Peace, Love and Pineapples - Fluttyby Designs Guest DT

Here is my second guest design team reveal for Flutterby Designs. I've picked the pineapple themed pieces out of the Good Vibes Only release for this one, because they were just perfect for these photos of our visit to The Big Pineapple on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia.

This card from the Everyday Etc. Photo Cards pack was my inspiration for the whole layout. I loved it as soon as a I saw it. The white space in the top left was perfect for adding a couple of extra embellishments. I've used a circle from a Kaisercraft paper pad and changed the quote from 'enjoy the little things' to 'enjoy the BIG things', plus a splatter of green ink to tie it into the background.

My main embellishment cluster has a page tab and flair from the Good Vibes only range, as well as a fussy cut pineapple from the Everyday Etc. Filler Photo Cards pack. I've used two other cards from that pack to create my photo mat. The beautiful die-cut is from Couture Creations.

Up in the top cluster I've used some off-cuts of the blue from the photo mat plus a sentiment from the Sticky Quick Quotes sheet. The flair is from Accent scrapbooking.

This layout gave me so much grief because it ALMOST worked but then just didn't no matter what I tried. This was my first attempt, below. What should have been a vibrant blue to match the photo mat ended up being a teal that just looked out of place.

This led me to HANDPAINT all the drips again to turn them green. I added a couple more embellishments but then decided it was overworked. Plus, as much as I loved the colours of the big photo mat at the top, it just didn't work with the layout. 

Barefeet Welcome

Here we have my fourth project from the Workshop Wonders class I attended at The Crafty Chain. This is probably the one I free-styled the most on, possibly because it was the last class of the day and I finished a lot of it at home. 

I'm not normally a fan of these off-set border type layouts, but I think having the paint splatters go across the whole page has made it a bit more cohesive. 

In this class we used a Vaseline-smeared stamp to create a background resist which we then highlighted using Shimmer cubes. It's not a technique I'd used before so it was interesting to try something new. 

My die-cut border has some extra Scrapmatts chipboard fitted in because I have a stockpile of them. :) I loved the effect of knotting the twine from the anchor.

I also popped some white muslin behind my photo matt, just to soften the overall effect.

This is the teacher's example.

Be Fearless Canvas

The third Workshop Wonders class was one I was really looking forward to doing, as it was a canvas taught by Leanne Jago. Leanne does amazing mixed media pieces and it was great to be exposed to her techniques to build up a range of different layers and textures. Unfortunately, her expected materials hadn't arrived in time for the class so we all had to improvise a bit with substitute products.

I'm not sure Leanne would entirely approved of the fact I've added some bling to the butterflies but I couldn't help myself. I just love adding sparkle to projects and I had these left over from the first class. :) This detail shot also shows off the aquarelle pencil for all that watercolour-black effect and some great bits of crackle texture. 

I'm normally not a bit fan of using vintage images in my work but when I saw this girl in my kit with her smug smile and hand on her gun I just had to use her. I thought her attitude went perfectly with the Flutterby Designs sticker sentiments. I also killed my brand new Posca pen trying to outline the girl to make her stand out, only to decide the effect was too subtle and used white gesso instead. 

This shows the multiple layers: gesso base/crackle medium/acrylic paint/white embossing powder applied to glue through a stencil/brown ink drizzles/acrylic paint smudged on with fingers/stamping/mist splatters.

This was Leanne's sample piece. You can see that I've stuck very close to her design but gotten quite a different finished product just with some different paint colours. 

A Day in the Sunshine

This was class two from The Crafty Chain's Workshop Wonders event, taught by Geli Duncan. I've used photos from a trip to Tropical Fruit World I took with my sister and son in August 2017. They worked with the colour scheme of the class so well and I liked being prompted to use different photo sizes to what I would normally.  

See this beautiful blue flower below? Geli taught us how to make that from scratch using plain white foamirian. Given I already have a literal huge drawer of flowers I don't think I'll be making my own anytime soon but it's always fun to learn something new.

The beautiful due is by Couture Creations and we each got a brand new included in the class kit. The background technique was a fun one to learn as well, though as is often the case for me I didn't extend it far enough past my photos. It's made on Kaisercraft specialty embossed paper using Twinkling H20's and baby wipes to create a beautifully soft blended effect. 

Below is Geli's samply layout. I stuck with something pretty similar, just changing the composition to match the different photo sizes I had. 

Anything is Possible

I was craving some crafting time over the weekend but my new scrap room isn't set up yet. Luckily, I had signed up for the Workshop Wonders event being held at The Crafty Chain! Four classes with four different teaches over the course of a day, it also included lunch, snacks and a lolly bar.

This was the first layout, by Kelly-ann Oosterbeek. It has a LOT of fussy cutting. I tried something different for me and left more of a border around the image so I could cut faster. Having an 'edge' normally annoys me, but it worked into the background on this layout. 

The beautiful butterfly stickers are made by Kelly-ann herself. I should have picked up a couple of packets but I couldn't work out what shade I wanted. I learnt a nifty trick, that if you want the wings to stay popped up you just place a pearl/rhinestone underneath.

Looking at the layout now I almost wish I had purchased a second sheet of the wreath paper, so I could fussy cut out a few more flowers and raise them up. I'm still undecided if I will add some more to this one or not.

