Brick Stencil Three Ways

Hi everyone in scrappy-land from Sharon.

I really enjoyed a long weekend away at the beach in mid winter ( seems a distant memory now) and took advantage of a stunning view and a warm fire to sit and scrap overlooking the bay and playing with my latest hippies from Imagine If

In this first page “Shine” I used the brick stencil in the background of a patterned paper, then used brown distress ink to highlight the “grout” areas. I love the dimension that this gives my pages. 

The rest of the page is relatively simple….just some layered paper and a few flowers to finish it off. 

In this second page “Our Story” I use the same brick stencil, this time with modelling paste to create a rustic effect in the background. 

I used some tim holtz crayons to add some shadow in the brickwork. I then used a couple of Imagine If gessoed chipboards. One as a journalling block, and the other to be part of the floral assemblage to the left of the photograph.  I journaled following the circular pattern, and cut the left part of the circle to adhere it to the top of the layout for some repeated elements. Again, I layered papers using the tim holtz distress inks to define the page edges a little.

For my third page, I used the stencil again in the background, and swiped some ink on the stencil first to get a graduated colour in the texture paste. 

I then used a piece of gessoed chippie to the left of the photo as the main embellishment atop of layered papers and a little lace. I finished the page with an inked quote from the “quotes and sayings” sheets available in the shop.

As you can see the brick stencil is perfect for applying layers to backgrounds.

Thanks for looking.

Sharon

Inspired by art - Imagine If Blog post

Hi again everyone

Sharon here to share with you a couple of pages I have made lately. 

Firstly I wanted to share with you this watercolour page. 

I was inspired to do this page from the quote I found on of of the “quotes and sayings” sheets  “Life is about using the WHOLE BOX of crayons” . As a painter, I can totally relate to this quote….and wanted to use a photograph of some of my paintings I exhibited at my very first solo exhibition earlier in the year.

I began by sprinkling some watercolour powder over the page in three loose striped areas . I spritzed with water and allowed the colours to mix a little. ( Not too much because I did not want mud!!!!) Once dry I applied texture paste through the “turkish design” stencil using texture paste. The colour from the watercolour seeped through to colour the paste over the top of just the watercoloured areas  which is why I did it in this order. 

I then layered up washi tape and a few pieces of painted chippie to create a "mantel piece" for the photo to sit on. A few doodles around the edge of the page and I am calling it “done”.

The second page I want to share with you uses another “art themed” photo. 

(Photo taken at an art class with an internationally acclaimed NZ  painter. 

Minutes after this was taken, I stepped back to look at what I had done, tripped over my easel, sending the easel the painting and all my brushes and paints into a big drain LOL ….needless to say that painting never made the wall, I just regret I did not take a photo of my whoopsie !!)

Again I used the quote for inspiration, edged in in a coloured ink to add a wee pop of colour in an otherwise neutral coloured page.  I also used several chipboard pieces I had gessoed and painted, along with several die cuts to showcase the photograph. 

Thanks for looking.

Sharon 

Travel Page

Hi everyone. 
Another travel photo scrapped for the album. This time a photograph from England. I happened to have the Prima Tales of Us paper on hand which was perfect colour and feel for the page, and with the addition of chipboard and stencil work, I could not have been more happy with the final result.

I had lots and lots of fun with this page. I knew immediately that I wanted to use the brick stencil to create a background over the patterned paper. Using crackle paste made the brickwork look old and rustic. 

I loved this chipboard sign that I used to hold the title. Again I just used the white paint to match the crackle paste bricks and the lace. you can find the sign chippie here

For the chip title, I used some minc foil over the top of some “sticky embossing powder” I used a gold foil, to just add a little bit of a “royal” touch to the page. You can find the Family history word here

Thanks for looking

Sharon

A Beautiful Life

Hi everyone.

Sharon back again with another mixed media scrapbooking page. 

This beautiful photograph of Lake Wanaka did not require a lot of treatment to make it pop. The addition of the imagine if chippie and stencil was just what the doctor ordered on this one . 

I started off with the bubble stencil,(which can be found here) and used texture paste, which immediately had micro beads pressed into it for some subtle bling in the background. 

I used the chip flourish (which can be found here)to accent the photo, and just painted it with white paint to overlap the photograph. 

