CSI Case File 172

Another "OMG, it's August 31st!" post :)

This month I played around with CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration Major Case File #172. I loved the travel-themed image and the colors in the palette, but did grunge them up a bit with some brown shading to match the beautiful 7 Dots Studios papers I selected.

This is a photo of my three boys on the beach in Kini, Syros, Greece. The slant on the picture complemented the slant on the photos in the included sketch.

Here is the Case File:

For the "Evidence" elements I used: Nautical elements, wet mediums, metal and twine. For the "Testimony" I journaled about our outing to the small port of Kini on Syros to watch a spectacular sunset.

Here are some closeups:

The chipboard is from Blue Fern Studios and the papers are from 7 Dots Studios Dreamer collection.

Thanks for stopping in today!

Prima August BAP

I was sitting around on vacation this morning, staring at the rain, and it occurred to me that it is the last day of the month, and thus the challenge layouts I've worked on this month are due. I guess you tend to lose track of time when you spend 3 of the 4 weeks of the month on vacation. The time off has afforded me some scrappy time, though, which has been greatly needed.

Up first today is my entry for the Prima August BAP. I loved the swoosh in the background, as it gave me a great chance to use one of my beach pictures from our recent family trip to Greece.

Here is the BAP sketch it is based on:

I started by covering my background paper with clear gesso, then tinted some 3D Gloss Gel with Color Bloom sprays and scraped them through the Prima Bubbles mask. To help the stencilling pop, I scribbled outlines of the bubbles using a fine-tipped pen. I then diluted some white gesso and splattered it across the stencilled area.

For the swoosh on the sketch, I adhered Prima Glass Beads and Microbeads using 3D Gloss Gel, and once those were dry pounced on a little white gesso to give them a salt-encrusted look.

I finished it off with some beautiful Prima blooms, and some Blue Fern Studios chipboard.

Prima June PPP - Create Art

Just in time for the July challenges to be posted, I've got my entry for the June Prima PPP photographed and ready to post. This is a project that sat on my desk for awhile as I tweaked things here and there, but in the end I'm really happy with the results.

Here is the June PPP board where I got my inspiration for my 8x8 chunky canvas. Isn't it sumptuous?

I started by covering my canvas in papers from the Bella Rouge collection, inked with some Chalk Edgers, then set about adding layers of lace, torn paper and corrugated cardboard. I painted the cardboard with a dry brush and Prima Heavy Gesso in White, then added some green accents using Color Bloom spray on a paintbrush to get it into the grooves and Chalk Edgers for the peaks. I finished the cardboard off with random stamping with a Prima stamp.

I didn't have a vine in the right colours for the palette, but I did have all the bits and pieces to put one together - what do you think?

To make the vine I used flowers from several different collections and a pack of Prima leaves. I save the wire bits I cut off my flowers, and they came in handy here for the vine itself, to glue to the back of the leaves and for attaching everything together and adding little curly bits. I then wrapped the whole thing in florist's tape for a finished look, and dabbed on a little gesso to tie the flowers together.

I have been hoarding a lot of these bits and bobs, but decided where better to use them than a canvas I can look at every day?

A couple glass beads trailing behind my butterflies give the illusion of movement and keep them  from looking as though they are just hanging there.

Thank you for visiting today!

Prima Products Used:

- Bella Rouge papers: Belle Fleurs, Les Amours

- Vintage Vanity stamp: Triangles

- Color Bloom spray: Lime Wedge, Gold Foil, Antique Gold

- Chalk Edgers: Old Road, Ladybug, Black Coal

- Vintage Trinkets: Clock, Plated Labels

- Heavy Gesso: White, Black

- Stitched Lines stamp

- Wood Icons in a Box: Cartographer

- Bethany Leaves

- Audrey Flowers

- Mini Sachet Roses

- Timeless Memories flowers: Reflection, Butterflies

- Zipper pull

Tough guy

Hi there! It's been a quiet couple of months for me for posting my scrappy work. Things have been busy for me personally and professionally, and unfortunately my crafting time is what suffers. I have had to make some cards during that time (which I will share shortly, now that they've been given out), but it's been awhile since I've undertaken a layout, so I signed up for the Round Robin Challenge this month at Swirlydoos so that I'd have to buckle down and get one done.

