Going Wild at More Than Words

Welcome back! The word to use for the Mini Challenge at More Than Words this month is WILD! Cool!

I made a postcard using a photo transfer.

Photo transfers always soften the image a lot, but I love the way the photo has taken on a surreal, misty look. I added lots of grungy stitching around the photo and there's paint, paper, stamping and washi tape along the edges.

You only have one week to join in the challenge so be quick! You can check out the details here.

Happy scrappin'!


Heather

Deep Inside the Blue Cave

Hello again.

Have you seen the challenge board over at Mixed Media & Art? OMG - it's gorgeous! That delicious blue and gorgeous rusty colours really caught my eye. And then I realised I had the perfect photos for it.

Here's what I made:

This is what the challenge board looks like:

The Blue Cave, in Kastellorizo, in Greece, was simply sensaional! I haven't tweaked this photo, except to increase the brighness because it was a little dark. I was in a cave after all! That really is the colour of the water and it reflects onto the cave walls turning them blue as well. There aren't enough superlatives to describe the almost luminous colours. Here's another photo without people in it so you can see what I mean.

I used heaps of elements from the challenge board. I used the sketch and that stunning, rich blue of course. Because my photo and background were both so blue, I needed other colours to contrast against it. I love the rusty copper and gold colours in the challenge board photos so I ran with those. I used Dusty Attic chipboard leaves and painted them with copper and gold Jo Sonya's paints.

I added a number of metallic elements, painting them all in copper and gold.

To make the second word in my title, I coloured chippe alphas with Gelatos and coated them with Clear Gloss Varnish.

I added some book paper behind my photo, taking my cue from the top photo in the challenge board. I love book paper!

I bought some Wood Wool the other day and included it on this layout. It's looks like fine string but I think it's made from shreds of wood. I coloured it with sprays and tucked it under and around my leaves. It 's really messy stuff. I ended up with it all over my scrap room!

I also added beads in among the elements. One thing I liked about the Wood Wool was that it was strong enough to support beads so I added some onto the actual strands for more depth and for a bubbly effect. (If you look closely at the photo below you will see them.)

I had fun making the circular frame. I used a chippe frame as a base and distressed it with inks, paints, book paper and Metallic Melts. I then wrapped a coated wire around it and painted the wire with copper paint. I added flowers, metallic shapes and beads to finish it off.

If you want to join in the challenge there's still heaps of time. You can find all the details here.


Happy scrappin'!

Heather

2 Cute!

Hi there!

When I first saw the image for this month's challenge at CSI, I immediately thought, "Ooohh, those are my kind of colours!" The closer I looked at the details, the more I liked it. I got very inspired and hit the scrap desk!

Here's what I came up with:

Isn't this little donkey the cutest thing you've ever seen?

In case you haven't seen it, here's the CSI challenge. You can find all the details here.

I used many items from the Evidence List:

• The colour scheme
• A pack animal (I didn't have a photo of an alpaca but I figured this donkey is pretty close!)
• Clouds
• Textured paper (the strip along the bottom is corrugated cardboard)
• Circles
• Zig-zag stitching
• Tiny brads
• Stamps
• Decorative border

From the Testimony I chose:

• Document a memory about an animal
• Journal directly on the background

I couldn't find any alphas in my stash that were the right size and colour so I cut them from co-ordinating paper. I added some stamping to the background. I didn't want a strong black colour because I didn't want to draw attention away from the soft, pastel colours, so I used an older, drier ink pad which worked perfectly.

There is heaps of messy, zigzag stitching around my photo and the page.

I added tiny brads and stamped, stitched circles (with more zigzags!).

I added a little cluster with my journaling. The date is up near the photo.

I love the giant number 2. It's a Heidi Swapp one. I've stencilled and splashed on my background with Dusty Attic paints. The text stamp is from Denim Tampons.

That was heaps of fun! Thanks for looking.

Happy scrappin'!

Heather

In Touch With Nature

Hi there!

Have you seen the new challenge at More Than Words yet? The challenge is to be inspired by the word 'Nature' and to use an animal image or print on your layout, canvas, art journal page or planner page. Easy!

I was inspired by the bright and bold colours on the challenge board and came up with this:

I was also inspired by the design I saw on a t-shirt in a surf shop.

I first painted my bright colours onto a sheet of white cardstock. These are mostly Dylusions sprays.

I then took a second sheet of white cardstock and cut out the frame so the colours showed through from underneath. I handpainted the title, layered it on the colours and cut it out. I then added my embellishments in colours that co-ordinated with the lines of colours underneath. I'm not sure if this description makes sense so I'll just show you in photos!

Red embellishments on the red layer of colour.

The green layer merging into the blue layer.....

....... and merging into the purple layer.

There's lots of stitching on this - irregular black stitching around the photos and white stitching around the outside frame.

This walk was amazing - butterflies and gorgeous flowers were everywhere!

I hope you can join in the challenge this month. You can find the details here.

Happy scrappin'!


Heather

Laugh Out Loud!

Welcome back!

I have a layout to share for Kraft+. The challenge is to use something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. Here's what I came up with:

Something old: Almost everything!
Something new: the kraft cardstock and the lemur.
Something borrowed: my mum gave me a bunch of cotton that came off her overlocker. It was all bunched up together so I pulled out the colours I wanted and used them on my page.
Something blue: papers, paint, embellies and title.

Now, about the lemur.... on the sketch for last montth's challenge was tiny writing that said "add a letter". It was so tiny that someone thought it said "add a lemur". The Kraft + girls are a really fun bunch so this idea took off and some of us added lemurs to our page. I actually think they're really cute and a worthwhile adition to any work!

I just had to make this page even though the photos are terrible. We got together with a group of friends and had the BEST night! We started early and finished late and had sore tummies from laughing.

The smiley face badge was so appropriate. I used a Dusty Attic stencil and paints to create the burst of hearts behind the photos.

Some of the embellishments are made from scrap papers. Others are from some old collections which I still love.

I downloaded my lemur from the net. He's so cute!

I hope you can join us at Kraft+ this month. You can find all the details here.

Happy scrappin'!


Heather