The title, I used some Minc spray, which was splurged over the title in a distressed way ( Love this title by the way….isn't it such a pretty mix of words and butterflies?) I left the spray to dry, then used the teal minc foil over the top. The foil then just sticks to the spray areas, leaving the others blank. I loved the way the teal beads and the teal title tied the layout all together. The title can be found here
I loved the way the title has the small butterflies entwined in the title, which ties in the butterfly flourish beside the photo.

Thanks for looking

Sharon

Summer art journal page

Hi everyone

Hope you have all been enjoying a summer break ( although I think at times we all need a break from summer with these hot temps we have been having!)

I have been playing in my art journal this week, and am going to share with you my art journal page "Summer" .  These are the three "Imagine if "stencils I have used in the making of my page.

The first step is to create a back ground using a variety of acrylic paints, scratching some designs into the paint while wet ( Sometimes, I make my art journal pages on smooth white card, and then glue that into my album ....this is what I did this time ) I have used  various shades of blues and aquas.

Next choose a stencil and using a sponge apply colours to suit on top of the dried back ground. Alter the colours around the page to create depth of colour

Highlight some of the circle shapes using either a white journal pen, or a paint applicator which creates fine lines. 

After the last step has dried, add the circular stencil in the top corner using a bright yellow.....to sort of represent the sun, and then stencil the girls face using a dark colour. ( I used indigo) Once this is dry, shade around the jawline with a black gelato, and smudge to fade out. 

Using a fine paint brush or applicator squiggle some aqua "waves along the base. Use indigo paint to add cross hatches, and "smoosh" around the edges to create a rustic border. Also paint the lid of a spray bottle and stamp random circles in the dark colour.

                                                    

Finally add some red gelato like "lippy" to the  lips, and using a damp cotton bud, spread to fill in the lip shape.

Type out some journalling on coordinating scrap of paper, and adhere to the page. Add another touch of red in the form of a gauze heart to introduce another touch of the red.

Thanks for looking.

Cheers

Sharon

Mixed media Scrapbook page, step by step

Hi everyone.

Today I am sharing with you a mixed media scrapbook page.

To begin, use some texture paste and spread through the Imagine If Stencil in some random places around the page, and allow to dry. Using a stamp, stamp with acrylic paint all around the page using a coordinating paint colour. Finally stamp with another coordinating colour of acyrlic paint using a sponge dauber to get faint circles. Just stamp in a few places....less is more!!!! Allow to dry thoroughly

 

Now the scary part!!!!! Spray a couple of coordinating sprays over the dried background. Dry with a heat gun if you are impatient!!

Time to add flowers etc !!!

Cover your Imagine If Chippies with white gesso, then finger paint them with metallic paints in three coordinating colours... I have used Lime, aqua and cobalt blue.  Adhere them and the photos to your page as desired.

FINALLY. the finished page!!! 

Thanks for looking, and see you next time, Sharon 

Travel Page

Hello all.

Its been a long time "between drinks" or layouts in this case !!! But rest assured, I have been busy behind the scenes creating some layouts using the lovely chipboard from Imagine If.

I have been slowly working through my travel photographs from a couple of years ago ( really? that long ago? seems only yesterday!!) Anyway.... this layout is a photograph I took in a park in Edinburgh and just loved the beautiful colours of spring.

This beautiful gazebo chippie was perfect to use in the garden themed layout, and of course this lovely frame chippie was perfect to use as a title holder.
I also used some of the Imagineif stencils in the background. Chevron Stencil and Bubbles Stencil

The page itself started off as plain white piece of paper, and I used blue and white paint to create the background, and used the stencils to add splashes of lime green and black paint.

The chipboard,  I chose to keep simple. I painted the gazebo in white gesso, and then using mica paint, painted the little leaves and the butterflies to highlight them a tad more. The frame I painted in white gesso and added a bit of clear glitz over the top to add a little sparkle. ( Does not show in the photo unfortunately)

Thanks for looking
Sharon

Love.... A blog post for Imagine If

Hi everyone

Sharon here with another mixed media scrapbooking page for you to look at. 

In this layout, I used a photo of my daughter with her new husband . 

