Gift-Worthy! | StencilGirl® Team Blog Hop

Hello friend! 

If you have found your way here to my blog for the first time as part of the StencilGirl® "Gift-Worthy" blog hop, welcome! My name is Sue Plumb and live in the beautiful Glasshouse Mountains in Queensland, Australia with my hubby, three children and my cat. If you are unfamiliar with my work, you should know that I love colour - something you will see for yourself shortly!

For this blog hop the Creative Team was tasked with creating something "gift-worthy" using StencilGirl® stencils. I decided to create two simple projects that anyone at home could easily replicate or change to suit their own tastes. 

First up, I decided on an art bag for my daughter, who often wants to take her art supplies with her when leaving the house. I had a plain canvas tote bag that I thought would be great to slip her sketch book, markers, watercolour paints, etc into.

I began with a simple canvas bag and a variety of Ranger Dylusions acrylic paints. (I adore these paints with their bright, vibrant colours!) I started by cutting a piece of thick cardboard from an old pizza box and slipped it inside the bag so that I had a nice flat surface to work on. (This also protected the reverse side of the bag in case the paint bled through the fabric.)

Starting with the warm tones first, I spread each paint colour randomly onto the bag using a silicone spatula. (One of my absolute favourite tools for spreading paint - and only $1.50 in the kitchen section at Kmart!) I made sure the warm tones were dry by using a heat tool before switching to the cool tones - because nobody likes mud!

Once all the paint was completely dry, it was time to add my stencilled design over the top. I used the gorgeous Paint Tin and Butterflies stencil designed by Cathy Taylor. 

This stencil measures 9x12" and is one of my absolute FAVE stencils - butterflies AND art! I couldn't think of a more perfect stencil choice for an art bag, can you? 

I stencilled my design directly over the top of the colourful painted background using black StazOn ink applied with a sponge dauber. 

My little miss was very happy with her gift, although getting photos of her modelling it for me proved to be more of a challenge than I thought...sometimes it's just too hard to be serious.

For my second project I decided to create something special for my mum, who recently celebrated her birthday. (And is one of the hardest people to buy gifts for!) Instead of buying something, I decided to re-purpose an old coffee jar and turn it into a beautiful hand-painted rainbow cookie jar.

To create my jar I started by stripping the label from the jar and cleaning it thoroughly. (Tip - use eucalyptus oil to remove any sticky residue prior to washing in hot, soapy water.) I then painted the jar with two coats of white gesso to prep the surface for the acrylic paints I was going to use.

Once the gesso had dried it was time to start applying some colour. I used cheap student grade acrylic paints for this project, simply because it was more economical for the amount of surface area I had to cover. Starting with the lightest colour from my rainbow (yellow), I painted the lid of the jar and then applied the paints in a gradient down the jar.

With the colours all dry it was time to add my stencilled design. I chose the Rose Bouquet stencil designed by Jennifer Evans for my mum - because all mums deserve flowers, right? 

This stencil measures 6x6" and was the perfect size to add to my jar. As with my previous project, I used black StazOn ink to stencil my image which I applied using a sponge dauber. I began by applying part of the design to the jar lid.

I then taped the stencil to the front of the jar and stencilled the entire design onto the front. I love how much the black design pops against those rainbow colours! 

To finish off my jar, I took a white Posca paint pen and added a few white highlights to the stencilled images.

Once it was finished I filled the jar with an assortment of cookies and tied a black satin ribbon around the top.

I am happy to report my mum loved the jar and I am already planning on decorating a few more of these for my children to give as teacher gifts at the end of the year.


Now, be sure to hop over to each fantastic project and leave a comment for the artist! 

The more comments, the more chances you'll have to win $50 worth of StencilGirl® stencils! Good luck!

You are here >>> Sue Plumb's Cookie Jar and Art Bag

Claudia Neubacher's Tote Bag

Sunila and Aditi Mahajan's Treasure Box

Peg Robinson's Necklace

Shel C's Journal Set

Jennifer Gallagher's Paper Mache Gift Box

Linda Edkins Wyatt's Beach Memories Painting

Jill McDowell's Twisted Treasure Pouches

Carol Baxter's Advent Calendar

Contest closes 10-8-19 at 11:59 p.m. CST (US). Winner notified by email 10-9-19.


I hope you have enjoyed seeing these projects today and that you might be inspired to try something similar next time you need to give a gift...or perhaps even a gift to yourself?!

Kaboom | Cocoa Vanilla Studio

Hi everyone!

Popping in today with a fun layout I created recently for Cocoa Vanilla Studio for the regular "Throwback Thursday" theme. I had some super cute photos of one of my boys dressed in his Batman suit that I wanted to document, so I dug into my stash and pulled out the 'You Rock' collection, which I thought would be a perfect match. 

