I Can Finally Share!! ScrapFX Mini Album!

Oh joyful day!  I cannot tell you all how excited I am to be here finally sharing this ScrapFX project - eeps!!  Its been so hard keeping it under wraps!  Tons of pictures and deets to share so lets roll...

On the ScrapFX blog you will find full details/links for the chippies/stencils used in this album.  There is also a full tutorial there detailing every step needed to teach you how to bind in the same manner as in the above photo.

Love This View is a mini album dedicated to some of the shots I've captured around our land over the past year.  We were blessed to have moved here; it was this former big city girl's dream come true.  

Every page of this book is created on blank chipboard pages from ScrapFX - these are awesomely durable and come with orders to keep all your chippies/stencils safe and sound.  I just had to put them to good use!

Wordlets are dressed up with embossing powders and stamping.  Varying the types of powders used, how long I heated them up, and using tools (in my case a Q-tip) to apply Versamark to get a two toned effect are all ways to get different effects when embossing.

The Field of Flowers Piece is something I'm pretty pleased with - is that boasting too much? Sorry, I can't help it, it was a total experiment and when it turned out I was pleased as punch! Okay so here's the scoop: I took some flocking powder, mixed it with a little watered down paint, and threw in some beads to create my own paste of sorts.  At first it looked like a gloppy mess for reals!  I plowed through and started dabbing it on each little spot.  I didn't think it would dry so nicely but knew I had more of this piece cut off to the side so it was all good if the experiment went south, LOL!  Thankfully when it was all firmed up it looked pretty cool - kind of like a cattail - which is what I was hoping for!  I then sprayed the piece moderately with some gold mist and called it done one.

The full cover page before binding.  One of my canvas embellishment clouds created with a hand carved stamp made from a ScrapFX stencil.  In case you missed it, you can learn more about that here.  The black chevron pattern in the background is also created from a stamp I made using the ScrapFX Chevron stencil. 

The Hot air balloon is also ScrapFX chipboard, now let me explain.  There are hot air balloon chippies you can get - I love them, used them, had one left in a wonkin' size.  Wouldn't have worked here but I did have an itty bitty die from Crop Stop that I used on some plain ScrapFX chipboard and my problem was solved.  The birdie is ScrapFX all done up with gel pens....seriously peeps gel pens are the best for quick coverage on small pieces and maintaining the intricate deets that NO other company can deliver, in my humble opinion of course ;)

Still with me??  Grab a beverage and notepad...teehee....still lots to go! 

 One Fine Day Spread - Worldlet was coated with gesso and then I went over the words with a black pen to make the text pop.  Very simple.  The Flower Pattern Stencil, Small was used with black gesso to provide some pattern over the top of my background.

The background of this page, and all pages for that matter, has been done the same with layers of various mediums and mists - I think I'll do a tutorial so we don't get too wordy - let me know if you want that and if I get feedback I'll do one - if not I won't.

Love these little silhouette tree swing kids - did you know there are a ton of pieces just like this in the store?? Oh yeah....ScrapFX has lots of hidden gems.  Dressed it up with some micro cog flowers :)  These are simply coated with gesso and sprinkled with glitter while still wet and then I applied a flower shaped sequin with a little dab of puff paint to finish it off.

Lovin' the new arrows recently released and while some may be over them, I think its really a matter of what you do with an item.  Trends become old because peeople keep using them in the same plain way.  So I funkdified my arrows by embossing them with some stamps to enforce my theme (hearts for the love of sunshine and flowers for the love of pretty weeds LOL), then went over them with metallic paints.  I used baby wipes to rub away the paint from the embossed areas.  Outlined them with a pen roughly afterwards.  Added a cutie lil' bird from the Bird Family mini set all decked with lots of glitter (I make my own glitter glue concoction so I'm assured nothing comes off - I know peeps love their stickles and such, but I like the real deal!!!).  Added a big ol' googly eye and colored the legs/beak with a gel pen.

