Stick it Down DT July Layout using FLHK kit

Hello Lovelies

I'm not sure whether I've mentioned here on the blog that I'm joining the crew over at Stick It Down!  I love using scrapbook sketches so I was pretty excited about playing with these girls!

I'm using my July For The Love Of Homemade Kits supplies to put this layout together.  You can find more on that in the description box of my video.

The sketch was a bit different for me as I mention in my process video (scroll down!).  The titles placement and embellies on just one part of the page forced me (most willingly!) out of my comfort zone!

Here's the link to July's Challenge:

Stick it Down Single Page Challenge

This one is packed with dimensional embellies of all sorts and to adhere anything (especially anything requiring some extra strength) to mixed media calls for Permanent Glue Dots! 😍😍😍

If you watch the video and compare the finished layout there to the still photos, you may notice I moved all the tiniest enamel stars and lightning bolts.  🙈🙈🙈

While I am happier with them after the change, this page one one that took on a life of its own and I'm not sure how pleased I am with it. 

It's definitely not what I pictured in my head, but the crazy energy definitely reflects the story of two crazy energetic little girls who would barely stand still long enough to pose for a couple of photos!

Journaling

Close ups for your reading pleasure as always (if you can decipher my writing! 😳)

Embellies

YouTube Process Video

Wonder Woman & Super Girl

Love, and STICK IT DOWN!

EWF Design Team Sketch Challenge Part II (using Oct CKC Kit!)

Hello lovelies!

I'm finally FINALLY (at long last) bringing you Part 2 of the Embellish With Flair sketch challenge which Heather and I did together...during October! 🙈

I know it's also December.  LATE December.  Soz, lovelies!  I actually had finished it over a month ago, but since I did a process video (and one with soooo much more raw footage than anticipated) editing has happened sporadically between other things.

It was actually rather involved and as usual I made it far more work than it needed to be!  But that's what I do. Every.Single.Time! 🤦

Heather really put me to the challenge with this sketch.  Definitely not my usual sort of style, but they don't call it a challenge for nothing, right?

I have no idea how I decided to use this sketch with this photo of my adorable niece on her very first Book Week.  I'm pretty sure there was a suitably convoluted train of thought with led to this decision, but overall I think it worked. 🤷

I used my October Counterfeit Kit (I know🤦) for this layout (well mostly.  I did use a ton of scraps...)

I do recommend you watch the process video (below) since I do go into that a little bit as well as walking you though how I made it.  I'm warning you...it's a bit of an ordeal!  I distinguish myself by making a fairly simple task faaaar more complicated than it needs to be!

The rough gesso on the background and anything needing to stick on the seam lines of the "circles" needs more than your average adhesive which gives you three options:

1.  Wet Glue.  Liquid Glue.  Whatever you want to call it.  You need something fairly robust and I hatehatehate any that dry tacky.  Why?  Because my hand-eye co-ordination is lacking at the best of times,  Occasionally it must be resorted to, but normally:

2.  Hot glue.  Even more messy.  Sometimes necessary, but waiting for ancient fossilized lump (which was once a stick) inside glue gun to melt then having to interrupt crafting in order to treat 3rd degree burns is something I'd prefer to avoid if I possibly can.

3.  Glue Dots.  Fast, clean, easy and they come in all the strengths and sizes.  This is my personal preference. They've been part of my life "these 20 years at least". (My fellow Janeites will get the reference!!)

Yes I do actually speak that way and my fambam know when to insert which quote!

Here are the still pics I promised you:

Title (with lots of messy threads! 😍)

"Tone on tone" embellishments and stitching detail

Fussy cut books embellished with tiny Wonder Woman stickers

Large book cut on the Silhouette

That name card that caused ever so much grief (and I still cant stick in s straight line despite multiple attempts! 🙈)

Lilya's First Book Week

Thanks for sticking with me and hope the vid wasn't too frustrating!


Love, and Embellish With Flair!

Embellish With Flair Sketch Challenge Part 1

Hello lovelies!

I have another Design Team project for EWF for you!

We're doing something a bit different this month and having a bit of a challenge during the month of October. Heather and I have been holding down the fort of late, so we decided to throw each other a challenge to spice things up.  Crece wanted a sketch challenge this month anyway so #winning!

Heather and I each picked a sketch which each of us would make a project with.  The one Heather and I used this week was my pick.  It's by Clique Kits and a little different for me.
  It's one I wanted to use at some point anyway, but I thought the sketch itself really lent itself to using flair badges.