I started with the star print of the Night Sky paper as my page base, adding a smaller piece of the wood grain print of the Plus One paper over the top. 

Next, I used plain black cardstock to cut the Superhero Page Builder cut file set from Cut to You. I sorted through the pieces, choosing the ones I wanted for my page design. I chose the large kaboom piece and backed it with the yellow spotted print from the In Line paper. I then backed the smaller pow and boom pieces with the black and white cross print from the Random paper.

Before adding any of the cut file pieces to my page, I decided to create a little more depth on my background using some subtle stamping and some small torn pieces of the Washi Tape Stickers. 

I then arranged the three cut file pieces that I had backed on my page; before placing my photos on top. (I used a cartoon effects filter on these photos - isn't it cool?) Before sticking them down, I tucked some messy white cotton thread underneath, and added some scrap cardboard to the back to pop them up from the page.

With all the main pieces of my page in place, it was simply a matter of adding my embellishments to tie it all together and finish it off.

I used some of the black cardstock stars I had left from the Superhero cut file set, and placed three of them around my page to create a "visual triangle" around my photos. On top of the largest star I added a wood veneer star from the Wood Veneer pack; which I then offset with three wood veneer lightning bolts - keeping two of them relatively close together to again form a visual triangle.

I decided to draw some extra attention to the kaboom piece as I was using it for my page title. I added anextra small wood veneer star over the top of the word, then the black you're awesome banner from the Rubber Charms pack. From the same pack, I added the small yellow epic arrow alongside my photo.

To finish off my layout I used a few yellow crosses from the Enamel Shapes pack and I was done.

If you don't have a cutting machine but you love the look of these cut files, you can order them online from Cut to You and choose the "custom cut" option. Gwen will then cut and ship them direct to your door - how easy is that?

Thanks so much for stopping by today so I could share this with you.

Until next time, happy scrapping! X

Your Jealousy is Showing | Viva Las VegaStamps

Hi everyone!

Popping in with one of my recent Viva Las VegaStamps design team projects for you. Today I have a mixed media scrapbook layout that I created whilst I was away at retreat last month. It was actually created for a challenge that was on offer, which was to be inspired by a canvas created by my fellow Aussie VLVS teammate (and friend) Fiona Paltridge. I decided to design a scrapbook layout so I could document these fun photos of my brother and I as we shared a giant margarita.

To create my page, I began with a sheet of Bazzill Marshmallow cardstock. This is my preferred cardstock to use when I create mixed media pages, as with its heavy weight (240gsm) it takes a variety of media well with minimal warping. 

I started by applying some Micador watercolour paints randomly to my background, drawing on the colours from Fiona's piece for inspiration. Once the watercolours had dried, I then added some contrast colours using Dina Wakley acrylic paints which I applied with my fingertips.

To add texture to my page, I also added some torn strips of old book and music paper, and some pieces of tissue paper before adding yet more acrylic paint to help blend the papers in a bit.

Once the colour and texture was down on the page, it was time to add some stamping to help give the page some structure. (Unfortunately, as I had flown to retreat and was weight restricted for my luggage, I only had a small selection of my favourite stamps with me.)

The first stamp I reached for was the Typeset Scallop, which I stamped twice horizontally over the paint on my background using black StazOn ink. This gave my page a horizontal line that I could then anchor my photos to.

Next, I wanted to add some vertical structure to my page, so I used the Rows of Numbers stamp and stamped it near the top and bottom of my painted section. I also added a few scribbles with my Stabilo All pencil to further enhance the horizontal and vertical lines I had created.

Once I had the structural stamping in place it was time to add some layers of texture. I used a variety of materials for my layers - striped tissue paper; punchinella; paper doily and frayed gauze before adding my photos on top.

Once the photos were in place I also added some pieces of twisted coloured wire and some staples; as well as some small snarky phrase stickers.

At this point I thought the background needed some extra black detail, so I used the Waybill/Invoice Background stamp to add a little random text and lines around the edges of the focal area.

To finish off my page, I used the Cross Marks Background stamp to add three small patches of crosses to form a "visual triangle" around my photos. I further enhanced the crosses by using some yellow embroidery thread to hand stitch over a few of them. 

Then it was a few tiny watercolour splatters and I was done!

Thanks for stopping by today so I could share this with you. I hope I have inspired you to get inky too! X

Stamps used:

- Typeset Scallop

- Rows of Numbers

- Waybill/Invoice Background

- Cross Marks Background

You Rock | Cocoa Vanilla Studio

Hi everyone!

