Toil and trouble

We are not big on Halloween in our house, but the Get into the Grunge kit featured some awesome ribbon and paper that was just crying out for a themed page so I managed to track down one of the very few photos we have at all that would work.
And I just love the result!
The stamp makes for a fabulously grungy background. I trimmed the chevron paper to about 11x11 and then gutted the black cardstock so I was able to make a frame for the note card, an embossed tag and still have some left over for another project.
The layout was based on a sketch but I didn't make a note of it so if you recognise it could you let me know so I can acknoweldge it? Thanks.

I layered up the papers on one side adding the ribbon with a Tiny Attacher. I made some pennant shapes using a Dienamics die,  as a mat for the photo. Everything was given a heavy dose of black soot distress ink. I stuck the little camera charm by the side of the photo. I chopped the "note for you" tag so I could use it top and bottom of the photo.

The layout needed something else so I cut out three of the skulls and nested them on different size circles with a little black ribbon. It was just the right finishing touch
The journalling looks a little out of focus in the main photo so in case you are interested - here it is!


Captured With a Click

It's the UK Scrappers Cyber Crop this week and today I've set a challenge to make a layout, (or other project) featuring snapshot photos. Grab your camera or your camera phone and play along all the details are here, http://www.ukscrappers.co.uk/boards/showthread.php?t=334969

For my sample layout I used goodies mostly from the latest Quirky Kit 'I'm with the Band' but there are a couple of extra bits and pieces from other kits. I used a badge and flower embellishment from 'Photo Op' and the mask from 'Tell me more'.


The background was built up using the mask and lightly sprayed colour mists, (I used Mister Huey Taxi) though it moving it around to cover the cardstock from the top left to the bottom right. Strips of patterned paper were then added on top along with the jumbo ric rac and pieces of paper tape (these are all from the main kit).
The photos I then added on top as the next layer along with one of the Elle's Studio tags stamped with the date and the flower and badge embellishments. The Pink Paislee Photogram frame I added over the top of one of the photos just using 3D foam pads.

 
As a final touch and to add a little more texture and interest I used the star Punchinella from the kit as a mask with PVA glue just brushed over the top so it came through the punched holes then sprinkled glitter over the glue.

 
Have fun with the challenge :)
x Leo

Having a go

I felt like trying something a little bit different with the next layout. As soon as I tried it I panicked as I didn't think it had really worked.
Let's see what you think!
I used a mask with acrylic paint. I think that with hindsight the mask was a bit fiddly and I overused the paint. I was going to throw it out as a disaster but the cardstock came with the Quirky Kits kit and I didn't want to. Plus the pink matched the flowers perfectly. (As the green paper matched my friend's skirt to perfection - don't you just love it when that happens?) I decided to embrace imperfection and anyway it kind of, almost, echoes the brickwork of the church wall. That is what I am telling myself anyway. I added more paint around the outside. I built on a 6x12 canvas of patterned paper (also with paint on it for the journalling) and used the grey ribbon (goes with the oh so fashionable clerical shirts we are rocking) along the outside edge of the paper, stuck down using extra sticky dst (a red one).

When the paint was dry I added some spots of black Mr Huey. A few more layers of torn punchinella and washi tape helped to frame the page. I also used stamps from Imagine That and Banana Frog.

And I'm glad I persevered  - although next time I might stick to mist, ink or Distress Stain!

This is the last of my pages just using "I'm with the band". Tune in again soon to see how I "get into the grunge"!

Mixing and matching

With all the Quirky Kits I put together I try to make up the kits to be as usable as possible for lots of different page styles and subjects so I figured for my first play with the kits this month I'd do two contrasting styles of pages with the kits, one soft and kind of pretty and the other with bold more masculine feel.

I started out with a colour scheme in mind sticking with the softer tones of the greys, blues and yellows from the kits. With the first layout I've picked out the My Minds Eye papers from both the kits along with a little of the Studio Calico Yearbook paper from the main kit.



I cut out one of the speech bubbles from the Ready Set Go paper and one of the journalling spots from the 7 dots studio paper and added one of the Pink Paislee Photograms and an Elle's Studio tag also from the main kit. The mini alphabets from the Lite kit complimented the softer style of the page so I used those and I used the Prima stamp from the Lite kit in a soft grey ink, (Versafine Smokey Gray) to add a distressed effect to one corner. I used some Studio Calico colour mists, (white and Clay) to carry on the distressed look across the page to guide the focus across the page. The paper doily was left over from the 'Observations' main kit from June and it echos the doily patterns on the My Minds Eye papers.

