Stuck?! Sketches 1 Nov using November CKC Kit

So...I finally broke into my kit for November!  Well...the first thing I did was make 3 page kits last week, but didn't get around to actually chopping and sticking until three days ago. 

Finally had the energy to finish the thing! 

Quilty Cat

 
You can find the deets to the November CKC here.

So I kicked off with the sketch from 1 November from Stuck?! Sketches.  They release two per month and I hope to make a layout for the second one too.

The sketch looks like this and while I originally printed three photos, one of them (while taken in the same series) just looked too different and out of place.

The warm colours that make up so much of my Counterfeit Kit for November was perfect for this photo.  I don't use orange an awful lot - especially in such a large expanse so it was a challenging layout, but the orange isn't harsh,  It's a softer orange with watercolour streaks through it.

I decided to cut it to the exact size I'd need and mount everything onto a sheet of carstock I knew I would probably never use.  I declare that's not cheating).  



I also went into my scrap box for a bit of white (with black text) paper to mount the photos on.  (also not cheating since scraps are a bonus if you actually use them!)

I have to confess I very nearly cheated for real when I tuned to my stash of Sassa embellies since I knew some of the Whimsies had a fabric like texture.  They were just too big.  

 
The chipboard flowers in the kit had a little fabric texture so adding a fabric brad from my trusty pink tray (along with flower shaped buttons from there) helped get that vibe across.  

BTW several of the patterns in the Hustle and Heart collection by Amy Tangerine (I used a red behind the photos) have a pattern that sort of reminded me of a knitted jumper (sweater).

I gathered together a bunch of die cuts from that pile of extras and made three slightly awkward, but OK looking clusters.



The borders on the top and bottom of the page are two sides of the same paper and I found a section of the colourful one without green since I didn't want add it in...and it looks a but like a somewhat crazy quilt!

I'm a little late with my blog posts due to technical difficulties so please stop by often this week since I have another two layouts make with the kit and hope to get a fourth done.

Love and successful scrapping!

Stuck?! Sketches 1 Oct/Mercy Tiara October Challenge

This month I really wanted to do a lot more than I physically was able to.  I managed to completed the Stuck?!Sketches Challenge for 1 October (there are two per month).  This one interested me with the second area of photo placement, though I was pretty sure I wouldn't place a photo there.

Anniversary Adventure With A Difference

(yes I know there is a spelling booboo in the title.  It's what comes from rushing to finish a project late at night and then not having the energy to retake photos when you realize!!)

In combining it with Mercy Tiara's 27 Day Challenge for October, I started to formulate a plan.  Shannon Daley Allor won last month's challenge and as the winner, she challenged us with this recipe:

1. Scrap some kind of celebration. It can be a birthday, losing a first tooth, a sport event, etc.
2. Use a long title.
3. Use mixed media such as mist, splatters, ink or texture paste. Anything goes.
4. Use some form of a primary color.
5. Use wood veneer.
6. Use washi tape.

Given there are few things I do celebrate, a slightly belated anniversary date on 9 October was a natural contender.  The colour combination of pink, red and blue was one I don't think I have actually used before.

Pink is an easy choice for me, but the rest of the inspiration came from the number cut-apart from Shimelle's "Glitter Girl" line.

In addition to incorporating a woodgrain pattern (as distinct to using woodgrain elements in the challenge) I thought the addition of a neutral colour would work with the others.
 
The number card used in the extra photo placement area of the sketch would make it a kind of feature embellishment and since it stood for the number of years we have been married, it made sense to emphasis it.
 
I rotated the sketch 90 degrees then "mirror imaged" it to look like the one on the right,  No particular reason other than that's just how it looked "right" to my eye.  I printed the two landscape photos pretty small since they were of questionable quality having been taken in a space with low light and forward facing selfie mode!

 
I picked the background paper for the layout pretty easily.  An older line by Crate Paper "KissKiss". but thought it was still subtle enough to be able to use with some kind of mixed media paste.

 
I wanted to try marbling pink in with white.  Since I already have a Heidi Swapp metallic pink paste that was a lovely warm pink, I decided to go with Dreamweaver Glossy White Embossing Paste.  The HS Pink was also sort of glossy and by using that rather than adding some kind of ink, it wouldn't change the consistency of the paste.  I also added a bit of Bo Bunny Glitter paste in what looks like a very neon pink but it's not!

In spreading the pastes, however carefully, the marbling effect wasn't as distinct as I hoped, but still soft and pretty.  

A heart stencil from Shimelle's "True Stories" Collection was just the right size but distorted if the past was too thick so next time I would be more careful to keep it thinner.

Titles are not hard for me to fit in with whatever I'm doing so that's 3 out of 6 prompts taken care of.  I manged to even use the word "adventure" from a set of word Thickers!

The washi in pink and gold was from a Crate Paper washi booklet (Maggie Holmes "Bloom" Collection I believe).

The wood veneer was a very last minute addition and I used what I had loose on my desk since accessing the rest of it seemed too hard so late at night.  I would have preferred some hearts but I'll leave it as is.

I really wanted to fussy cut some roses from Maggie Holmes' Chasing Dreams line.  Some chipboard in each of three groupings of embellishment (which didn't necessarily correlate to embellishment spots on the sketch).

 
The chipboard ribbon prize ribbon motif commonly used in "Chasing Dreams" hasn't been the easiest motif for me to use,  This one had a gold bunny so a label sticker and number "2" made it work a bit better,  

I have to say I had all these plans to add fussy cut butterflies and cameras and all sorts of stuff so to stop where I did wasn't bad for me.  I guess that's where I call it done...or not!





After taking the photos I decided I wanted gold mist,  Lots of it!

Keep checking back - I still need to edit the video for my Victoria Marie Challenge from last week as well as a few more things coming up over the next few days.

Love and perfectly marbled embossing paste!

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 <---