Popping in with another design team project from last month - this one for Cocoa Vanilla Studio. Some of the team were tasked with a sketch theme on our blog, where we had to create a page using a specific PageMaps sketch. 

Here is the sketch we used...

This sketch is from the PageMaps archives from October 2018; and if you would like more sketch inspiration (including card sketches) you can find them on the PageMaps website.

Despite the floral theme of the sketch, I decided to twist it up and create a boy page instead. I used a combination of elements from two different CVS boy collections - 'Boys Rule' and 'You Rock'.

I began with the 'Boys Rule' collection - using the Star Fall paper as my page base to form a border, which I layered with a smaller square of the Entitled paper over the top.

To represent the circular element of the sketch, I cut several different sized wreaths from the free 'Happiness' cut files using a combination of white cardstock and the Happy Go Lucky paper for my feature circle. I then arranged them so they were overlapping each other.

Just like the sketch, I used two photos for my page (although I did use a different size and orientation). These photos of my son were taken the day after his birthday while he was testing out his new punchbag and boxing gloves. 

I added the die cut what the? speech bubble from the Die Cut Ephemera pack onto my main photo.

Due to the busy pattern on the paper, and the fact that I already had the overlapping wreaths on my background, I wanted to keep the embellishments fairly simple. I dug through my stash and chose the wood veneer pack from the 'You Rock' collection. I liked the fact that this was an easy way to add dimension and some natural texture to the page.

I added the large You Rock title piece just to the left of the photos - just like the title was positioned in the sketch. I then adhered a selection of wood veneer stars around the page, placing them at points where the wreaths intersected and forming a "visual triangle" around my photos. I also added a small wood veneer lightning bolt directly onto my second photo.

To finish off, I added the that's my boy rubber charm along the bottom edge of my photo; then added a small label from the Miscellany die cut pack to the bottom corner of my page and wrote my journalling with a felt pen.

Thanks for stopping by today so I could share this with you.

Until next time, happy scrapping! X

Happy Times | StencilGirl®

Hi everyone!

I can't believe I missed sharing this project created for the StencilGirl® Creative Team last month! (This year is going waaay too fast!)  For this piece I was tasked with the theme "texture it or make marks on it". Texture or mark making? Hmm...how about a bit of both?! I knew I could incorporate both of these onto a scrapbook page.

I looked through my box of photos and was immediately drawn to a photograph of some of my favourite crafty friends and I. Over the past couple of years we have all gone away for a long weekend of eating, drinking, laughing and crafting together. It is something we all look forward to, and a tradition I hope continues for many years to come.

I began my page with a sheet of 270gsm cardstock and decided to create a soft, watercolour style background. I chose Ranger Distress Oxides in two different shades of green - Mowed Lawn and Twisted Citron. I stamped each of the ink pads randomly onto my non-stick craft mat; added a few spritzes of water and then swirled my finger tip through the inks to mix them up a bit. I then placed my cardstock on top, smoothing my hand over it to allow it to soak up the inks before lifting it off and drying with a heat tool.

Once the background colour was in place; I looked through my stencils and chose the January 2019 StencilClub "Shaw-Apter Mash Up" set designed by Mary Beth Shaw and Seth Apter. This is an amazing set featuring three (9x12"; 6x6"; and 4x4") stencils; and was absolutely perfect to hit the "mark making" brief. I love that these stencils have a variety of different patterns that can be used together, or masked off and used independently of one another.

If you haven't heard about the StencilGirl® StencilClub yet, you can find out about it HERE. Each month there is an exclusive artist designed stencil release, along with several other benefits that are available only to club members.

I wanted to create an "anchor point" to begin building my page from. I chose a contrasting colour of Distress Oxide (Picked Raspberry) and the 9x12" stencil from the set. The pattern I was focused on was the long row of soft edge squares, which I added near to the central horizontal line of my page by sponging ink through the stencil. I also added a small amount of the same pattern along the top and bottom edges of my page.

Once I had the pink stencilling in place, I reached for another stencil from the "Shaw-Apter Mash Up" set - this time it was the 4x4" stencil with the rows of crossmarks. I masked off the largest set and used Faded Jeans Distress Oxide; once again applied by sponging through the stencil. I moved it repeatedly around the page, in some places layering the pattern over the top of itself.

With plenty of marks made on my background, it was now time to add some texture! As the marks I had already added were quite structured, I wanted to use a stencil over the top that had a very organic shape. I chose the 9x12" Wildflower Bouquet stencil designed by Wendy Brightbill. I applied Colour Blast Colour Paste (Apple of My Eye) through the stencil using a palette knife. I did not use the design in its entirety; instead I stencilled the top third of the design, before moving it and stencilling a section from the bottom.

