Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Flying Unicorn "Sweet Days" March Kit of the Month

WE PROUDLY PRESENT:



Sweet days of memories
Nothing touches their glowing

Their softness forever one sees
Without actually knowing
For a dream is always to be
Something lovely and so free
- Peter Quinn


The magic of Spring and new beginnings is upon us and we embrace the warmer weather, the trees and flowers budding and we remember sweet days that have passed and the excitement of the days ahead. Flying Unicorn is proud to present to you March 2013 Kit of the Month filled with hints of Marigold and memories of a Park Drive with add on to help spark the creativeness inside !
Included in our monthly Kit of the Month is our Off the Page - and Kaisercraft is helping us to look forward and looking back to remember our Sweet Days.

OUR ADD ONS:







CREATIVE TEAM INSPIRATION:






Join Jax this month as you learn the the techniques to create the Off the Page Project

Join Adrienne on March 8th, for Step by Step Instructions to create this incredible Layout



Monday, February 25, 2013

"Helpers"

I was so excited to receive my most recent package from the Flying Unicorn Store.  My must-have paper line from CHA Winter was Kaisercraft Basecoat.  From the moment I saw the sneak, I needed these papers.  And I'm happy to say they do not disappoint.

Here is my first layout with these gorgeous papers.  I used only 1 piece, "Concrete", which is very unusual, but these are great stand-alone papers.


The rustic feel of the paper was great for these pictures of my two youngest, Brennan and Colby, helping to stack wood up at my in-laws' cabin.  They were so thrilled to help!


I wanted to build on the weathered, layered look of the paper, so I started by building up my background with some light molding paste.  I then added strips of canvas, yarn and various trims from the Flying Unicorn store.  I misted over the molding paste and trims with Tattered Angels in Gold, Sun Sisters and Marmalade and Lindy's Stamp Gang in Autumn Maple Crimson and Bucket O' Blood Red which will be available this week in the Flying Unicorn Store.


I love these Bel Canto flowers from Prima Marketing from a previous Flower Add On and they were perfect here.  Some white Prima Laraine flowers got a facelift thanks to the sprays and are nestled in along with some old organza Maya Road flowers, Prima buttons and Kaisercraft Pearls.  I'm clearing out my stash to make way for new CHA goodies!


And some lovely Flying Unicorn Metal Adornments from the Her Majesty and Keys collections (can you believe these gorgeous adornments are only $4.49 for 7 to 8 substantial metal embellishments?).


 My sunshine yellow alphas weren't quite the color I wanted, so I colored them with a couple of Copic markers and then toned them down with some Prima Chalk Ink in Branch Bark.


I'm already inky and painty from my next Basecoat layout, and can't wait to play some more!

Thank you for stopping by!

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Skissedilla #197 - My Life's Happiness

Flying Unicorn is sponsoring Skissedilla for the month of February, and I once again got to play along with the sketch this week.


I used papers, transparencies, flowers and embellishments (including the gorgeous and newly released Metal Adornments from Flying Unicorn) from the February Kit of the Month as well as gesso and some Dusty Attic Chickenwire covered with Stampendous Aged Gold Embossing Enamel.

Here is this week's inspirational sketch:


I substituted one photo instead of 3 and used honeycombs for my diagonal background element.

I love Skissedilla sketches - they are so open to interpretation and invited play with all sorts of medias.  I hope you'll check out this month's challenges on their blog; the Flying Unicorn is providing generous RAKs every week.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

She Art Art Journal Page

January marked the launch of a new monthly Art Journal challenge in the Flying Unicorn Forums and members and the Creative Team alike have been madly creating art journal masterpieces ever since.

Motivated by several other pages in the challenge, I decided to give a She Art page a try with some of the scraps from my January Flying Unicorn kit.

And here is what I came up with.  The background gave me fits, and I'm still not completely happy with it, but I am really happy with the way the girl turned out.  I drew her freehand on a piece of scrap first and then cut and assembled all the pieces.


