"Sweet Girl"

Hi there!!

I am here today sharing with you a traditional 12x12 layout I made during the week of my beautiful niece from her year 11 ball earlier this year.

I recently placed my 1st order with Aussie company Cocoa Vanilla Studios and I was so excited to get playing with their brand new range "Life Is Beautiful", full of pretty floral's, butterflies and some gorgeous blue's mixed in.

Here is my completed layout

That floral in the background was too beautiful to use only as the background and have covered up so I did indeed gut the middle of it and you can see some of it peeking behind the layers behind the photo.

I have used some of the new texture paste and a new feathers & arrows stencil by Dusty Attic as a subtle addition to the white cardstock. I have also used some very light blue gelatos and the plastic packaging technique to bring out the blue of the dress.

You can see the stencil work and the light blue of the gelatos a little better in this pic :)

The florals are from the ephemera pack and so is the word "sweet". I have pulled a couple of the veneer pieces and also some of the enamel dots. I have used "Worn Jeans" fluid chalk ink to do some stamping - stamps from Kellie stamps and also an Ali Edwards Story Stamp set. And, of course, a roller date stamp. And some gold Heidi Swapp colour shine.

A manila tag and some twine from my stash. Butterfly charm from the collection and some scrap paper behind the white cardstock to work as a pocket for my journalling. Which, I promised my niece, she will one day appreciate the words I have written but at 16, well, need I say more?! Haha!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I do have another layout to share with another of the Cocoa Vanilla ranges but the photo's I have to work with are a bit average. The other layout is about my littlest guy and is using the very cool "Made Of Awesome" range so hopefully with the sun shine today I can get some decent photos!!

Happy scrapping!!

Melinda

xx

September (already?!?) with Dusty Attic

Hi hi! I'm here with you today sharing my projects for September for Dusty Attic!! September, really?! How did that happen?

Anyways, I have 2 projects to share this month - a traditional 12x12 LO and a double page spread with a 12x12 and a PL style page for my littlest guys album.

First up my 12x12 LO! I have had this idea in my head for ages now and am so pleased I finally got it done!! I made a collage of some of my favourite photo's from 2014 for the cover of my 2015 diary and also had the same collage printed as a 6x6 photo for this page. 

I have used the Simple Stories Daily Grind range, which I thought was the perfect fit for this type of page!! I got the collection pack so have all the papers and a couple of sticker sheets.

I applied a messy coat of gesso after I stuck some of the papers down and then applied some mist using some plastic packaging and "stamping". Some stamping with black archival ink, some layers behind my photo, a "flip", some magnets and of course those gorgeous Dusty pieces which I have applied some versamark ink and gold embossing powder to.

As I mentioned, a "flip" mechanism (simply a piece of scrap cardstock scored in half, the ends trimmed into a "v" shape and then adhered to the layers where it can't be seen) which holds my journalling and also includes a photograph of my Pop who passed away in December 2014. I have cut a slit in my page protector so that it is easy enough for people to read the journalling when (heck, IF!) they flip through it. I have also hidden some little, very strong magnets in the paper layers so that it all sits nicely when closed.

A close up of the chippy pieces in the top left corner

And the chippy piece that is peeking out from under the photo layers

The chippy pieces I have used are as follows:

2014 Year In Review - DA1092 

Mini View Finders – DA1080

Mini Captions #1 - DA1279

Mini Captions #2 - DA1291H

So, onto my other project for this month!

These are the pages for Hunter's album for March 2015.

As I have mentioned previously I am (slowly!!) working on my boys albums in a month to month format to capture their personalities, quirks and developments. I aim for 1 traditional LO and 1 PL style LO for the month so 2 12x12 pages all up.

Here are both pages together as they sit in the album

I have used the Heidi Swapp September skies PL kit, ephemera and one of the 12x12 sheets of paper.

The left side

I love, love, love how this turned out!! 

Firstly I did some work on the background of that paper. I applied a light, messy coat of gesso with my finger then applied the mists and gelato colours I knew I was going to use on the chippy piece (which are Heidi Swapp navy and peacock colour shine and a green gelato from my stash) again using the plastic packaging/stamping technique. Then I did some splatters all around and finally some stamps using a couple of roller date stamps and black archival ink. 

I have applied the mists and gelato that I have watered down to use as water colours to that background chippy piece after applying a coat of gesso. A couple of coats of white paint to the title pieces, some ephemera pieces, some of the little squares from the cut apart sheet in the 6x6 paper pad and some enamel dots.

A closer look at the centre of the page where most of the design is

And a close up of the background chippy piece

And the title pieces

I realised after I took the photos that there was no journalling so I have tucked a little shipping tag near the top at the back of the LO which also has some twine so people flipping through can see it's there.

And the right hand PL side

I didn't really take any photo's of the individual pockets but I really LOVE how my title card turned out - simple, yet effective so here you go!!