After drying off the green paste with a heat tool, I then went back to add some flower details to my foliage. I used Fire Engine Colour Paste this time, in conjunction with Rose Bouquet stencil. I used washi tape to mask off the largest rose in the centre of the stencil then added three large roses to my page. I then repeated the process with one of the smaller roses from the stencil, adding two to the page before again drying with a heat tool.

With my background largely complete, it was now time to add some other layers to my page. I used patterned papers from the Cocoa Vanilla Studio 'Happiness' collection - first creating a layered mat for my photo to sit on, and then adding a couple of small torn pieces to the top and bottom of the page. I also fussy cut some floral pieces that I tucked in around the edges of the photo mat along with some matching floral die cuts. I topped the papers with some frayed gauze to add soft texture, before sticking the photo down on top.

To add a few extra pops of interest to my page I decided to add a few circles with x's from the 6x6" stencil from the StencilClub "Shaw-Apter Mash Up" set. I masked off a few circles and used Stormy Sky Distress Oxide with a sponge.

To finish off my page I added some Cocoa Vanilla Studio stickers; a die cut title and a fussy cut butterfly.

Time and patience really does pay off - just look how much depth and vibrancy this piece has because of the care that has gone into creating layers with contrasting colours, shapes and textures.

I am so happy with this piece - bright colours, flowers, and treasured memories of special friends - what's not to love?

Thanks for stopping by so I could share this with you. Until next time, happy scrapping! X

Whole Lotta Lovely | Scrap the Girls September Challenge

Hi everyone!

Popping in with another design team layout to share today, this time for Scrap the Girls. The September challenge is called "Whatever You Want It To Be"; which happens to be a fun sketch designed by me. I kept the sketch pretty simple, making it easily open to interpretation; and I am looking forward to seeing what people do. The only rule you need to remember is "Girls Only", other than that, have fun with it!

Here is my take on the sketch... 

I started this one with an abstract style watercolour background, which I created using my (cheap) Micador watercolour paints. I simply applied the colours randomly around the page, layering them until I was happy.

I had two black and white photos of my daughter that I was using on this page; which is the reason I was able to use a rainbow of paints as I didn't have to worry about colour matching to the photos.

I layered a couple of pieces from a random ephemera pack (it might have been a Reject Shop one?) behind my photos, including a tag I tied with a little twine. I also used a die cut flower and butterfly from the Cocoa Vanilla Studio 'Happiness' collection. (That Indigo coloured butterfly is my fave!)

Next to my photos I used the you're a whole lotta lovely foiled card for my title, which I cut from a Pink Paislee paper from the "Oh My Heart" collection. Behind it, and along the edge of my photos, I added more Cocoa Vanilla Studio die cut flowers and stickers; then layered a Cocoa Vanilla Studio flair button (from the 'Midnight' collection) on top. 

To finish off my page I added a scattering of enamel shapes and a little blue resin star.

Thanks so much for stopping by today so I could share this with you. I hope you will play along with our challenge this month. We've got Charms Creations sponsoring for our Australian winner, and Scrap Accent for our international winner. 

Until next time, happy scrapping! X

Like a Queen - Art Journal Page | Viva Las VegaStamps

Hi everyone! Popping in today with my latest Viva Las VegaStamps design team project with you. Today I am sharing a whimsical style art journal page that I created on some loose leaf black A4 cardstock. I don't often create on dark backgrounds, but I felt like a change of pace.

I started by creating my background using Dylusions acrylic paints and the Crazy Quilts Calm and Frenzy stencil from StencilGirl using a technique inspired by my friend Lisa Oxley. I stamped over the top of the paint using black ink with the Wildflowers Silhouette stamp; and then around my page using the Sky of Stars Background with a Distress Oxide. 

I created my "whimsical being" using a variety of stamped pieces put together - Striped Leggings; Dressform; Set of Wings; Cat Mermaid. I simply stamped, cut, coloured and pieced.

The border was stamped also using a Distress Oxide with the Doodle Frame stamp and I used the Treat Me Exactly Queen phrase stamp to add text to my page.

I used Distress Oxides again with the Beautiful Lily and Leaves and 3 Extra Leaves stamps to add extra detail over my background (love how these look over a black background!); and added gold splatters using a Heidi Swapp Color Shine spray. 

You can see how I put this page together in my process video on my YouTube channel:

Thanks for stopping by so I could share this with you, I hope I have inspired you to get inky too! X

VLVS stamps used:

- Sky of Stars Background

- Wildflowers Silhouette

- Leaves and 3 Extra Leaves

- Beautiful Lily

- Striped Leggings

- Dressform

- Set of Wings

- Cat Mermaid

- Treat Me Exactly Queen

- Doodle Frame