Yes, Winter is Pretty as a Picture here though I'm sick to death of it!!! ahahaha!  Sorry.  Once again a quickie embossing job to the wordlet with some chunky glittery powder.  Used one of my Antler Animals, left the body bare, and glittered up the horns - my fav technique for these!!

Sorry for the bit of blurriness here.  Lots of Retro Flowers both regular and mini sized used on this spread.  I once again made my own glitter glue mixture and decked out a bunch of them at one sitting - even had leftovers for another day!!!  Used the Arrows, small and Petal Pattern stecil with modeling paste to give texture to the background.  Love how the Petal Pattern looks like a snowflake on this page!

Oh my, can I tell you I've been holding on to my Weekdays set for I don't even know how long!!  I love, love this little pieces.  All you Project Lifers out there should really look in to getting your hands on these!  On the background of this spread I used bits from the Urban stencil to give some texture to the sides of the page with colored modeling paste.

The words are very simply altered with gesso and text stamping.  The text has meaning relevant to families.  The arrow box is painted with metallic paint, sprinkled with fairy dust, and outlined with bling.  I really am diggin' these arrow boxes as you get both the negative and positive pieces to work with!  Another bird family mini birdie this time decked out with tissue paper and pen word singing away with an embossed speech bubble - oh yeah I have neon yellow embossing powder that was passed down to me - its old school!!

All pieces done the same as the photo above just another close up for you to peep out. 

This is the Life, really.  I am so thankful each and every day for my family, for my friends, to be able to create things, to share my life and creations with you all, for my health while it could be better, it could be worse - I just sit back, think wow, and am amazed.  

  

Another wow goes out to you if you're still with me, LOL!  Thanks so much for hanging in there, I do hope it was worth your time.  Now you must head on over to ScrapFX because there is a full tutorial waiting there for you to soak in!!!!  It will take you step by step through the process of learning how to bind up your mini album the way I did.  The links for all the products I used are there as well!!  You'll see some of the same pictures but I promise the jabber stayed here on them ;)

Also be sure to let me know what you want to see tutorials/tips on!!  I really want this place to grow and become one where you come to for an interactive experience - lets share and chat peeps!!!  After all I was teacher you know and even though I can't be in the classroom any longer because my body won't let me, I can still throw down with some tutorials :) So let's get this party started!!!! 

Have wonderful days sweetie peeps! xoxo

ScrapFX Blog Hop Winner and a New Sneaky Peek

Welcome to Wednesday!!  I'm looking out my window at heaps of snow (though we got less than we were predicted to thank goodness) and watching flurries start to fly yet again.  Sigh.  Winter needs to go home now.... I'm really ready for Spring and I know you, my sweetie peeps, are ready for a Blog Hop Winner, yes??

Thank you again for all the lovely comments on my tutorial and page.  I'm really glad so many of you learned new things and will be trying them out for yourselves!!  Please link me up if you do so I can come visit.  I'll be making my around to visit anyhoo because I like to return the love you know?

So who was lucky #29??  Ann! with the following comment:

AnnFebruary 22, 2013 at 7:34 AM

You make cute look so darn good!!! Your tutorial is fabulous. To answer your question, a lot of the stencils tickle my fancy - I'm swooning over the palm fronds, Artscape, Clouds and raindrops, and pipeworks. Beautiful page, my friend!!
- Ann Jobes
www.lovestnpaper.com

So Ann, if you could contact me (hit the big ol' envelope on the side to email me) with your mailing deets I will get your package all set to go and mailed out to you!! 

