The Paper Girls Challenge DT Project #205 Summer Dreams

Hello Lovelies

It's time for Challenge #205 over at The Paper Girls.  The theme is "Summer Dreams" so I thought my July "For the Love of Homemade Kits" kit would be perfect since it definitely had a summery vibe to it. 

If you would like to see what my kit looked like, click here to watch the YouTube video.

The next thing that inspired the page design was the return of Shimelle's "Starting Points" in this Facebook Live video.  It was lots of fun and made the page happen faster than it might otherwise have done.

Scroll down for the process video!

Here are the still pics

Journaling

Embellies

Title

Embossing Paste

Health Food

The lighting is dreadful due to the afternoon sun.  I tried to adjust in the editor, but it's still not great so I'm sorry and I'll see what I can do about it in the future.

Process Video

Love and happy scrapping

Project 3 for Cat Lovers Hop using Oct CKC kit

Hi Lovelies!

Bringing you Project #3 for the Cat Lovers Hop. (Links to the first two are at the bottom of the page)

This one is a scrapbook layout as promised.  It has a bit of a back story, so bear with me!

The story begins in the Spread the Sparkle Facebook Group which is the group started by SpiegelMomScraps.  There is a challenge there at the moment to scraplift the winner of the Scrapbook Spotlight the month before.  With me so far?  OK, so for the month of October, Katie Scott is the winner with a layout featuring a large heart cut file.

Sara Scraps did what she does so well and interpreted it as a layout featuring a quilted heart.  See her process video here.  Upon seeing this, Moira O'Reilly scraplifted Sara's quilted heart.  Katie loved the quilted version so much that she went and scraplifted Moira (scraplifting her! 😂) although I can't find Katie's quilted version anywhere. 🤷

Now I had every intention of entering the scraplift challenge since I have a partial page which could work.  HOWEVER, seeing all these quilted layouts one after another was more than I could take so I had to do this version as well.  Thanks for the inspo, Sara!  You've spawned a monster I think!


Do click on the links to all three ladies' YouTube channels and watch the process videos I'm talking about. 

Now on to my version - October is a month of all sorts of anniversaries and one of which is the passing of our beloved Fossett 3 years ago.  National Black Cat Day is on 27 October (it's not Aussie, but it should be!) and sometimes falls during the hop.

I've never scrapbooked anything about the deaths of any of our cats until now.  While it's something I want in my albums, I also want scrapbooking to be a happy experience.  I'm conscious of not wanting my albums to be overly censored or sanitised either, so it;s a delicate balance.



As far as supplies go, I decided to try using my slightly enormous Counterfeit Kit Challenge Kit for the month of October. If you are not familiar with this challenge, read about it here.

The vintage vibe of the kit would work with a nostalgic story and to take things one step further, I wanted to see if I could take out one of the two monthly challenges thrown down by CKC to help use those kits.

Challenge 1 is called "Back to the Good Old Days" and is about scrapbooking how we used to.  The thing is that I don't LIKE the way I used to scrap.  I wasn't even scrapbooking that long before sort of falling out of love with it, but I didn't understand why or what was missing for me...until about 2012 when a Glitter Girl video showed up in my YouTube feed and it changed everything!!

It was the STORY and journaling which was missing.  I've not looked back since!  So how do I translate the prompt to work for me?  I thought back to when I first started scrapbooking in 2004 or 2005 and what reminded me of that time.  Supplies have come a very long way since then.  That probably also contributed to my frustration.  Even fewer supplies made their way to a country like Australia where scrapbooking just wasn't as common as in the US.  Basic Grey was one of the main brands available.

My October kit is full of Basic Grey and the majority of the papers I picked were BG (with some October Afternoon and the background is Studio Calico).  The other thing is that embellishments (and layouts themselves really) were heavily themed and very literally interpreted.  I would definitely have to pull some cat themed stuff if I wanted to reflect this since I didn't add any in the kit.  I don't always theme (mostly I don't) but sometimes it;s fun.

Both Moira and Sara used a stencil and ink (in slightly different places) so using the Dyan Reaveley stencil I'm giving away would be rather apt!  Th top two corners are a Newton's Nook paw print since the space is smaller.  I wanted my stencilling to look as though it was coming out from under the heart like Moira did.

The next important detail was that it was essential for me to stitch the squares together.  I used a zig zag which was mostly OK except when my machine had a conniption due to the unseasonably warm day yesterday when I was making this.  The white cotton isn't all that visit anyway.

The colours of the heart were based on the light blue floral October Afternoon paper.  Pink was a bit of an afterthought.  When I saw that the roses I cut from an OA paper were the best match, I added a pink mat (the reverse of the red circle Basic Grey paper) and a different shade of aqua.

I knew from the start that I wanted to use black.  Partially to offset all the colour since it's not intended to be a super cheerful story and partly because Fossy was, after all, a mini house panther!

