COMFY

Hi. Just a quick blog. This month Archiscraps Challenges has featured an amazing bridge, shaped like a dragon Their criteria was to use an animal either In the photo or as an embellishment.
With this in mind, I've  used  3 photos from probably the quietest tawny youngling  we've  had in the garden.

This little one was quite content to snuggle up between tree branches and just watch inquisitively from time to time. I've distressed the edges of the paper by tearing, inking and popping in some scraps of paper under some of the rolled sections. The only other embellishments are a chipboard tree, heat embossed in a soft grey/green, and some bronze-coloured metallic leaves.
There's still a little time remaining to enter the challenge, so pop on over to have a look at their amazing bridge ans the layouts completed by the DT members. You'll find them at: archiscraps.blogspot

Cheers for now,
Di

CARNIVALE MASQUE

Hi and welcome.  It's such a busy time of the year so  thank you for dropping by. Anything  But A Card, this month, has been delving into the theme "Celestial", which has meant quite varying things to members of the team.
After a play day at  timetocreate  exploring different ways to change background papers, one paper in particular screamed.. Celestial!!!!  The whole piece, once finished, reminded me of some distant planetary system with moons, satellites, planets. I originally was going to do a mobile featuring such planetary objects, but after a very vivid dream, and one which oddly for me stayed in my mind the day after, I came up with the idea of a festival mask.

Completed mask with photo edited on a night setting to show the glitter.

The background was a glossy black A4 card.  This had been daubed with metallic acrylic paints in copper and bronze.  radiating from these were lines of Viva metallic pens. In between we stamped with silver  and added imprints from the end of our daubers with gold 3D Stamping Paint.

Close-up of mask how it looked at first

To the mask shape cut from this background I added some gold glittered stars, (these have come up silver on this photo), stars cut from gold and copper-coloured mirror board (finished with Kindyglitz bling) and tinsel pipe cleaners bent into star shapes . I added additional silver finishes around the outside of the frame and eye slits ( dabbed on silver ink).

Mask shown in natural light

 I thought that this would be the finish but after further contemplation decided to add another element.. a "Man in the Moon cut from pearlised white card and edged with Kindyglitz. Unfortunately the eye details and edging have not shown up on these photos. The mask is held by hand. This leg has been made from a thin piece of dowel, with tinsel pipe cleaners twisted around it.

mask with the addition of a moon.







Thank you for stopping by. There's still time to get your celestial muses working. We'd love to see your art at anythingbutacard so  why not drop on over and have a look at the amazing pieces done by the rest of the team.

Cheers for now.
Di



 

DISENCHANTED

ARTastic this month has a great challenge which can be Christmas -themed if you wish and has also added a colour palette.

I've chosen to use a photo of my son's first Santa encounter at 15 months of age.... he was so NOT impressed, as can be seen by his facial expression. Normally he would have been smiling as at this age he loved having his photo taken ( how THAT has changed!).

The background was originally done as an explore piece at timetocreate  and involved colouring- up  this diamond checker-board patern with Pan Pastels... the first time we had used them. To the layout we also added a decoration (made in the same class) and an embossed frame with added highlights of Inca Gold. The background has been sitting around for about a year now in my UfP (unfinished projects) pile. The title I originally went with didn't work out, so I cut out sections where it had been, as well as additional segments,  and placed  the lot onto a smooshed red background.  Green,blues and yellow, as suggested by the colour palette, were also added to the embellishments and parts of the diamond paper. This was done by inking with chalk edgers.

The gold stars are tags, which I've also smooshed and decorated with Perlene Pens.

Pop on over to artastic and have a look at what the rest of the team has done. You'll find amazing ideas to inspire you. I hope you can join us this month.

Cheers for now,
Di

CRYSTAL GARDEN

Hi and welcome to my first December post. The year has flown by so quickly and I haven't done a smidge of what I expected to have done this year.

This layout, for Pixels and Paper is of the ice and snow on top of  Mt Wellington, Tasmania. The flowers and bushes had been transformed into solid crystals  which glittered in the sunlight.

From our inspiration image I took the clean crisp colours of blues and whites and incorporated them into the layout. We'd love to see what you come up with. Pop on over to Pixels and Paper to see what the team has come up with. You'll find us at:pixelsandpaperchallengeblog.

 

Our inspiration image of the Northern Lights

 

Thank you for stopping by. Catch you again soon.
Cheers, Di

MOONLIGHT SERENADE

Hi and welcome to my second post today, with a layout  using black, white and silver.

