Loads of productive fun!

What a Saturday I had! It was fun, perhaps even a bit manic, but it was still very productive. I went to a scrapbook crop at Auntie Em's Scrapbooking store in Cornwall with quite a few friends, and got my scrap on! I was really looking forward to working with some products I received just a few weeks before...from Australia!

I'm a guest designer for Mad About Scrappin' this month and the owner Leanne sent me a wonderful box full of great goodies to play with. I chose a few papers from Teresa Collins. I cannot resist damask, in any shape or form, so that was a clear winner for me. I also selected some sweet flowers, some jute ribbon, and charms. By the time the weekend rolled around, I was really ready to dive in and create a layout or two using these beauties.

I wanted to do a sophisticated layout with a self portrait I had taken a while back. I really loved this vintage clock paper, and I wanted to jazz it up just a bit. I used the beautiful patterned paper and fussy cut it to fit over a doily, and put down some jute ribbon, some lace, a couple flowers, bling, and some glass elements.

I really love how it turned out. I really loved the pink flowers too. Two-toned flowers are so much more fun.

I've been wanting to scrapbook these pictures for over a year now. We took a trip with my father-in-law to the Royal Canadian Mint last summer, and we each took the opportunity to have a photo taken with us holding a real gold bar. These pictures needed something neutral, and the papers worked out great!

I wanted the photos to be the focus and be surrounded with bling, to go along with the gold. I also cut out some more of the patterned paper and added the pieces as embellies.

That wasn't all I accomplished at the crop, but I'll leave that for another post later this week. I've been a very busy lady, and I've got lots more to tell you on the weekend, so come back soon!

Gelli Arts makes art journaling easy and fun

Today was going to be an especially busy day, and I didn't think that I'd get to play in my art room. However, I just got a new art journaling tool recently and I was dying to play with it. By now you've probably seen the Gelli Arts videos on printmaking using their printing plate.

It's this really squishy flat gelatin plate that you can put paint onto, press textures into and get really cool monoprinted pages. I bought the smaller of the sizes, which is 6 X 6 inches because I often work in a small art journal, and I didn't just want to use sheets of paper as the Gelli Arts videos show. I have to say, I love it!

This is what my final page turned out to look like:

It's the fastest way I've seen to create interesting mult-coloured backgrounds that have immediate texture and interest. So I started with some craft paints I had in my stash, and got to work on my background. I used some stamps I have on hand, as well as a piece of shelf liner to give the paint interesting texture. I flipped my 9 X 12 journal over onto the painted plate, and pressed down.

What a quick easy background. I repeated the process and laid down another monoprint on the same page, to cover most of the page. After that, I just went to town with a Dylusions stencil and modelling paste, some Heidi Swapp Color Shine sprays, stamps, some scrapbook paper scraps that I put through my Sizzix and then added some lace and washi tape.

I love how the page turned out. Lots of texture without being overwhelming. Here are some close ups:

I think next time I won't cover the entire Gelli plate so that I get some rough edges along the sides of the paper. Right now you can see the size and shape of the plate clearly on the page. Spreading the paint randomly should take care of that next time. I'm also going to use some stencils and masks next time, so that I can get multiple colours onto the same page without the colours blending on the plate.

It's definitely a fun way to play. I'm going to get the larger size plates in the near future, and get to playing often. I think what I'll do in the future is use cardstock and then cut them into piece to use in my journal.

Another fun technique I used for the first time was stamping into Color Shine spray to see what effects I could get. The large heart was stamped using Dina Wakley's stamp. I just sprayed the pink spray directly onto a craft sheet, stamped into the spray and then transfered it onto the art journal spread. I love the grungy effect I got from it.

So that's my art journal play for this weekend. Hope you enjoy these tips, and go and try monoprinting using Gelli Arts printing plate. It's way too much fun!

Prima Workshop - Take 2

After over a week of having a messy craft room, still not unpacked from my last crop, I figured that today, being as cold as it was, was a good day for hunkering down, and cleaning out the craft room. Then I found my unfinished layouts I had done at the Prima workshop that was held at Auntie Em's Scrapbooking and Beading in Cornwall, and decided it was high time to find photos for those layouts.

We had such a blast there over the two days. There were plenty of techniques taught and learned, and lots of messes made by all. I think this was the cleanest my workspace had been all weekend. I have yet to complete my cover for the journal. I'll have to see if I can find my muse later this week.

One of the art journal pages almost complete!

Cari Fennell had taught us a couple of layout techniques using Firefly by Prima. You'll recall I posted the layouts without the photos. Well I found the perfect pictures for the layouts.

Our proud flower girl and ring bearer at our wedding.

And these photos were found in the cleanup. Below are photos of the flower girl and ring bearer years before our wedding. Look at Grandma's loving smile. This one is going to be framed and given to my mother as a gift.

Proud Grandma moment!

 

During the weekend, especially the day we worked on our art journals, I kept going on coffee and the candy buffet. Boy can that combination get you some interesting results in your art journal! Some of us react to sugar and coffee more than others.

Diane and I getting more than a little messy and zany!

Once we had come down from the sugar and caffeine high, it was time for a group photo, and time to hit the road until next time.

Needless to say, I cannot wait until all of us get together again to have some scrap-happy fun!