Flying Unicorn 50 Shades of Summer - Part 2

Here is my first layout from the Flying Unicorn September kit - 50 Shades of Summer.  The picture is of my beautiful sister, Emily, myself, Elliot (as a baby) and Evan at my sister's wedding on the Mayan Riviera in 2008.

For the background I used Shimmerz Texturez through two different stencils, and outlined in watercolor pencil to bring the image forward a little.  I then stamped the background with circles using Picket Fence Distress Paint - I love the "ghostly" image it creates; more subtle than if I had used gesso.

The central strip on the layout is actually printed self-adhesive canvas from the Embellishment Add-On - I pulled threads off of all of the edges for a distressed look.

The Prima Merci flowers from the Flower Add-On are new favorites of mine.  I tucked in the pieces of thread I'd pulled off the fabric sheet in amongst my clusters to bulk them up a little.

A couple more closeups:

Additional Products:

- Shimmerz Texturez Sandy Stone & Patina
- Distress Paint Picket Fence
- Claudine Helmuth Foam Stamps
- Royal Langnickel Watercolor Pencils
- Prima Masks: 6x6 Poppies and Peonies & 12X12 Checkerboard
- Dusty Attic chipboard border
- Gesso
- Stampendous Aged Embossing Enamel - Aged Green 
- Viva Pearl Pen - Salmon
- Prima Chalk Edger

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you are having a wonderful Labor Day weekend!  Aside from losing two of the dogs for several hours today up in the wilderness we are having a great time at the cabin.

Flying Unicorn Clean and Simple Challenge for September

It's the beginning of a new month, and a new challenge at Flying Unicorn - the Clean and Simple (or CAS) Challenge.

This month's challenge is simple - I would like you to use at least 3 photos and at least 2 sheets of patterned paper.  The rest is up to you.

For my inspiration, I used the new Authentique Petite Collection Seasons: Autumn which I fell in love with at CHA.

Clean and Simple layouts are about telling your story, and it was the perfect format for this series of photos of Colby playing with his brother's airplane.  One picture just wouldn't be enough to document the wonder he felt.

Standard challenge rules apply. Challenge closes September 30th at 5pm EST.

Looking forward to seeing what you create!

Flying Unicorn 50 Shades of Summer Reveal - Part 1

Imagine my delight when I opened my September kit of the month 50 Shades of Summer and discovered that our off-the-page project is the Tim Holtz Alterations Clock!  

There are so many directions you could take with this clock, from grungy to romantic.  For once, I chose dreamy and romantic.  Here's the result: 

I started by disassembling the clock, permanently removing the glass front, and painting everything with several coats of gesso.  I applied my last coat of gesso with a sea sponge for texture, then added some Lindy's Stamp Gang Moonshadow Mist in Mystic Malachite.  The wonderful thing about the Moonshadow Mists is that they are a brown mist with a colored sparkle, so they add a gorgeous aged look to a project.  Once the Moonshadow Mist was dry I followed it with some of the Cherry Blossom Walnut Ink from the kit.  I then added some gesso back in, and finished everything off with some of the Prima Chalk Ink from the Embellishment Add-On.

I used several styles of Flying Unicorn Metal Adornment flowers for the garden scene inside my clock. The ones in the foreground were coated in gesso then sprayed with Moonshadow Mist, while the ones in the back were colored with the pastel purple Chalk Edger from the Embellishment Add-On.

Closeups:

 Additional Supplies:

Cheesecloth
Lindy's Stamp Gang Mists: Nantucket Pearls Set (Sea Grass Green), Bells of Ireland Green
Prima Divine Vine

Get your September kit while supplies last - they go fast!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you're having a great long weekend!

50 Shades of Summer - Flying Unicorn September Kit

Flying Unicorn's September Kit of the Month :

The end of summer is not a farewell, but an embrace of memories that will live on. That hot sun as you played in the water, and those steamy nights where you may have sipped wine in the yard, enjoying the smell of the bbq as you entertained friends and family . Lazy days by the pool and family vacation time. Sleeping in, as the yellow sun played in the skies of blue to late nights where only the shinning stars above were the light source. From the boldest blues and reds to the muted greens and purples it was 50 Shades of Summer.

