Thursday 30 June 2016

A distressed layout

Good morning all

Today I'm bringing you a layout of a photo that I have scrapped before. The reason I have chosen to do this is because this is the last photo I have of me and my Dad together. He was sadly taken from us 6 weeks later at a very premature age of just 51...younger than myself now!



I chose to use this sketch here as my inspiration.  I put the photo with the banners and added the beachy wood effect cluster where the sketch shows the photo. The diagonal photo is represented as the horizontal phot in my layout.   It may be a loose interpretation but I think it's there for you to see.

I was also keen to try the distressing technique as per the June Challenge of Pixels and Paper challenge blog.distressing is a technique I have limited success with so I thought I'd keep it discreet. I scuffed up the edges of the banners beneath the photo and added splodges of ink and a distressed heart and 'LOVE' die cut.

So that's it really... the paper I used was a Kaisecraft one from the Blue Bay collection.

Thanks for stopping by..and don't forget to pop back soon to see what else I've been up to!

Elaine
x

Wednesday 29 June 2016

WOYWW 369

Good Morning all

Today I'm linking up with Lunch Lady Jan, our temporary custodian of WOYWW here. If you don't know what I'm talking about.. do pop over for a look.

Here is todays, untidy desk. I'm working on two mixed media canvases..the last one being the sea shell effort..hence the seashells still being on the desk.


To be honest I'm not to happy with the composition so I'm going to have to 'unstick' something and rearrange it. Then, when I'm happy I will set about paining and misting, waxing and glittering! Lol
The reason for all this frantic mixed media-ing..is because I have been asked to teach it! Wow.. who'd have thought it? So.. I need samples.. small ones to show the class.. I'm really amazed anyone would this it was good enough... and, I guess, a little humbled too!

Here is another project I did earlier in the week too

 and this one for my Grand-daughters bedroom too.. she's only 15 months so pink, purple and lots of glitter seemed appropriate.. so forgive the 'childishness' of it..lol


Finally..because I was having withdrawal symptoms from Scrapbooking I did this layout of my GD at a christening on Sunday. The idea came from UKScrappers for their weekly challenge.

So that's it from me.. it was good to see you..do pop back again soooooon!

Elaine
x




Monday 27 June 2016

Simple Stories Snap Baby Girl

Morning all


Here is a video that I uploaded to You Tube using the Snap Simple Stories Baby Girl collection.



It is 2 mins 30 seconds long. I loved doing the album but suspect I'll only do the one and stick to traditional scrapbooking that I feel more comfortable with.


Thanks for looking


Elaine

A challenge layout

Evening all

Tonight I am bringing you a layout made with my Counterfeit Kit (from the CKCB blog)  for June (I'm really struggling to find enough paper to make more layouts now as I've almost killed it) but when the challenge came up over on UKScrappers to make a layout using red, white and blue and to include stars and stripes.. I knew I had enough bits for one decent layout.

I used some of the B sides of the paper in my kit, Summer Sensation, and used this sketch here from Sketch-N-Scrap blog 

For my version I turned the sketch on its side and I used two photos and a made-up PL style card.

I added a selection of stars and a few stripes and added bunting too. All bases covered,

Thanks for the inspiration bloggers!

Elaine
x

Friday 24 June 2016

Counterfeit Blog Hop

Welcome, welcome, WELCOME to the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Members' Blog Hop!  We've been counterfeiting, crafting and creating with our supplies and now it's time to sit back and share what we've made.

Did you choose one of this month's challenges?

I chose the second one.. to use a quote.

I used Simple Stories 'I Am' collection that I had included in my kit.

I used this sketch here from Lets Get Sketchy June week 2 sketch



I added allsorts of embellishments from my kit and made a couple too.. like the stamped camera on the right.

Here is the list of hoppers to help you on your way

Here's the Blog Hop order ...

Thursday 23 June 2016

Two layouts from me

Evening all

Tonight in stormy Kent in rainy old England I am bringing you two layouts made with elements of my Counterfeit Kit, ironically called 'Summer Sensation'.. no sign of the summer here as yet.. well unless you count that day we had in May where we dug out all our summer clothes in our optimism! Lol
In my kit I included lots of gold and added some Poloroid style frames too. I have been wanting to scrap this photo ever since I started scrapbooking as it is one of my all time favourites of my family. It was taken about 10 years ago when I won a photo shoot and we had the biggest laugh..as you can see. I wanted the photo itself to be the focus of the layout so I blew it up and made it large. I used this sketch from UKScrappers.