I was inspired by the cathedral window chipboard piece , and it was the perfect size to layer over the top of their wedding photo. I foiled the window in gold, then sanded some of the foil away to make it look a little "less clean". I then layered over the top of this photo assembly, the floral corner which I had painted white, then added prima mica powder to the flowers to give them a little sparkly colour. 

The next step was to find a paper to work with the photos, and I luckily had the recent prima collection “tales of us” in my stash. I loved that the images in the paper are almost echoed in the chipboard piece I used at the left of the page. This cut is so very fine and delicate, it suited my page just perfectly. 

Thanks for looking

Sharon

Some layouts for artfull crafts

Good morning crafters.

This morning I am sharing with you three layouts I have made with the lovely Kaisercraft range Time Machine . I adore the colours of this range, as I am always a sucker for teal. The papers are very suitable for masculine or heritage type pages.

In this first page, I used the acetate 12x12 paper from the collection as my base. This is why its totally see through. I quite like the effect!! I have cut circles from supporting papers in the collection and used die cuts, to add a pop of colour here and there under the clock face, following the pattern.

 For the second page, I used lots of layering of metal and die cuts, and used a metallic texture paste through a stencil. I decided to keep this fairly simple and just use the die cuts and a few scraps of paper to frame the photo, along with a piece of corrugated card.
 To be honest, I will probably re visit this page again, and add some more stamping in the background, and to add a dark brown frame around the outside. ( Thats the great thing about creating with paper....you can tweak it til you are happy.....)

This third page is my favourite!!!
I used lots of scraps of paper which were layered up, then had texture paste through a stencil applied over the top. I used diluted twinkling h2o in several different shades to add shadow around the papers. These are great to add a little pop to your page and this is one here that I used with the page.

I used a more concentrated twinkling h20 to splatter the ink after the original layer was dry.
I find its better to give the little tub a spritz with water and leave it to soften for 5 minutes before I dive into it, then I can get good concentration of colour. If I want to dilute it, I put a little onto my craft mat, and add water with my brush to get the desired colour intensity.
I also utilised the tags and tabs from the die cut set to layer under the photo and on the right hand cluster. A piece of looped twine links the two sides of the page together to get a unified design.

Thanks for looking, and I will be back soon to show you  some more pages I have been creating with the new Kaisercraft ranges.

Ciao for now

Sharon              

Its been a looooooooong time!!!!

Hi everyone.

Hope your scrappy adventures have been full of magic lately. I have been busy behind the scenes with my scrapbooking, and have a number of layouts to share with you today.

These pages were made quite some time ago, for the Kaiser reveal back in JUNE!!!! Some of you who have been in to the shop may have seen these layouts on display.
( I misplaced my SD card for a little while, and was so happy to find it again....hence the belated reveal!)

So....lets get started.

These first layouts are using the Secret Garden Collection found here
A very pretty feminine collection with lots of florals and pinks.

The second of my layouts is from the Botanica collection. I loved the freshness of the greens in this collection. Lots of layers and texture in these layouts. 

Just a wee technique to note in the following two layouts

Often when we are using a stencil with spray inks, we just wash off the stencil and discard the ink down the drain......why not use the ink on the stencil and make an impression with another piece of paper to use on another layout? Means your beautiful inks wont be wasted....and you have another background ready made for your next layout, all ready to go!!

Thats it for today!

Looking forward to showing you some pages I have made with the new collections from Kaiser!! They are delicious!!!

Cheers

Sharon

Layouts created for Artfull Crafts

Where has the year gone????
Cannot believe it is the end of February almost!!

I have been lucky enough to be able to play with the Shine-Bright collection of papers this month.
When I first saw the paper, I was a bit dubious about the bright yellow of the collection. ( Yellow is not my go to colour by any stretch of the imagination) Therefore, I was pleasantly surprised at how easily these pages came together, and also the punch that lovely bright yellow gives to the pages.

I was working mainly with the 6x6 pad, which worked well with the designs of my layouts.

Every year, I take a photo of my daughter after her first ski for the season. Loved the yellow elements which matched well with the lifejacket, and complementary with the blue water.
I used a mask and texture paste to create a background initially, then added some spray ink and splattered acrylic ink, before adding the papers and die cuts to the background.

