Sunday, September 18, 2016

My Creative Scrapbook September Sketch Challenge

The My Creative Scrapbook September sketch challenge is live! I prepared a layout using the Limited Edition kit, which had all sorts of great cut-apart options and chipboard bits from the Prima Rossi Belle collection.



I had printed off a couple of photos from the Adele concert; while not great photos in and of themselves, I wanted to commemorate the evening. The layered nature of the sketch was great as it allowed me to cover the negative space at the bottom of both photos, while drawing attention to the focal point in the top portion of the photo.

Here is the sketch:


A couple closeups:


To add definition to the rectangles so they didn't just blend into the other patterned papers, I mounted them on cardboard and then dotted the edges with a pearl pen for some definition and visual interest.


All of these pieces are cut from a thin chipboard sheet in the Rossi Belle pack, and so many of them have inspiration sayings that I wanted to be able to showcase. This layout let me do just that, without any one of them taking centre stage. The one above pretty much sums up how I felt about my night, though.

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you'll find the time to play along with the sketch, there's a great prize pack up for grabs for one lucky participant.

Thursday, September 15, 2016

My Creative Scrapbook September Tutorial

I'm back with another layout using the My Creative Sketchbook September Limited Edition kit, this time with a video tutorial.

The Rossi Belle line in the kit has some gorgeous neutral backgrounds, and I used one of these along with a bunch of different media to complement the colours in the picture of my sister and my youngest son.



Here are a couple closeups:






Thank you for stopping by today! Be sure to check out the My Creative Scrapbook blog for tons of inspiration from the amazing Design Team.


Thursday, September 8, 2016

My Little Artist

Hello Bloggers! I'm back again today with another layout from the My Creative Scrapbook Limited Edition kit, the kit that keeps giving, creatively.

This photo is a bittersweet one, though you'd never know it to look at it. It was taken on Father's Day this year, which was the first Father's Day since my dad died. Every year my dad would take my husband Evan and the boys out to a local fishing shop; for Father's Day they stock two big above-ground pools with trout and let the kids fish for them and take home what they catch. It is an event the kids really look forward to, so we decided to go this year even though neither of us felt particularly like celebrating. To help the kids pass the time while waiting for their turn to fish, the shop had provided buckets of sidewalk chalk with which the kids could draw on the walls of their outbuildings, and that is where I snapped this shot of Colby, intently colouring away.


I loved the way this piece of Rossi Belle paper from the kit looked like a weathered chalkboard, and added some chalk edgers through a stencil in colours to complement the photos to get the project started.


I've said it before, but I love the sequins included in the kit, and they again found a home on this layout, layered amongst fussy cut images from the papers in the kit. The photo corners on the photo, and the clip holding the top of it were also cut from papers in the kit.


The elements from the kit are perfect for layering. The banner and birdcage were fussy cut from the papers, while the clock face is one of the chipboard pieces included with the sequins.


Thank you for stopping by! Please be sure to check out the My Creative Scrapbook store for kits, and also the My Creative Scrapbook blog for daily inspiration from the Design Team and Guest Designers.


Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Welcome to Napa Valley

Hi there! It's the first day of school here, which for my older two (in grades 2 and 5) means one whole hour of school, while for the youngest, who is starting kindergarten, he has a 15 minute meet the teacher meeting today, then nothing until next week.

The start of school marks the official end of summer, and return to the real world for our household, so what better to share with you today than a layout celebrating the wonderful summer we had? (As a matter of fact, I think most of my work this month commemorates the memories we made this summer). I love this month's Limited Edition kit from My Creative Scrapbook; it lends itself perfectly to so many different kinds of layouts.

On our recent trip to Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley, Evan and I couldn't resist stopping by the iconic Welcome to Napa Valley sign and snapping a picture.


I started with a lot of background work. First, as I often do, I coated the background paper with clear gesso; this enables the media applied later to be manipulated easier, and means that you don't need to use as much media as it sits on top of the page instead of sinking in. I then added stencilling through two different stencils using white crackle paste. Once dry, I brushed Prima Artisan Powder in clay with a soft paintbrush around the stencilled images to accentuate the crackling and give the images some definition.


I then added some painting in rusty colours using the Heidi Swapp Gold Lame spray from the kit as well as the new Prima Dragonfly Blue Color Bloom spray and a couple Lindy's Stamp Gang sprays from my stash.


This kit is perfect for fussy cutting, and I added fussy cut leaves and flowers behind my photo, and a fussy cut clip on top of it, and chipboard bits and flowers from the kit to finish everything off.


Thank you for stopping by today! Be sure to visit My Creative Scrapbook to check out their Limited Edition kit, and the other wonderful kits they offer, and consider becoming a subscriber so you never have to worry about missing a kit again.



Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Still In Love

The gorgeous My Creative Scrapbook September Limited Edition kit is on sale now, featuring the Rossi Belle collection from Prima Marketing Flowers, and I am thrilled to be guest designing once again this month. 

Rossi Belle was not a "must have" collection for me based on what I had seen online, but let me tell you, this kit almost scrapped itself, and I am so happy to have the whole 12x12 paper pack in my hot little hands. I am 5 projects in and still going strong.

For this first layout I used the B side of 2 pages of the Lucky Charm paper, fussy cutting the brick accent used at the top right of my photo as well as the candy-stripped strips at the top and bottom of the layout from the second piece and adhering them to my background. From the A side of the 2nd piece I fussy cut the flowers and stripes used under my photo. I then added some stamping and flicks of mist - the Gold Lame mist from the kit as well as pink and rust mist and black paint from my stash to complete the background.


This picture was taken at Evan's cousin's wedding this Canada Day weekend (July 1st for those of you who aren't Canadian), which was just a couple weeks after our 21 year dating anniversary and 13 year wedding anniversary. I'm still so thankful to have this man in my life every day.


The Harper flowers from the kit (the lower flower above) have an amazing finish, that reminds me of 1980s lipstick, creamy and shiny. The chipboard tags are great for clusters and layering, and the trims for the kit make great accent pieces.


How fun are these bronze sequins? I confess, I used them a lot on this month's layouts, and I still have a lot of them left. To adhere them, I dipped a paintbrush in gel medium and dotted it onto the page, then placed the sequin on top. Once dry, those suckers are stuck on good.


One last closeup to show all of the layering on this layout - the fussy cut bricks, top, the stamping and splattering, the fussy cut flowers, sequins and paper flowers.

Stay tuned for more projects from this wonderful kit, and be sure to check out the My Creative Scrapbook store to pick up your kit if you haven't already.

My Creative Scrapbook Limited Edition September Reveal

This month's My Creative Scrapbook Limited Edition kit features the gorgeous Rossi Belle collection from Prima (3 sheets of each paper!). Check out the gorgeous kit contents:


This kit has been so much fun to play with! Stay tuned as I have many, many projects to share with this lovely kit.

If you aren't a subscriber, or if you want to check out the 3 other September kits, head on over to the My Creative Scrapbook store.