 Before I leave I have to share this sneaky peek of what I've been up to for ScrapFX, I've got a number of projects that will be going live soon and this lil' Wooden Butterfly Brooch Pin will be one of them!  Isn't she pretty???  I know the photo isn't the best - but its kind of meant to be just a tease anyways - teehee..... plus I must say I am a bit of an iPhone junkie and I've been playing around with some different lenses and film on my Hipstamatic app + filters on Instagram ;) 

Hope everyone has super days - any crafting in the forecast??  I'm off to go create the winter blues away!  I'll be thinking spring with lots more butterflies, bright colors, and a warm fire to keep me cozy!  Take good care!! xo

Skissedilla #199 - Back and Forth

Hey there!  What a wonderful time the ScrapFX Blog Hop was!!  Thank you to everyone that stopped by, left comments, and answered questions.  I appreciate it so greatly.  A big huge welcome to all my new followers so happy to have you along!!! I'll announce my winner soon - perhaps tomorrow. For now I've got a Skissedilla page to share.

Sketch #199 is up and ready for you to take on at Skissedilla and I must say this week's sketch had me going eeps! I mean that is a whole lotta white space.....I don't do white space all that well LOL!

ScrapFX speech bubble chippies are too fun!  For this page it worked out lovely to leave it bare and just outline with a gel pen.  Really love how gel pens and chippies mix.  Remember my sheet of arrow embellishments from my tutorial posted here? Yep, you guessed it put some more of them to work right away on this page.

Arrrgggh! went through my mind more then once....giggling over here now (after the fact) because truth be told I was arrrggghing more over the fact my mischievous kittens decided to destroy the page I already made (yes this is the second take) and my space the night before this was due!!  Picture twine, sequins, punchinella, paper bits, stickers, jars of mediums - you name it - EVERYWHERE!!!!

Lovin' the dies I ordered during my guest DT time with the Crop Stop store!!! The deer and string of stars are from the Memory Box line they carry and I love them!  Lots of sparkly texture going on in the background of this page and you'll soon see/learn how I created this when I have my next ScrapFX post go live - eek! can hardly wait - its a doozie!

Thank goodness a peaceful deer scene can bring zen to just about any situation - the kittens live to see another day ;)  Not to mention when I think about all the snow my poor hubs has had to shovel because our snowblower conked out and we don't really wanna pop for another at the moment - he gets the privilege of the arrrgggh chippie. Yup, for reals.

I used a ton of older stash on this page - Echo Park to be specific - and it felt wonderful!  I'm totally making room for new goodies I've got on ordered that will ship soon - yahoo! - but what I also discovered was using this stuff hat had been here for ages WAS like using new stuff again - win/win situation if you ask me. 

So back and forth he goes on a Saturday morning before leaving for work so I can be assured of getting out the driveway if I want to.  Not that I need to, only if I want to.  Aww, I'm a lucky duck for sure. And I was even able to manage leaving a bit of white space - not all of it bit some ;)

I do hope you join us this week - there is a gift card up for grabs from The Flying Unicorn and our Selected Scrapper, Kelly Foster, has a lovely prize for the overall monthly winner as well!

Looking forward to seeing your pages there!!

ScrapFX Blog Hop - Get Your Technique On!!

Hi There!!!  Welcome to the ScrapFX Blog Hop!!!  Its time to get your technique on and I'm so glad to have you visting!  If its your first time here - nice to meet you - if you're one of one of my fantabulous sweetie peeps thanks for swinging by you're gonna be sooo happy you did!!!

 Alright on with the show.  You should have arrived here from Rachelle's blog and after me you'll head to the ScrapFX blog, but here is the full list just in case you've happened along here by chance:

Michelle Logan http://mlogandesigns.blogspot.com.au/
Bellaidea www.bellaideascrapology.blogspot.ca
Kristine http://kristine89.blogspot.com/
Michelle H. http://myanaloglife.blogspot.com.au/
Misty www.myscraptherapy.com
Rachelle www.rachiebabe56.blogspot.com
Scarlett http://scarlettsscrapoirs.blogspot.com.au/
SCRAP FX http://www.scrapfx.com.au/blog

Now here's the deal in order to be entered in to the drawing for the ScrapFX grand prize you need to visit all the DT member blogs and leave comments, then head to ScrapFX blog leave a comment there, and you're entered to win!

On my blog I'll let you know how you can win the following prize at the end of the post so read through and follow directions please:

Lots of ScrapFX goodies and some of favorites are represented.  I have a feeling I'll add some to the final package that goes out as well. ;)

So on to my project. YAY!!!

