Noughts and Crosses

Another off-the-page project!  **insert groan here**

OTP's really, really aren't my thing.  I try, and I *sometimes* enjoy the process - but for the most part I would rather spend my time creating a layout or a card.  So, I wasn't all that excited about the Advertising Design class at My Scrapbook Nook.  

"Your assignment is about PACKAGING, to alter an item found in your kitchen or make your own food packaging." I chose to alter some packaging. Less than a week ago I altered a drinking chocolate tub, so I had to think of something different. I think this is why I don't "do" OTP's - I get stuck at the ideas stage.

I started with this:



And finished with this:

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(I-spy more Basic Grey - Lime Rickey this time, not quite as old as some of the papers I have in my stash)

No complicated instructions needed for this one. If I can do it, anyone can! Cover the box, decorate as desired, add a protective coat of Mod Podge.  Paint the bottle lids, top with matching paper circles, coat with Mod Podge. Add alphas. Be sure to leave an opening on one end of the box so the tokens can be stored inside.

Here's another look, viewed from the other side.  The Pink Paislee letters say 'Noughts and Crosses' around three edges of the box, and on top I've added 'Tic Tac Toe' in the Cosmo Cricket 'Tiny Type' alphabet stickers.  The x's and o's are American Crafts foam 'Thickers':



In the end, the finished project made me smile and it wasn't such a bad assignment after all.

Art classes at Nook U

Over at My Scrapbook Nook, there were two 'art classes' as part of the Nook U challenge.

Art Class 110 focussed on doodling:


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I had fun doodling the flowers, leaves and borders:



And I made my own hand-drawn alphabets for the title:




The second Art Class was a bit more challenging for me, considering I still labour under a paint-shyness affliction... but it was super fun!  The criteria was to create anything, using at least two different paint media:

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I used GlimmerMist and acrylic paint - I'm sure this is the most paint I have EVER used on a layout. And I might have been channelling my inner Stacey Young (yeah, right...) because those thick chunky paint swirls are something I've never done before. I have had something similar filed in the back of my mind though, ever since seeing Stace's tutorial back in February.  It didn't turn out quite like I pictured it - first the lime green made a huge blob (oops) and then the acrylic paint took THREE days to dry because I started the layout on a rainy day.



Oh, I forgot to mention that the layout features another photograph of the Mel's adorable little man - he was such a willing subject!

Biology and Botany and Butterflies

Another class layout share...

This was my layout for the Biology 101 class over at My Scrapbook Nook:



This challenge was all about paper piecing. I used a free clipart butterfly image as my template, and used up more of my little scraps. The contents of my blue and green scraps folders have dwindled beautifully over the past week!



I love how my butterflies turned out but I think the layout is a little plain ~ I still might revamp it and add... something?


For the Botany 101 class, the challenge was to use at least two different kinds of flowers, in at least three different colours.  I kept it simple, but I still used five kinds of flowers (hand-crochet'd, handmade rolled roses, fussy-cut paper motifs, rub-ons, and a floral pin) and five colours (black, white, yellow, orange, teal):


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This one is my favourite of all the Nook U challenges so far.

Echo Park double

I created this layout for the English Literature 101 class assignment at My Scrapbook Nook, where the challenge was to use a 'storytelling' form of journalling:



A few days later, I realised that I had enough photographs and Echo Park papers to extend it and turn it into a double layout:



I love the first page, but if I'd planned a double to begin with, I think I would have designed it differently. Anyway... it's another few pages for our 2010 album, and I really love the papers!

More old Basic Grey and scraplifting

I'm enjoying the class assignments at  My Scrapbook Nook.  The most recent one was called 'Like, So Totally Popular' - not so much a class, but a challenge just the same.  The short story: Scraplift one of the Design Team.  The longer story: I was never one of the 'popular people' at school or elsewhere; I've always done my own thing, so I found this quite hard.  Whoever said that scraplifting was easy?  I really felt the pressure to make my 'lift' worthy of the original.

