Monday, November 25, 2013

Just a little inspiration....

We had the pleasure of meeting our 5 year old niece and 2 year old nephew this summer....wait - meet you say? Yup, hubby's sister lives down in Texas so she and the family do not get to come 'home' much.  I hadn't seen my sister & brother-in-law since 2006, so needless to say, it was well overdue!  I promised the kids I would make them a mini album for them to 'man-handle' at their own accord.

The album is Farm House Dry Goods 6x6" Binding Album that I simply decorated with an older Prima 6x6" paper pad called Road Trip.  I have had it for a while and loved the colors and thought it would go perfect with their trip to Canada! Again, it is very simple, due to the kids' ages and knowing they would love to know that it was for them and they could look at it all they wanted and not have to worry about wrecking anything.

Here are a few closer pictures....











All the paper is from the Prima Paper Pad except for a couple sheets of solid cardstock that I simply took from my scrap pile.  I also added a few strips of Washi Tape, used a Marvy Uchida Flower Punch and Circle Punch.  The larger letters are from Heidi Swapp (Invisibles), again - just using up some of my stash!

Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, November 15, 2013

A Creative Weekend... Part 3!

Woke up to yet another brisk morning -

This is such a beautiful place to get the perfect photo - so much to see (if you are a prairie girl)! I have this fascination with fence posts, my uncle always loved to look at them and especially took pride in the ones I took at his place as they were always perfectly straight!

Day 3 results - not a lot accomplished in the form of scrapbooking, but five was all I could manage that day as I was trying had to not drop it all and hit the art journal!

here we go....layout #1 is a 12x12" pocket page with 6 4x6" pockets.  The only embellishment I did on this page was to use a We R Memory Keepers Albums Made Easy Grid Card  fancied up with some Film Strip Washi Tape by Love My Tapes, a stamped chevron from my 7 Gypsies Clear Stamp Set Postale Par Avion and a rub on from the Tim Holtz Remnant Rubs 'Words' - oh, and I finished it off with an American Crafts Date Stamp!


The flip side is layout #2 - here I used 7 Gypsies Antiquaries Postal Paper Collection to create three inserts. Working from top to bottom... used the Crafter's Workshop Sunburst template (but you could easily use Tim Holtz Rays) with yup, you guessed it - Tim Holtz Distress Ink Gathered Twigs! Then added a Tim Holtz Compass Coin with a metal floral brad that was distressed with some Inka Gold - Copper. The stamped letters are from Cocoa Daisy's Stamp Kit of the Month (don't ask which month please)!  Next one is simple, a few Tim Holtz Remnant Rubs , again from 'Words' but broken up so they looked stamped, the AC Date Stamp again and then just made a flag banner with the paper and rolled the top and stapled using the Tiny Attacher. The last one is pretty simple as well - just added some Prima Mechanicals along with a Tim Holtz Wire Pin.

here is a close up of the mechanical's - adhered with Glossy Accents.


Layout #3 is once again a 12x12" but this time using 6x4", 4x6" and 2x12" pocket page!  Here I used 7 Gypsies Off the Wall Paper for the 2x12" border strip and once again used the We R Memory Keepers Memories Made Easy Grid Cards and made my own embellished card.  'Journey' is once again from the Tim Holtz Remnant Rubs 'Words', I popped up the words 'Enjoy the' using 3L Foam Squares and the stamp is from My Favorite Things Enjoy the Journey.
 

Layout #4 is the reverse - all same products except the addition of Kaisercraft's Texture Stamp Chevron to make it look like tire tracks!


  Layout #5 is a page out of the Becky Higgins Project Life Small Variety Pack 1 to which i simply added two decorative tags that I created using EK Success French General Labels in Glassine Envelope.  I love this line, I think that the internet simply does not do it justice.  The tags are sticky back, some are are fabric - yes, I said fabric!  They ink up beautifully and lay well!  The stamp used is the Hero Arts Calendar Stamp and then '2010' is from Tim Holtz Remnant Rubs 'Numbers'.


Here is a close up of the tags...


Now comes the fun stuff!  Finally got to my Art Journal (Dyan Reaveley's Creative Journal) - I had seen a post on Pinterest of a lady doing some very inspiring forms of art journaling - this is my take on that page! Her name is Vicky and her site is amazing!


