Tuesday 28 April 2015

A CSI Investigation

Hi!

The Dusty Attic Design team girls were asked to be guest detectives over at Color, Stories, Inspiration (CSI). How exciting! I must confess, I've never entered a CSI challenge before - I always thought it looked too complicated! Of course, once I looked at it properly, it wasn't that hard at all.

My evidence is circles and a solid background. I also used paint on all my chippies.
My testimony is that my journaling is in something surprising.

Here's my layout:


These colours seem very retro to me so I wanted to use something retro-ish in the photo. I found this amazing clock while we were on a weekend away and it was perfect.

I added heaps of numbers to the page for a bit of fun and a play on the numbers on the clock.

And here's where I hid my journaling:





I printed two copies of the photo and cut one of the clocks out leaving a small tab on the left side. I cut a slot in the photo underneath and slid the tab through to form a hinge. I added a small 'open' tab to the other side. I figured that once this is in an album, nobody will know to open the photo unless I tell them to!

It's been a long time since I used a plain piece of cardstock for a background and didn't cover it with paint! This feels kinda weird but I still like the end result!

I also made some grungy 'lollypop' flowers.



I hope you can join in at CSI. It's fun!

Happy scrappin'!


Heather

Saturday 25 April 2015

Off The Rails in April

Hi there!

I'm back today with a layout I made using the seriously awesome April mood board for Off The Rails. Or should I say 'mood boards' as there were two to choose from!

Here they are:



I chose to use the first one as I loved the silver glitter with the lime green. Here's what I made:




To make the background, I first took a sheet of Webster's Pages Hall Pass 'Field Goal' paper and applied gesso through a Crafter's Workshop stencil:




I then rubbed a Gelato through another stencil, first by applying it directly to the stencil, then by rubbing it in further with my finger:




I then added some stamping - I used some frame stamps and some Kaisercraft 'Film Edges' stamps:




This is what it looked like when I had finished the background:




I then added a strip of chipboard chevrons from The Dusty Attic which I painted white and staggered behind my photo. I added some flowers, leaves and chevrons that were fussy-cut from Webster's Pages Beautiful Chic 'In Bloom' paper plus some silver twine:




The title and triangles are both from The Dusty Attic and I coated them with Beck BT's Tinby Designs Metallic Melts. I love the textural, sparkly finish on these:



 Happy scrappin'!

Heather McMahon

Monday 20 April 2015

Class Layouts at escape2create

Hello there!

I thought I'd pop in and share the layouts that I made in classes at the fabulous escape2create retreat last month.

There were four wonderful tutors at the retreat and I enrolled for all the classes. I loved the range of styles the teachers had.

I should point out that although I attended each class, I didn't necessarily follow the instructions to the letter. I believe that classes should be about learning techniques and that what you do with those techniques is totally up to you. So what you see here is my version of the class, which may or may not be the same as what was taught!

My fave layout that I produced was this one taught by the uber-talented Fiona Paltridge. I adore Fiona's work. I'm privileged to be on two Design Teams with her and am a huge fan.

Fiona's bright and bubbly personality shone through her class. Her beat-box demo has to be seen to be believed!


I almost never use titles like 'Dream' because I just think they're wishy-washy, but this one worked so perfectly I just had to break my own rule! Fiona had no title on her layout, leaving that up to us.

A closie of the scrumptious layers:



Chantalle McDaniel taught a cool mini-album-in-a-layout technique. All that measuring took me a bit out of my comfort zone but if you don't try, you don't learn! I love the wooden triangles in this kit and we learnt a very cool technique to make those pink puffy triangles.



Leanne Allinson is a scrapper that I have admired for a long time. Her style is nothing like mine, yet I love what she creates. Her style is incredibly clean and she always scraps in A4 size. To top it off, she is the loveliest lady you would ever want to meet.

Leanne taught three layouts in the one class! I managed to get two done before other projects dragged me away. Both of these photos have been in my pile of pics to scrap for ages. The first is of a favourite teacher when my son was little and the second is a fave photo of three wonderful Queensland scrappers. I took this photo at another retreat a couple of years ago!



And last, but by no means least, was the class I was most excited to participate in. I am a huge fan of Kim Price's work - she's up there with my most fave scrappers in the world. Kim turned out to be a lovely, down-to-earth lady with a great sense of humour. (I haven't decided what to do with the shower-cap photo yet Kim!) I also loved the way she patiently taught us all how to make the background then pretty much told us we could make what she designed with it or whatever we wanted!


My title was really long so I made most of it using white letters on a white background so it didn't dominate the page.



Not only did we have four fabulous classes but each kit was so packed with goodies that I was worried I'd go over my weight limits for the flights home!

All in all, it was an amazing weekend full of fun, laughter and friendship. Oh - and there was scrapping too!


Happy scrappin'!

Heather

Wednesday 15 April 2015

Scrapping in South Australia

Hello again. I hope you've been having a great April! I have a layout to share that I made using the April Dusty Attic Inspiration Board. Aren't the colours on this beautiful?



Here's what I made. I used the colours as my inspiration plus the seaside location.



I took this photo of some of my table mates at the escape2create retreat in South Australia last month. What a blast we had! I was very inspired by the work of Liz Durdin and had a play with her amazing acrylic inks.

Because I created such a busy background, I kept most of the chippies either white or natural. The chevron piece behind my photo is cut from the large chevron panel. I have used this same panel many times - I love these strips!


I painted the lighthouse and seagull white. I took a 'sunrays' page pebble, painted it white then carefully inked the raised parts with yellow ink. I then placed this behind the light on the lighthouse to create the effect of the shining light. This circle helps to balance the 'smile' flair and the purple circle on the far right.


I left the flying seagulls natural to ensure they stood out against the white background. Sometimes simple is best!



Dusty Attic products I used are:

Chevron Panel large DA1066

Light Houses #2

Seagulls

mini Seagulls DA1176

Page Pebbles #6 DA1111



Happy scrappin'!


Heather 







Saturday 11 April 2015

Dusting off the Notebooks

Hi there!

I have a special project to share today - it's special because I made these to be given to good friends. I altered hardcover notebooks. I sure hope they like them!


I went a bit crazy with the chipboard on these and I love the result! I first gessoed all the chipboard then I applied sprays, paints, inks and Beck BT's Tinby Designs Metallic Melts. I layered the chippies up, using shapes that complement each other.

The background and the back page are made with gesso and sprays. The sprays remained tacky on top of the gesso so I gave everything a light coat of matt sealer. This also should help protect the fine chippies.


And a close-up:


By using a range of products on the chippies I was able to get that distressed, shabby look.






The Dusty Attic products I used on the blue book are:

Dusty in Colour Oceania DA 0912

Vine frames #1 DA1191

Swirly Vine #4 small

Mini Alarm Clocks DA 1063 

Vintage keys DA0392

Flutterbies #1 DA 0389

Elegant Swirl #13 DA 1133

The chippies I used on the pink book are:

Dusty in Colour Dusty Pink DA 0907

Vine Frames #1 DA 1191 (vine and waste)

Flutterbies #1 DA 0389

Elegant Swirl # 13 DA 1133

Ornate Crosses DA 1083

Hinges DA 0509


I hope you enjoyed this. Maybe you could make a Dusty gift for someone!



Happy scrappin'!

Heather