DT Project for Embellish With Flair (22 July)

Hello Lovelies

I'm here with the final installment of my Lost Mojo (or Finding Inspiration) series that I've been writing for the Embellish With Flair blog!  If you missed the first five installments, you can find them here:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5 

This one will be about using challenges to find inspiration. 

There are many sites (usually in the form of a blog) which host weekly or monthly challenges.  Sometimes they’re specific like a different colour challenge each week or the type of challenge might vary.

Facebook Groups relating to scrapbooking or cardmaking or more general crafts sometimes have special challenges.  Some commonly found activities include some of the things we’ve already looked at like scraplifting and commonly sketches.  Others frequently found are things Tic TAC Toe (also referred to as bingo) (like noughts and crosses where each box contains a prompt or item to use and you can choose a line in any direction and must include those items), mood boards and many others.

In April, such a Facebook group for the store Anna’s Craft Cupboard were celebrating their 13th anniversary with a cyber crop.  There were plenty of games and challenges and I’m going to go back and complete one that I wanted to do at the time but didn’t get around to it.

There were two "Blind Crops” and for me, your pink, self confessed control freak. these are the most difficult of all!  A blind crop usually is most successful when completed “live” to eliminate the temptation to peek ahead.  The leader has everyone making a layout step by step according to their instructions!  Eg “cut paper B into a 6x8 rectangle and stick to top left of paper A”.  Supplies to have on hand are usually available for some time beforehand, although the level of detail often varies.

The designer of the blind crop I’m going to make is none other than Melinda Sweetman who is probably well known to many of you.

I’m pleased to say I didn’t cheat on terms of peeking at the finished layouts, but I had a tiny cheat which I’ll confess in due process!  The list of supplies was more or less straightforward - except I had 5 papers picked instead of 4.  One was from a paper pad and single sided, so more like 4.5! 🤦🏼‍♀️

Since I rarely pull ink, mist or paint when making up kits, I felt I could justify the “wait and see” approach” when it came to this step.

Not knowing when and how much of each paper would be used was driving me crazy!  After following the cutting and sticking for the pink and woodgrain papers, I pretty much was sure my remaining paper would be the blue/lilac striped one (in the photo cluster) and not the green one.

Once I figured out we were cutting photo mats came my cheat - not only did I use the two specified papers (would have been the woodgrain and the purple) but I decided to also cut a mat from my pink paper and my green floral “spare” paper and do messy offset mats.  I use a lot of paper layers and doing this was like a security blanket! 

At the point when texture paste was required, I went with a "frankenpaste" as I sometimes do.  I mixed Colour Blast in Snow White with Vicki Boutin’s iridescent glitter texture paste (which has a clear base).  I wasn’t super happy when it was drying a bit more translucent than I hoped after 2 steps.  Then I saw paste was required for a third step so I dried off what I had already done enough to put the stencil back exactly as it was.  I mixed a bit of Dreamweaver pearlescent embossing paste into my frankenpaste and after doing the third area I went back over the first two lightly.  This made for some thick paste and in hindsight I should have probably used a more densely patterned stencil.

Here are the three pastes swatches separately.  The fine glitter in the Colour Blast is hard to see, but it's gorgeous! 

I also wasn’t thrilled with any of my mist choices, but didn’t want the fuss of mixing anything so I knew the shimmer pigment in Heidi Swapp Color Shine should show up even on darker paper.

I had to leave the layout to sit overnight so the thick paste could dry all the way through.  The waiting time and scant adhesive causing the pink and paper to lift a lot at the edges.  I decided to machine stitch for some extra interest.  It's subtle, but adds some texture.

I also had to stitch down the yellow Thickers (not my first choice, but I simply couldn't make the ascending letters of a scripty font work no matter what I tried. 😒

I fussy cut virtually the entire sheet of that gorgeous floral paper from Shimelle's Little by Little collection and eliminated the red flowers and kept the others.  While yellow doesn't appear in the background pattern, it definitely worked as an accent and gave me the option of yellow in the title since both pink and white alphas seemed to blend in too much.  I added the lion die cut from the same collection and some critters from Box of Crayons also by Shimelle hidden among the flowers since the photo was taken at the zoo even though the journaling isn't about the outing itself.

