Kraft+ DT September 2018 -

Hello again Scrappy Friends, welcome; today I'm sharing a DT post for 

Kraft+

The challenge this month is to use Office Supplies on your project.

When I went hunting, I discovered lots of Office Supplies floating around my craft room. 

The page is made entirely from scraps, 
apart from the Kraft of course!   So just when I thought I should ditch all the little pieces of left over paper, I found a good use for them and I have another excuse not to tidy my room!

 I've used a hole punch, ring eyelet, string, stick it notes, ( I made a tag with them), paper clip, emoticon pins, star stickers and a fold back clip.

The sketch I used is by the amazingly talented sketch designer 

Laura Whitaker.   Thank you Laura.

I enjoy reading your comments and appreciate you leaving them.  Thank you.

If this is your first visit to my blog - welcome, I hope you found something to inspire you.   New followers are very welcome, just click on the Follow me on Bloglovin' button.

Scrap the Boys DT September -

Hello Scrappy Friends, welcome back to my blog today 
where I'm sharing a DT layout for

Scrap the Boys

 The challenge is to to scrap about about a Baby Boy.
Don't you just love this image?

The photo reminded me of a photo I have of my Father which is almost a hundred years old and I chose to work with it in a vintage style.

Rather than use blues or greens, I went with soft Autumn colours, as they reminded me of some of the colours often used in the Art Deco period.

I found a embroidery pattern on pinterest and adapted it a bit to flow around the photo.  I stitched it all with DMC embroidery thread.

The die cut frame is from Spellbinders and the paper is so old, that it doesn't even have a manufacturers name on it.

The Penny Farthing bike chipboard is from Scrapmatts, as is the title.

I hope you will feel inspired to play along and be eligible for a prize.

I appreciate your kind comments and so enjoy reading them.  Thank you.

AALL & Create August 2018 - A couple of cards

Welcome back to the Scrap Matrix challenge where this month

we are using Stamps and Stencils from AALL Create.

There is a huge range of products from this company; why not check out what the rest of the team have done with them?

My desk was in chaos after using lots of stamps and stencils, 

so I thought I'd whip up a couple of cards before I cleaned up.

I love this set of stamps; AALL & Create #7; they look kind of cool and funky, just right for a the hipsters in your life!

Using smooth white yardstick, I stamped the images and then smooshed them with Tim Holtz Oxide Inks, using the cling wrap method.

I used to dislike purple, but since using Tim Holtz Distress Oxides, I've come to use it by choice - Yikes!  I think it looks gorgeous with this AALL & Create Stamp #43, designed by Fiona Paltridge.

This stamp is temporarily out of stock at Scrap Matrix, but there are two others by Fiona which are also lovely. 

AALL & Create # 44

AALL & Create # 42

Thanks for calling in today, I hope you find something to inspire your creativity. We'd love to have you play along and perhaps win a prize or a Guest Designer spot, from the uber generous 
Vicki Christensen at Scrap Matrix

Scrap Matrix DT AALL & Create - Helen's 2nd share - Memories

Welcome back to the Scrap Matrix challenge where for the whole of August we are using Stamps and Stencils from AALL & Create.

If you have some AALL & Create products in your stash; or you are in the mood for a splurge on stamps and stencils, come & join us. 


 We're a friendly lot and will make you feel very welcome.  You don't need a blog, just link your work into the album on the 
Scrap Matrix album on Facebook.

These products are super versatile, as they contain lots of images and stencil shapes in each pack,  i.e. lots of bang for your buck! 
I may have one or two of these tucked away for a rainy day.

For the base of my layout, I chose one of the new papers from 7 Dots Studio, Garden Party Collection, "Born".  It was perfect for photos of my little Grand Girl planting up a frame of Cacti. I covered the whole page with clear gesso, as I wanted to add mixed media.

I fussy cut some of the flowers from another sheet of 7 Dots Studio, Garden Party collection, "Dreamy". I added some cacti from my own photo collection of flowers and foliage which I also fussy cut.

Playing around with placement of the fussy cut elements

and allowing room to add some texture paste.

