Through the Keyhole, Who Lives in a House Like This?

Today sees a new challenge over at That's Crafty

Here are a few teasers of my project, a full step by step can be found HERE

I hope these teasers have inspired you check out the full tutorial.

Playing with Gelatos

Good Morning!

I'm over at That's Crafty!  today with a great storage idea for those AT Coins that are really popular at the moment, I have also added a few of my coins as some extra inspiration.

Here is a sneaky peek of what to expect!

I have added lots of photographs for a step by step tutorial so I hope it is easy to follow!

 

Have a great Crafty! weekend.

Forever Autumn Part 2

Forever Autumn

This is part 2 of the That's Crafty monthly challenge.

Here is a teaser of my project! 

Head on over to the That's Crafty Challenge Blog to see my full projects and lots of other inspiration too.

Forever Autumn

Forever Autumn Challenge

Over at That's Crafty this month is a great challenge for Autumn.

This is my project for this months challenge, full details can be found HERE

Scrap Thursday Part 31

It is Thursday again (I don't know where the time goes) and I am going to share a layout I made at the weekend for the We Dare You To Create challenge being held by Andy Skinner and Tracy Weinzapfel. The aim of the challenge is to create a piece of art work that incorporates both Andy's and Tracy's style which as they are so different makes for an interesting make!

The 12" x 12" layout below features photographs taken in Brisbane of Street Art.

I started by embossing standard white card with different styles of embossing folders. I then positioned and mounted my photographs on white Bazzill and cut around them leaving a tiny white border. 
The next step is to randomly cut pieces of the embossed card and place around the photographs. The placing of the card needs thought but in order to get the 'Andy' style the choice of embossed card must be used randomly.

The next stage involves lots of paint, I used a mix of Americana and DecoArt Fluid Acrylics. The first coat completely covers all the embossed card in one colour. Then in no particular order I dry brushed the other colours over the top, with some colours being used heavier than others. Once this was dry I stuck all the pieces in place around the photographs, I added tiny brads to give the effect of metal panels welded together.

I stamped a 'Totally Tracy' flower in Liquid Acrylics and filled in the image using paints from the embossing stage, I added a thin coat of crackle glaze and left it all to dry. This was later cut out along with the butterflies and positioned on the layout.

The last part was the journalling, which I prefer to handwrite even though I am not fond of my writing. It think it just gives a more personal feel to layouts.

So that's it, my joint styled scrap layout! I look forward to seeing what other people will create using the same specification.

Scrap Thursday Part 30 & International Scrapbook Day

Clare Charvill from My Creative Spirit and Cathy Chapdelaine are running an International scrapbooking party during the month of March, this week is the last opportunity to enter. 
They have supplied a double page sketch this time, but you are only required to make one page, however, I thought I would have a go with both.

Materials used:
Graphic 45 'Forever Mine' from Mon Armour, 'Holiday Magic' from Nutcracker Sweet, 'World's Fair', 'Wonder Works' and 'Balloon Boutique' from World's Fair Collection.
Dylusions 'Christmas Borders' stamps
Stampers Anonymous 'City Scapes' and 'Warehouse District' stamps
Ranger Distress Ink pads Stormy Sky, Festive Berries, Evergreen Bough and Lucky Clover
Bazzill plain card stock.
Buttons, ribbon and journal pens from stash.

The theme this week is 'Cities', so I dug through my photos and found some of Brisbane, begging to be scrapped. 
When I went to Brisbane on this visit it was Christmas time and so very different to here in the UK. Santa wearing sunglasses and choirs singing traditional songs in tee shirts and shorts, it felt very odd!
Anyway I decided to use part Christmas paper and part something to fit with Brisbane and or the weather. When I looked at the 'World's Fair' collection by Graphic 45 I had a bit of a brain wave (this is not something that happens often), I dug out my Australia Album from my first visit and found my entrance ticket to Expo '88 (or World Fair as they are also called) which was held in Brisbane from 30th April to 30th October 1988. The Brisbane section had a huge sculpture of the word Brisbane very similar to the photo below (the one below is a current sculpture), I think the similarity is what got my mind working! 

So with all this in mind I decided I need look no further as the collection was perfect.
Due to all the colour in the photographs, ticket and papers I decided to use a white background which I'm still not sure about to be honest, I thought using something coloured might take away from everything that I wanted to use. Maybe it will grow on me with time lol.

I thought I would show you how I work when using a sketch. I print out the sketch which makes it much easier to annotate, add a list of materials used etc. I don't keep these they just go into recycling (by the end they are covered in scribble!) 

I added my ticket and some facts about Expo '88 for interest.

I loved the idea of stamping holly and using it next to the display showing Santa wearing sunglasses and a sun hat.

I added some tiny buttons as I felt there needed to be a little extra feature. I hope you find some inspiration in my layouts!

Sketches in Thyme - February 2016 & Scrap Thursday 24

Time for another scrapbook challenge!

Full details can be found HERE

February's sketch I found quite a challenge as I didn't have any suitable photographs that could be cropped quite small. But as I had these fabulous alpha stickers by Tim Holtz I decided to use these instead and add just one 6" x 4" photograph.

I used a terrific journal word stamp from the Artistic Stamper and finished it off with a small clock face and hands. 

A card using Seth Apter stamps and stencils

This months challenge details can be found HERE

This is a 6" x 6" picture frame style 3d card.

I took a stamped image Lynne Perrella (PaperArtsy) and coloured it using Distress Ink pads.

 I gave the image a thin coat of DecoArt Crackle Glaze.

I heat embossed the 'Network' stamp on a piece of 6" x 6" card and cut out the middle.

Using Distress Ink pads I coloured the card and added details with stencils by Seth Apter (I bought these directly from the US from StencilGirl).

Using the Crackle Glaze I dripped it onto the frame and let it run.

Using a pizza base I cut a frame to fit.

 I added the Lynne Perrella image behind the pizza base.

I was going to attach a card blank to the rear but decided to put a hanging tab instead.

Go, Go, Go!

This months Craft Garden Challenge can be found HERE

I made this layout using a photograph of my nephew on his recent birthday at the karting track. I took the colours from the overalls he wore. I used DecoArt Liquid Acrylics with a brayer for the background. I stamped circles using a black ink pad and Liquid Acrylics.

I cut the metal embellishment to fit the corner.

 I added some chain.

I then added some more metal embellishments and a piece of filmstrip.

And this is the end result!