And a closeup of the She Art girl:


Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Mush!

Just stopping in today to share a layout I did with the thick, sumptuous papers from Studio 75 in Poland, now available in the Flying Unicorn Store.

This winter we are spending every weekend at my in-laws' cabin in Whistler as Elliot and Brennan are enrolled in weekly ski lessons.  This has resulted in a little extra guilt-free scrappy time for me (YAY!), as well as added outdoor snowy photo opportunities.

Colby got a sled for Christmas so that we can easily go on walks, and on our first outing Elliot and Brennan wanted to take turns pulling him along.  I couldn't resist titling this picture of Brennan and Colby "Mush!" as Brennan has the sled rope wrapped around his body for a little extra pulling streak.  


The alphas are Pink Paislee wooden alphas I painted with Gesso and then colored with my Gelatos - super easy multi-dimensional color.




Lots of layers, punching and distressing on this one.  I used Gesso through my Mini Flurries Crafter's Workshop mask and sprinkled on some glitter and brushed on some wet Gelatos for a subtle background accent under the photo mats.


Finished off with some lovely lace trims, flowers from my stash, machine stitching and some sprigs from a Petaloo Cantebury Vine.


If you haven't had a chance to work with Studio 75 papers, be sure to check out the three collections available now in the Flying Unicorn Store.

Thanks for stopping by and for your lovely comments - they make my day!


Monday, February 4, 2013

Best Friends - Flying Unicorn KOM - Part 2

One day I left my boys at childminding while I went to the gym.  They enjoy childminding and love the staff, but on this day little Colby was inconsolable.  After changing him, trying to feed him and cuddling him, the concerned childcare attendant asked Elliot, our oldest, if he had any ideas why Colby was crying.

"Because he misses our dog,"  Elliot answered earnestly.  "They're best friends."

And they really are.  I don't know if I have any pictures of Elliot or Colby with Ryder, but I have a ton of pictures of Colby and Ryder together.  They cuddle on the dog bed together.  Colby shares his meals from the highchair (much to my disdain).  And Ryder lets Colby ride him.

This picture didn't turn out quite as well as I'd hoped - Ryder is in focus but Colby is slightly blurry, but I couldn't resist scrapping it anyway as it captures such a sweet moment between the two of them.  Colby was rubbing Ryder's tummy and giggling and Ryder was rolling around on his back in paroxysms of delight.


I used papers and embellishments from the February Flying Unicorn Kit of the Month - Celebrate Every Love.  The blue and gold color scheme of these papers works so beautifully together.

The January 28th Mojo Monday sketch was my starting point for this layout.


Here are some closeups:


I love these Bo Bunny Zinia blooms from the Flower Add-On!  The little bird is a stamp included in the Embellisment Add-On that I've colored with the watercolor pencils from the Main Kit.  And look at that gorgeous metal butterfly!  It was included in the Main Kit, which is sold out, but Flying Unicorn has just released 10 different Metal Adornment packs available in the Flying Unicorn Store.


The dark blue flowers are white Prima Soprano flowers from the Main Kit spritzed with the Tsukineko Cornflower Antiquing Solution from the main kit.  The Kaisercut die cut shapes are ideal for layering.


Another metal adornment and a Kaisercraft wood frame painted with Silks in Honey Amber and African Jade.

A new Mojo Monday sketch debuts today in the Flying Unicorn Forums, I hope you'll play along with us!

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Down by the River

Flying Unicorn is sponsoring Skissedilla this month, and our CT will be playing along with their sketch challenges all month long.  If you've never seen a Skissedilla sketch before I'd suggest you check them out - they are super cool and geared toward using mixed media on your project.  And all this month they'll have super cool Flying Unicorn RAKs to give out.  My fellow CT member Kelly Foster is their Featured Scrapper for the month as well - congratulations, Kelly!