I chose this layout by Lady Grace and kept the basic elements. We were supposed to keep as close as possible to the original without using identical products, but I changed the colour scheme completely, and used up some more of my old stash, including more Basic Grey:

Musically Inclined

Just a quick layout share for today:



I've been working my way through a stack of older papers (mostly Basic Grey) in a huge effort to purge my old stash. This one has a base sheet of Basic Grey 'Black Tie - Fandango', which must be around five years old I think. ** Warning - future blog posts will contain more ancient Basic Grey papers **

I also used a sheet of Bella paper from the 2009 Christmas collection pack - it's not a range that appeals to me much, but the patterns are generic enough to use for any theme.

# The Studio ~ 19th Sept ~ Themed papers/non-themed layout
# ABC Challenges ~ D is for ~ Distressing

Off the page

I don't do many off-the-page projects, so the Home Decor 101 challenge at My Scrapbook Nook took me way out of my comfort zone. The requirement was to make a frame from a household item. This is what I did:


1 ~ I measured and cut three equal sized panels from the sides of a tub of Cadbury Drinking Chocolate (there's always a tub of this in my cupboard!) I had to use tin-snips because the cardboard was very thick and foil-lined.




2 ~ I painted a coat of gesso to prime the surface for painting.





3 ~ I added a thick coat of paint.

4 ~ (I forgot to take a photograph) I painted a coat of Mod Podge, and decoupaged a single layer of paper napkin all over, folding the edges inside the frame panels.

5 ~ I glued the photographs into place from the inside.

6 ~ I decorated the outside with flowers, buttons, rub-ons and pearls.

7 ~ I cut down an empty soda bottle to fit inside, filled it with decorative stones and added a candle, so it can be used as a centrepiece on our coffee table.

Autumn

We're having gorgeous spring weather in this part of the world, but in the northern hemisphere, it's autumn.

This week's Design Dollies Elements Challenge is all about autumn leaves.  Here's my contribution, with Kraft cardstock and lots of delicious orange offcuts.  The olive green flower was a RAK from Leone, but everything else was made by me: 



I'm also entering my layout at:
# Craft Your Days Away ~ Challenge #4 ~ Autumn doodles


And just a little card share too, using more orange stuff:



# Wee Memories ~ Challenge #23 - using orange and scallops
# Craftalicious ~ Challenge #8 ~ Thanks
# Flutterby Wednesday ~ #123 ~ Winged things

I used my new Banana Frog 'Sentimental Style' stamps for this card.

Ribbons!

I love using ribbons but I think I've been neglecting my ribbon collection lately, how sad is that?

I did break out some more ribbon for this card though:



# Really Reasonable Ribbon ~ Challenge #8 ~ Inspiration picture
# Secret Crafter ~ Challenge #101 ~ Anything Goes



A little while back, I received some delicious blog candy from Lacey at Stamp and Create.

I've been saving the gorgeous celery May Arts ribbon for just the right project, and I used some of it for the first time on this layout:



The layout is my entry in the Home Economics 101 class at My Scrapbook Nook. The criteria was to use fabric and/or ribbon, and to use stitching. The muslin flowers were trickier to make than I thought they'd be, but in the end they were my favourite part.



I didn't have an iron handy, so my ribbon is a little bit creased *tiny frown* but by the time it goes into an album it won't really matter. (More about my "iron story" in a future blog post.)

Aaaa-a-a-a-a-nd, for some deliberately crinkled ribbon...





I was so thrilled to win some wrinkled ribbon bundles from Leeanne at Artful Delight.  The ribbons come from  Prairie Bird Boutique and are just so beautiful!  They arrived today, complete with some colourful postage stamps on the envelope, and Patsy's gorgeous handwriting.

I can't wait to try the ribbon on some layouts and cards.

Thank you so much xx

Handmade flowers

I've been making LOTS of handmade flowers lately - it's fun and addictive and the possibilities are endless.

The first layout was for the Shop 101 assignment (what we call 'Manual Arts' or 'Industrial Arts' class in Australia). The criteria was to create a layout that clearly shows some creative use of tools.


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I used a decorative edge punch to make some flowers - I've never tried this before and I was pleased with the result. Basically I just punched some strips of paper, and pleated them in a spiral pattern from outside to centre, and secured on a small circle. Easy-peasy! And for my second tool, I used my smallest scissors to fussy-cut some birds from patterned paper.