My background is 7 Gypsies Collage Tissue Numero, my papers are from an older 6x6" pad (sorry, just can't remember which one). I used Liquitex's Light Modeling Paste mixed with Claudine Hellmuth's Studio Paint Black and it does not dilute when mixed!  I then used my Prima Finnabair Stencil 'Checker' and my Tim Holtz Layering Stencil Schoolhouse for the numbers.

Here is a close up of the texture.


This next one is still a work in progress.  I used Tim Holtz Tissue Wrap 'Composer' and created a rough Canadian Flag using the Tim Holtz Tattered Leaves stamp, and then some Tim Holtz Distress Kraft Cardstock.  The red ink used is Wendy Vecchi's new Archival Red Geranum and then I sprayed some Mister Huey Classic Dark Calico.  The whole idea of the page was to use some Tim Holtz Frosted Film, but it just didn't do what I wanted it to. 


You can see below the remnants of the Frosted Film - since I took the photo though, it is all come off.  I wanted to to be a top dress over the maple leaf and I then was cutting it away so it looked like the leaf was breaking free from it's constraints....yah - that didn't work!  That stuff does not stick well once it has been inked up!  I wanted to stick it down with some form of glue...tried Mono, Glossy Accents - none would stick!  Now as I type this, wondering if Glue Dots might have worked...dang it! The leave is a stencil I have a friend cut out for me on her cricut simply using a scrap piece of cardstock.  I then used Liquitex Flexible Modeling Paste and sprayed over top of it using Ranger Adirondack Color Wash Spray 'Red Pepper'.  It looked so cool...or at least it would have!


One day I may get back to it, or it may just be one of those pages with a story behind it!

Thanks for popping by, hopefully it won't be as long next time for me to share some creativity!  In the mean time, be sure to head over to my Facebook page for more regular postings!

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

A Creative Weekend...Part 2!

Day two woke up a a crisp one...

Not a bad view for 7:30 in the morning!

Today's layouts starts with this 12x12" one, once again done on 7 Dots Studio Dreamer 'Sleepless' with a tad bit of Dusty Attic Chipboard Chicken Wire that has been sprayed with a variety of inks (probably some Heidi Swapp Color Shine) and then dirtied some more with of course - Tim Holtz Distress Ink Gathered Twigs and Wendy Vecchi's Archival Ink in Orange Blossom (seemed to be my color choice for the weekend)!  I attached the Chicken Wore Chipboard with my Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher. Other elements here are the use of the Tim Holtz Alteration Decorative Strip Die 'Washer Border' and if I remember correctly, the three brads are from Teresa Collins World Traveler Collection (my stash)!


This is an idea I have been playing around with for quite a while.  It stems back to the Ali Edwards days when she was using different sized photo sleeves in her 12x12" albums.  I ran with it even further but incorporating different sizes of the 'pocket' pages within my different sizes of pages - cool idea right!  That is what I thought - then some other designer I think came up with the same idea and has made millions!
Really like the idea but, honestly, it takes so much time, as I can't seem to just use the 'ready made' stuff, I always want to make my own.  One day I will learn and finally be caught up - ha!


Once again I have used 7 Dots Studio Wonderland 'Mushroom and Smoke' and you will notice the most awesome distressing here - yup, used the Prima's Ingvild Bolme Distress Tool!  I have constantly brought them in and they go out faster than I can count and needless to say, had to borrow a friends while there as I once again have none left in stock! If you see one, grab it they are amazing! I added a bit of 'script' ink here and there throughout this 8.5x11" layout.


This one is pretty simple - only thing I did this time was use my Tim Holtz Mask Ransom Alphabet and inked around the letters!


Now this 12x12" layout (sorry about the finger, that is a 14 year old for you). This layout I decided to use up some of my 6x6" paper pads (in this case think it was an Echo Park) and added embellishment by Ormolu (Tree Hugger), which is kind of a joke towards my son as he tripped on a tree root and broke his arm!


This one (above & below) is using Kaisercraft's Attitude Collection, which if you look back - you will see I have used a ton! This is a 12x12" layout.