A word of warning - trying to use regular adhesive to stick paper onto the lumpy rough paste is not an option!!  Melinda suggested liquid glue, and for me that's always a last resort.  I used my beloved Glue Dots, but this time I decided on a pre-emptive strike and used the Craft Glue Dots (in the red dispenser) which are generally intended for off the page type stuff needing extra strength.  It was definitely the right move!

I used Permanent Glue Dots for the flair as always and for the round Thickers.  Stitching them down would have made them hard to read and been a challenge on that slight angles, but the Glue Dots were perfect for the job.  Minis and Micros for the sequins as always!

I left the choice of flair until later since I wasn't sure where the blind crop was going to take me.  I opted for the Captured set which was black on white.  The white was going to stand out and co-ordinate with the paste and I wanted to include some camera motifs in the embellishment clusters anyway.

I used the silver, holographic circles from the Thickers phrase set from Shimelle's Sparkle City and some sequins from Spiegelmom Scraps to finish!

Embellish with Flair product used:  Captured

I'll see you again soon with something new!

Love, and embellish with flair!

Scrap the Boys April Challenge - "All in the Name of Research" Layout

Well...you know that thing when you hear or see something and you get an idea and your mind starts running away with it like a derailed train?  I'll be honest, when it happens to me, the outcome is frequently the same, 🙈 but since you can't get off the train, you might as well see it through, right? 🤷


Somehow hearing that the theme for April over at Scrap The boys was "Let's Eat Cake" had this effect, so as busy as April has been for me juggling lots of new adventures, I had to scrapbook a pair of photos waiting patiently for...about four years! 🤦

I bake a lot so it's not as though I have a shortage of baking photos, but these have a story only the quality isn't great so they had to be printed quite small.

Due to the lack of much colour in the photo (besides maybe a touch of blue) meant I was imagining lots of colour in the layout!  Primaries with a touch of green!

I wrote more about the direction of the supplies for this layout HERE when I was compiling my April Kit for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge.  Most of the kit was formed around this cake challenge and these layouts!

I was trying to imagine how I wanted it to look on paper and it reminded me of THIS LAYOUT Shimelle made in 2011 when she was on the American Crafts Design Team.  It's a fairly airy and minimalist layout and I think it has more to do with the feel and subject of the page rather than Shimelle's style at the time (since she has plenty of layouts with lots and lots of "stuff").

 

 "Concrete Planning" 

by Shimelle Laine for American Crafts

 

I have actually attempted to scraplift it before and really wasn't a fan of how it turned out.  I figured out what went wrong and when I'm less pleased than usual,  sometimes want to try it again and this was one of those times.

I usually do a "post mortem" of my projects and I cover all that in the blog post.  I'm not beating myself up, I just feel as though it's a useful part of the process.  My only rule is that if I hate the page to the point that it has me cringing when I look at it then it has to go.  Anything less than that is considered a lesson learned and a story told...and THAT is a pretty big success when you're battling chronic illness.

So...tangent aside, how did I fare second time around? 

I have to say it was a lot better.  It still wasn't as open and light as Shimelle's but that's in part due to having darker colours, and in part still having a of of stuff on the page.  Started off well enough, but when I realized I had only been piling up paper elements and hadn't even remembered about the chipboard and stickers and enamel dots and these lovely large felt cupcake embellies and I was just about ready to cry!

Looking back at Shimelle's layout, she actually has very few non-paper elements in this particular example which is uncommon for her and despite still using more stuff, it actually looks a lot more pared back for me too.  More grid-like than I was expecting for some reason!