The chippies pieces I have used are as follows:

Triangle Panel Small - all of the mini triangles have come from this

Mini ABC Upper - DA0861N

Mini ABC Lower - DA0862

Love You Arrows - DA1070O

Mini Captions #5 - DA1308I

Word Pack #6 - DA1187

That's it for me for today but make sure you pull out your chippy and play along with the (yet another!!) gorgeous inspiration board for your chance at a $100 Dusty Attic voucher!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by and happy scrapping!!

Melinda
xx

My last Fab Friday with Tiddly....

Hi there!! And welcome! It has been a little while since my last post, life has happened, my littlest little guy just turned 3 and I have hurt my back again. Oh well, life goes on and sadly, so do DT terms!

I am here today sharing my very last card for my term on the very awesome DT over at Tiddly Inks! Very bitter sweet as this team was one of those items on my "to-do" list for my crafting! I decided not to apply for another term straight away but I have no doubt I will through my ring into the hat again sometime!! 

Christy, if you are reading, thank you so much for the opportunity over the last few months, I have had so much fun and it has been a real pleasure "working" on your team!!

Enough of the chatter though and onto the card!!

I have used my one and only clear Tiddly Inks stamp set for this card - Happy Day and I just love how this card came together!!

Another very CAS card but I really love how this turned out!! I have already given this out - it was my Nan's birthday last week so I thought this was perfect for her. I personally love the bright pops of colour!!

The copic combos I used are:

Skin: E000, E00, E21, E11, E04 and R20

Hair: E41, E43, E47 and E49

Dress: BG11, BG13, BG15 and BG18 Frill/Socks: C0 and C1

Red: R22, R24, R29, R59 and C5 Yellow: Y11, Y15, Y17 and E15

I pulled some papers, some thread and some enamel dots from my stash that went well with the colours I coloured with. The sentiment is from the stamp set, punched with an Ephipany tools 1" circle punch with an epoxy dot stuck to the top. Last touch was some gold colour shine sprinkled across the card front.

I really have had so much fun with Tiddly Inks so if you are included do throw your hat into the ring, Christy is awesome to "work" (I use that term VERY loosely!!) for and Lou is pretty fabulous too!!

Happy scrapping!!

Mel

xx

Always

Hello, hello!! Well, it seems even though my desk currently looks like a bomb hit it I am being super productive lately!!

I have just completed another 12x12 layout - start to finish in 30 minutes - AMAZING!! I may add some stitching, but I will decide later!!

I am here today however to share a different 12x12 LO I created, another for our wedding album and another using an awesome cut file from The Cut Shoppe. I am using this to enter a 2nd time into their monthly challenge for August! Perhaps there will even be a 3rd as I am pretty impressed with my forethought when I created this LO!!

As you can see when I cut the file "Spread Your Wings" I put it pretty much where I thought I wanted it to be on the layout so that I could use the positive cut and the negative cut! I am really pleased with how this turned out and am really excited to use those butterflies on something!!

I found some of the same frangipani printed vellum in my stash that we used on some of our wedding stationery and chopped it down to fit behind that cut. Love how it turned out!!

After I stuck the vellum down I placed the cut butterflies back into where they were cut from so that I could stick down all the little in between cuts. That is probably what took the longest in putting this LO together.

I have used the Maggie Holmes Flea Market 6x6 paper pad for my layers behind the photo along with the black and white striped fabric frame from the same range. All of the paper layers expect the floral are actually the strip from along the top of the papers that kept them in place in the paper pad!

I kept the embellishing pretty simple, I wanted the photo and that cut to be where your eye goes to first and foremost. I didn't really have anything to say with this photo so a simple title and somewhere for one of my fave wedding photos to call home now!!

So, thank you for stopping by and happy scrapping!!

Mel

xx

Fab Friday with Precious

Hi there!!

Yep, it's another Fab Friday with Tiddly Inks!! This is my 2nd last one as part of the DT team so I to be honest, I am a wee bit sad that my time is almost up!! That being said, I have had so, so, so much fun!!

So, onto the good stuff, my card!!

I used the gorgeous Precious digi stamp - I have been drooling over her for quiet some time but have not been brave enough to test my colouring skills but I gotta say, I love, love, love how she and the card turned out!!

And, of course, a close up of her :)

The copic colour combos I used are:

Skin: E000, E00, E21, E11, E04 and R20

Hair: YR14, YR18, E08 and E18

DRESS Blueish-Purple: BV20, BV23, BV25 and BV29 Green: YG91, YG93, YG95, YG97 and BG99

Cream: E40, E41, E43 and E44 Pinkish-Purple: RV91, RV93, RV95 and RV99

I have used papers from a freebie 6x6 paper pad I got yonks ago in a craft mag - Meg's Garden "The Romantic Garden" paper stack. The colours work perfectly together!!