Here is my take on sketch 196:


I used two lines of the gorgeous Studio 75 papers from Poland from the Flying Unicorn Store.  Oh my, these papers distress like a dream!  I started by spritzing the paper randomly with Goosebumps Texture Spray which acts as a resist while creating a cool speckled texture.


I then threw a tea bag down on the paper several times and followed it up with white gesso and two Crafter's Workshop masks - mini bricks (I painted onto it and used it as a stamp to get the reverse effect) and mini chicken wire.


On the picture above you can see the splatters from the Goosebumps inside the tea stains.  I coated this cool Scrap FX chippy frame with white gesso and Vintage Photo Distress Embossing Powder.   Look for a big restocking of both Scrap FX and Dusty Attic in the Flying Unicorn Store this week.


 I finished everything off with some gauze between the layers of my photo mats, some gorgeous Petaloo Cantebury Vine Sprays, a Dusty Attic fence treated with Gesso and Tattered Angels Coffee Shop Glimmermist and some twine from my stash.

And here is the sketch I based it on:



I hope you'll play along at Skissedilla this month!

Thanks for stopping by!

Celebrate Every Love - Flying Unicorn KOM Part 2

The February Flying Unicorn Kit of The Month Celebrate Every Love contains beautiful papers from the Bella J'Adore line that have a gorgeous sheen to them. I had been following along with Creative JumpStart 2013 and couldn't wait to try the crackle effects background. I had a photo of Brennan at the pool on a recent vacation printed out and ready to go and it seemed to fit the crackled background beautifully. 



For the crackle I spread Tim Holtz Distress Crackle Paint in Rock Candy liberally over part of my page, and let it dribble down like water before putting it aside to dry.


Once dry I spritzed it with the Cornflower Walnut Inking Solution from the Main Kit as well as some Tattered Angels from my stash.  I spritzed a strip of the Bazzil Pleated Paper from the Embellishment Add-On as well to use beneath my photo and in my small cluster on the bottom left).


To accent the crackles a little more I rubbed on some Inka-Gold in Gold with my fingertip (I also used the Inka-Gold on the small blue Prima roses and to accentuate the fussy cut swirls from another piece of the Bella J'Adore paper).


I finished the whole thing off with some Pop! Microbeads and a fabric heart from my stash (upcycled off a store-bought card I was given) and edged the layout with two shades of blue Gelatos blended with some water.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  As I mentioned yesterday the February Kit of the Month sold out in 2 days, but there are tons of CHA goodies arriving in the Flying Unicorn Store daily, so be sure to check those out!

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Celebrate Every Love - Flying Unicorn KOM - Part 1


The February kit of the month from Flying Unicorn, Celebrate Every Love, contains the gorgeous Forget Me Not line from Kaisercraft.  Pinks are a little out of my scrappy wheelhouse, given that I live in a house full of boys (even the dog is a boy), but I'd had this family picture from a wedding in July 2009 that I've been wanting to scrap since then and these papers were perfect.


The back of the Kaisercraft diecut is stark white, which I toned down with the help of a pink Gelato; I used the brown and white Gelatos around the edges of the papers and on the Kaisercraft Wood Watch Fob from my stash and white on the leaves of the gorgeous Prima vine included in the flower add-on.


I love these Prima Velvet Trinkets!  Metal and bling in one stunning embellie - oh my!


Some Prima wooden alphas and Kaisercraft diecuts and stickers, and some honeycomb stamping with Jasmine Mix'd Media Inx to complete the layout.

The February kit and all add-ons have already sold out (in just over 2 days - wow!), but the March kit promises to be just as jam-packed with scrappy goodness.  Don't miss out - the kit goes on sale at 12:01am on February 28th at the Flying Unicorn Store.  

In the meantime, Flying Unicorn has released 10 packs of amazing Metal Adornments - check out some of these beauties!



Thank you for stopping by!