Work Your Magic | Scrap the Girls January Challenge

Hi everyone,

I know my poor blog has been lacking content lately, I had a break away from my desk after my mum suddenly passed away and with my kids home on school holidays as well I hadn't been creating. I have just realised that I hadn't actually even shared this layout, which is my take on the January challenge for Scrap the Girls. This month's challenge is called "Dead Men Tell No Tales" and is an awesome inspiration image that looks like this...

And here is my take on it...

As you can see, my page has a completely different colour palette to the image, but I promise you the inspiration was there! Initially I was drawn to the mermaid's pose, which reminded me of my daughter in this photo. Only instead of a boat and water behind her, she had fire. I used the photo to dictate the colours for my layout, using a mix of Ranger Distress Oxides to create my "firey" watercolour background.

Next, I drew inspiration from the lace pattern on the mermaid's tail to use my Heart Mandala stencil from StencilGirl along with black acrylic paint to add the pattern behind where my photo was going to go. Then it was time to create some papery layers!

I used a floral print tissue paper (not sure of the brand, sorry - all I know is that I purchased it at a store in the US when I was there - it might have been Michaels?) I added a torn piece across my page where my photo was going, then replicated it with a smaller piece in the top right corner of my page. The reason I chose this paper was to draw in the floral theme from the inspiration picture.

Next, I cut some patterned paper to mat my photo, which I also layered with a small paper doily and some frayed gauze for texture. I then began building my embellishment clusters around my photo. I used a variety of Vicki Boutin stickers; some twisted coloured wire; and some glittered butterfly die cuts I found in my stash. I also added a Heidi Swapp acetate word along the bottom edge of my photo.

I then went back to the tissue paper in the right corner of my page and used some of the same elements again to create a smaller cluster. This cluster helped provide balance to my page, because it was quite "bottom heavy" at this point. I finished off with a little bit of stamping using my fave Doodle Dots stamp from Viva Las VegaStamps.

Thanks so much for stopping by today so I could share this with you. if you haven't already entered the challenge at Scrap the Girls, you have 4 day left to get your entries in to be in the running for the prizes. You can get all the details, as well as see what the rest of the design team created for this challenge HERE.

Until next time, happy scrapping! X

Life is Lovely | Kitaholic Kits December 2020

 

Hi friends! 

Happy new year. After 2020 finished on such a sad note for me personally, I hope that 2021 is kinder to us all. Today I am popping in to share the last of my Kitaholic Kits projects using the gorgeous December kit. 

For this layout I decided to create a paper-based layout so I could focus on some of the beautiful Crate Paper patterned papers in the kit. I paired these with some photos of my three kids that I took one day when I took them to a local cafe for "fancy" milkshakes. (They really are pretty easy to please!)

As I mentioned above, my plan was to keep the design relatively simple for this one to allow the paper (and my photos) to shine. I started with the beautiful pink paper for the background and then added a strip of the navy floral print vertically down the page. I used torn edges, and distressed the further with my fingers to add extra texture.

Because the photos had a neural background and I already had a busy print with the floral paper, I chose not to mat my photos. I did back them with some scrap cardboard though, to help pop them up from the page. I kept the photos positioned along the vertical paper to keep my focal area in tight on the page.

To embellish my layout I started with a couple of journal spots from the Crate Paper cut apart, which I tucked in around the right side of my photos. One was to be used for journalling, whilst the other was going to be for my page title. On the journal block I also added the word yum using some of the Rosie's Studio small puffy alphas. My main page title life is lovely, was one of the die cuts from the Pebbles 'The Avenue' phrase ephemera pack. 

I complimented my title with a few other gold foiled pieces from the same pack; as well as some Pebbles gold puffy dots. (I really love these dots!) A fussy cut flower and a sweet little bird (both cut from Crate Paper patterned papers); a couple of the November subscriber exclusive floral printables; and a splattering of navy mist to finish it off.

If you would like to see how it all came together, check out my process video on YouTube here:

 

Thanks so much for stopping by today so I could share this with you. If you haven't already checked out the details on how to become a subscriber to Kitaholic Kits, you can find all the info HERE

And be sure to join the Kitaholic Kits Comunity group on Facebook HERE for lots more inspiration!

Until next time, happy scrapping! X