun.  If you are interested in 2Crafty chipboard you can email Vanessa at salesat2crafty@optusnet.com in Australia to find out how to get hold of 2Crafty Chipboard in your country, or if you are in Southern Africa you can buy it from ME :) 
 Just leave me a comment & I will get back to you asap!




Tuesday 28 October 2014

'Brothers Always' Layout - 7 Dots Studio





You can find my 3 Christmas Giveaways HERE.


Hi again!  Here is my 7 Dots Studio project for October.
I used the Cold Country Collection which is one of my favourites.
{along with many other 7 Dots Collections LOL!}


I started by gessoing over my base paper using a credit card then I used an 
UmWow Studio Brick Wall Mask with thick modeling paste on the background
 & sprinkled over it whilst still wet, using 2 colours of embossing powders.


I used many different elements from the Cold Country Collection for my layers,
from the elements stickers, word stickers & die-cuts, all of which you can find HERE.


I used alphabet & word stickers from a previous collection, 'All I Ever'.


I also used Cold Country stamps too. {3 out of 4 of them}.

clear stamps

As well as some 'negative' pieces of chipboard from the Illumination Collection.


I really enjoyed myself on this one, especially with the Gentlemen images!


You can visit the blog HERE if you want to know anymore details.
Thanks so much for stopping by today!



Monday 27 October 2014

'You make me Happy when Skies are Grey'
Layout - 2 Crafty Chipboard





Check out my 3 Christmas Giveaways HERE.


Hi again!  I'm back today with a layout for 2 Crafty Chipboard that you can see up on their blog HERE.  I don't scrapbook my younger son a lot as he is notoriously unphotogenic, 
like me!  I got this shot of him completely by chance when I was clicking away at my 
daughter's graduation, after the event when we were all relaxing on the lawn.


If you view my post from the link above you'll be able to see each chipboard piece I used & how I treated it.  2Crafty have the prettiest titles I've ever seen from a chipboard company.  


I love all the foliage type chipboard 2 Crafty produces, I suppose because
 I am a flower addict & it always matches perfectly with the floral look.  


I don't have a problem using flowers or feminine pieces like doilies on male
 layouts as long as I grunge things up enough for them to look masculine.  


Using up the Glitz giant Glitzers & the flair was part of my destashing program
& I'm so happy to be able to use up my microbeads now that they're back in fashion.


I treated the chipboard in lots of different ways including stamping & sponging,
after I had misted them with Color Bloom sprays, after priming the pieces as usual.


DON'T FORGET TO SUPPORT 2CRAFTY & buy their beautiful designs.
If you can't find any at your local scrap store or where you shop online 
feel free to contact Vanessa at salesat2crafty@optusnet.com.au & she
will send you a list of stockists in your area.  If you are in Southern Africa
you can leave me a comment & you can buy 2Crafty Chipboard from me :)




Sunday 26 October 2014

'Find Happiness' Tag - 7 Dots Studio Challenge





Check out my Christmas Giveaways HERE.


Hi again, time to share my take on the new 7 Dots Challenge HERE.


The theme this month is TEXTURE so I concentrated on that 
& loaded up this little tag full of lots of tactile dimension.  


This is what I had to say on the 7 Dots Studio blog.  


"I decided to create a tag for my “Texture” project this month, so I could really play around & experiment!I used black archival ink to shade all over an oversized manila postal tag , stamped it with “Illumination” collection background stamps then added an abstract gesso base. I followed with some masking using texture paste & some light misting, then finished if off with layers of Illumination patterned paper off-cuts & tags mixed in with co-ordinating chipboard, muslin & metallic thread. Total textural overload! Yummy!!"

I hope you will play along with the 7 Dots Studio TEXTURE CHALLENGE.

You can create ANYTHING for this challenge - as long as it showcases your
artistic abilities as well as some 7 Dots Studio Products.  



Saturday 25 October 2014

3 GIVEAWAYS!!! Happy Christmas!! Two months early!







{OOPS I forgot to mention the brand of stamps - UmWow Studios!}

Hello everyone!  I have Christmas on the brain already which reminded me that is't been a long while since I had a GIVEAWAY!!  We have had a postal strike here in South Africa for months now - HIGHLY annoying!  So I have halted any plans of sending anything anywhere & haven't had an easy time getting hold of new product either BUT I am hoping by the time this giveaway ends the strike will be over & THREE LUCKY DUCKS will be able to receive these Christmas goodies from me!!



As you will see if you read the text on the photos there are 3 giveaways to win, one for everyone, one for locals & one for Internationals, so more than a fair chance for everyone!  I love blogging SO much but I am truly SO busy in my day to day life that I have had to let my commenting slide.  It has nothing to do with not being inspired by others - I constantly AM & do my best to browse ''Paper People" , Facebook & Blog Loving but most of the time through my phone where leaving a comment is not so easy.  So this is really to say THANK YOU for sticking with me!!


GIVEAWAY RULES

1. Closing date Friday 21st November {approximately one month from now}
Please remember to come back to check if you are a winner because if I 
do not hear from the winners within a week I will be selecting new ones.

              2.  Please leave a comment on this post giving me SOME FEEDBACK
                   on my blog - ie what I am doing right, or wrong, or what you would like
                     to see more or less of in order to keep your attention :) 
                     PLUS leave a link to show me where you have shared.

3.  To be eligible to win you must be a FOLLOWER on the gadget
 you see on the top left hand sidebar where it says JOIN THIS SITE


as well as a follower of my FACEBOOK PAGE 
{please note this is NOT my personal page but my Artist page} AND
you need to be following my blog on BLOG LOVIN' too 



So you need to follow my blog at all 3 places 
{here, Facebook & Blog Lovin'}
& SHARE this giveaway on Facebook or your blog.  

