***CSI - color stories inspiration #233***

It's Major Case File time at CSI - color stories inspiration challenge blog!

It's July, where is the year going to!!

But it does mean we have another challenge to get our teeth into! LOL!

Here is the July 1st Case File #233

So this one had a gorgeous colour palette to work with and with my chosen 'testimony' element I knew exactly what I was going to scrap about!

And as its a Major Case File we have a sketch to interpret as well!

Here is how I solved the case!

#

All colours from the Scheme used

My Evidence was:

* 'V' shaped pattern (the very heavy distressing in 3 places round the edge)

* Flowers/ leaves

* String

* Cursive or brush font lettering

* stack something (decoupage ballerina)

* wood (wooden beads flower centres & Wycinanka laser cuts)

* watercolour ( used Prim watercolours to do my splatting of colour)

* decorative border (punched edges)

My Testimony used:

* Topic: Document a weekend ritual

* Presentation: Handwrite your journaling on a journaling spot

* Inspirational Words: Happiness

Now for more details and close ups:

My layout is about our Saturday mornings taking Holly to Ballet lessons. She has been going since she was 5 years old and to say she loves it and can't wait for Saturdays is an understatement! It brings her so much joy and happiness with learning new dances, practising for showcases, wearing her pretty coloured leotards and skirts, doing her hair up and taking her medal exams. In fact its become such a ritual/habit on a Saturday we are a little lost on a Saturday when there isn't any ballet!

I had a ballet patterned paper in my stash I had been keeping for a day when I did this layout, which had lots of ballet terms and wording on it. I fussy cut out the words that were relevant to what Holly has done in her classes and ones she related to, to add to the layout. These also were for my evidence list too with the cursive or brush font lettering.

My 'stack something' on the evidence list was the ballerina die cut in the bottom right of the layout. I cut 3 ballerinas out with pink cardstock, the middle one in a paler cardstock to the other two, and using foam pads stacked them as if doing some decoupage. I then finished off by adding my string bow on top.

I used a Prima watercolour pastel to add my splats to the background of the layout.

The photos were mounted on some Kaisercraft cardstock.

This very pretty piece of lace which was from Live & Love Crafts added to whole girly, shabby chic, feel to the layout. 

You can see the ballerina stacking quite clearly o this photo.

Those of you who visit my blog regularly will know I love distressing and the heavier the better. The distressing on this page was so heavy it naturally created tears which I opened up to create the 'v' shapes around the edges. Using a pencil I encouraged the openings to roll open and stay there! I could then add a feature paper underneath to show through.

I used some very pretty pieces of Wycinanka laser cut corners. These I left bare with no altering at all.

In my distressed shabby chic layouts I like adding random punched areas in my borders/ edges to my layouts and that is what I have done on this one. I think it gives a more romantic softer daintier feel to the whole piece. The layout was mounted on some Kaisercraft Cardstock.

Products used on this layout:

BoBunny: Soiree: Delight

BoBunny: Soiree: Tranquil

Joanna Sheen: Signature Die: Ballerina

Prima Marketing flowers: Wild and Free #594701

Wild Orchid Crafts: Flowers: Apple Blossoms mixed pastels

Wycinanka: Ornamental Wuthering 1

Bazzil Cardstock: Tutu Pink

Kaisercraft Cardstock: Lily Pond

Karen Foster Design: Ballerina Collage

Pink twine/string

Live & Love Crafts: Lace

Prima Marketing: Say It In Crystals: Crystal Flourish

Prima Marketing: Watercolour Pastels

Martha Stewart: Punch around the page punch: Lace Border

Thanks for stopping by my blog today ,

I can't wait to see your solved case files on the CSI blog in the linky on the side bar.

http://csichallenge.blogspot.co.uk/

You could be in with a chance to win a fantastic prize from one of our amazing sponsors for the month!

Ginny  :)

Mixed Media Place and Stuck! Sketches!

Hello all!

I have created couple of layouts to be entered into a couple of challenges again this month.

I created this page earlier in the month and then forgot to post it in the challenges I was entering! Have you ever done that?! The date for Mixed Media Place challenge completely escaped me but I have scraped in just, with this being the last day! And it was a lovely mood board too and inspired this layout!

On to the layout......

So here we are with a mixed media layout created for the following challenges.

Click on the coloured titles to go to their blogs!

Stuck! Sketches

June 1st Sketch Challenge

AND

Mixed Media Place

May/June Mood Board Challenge

My inspiration from the mood board came mainly from the bottom right picture, the colours and florals popped out at me along with the blue from the sea picture. I wanted a whimsical, magical feel to the layout to go with my images, which were from DD and myself mucking around with Snapchat filters!

So lets waffle about mixed media with these photos. I have tried to use a lot of products to get the colours, different textures and effects. Firstly, those butterflies - yes I'm jumping straight to the embellishments! - these are soooo pretty, simply painted with a little gesso and then whilst it was still dry sprinkling the Art Sugar Light Pink over it and left to dry. It works, it stays stuck on!