Sara placed her photo on the right and I decided to follow her lead on this one mainly because of the direction of the photo.  I printed it with the text as is.  The picture was he one I posted on FB to announce Fossy's passing so I left it.

Most of the pages I chose were various shades of cream as was the background.  It's a patterned paper with concentric circles.  I added white cardstock, but I didn't want stark white.  The white border on the photo somehow looks OK.  It draws attention to it and the different shades of cream help it blend right in.

The extra photo mats made this layout more like my style, although I'd probably consider three as holding back!!  The busyness of the heart make a lot of embellishment rather unnecessary and even a distraction.  I added the Crate Paper cat die cut and some various word stickers from outside the kit, but I needed them to pull the layout together.  If I'm totally honest the paper I fussy cut the flowers from was also outside the kit.  The large camera sticker in the top right is from a large 5 & Dime sticker sheet that ended up in the kit by mistake.  Oh well 🤷!  The brads were from he kit (yay!) and so were those bright white enamel hearts, which I coloured black with Copic markers.

The black Thickers were from the kit and I'm always glad to get chipboard Thickers on paper.  Even new ones don't stick well so I needed Glue Dots in Mini and Micro to get them all stuck down.  I sometimes machine stitch them, but I didn't want the distraction of white thread on them.

I should have used cream alphas for the second part of the title but was almost done when I thought of it.  Nevermind!  The wording of the title itself comes from vocab used in the Chonky Cats Facebook Group, although ironically Fossy was the least chonky of all our cats.  Black cats there are known as Voids.  Cool, huh?  I like to use phrases or puns which I rearrange as needed for my titles and this one comes from the expression "a void in your heart" which is apt for this situation.


I'm actually not displeased with this layout despite the few embellishments.  I don;t actually think it needs MOAR.  I even toyed with the idea of ink/mist splatters and held back.  Whoever is holding the Mama hostage, please give her back!

Our Void - Always In Our Hearts

That's all for now!  It's a long post, so congrats on making it this far!  All I have to do is come up with my next project!  Thanks for all your comments  I always read them all and I'm working through commenting on them.

OK now to the giveaway part:

Giveaway CLOSED!

📌 I have three items (and a bonus fourth prize) to give away (pictured below) and I'll pull three names for the first three prizes.
📌For the  fourth "bonus" prize: it will go to someone who has entered the main blog hop (please let me know your project numbers if you would like to be considered.  You can wait til the blog hop is over to do this since they change sometimes.)
📌 The first name drawn gets first choice, second name gets second choice and so on.  Bonus prize will be TallCraftyDude's favourite project!
📌 This Giveaway is NOT SPONSORED.  I purchased the prizes especially for this giveaway.  This year I picked stuff other than just stamp sets to mix it up a bit!  In the even the items I purchased are on back order, I'll purchase something similar in their place and update the list below. Thanks for understanding!

The prizes you get to pick from are:
This hysterical Art Impressions stamp set called "Catastrophy".  Perfect for the Spoonie stamper (or if you know one!)

There is a Dyan Reaveley stencil called "It's Raining Cats" (this one is mine, but yours will be brand new, obvs! 😉)

An American Crafts "Coloring Notebook"

Lastly, the bonus prize will be an electronic gift card to the online crafty store of your choice to the value of $20 AUD (approx $13 USD, £10 GBP, €12 Eur etc.  May vary depending on exchange rate)

You will receive an entry (or entries) for each of the following.  You absolutely don't have to do everything - just how ever many you like.

If you have previously followed my socials then these are already counted for you!  (unfollowers will not be counted)
📌 The giveaway will remain open until 11:59PM AEDT on Monday 28 Oct (a whole week from today).  Please visit THIS SITE to calculate in your own timezone
📌 The winner will be drawn on Weds 30 Oct so PLEASE CHECK BACK HERE
❗If the winner and I can't make contact by Weds 6 Nov, I will have to draw a new winner since I need to get these prizes out all together.
❗Please try to email me at alex@pinkcraftymama.com This really is the easiest way for me to get in touch with you since not all blogger profiles have an email attached and if you JUST leave comments, I have no other place to search for you.

So...what do you have to do to get entries?
🐈 Follow this blog - 3 entries (in the left sidebar)
🐈 Follow me on Facebook - 2 entries
🐈 Follow me on Instagram - 1 entry
🐈 Comment (once per day per person) on a post between now and the close of the giveaway - 1 entry per post

I don't yet know how many makes I'll have done between now and then, but it will be at least three.  The more love from you guys the better the chances of me getting crafty which gives you more chances to enter.