That's it!
HAVE A FABULOUS WEEKEND!!
{ & of course a Merry Little Christmas too!!!}





Friday 24 October 2014

4 Sneaks, 3 Woots & a New Challenge!







Hello everyone!  I have been off the blogs this week due to a family calamity 
{yup I'm a poet!} Life is a mess right now - hint, hint TEENAGERS
 {actually, more accurately, young people}.  

One in particular, has caused untold damage & I am left with a devastated child, 
picking up the pieces & "being a mom"!  We are far from the end of the
 trauma so my apologies for my absence ♥


Despite having nothing to show at the moment I have been busy, busy!!
  I have created 6 projects in the last week!!!  

Yup I am firing on all cylinders right now trying to get all my DT work done 
ahead of time so we can get away for a few weeks at Christmas!


Don't forget to play along with our current challenge over at Scrap Around The World
HERE.  It is only open for ONE MORE WEEK & the entries are slow this month
 so you have a great chance!


Things around here are about to start getting exciting as I have all these projects
 plus another 2 going LIVE starting next week!  It's either feast or famine isn't it?
   I don't get to choose my DT dates & that's how it has worked out this month :)





There is a new challenge up at 7 Dots Studio HERE right now & the theme is TEXTURE. 
 What could be easier right?!  Go take a look via the link & I would love to see you playing along. 
 7 Dots Studio products are up for grabs to the winners & this challenge is a merit one, voted on by the Design Team, so it's worth a go.  {I don't understand random draw challenges...}


Lastly I have 3 WOOTS to share this month!
I won the September challenge over at Paperdvizhnik HERE
 Paperdvizhnik is a really cool Russian Challenge site full of
 funky designers & I will be their Guest Designer soon!

I was also featured at PRIMA!!!  HERE this month with my entry for both the BAP 
& the PPP!!  I am also their November Guest Designer, as announced in 
June this year, so am busy working on several projects for that too, 
so exciting times on the scrappy front!!

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND ALL!





Friday 17 October 2014

"Moment in Time" Layout
{Prima Product Pick} October 2014






Hi again!  It hasn't been the best week for me & I'm actually on antibiotics at the moment :(  Nonetheless before I began feeling awful I got the Prima Product Pick done - yay!!


Halloween is not something I celebrate & not a mainstream event in 
South Africa, but I actually loved the soft take on the traditional 
Halloween colours that Prima came up with this year & thought a
 photo of Granny with her purple hair would be perfect for it!


I began with a patterned paper from the Seashore collection, which I misted 
& splattered with a 2014 Prima 6inch stencil, using it both ways, both as 
mask & as a stamp, using Lime Wedge, Gilded & Iris Color Bloom Sprays.


This is an image of the stencil - I'm not sure what it's called, but I think 
it's a 2014 goodie & am looking forward to plenty of use out of it.


I used all sorts of Prima blooms from my extensive collection.  I am on a stash-
busting campaign at the moment & doing very well working my way through it!!


I added a touch of stamping, some gauze {which I just seem to be loving more
 & more at the moment!}, some Prima plastic pebbles & SIIC bling & some wooden
 Prima feathers that I watercolour painted with Color Bloom Spray in Iris.


I used more Seashore patterned papers for my paper layers behind my photo
 as well as a title sentiment from Prima's Time Traveller Collection.


Thanks so much for swingin' by here today!
Here's hoping for a peaceful, creative weekend comin'up!!


Tuesday 14 October 2014

'Wonderful Boy' Layout {Prima BAP}
Cartographer, Princess, Color Bloom Sprays,
Art Sugar & more!!







Hello there everyone~!  I do hope you are having a wonderful week?!
Mine is VERY busy - I have a lot going on on ALL fronts so am feeling
a little overwhelmed by it all but it won't last forever!!


Recently I played along with this month's Prima BAP {Build-a-Page Sketch}.
I LOVED Jen's sketch - SUPER  awesome - & I was definitely inspired by it,
although at the end of it my layout veered off the visual path somewhat :))))


I set out to create a masculine layout with this beautiful photo of my son, 
who is now 16 now, so I have STRICT instructions from him now - NO FLOWERS!!
 {he did NOT mention BLING, lucky for me, hehehe....} 
so I  began with a neutral base from the Cartographer collection.


I have made a resolution with myself, to use up all my older Prima patterned
 chipboard this year, so I tucked in a couple of pieces as you can see, 
along with some gauze & the pretty clock that comes on most
 of the Prima packaging.  


As I really wanted to use this photo, & it is landscape orientated, not portrait, 
I made my own "card" with Color Bloom Sprays, where I added some 
Prima word stickers describing my son's personality.


More Prima chipboards on this side as well as a Prima wooden ticket 
tucked under my "journaling card".  Just look at the depth you can
 create with the Color Bloom Sprays.  They have not disappointed me!!


For the base I gessoed first, then I used the circles stencil like the one in the sketch, 
together with some Art Sugar, but it is so subtle that it's hard to spot in the photos 
except for the main photo.  I then sprayed & stamped. 

 Before I began I randomly {following the diagonal line of the composition}
 placed some Prima Princess stickers {shhhhh...he doesn't need to know....}
 & some old circular alpha stickers,  which I then intentionally covered
 with gesso, just to add some more interesting texture.

  If you scroll back up to the main photo you can spot them!  
Thanks so much for swingin' by!!