The flowers, the frame, the, stick pins, the doily and the purple flower tucked behind the layers are all from my stash. The sentiment was stamped with a tiny alpha stamp set I got from Typo ages ago and stamped in Dark Brown chalk ink.

And just a close up of that little cluster in the top left hand corner!

I hope you have enjoyed seeing my creation for this Fabby Friday!!

Happy scrapping/colouring!!

Mel

xx

August with Dusty Attic

Hello Dusty fans, I'm here with you today sharing my normal PL spread and also an art journal cover that I created using a bunch of Dusty products! Something fun and different for me!!

First up is the art journal cover. I started off with a canson journal and removed the cover from the binding, picked out all my chippy pieces and applied a couple of coats of gesso to the cover and only 1 to the chippy pieces. I have used the Tea, blush, primrose and tiny bit of the navy and white colour shine to colour up all the pieces and the covers. I also added some cheesecloth which I used the colourshine to colour and some tiny beads I found eBay.

I've gotta say, I'm so happy with how it turned out - and a bit chuffed with myself, this has been my 1st real unguided effort with mixed media!!

I decided to use a title on the cover and picked this piece from the Word Pack #10 pack as my craft room and playing is my escape.

The little butterfly is from Mini Butterfly and the circle frame is from the String Frames Small set which I have cut the side off.

This big butterfly is from Flutterbies 3Pk - just love the detail on it!!

The lattice in the top corner is part of the Marrakesh Trellis Small and the butterflies are from Flutterbies #3.

And just a shot of the back which I used the same stencil on and the same colour shine colours.

So, my 2nd project for the month is our Week 29 in our 2015 Project Life album. I have used a mixture of the Heidi Swapp Dreamy 6x6 paper pad, Dreamy PL kit and some of the Gold Foil value kit. And also added in a bunch of Dusty goodies and some of the ephemera from the Dreamy collection.

All of my chippy pieces were painted white with the Dusty In Colour Alabaster. The 2 aqua-ish pieces had a coat of Dusty In Colour Oceania mixed with some Dusty In Colour Capri with a little water added. After all the paint was dried I applied some of the gorgeous Dusty In Colour Vintage Gold with a dry paint brush - it was really hard to photograph on the white but you can really see it on the aqua-ish pieces!

This piece was a piece that the very talented boss-lady designed for those of us lucky enough to attend the DA July retreat. This piece was where my whole page design started!!

Dusty products used:

Mini Captions #5 - DA1308I

Love This, Love That Arrows - DA1074

Word Pack #10 - DA1266

Word Pack #22 - DA1278

Flutterbies #3 - DA0766

Mini Captions #2 - DA1291H

Weeks - DA1283O

Make sure you join in the fun challenge for your chance to win $100 worth of chippy!! Look at this gorgeous inspiration board!!

We also have another awesome little competition happening with the prize being a pack of some of the brand new texture paste and stencils designed by Jen! Just head over to the Facebook page and follow the instructions on the pinned post!! Here is the awesome prize pack!!

So, that's it for me for this month!! Happy scrapping!!

Mel
xx

If You Think My Hands Are Full....

Hi there!!

Yes, it is quiet possible you have thought you have come to the wrong blog with all of these 12x12 layout's I've been sharing lately but if your here, welcome and I hope you are enjoying seeing something different from me!! I will add here that I have taken a bunch of photo's of our 2015 PL album and plan to share those sometime this week (I hope!!).

But that's enough chatter!! I'm here today to share another 12x12 layout! This time the whole design was inspired but the gorgeous cut file in the background which I purchased from The Cut Shoppe (gorgeous, gorgeous designs!!) and am entering into their challenge for the month of August!

I have used a photo from Mother's Day 2015 paired with the cut file, some pretty blue glitter cardstock, a full piece of 12x12 from the Shimelle collection paper pad, some black and white scraps from my scrap box and some Shimelle stickers and rub-ons!

After I cut the cut file I knew I wanted something bright and bold behind it so I started flipping through papers and found this one!! I picked the cut file and the background before I picked the photo by the way ;)

Before I adhered the cut file I cut some of the blue glitter cardstock to back the hearts, attached those with a liquid adhesive and then attached the whole piece to the background paper. I LOVE how this turned out!!

There wasn't a great place for the journalling so I used the white border all the way around for it!

As you can see I have layered up a bunch of scraps behind the photo, cutting and tearing some (thanks Missy Whidden!!) and popping the photo up on pop dots.

I have used some alpha's that I picked up from Big W (the typewriter type font) and some thickers from my stash. The "fabulous" heart is from the "Lovely" PL edition and this card is actually dry embossed and I just cut fussy cut the heart from the card. The mini tile alphas are from the Shimelle sticker sheet, the "absolutely", the camera and the gold hearts from the rub-ons and the wonderful and wander stickers from the same pack of stickers the alphas are in.

I finished off with a little bit of stamping with a roller stamp and black archival ink.

So, I hope you have enjoyed and happy scrapping!!

Mel

xx