A scrapbook page

This page was inspired by the Simple Recipe Prompt on UKScrappers that suggested using pink, brown and grey. Not a colour scheme I would normally use but as it was to use up scraps and I am determined to scrap more this year I gave it a go. I began with the hot pink cardstock background and a grey strip down the side from a TH paper pack. I found the chocolate birds on scrap paper (don't know who made it) and also cut some birds out of that for the birds at the top.

I had covered the birds at the top in glossy accents but didn't like it so swiped with white paint. The flowers were old flowers that I had no idea what to do with and I used some brown ribbon and lace to make the other flower. The journalling describes our middle daughter at a younger age when she was either very good or...

For my birthday my lovely children bought me some metal, metal tools and tape to feed my latest obsession with metal and it came with some mini stamps too...

Gothic Arch Challenge

This is my entry for the challenge at the Gothic Arch Challenge blog here. The theme is metallic fever and I have made a Gothic Arch Wall Hanging. After looking around the web at images or original Gothic Arches and finding a template on the Gothic Arch site I traced the template onto some metal and then cut  it out. I wanted a circular shape at the top so after some trial and error I traced and cut out the shape I wanted. I used Pebble, Sunshine Yellow and Red Pepper alcohol ink on the metal.

I then created 3 card arches each a little bigger than the next. I used barn door and wild honey distress inks around the edges and then randomly stamped a paper artsy hot pick flower.

I found some images of butterflies on Graphic Fairy and cut them out and coloured with the colours above and spiced marmalade and then mounted them one on top of the other with pads to give some depth. I coloured a dragon fly charm with inks and stamped more butterflies from Tim Holtz and Paper Artsy onto the Graphic Fairy images. I then added the large butterfly at the front of the arch and gave it some metal feelers and two red bling eyes.

Finally I used some Tiny Alphabets from prima to create the title and added an eyelet and chain.

Wall hanging

I am setting a monthly challenge on UKStampers here. The challenge for this month open until 11th of February is to..."Use Metal, Material from old clothes, tissue and stamps to create a wall hanging. As is it January and it's a long time until payday you can't buy anything new - existing stash only."This is what I began with.

I always have a huge amount of jotters to carry to an from school and I had been using an M&S canvas bag featuring twiggy until it developed a huge hole in the bottom. I have used on side of the bag to form the top of my inking apron (more of that another day) and decided to use a piece of this and because it is such an iconic face to to use the Face but the mouth was a victim of the bag breaking. I had recieved an Art From the Heart parcel recently so used the red tissue paper from that to recreate her hair with texture and give her a more modern haircut.

I then decided to paint all over it with gesso as I wanted to change the colour...

As part of my Christmas money spending I had bought the Paper Artsy Grunge flower die and the Hot Pick HPXT02, partly because at some time in the past I had bought some metal and had no idea what to with it. I later discovered I should have brought tape and stuff too but improvised.

I cut out out the flowers and stamped them with purple stazon and then decided I wanted to add alcohol inks but forgot about mixing stazon and inks. The flowers looked great but I removed most of the stamping. This is one of the flowers I made using the silver but in the end decided copper tones would  work better. Daughter wants this as a brooch.

I then took Claudine Helmuths dotty stamp from the domestic set and stamped a blue Dylusion background that I highlighted with black posca pen. I applied pink and purple dylusions to the hair with my fingers and then painted on some very scary eyes. I wanted to change the face and make her something else which she certainly is - a little scary I think. Daughter came in and asked if she could have the hanging for her room as seems to be delighted with it. Here is the bronze flower.

I punched holes and set eyelets with the cropodile and then used some of the idealogy chain I won for entering a Tim Challenge on UKstampers. If you would like to enter the challenge (which is monthly) please pop over to UKStampers, it is just for fun and no prizes but already some of the pieces in the gallery are fab.

More ribbon and metal - Rule 3 Smile whatever the weather

Back to that mini book - the acrylic is really challenging me as I am trying to find ways to respond to Shimelle's class prompts and get the album to work. Everything I read in the past suggested this type of album had to be planned like a military operation and when I am in my happy crafting place planning and organising is the last thing I want to do. Far to much planning, organising and forward thinking at work. Crafting is my spontaneous response. I had found two pics of Lens Guy and me taken about a year apart. One was taken on the ferry to spain last summer when it was hot, the sun was setting and there was that romantic glow to the whole thing. The other was taken the year before on a very wet and dreach day on Lake Windemere. We had paid to go on the ferry trip down the lake and we were determined to sit outside whatever the weather. We were absolutely soaked through but still had that feeling of closeness and romance. Therefore Rule 3 is... Smile whatever the weather.
The pics below show a bit more detail. The circular ribbon mounts I made the other day by wrapping and sticking ribbon onto chipboard. The heart came from the DCWV Hippie Chic set. The ribbon was found in eldest daughter's stash box and I used metal staples to gather it. This was a way to still keep that translucent feel to the page on both sides. The border came about as the other side of page was my paper scraps border so the ideal solution was to use the scraps of ribbon left over from embellishments. I roughly sewed the ribbons to the back of the orange ribbon and stuck down. The paper was another scrap and I just tore and teased the edges a little more.

First prompt from class - use up old metal stash

Once I read the prompt I rooted around my stuff and found quite a bit of metal... as you can see. I also found a Papermania acrylic album I had bought ages ago and never knew what to with. It's so small - only 16 cm square so I am not sure how I will get on limiting myself to that size.
Quite a metal brad and eyelet collection came to light plus bits and pieces of stuff including the other butterfly clip from old shoes. It was suggested we used up a paper set too so I am using an 8 x 8 cardstock pad from DCWV called Hippie Chic which is very vibrant!!! I loved it at time I bought it and then was a little afraid to use such an in your face set of paper. But it does seem quite spring like and I do have some alphabet and stickers too in that range.

I think the bracelet has to be my worst idea ever. I found it in my box of random bits and bobs and decided I could make it into a delicate "Life" word. It was hellish to do and then I struggled to stick it to page. I did manage to hook it round the brads and Lens Guy's lent his fingers to hold bits on the page. The journalling describes the fact that spring has sprung and the page is for Shimelle's class. I went over the white card back with oil pastels and smudged with my fingers. I think I used 18 brads and 2 eyelets on page, plus punched flowers, butterfly paper, metal shoe embellishment and that bracelet... which I also had to paint a deeper purple with acrylic paint as it did not stand out. The white painty effect on butterfly paper  looks okay but was a result of my first attempt at sticking down word life going horribly wrong...

The finished page with a sheet of DCWV Hippy Chic cardstock behind which will be another page. Note sure what is going there yet... Close up of that pesky word and the most brads I have ever used on a layout.