You can interpret this sketch quite literally and use circles as in the original, or replace them with any simple shape like hearts, triangles, stars etc.  The main reason I opted for circles is that the round shape emphasizes the shape of flair badges and tries to keep them as a main feature.  I'm not sure whether I succeeded in this respect given my style (which can only be described as "messy with a touch of psycho"! ).

If you check our Heather's interpretation, it's much more elegant.  Her post is immediately before this one.

Unfortunately I don't have a process video this week, but I'll see what I can do next time when Heather and I tackle her choice of sketch.

I decided to "lightly" stencil some gold stars first before layering the circles on top.  Since I decided to use punches, I was limited to the sizes I had.  Throwing in two sizes of pinked circles added interest and seemed like a happy medium between circles and stars.  My largest punch was smaller than the one in the sketch so while the placement is generally the same, it's not identical and there are more clusters of circles in my layout.

I used mostly scraps from my scrap box which I was SO pleased about!  Mostly Shimelle's Glitter Girl and Starshine along with Amy Tangerine (mostly Hustle and Heart I think).  I do spy an odd paper from Go Now Go, Little By Little now that I look at it,,,and a few from Dear Lizzy and some random ones.  The woodgrain is from a tiny scrap of a most beloved Crate Paper collection - Notes and Things.  remember that one? *siiigh*

Next step was messy ink splatter.  I started with gold and while it looks lovely on darker colours, it wasn't giving the emphasis I wanted.  I added some navy after it dried and it helped a little bit.

Then I mixed some gold paints and painted some DIY star Thickers for some texture and dimension.

I matted the photo block with lots of layers, which I was pleased to see in the sketch since I'd be doing it anyway!

The small shelf above the smaller photo was great for nesting the first part of the title...except I just couldn't find the right size and colour of alphas.  I'm glad I included the woodgrain among all he primary colour as a bit of a neutral (which is why I used kraft alphas here).  It also is a sort of a nod to the chair slats in the bokeh part of the larger photo.

I used a punch on some square stickers and trimmed down others.  Initially I thought the clear gold stickers would look better on white cardstock, but I changed my mind.  Using the stickers as they are just gives a subtle detail here and there.


There was this pack of puffy hearts I rediscovered in my stash a little while ago and I made good use of them and added navy enamel dots just because I could!  Overall I think I used less embellishment than I usually do, but I don't think I could have added more considering all the crazy colour and pattern going on.

As far as the flair itself went, I could have (and almost nearly DID) use a lot more, BUT I need to keep some for next week's project since it might just be Wonder Woman related again! My personal challenge was to mix together some oddball flairs which might have been the last in the pack.  I think the three work quite well together on this layout despite being more than a bit random!

All I can say is thank goodness for my beloved Glue Dots - Permanent, Mini and Micro. Without them I would have been forced to use wet glue for the flair and the chipboard elements (stars and blue Thickers) because we all know how well they stick! 😒
 
I journaled on the layout itself as I often do, but textured cardstock doesn't make it easy!My messy writing makes it look even worse, but what can I do?  Mess with a date stamp I hoped would make it look a bit less odd, but not totally sure about that!

And here's the whole thing:

Coffee Always Tastes Better in a Cape

Embellish With Flair Product Used:

Emoji Love

Cute Cuppa

3 Tone Stars Pinks

Thanks for stopping by and hope you come back soon to see what I make with Heather's sketch!

Love, and Embellish With Flair!

CKC Oct Challenge 2 and Victoria Marie Challenge

This will be the second and last layout using the October kit that I made for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge.

Well not last last because I plan to keep at least part of the kit, but last in the challenge window.  So what was the challenge exactly?  It was an interesting one for sure.  It's called "Show your Team Spirit" (but I can't help hearing the opening bars of a similarly titled Nirvana song every time I read those words!!) 😝😝😝

I don't support any kind of sporting teams, but when I read the part about mascots, logos and fight songs...I thought about Wonder Woman.  Not a mascot exactly, but I was still thinking about the superpower challenge I guess.

It also overlaps with a sketch challenge that Victoria Marie threw at her Facebook group while she was hosting a retreat.
 
I have to say I'm less than thrilled with the result of the layout.  I've been working on it pff and on for about the last 10 days.  It started well.  I chose the patterned paper called "Keepsake" from Maggie Holmes' "Chasing Dreams" line.  It was white, but with interest and texture.