Here is my layout for Team 3, following inspirational layouts from Paula, Jeannie and Ginny.

I recently picked up a couple of great collections from Kaisercraft: Antique Bazaar and Scrap Yard, and couldn't wait to pull them out for this layout since the theme this month was "Boys To Men".

 This is a layout of my youngest a couple of years ago after a visit to the beach (that's sand, not a black eye, but I love the illusion as he is a bit of a bruiser).

I started with a lot of background work using paper strips, then coated everything with clear gesso and added painting with mists, stamping, stencilling and splatters.

I love this Mini Specimens stencil from Crafter's Workshop - so versatile, all the stencilling on this layout is from one stencil!

I pulled some perfect Blue Fern Studios chipboard from my stash. I altered the Circuitry chipboard using copper paint from Lindy's Stamp Gang and blue Distress Paint.

 The BFS Widgetworks was altered with embossing enamel, then splattered, along with the flowers and Circuitry piece, with Shimmerz Inklingz in several colours.

Thank you so much for stopping by today!

Scrap Africa Guest Design Projects

I am honoured to have been asked by the talented Denise van Deventer to Guest Design for Scrap Africa for this month's sketch challenge. When I saw the beautiful sketch and started pulling out photos and possible frame elements, two very different layouts started to take shape in my head, and I thought why not go with it and do two?

For the first layout, I combined gesso, paper scrap triangles, mists, embossing powder, stamping and chipboard to create the backdrop for my photo, sticking to earth tones and geometric shapes for a masculine feeling.

A couple closeups:

For a grungy, textured feeling on the chipboard piece, I layered black gesso, embossing powders (which I heat set, them dabbed with a paper towel while wet to lift some away and create texture) and mists.

I stamped the background with black ink, and while it was still slightly wet flicked some embossing ink across the background, and added two iridescent embossing powders to the background. You can see the texture it lends to the background in the photo above.

Supplies Used:

- Prima Timeless Memories: "Moments", "Everlast", "Timeless"

- Prima Craftsman: "Draftsman"

- Liquitex Gesso: Clear and Super Heavy White

- Prima Color Bloom Sprays: Tea Stain, Gold Foil, Worn Leather, Deep Teal

- Blue Fern Studios Chipboard: Triangle Eclipse

- Lindy's Stamp Gang Embossing Powders: Midnight Teal, Midnight Copper

- Ranger Embossing Ink Dabber

- Prima Heavy Gesso: Black

- Scrapbook Diaries: Zipper Stamp

- Prima Vintage Vanity Stamp: Triangles

- Prima Timeless Memories Say It In Crystals

- Prima Something Blue Flowers: 575335

- Prima Memory Hardware Louviers Antique Chains

- Prima Memory Hardware Amiens Antique Clocks

- Prima Junkyard Findings Industrial Lamps

- Prima Lyric Flowers: 565695

- Prima Serenity Flowers: 571351

- Prima Cigar Box Secrets Cork Stickers

For my second layout, I selected a chipboard frame to use in the place of the frame in the sketch, and built my layout from there, adding bright colours inspired by the photo to the background, and using black lines and white splatters to ground everything.

A closeup view of some of the background work. In order to achieve the patches of blue and pink, I added super heavy paint to crumpled plastic wrap and stamped it onto the background, adding splatters of mustard yellow mist once it was dry to add a little more dimension.

I wanted the chipboard brickwork to look as though it grew out of the background paper, and I achieved this by colouring it with an off-white chalk edger (actually pastel violet), adding script stamping in metallic purple, and then going over the whole thing roughly with beige.

The chipboard frame was painted with shimmering mists and a paintbrush, with details scribbled in roughly with a pencil crayon.

I tucked the flowers in between the layers of chipboard and propped the picture up using foam tape.