I lamented last time that I used mist instead of acrylic paint.  While I'm MUCH happier with the paint, it dried a bit darker than I would have liked.  I had to make "frankenpaint" from several Distress Paints to aim for something in the ballpark of the light aqua or that darker steely teal of the Cosmo Cricket "Early Bird" collection.  ⬅⬅⬅

There isn't an awful lot more to say since I indulged myself and used many supplies from dearly departed manufacturers! 😭😭😭.   The cupcakes near the flowers were fussy cut from a Basic Grey paper and the journaling box is a Sassafras sticker!

I normally use them rather sparing and just sacrifice a sheet or two mixed in with plenty of newish papers to prolong it as long as possible.  This time I threw caution to the wind and used so many "special" papers.  The October Afternoon floral has been waiting so long to be fussy cut (although had I not had multiple sheets it would probably still be waiting! 😳).

I simply adore the 1950s housekeeping motifs in this line.!!  When pulling the kit together, I noticed how well "Box of Crayons" played with Cosmo, but I counted paper and/or embellies from maybe four of Shimelle's collections!  The die cut to the right of the photos seems to summarize all the colours used on the layout.

As sad as I was to not add all-the-things onto this page, I realized I still have a couple of stories to tell about baking these particular cupcakes and this page is the second layout in their chronology, so the journaling on this page looks as though it's right in the middle of a story...which is kind of is!  At the very least I think I'll use many of the same collections on the facing page, but remember to maybe include some of the embellies I couldn't add this time.

One of my personal accomplishments was to make three words in the title from one of my notorious packs of "messed up" Thickers.  Slowly but surely I will use them up!  We all know how well the chipboard Thickers stick over time as you can tell from the pack!  Thank goodness for Glue Dots since I make a mess with liquid glue.

I also pulled the really thick foam tape off the back of the flair badge and replaced it with a Glue Dot since the badges are usually thick enough already.

I would also not be doing MY job in "research" if I didn't  warn you about how unfriendly a word like "research" is to Thickers economy!  Look at all those vowels, TWO Rs and several other really popular letters all in one word!




Here it is all finished:

All in the Name Of Research

Well I shall leave you with my usual salutations:

Love and  crazzzzy cake making! 

Cardmaking with the Silhouette

It really does speed things up!

I needed a rather specific image.  A Japanese one and while I do have at least 2 La La Land stamps with Marci dressed in a Kimono, I just didn't have the physical or mental strength to colour.

The Silhouette store had a lot to choose from and files that varied in terms of the number of pieces and intricacy.  Once I decided I definitely wanted a Kokeshi doll I picked one that satisfied my criteria and off I went.


I wanted to cut all the pieces in a single pass.  It's not hard as long as you take note of where on the mat your pieces are and make sure you cut the cardstock to the right size and place in the same spot. 

The card was in equal parts congratulatory as it was a kind of encouragement card.  A good friend of mine was back performing again with a Gilbert and Sullivan group after a 2 year hiatus.  Does it all make sense now?

My initial thought in term of paper was Basic Grey "Konnichiwa" line which I have a lot of, but it's slightly distressed and wouldn't go with the stickers I wanted to use from Shimelle's "Glitter Girl line (in her AC sticker book)

 

I went with an emerald green with subtle leaf pattern from Paige Evans' "Oh My Heart" for the kimono since my friend was also wearing a green Kimono in the second act.

What for the background then?  I was surprised to find the perfect floral in the 6x6 paper pad from Shimelle's "Box of Crayons".    It worked REALLY well as a pattern with an oriental vibe.

 Shimelle again to the rescue for the sentiment.  Her collections are one of the first places I would go to in order to find things pertaining to dancing and sure enough the aqua word Thickers had what I needed, except the word needed more definition against the background.  One layer of blue Sharpie didn't quite do it, so I followed up with black over the top and we were in business!  I rather likes the aqua edge so I didn't colour over it.



If it were not for my desire to use some of those absolutely perfect word stickers, I probably would have just left the clouds on the background and maybe some kind of sparkly gems, but the words were all part of the meaning.

So...I think I even surprised myself by creating a custom made card which combines, Japan, opera and paper collections which appear to be kid or superhero themed.

