Getting Braver!

We all have our own scrapping style and tend to scrap within our comfort zone, using paint and ink directly on a layout has always freaked me out a bit. What if it looked awful?! I am coming to realise that I have been missing so much fun!

Looking through on line galleries some of my favourite backgrounds have been created using mists, inks and stamps and although I have been getting bit braver using the odd stamp directly onto a page I had never attempted anything very adventurous.....until now!

I have never been very successful with mists but over on My Creative Scrapbook they have a great section on the forum and links on their blog to tips and advice on how the design team created certain elements of their pages. One of these tips was to water down some acrylic paint, dip a tooth brush into in and then run your nail across the brush to spray the paint across your page. It worked a treat and I will definitely be doing it again!  So here is the page that I created, using more Websters Spring Market.

Hope you like it I had great fun putting it together!

I will be back with more pages to share over the weekend :)

TFL

xx

Text Chat

It seems like ages since I last posted on here but it has only been a week! I have been really busy creating for something which I am so excited about, I am counting down the days until I can spill the beans and reveal all! In the meantime I thought I would share a layout that I created yesterday using more gorgeous Websters Pages, this time Spring Market which I got from Scrap Revolution. If you are looking for some Websters stash then Lorraine stocks a great selection.

I had some layouts on my dinning room table waiting to be photographed and all but one were of Rebecca so I decided that I had to use a photo of Emily for this page. I took this one on our recent trip to Kingston Lacy, I think it was my favourite photo of the day and was the perfect colour match for the paper range.

I created the butterflies using a Websters Itty Bitty stamp, I stamped the image using distress inks onto some patterned paper and then cut them out. I added more colour onto the butterfly using a cotton bud and more of the distress inks and then used walnut stickles to create the body. This stamp is so versatile, I have used it directly onto the background paper too.

I added some Websters netting to the circle, to cut the circle out I drew out my shape onto a scrap of paper and then pinned that to the netting and carefully cut around it. I secured the netting using a tiny bit of glue just to hold it into place while I ran it through the sewing machine. I was really pleased with the finished look and it adds great texture to the page.

We have got Emily's prom on Friday, I am so excited to see her all dressed up, I have warned her that I am going to have to take LOTS of photos!!
TFL
xx

Sneak Peek

The June Sarah's Cards kits have been arriving this weekend so I thought it was about time that I teased you all with a couple of little peeks of what is to come in July! It is a gorgeous kit, really lovely colours perfect for those summer photos which hopefully we will all be taking....if we ever get any sunshine!!

I have been a busy little scrapper over the last week, nothing I can share with you yet but I have had great fun creating in my little room with some amazing stash!

On a non scrapping theme my baby turned 14 today! She had her birthday treat yesterday, I took her and a friend to have a facial and manicure done which they both absolutely loved and want to do it again very soon thank you very much lol. I only took this photo and then quietly left the room so she could relax without me snapping away!

Of course we had to do the usual photos in the garden with the number stickers today too....

I liked this one as it captures her personality perfectly lol.

A sensible shot.
Tfl
xx

Two and a half hours later.......

I took Emily to the hairdressers yesterday for her hair trial for her prom, she decided that she wanted soft tumbling curls. Because her hair is so curly naturally they had to straighten it then set it and then tong it to get this look! Only took 2 1/2 hours!!! She isn't 100% about the result but she isn't sure if it is just because it is so different to how she usually looks.

TFL

xx

Out with the old, in with the new!

One of my first projects when I joined the Sarah's Cards design team back in 2009 was to alter a small clipboard. Sarah had sent me some American Crafts papers which I used and the clipboard has been propped up in my craft room ever since.
My scrapping style has definitely changed since then and I decided that the clipboard needed updating........

I created the background on the clipboard in exactly the same way that I did the tin in my last post, think I am getting a bit obsessed with crackle glaze at the moment!!
For those who have read my blog for any length of time you will know that I love to add butterflies to my projects, I usually punch them with a Martha Stewart punch but I have found the most gorgeous butterfly stamps and I am totally hooked. They are Websters Pages Itty Bitty stamps and they are great to stamp directly onto your project or cut out and colour to coordinate with your colour scheme.

I layered some Tim Holtz tissue tape across the bottom and down the centre of the clipboard to create my background. I also stamped some images and cut them out and added them on top of the tissue tape.

I chose two small photos and trimmed them down so that they would both fit onto the packaging from a prima vine, this years collection has the most gorgeous packaging covered in flowers and butterflies which is much too good to throw away. I added machine stitching around the edge of each photo and then added a thin piece of chipboard behind each one before sticking them onto the prima packaging. I stitched a piece of lace across the top and added two thin strips of scalloped paper down each side. Everything has of course been inked!

I added the prima vine which was just perfect for this project and then added more flowers, butterflies, chipboard hearts and stamped words.

I machine stitched a narrow strip of paper onto a piece of lace and then added that to the bottom of the clipboard. 

I am off to the hairdressers in a minute with Emily to have a trial for her prom, she isn't 100% sure  how she wants her hair but she has a few ideas, I am sure it will be stunning. I am not sure who is more excited about the day, Emily or me!