I then punched some gold hearts from the paper in my kit and used a piece of red card (not originally in my kit) to mount the photo on. I used two of the wooden words and covered them with Glossy Accents and added gold glitter for the title. Here is the end result. Simple but, I think, it works.


Here is the second layout made with my kit. I used this sketch here from the Memory Nest Blog.. who, I'm extremely pleased to say, chose me as a winner for my layout here. How exciting is that? I will be their guest designer soon..










In the meantime I was also inspired by the sketch below

It gave me lots of opportunity to use white space which I love to do. It gives me the chance to include a bit of mixed media. In this instance I used watercolour.. splattering it and randomly placing colour on the background. Once dried I added small scraps from my kit.. which I've almost killed, and arranged them over some white cotton gauze. I finished off with some gems, flatbacks and some punched chevrons.


The photo is of my Grand-daughter Amber..but as I only wanted a small photo..I used just her lovely big eyes to focus on.

That's it for tonight..but do pop back soon!

Elaine
x









Wednesday 22 June 2016

WOYWW 368

Good morning all

Dis you miss me? I didn't make it to WOYWW last week... but today I am again joining in with the What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday currently being hosted by the lovely Jan who has stepped in while our 'real' host recuperates from major surgery. Despite having a family bereavement Jan has continued with the idea and is an absolute star so we can all continue adding and sharing our desks and projects. Thanks Jan! If you'd like to hop on over and join in or comment, go here to see what I'm talking about.

Today my desk is a bit of a disgrace. I've been busy 'playing' this week and I just haven't tidied up like I normally do. You may notice a shiny splodge on my desk. I deliberately didn't get too close as I'm not sure about the project yet.. and it's still wet..so there may be more of that next week. It's painting of a sunset that I am hoping to stamp over and make a new picture for my walls..but I'm not too keen yet so we'll see!
 There are also the remains of a layout I made yesterday


I'm not at all happy with the way the title sits..so I will be changing that.. I'm going to fire up my cameo for once. The little dress is an origami fold made with a piece of book paper and stamped and heat embossed to make the pattern. The papers are Bo Bunny C'est La Vie.

My favourite piece of the week though is definitely my artist palette I made over the weekend. I've not tackled a mixed media piece so large before so I am really rather pleased with the way it's turned out. If you would like to know how I  made it, which products etc, please do become a follower as I aim on doing a separate post on this one. I need more followers, so please do join me on my crafty journey... you never know what I might get up to!


Well, that's it for this week... so let me know you've visited. Have a great week everyone and I hope to be back next week.

Elaine
x

Saturday 18 June 2016

An altered matchbox

Good morning all...

Today I am bringing you something a little different. For the first time ever I decided to make an altered matchbox for a swap over on UKScrappers.

First, I started off with a browse on Pinterest...as you do... and was in  awe of all the little treasure that other people had made.. then I started panicking! How on earth was I ever going to produce anything as beautiful a those people had created? Then I had a flash of inspiration! I remembered those little ATC's that I blogged a couple of weeks back.. the ones with a seaside them.. and from there my idea grew. These ones...

So I decided I would use a seaside theme for my matchbox too.

First I covered the matchbox in some pretty silvery, teal tissue paper using PVA glue. Then I added Prima Gold crackle glaze paste in certain areas. Once dried I added a pearl brad to the drawer as a knob.
Then I used a mixture of Prima Small Art Stones, blue bugle beads, gold threads and seed pearls on Prima Translucent Gel to create the background of the lid, bottom corner of the box and the drawer. Once I was happy with the coverage and it had all dried I added tiny seashells (collected on my recent holiday to Devon and Cornwall), pearl gems and some teal/blue threads to represent weed.



For the inside I created a little diorama of what the bottom of the sea looks like and added a small starfish too. I used another small shell and a large pearl bead for the finishing touch.

All in all I thought it was quite sweet and Karen, my swap partner, seemed very pleased with it.. so I am pleased...



Thanks for stopping by... do pop back soon!