The next one is for the Scrap Boutique Stylist Challenge - Manon set a challenge to create a layout with a spring theme, and using handmade flowers:


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(It's a lazy layout, just a single piece of Making Memories patterned diecut paper, and everything else slapped down on top, with a little bit of fussy cutting to overlap the photographs.  The background isn't part of the layout - I just placed it on a pizza box to photograph it.)   And I can never resist a little detail shot; I am in love with these flowers!

A touch of history

Another layout share...

Over at My Scrapbook Nook, the History 101 assignment was to create a vintage layout, using at least seven of the twelve listed 'vintage elements'. I managed to include eleven:

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1. Colours - soft background, dark papers
2. Lots of inking
3. Distressed edges
4. Torn, crumpled papers
5. Sewing
6. Metal - staples and photo corner
7. Old book page
8. Corrugated cardboard
9. Lace
10. I'm out of doileys :(
11. B/W photograph
12. Tag - I used a quote card


For a 'real' piece of history, my layout for the Math 101 assignment featured the 'Beautiful Betsy' site in Kroombit Tops National Park:


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The layout is based on a sketch and incorporates a 'formula' of required elements. I've been wanting to scrap these photos for a while and never really knew the best way to showcase them. Prior to visiting the crash site, I had thought that it might be a sad, tragic place. In reality, it had an overwhelmingly peaceful atmosphere, preserved in a very sensitive and educational way.

Pass the Parcel

Over the past week or so I've been reaching back into my photo archives to find some more unscrapped moments; this one is from 2005:



This week's Elements Challenge at Design Dollies is all about birthdays - be sure to head over and check out the creations of the other Dollies. I used some more Cosmo Cricket 'DeLovely'; I'm going to be disappointed when my stash of this collection runs out!

I'm entering my layout at:
# The Studio ~ 5th Sept ~ birthdays
# Creative Prompts ~  Challenge #33 ~ Blink 182

I'm a...

Guest FIT Girl!! I only recently discovered the ScrapFIT challenge blog, and I was thrilled to be invited to be a Guest Designer this month.

ScrapFIT has two 'workouts' and one 'mini-workout' each month. This is my contribution for Workout 28, with a prize sponsored by Paper Trunk:



The theme is "Go Green" - using something recycled and something green in colour. This layout is for my 'Book of Me' which is growing slowly but surely.

I'm entering this layout at:
# The Studio ~ 12th Sept ~ Food and/or Drink

Something new

I bought a new Christmas stamp this week - and I've started experimenting with it too.  Here's the first card that I made with it:



What I did:  I stamped the image with Colorbox fluid chalks, heat embossed with Moonglow embossing powder, then painted with Twinkling H2O's over the top. I'm not 100% happy with the result, but for a first effort I don't think it's too bad.  The paint dried a different colour than I expected (and it's difficult to photograph the shimmer effect).

I used: Christmas Birds from Stamp-It Australia, Cuttlebug 'Holly Ribbons' EF, American Craft ribbon

# Charisma Cardz ~ Challenge 36 ~ Try something new
# Simon Says ~ Holiday Fun

Colour, colour, colour

This week's Colour Challenge at Design Dollies is a bright, fun one - blue, green, red and orange.  I love playing with colour, and this one came together really easily once I discovered the old piece of Dream Street patterned paper in my stash:



I also added some metal accents for the September technique challenge over at Scrap Lounge - with the 'manly' criteria of using blue and metal.  Those little sentiment strips are from All My Memories and I think I must have acquired them when I first starting scrapping around six years ago.  I also recycled the packaging they came on (the kraft tag with the metal eyelet):



Peter is not really impressed with these photographs because he was badly in need of a haircut at the time! And you might recognise the photograph of Ella too, it's the same one that I used on my recent ATC.

Echo Park

I've never really been into a lot of the 'cute' scrapbooking collections, but lately I've been in love with all things cute and whimsical... don't know why?? I guess our tastes change, or something catches our eye or our imagination and we just run with it for a while...

Last month it was Cosmo Cricket 'DeLovely' (which I still *love*). This month it's Echo Park - each of the first three collections!! I can't really choose a favourite, but I've started playing with "Walk in the Park" for my Scrap Pile layouts this month.

