Life is Good

Hi Crafty friends, I'm back again with a quick (ish!) layout for you.

First up, here's the finished page...

I decided on this page I wanted a pale pink background, so I mixed a couple of drops of Colour Artist Ink in Slipper - all you need because it's so highly pigmented -  with a spatula full of White Heavy Gesso.

Once I had mixed it in, I used my palette knife to roughly lay it down in the centre of my page.

 I tried to leave as much texture as I could, lumpy bumpy is good!

Once that was totally dry, I used a Kaisercraft stencil to lay on some more White Heavy Gesso, but this time I didn't colour it, but before it dried I sprinkled some Colour Embossing Powder in Blush and heated it.

Off to a good start, but I still didn't have enough depth so I got out my Colour Shimmer Powders in Passion and Cobalt. I sprinkled just a few tiny little bits of both colours here and there, then very lightly sprayed with water. The gesso resists the powder so it runs into the gaps. Love it! I also tilted the page to make it run even further.

Looking at this had me craving a boysenberry ice cream!!

While that was drying, I painted my chipboard title (it was already white) with a little Colour Shimmer Dust in Navy, using a water brush. I went over it towards one edge a little heavier.

When this was totally dry, I used an embossing ink dauber on the lower half of the words, and embossed it with Colour Embossing Powder in Bling.

It looks gorgeous once it's heated!

I was finished then so I put my layers together using a doily and a bit of punchinella as a base, and then Cocoa Vanilla's Bohemian Dream for all the rest of the layers and embellies. I also added some gold sequins, and finally I splattered a little White Heavy Gesso and Black Heavy Gesso.

Here are some close ups - including the title - 

Thanks for visiting, hope you're inspired to try something new!

Sketchabilities 153 - Together is the Best

It was Mark's Dad's 91st birthday a couple of months ago, so that meant lunch out and of course a photo with all the grandchildren 📷😉

I used the current Sketchabilities sketch to make this...

Here's the sketch...

 

I combined the 3 photos into one, but apart from that stayed pretty much true to the sketch - cleaned out pretty much my stash of hearts lol.

Come have a play - you have a month!

SuperStar

Hey there scrappy friends!

I have another scrapbook layout for you today, sticking with my favourite things for now - Colour Artist Inks,  Colour Paste and Colour Embossing Powder, plus a cameo appearance at the end by a Shimmer Brush Marker 😍💖

Here's the finished page...

I wasn't quite sure where I was heading when I first started out with this one, it changed quite a bit mid-stream!

To start with, I laid some Colour Artist Ink in Lime on my tile, I did it like this as I wanted to use my brayer to start with rather than a brush.

This is what it looked like initially...

I then repeated this step with Colour Artist Ink in Oasis.

To give it a bit of depth, I splattered some Colour Artist Ink in Marine. I also stamped the stars with a slightly watered down version of this.

I used a Tim Holtz stencil and Colour Paste in Just Blue to add a few highlights around the edges where the cut file would go.

Once I looked at how the Paige Evans cut file would sit on the page, I decided it needed some darker colour underneath it, so I added some more Marine. (The papers that I backed the cut file with are all Boys Rule by Cocoa Vanilla)

I used Colour Embossing Powders in Envy, Deep Water and a touch of Bling on my chipboard. One of the chipboard pieces was already white, but one of the others I primed with White Heavy Gesso to give a clearer colour.

It was finally time to actually start gluing things down!!

Apart from some ephemera and a flair from Cocoa Vanilla plus the chipboard, I also used a Charm Creation Star, punchinella and lots of gold and blue thread.

I highlighted some of the stamped stars with black and white paint pens.

At this stage I thought I had finished, but ended up lightly running the gold Shimmer Brush Marker around the edge of the page, and tapped a few splatters of that also.

Some close ups for you....

So many different ways to use these great products! Go try something new today 😀

CSI: Color Stories Inspiration 262 - Cat's Whiskers

I have conflicting feelings about this furbaby - of course I love her but she drives me to distraction sometimes!!!

She is so contrary, paranoid, evil and smoochy all at the same time! She hates her sister, hisses at her all the time but give her space to herself and she can be so lovable!

 I just had to use this for the current CSI challenge...

I used the Happy Cat as a theme, and then used so many of the elements as well - the vibrant pink yellow and green, the black and white stripes, the bee, flowers, a swirl, and a great heart from Charm Creations.

Most of the embellies are from Pretty Little Studio, except for the acrylics which are Bramble Fox.

The leaf and swirl are some VERY old rub ons I found in my stash (Making Memories I think?)  - always good to use something you just rediscover!

Come on over and join in the fun!