Elaine
x

Thursday 16 June 2016

Three layouts

Good morning

Toady I am sharing three layouts made with my Counterfeit Kit Summer Sensation from the idea on the CKCB blog

The first is one is based on this sketch here from the Studio Challenge Blog on their June sketch challenge

from which I created this layout which also used Mind the Scrap blog for their mood board inspiration

 
I used watercolour paint to make the pale pink background and then added texture paint through a stencil to make the circle to the left of the picture. I then layered pieces of my kit and added lots of blingy (is that even a word?)  flowers and a couple of other elements.

Then I made this layout here based on a sketch from a FB group I'm in For the Love of Pretty Paper using my CK kit with the 'I Am' collection of papers from Simple Stories.
 One of my friends mentioned that it shouldsay 'I Do' rather than I am..but I added .. 'in love' in tiny alphas under the 'I am'.. so that clears that up! lol


Finally I used this sketch here from Me and Mines Blog 
 
to create this layout here using Kaisercafts Lulu collection.



I hope you like my submissions and do remember to let me know you've visited... or, even better, become a follower to I can follow you back too.

See you again soon!

Elaine
x



Sunday 12 June 2016

A catch up post

Morning all

This week I've been a bit busy making cards for several family birthdays and anniversary's so I have had little time to blog. That said I was also keen to use some of my Counterfeit Kit Blog Summer Sensation too..so I have managed a few layouts here too.

As it's a lot to catch up on I am just going to post the photos and if anyone wants to know how I made them or any papers I've used, please let me know and I'll answer as honestly as I can.

Thanks for looking.


First a birthday card for my son using acrylic paint and archival ink.


Then a layout based on a sketch from a FB group I belong to


and another from the same group using my CKCB kit


then another for the weekly challenge over on UKS also using my CKCB kit


Then another one using my kit

This was from a concert I went to in April to see Jeff Lynne's ELO at the O2 in London.. a fantastic night! I used photos from his own FB page as mine were rubbish! Lol


Then finally, my favourite, a layout using just a stamp set I had included in my kit.. I used just three colours of acrylic paint to create the sunset, then waited for it to dry and then stamped with three different stamps to create the silhouette with archival ink
..simple yet, in my view, effective.




Ok..that's my short and sweet blog post.. it's my dear husband's birthday today so I am off out for lunch to celebrate..

Thanks for stopping by..do remember to let me know you've visited.. and become a follower too! Thanks

Elaine
x






Wednesday 8 June 2016

WOYWW 366

Good morning from a grey and slightly drizzly corner of Kent.

Today I'm bringing you a very untidy desk for once.. and a lot of clutter surrounding it.. why? Well.. because I've been making cards.. and for some reason I always seem to make more mess when I'm doing this!

I'm joining in the What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday 366 which is currently being hosted by LunchLadyJan while Julia, (whose baby this is), is recovering from surgery.. wishing you well Julia!

So here is my cluttered desk (and room)


Also.. in some other news.. my second layout featured here has been featured on the Stuck?! ChallengeBlog.. a first for me so I'm thrilled! However, being a bit of a technophobe... I don't know how to add a 'Featured Layout' blinkie to my blog.. so I'm just sharing my news all over the place instead! lol here is the LO that was featured in case you don't have time to hop over for a look see too.



Well, anyway, enough of that! Here are the cards I've been making too


 I confess.. I made the dark one for a challenge.. and I'm not keen, so that will be taken apart and re-used elsewhere.. but the pink one came out as I envisaged. After photographing it I added the word 'Mum' under the happy birthday as I decided to send it to my husbands Mum as she owns a 3' tall ceramic pink flamingo.. who resides in her bathroom (don't ask!) I had made her a different card previously but when I got this cute little die free with a magazine I knew I had to make another! No doubt the original will get sent to someone else instead now. At least it's sent and on it's way now.

The final card I made is also for a challenge but it is also for my son and DILs 3rd wedding anniversary. I got this sketch from the Paper Craft Crew Blog where I am delighted that one of my cards have been chosen for one of their 'Top Picks' too .. how exciting! ( I worked out how to add their blinkie a few weeks ago but I can't do the other one! Doh!)



and here is the card I made using the required three Stampin' Up elements. The Perpetual Calendar Heart stamp, the background paper is from the Going Places paper collection and the tiny 'for you' stamp is from the Sweet Valentine set.


...so that's it for another week.. I'm not sure where these weeks roll by too.. they do seem to fly by!

Thanks for stopping by.. do let me know you've visited.

Elaine
x