The tiny star like flowers are heat embossed with Blue Fern Studio Embossing powder Magenta, this powder gives a lovely mottled effect when it is got really hot!

This photo shows the only blue embossed flower poking out from the bottom. Heat embossed with Stampendous Frantage Embossing Enamel Shabby Blue. If you like shabby chic colours then this range of embossing powders are for you! Gorgeous colours mixed with chunky white and old gold pieces, beautiful.

The word title was heat embossed with WOW! Embossing powder Princess Pink.

In the embellishment cluster you can see two other wood flowers, one is heat embossed with the WOW! Princess Pink embossing powder again and the other is eat embossed with Lindys Gang Embossing Powder Coral Blush. I like textures on my layouts so I have used a texture dot cardstock for my tag and some photo mat layers. The tag edges were inked with Chalk Ink Pad Dry Sand.

 And now for the background....... I used a Double Dot BoBunny cardstock paper and painted it all over with a coat of clear gesso to prime it ready for the mists and mixed media. This basically makes the paper stronger and more resistant to all the liquids we are about to throw at it!

I used 4 different mists to get a marbled effect background, names in product list below. These were sprayed, splattered and allowed to run.

I then used a Prima stencil with the Grit Paste, splattered watered down gesso over the background and did a little stencilling with Shimmerz Textures and Dazzlers. The turquoise colour is the 'Textures' and the pale pink is the 'Dazzlers'.

This photo shows you the difference in texture and finish of the 3 products used through stencils really well.

The photos are popped up on cardboard (or foam pads) and arranged to match the sketch, with the tag behind the first photo.  The flowers are a mixture, the apple blossoms are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the paper roses are from my stash.

I think this sketch worked really well for a mixed media layout :)

Product List For this Layout

BoBunny: Double Dot Cardstock: Dusty Rose

Coredinations cardstock: Pastel Pink

Bazzil: Texture Dot: Salt

Prima Marketing: ColorBloom: Soft Teal

Prima Marketing: Color Bloom: Peony

Tattered Angels: Glimmer Mist: Crème De Rouge

Blue Fern Studios: Imagine Ink: Mist Cotton Candy

Shimmerz: Dazzlers: Spun Sugar

Shimmerz: Textures: Patina

Blue Fern Studios: Embossing Powder: Magenta

Wow! Embossing Powder: Princess Pink

Lindys Gang: Embossing Powder: Coral Blush

Stmpendous Frantage: Embossing Enamel: Shabby Blue

Prima Marketing: Art Ingredients: Art Sugar: Light Pink

Tim Holtz: Distress Grit Paste

Emboss It: Dabber Clear - for heat embossing

Prima Marketing: Chalk Ink Pad: Dry Sand

Freckled Fawn: Wood Chip Words

Art Anthology: Embedibles: Butterflies

Straw- Live and Love Crafts

Wild Orchid Crafts: Apple Blossoms flowers - mixed pastels

That Special Touch: Stencil: Poppies

Imagination Crafts: Stencil: Flourishes

Prima Marketing: Stencil:

Thank you for stopping by my blog today, your comments are gratefully received, I love reading them! :)

Ginny   :)

***CSI - colour stories inspiration #232***

Hello CSI-iers!

It's time for another case file at CSI - color stories inspiration!

So get out your forensics kit and lets get investigating! :)

So here is the case file for June 15th

Here is how I solved the case!

Here's how.....

All colours of the scheme used

Evidence used;

* Woodgrain background

* Wood accents

* Mesh

* animals

* Trees  foliage

* Stitching

*Label

Testimony used;

* Document something about the outdoors

Now for the low down!

So the stars of the photo are my DS when he was a toddler with his Grandad down on the beach in Broad Haven, Pembrokeshire, out of season. Who says beaches are only for summer with bikinis! The beach was nearly empty and untouched, perfect for a little boy to muck up with his spade!

My journaling is done with tiny alpha stickers, a little fiddly but I like the look.

I used some masculine elements for my embellishment cluster with the cogs, some fencing and the shutters to frame the photo. The beaches and coastal areas in Pembrokeshire are always busy with bird life and this is a passion for my father so I included the bird. And ....well I had to add a flower or two, these are masculine coloured flowers!

My leaf/ foliage element is a flourish die from Cherry Lynn, I did this in white, as there was a lot of colour going on anyway and I wanted them to just be a subtle effect not in your face! The eyelet tag is my wood accent along with the background paper, which is obviously my wood background as well. I love this paper, its like a stable door!

My paper layers, which hold all the colours from the Scheme, are all strips and oblongs of various sizes all layered up on top of each other. These have been left in inked and not even distressed! But I thought there was enough going on with all the patterns!