Click here for Project 1
Click here for Project 2
Click here for Project 4 

So today...if you want to leave a comment, tell me whether your cats like to eat strange things (like vegies etc)... (or anything else if this doesn't grab you) and please don't hesitate to  email me with any questions at alex@pinkcraftymama.com


* ⬅⬅⬅ Acronyms and strange terms in left sidebar! 

Love and cuddle your kitty!

Design Team Post for Embellish With Flair (17 June)

Hello Lovelies!
(giveaway now closed)

I'm here with the next 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 installments, you can find them here:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Today we continue to look for inspiration in work by others.  The natural progression from scraplifting would probably be a sketch, but there is something a little in between.  I'm talking about CLASSES.  Classes offered by other crafters.  These can be either face-to-face or online.

I love online classes myself as they can be worked through at your own pace and access is usually life long.  I regularly sign up for classes by other crafters.  BUT WHY?? I hear you ask! You TEACH classes, so why TAKE classes?? 🤔

Well everyone's style is different.  I believe that you never stop learning and if you don't try something new, you'll never know whether it's "your thing" or not.  Even the most well known crafters or artists can misplace their mojo for a time, and taking a class can reignite it (not to mention supporting fellow artists).

Today's layout takes inspiration from Lesson One from a class I recently signed up for called "A Touch of Whimsy" by my dear friend Sara.  Before you ask, no I didn't sign up JUST because she's my friend!  Her style is VERY different to mine and I love what she makes, but it's definitely out of my comfort zone!

Like me, Sara is both a cardmaker and scrapbooker and I definitely think you can apply the techniques in the class to cards as well...and...I think I'll do exactly that, so watch this space! 😉😉😉

I HIGHLY recommend you check out the class.  It's excellent value at only $7USD, self paced so there are no deadlines and you also get access to a Facebook group which is really useful for thrashing out ideas and sharing your work.

💡Tip: Getting out of your comfort zone could be just what you need to get that mojo back!

I figured I'd better practice what I preach and since the last layout was a scraplift of Shimelle's (and I've taken MANY of her classes) which is very much within my comfort zone, I should probably show you something different!

One thing Shimelle does say about scraplifting (or trying something quite different) is that you still want to make it look like YOU made it when someone flips through the pages of your album. 

As a general rule.  if you've never taken an online class before, it's totally OK (and usually encouraged!) to share what you make online and across the socials.  What's NOT OK is to share the actual videos, PDFs and images of the artist's layouts.  This is why I can't show you Sara's actual layout.  You may know her as Sara Scraps across the socials, but she put this little SNEAKY PEEK on her Insta so you kinda get an idea what it's about.

❓What do you think of when you hear the word "whimsy"?  Go ahead and tell me your thoughts in the comments.

My thoughts are:
Organic shapes rather than geometric
Curves vs sharp angles
Butterflies
Flowers
Hearts
Clouds and floaty stuff
Unicorns, rainbows, dragons

Sara's first lesson in the class focuses on hand stitching or alternatives if you don't like to stitch.  As soon as I saw this I knew EXACTLY which photos and story I wanted to use.  I had set them aside for a layout I DID plan to hand stitch!!  What I hadn't planned on was having to SKETCH my stitching lines! 😬

Plan A was to ask my SmallCraftyDude to help, but he refused point blank upon learning I required hearts.  🙄

Plan B was to use a cut file.  Paige Evans has many cut files with the holes already there for stitching, or use the pen holder in the Silhouette to get it to sketch the design in pencil and I poke the holes myself,  That's almost like not cheating, right?  😉

Plan Q, R or perhaps S was to put on my Big Girl pants and get on with it.  Sara gave me such encouragement (and I realized I wouldn't be setting the best example by cheating), so a whole white eraser later I decided to start poking holes before I changed my mind. 💪

So, what I had in my head was inspired by this layout by Flora Farkas using one of Paige's cut files.  Except I wanted more whimsy...and I promised I'd draw it myself.  You'll see how I take inspiration from Flora's layout without exactly scraplifting it, but it does incorporate at what we looked at in the previous post about scraplifting with this one.  While I'm not exactly scraplifting the layout Sara made in Lesson 1, it's a sort of mix of hers and Flora's and turning out to be unique in its own right. 

I needed both pink and purple so it would draw attention to the colour of the dresses my nieces are wearing in the photos.  The colour is pretty washed out being taken indoors with less than ideal lighting so I wanted to draw attention to it.  The story behind these photos is about their outfits as we watched the royal wedding last year at a high tea my sister organised.