For the next layout in contrast to the first I picked out the bolder colours focusing on the golds/oranges and green/blues.


I started with a white cardstock background and added a layer of the Mustard cardstock. I used the 7 dots studio paper in reverse, (the green side) with the Prima stamp over the top in black ink as a layer along with the  paper, a piece of the Yearbook paper, (using both sides) and a piece of the Punchinella, all from the main kit. For the title I cut out two of the speech bubbles from the 'Think Good Thoughts' paper and layered them up along with a heart I doodled onto one of the orange coloured speech bubbles and cut out. The tag from the main kit added the final layer and I threaded some of the ribbon from the main kit through then fixed it in place with glossy accents. The arrows I doodled onto scraps of the Ready Set Go 'To Do List' using both sides of the pattern.

So yeah, two different looks from the same two kits mixing and matching and using a colour theme to help pick out the elements. :)

Hope you're having fun with your kits. If you're a UK Scrappers forum member this week is Cyber Crop week and I've set one of the challenges which will be going up on Tuesday, (30th) at noon. There's no set class as it's a photo challenge but I have used Quirky Kit goodies for the sample and I'll do a write up on what I've done/used for the layout here on the blog on Tuesday too. Pop along and check out the Cyber Crop info here, http://www.ukscrappers.co.uk/boards/forumdisplay.php?f=461

Happy scrapping!
x Leo

Diamond Life

I do love using lots of different patterned papers on a layout and this Quirky Kit makes the doing even sweeter by combining various manufacturers to give a harmonious but not matchy look to a page. See how many papers I managed to use on this page
Actually not as many as it seems as the base paper already had some patterned sections on it and some of the papers are double sided but still - not a bad haul (and it includes the journalling spots which come from the 7 Dot Studio Hopefully "Play with me" paper.) I also snuck in a circle made from the Pink Paislee Photograms packaging as it matches with the paper.

I used a Dienamics diamond border die in order to add lots of pattern in relatively small doses and combined Black Soot Distress Ink and black pen edging to give emphasis to create a colourful but definitely not girly page.

One of the words on each journalling spot has been highlighted by writing it on another matching one and sticking it over the top of the same word already journalled. This might be because I managed to spell a word wrong by not concentrating and decided that it needed to be hidden!

See if you can guess which one...

That's some bad hat Harry

So ends each episode of House (amongst other things) and is also the Facebook title I gave this photo of Carys in her brand new hat. Her unrestrained joy and the sizing on the label of the hat were stories that needed to be told. And my Quirky Kit came up trumps in helping me tell it.

The first thing that I put into the page kit for this layout was the black and white bakers twine as it reminded me of the ends of the hat. But it was almost the last thing to go onto the page so more of that later.

I began by splattering some drops of Mister Huey Inky Black mist on the page. I unscrew the bottle and flick the end of the mister part to create some drops, which I prefer to a full on black look. While that was drying off I die cut some of the papers using some MFT Die-namic dies. The orange paper is wider than any of the dies so I used the largest one to scale up the proportions using a ruler and pencil. In the end I decided I wanted the piece to be even bigger and so chopped it up and added some other paper in between using the paper tape across the edges. Again, all the papers have black Sharpie pen around the edge. I put each piece onto scrap paper and run the pen down the edge. Most of the pen mark stays on the scrap piece but a little goes on to the paper creating a nice sharp edge. Be warned - every now and then the pen shoots off in another direction though so be prepared to have to use more paper or cover up your mistakes. It's worth a try if you like using lots of papers but don't always want to ink the edges.

One of the Pink Paislee frames was tucked under the photo and the title/speech bubble layered over the top. I added a cluser of tags to the top left hand corner to stop the layout looking too bare.
Then it was back to the twine. I layed it out on the page and when it was how I like it, I traced the line out with glossy accents, a little at a time, pressing the twine down firmly into the glue. It was so easy and yet looks quite effective so I expect I will be doing this again very soon!
I do love the way these kits get me trying new things. I hope they inspire you too.