The background is black with silver stamping around the edges. Music staff lines, notes and stars are in white.The title is a glitter silver chipboard.
The moonshots were taken by my son who patiently set up a tripod and listened to my 'artistic directions'. The moon on this particular night was so bright, and I wanted it shot through gaps in  a tree in my garden. With height differences, what my son was seeing through the view-finder  and what I was seeing through the trees was totally different, but we manged to get the shots I wanted in the end. (Journalling for this layout is on the back).
Just for a bit of fun I also edited this layout using a night feature on the computer print program I use. This is what it ended up like.

CHALLENGES ENTERED
http://archiscraps.blogspot.com.au/   Scrap a song title.. Moonlight Serenade is an oldie but a goodie.

http://kcclayoutchallenges.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/lm-218-all-about-title.html  Lasting memories Scrapbook Layout Challenges- All about the title. With my moon shots, this certainly is.

FIVE FINISHES FOR NOVEMBER FIVE SUNDAYS AT ABAC

Hi and welcome. This month again has five Sundays, and in keeping with this, Anything But  A Card Challenges is once more featuring the Number Five.

 

 I have made a small hanging using five different, simple and quite fast techniques to change paper / card into very different looking backgrounds.

The large 5 has been gessoed and sprayed with Dylusions Ink Sprays while the gesso was still wet. When dry I resprayed some sections. This gave an interesting effect with a combination of some white, and different hues of blue.

The smaller 5 has been stamped using a self- made stamp. For this I used scraps left over from mounting stamps onto backing.  These give great effects and you can change them to produce whatever patterns/designs you want whenever you want.

This 5 has again been stamped with a self-made stamp. I took a small block of wood and glued twine / wool on it in a design. They won't last forever, but it's surprising how much stamping you can do with just one application of ink or acrylic paint. If you like you don't have to glue the twine down. You can simply wrap it for an interesting effect.

The smaller 5 has been sprayed with various mists through a stencil The sprays were then fixed with a craft fixative spray.
The larger 5 has been done using a very interesting technique used at timetocreate, on one of our explore days. This simply involves using glossy photos (these can be the oops ones), Viva Modellier Creme ( a luscious, pearly / metallic modelling paste) and some alcohol inks. For this number I cut the photo into segments and glued them onto a backing piece before stencilling with the modelling paste. When dry I pounced over thew whole number with alcohol inks.

All of these techniques are designed to change paper to provide backgrounds for other projects. By using them you produce a piece that is totally unique and individual.
Pop on over to:anythingbutacard to have a look at what others in the team have created. We'd love to see what you come up with.

Thanks for dropping by. Catch you again soon.
Cheers, Di

STILL

Hi and welcome. Today I'm showing a layout featuring a photo taken in Tasmania in 2011.

 After some research, we have discovered that the bird is a most likely a juvenile Pacific Gull and it wouldn't expect to have its adult colouration for another 3 to 4 years.
It was standing on one of many boulders overlooking a beautiful little inlet at St Helens  in northern Tasmania. My son took the photo and we were able to move fairly close to it. It didn't seem at all perturbed that we were so close by. For the 10 - 15 minutes we were in the area it didn't move from its spot... just its head, ever so slightly.

 

 

 

The background paper was already patterned but I decided to add some additional texture by using some new Viva Modellier Creme (a beautiful, lush modelling creamy paste)... just had to try this out! This was applied through a stencil and when dried. lightly pounced with some alcohol ink... just for some additional impact.

 

 

The photo was mounted onto a bought frame cardstock from the same company as the background layer.. I think it was an old Bo Bunny stock. To this I added stamping as well as distressing, snippets of wool, fibre, shells, mother-of -pearl discs and beads.

I'm entering this layout into Lasting Memories Scrapbook Layout Challenges  at:   http://kcclayoutchallenges.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/lm-215-only-one-photo.html

Thank you for dropping by. Catch you again soon.
Cheers, Di

UPCYCLING FOR ANYTHING BUT A CARD

Hi and welcome.
Today I'm sharing a quick upcycled project, one that lends itself to many different interpretations and themes... napkin or serviette rings.

For this project I've used the inner roll from aluminium foil, cut into lengths. These were covered with stamped laser colour paper (a thin card). The ends were glued and wrapped with metallic yarn.  I added gold bows (shop bought) and small wooden stars coated with gold glitter flakes. A simple makeover, relatively fast to do... and it used up some bits and pieces I've had for some time.

There's still time to enter our challenge at Anything But A card this month... anything  goes as long as it isn't a card. We'd love to see what you could do for this. Pop on over to:anythingbutacard  and check out what the rest of the team has done, as well as the amazing entries that are already in.

Thanks for dropping by.
Catch you again soon.
Cheers, Di

1974 PLUS OODLES OF DOODLES

 

Hi and welcome.

