9th July Scrap Thursday Part 7

This is the seventh scrapbook page for my new weekly post Scrap Thursday. I will try and bring new ideas and techniques and revisit old favourites too. If you have any suggestions or requests just let me know and I will do my best to accommodate these. 

This week my hubby and I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary and I felt it only fitting to show a wedding day layout today!

I was inspired by Ken Oliver over at World in Progress, check out his blog and Facebook page for more inspiration.

Products used: Ken Oliver WaterColour Memories card stock, Bazzill, embroidery thread, beads, shrink plastic, stamps, Sizzix dies, Idea-ology, flower with leaf and butterfly embellishments.

Below are the pictorial steps I took to make this layout,

if you have any questions please ask.

The WaterColour Memories card is fabulous not only because of the designs but also the quality and weight of the card is really very good and the design appears on both sides with one side in full colour and one side in muted colours.

I marked out where I wanted my photograph to sit on the muted side of the card. I left a 5mm gap around the photograph. 

Using a craft knife I cut out the rectangle and kept it to one side to use later.

I inked around the cut edges using the new colour Distress Ink pads.

I cut black Bazzill to mount the photograph on.

Using white shrink plastic, stamps and a Sizzix die I made the corner banner.

I used the Alterations Honeycomb die and card I had earlier put to one side.

Using white card and the Holtz Mixed Media die, I cut out some additional embellishments to add to the layout.

 I added an Idea-ology key and a butterfly to the corner.

I cut out a tag, inked the edges and with embroidery thread I stitched around the edges, I added beads, ribbon, a leaf and flower to the top and stuck in place ready for journaling. 

Other Ken Oliver products stocked by The Artistic Stamper can be found HERE

Key to My Heart

 I made this for my hubby for Valentines Day. We give cards but not gifts and although not strictly a card this is what he got!

I used DecoArt Fluid Acrylics (how the crackle paste got in on the act in the photo I haven't got a clue!) which give a fab coverage and the colours are very intense.

 Using a palette knife I added colour onto card one by one.

Untill I got the desired effect.

I trimmed the card to the finished size and used a Spellbinder die to cut each layer of the painted card. The bottom layer is stuck onto a strong black card and each of the other layers were stuck on separated by sticky pads. The edges were covered using Washi tape so the sticky pads could not be seen.

I used a key from the Idea-ology range, rubbed in some white paint to help the word 'heart' show up and glued it in place. Finally I added a little hanging hook.
This was so quick and easy to do and makes a lovely little gift x

Goodies on the way

 

I am off to the 'Stitches' trade show over the weekend to find some lovely new goodies for the year ahead, I can't wait to see what I can find. While I am there I will be attending 6 workshops run by manufacturers so will hopefully pick up some new tips and ideas which I can pass on to you!



Scrapbooker of the Year 2012

Back in October I entered Scrapbook Magazines 'Scrapbooker of the Year' competition and at the beginning of December I learnt I was  runner up. Below are the three layouts I submitted for the competition.

This layout was all about recycling and using odds and end up.

The photograph was my inspiration for this layout, Gemma was a beautiful bride and her face says a thousand words without uttering one.

Sead beads all sewn on individually.

Stamp by Inkylicious.

A layout made from Indigoblu stamps.

This photograph was take at the balloon festival near Cognac in France.



Narcissus in December?

One of the birth flowers for December is the Narcissus. Your challenge is to take inspiration from this picture - be it the flowers, the colours or something else.

You can take part in this months challenge HERE

I was really surprised to see that Narcissus was the birth flower for December as I always associated them with spring. As I was looking forward to making something Christmassy for this months challenge I decided to still do that so made a snowflake tree decoration using the colours of Narcissus. This is actually two snowflake frames, one stuck onto of the other to give a fuller look. This challenge spurred me on to make a few more in other colours which I have posted below.

The Craft Garden June Challenge

Junes challenge was an interesting one (full details here) a Jublilee project but only using one of the three 'royal' colours or none at all!

Now everyone who knows me is aware of my passion for handbags (especially my hubby who for some reason rolls his eyes everytime I buy a new one) So with this is mind and knowing that Liz also has a great range of bags herself I decided to make a handbag charm. I had some lovely red beads and decided to use this as the one colour out of the three I would use, however, when laying out the beads I chose turquoise beads and it didn't occur to me at first that turquoise was blue (derrrr) so I then had to rethink and found these smashing green and clear beads instead. I then looked for some charms to signify the royal connection and this also proved fairly difficult to source too but I eventually found these delightful crowns and added a heart too.

Amethyst

This beautiful pendant was made for me by my friend Lea. Lea has been designing and making jewellery for only a short time but has some great ideas and has been featured on Jewellery Maker on television on several occassions. Knowing my favourite colour is purple/lilac she made this stunning pendant for me from Amethyst.

Crystalline quartz in shades of purple, lilac or mauve is called amethyst, a stone traditionally worn to guard against drunkeness and to instill a sober mind. The word amethyst comes from the Greek meaning "without drunkenness" and amethyst is believed to protect one from poison.

It is used also as a dream stone and to help insomnia. It is said if you put an amethyst under your pillow it will bring about pleasant dreams, or if you rub it across your forehead it offers relief from a headache. Ancient Egyptians used the amethyst to guard against guilty and fearful feelings.

More information about Lea can be found here

Necklace Frenzy

Over Easter I had a bit of a necklace making frenzy! I made 5, three of which are pictured above (the other two made their way into my Mam's handbag!) My 10 year old niece also made one along with a pair of earrings and my nephews wife made two bookmarks. It was a fun experience sitting altogether on the lounge floor playing with beads and one I hope to repeat soon.

Green Beads

This necklace is made with large green beads and tiny glass pearls. The large beads are wooden beads covered with thread, I have also used a magnetic clasp on this.