Love and speedy cardmaking!

Stuck Sketches 1 Sept {aka use all the (cat) washi}

Wanna know what happens when things go a little bit wrong?  (I mean more than usual) This:

I decided to play along with this sketch challenge for a few reasons
(click on the image above to take you to the challenge page) -
one big one being that I could use my 57 rolls of cat themed washi in place of the paper strips

Great idea in theory...and possibly in execution had I not ruined the background, but couldn't bear to waste the white sheet of Pink Paislee paper with black (and sporadic multi coloured spots).  It has a blue ombre on the reverse and I bought 2 sheets with the aim of probably using each as a background.  I don't usually care if I have to put something in the bin, but I didn't want to have to replace the paper or have to use my second piece.

Perhaps I should backtrack slightly...the bit that went wrong was the splodgy, inky, painty bit.

Normally this is almost impossible to mess up.  (Almost).  I wanted to use GOLD so I grabbed my Gold Mr Huey's (which isn't my very favourite) gold mist.  It was way too light.  Gold "Heidi Shine" was slightly better, but when that still failed, I decided to try the Tarnished Brass Distress Paint which I added a little water to so it would be runny enough.  It was by far the best, but after it dried it still didn't have to look I imagined.

Here's what I did:  I pulled out my Gansai Tambi watercolours and what a huge mistake it was.  😞The colour (despite attempting to mix something close) was way off, as was the style of using a brush vs the more free form "packaging method".  I couldn't use the wet-on-wet method on patterned paper.  It would have fallen apart.  I probably should have tried Distress Stain in the same colour.
 
I had also already applied the cat washi strips (which I was pleased with 👍) after the first lot of paint dried.

 The only damage control that came to mind was extending the strips to cover as much of the mess as possible.  This also meant some of the nicer areas of the initial painting would be covered, but it was a necessary evil.  Placement of the photo and embellishment would be critical to hide the joins.

The next issue was the photo.  I wanted a square(ish) photo to cover a ruined Polaroid I took a few days before.  Why was the Polaroid ruined?  A certain SCD* said "what does this button do?" and in a millisecond pressed the button which opens the hatch for the film pack so the light overexposed what was left in the camera (only 2 shots) so I thought I might as well use one for a frame.

Now my only method for printing at home right now is the Canon Selphy so there was no simple way of resizing and printing exact measurements.

After much trial and error I decided to trim it down and lose some of the image.  Of course I was about 1/16 or so out and it was obvious, 🙄 which is why the right side of the photo has some strategically placed washi.

Due to the washi being on the right, something needed to go next to it and after much deliberation and indecision, I put a journalling card there.  I hoped the whiteness of both the photo and card would help them stand out among all the washi craziness.  It worked a little.  I had a few distractions/side projects that needed finishing before this was done, so eventually I got those embellishment clusters to the point where I was satisfied.

I know the usual drill applies about the first layout I do after a break so I don't love it, but far from hating it.  I might even go so far as to say I kinda like it.  I'd like it better were it not for the pain disaster (and SCD even asked me why the cat has sparkly toe floof.  I think it was still from this layout).  I have lots more about NCC's* arrival so I'll get to those in due course and I think I'd really like to give this sketch another try sometime.

That's all for now! Til next time, love and sparkly toe floof! xxx

*Acronyms in left sidebar <---

2016 Cat Lovers Blog Hop and Shimelle Challenge #05

Phew! I made it!

Finishing that layout was a bit too Ride of the Valkyries for my liking...but then again:

I wasn't sure I would finish in time to enter their 2016 Cat Lovers Blog Hop hosted by Janis over at Her Peaceful Garden.  I'm not entirely assured I made the deadline despite being able to use the linkup.

A migraine all weekend hasn't been kind, so I had to combine my entry for this Blog Hop along with one of the challenges on Shimelle's  blog going all weekend since she's having an online scrap booking party.

Challenge 05 was all about the outdoors, but I'm getting ahead of myself.  I'll come back to that part soon. 