This month at ARTastic, we are using doodles to create added interest to our artwork. I've probably gone overboard with my doodling for this layout, but I find it quite therapeutic! This originally started out just in black and white, but I decided to add some colour, using Pan Pastels in some of the segments.

 

 

Doodles done with an ultra-fine sharpie.

The photo I've used is one of self, taken in 1974. I was dining out at the Italo-Australian Club in Lismore with my husband. This was one of our favourite places to have an enjoyable meal, authentic Italian,  followed by dancing in the auditorium.


The inspiration picture of these quirky hens have lots of loops and dots doodled around them. I chose these elements when designing some of the sections. I also used music notes... the chooks must have music to dance to, mustn't they?

Picture by Antje Collis... "Tra-La-La"

Also, I was given the opportunity, at ARTastic to present the Tips, Tricks and Techniques segment  for the month and continued with the doodling theme, producing some card fronts using the same techniques. This time, instead of using a photo as a focal pint I used stamps. I took some of the stamp features to turn into design elements.

Black and white... again ultra-fine black sharpie

Laser paper smooshed with distress inks before doodling

Colour added with ultra- fine sharpies.

 There's till time to show us your doodling. We'd love to see what you come up with. Pop on over to:
artastic to see what the rest of our team has been up to.
Happy doodling.
Cheers, Di

YOU MAKE ME SMILE

Hi and welcome. This month, Pixels and Paper is having a joint challenge with Child's Play Challenges, using our photo inspiration and adding extra criteria from Child's Play. This is an opportunity for you to enter both challenges, using the same layout.

For my layout, I  used the hint of blue showing in the inspiration photo as my main colour, the teddy, lace and vintage look. From Child's Play, I added the extra criteria of three patterned papers, gold, bling, an animal, and something at least one year old (photo of dog, plus embellishment of an iris folded teddy, gold Prima flower (also more than a year old), bling around teddy's neck and on the camera embellishment).

Close-up of teddy embellishment. The layers of paper were put onto a cream-coloured background which was then cut out to the teddy shape and stamped with new metallic chalk edgers... liking these!

 The title for my page is an embossing folder sentiment and particularly apt for the photos I have chosen to use.

Papers were heavily distressed and inked. In sections where I tore and then rolled, I inserted snippets of lace or another paper.
The photos were of one of Julie's (Time to Create) little divas that always greets us enthusiastically every time we go to play. Bella and Angel love to be included in everything going on, but Angel, in particular would often jump onto a chair, her paws on the table in front of a work mat with an expectant look on her face, as if to say :"Where's mine?" On this particular day, she wasn't the only one sharing the workspace. Julie launched a new product and we thought it would be fun to include our teddies (because the product was a teddy stamp set). However, Angel was less than impressed with her furry company.... and Bella, to a lesser extent. The stress levels of both little ones rose to the stage where we had to remove the teddies from  the work area. We were certainly smiling and laughing... much, before we could start our class for the day.
Even though both little ladies are less agile now, they certainly still do make us smile.

We'd love to see you come and play with us this month. Pop on over to:Pixels and Paper  to have a look at our inspiration photo and what our team has done and while you're there, also pop over to:
Child's Play Challenges and see what their design team have been up to.

Thanks for popping by and for lovely comments you leave. I always find these encouraging and uplifting.
Cheers for now,
Di.

PATIENCE

Hi and welcome.
Sometimes patience is all it takes and so it was, when these shots were taken of a white-faced heron meandering its way through the shallow waters at the edge of the Severn River. This river, running through Stanthorpe, forms part of the vast wetlands area that have been established in the township, attracting a wide variety of bird life.

This layout for: http://kcclayoutchallenges.blogspot.com.au/2014/09/lm-210-natures-glory.html
features the use of  die-cut film strips and stamping. I've  used the film strip sections for my journalling.
I'm sure we weren't the only ones being patient this particular morning. The heron outdid all of us, standing still for up to 5 minutes at a time before taking another cautious step. When it spotted something appetising it would stand on one foot with its whole body quivering, until it quickly plunged forward with its head and long beak, before moving on to another section of the river.
We were able to watch it, and some ducks swimming nearby,  for 15 - 20 minutes before it flew off further down stream.
A peaceful start to a very pleasant day.
Thanks for stopping by.
Catch you again soon.
Cheers, Di

YIN-YANG OF SEASONS AT ANYTHING BUT A CARD

Hi and welcome. At Anything But A Card this month we are celebrating either autumn or spring or a combination of both, as I have done. For the challenge this month I decided to do a reverse canvas (40cm x 40cm) and a yin-yang stylised design celebrating autumn and spring.