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I created this layout with these challenges in mind:
# Scrap Fit ~ Workout #27 ~ Using a sketch by Cherie Averill
# Paper Sundaes ~ Challenge #35 ~ Use at least three different kinds of embellishment
I used: flowers, buttons, journalling card, alphabet stickers
# Crafty Creations ~ Challenge 84 ~ Transportation


This is my second Echo Park layout ~ I really love yellow with teal, and I can never resist a guinea pig moment!

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Over at Scrap Pile, I've used this layout as the basis of some tips on ways to personalising stickers.  Pop over to the forum for the details.  Here are some closeups:

Some Odd... Monkey?

My Dollie-friend Kristy is an amazing artist, and has her own line of digi-stamps and a fabulous store called Some Odd Girl.

The site has a fab new look, and Kristy is launching a new character ~ the cutest little monkey-guy. Right now (until 30th October) there is a fun contest running to NAME THE MONKEE and try for some amazing prizes.

September sketchiness and Kraft, Kraft, Kraft

I'm in love with the sketches that Kristy creates for Design Dollies! This is my take on the second sketch challenge for September:

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I really enjoyed creating this one ~ I indulged my current obsession with Kraft, and used up lots of scraps too.


The next layout was based on an inspiration picture over at Kraft it Up! I was inspired by the pennants and the blue/white stripes, which it led me to the nautical theme. I had something totally different in mind (misting and masking) when I started, but after a few false starts it was going nowhere.

** RANT FOLLOWS - feel free to skip this bit **

I'm officially 'over' my bottle of 'Denim Blue' Glimmer Mist. From the start, with a brand new bottle, it didn't spray. It clogged, it spurted over the edge and made a mess all over my hands and my target area. I achieved a vague hint of colour in a few soggy patches, and no glimmer. I tried everything to unclog it, without success. I bought some extra misting bottles ~ one well-known brand bottle and one local scrapbook brand bottle ~ and it still clogged. Aaaargh. I have a couple of Glimmer Mist colours, and never had any problems before (although I've had problems with another brand). Maybe I just got a dodgy one, maybe it's the colour formula, but it just wasn't meant to be :(

** RANT ENDS **

*Sigh* so I gave up on my original idea and just stuck a whole pile of stuff down, not entirely happily, but by this point I wasn't enjoying myself and it was just time to let it go:



And my last share for today is a layout that I'm *entirely* happy with!! It's for the Scrap Boutique Stash Stomper this month, using the sketch provided and using up lots more scraps:


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I took the photograph last month when I visited Melissa; she hasn't seen this yet, and I've left the journalling section blank so she can write in what she likes and it to Nate's album.

Nook U and a painting tip

This month I'm joining in some classes at My Scrapbook Nook, and this is my first assignment:



I tried to follow all of the the design rules in the Graphic Art 101 class, and mostly I think I've got it covered - focal point, contrast, flow, balance... but no matter what I tried I couldn't quite achieve the 'visual triangle'.  Hmmm... it's not very flashy, but I do love my layout, and it's very true to my style, so I think four out of five isn't too bad.

This one is for the Typography 201 class, making a feature of the title and text elements, using at least three different fonts and two different colours:


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For the larger alphabets I used two different colours of 'AdornIt' foam alphabet stickers (pale green and chocolate brown) - but the contrast was too great between those colours so I painted them with acrylic paint (Jo Sonja 'Titanium') and inked the edges (a really, really old teal Kaiser inkpad that I think I got before they started releasing scrapbooking products):



I hope this is a suitable tip to submit to Top Tip Tuesday, because I was thrilled with the result! I don't know why I've never thought about painting foam alphabets before.  I've painted chipboard ones, and acrylic ones, but it never crossed my mind to paint foam ones.

STEP 1>  Select the alphabets - I didn't have enough of the same colour so I used two different colours. (Or of course you could mix up the fonts too).  I left the letters on pieces of the acetate backing sheet so they would be easy to handle.
STEP 2>  Paint the letters with acrylic paint. I used a small foam brush, and I didn't bother with the sides, just the tops.  I only needed one coat of paint and it dried quickly too.
STEP 3>  Ink the edges.  This gave me a better result to colour-match with my layout, and it also disguised my amateur paint job.
STEP 4> Peel off and stick to the layout as usual.