Flying Unicorn proudly presents September's Kit of the Month with an ensemble from Melissa Francis Classic Elegance Collection,True Romance from Kaisercraft and 13@rts Faces of Spring.

Not only are we unique in the fact that scrapbooking should be a passion and not an obligation that we have no sign ups but it is first come first serve - Our kits have an Off the Page Project and this month is no different we have included the Tim Holtz Assemblage Clock for your creative pleasure.

Join Jax on the forums as she takes you step by step

to make this incredible layout using the Kit of the Month

Do NOT miss Denise on our You Tube Channel as she shows you

how to alter Timmy's Clock

Remember Once the kit is gone it's gone ... so get yours NOW

Clean And Simple Scrapbooking Coming To The Flying Unicorn

Something new is coming to the Flying Unicorn! Are you looking for some tips on how to get started scrapbooking? Do you really enjoy clean and simple layouts and cards, does the traditional side of scrapbooking appeal to you? The Flying Unicorn is opening a new Forum, The Clean, Simple and Streamlined Side of Scrapbooking, and its debuting September 1st! Here we are going to explore "traditional" scrapbooking. We're going to focus on our precious pictures and memorable stories. We're even going to journal (gasp!). I hope you'll join us, debuting September 1st!

Never Broken - Flying Unicorn Mojo Monday

One of my favorite, if not my very favorite, releases at summer CHA was FabScraps' Wild At Heart collection, now available in the Flying Unicorn Store. It is my turn to provide the inspiration for the Mojo Monday sketch in the Flying Unicorn Forums, and though the sketch Alda designed is soft and dreamy, I couldn't resist the urge to play with my new FabScraps papers and build on their grungy goodness.

This is a picture of my second son, Brennan, at about 2 1/2 years old.  It seemed like that entire summer Brennan was banged up - I lost count of the number of bumps, bruises, black eyes, cuts and scrapes the poor little guy received trying to keep up to his big brother and cousin.  But through it all he maintained a fighting spirit, jumping up and dusting himself off, earning him the nickname "Tough Guy".

The challenge on the Shimmerz Paints blog this month is to add texture to your page, so I set out to create a layout as gritty as my little man.

I started by applying Texturez in Teal Me No Lies through a stencil, and to add more texture, I stamped into the wet paint with a Kaisercraft Number stamp and then stamped randomly on the page.  The white stamped circles are made using Picket Fence Distress Paint applied directly to the stamp - it gives a more ghostlike effect than gesso.

The dark alphas got lost on the page, but outlining them in White Sharpie Poster Pen really makes them pop.  I cut some hearts out of corrugated cardboard, inked them with some Prima Chalk Ink and wrapped them in jute twine.

Lots of FabScraps goodies here, including chipboard gears, tags and envelopes.  And a little gessoed bubble wrap - thanks Shona for the brilliant idea!

Here is the beautiful Mojo Monday sketch for this week:

Play along with us this week to win a $10 gift certificate to the Flying Unicorn Store.

The rules :

01. You have one week to create your project using the sketch as inspiration ( it does not have to be a layout it can be a card, a tag etc )

02. You must post your creation in this thread in order to be eligible for the 10.00 GC

03. You may use your project for any other monthly forum challenges except for the Anything goes challenge

04. Your project must be posted no later than 8:00pm on Sunday, September 1st, 2013.

05. All other standard rules apply .

New FabScraps Wild At Heart at the Flying Unicorn

FabScraps summer CHA release Wild At Heart is now available in the Flying Unicorn Store.  This collection is a beautiful mix of blues, reds and browns with more manly motifs than many other FabScraps lines - gears, surfing, biking, skateboarding and music.