Now this 12x12" one...was just about the death of me - took me 3+ hours and still now totally what I envisioned, but will have to do for now as I really don't think I ever want to even look at it again!  It is what started as 6 4x6" photos cut into 1" squares!  Was I smart enough to graph out the back and number them...nope! so needless to say the better part of the 3+ hours was cutting and piecing it back together!  I wanted them to all blend together and then have some pop up off the page whether it be with pop dots or fragment tiles.  Well if you look hard, you will see one fragment tile!  I was so confused with all the squares... I think I just gave up!


So after that one, I wanted a fun one - this one took me about 30 min from start to finish and I LOVE it! It too is a 12x12" done on a sheet of Elle's Studio printed paper with some Kaisercraft's 75 Cent papers. The canvas in the background is a Prima that is out of stock, but the Creative Imaginations ones are just as great! The key and brads are both Prima (Mechanicals and Junkyard Findings), 7 Gypsies Metal Enforcers, Dusty Attic Chicken Wire (inked up with sprays, embossing powders and more I am sure) and attached using some twine!




These last two are 11x8.5" layouts (a very hard size to find).  I used my good ol' reliable 7 Gypsies Off the Wall Paper Collection and jsut had fun with them.  Not a lot of work on these, but love how they turned out. The 'epic' is from the Heidi Swapp Memory File Collection, Photo Captions and simply added the photo to it (with a little ink to bring down the brightness of course). Cut out around the shoe to incorporate a strip of different paper, the Bird on a Wire are from FabScraps and I simply inked them roughly so they were not perfect.  The number '9' is from Tim Holtz Numeric Alpha Parts, and some Red Dots Washi Tape to add a little pop along with the Tim Holtz Flourish Mask inked up with Wendy Vecchi's Archival Ink Red Geranium.
 

Finally, another 11x8.5" layout with 7 Gypsies Off the Wall Paper Collection. Embellished with some Prima Junkyard Findings and Mechanicals, Wood Icons in a Box; Tim Holtz Tissue Tape, Enameled Tags, Remnant Rubs, and Film Strip Ribbon.


Thanks for popping by and checking out what I have been up to, one more post to come with part 3!

A Creative Weekend!

Once again I had a very creative weekend at Bittern Lake Lodge with my 'Bitches' (please don't be offended, that is what we call ourselves)!

Day One Results:

Pretty sad it was only three pages - but in my defense - spent a better part of the first 12 hours of that day unpacking, setting up and of course visiting with everyone!

First up, was pure playing! Used three of my Tim Holtz Layering Stencils - literally layered the Rays Stencil twice, first used a mix of Light Molding Paste and Claudine Hellmuth's Dab of Yellow Studio Paint allowed it to dry and then offset the stencil and used Wendy Vecchi's Archival Ink Pad Orange Blossom (see second image).  This is a 12x12" layout.



The stencil below is once again a Tim Holtz Layering Stencil - Cargo, I used the same mix as about but this time added some Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Powder (Antique Linen), simply to get the rougher texture!


This stencil is the Stars, and is only the same as the first application (no distress embossing powder). Pages are inked/distressed with Tim Holtz Distress Ink Gathered Twigs.


The paper used in the above layout is 7 Dots Studio Dreamer Collection (Drive all Night).

Next layout (8.5x11") is a spin on using the hexagon die - tried to get the effect of the photo breaking away.  Somehow I think it would have been more effective if I had a punch (and in a variety of sizes). So of course will have to try it again in another layout!


Paper is once again 7 Dots Studio but this time 'Wonderland' accented with the border strip using the EK Success Edger Punch Bubbles.  The tag is one from an old Pink Paislee pack (can't think of name off the top of my head, sorry) and a couple Tim Holtz Idea-ology Mini Clips.

The final layout (8.5x11") of the night was one I struggled with, and still am not totally happy with - but walked away for now.  The base of the layout is once again 7 Dots Studio Wonderland 'Royal Garden' that I cut up into random squares and rectangles, inked the edges (Tim Holtz Distress Ink Gathered Twigs) and then randomly placed all over a base cardstock sheet to create layers of mismatch heaven!  Junked up with some Prima Junkyard Findings & Finnabair Mechanicals! There are even a few stamped images that are harder to see, but they are there.  I used Prima Clear Stamps (mostly Finnabair ones).


I will be back later with days two and three!

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Most of the products used are available at the shop - W2 Scrapbooking!

That Other Neutral Triptych

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