Anyway, below is what Kelly-ann's version looked like. You can see I really didn't move too far from the sample here. I think I was too tired after all the cutting. :)

Some of the Best Memories - Flutterby Designs GDT

I am so excited to be guest designer for March for Flutterby Designs and get the chance to work with the amazing Good Vibes Only collection. Since it's a beachy/tropical collection, I pulled out my Hawaii girl's trip photos to start working with but quickly decided on a photo of the four of us before we set of on a zip-lining tour.

I pulled out all of the green elements from the Everyday Etc. Photo Cards and Everyday Etc. Filler Photo Cards, as well as some neutral/ black and white cards for contrast. With a bit of creative cutting and positioning, I created the photo mat and title. Some washi tape and a Page Tab were added to the left side for more interest. The 'Don't Worry, Be Happy' element from the Frame 50 pack was perfect to add on the right because I was so anxious about doing this tour, given I really don't like heights!

The background is a couple of different green acrylic paints smeared over the page with a pallet knife. once that dried I use white acrylic paint to create the zig zags. Green mist was flicked over the page and gold mica flakes adhered randomly.

I used up some of the scraps from the Photo Cards  and more washi tape to create a secondary embellishment cluster in the top right to balance the layout. The quote 'always take the scenic route' was chosen because the views from the zipline were just incredible.

A couple more embellishments were added then I used a black pen to draw a loose border around the whole thing and it was done! Thanks for looking.

Discover Tranquillity

I love this photo I snapped of my husband and son enjoying a cuddle on the beach in Fiji. It was such a great beach to play in with a toddler, as it stayed only ankle to knee deep for a least a kilometre out from the shore. We spent every morning exploring that beach, finding so many different crabs on the sand and fish which would swim right over your feet if you were quiet.

I used up a couple of different die-cuts from a Kaisercraft pack on this layout, along with some muslin, Scrapmatts chipboard, D-lish Scraps enamel dots, Accent scrapbooking flairs, twine and fake pearl strand.

There is quite a bit of depth to this layout. I actually created it in two parts, working from the bottom up on the background sheet and photo down for the photo mat, before joining them together prior to the final embellishment touches and title.

As so many of my backgrounds seem to be, this one is gesso through a Scrapmatts stencil then Color Crush watercolours flicked everywhere.

This layout was inspired by the February Scrap The Boys challenge. I was inspired by both the words and the colour scheme. 

Focus on Yourself Art Journal Page

The irony of this art journal page! I had the background pretty much completed and just had to stick on the quote and do the borders but I couldn't find the time. This is another page completed as part of the Soul Journey 2018 program. 

Background is a mixture of gesso, blackboard paint, book page strips, acrylic paint and stenciling. The black borders are aquarelle pencil. I initially was annoyed when the water made it run all over the quote but then remembered art journals don't have to be perfect so it was easier to get over it. 

Hiking with Coffee?

I thought I'd try something a bit different and 'stage' my photo, rather than just go with the close crop of the layout. I see some crafters do it so effortlessly and is really showcases their work. I don't think I quite nailed it, myself. 

Anyway, here is the close crop of the layout which I quite like. I got the roll of hession when my local Kaisercraft was going out of business and it is really so versatile. Background is gesso through a stencil, then some Color Crush powders used as watercolours to drip from the top of the page and flick everywhere, some subtle brown script stamping and then some last flicks of brown ink.

Gumleaves are chipboard by Scrapmatts, painted with acrylic paint. The scribble circles are die-cuts by Uniquely Creative, cut from watercolour paper and painted with brown ink. The sequins come from a cute collection I picked up from Scrapbook Fantasies, I really went nuts with the scattered clusters on this layout.

This layout was inspired by the 1st January sketch over at Stuck?! Sketches. I thought it was such an interesting looking sketch when I first saw it. I really liked the different ways the design team brought it to life.  I've really kept quite close to the design for this one.

I was also inspired by the January Kraft Plus challenge. Initially I couldn't think of any photos I had to match this challenge, then I was going to use some of my son drinking his 'coffee' in the morning before I changed my mind to a photo featuring my sister and I drinking espresso martinis. It was while I was looking for that photo that I came across these ones of us with our coffees before we went for a little hike at Curtis Falls. The memory was too funny not to scrapbook! I've used the scribbled circles to mirror the circle around the bottom right image in the mood board.

Kraft Plus is also challenging people to create cards using their leftover scraps from the layout. I always think this is such a good idea but forget to do it normally. Today I remembered to whip up a little 4"x4" card and it was so simple! I used the exact same layering pattern as I used to mat the main photo on my layout, the leftover watercolour to mirror the drips and I had the extra scribble circle already cut and painted.

I'm happy to have used up some more scraps, including this chipboard piece which I think is technically a milk saucer but was the only piece I had left from an old set. The patterned papers are all actually from Christmas ranges that I'm slowly working my way through.

Blessings

Finally finished my first layout for 2018! This is actually a page from a Scrappy Chat Designs kit by Beck BT I purchased back in 2015, so it's taken me quite a while to get around to. The original plan was to complete it at a retreat, but it unfortunately arrived too late. Better late than never though. :)

This was the first time I got to play with mica flakes or gold luxe paste so it was a lot of blingy, messy fun. Plus, now I've got heaps of these two products to use in future layouts. 

These photos are some of my favourites, of my husband and our little guy from when he turned one. We really should do another family shoot since he's 3.5 now but time keeps getting away from us.

I enjoyed rearing the paper and creating all the layers behind the holes. Quite a different experience for me, working backwards rather than up the page layers. My husband's only comment was 'it's quite different to your normal stuff'. I told him there wasn't much point to buying a kit if I was just going to do the same thing I always do.