2 Days in a Row (Playing Catch Up)

Okay, since I was having trouble with my blog for a few weeks there, I am now ahead on projects and behind on blogging.  I did this next layout for the Blue Fern Studios Sketch Challenge.  You can view the sketch here.  (Sorry, still having trouble linking some pictures.)  I found this awesome photo while tooling around facebook one day.  This is a picture of my lovely friend Denise's step daughter.  As soon as I saw the picture, I downloaded and tucked it away for a rainy day.  Enter the Scraps of Darkness November kit: "Serenade".  I loved the mix of paper, elements, and colors in this kit.  For this layout I used some BFS paper, Bo Bunny Paper, and the BFS chipboard word "adore".

Here is the finished product:

 

I started with some of the Blue Fern Studios paper included in the kit for the background, then layered a mixture of Blue Fern and Bo Bunny paper.  I also used some of the Bo Bunny Noteworthy elements (Rose Cafe) that came with the kit.  My favorite part about this photo (outside of the sheer beauty of the main subject) was the colors and the natural earthy feel of the photo.  The papers from BFS (Sanctuary Collection, I believe) really gave me the same vibe.  This is also the VERY FIRST time I have done a layout using the same photo twice.  Pure accident this time as the original printout came landscape and wanted  a portrait printout.  No harm, no foul though because I really enjoyed using the same picture twice.

 

Below you can see some of my flower cluster and layering including a paper doily and some ribbon (included in the kit).  The yellow roses came with the kit, but the yellow fabric flower and the blue roses came from that magical flower drawer hoard that I speak of frequently. 

 

Also in the picture above you can see some of the random glittering and inking that I did.

 

To alter the chipboard piece, I covered it in gesso then hosed it down with Heidi Swapp Color Shine Mist in Navy.  I didn't like the finished look of it (and knew I was also going to use glitter) so I toned the Color Shine down with a little navy acrylic paint as well.  Some Distress Glitter in Scattered Straw later and I was very satisfied with the chipboard's final look. 

 

Below you can see some of the great layers.  I actually inked the entire "news print" layer with Tim Holtz Distress ink in Vintage Photo so that the layer would be a little more muted and blend into the background better.  You can also see one of my random sequins in the photo!  :)

 

I had an absolute blast working on this layout.  Very rarely am I satisfied with a layout after completing it.  Normally, I set my LOs to the side and wait a few days until I'm positive they aren't "missing" anything.  However, with this one, I was satisfied as soon as the glue was dry (okay, while the glue was still wet) and packaged it up to give to Denise right away! 

 

Thanks for looking! 

 

xoxo,

Mel

Finally Catching a Break

This past weekend I finally had a chance to settle in with my Scraps of Darkness and Scraps of Elegance December and January kits.  I was so excited before I left work Friday about getting home to work with these kits.  My awesome friend, Kara, had asked me what the colors in the kits were like, so I showed her via the above linked blog.  She then sent me a picture of the two of us that fit right in!  I have so far edited one to be more "cool" and the other "warm.  Here is what happened with the "cool" one and the SOD December Kit "Northern Lights":

 

I remembered the amazing swirl stencil that came with the October SOD kit...and given the inspiration board that the wonderfully talented ladies at SOD came up with I was inspired to do some "swirling" with this layout.  I laid the stencil (check this link out and click on the "mosaic swirl" stencil) down on my page and went to town with modeling paste.   While I waited for the paste to dry, I started mixing various colors of paint.  My original plan was going to include some gelatos color in this swirls, but ended up just using paint.  (You can see some of the gelatos "mess" to the far left side of the swirls).  I went with several shades of purple and blue with my paint so that I could slowly "swirl" them all in together.  Prior to receiving the kit from SOD, I already had a 6 x 6 paper pack that matched several of the papers included, so I picked out a couple of 6 x 6 papers that matched the background paper and my picture, distressed them, and inked the edges with some blue, purple, and grey ink.  I love getting to ink the edges of my papers with what I consider "different" hues since I'm usually inking to get a vintage look!  :)  Here is a close up of the edges of the papers:

 

 

Once the modeling paste had dried, I started painting my mosaic swirls in randomly.  I kept the colors in the same family so that there were no issues with mixing and matching as I went.  When I was done I used the rest of my mixed paint, along with some regular white paint, and splattered them across my background paper, and the smaller squares of paper from my 6 x 6 pack.  (*Disclaimer:  Safety first...I totally splattered paint right into my eye...*)  After I finished splattering with my paint, I took the stencil from the kit along with the awesome textured "snow" paste and made a few snowflakes on my background paper.  This is a little wishful thinking because even though the day Kara and I took this picture was super cold, we have had only a few (1 1/2) "dustings" of white stuff that we are pretty sure was snow, but couldn't verify before it disappeared here in Arkansas this year!  :(

 

 

For finishing touches, I applied some flowers from the kit, a few from my stash (including the sparkly blue butterfly up top), some ribbon (also from the kit), and the "smile" lettering at the bottom of the page.  A few random buttons and color coordinated brads later and I was completely done!  

Thanks for looking!  My apologies for this blog post taking so long to get here.  I'm having issues with uploading pictures directly to my work computer so I'm bouncing back and forth between my phone, my iPad, and my computer.  I'm sure I'll get things worked out fairly quickly!!  Till next time, friends!

Love,
Mel