CSI 258 "Brothers"

This is such a great photo of my 2 great nephews, and I thought such a beachy photo  was perfect for this CSI challenge 😄

 

Here's the challenge...

I was inspired by the blues particularly in the colour palette, along with the stripes, as it reminds me of my favourite old deck chair and umbrella .

The sun was the perfect cut file to set it off too.

 

Awesome Kid - Colour Blast design

In my last project for Colour Blast I used all warm colours, this time I've gone for cool colours, and teamed the awesome  Colour Artist Inks up with some Cocoa Vanilla Boys Rule to scrap some summer photos😊

First I roughly drew some stars on my page with masking fluid, which I let dry throughly.

Once they were dry, I thinned down some Colour Artist Ink in Oasis, and brushed some on in horizontal stripes. I went over it here and there with a second coat to give some depth.

I added some Marine Colour Artist Ink mainly over the stars, and splattered some around also (my favourite part lol). 

Look how awesome it dries!! 

I then rolled off the masking fluid and spattered some Lime Colour Artist Ink, concentrating mainly around the stars, letting it go on top of the areas that were previously bare.

Once it was all dry, I used the Michelle Grant stencil and a baby wipe to remove some of the colour, which gives a great ghost effect.

I used Marine Artist Ink again to dye some muslin and let that dry. While I was waiting I stamped with some extra stars with Archival ink.

It didn't take long to assemble my paper layers and title, but it needed one more thing, so I embossed some wooden stars and a cog with Deep Water Colour Embossing Powder.

Some stitching around the edge, and I called it done!

Here's the full layout...

Thanks for having a read!

CSI: Color Stories Inspiration challenge 260 - Cousin Love

This is a pretty old photo but the girls were just SOOOO cute back then! 

Jess and Shiloh were the best of buddies, always wanting to hang out together - at least until someone got hurt!

I though it was the perfect photo for this CSI challenge, I concentrated mostly on the blue, with just a few pops of the other colours. I also picked out the floral of the dress, the camera, and the gold.

There's still plenty of time to join in!

 

Sketchabilities 152 - "Slim"

This dog was one of the most gentle giants ever, we still miss him, even though he wasn't ours 💔

"Be careful, I wouldn't trust him with the kids" warned Mum when we first met him, In the end, we would have trusted him with a newborn. He just loved to be part of things, leaning up against you for a scratch (even if he nearly pushed Shiloh right over the first time, he was nearly as tall as her!)

He was Jamie and Phil's first racing greyhound, and his race name was Alabama Wildman, but we all knew him as Slim, which so suited him. When he first moved to the farm in his retirement, it was outside only, then maybe the garage, and eventually inside. I wouldn't have been surprised if he ended up in bed with Phil too 😀

This layout is for the Sketchabilities Design Team, using a Paper Issues free cut file, Colourblast Australia Artist Inks, and Cocoa Vanilla Ephemera (plus a few things from my stash)

Here's the sketch...

I moved the cluster down by flipping the sketch....

Love the way it turned out!

Colour Blast - I Like Big Cups (and I cannot Lie)

Hi everyone! 

I'm so happy to have been chosen to join this fabulous team, and as the only Kiwi, I'm going to try to do NZ proud!

 I live in Christchurch, in the South Island of NZ, and have been scrapping for nearly 20 years (gulp) with my two sometimes reluctant daughters as the main focus of my pages.
I thought for my first project I would share one of my addictions... (other than crafting!)

Here's my first page...

As I didn't have any gesso to hand, I used watercolour paper as my base, which reacts differently when using inks.

Firstly I covered most of the paper with water, to allow the Colour Artist Inks to flow and mix beautifully. I used a little Citrus firstly, then more of Spice, and finally a touch here and there of Cranberry. I covered about two thirds of the page at the bottom and then a small area at the top to balance it.

I grabbed a coffee ring stamp and used my Versamark stamp pad to make a sticky impression which I then sprinkled with Colour Mica Powder in Espresso. I carefully brushed off the excess.

I also decided at this point to use the Shimmer Brush Marker in Gold and tapped it to spatter a few little spots here and there. I love how shimmery they are, totally live up to their name 💓

I felt it still needed more in the way of coffee stains, so I used a stencil and dabbed on some Colour Artist Ink in Walnut with a wipe. I used the same colour to tint some hessian strip that would be one of my layers.

I thought it was nearly there, just one more thing - so I used a random spotty stencil and added a little Sienna Colour Paste to the left of my photo layer area, and the secondary area at the top of the page.

Things were looking pretty good by this stage, so I assembled my layers and embellie clusters and stuck them down. I almost always include some thread, as it helps to tie everything together. Finally the title went on, along with a spot of journaling.




I hope you like the finished page as much as I do - thanks for visiting!