On went the clear gesso without any hitches.  THEN chaos ensued after applying a lovely sparkly white embossing paste through a star stencil.  Stealth cat came and LAY DOWN ON IT!  😾😾😾




I wasn't sure whether I was more worried about the damage to my page, or having to pick out glittery goop from his belly fluff.  My shrieks didn't dislodge him, so I had to pick him up and fortunately for him the paste was touch dry and neither cat not paper sustained any damage.

I used regular Distress Inks and the "packaging technique" to add some colour and at this point I knew I wanted a darker paper as a mat for the whole thing.  I had to cheat because the best black ones in my kit were single-sided from paper pads and too thin to support the bulk of the paste and the paper layers I was going to add behind the photos.

Adhesive was a big issue and after trying several, I could see only stitching would hold down those pesky photos.  I went with gold thread and stitched the fussy cut hearts right onto the page.  Stitching them was always the plan, but initially I was going to chain stitch them then attach them.  This way they help adhere the two backgrounds also.


Title? Check! ✅ (and small cheat since I needed glittery Thickers)

Embellishment clusters?  Check! ✅ (another cheat since Shimelle's Glitter Girl sticker book was very necessary for this topic, but that's IT!  All the 8 paper layers behind the photos and the white background were from the kit as well as the scripty word "girl".

One of my goals was to use some of those word Thickers.  And the enamel dots have been appearing in every kit for months!

Here's where things went wrong.  I should have planned my journaling better.  Maybe drawn lines even.  I think my hands were shaky combined with trying to write on gesso with a Precision pen and dodging embossed stars was a disaster.  I used the thickest pen I had, but it was still too thin.


In the end I shaved off some of the stars with a craft knife and masked the messiest words by covering them with small alphas (not a cheat since I said I'd use them as needed from my stash).  I have used this technique before and to make it look more purposefu,l I covered other words and used a Sharpie to go over the remaining journaling.

I know my handwriting isn't the greatest, but it's mine and it makes a layout so much more personal with hand written journaling.  That's why I didn't use stickers for every word, but I did think about it.

Yes the journaling area is a mess and the lines don't match too well, but believe me when I say it's an improvement!  Mixed media on layouts isn't my go-to, but like cut files, I try it out sometimes and learn from each layout.

Little Girl Big Heart

The main thing is this special story about a very special little girl is told. 😘😘😘

Oh and that red and yellow W?  A cut file  I bought from Etsy and I was really nervous about whether the Cameo would even be able to cut such thin lines, because I scaled it right down to the right size for an embellishment.  Well, she performed beautifully!!  😍😍😍


Love, and WONDER-ful creating!

CKC Challenge 2 and Mercy Tiara Sketch Challenge

Layout number four for my CKC November kit.  I suspect this will be the last one for my November kit.  Ironically the two sets of photos that I specifically wanted to scrapbook using this kit are still unscrapped.  Oh well.  These things happen. 

I have a couple of cards coming soon to change things up a bit so long as NCC* doesn't try to Halp too much.

 
This layout takes care of two challenges.  One is a mini challenge from Mercy Tiara's 27 Day Challenge.  The deets can be found in her Facebook Group. 





 

The mini challenge is a sketch challenge set by Moira O'Reilly.  Click on her name to go to her blog post detailing the challenge itself and the actual sketch.  The sketch comes from Kristine Davidson.  Kristine has a blog for sketches and a new book out (I believe this sketch comes from that book).






 

The second challenge is CKC Challenge 2 for November.  The title says it's about star signs which I don't "do", but using stars is an interpretation along those lines.  I used stars in place of most of the circles on the original sketch.

I also mirror imaged the sketch to allow for the direction in the photo.  The journalling proved a challenge given the the diagonal lines.  Rather than adding a journalling card or trying to write across the lines, I just went with the flow and used what was already there.

My Very Own Wonder Boy

 

I'm guessing most of you are familiar with the lovely Shimelle Laine and how she refers to her mini man as Wonder Boy so you should "get" the reference.  It's mentioned in the journalling which is why our very own SCD* is also a Wonder Boy in our eyes.









As soon as I saw him drinking from my Wonder Woman Mug, it his me.  As these things often do.

Please check back soon for some fun cards and more CKC madness once the December kit is revealed!


*Acronyms in the left Sidebar <---

Love and Happy Cat Wrangling