I do love getting my sewing machine out on my layouts, I wanted to keep to the shabby chic, mixed media feel to the layout so I did random whizzing with my machine rather then a neat line or border. I liked the effect it gave. The brads added a little final touch in the needed 'green'. 

I really like adding straws at the moment, they add a very different look and look quite striking and again great for a masculine page. Mt background stencilling was done with a Mesh stencil in Distress Grit Paste. I also added some splatting with a red acrylic paint to finish the background off.

Products used on this layout:

* 7 Dots Studio: Destination Unknown: Walk the Plank

* Carta Bella: Bundled up: 6x6  pad

* Live & Love Crafts: Straws

* Memory Box: Stencil: Mesh

* Kaisercraft: Tiny Alpha Stickers: Black

* Cherry Lynn: Die: Small Swirl Flourish

* Indigo Blu: Acrylic Artists Paint: English Cottage; PostBox Red

* BoBunny: Chipboard: Bella Rosa

Darice: Rustic Accents: Rusty Tin Fence

Prima: Wood Tickets #554422

Tim Holtz: Distress Grit Paste

Kay & Co: Green Patterned Paper

Petaloo Flowers: Darjeeling: Anemona Mix

I hope you enjoyed your visit to my blog today, have a goo look around whilst your here!

I look forward to seeing your creations for this case file on the linky on the CSI blog

http://csichallenge.blogspot.co.uk/

Here are our sponsors for this month

Ginny  :)

Let's 'Scrap the Girls'!

Hello crafty friends!

It's been a few days since my last post but here we are with a June Challenge entry!

When I saw this sketch for the 'Scrap The Girls' June Challenge, I knew I had to do it, it was right up my street!

Here is my layout entry:

And here is the Sketch and link to the Scrap The Girls Challenge blog

.

http://scrap-the-girls.blogspot.co.uk/

A beautiful sketch...yes?

So I kept very much to the sketch, using beautiful flowing flowers to frame the side of the circle. I tried to use my imagination with what I created my circle with and used a Kaisercraft Stencil with Distress Grit Paste.

So lets get on with some close ups and details!

On this layout all my flowers were from Wild Orchid Crafts here in the UK. These are beautiful paper flowers in a wide variety of types.

And the gorgeous patterned paper is by..... yes, you've guessed it.....Blue Fern Studios. This one coming from the Courtship Lane collection.

I have used several dies on this layout too. The Ivy die is from Joanna Sheen Signature dies. This is such a good size die but perfect for cutting up into smaller pieces too. I have used mine whole so give a lovely sweeping feel to the arrangement.

I have used another swirly flourish leaf die, this one is I think is a Memory Box die. I cut it out from white cardstock and then inked the edges with Weathered Wood distress Ink. 

The stencil I used for the circle was from The Crafters Workshop. It is a 12 x 12 stencil. I have found an image of it curtesy of Google. Its quite a handy stencil with some interesting feature s on it for backgrounds.

I used Tim Holtz Distress Grit paste with the stencil. You should all be aware of my love for this product by now! Lol.  You can see from the photos it has given the effect of  concrete slabs!

I have used a couple of different dies for matting behind my photo, to give a much more soft feminine backing then just straight forward cardstock matting. These were cut with scrap patterned papers in different cream colours. Again I'm not entirely sure of the brand of these dies as they came from my Mum. Any die with a pretty edge could be used for this purpose though. If anyone would like to know which dies they are then just leave me a message in the comments and I will ask my Mum!

The only mixed media I used on my layout was some splatters of Blue Smoke mist, a lovely dark blue mist from Perfect Pearls, which matches the distress ink perfectly and some gesso splattered over the page too!

The photo was matted with a very thin white cardstock before the pretty die shapes were put behind it, mainly just to make the photo a bit more sturdy. It was then popped up onto some cardboard to lift it off the page to give dimension and because I like to poke flowers under my layers so they look like they are coming out from underneath the photo as well as having some on top.

So the girls in the photo? ......... well that's me and a 'bestie friend' on holiday last year in Suffolk, East Anglia, UK

Products used on this layout

* Blue fern Studio: Courtship Lane: Town Gossip
* Bazzil: Cardstock: Textured Dot: Salt
Tim Holtz: Distress Grit Paste
Tim Holtz: Distress Ink Pad: Weathered Wood
Perfect Pearls: Mist: Blue Smoke
Prima Marketing: Chalk Ink Pad: Pastel Peach
Kaisercraft: Word Dies: Beautiful Moment
Kaisercraft: Pearls: pink
Gesso
Joanna Sheen: Signature dies: Ivy Flourish
Wild Orchid Crafts: Wild Roses: Ivory
Wild Orchid Crafts: Apple Blossoms: Pastel tones
Wild Orchid Crafts: Miniture Sweetheart Blossoms: Pink tones



Thanks for stopping by my blog today, I love reading all your comments :)


Ginny  :)