   What I absolutely adore about ScrapFX is it makes pulling a page together easy breezy.  Between the chipboard pieces and the latest addition of stencils this company has you covered!!!  So lets break this page down for some techniques shall we??  I have a little step by step and then we'll look at some close ups before I send you on your way. :)

Handmade Embellishment Tutorial Using ScrapFX Stencils and Liquitex Modeling Paste

Step One: Gather your supplies.  In this case I'm using some sticky back canvas as this is my base of choice (love this stuff but do also love creating these embellishments on patterned paper and cardstock - works just as well!!), modeling paste, stencil, and a palette knife.  I do suggest a palette knife but a credit card would work just as well.

Step Two: Apply a generous amount of paste on to your knife and spread over area of stencil you desire to create an embellishment out of.  Note: I'm doing a bunch of arrows at one time so I have them for later use.  If you're only doing a few for the project at hand you could color the paste prior to spreading it over the stencil to save coloring in later steps. 

Step Three: Pull stencil off gently and the above photo will be your outcome.  Set aside to dry.

 On a side note - I hand carved these stamps using the Clouds and Raindrops stencil.  These can be used to make embellishments on this canvas as well take a look:

By pouncing paint, then ink,  on the stamps and using some additional space on the canvas I was able to create clouds for my page.  love the freedom this gives me for layering up stencil designs!!

Okay back to the tutorial

Step Four: Cut the embellishments out once dry.  Place them on a surface to color.  Since I'm going to mist I placed them in my misting box.

Step Five: Add color to your embellishments and allow to dry.  I sprayed generously with Color Shine in black.

     This is the benefit of using text paper under your pieces when misting - cool, right??!

Step Five:  This is optional, but I wanted to pull more red in to my LO to match the doghouse on my page so I decided to add some splatters of red to my pieces.  You could also add additional color and patterns to your pieces via splatters, stamping, embossing - you get the idea, right?

So what'cha think??  Do you have a whole new outlook on your ScrapFX stencils??  Do you see yourself using this tutorial?  What kind of stencil designs would you like to see ScrapFX come out with next?  Please answer some of these questions I love feedback, will pass on answers to ScrapFX, and you need to in order to be entered in my drawing. I'd love if you decided to become a follower too but that isn't mandatory, K? Only if you really like what you see do I want you to hang around. :)

So how about some close ups before you go?

The doghouse on this page is another modeling paste wonder - I colored the paste with red Color Shine to match the other elements on the page, then unevenly applied it to create texture - the big lumpy bumps are pieces of gravel!  Yup, its actual gravel from out by our real kennels - Ha! 

  Here you can see the lumpiness much better!!  Embossed worldet, outlined with gel pen, and one of the clouds and arrows.

Fuzzy cat created by mixing in a little bit of flocking powder with my orange paint, cat climber colored with gel pen pressed firmly to give some texture to the areas colored, leftover modeling paste from doghouse use on woof! sprinkled with fairy dust, and more arrows.

Dog colored with gel pens, woof piece done same as previous, and ScrapFX tag tucked in with journaling.

Sleep colored with leftover modeling paste sprinkled with fairy dust and the clouds were outlined with a NeoColor II to make them pop.

And that my friends is how I roll with my ScrapFX techniques.  Do hope you enjoyed visiting now head on over to the ScrapFX blog to get yourself entered to win the Grand Prize!!!

Thanks for stopping by, remember to answer at least one of my questions and leave some love if you'd like to be entered to win my prize, and take care!    

Fun Stuff Coming Soon!!!

Hey There!  Its a cold and windy day here inside and out!  The winds have been so wicked the power got knocked out so I'm snugged up to my ears and thought I'd do a bit of blogging because our house is getting a tad a frigid - YIKES!  I've been assured the power will be back on soon and I must say the peeps around here are good and never leave us without for long.  

So on to happy thoughts!