Thank you for popping by and for leaving your comments I really enjoy reading them and popping over to your blogs to see what you have been up to.

TFL

xx

Little Tin

A lot of our scrapbooking stash comes in the most gorgeous packaging, if it isn't gorgeous often it has the potential to be made gorgeous! I have got quite a pile of Maya Road tins awaiting transformation and last night I set about altering the first one. It started like this..

It was really easy to alter the tin, all I used was...

Gesso

Acrylic paints

Crackle Glaze

Matt varnish

Websters Hollywood Vogue papers, Itty Bitty Stamps

Tim Holtz ruler stamp

Lace

Masking tape

Pin Flair Gel

Chipboard
Distress Ink

1. Mask off as much of the plastic window as you can, it just made it a bit easier painting it not to have to worry around all the edges.

2. Paint over the lid of the tin and the inside of the base with a layer of gesso to prime the metal.

3. When that is dry paint over that with a layer of acrylic paint, and then when that is thoroughly dry add a layer of crackle glaze.

4. Once that is dry add your top layer of paint.

5. I have used some distress ink over areas of the tin just to give it a bit more of a distressed look, then covered the whole thing with a layer of matt varnish to seal it all in.
Then the fun bit starts, the decorating!
I matted my photo onto patterned paper and added that onto a piece of chipboard to raise it off from the base of the tin. I stamped the ruler image onto paper, inked the edges and pleated a length of lace along the top edge. I added it to the bottom of my photo but only stuck it down on the two ends so that I could add a slight bend to it.

 6. After I had stuck the photo in I thought the two sides looked too bare so managed to squeeze two decorative strips down both edges. Obviously if you are going to do this you can do it the easy way!

7. I cut out a floral corner from the Websters Pages and built the back up with foam tape so that it would lay flat but raised up in the tin.

8. When you build up the design inside your tin keep checking how it will look with the lid in place, if I had placed the floral corner right up against the edge of the tin it would hardly have been noticeable with the lid on.

9. Keep adding elements until you are happy with how it looks, remember you are also going to add detail to the tin lid so don't overdo it too much. I have cut out more elements from the paper, stamped a clock image and cut out a pink paislee rub on.

10. Embellish the tin lid, again I have simply cut out designs from the Websters Pages and stuck them onto the lid adding pin flair gel to sections so that certain areas are raised up.

The butterflies are Websters Pages Itty Bitty stamped images coloured to coordinate with the papers using promarkers. 

I was really pleased with the finished result and have got plans for all the other little tins I have got in my craft room, just got to find some other ways to store their contents now!

TFL

xx

Lots of Pretty Paper

It was my turn to post on the new look Sarah's Cards blog yesterday, I focused on how you can create beautiful scrapbook pages using gorgeous patterned papers and very little else.

One of my favourite manufacturers at the moment is Websters Pages, I love that each piece of paper has so many different elements that can be cut out and used to create the layout. Speaking to other scrappers I found that a lot of them loved the look of the Websters Pages papers but just didn't know how to go about using them so I decided to do a photographic step by step guide using their Hollywood Vogue collection. All the details can be found over on the Sarah's Cards blog.

Another manufacturer that is particularly good at the moment is Pink Paislee, I absolutely loved working with their butterfly garden range and for the blog I used the Daily Junque range. Again there are some amazing elements that can be cut out and used to build your page.

There are more close ups and details over on the shop blog if you fancy a closer look. I have totally fallen in love with Bakers Twine, it is so easy to use and comes in such a great variety of colours, I love it!

On a non scrapping note thank you all for my birthday wishes, I have to say being 40 isn't all that bad lol. I got Justin to take a few photos of me so that I can create a page documenting life at 40, I used the stickers on the fingers again, if it works why change it! lol.

Walking back from our meal on Monday night I took some photos of Rebecca on the beach, when we had finished she ran up the beach towards me so I carried on clicking away and got this shot. We were all in stitches when we saw it, it just about sums her up she is so funny.

When Rebecca was little she always wanted one of those electric childrens cars, she never got one but our elderly neighbour has got an electric buggy. As a treat he let her take it out for a spin lol she absolutely loved it and we had quite a few giggles on our way round. I was amazed how fast they went, I had to literally run to keep up with her!

We picked up Emily's prom dress on Wednesday, she had to try it on as soon as we got in, I just love the colour on her, she is going to look stunning! I can't wait for the prom night now!!

Justin and I had a lovely walk around the Island on Thursday, the views never fail to amaze me. Justin took charge of the camera for a bit and took this photo which I actually quite like (I usually hate photos of myself).

Thank you for stopping by.

xx

Take Over!

Can't believe it is June already!! Where did May go?
Have you seen the changes that have taken place over on Sarah's Cards blog? On the 1st June the design team took control of the blog! Every few days a different member of the team will be posting on the blog giving you a whole host of fantastic projects, classes, challenges, tutorials, giveaways and much much more.
Lou went first and if you haven't seen her amazing step by step guide to creating a unique background for your scrapbook pages it is definitely worth checking out!