 Another skiing photo!!! This time with my son. In this page I used the grey elements from the pad, and accented the page with pops of yellow.
( The die cut actually reads "SHE believed SHE could......" and obviously this was not going to work. I used my sharpie to black out the "S" to create a more appropriate quote)
Also lots of texture paste through a bubble mask, and black ink through a ledger stencil, to add dimension to the background.

 Last page of the Shine Bright collection I used layers of black gesso through a stencil, and added the prima glass beads while still wet. The paint acts like a glue and the beads have embedded into the black gesso. I also used a little silver embossing powder in places as well, to accentuate the stenciled layer. Layered up papers and string to form a photo mat, and call it done!

The other collection I was lucky enough to play with was the Betsys Couture designed of course, for our very own Miss Betsy!!

I found this paper was perfect for heritage style photos. I layered the papers to make a photo mat, and used a mask to add some texture in the upper half of the layout.

 The second page, saw me take a photo from over 20 years ago, and make a simple layout ( Hard to see on the photo, but the photo and quote cards are liufted up quite high with chipboard. I doodled a barb wire frame around the edge of the layout, to give it an edge, and to allude to the kiwi no. 8 wire mentality

 Last but not least a layout which I have not added my photos to as yet. I have some of my mothers family photos destined for this page, but have to get them from another family member to scan first!!
For something a little different, I added texture paste to the brown cardstock, then used distress inks to rub over the top to colour it a little. I used several different shades to do this.

This page is also a little different, in that the page mat flips up to show another layer underneath, and a wee envelope to hide extra photos/memorabilia in.

That's it for me this month!
See you next time with some more new releases from Kaiser soom!

Cheers
Sharon

Good morning everyone in blogland. Its been a long time since I checked in (my sincere apologies), I have been busy playing mummy to hundreds of babies on the farm.

BUT......I have also had time to play with the new releases from Kaisercraft in fits and starts.

This first layout, was made using the Kaisercraft Mix and Match range found here
I enjoyed the versatility of this range.

Page One, I used splattered paint in the background, then cut apart several of the sheets to get individual elements to adhere to the page. Made good use of the sticker sheet on this one too.

Page two also featured a paint effect in the background, parts of the sticker sheet, and pieces cut from 12x12 sheets

The second collection I used was Outdoor-Trail

A perfect collection for those blokey type photos we all have. Perfect for the men in your life who love the great outdoors, or for those of you who getting back to nature and enjoying a spot of camping.

For this page, I used lots of layered pieces of paper to showcase a photo I took in Scotland earlier this year (photo is a lit lop sided sorry!....new laptop and have not worked out the straighten tool yet lol)

Any how. These are a few of the things I have been up to in the craft room. 

Which leads me to the dratted photos of my space! As you know this month we are sharing our crafting areas, wherever that may be.....in a huge purpose built room, or from a shoebox under the bed!

Heres my workspace. My desk in all its glory!!!! 

This little container I have sitting on my desk to hold little 6x4 lettering or Project Life cards to add to pages. Its actually a "flyer holder" that I picked up from the Sallies for about $5. I have two of them, and really like them.

I have used the Cropper Hopper system to store papers and card stock for years. I love this system. You can get the girls at the shop to order in the vertical paper holders, and i recently bought a new type, which I love storing kits in.

 My room is quite small, so I make the most of these bookshelves I bought from the warehouse stationery. they are great because they hold 12x12 containers, with room to spare.

 Lots of people seem to struggle with storage of things like die cuts. I use these containers to sort my die cuts into colour coordinated groups. the 6x4 containers store a heap of die cuts, and keep them all tidy......most of the time !!!

I could not let this blog post go by, without showing you my two darlings!!!!! The typewriter from the early 1900s has a larger than usual carriage, and this means I can type directly onto my pages if I want to.
It sits atop an old filing system I bought from a second hand shop. I have several of these in my room. These ones are the perfect depth and height for my thickers! Love that I can pull open the drawer, and grab the colour of my choice.
I also use another set for photo storage. (This really needs to be sorted through and lots ditched.....who needs 57 photos of one child in the school play )

Since these photo have been taken, I have made new curtains for my space, and hope to have a paint job done in the summer.
Its not a flash harry room...... it is what it is......and its my haven.

Happy scrapping everyone.
(Come back next week to see what I have been doing with pocket pages!!!)


cheers
Sharon