Naturally there are flairs for every possible occasion in the Embellish With Flair shop and this set called Royal Crowns even had the perfect name! 😍😍😍

The background needed to be subtle.  A white tone-on-tone was definitely on the list, but I've always swooned over this subtle yet gorgeous ombre Paper 8 from Paige Evans' "Take Me Away" collection 😍

It’s at this point where I normally start layering photo mats like crazy.  I wasn’t sure what to do here.  I didn’t want the photo block to look too heavy, but I did need to add my own touches to make it my own.  I don’t usually stack multiple photo mats ups evenly.  It looks really formal and just not “right” for most of my stories.  And another thing - I’m not sure I could stack anything evenly if I tried! 😂🤷

💡Tip: You don't have to copy a sketch, scraplift or class lesson down to the last detail.  You want to find the balance between trying something new and still being true to your style.

Since I was trying to keep the photo block reasonably small (not to cover too much of the painstakingly stitched background raiding my box of scraps (when a certain cat isn’t holding them hostage) is a perfect opportunity to pot a small dent in them!

Then I went through my die cuts and stickers and pulled out what I felt qualified as “whimsical”. I found a couple of frames from Paige Evans’ collections.  I struggle to use frames, but this time I was determined.  I backed them with patterned paper as I would a cutfile and they formed a kind of bridge between the paper and the embellishments.  

I love how most of the embellishments are small and paper based (die cuts or fussy cutting or stickers.  It makes them less heavy and more "whimsical".  I only used a single piece of chipboard and tried to keep the non paper elements delicate.

I was trying to be a little restrained there as well since part of the class lesson was to scatter little floaty bits along the stitched areas. I stitched down two butterflies with a cross stitch and attached the tiny metallic butterflies.

The butterflies help make a connection between the metal flair and the more whimsical floaty elements.  As always, Glue Dots is the only thing I use to adhere flair badges and some of the embellies that didn't want to sit nicely on the raised stitching! 👍

Placement of embellishments was kind of decided for me since there were many areas of the stitched chains of hearts I was unhappy with. 

I put the journal in the space underneath in grey to make it less intrusive.  It’s more legible IRL I promise!  I picked an older set of Thickers by Dear Lizzy (going back to her Polka Dot Party collection) in white (trying to be soft and subtle yet girly at the same time).  Hands up if you have the song from Princess Diaries 2 in your head when you read the title? 🙋😂

Since I was unable to decide between pearls or diamantes,  I used both!  Plenty of royal jewels mix the two so on they went!  I was in two minds as to whether to add any gold mist.  I know I’ve been doing a lot of it lately, but there is a bit of gold in the die cuts and stickers so I went with it.

Here's my final outcome and I'm not entirely displeased with it!  😂👍

It was a labour of love.  I even cut into one of my super special "Love Elsie" papers, and believe me that doesn't happen often!  Besides, it was the only "right" shade of purple among the 37 others I tried 😂🤷!

Most importantly,  I achieved my aim by started off with something which looked very different to what I'd normally make, yet I was able to mould it into something that looked like it was my work and included all the things I loved...and all from taking one class!


I do encourage you to try this approach whether it be Sara's class, a different online class or a face-to-face class if you are fortunate enough to be close enough to someone who offers them!

Crowning Glory

 

 Embellish With Flair products used: Royal Crowns

Giveaway Details - closed!

🎨I'm going to give away a spot in Sara's class!!  😍
(If you're a cardmaker, I'm going to show you how this class can still be adapted to card making and I promise you'll learn some awesome new techniques!)

🎨 The giveaway will remain open until 11:59PM AEST (Australian Eastern Standard Time) on Wednesday 31 July (extended)
If you aren't sure what that is in your timezone, here's a TIMEZONE CALCULATOR
🎨 The winner will be drawn on Friday 2 August so PLEASE CHECK BACK HERE!
🎨If the winner and I can't make contact by Friday 16 August, I will have to draw a new winner
🎨Please try to email me at alex@pinkcraftymama.com This really is the easiest way for me to get in touch with you since not all blogger profiles have an email attached and if you JUST leave comments, I have no other place to search for you.

Until the end of July, I'm going to be making stuff (on and off) inspired by this class.  (You'll know the post relates to it because I'll have "GIVEAWAY" in the title and basically shout it from the rooftops!😜)

You will receive ONE entry for each of the following.  You absolutely don't have to do everything - just however many you like, but you need to leave a comment somewhere so we know you want to play along!

So...what do you have to do to get entries?
Follow Alex's blog (in the left sidebar)
Follow Alex on Facebook
Follow Alex on Instagram
Follow Sara on Instagram 
Subscribe to Alex's YouTube
Subscribe to Sara's YouTube 

If you already follow our socials then that bit is done for you!

Comment (once per day per person) on a post related to this giveaway (look out for the pink whimsy graphic) between now and the close of the giveaway :
Alex's Blog post
Alex's Facebook share
Alex's Instagram Post
Alex's YouTube Video

So today...if you want to leave a comment, What do you think of when you hear the word "whimsy"? (or anything else if this doesn't grab you) and please don't hesitate to  email me with any questions at alex@pinkcraftymama.com


Love and Embellish With Flair,