This beautiful girl - one of the loves of my life - turned 13 yesterday!!!  Ack, where did my baby girl go??  Well as she happily informed me - she'll always be my baby girl FOREVER - through a text on her new phone (yes I'll be taking a screen shot and scrapping that LOL), but still....it seems impossible to be at this point already - a new chapter in her life.  So proud of all she is at this age and has ahead of her.

Coming soon to the ScrapFX blog is a Mini Book and Binding Tutorial I've worked on and can hardly wait to share!!! Eeps!  I hope you love it as much as I do!!!

Also coming soon to this blog and the rest of the ScrapFX DT blogs is going to a rockin' fun Technique Blog Hop with all sorts of goodies involved and techniques for using with ScrapFX products!!!  You won't wanna miss it so be sure to mark your calendars, set your iPhone alarms, whatever just be there! :)

Okay well now my fingers are froze from being out and I shall wrap up this post now and head back for a little snooze I guess - looks like I'll be up scrappin' tonight with all this rest during the day - YAY.  Always gotta find the bright sides in things, right? Right. 

Have wonderful days and I'll see you again soon!

My Frosty Homestead - ScrapFX style

Woot! Woot! I'm here two days in a row. Yahoo! Its been a long and crazy winter.  It started out so mild and warm.  We thought we'd escape any type of frozen noses and need for winter gear at all, but alas I do live in WI and there is no such thing as a lack for winter gear, LOL.

These antlered animals from ScrapFX are a fav!  They come in a pack of three and I love leaving the bodies bare and blinging up the antlers!!

Since I posted an off the page project yesterday as a blast from the past I thought I'd share a recent one today that I love just as much!  This one created using a shadow box kit from ScrapFX I'd been coveting since I started my DT term with them just under a year ago.  

ScrapFX Retro Flowers used here as snowflakes - worked out pretty perfectly!!

I needed the just right inspiration and project for this precious little box and creating a piece on my homestead in all its glorious beauty during winter was it.  There is just something so magical about the way snow settles on everything - and while I despise having to trek out in it - I love looking at it from inside the toasty comfort of my home.

ScrapFX Gnarly Tree from a Halloween release was a great addition for this wintery scene!

I tried to capture the essence of winter by using mediums, embellishments, and colors I felt would create a frosty effect without being too dreary. 

ScrapFX Shadow Box Small in its entirety.

The piece in its entirety really looks and feels like home to me even though we don't have any elks roaming through, LOL.  We do have deer, coyote, fox, and plenty of other wildlife however to keep us amused and the dogs on alert. 

ScrapFX Shadow Box Small from a different angle so you can see the depth of this cutie lil' box.  You simply piece it all together like a puzzle.  No adhesive needed! Love.

This is project is already proudly displayed on our wall - the hubs made sure of that - and reaffirms my lessons learned from my flashback that scrapping off the page is something my family really values and I really enjoy.  So we shall continue to deck our walls with handcrafted art as I'm not the only talented artist in the family.

Thanks for joining me today.  If you want details on how the pieces of this project were altered up please feel free to head on over to the ScrapFX blog were you can find my blog post explaining all of those deets for you! 

Have delightful Saturdays friends!

Flashback Friday - Love You

Hey, Hey, Hey!!!  Happy Friday! What a week - it flew by.  Hope your Valentines Day was good one and in honor of it - since I didn't post anything all lovey dovey yesterday - I shall do that today with a blast from the past!

One thing I really miss doing in my creative endeavors is stretching myself and doing something different - like with this book project created for the Webster's Pages event at Scrapbook News and Review in 2011.  I took an old book I picked up at a thrift store I intended on using for an art journal and gutted some of the pages to create a shadow box of sorts.  From there I used mediums to seal/alter the pages and then I scrapped on top and inside of them. 

This sun stamp was one of my first attempts at carving my own stamps - its still one of my favs.