To create a soft frame, I used texture paste through a stencil, 

AALL & Create #9.

Using the same stencil and some Tim Holtz Oxide inks, I added some detail to the bottom right corner and stamped a butterfly from the AALL & Create stamp set #47. I didn't have quite the right shade of Oxides, so I blended a few different colours; Peeled paint, Twisted citron, Iced spruce, Lucky Clover and Frayed Burlap. I think it worked, although I hear there's another 12 colours to be had.  

Not that I'm looking! 

With the AALL & Create stamp set #47, I stamped, fussy cut and coloured a Bee to hover among the foliage.

The circle and dot stamps are from AALL & Create Stamp set #10.

I tried to stamp directly onto the page and managed to stamp one of the quotes upside down!  Arrgh!  Hmmm!  Why do I tell you about all of my bloopers?   Perhaps to explain, that there is often a way to rescue the page rather than toss is in the bin, which I would have done in the earlier days.   So I painted some watered down white gesso over the mess; stamped on tissue paper and added the tissue over the mistakes with Gel medium. 

A bit more stamping from AALL & Create Stamp set #10.

I have tried writing directly onto a gessoed background before and it seems to bleed into the paper, so I typed my journalling into text boxes, printed them onto card stock, cut them out and splashed some ink onto them to help them blend into the background.

Thanks for calling in today, I hope you find something to inspire your creativity. We'd love to have you play along and perhaps win a prize or a Guest Designer spot, from the uber generous 
Vicki Christensen at Scrap Matrix

Products from Scrap Matrix:-

Finnabair clear gesso

Liquitex white gesso

7 Dots Garden Party "Born"

7 Dots Garden Party "Dreamy"

AALL & Create Stamp #47

AALL & Create stamp # 10 ( similar to this one)

AALL & Create stamp # 43 (Similar to this one)

AALL & Create Stencil #9 - not currently in stock, but there's lots of others to choose from

Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks

Tim Holtz archival ink

Tim Holtz texture paste

Finnabair soft matte gel

Other products:

Chipboard title from Scrapmatts

Scrap Matrix August challenge - AALL create, stamps and stencils, Dream Big.

Welcome back to the Scrap Matrix challenge where for the whole of August, we are challenging you to dust off your Stamps and Stencils from AALL & CREATE and join in the fun.

There is a huge range of products from this company. Why not check out what the rest of the team have done with them.

I chose one of the new papers from 7 Dots as my background and gave it a coat of clear gesso before using a stencil down the left side.

I masked off part of the stencil with post it notes, as I wanted
 just a strip of letters along the edge and the post it notes 
helped me to get a crisp result.

By stamping onto tissue paper, I was able to move the images around on the page, until I was happy with placement.  This particular stamp reminded me of a reptile image - just perfect to highlight my brave little Snake Girl!

I used Art Basics soft matte gel, to adhere the tissue to the paper.

Three stamps were just not enough, so I added a few more.  The Butterfly, bee and insect all remind me of this little kidlet, she flits here and there, always on the go and  eager for new experiences.

The "Dream big, fly high" quote, was perfect for her, 
as she's eager to travel and see the world.

I used some pencils from my stash to add colour to the images, 
but if you don't have any, you can find a similar product, by Prima, in the Scrap Matrix store.

Thanks for calling in today, I hope you find time to play along, 
just add your entry to the Scrap Matrix Shares page in the corresponding folder; don't forget to let us know what Scrap Matrix products you used and what inspired you.  You could be in the running for a $30.00 gift voucher and perhaps a Guest Design Team spot down the track.

Scrap Matrix products used:

AALL & CREATE stamp #47

AALL & CREATE stamp #37

AALL & CREATE stencil # 18

7 Dots Studio Garden Party collection, "Knotty"

Tim Holtz Archival ink

Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Inks, Peeled Paint & Fossilized Amber

Finnabair Clear Gesso

7 Dots Studio - Elements, Lost and Found

From my stash:

Coloured pencils - similar to these in the store

Prima watercolor pencils