For this layout I've used some of the more beachy papers from the collection, along with a photo of Evan, Elliot and Brennan I've scrapped before - there's just something about pictures of dads holding their little sons' hands that melts my heart :)

I added a harlequin pattern to my base paper using two different colors of blue chalk ink and some gel medium to echo the harlequin pattern on some of the papers.

To add a pop of yellow I used some of the Fancy Pants corrugated cardstock from the August Embellishment Add-On.

I cut the ScrapFx trident chippy in half to stretch it out beneath my cluster and colored it using gesso and Lindy's spray in Bachelor Button Blue.

I touched everything with gesso to tie it all together.

Thanks for stopping by! I'll have another Wild At Heart layout to share on Monday.

Supplies:

- FabScraps Wild At Heart: Wild Tunes 2, Wild Ride 1, Wild Tunes 1, Surfing Wild 2, Wild Ride 2
- ScrapFx chippy
- Petaloo flowers (white)
- Manor House flowers (blue)
- Prima Encore flowers
- Doodlebug twine
- Crafter's Workshop Mini Harlequin Mask 6x6
- Prima Static Mask 12x12
- Prima canvas shapes
- Lindy's Stamp Gang Mists
- Donna Salazar bubble wrap stamp
- Gesso
- Gel Medium
- Molding Paste
- Colorbox Chalk Inks

Stinking Sweet - Authentique's New Releases Now In Stock At Flying Unicorn!

Authentique's new releases from summer CHA are now in stock at the Flying Unicorn Store!  I had the opportunity to meet some of the Authentique crew at CHA, and let me tell you, they were some of the most personable, accommodating, genuine people there.

Their new Halloween release, Thrilling, is everything you could hope for in a Halloween line; it combines cute vintage Halloween cutouts with funky modern graphics (the orange skull and crossbones damask piece is possibly my favorite Halloween paper ever).

This is a picture of my eldest, Elliot, when he was about 14 months old (I can't believe my little man is going to be 7 tomorrow!) - isn't he just too sweet?

I did a little bit of background work to start, building some bricks out of light molding paste.  While it was still wet I dabbed it with a sea sponge to create texture, then applied some green Texturez and silver microbeads and outlined it in black ink to give it an oozy, Halloweeny feel.  I added in a little stamping and then began building my paper layers.

The sticker sheet for this collection is amazing, with so many fantastic images for layering.  In order to be able to move them around until I was happy with them, I used Creative Team member Lynne's tip of coating the backs of my stickers with baby powder and it worked like a charm - you wouldn't even be able to tell they are stickers to the touch.

Can you see the amazing texture of these papers?  They feel fantastic in your hands - they have great weight and texture pressed right into them, like a good weight watercolor paper.

Love these little banner pieces and the way everything is just made for layering.

 Supplies

- Authentique Thrilling - Papers: Mystic, Forewarn, Antidote, Superstition; Sticker Sheets: Elements and Detail
- Crafter's Workshop Mini Brick Stencil
- Light Molding Paste
- Shimmerz Texturez Arti-Choked
- Pop! Microbeads Silver
- 13 Arts Ayeeda Water Ink Black
- Prima Leeza Gibbons flowers
- Prima Sunrise Sunset zipper flowers
- twine and yarn
- Prima Tiny Junkyard Findings
- Pink Paislee flower

Thanks for stopping by!

Flying Unicorn August Mid-Month Muse Kit Available Now!

The Flying Unicorn's August Mid-Month Muse Mixed Media Inspired kit is on sale now!

From Canvases, Compressed Chalk, Rubbing Plates to Paintsticks this monthly mixed media kit will get you creating with new mediums that you may have never used before. So without further ado we introduce our Mid Month Muse, Mixed Media Inspired Kit .

Roll up your sleeves, get your hands a little messy and get creative with our Mixed Media Kit!

Here is a little inspiration form our Creative Team using the August Mid Month Muse Kit

Our kits our exclusive to the Flying Unicorn Store, and they are sold on a first come first serve basis - we have no sign ups, creativity should be a passion not an obligation but when the kits are sold out they are gone - so do not delay and get your kit today !