So what is it that I'm going to take away from this week's flashback? 1. I recall that this creation was made with scraps I had left from the kit I was sent to work with.  So wow, look at what beauty can come from scraps.  I need to quit shoving them in bags and thinking I need the latest and greatest stuff - use more my stash and put all those out of the box ideas I've got swirling in my head, on stickies, and in notebooks in to action.  2. Trash - to - treasure type projects thrill the daylights out of me and I'm not sure why I don't do them more!  This is displayed on a shelf and my husband often grabs it down and can be caught looking at it.  Does he do that with albums - uh not so much - so this type of thing catches my family's attention more as well. Hmmmm.

The hot air balloon is another one of my carved stamps - I couldn't believe I actually got the design in the basket but the strings are a little off :/  All a learning process.

3. I really need more pictures of my hunni and me to be taken.  We are horribly under represented and I adore this picture so much - wish we had more like it.

So for now I'm content with taking those lessons away with me this week - although I must say I also really am quite impressed with all the journaling I managed to get out on this project - go me!! - so perhaps that should be number four. ;) 

What are some fun things you've altered??  Got any ideas for me?  Now I've got the bug and have a feeling I'll be tackling a trash to treasure item of some sort this weekend!

Take care and hope your weekend kicks off grandly!!

Skissedilla #197 - I Got Sunshine!!

Evening (or Morning) Scrappy Peeps!!  Its Sunday and that means there is a new sketch up at Skissedilla, woot!  Since it typically takes me for.ev.er. to create (I tend to fuss and muss over every little thing) I thoroughly delight in having an awesome blueprint laid out for me from the get go!!

So happy to be back to a wonderfully full page!  I'm down with white space and I've created some pages as of late that I've really liked while utilizing some good white space, but honestly??  This is where its at for me.  I like busy.  I like having lots going on here, there, and everywhere.  One step back to me.  :)

It cuts the time for me to create a page like this in half (so instead of a like an entire day or two - yeah I can fuss THAT much but will have other creative stuff going at the same time - I can knock it out in a day or several hours while going between another project - I'm a walk away and come back to look at it kind of gal - plus there is dry time involved...).  Good deal, right?  

 

Here's the sketch I worked off of for the week:

 

Now I know what you're thinking.  My take doesn't really favor the sketch all that much, but that is why I referred to it as a blueprint above!!!  This is the beauty of sketches - they are meant as a base starting point and where you take it is up to you.  Some weeks I follow along, others I take elements and run with them.  Skissedilla sketches are spectacular for this type of inspiration and so is the DT!

 

ScrapFX chippies in action here!!!  I cannot say how much I adore the chipboard from them!  I mean adore it!  Don't forget there is currently a DT call out!!!  The umbrella is dolled up with some glitter glue and puff paint to mimic the one my niece is holding and check out that arrow!!! LOVE.  I also have the inner portion to use on a later project.  There are TONS of fun arrow shapes recently released and a super fun arrow stencil too!

   Her face is cut off in this closeup but this is my adorably busy niece on her last visit here.  She was into everything and when she busted out this umbrella I busted out the camera!  I'm quite sure you'll be seeing a few more umbrella photo shoot shots ;) 

Lots of various layers here from diecut shapes, Gauche Alchemy punchinella, washi tape, sequins, stamps, ScrapFX chippie hearts, stenciled shapes, mists - oh my!  I have to share the clouds are also made from a ScrapFX stencil but not in the way you might think!!!  I used the stencil as a template to make a couple of my own hand carved stamps!!  Yup these clouds are stamped on.

I love clouds 'nuff said. :)

My favorite letters of all time will forever be every font of ScrapFX Itty Bitty Bets!!!  They rock the hizz-ouse for real.  Love them.  Need to invest in them in bulk. Seriously.

This title in combination with the smile washi above it makes me happy, happy.  In fact I have to share that all I've been singing in my head over, and over, and.... you get the idea.... since I made this is I've got sunshine.... I'm thinking this is a future project in the making with lots of the same colors and fun stuff going on.....perhaps a canvas project??  What'cha think sweetie peeps?

 

Until next time, take good care!