Back to black

Considering I wear black as a basic staple about 90% of my time, I hardly ever scrap using black as my base. So Leo has stretched me again with the black cardstock in the I'm with the band Quirky Kit.
And I have to say that I really like the result!
Helped by photos of some rather cute animals of course...
I used three of the Pink Paislee photograms (there are half a packet in a kit so you might not get the same ones, but there are lots of fab phrases to choose from). I had printed the photos at 3x2 each and it meant that they were easy to frame. As they are little stars I thought some of the punchinella would show them off. I stuck the punchinella to the back of the "Superstah" frame so that no adhesive would show through the back of the stars. I added some outlining to the frames and cut out some of the "think good thoughts" paper ready for journalling. I arranged the cards across the middle of the page and added strips of paper and washi tape at top right and bottom left of the cardstock, having first outlined the edges with a black Sharpie pen. I added a white border with a gel pen and wished I had done this before sticking down the papers as it is never easy to make a line look like it goes under the papers.

The journalling was added to the speech bubbles papers which were added to the page on foam pads to give some dimension.
I pondered how I was going to make the black letter stickers show up on the black paper and decided to use Picket Fence Distress Stain on them. It did give a nice distressed look but for more colour white acrylic might have been better. And I also wished I had taken them off the backing sheet first as some of the other letters are now not as black as they were! (As you might notice on the next layout)
Finally I punched out some circles using an EK Success Swiss Cheese border punch and a very small circle punch. These were outlined with black pen before sticking them onto the layout.



Delving In

Hello everyone. I am so thrilled to be back as Guest Designer for Quirky Kits. And what a fabulous box of delights I was sent by Leo. I love the fact that as I carefully take everything out from the bag there are always things to gasp over and always something just that little bit quirky to get me wondering just how will I use that? And that usually seems to end up being part of one of my favourite layouts. Will it be the same this time? You'll have to wait and see.

I thought I would try something a little bit different with this kit. I have lots of different photos printed up ready to scrap, in various sizes. So I took the contents of "I'm with the band" along with a handful of photos and spread everything around until I had various page kits on the go. It looked something like this


Everything bar the alphabet and the washi tape all chopped up, kitted out and ready to go. Some of the bags don't have too much in them, so anything left over from a page kit will be thrown into one of the other bags. I will probably take a break to begin using the Lite kit (I do like to keep them separate to start with) and then add some of those pieces to the emptier page bags as well.  I  started with the fullest page kit and am now working my way through. So far I am rather liking this way of scrapping and might have to try it again as the pages are coming together so quickly.

So here is layout number one. The one not in a bag...

All the gold and yellow colours in the kit were perfect for a page about my parents Golden Wedding. Then I noticed the strip at the bottom of the "Think Good Thoughts" paper with the days of the week on it and decided that I would theme the page around the number of days they have been married. But it was the only navy element in the kit so I had to think about how to bring it in to the layout. I also loved the punchinella stars but because they were silver not gold I wasn't sure what to do.
And then I had the bright idea of using the punchinella as a mask for some blue distress ink and the whole thing started to come together.

The stars don't make for a totally clean masked look but I was pretty pleased. I then used the punchinella with gold glimmer mist and once I had sprayed it, turned it over and pressed the residue of the spray onto the cardstock as well.

I inked and layered my precut chunks of patterned paper, adding a punched border to the bottom one. I tucked two circles cut from the 7 Dot Studio  paper, the MME "All about me" die cut and a hand cut heart within the layers of paper and stuck it all down to the cardstock.
(Mmmm I love paper layers!)

I stamped some words using American Crafts Roxie letters and coloured some in with a gold gel pen. The filled in words were stamped with Tattered Jeans Distress Ink.

I added the title with the "Noted" stickers. Having a numerical title is great as it leaves lots of letters for all the other layouts I have planned! 


New Kits Going out this week...

The brand new Quirky Kits are currently being posted out this week. The main kit is 'I'm with the band'. It's a fun celebration of the current fashion trend for bright colours mixed with grungy textures with a little punk rock flare. It's a great accompaniment to the coming celebrations of Halloween and bonfire night as well as everyday scrapping too :)



 
The Lite kit this time is all about textures and a nod to the grunge look encouraging you to 'Get into the grunge'...
 


 
This month we're joined again by Lythan as your guest designer on the blog whose project ideas and inspiration will appear here throughout the rest of the month and you can also once again follow the current Pinterest board for the current kits here, http://pinterest.com/craftytemplates/september-october-kits-inspiration/
x Leo