A Dusty Attic/Scrappy Chat Designs challenge

Hi all,

Well the wintry weather has just arrived here and I don't like it already! And we have about six long months to go....

On a brighter note, I've had a lot of fun using my latest kit from Scrappy Chat Designs as the base for this month's sketch challenge at The Dusty Attic.

Firstly, here's the fabulous sketch from Nadia. For once I managed to stick to it fairly closely! I'm a shocker for getting sidetracked from sketches and then my final layout looks nothing like the sketch!

And here's my layout:

I was trying to take passport photos of Connor at home. I've done it before and the ones of my daughter worked this time but not the ones of Connor. The lady at the post office told me that his jawline wasn't defined enough! I should have gone to another post office....

The cardstock, stamps (I love these!), Tinby Metallic Melts, Pink Paislee paper and Izink were all from the March kit from Scrappy Chat Designs. How cool are these products!

The Dusty Attic chipboards are:

• Vintage Camera small - DA1072
• Geometric Corners - DA1030
• Chevron Panel small - DA1068
• Around the World - DA1036 (I just used part of the edges from this)
• Bookman ABC Set - DA0666
• Mini ABC Set upper - DA0861
• Alabaster Dusty in Colour Paint - DA0902
• Dusty in Colour Clear Gloss Varnish - DA0900

To make the background, I first swished around some Alabaster paint then applied some Gelatos over the top. I mixed some Izink with water in a spray bottle but there wasn't much in the container and it splattered rather than sprayed. I love this effect. I then used a stencil I had recently bought and added some texture with texture paste.

I framed the photos with scraps left over from when I cut up an Around the World Chippie for another project. The chevron strip on the right side under the photos is the negative section left over from when I took out the chevrons for the left hand side. I think these 'waste' strips make awesome embellishments! Using Dusty Attic paints and Tinby Metallic Melts, I faded the colours of the chevrons from blue through to white.

Isn't that camera chippie amazing! I love the detail on it.

I also used the Metallic Melts to colour the Geometric Corners and used blue and black inks with those fantastic Kaisercraft stamps to add more activity to the background.

I must confess, I had a near disaster with that title! I had painted it with the Izink and wondered how it would react with Dusty Attic's Clear Crackle Varnish. I hadn't used the crackle for a while and the nozzle had blocked so I gave it a good squeeze. (You can see what's coming can't you?). SPLAT! The lid blew off and crackle flew onto my walls,  my window and my set of drawers! After my initial panic I soon realised that it all cleaned up with just a cloth and water. Phew! Meanwhile, a large blob had fallen onto the title so I just kid of smudged it around a bit. It tended to remove the colour in the Izink (any water-based product does) but it did manage to crackle it and I love the final result!

Happy scrappin'!

Heather