Supplies Used:

- Blue Fern Studios Sanctuary collection: "Conservatory"

- Blue Fern Studios chipboard: Treasured Floral Frame, Brick Bits

- Prima Color Bloom sprays: Tea Stain, Worn Leather, Lime Wedge,

Boysenberry, Yellow Mustard

- Prima Chalk Edgers: Old Road, Pastel Violet, Metallic Purple,

Dark Rust, Shabby Tote

- Faber-Castell Aquarelle pencils: Neutrals

- Liquitex Clear Gesso

 - Prima stamp: Script

- Shimmerz Dazzlerz: Pucker Up Pink, Gummy Bear Blue

- Prima Heavy Gesso: Black

- Liquitex Super Heavy Gesso: White

- Prima Fairy Rhymes Vines (564520)

- Prima Epiphany flowers: Bombshell (578831)

- Prima Epiphany flowers: Manifest (578817)

- Prima Hello Pastel flowers: Flower Stem: White (564421)

Thank you to Denise for inviting me to be a guest designer. If you've never played along at Scrap Africa, I urge you to check out their challenges - their sketches and mood boards are chock-full of inspiration.

Julie Nutting Ruby Stamp - 3 Ways

Good morning, Bloggers! I'm stopping in this morning to share three projects I made using the new Julie Nutting Ruby stamp from Prima.

The first is a banner piece I made using the new Julie Nutting Banner Pad and Hair and Skin Tones Watercolor Pencils. I am thrilled with the new Watercolor Pencils - look at the gorgeous shading on her dress, using the black pencil from the kit.

The chipboard pieces are Japanese Lanterns by Blue Fern Studios, heat embossed and then stamped for added texture.

Supplies Used:

- Prima Julie Nutting Banner Pad

- Prima Julie Nutting Ruby Stamp

- Prima Hair and Skin Tones Watercolor Pencils

- Prima Time Travelers Memories: The Traveler

- Prima Chalk Edger: Branch Bark

- Blue Fern Studios Japanese Lanterns

- Viva Pearl Pens: Black, Gold

- Stampendous Aged Embossing Powder: Black

Next up we have sailor Ruby - her dress is just perfect for a day out of the boat!

Supplies Used:

- Prima Julie Nutting Banner Pad

- Prima Julie Nutting Ruby Stamp

- Prima Hair and Skin Tones Watercolor Pencils

- Faber-Castell Aquarelle Pencils

- Prima Bella Rouge: Les Amours

- Distress Marker: Fired Brick

- Viva Pearl Pen: Blue

- Prima Encore Flowers: Turquoise

- Prima Mini Sachet Flowers: Surf

- Flying Unicorn Metal Adornments

- Blue Fern Studios Chipboard: Sail Away

- Maya Road Canvas Banners

- Prima Wire Trim: Dusty

- Liquitex Super Heavy Gesso: White

- Prima Chalk Edger: Dark Bark

And lastly, Ruby in a sundress - this one feels like it has a New Orleans vibe to me. I had so much fun colouring her dress!

Supplies Used:

- Prima Julie Nutting Tag Pad

- Prima Julie Nutting Ruby Stamp

- Prima Hair and Skin Tones Watercolor Pencils

- Faber-Castell Aquarelle Pencils

- Prima Bella Rouge: Belles Fleurs, Melange

- Prima Chalk Edger: Turquoise Stone

- Prima Wood Embellishments: Doors

- Viva Pearl Pen: Gold

- Shimmerz Dimensionz: Blue Lagoon

Thank you for stopping by today!

Bloom Girls "Quentin" Card

As someone with a lot of men in my life, I am so happy to see Jamie Dougherty and Julie Nutting releasing boy stamps! When I unpacked Jamie's "Quentin" stamp I couldn't wait to break out the new Prima Skin and Hair watercolour pencils and start colouring! The watercolours are so very creamy - I love to use them with a water brush and draw colour straight from the tip. To create shading, I start by adding the colour in those areas I want to be shaded, and blend out from there; when I pick up more colour I again start at the shaded areas and blend out.

I used the watercolour pencils to create a photo-backdrop-style background, as well.

A couple metal corners and some Prima Timeless Memories and Craftsman papers complete this step card.

A little closeup of the details. I used Glossy Accents to create glass in the monocle.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Prima February BAP

This month's Prima BAP is an incredibly cool sketch by the talented Keren Tamir. I was really intrigued by the crisscrossing lines, and how to execute those. Here's what I came up with.