I had a great idea for a card, but if I had implemented it and then attempted to make a layout for Shimelle's challenge, I wouldn't have finished both.  Fortunately, I had two photos and a story to tell which involved cats and was outdoorsy so challenge 05 would be the one.

The challenges are open all week. But finishing one today has a little bonus in store!

Guest artist Helen De Ram presented this challenge and it was about getting the great outdoors scrapped in bright colours.  I'm all for colour so off I went.  I loved her layout and it had some aspects I don't normally do like that section of word stickers to fill in the centre, but I decided to be brave and  try it.

A fairly important part of the layout was a journalling card separating the photos.  I'm making an effort since #The20Project to use something besides thickers for titles sometimes.  I rarely separate photos, but I wanted to try that too.  My result is below.  Not my finest work, but I'm fairly happy...besides my shaky almost illegible handwriting (really bad shakes today)

I decided to attempt to use just supplies from Shimelle's collections (in a vain hope to make things easier by limiting supplies) and to include at least something from each collection - I even managed some B-Sides from her christmas collection (I don't celebrate christmas, but lots of the b=sides were so lovely!).

A few close ups...you might be able to decipher a word or two of my writing if you look  hard enough!!

PhiPha aka Ophelia aka Crafty Cat is feisty and sassy and frequently explores the roof despite her...rather...ample physique.  Poor Fossy was 14.5 years old when these photos were taken, and I don't recall him ever being an avid tree climber, BUT if PhiPha does something, he refuses to be outdone.

Sadly, Fossy passed away early this month, so I wanted to make a layout about him, but not sad stories.

So what happens the morning after the dust from the craftnado has settled?  You survey the craftermath and briefly consider some sort of salvage operation.  you soon come to your senses and add stuff to the layout - a couple more words to the middle area and some enamel shapes to each embellishment cluster.  I had better get it into the album before I do anything else!!

Meeting Dear Lizzy - Layouts

I finally finished the layout I began when I got to meet Dear Lizzy  in April.  Healing has been a slow crawl and still not fully recovered sensation in my fingers, BUT Tori Bissell had a moodboard challenge going in her FB group Scrap Your Scraps that finished at the end of July.

This is how my layout looked after I was done with my left hand painting and stamping:

 This is Tori's July Moodboard:

Do you see why I chose to revive this particular layout?  Not quite?  OK here is the class sample (without the black ink line on the left):

Kinda hard to make it out, but one of the papers used (top area) is an abstract pink and yellow which reminded me a little of graffiti.

I decided to scrap the photos taken on the day with this layout (and another one).  They're not entirely my style so it seems to make sense to use photos of that occasion with them.  I stuck with Dear Lizzy collections and almost everything was from Happy Place.

I started with this page even though it would probably come second in the order of pages that tell the story.  (Chronologically it came first, but makes more sense second in terms of the story - just to confuse matters!)

After colouring a few more cameras I started chopping and sticking and ended up with a page that looked like this:

The other 12x12 layout I thought needed some misting.  As you can see from the one above, plenty of cast off spray got all over my first page and photos etc.  I decided just to go with it!

Not thrilled with the way the misting turned out - in fact I'm not overly thrilled with either layout, but it's always the way after a long break so I try and look on the positive that I have another story for my album and have my feet wet again.

Now for the insert to sit between the layouts.  It holds a 2 sided card Lizzy signed, along with a PL card from her Neapolitan collection that I took along.  I added a card with lots of journaling and some more photos with just a bit of embellishment.

So I guess all that remains is to get this into the order they appear in my 2016 album

And flip the insert to see the other page:

Hopefully my bit of camera colouring counts for the 30 Day Colouring Challenge.  Besides a bit of colouring I did in hospital during my infusion last month, I haven't managed to do much (again!).  

Craftermath after these layouts isn't as bad as usual and I'm slowly rearranging things to work more efficiently in my space.  Hoping to be back with more crafty goodness soon!

***PS the date was SUPPOSED to be April not March so I had to go back and fix the layouts. Boo.