I solved the crisscrossing lines dilemma by executing the lines in two different ways - for the upper line I used washi tape, lace trim, corrugated cardboard and two torn strips of paper to mirror the line on the bottom, and for the centre line, I traced the existing delineation on the "Timeless" paper from the Timeless Memories collection using Worn Leather and Tea Stain Color Bloom sprays for a subtle line.

For the background, I added stencilling with the Rock Wall stencil and modelling paste, then added some shading with Chalk Edgers, added some stamping, and outlined the rocks with a watercolor pencil.

The Manor Hinges chippies are from Blue Fern Studios; I covered them liberally with Copper Crackle Texture Paste and left it to dry, then added Deep Teal Color Bloom spray, dabbing it off the top and letting it settle in the cracks for an aged look.

These gorgeous Prima blooms complement the amazing earth tones and texture of the Timeless Memories collection.

For a pop of colour, I finished it off with a chipboard title from Blue Fern Studios primed with gesso and painted with Color Bloom spray in Cobalt, then heat embossed with clear embossing powder.

Here is the inspiration sketch:

Thank you for your visit!

Prima Products Used:

Timeless Memories papers: Timeless, Everlast

Washi tape

Color Bloom sprays: Worn Leather, Deep Teal, Tea Stain, Cobalt

Texture Paste: Copper Crackle

6x6 Stencil: Rock Wall

Chalk Edgers: Branch Bark, Old Road, Shabby Tote

Stamp: En Francais Script

Flowers: La Tela (571139), Rodanthe Seashell (577766) , Rondanthe Sandbank (577742)

Stationer's Desk: Wood Icons (572877)

Blue Fern Studios Chipboard:

Manor Hinges

Mommy's Boy

Prima February PPP

Hi there! Eek, February's a short month, and here we are at the end of it and I haven't posted my entries for the Prima PPP and BAP yet! It's been a busy one, but I had to play along.

I loved the gorgeous, soft colours of this month's PPP, and used it as inspiration for a card.

I combined die cut doilies using the Prima Doily die and paper strips on a piece of Jodie Lee's Art Journal paper, and coated everything with a thin layer of white gesso. I then painted and dripped on some Color Bloom sprays, and added some stamping, then finished it all off with another die cut doily and gorgeous Prima flowers and embellishments.

Here's the amazing mood board:

Thank you for stopping by today! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Prima Products Used:

Jodie Lee 12x12 Art Journal Paper Pad

Prima Doily Die 572792

Something Blue 3x5 ATCs

Paper scraps: Divine, Cigar Box Secrets

Serenity flower: 571351

Lyric vines: 564513

Color Bloom Sprays: Soft Teal, Iris

Resin Frame: 892111

Something Blue flowers: 575304, 575335

Chalk Edgers: Coltsfood Stemens, Old Road

Princess collection Paperclips

Vintage Vanity stamp

A couple Julie Nutting birthday tags

Hi there! After a long blogger silence, during which I was creating, but didn't have time to photo, edit and post photos, I've gotten my butt in gear :) Today I'm sharing two birthday tags using Julie Nutting's Zoe Die/Stamp combo that I created for my sister and for my best friend, who have birthdays one day apart.

This first tag was made for my sister - for her birthday my sister, two of my sons and I went to a performance of So You Think You Can Dance, so I turned Zoe into a ballerina for this tag.

I used a combination of Stationer's Desk and Princess papers for the tag.

I added stamping, misting and stencilling with gesso to the background, then overlaid it with Blue Fern Studios Turkish Bits chippies covered in gesso and stamped.

For her tutu, I used some Tim Holtz trim folded over and sprayed with pink mist.

Some Prima Something Blue flowers and leaves finish the tag off.

The next tag is for my best friend. This time I used the Zoe stamp and die without any modifications. I wanted to do a collaged background inspired by Tim Holtz's February Tag of the Month, using Prima ATCs, tags and some ephemera from my stash. 

To help the collaged layers stand out, I added some washi tape, and outlined everything in Color Bloom mist, then added some stamping with the Prima stitches stamp and some Georgia Heald stamps, which I coloured in with more Color Bloom.

The hearts are Blue Fern Studios Heart Set chipboard - the red is coated with embossing powder, the turquoise one I coloured with an alcohol marker and then added clear embossing powder for a lacquered look.

Thank you for stopping in today!