I started with the canvas, painting it with acrylic paints ad adding mists of Perfect Pearls and Dylusions to give some extra colour and depth. At this stage I wasn't too concerned that the colours weren't exactly in half, since a good proportion was going to be covered up anyway.

The yin-yang design was drawn onto white card stock. Flowers and leaves were hand drawn and then coloured using combinations of watercolour crayons, Distress Inks ( inks pressed onto plastic sheeting and the colour picked up with a fine brush) and Mementoluxe inks (applied the same way). The background was painted on using a combination of Inca  Golds (applied with a water brush) and 3D Texture Paint (applied the same way).

 
After I  had put this piece onto the canvas I added some more Inca Gold to sections.
At this stage, I decided the frame needed some additional colour applied, so I daubed on Distress Stains  before gluing on the additional leaves and flowers.

Leaves were diecut using Tim Holtz Tattered Leaves die. These were made from a combination of patterned papers and cream card stock smooshed with Distress Inks and spritzed with Lindy's Stamp Gang Sprays (I'm loving the richness of these). While these were still damp I scrunched them up and let them dry before opening them out and tweaking them a bit more.
Different cones and dried seed pods were added., as well as a ceramic gecko.

Flowers were made using the Tattered Florals dies. These were made from smooshed and sprayed card stock and again scrunched while damp and left to dry. Some were formed into rose shapes
while others were just layered.

Acetate packaging was stamped with butterflies, cut out and coloured with alcohol inks.
The canvas and yin-yang design was finished with Collage Pauge to seal it.
When the whole piece was finished (or so I thought), I decided it needed some extra glam, so I used a combination of Perfect Pearls, Liquid Pearls and Viva Pearl pens to outline flowers, add some detail to the leaves and to also go around the outer edge of the circle.

It's now ready to find a spot to hang it.

Thank you for stopping by. Do pop on over to:http://anythingbutacard.blogspot.ca/ and have a look at what the rest of the design team has done with the Autumn Magic/ Spring Wonder Challenge. We'd love to see your art here.
Cheers for now,
Di

MAISIE VICTORIA DAVISON

This month at ARTastic, the inspiration photo was a beautiful heritage styled painting depicting a fabulous jacaranda tree in full bloom.  To see this painting, pop  on over to the ARTastic blog at:
http://artasticchallengeblog.blogspot.com.au/  and also have a peep at what the rest of the team has done for this month's challenge.
Jacaranda trees are out in all of their gorgeous blooms throughout this area and particularly in the not- so- far- away city of Grafton, where they hold a Jacaranda Festival each year in October. Although not native to Australia, they have become an icon in many streets and gardens. Personally I love these planted next to an Australian native, the Illawarra Flame Tree, also in brilliant bloom at this time of the year. This tree has a gorgeous coral/red flower which looks stunning next to the vivid blue/purple of the jacaranda.
 But enough of these musings and onto my layout!

The photo I' ve used is of my mum, taken in 1929 when she was 18.  This particular photo is a reproduction of the original, made about 40 years ago and given to family members at a reunion in 1974. Mum loved roses, blues, mauves and laces, so I have incorporated these into the layout.  She was also a fabulous crocheter and I've also used some snippets of crocheted doilies.

I've chosen to reflect the hues of the jacarandas in the papers I've made the roses from and in the laces I tinted with Distress Inks. (Milled Lavender, Shaded Lilac). The same Distress Inks were also smooshed onto the papers.

Some of the papers for the roses and flowers were made from smooshing the colours onto a white cardstock and also giving them a light spray of Glimmer mist. Other papers are from cardstock I've had for ages. The roses and some of the other flowers were diecuts using the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals Die. Others were punched.

To go with the heritage style of the painting I have given my layout a shabby chic/ distressed look with distressed and punched edges and inserts of laces and different papers. These have torn and rolled edges which were also inked with the 2 lilac colours as well as Vintage Photo Distress Ink.
The chipboard flourish has been daubed with distress stains and sprayed with glimmer mist.

I've used a material vine to complete the piece and hidden journalling tags (also edged with lace).

Thank you for popping by and for your comments.
Cheers, for now,
Di

FRIENDS

 

 

Hi and welcome. The first of October and a new challenge at Pixels and Paper where the inspiration photo could well have you thinking of your favourite cuppa , flowers or pastel colours. Pop on over to:-http://pixelsandpaperchallengeblog.blogspot.com.au/  and have a look at the image as well as what the team has come up with.



  

 

 

 I've left my background paper as it came. This was a fabulous collection from Fabscraps and the images and colours were perfect for this challenge. I've added some punched paper 'lace' strips, using pale blue and pale green, a great sentiment card which has also doubled as a journalling tag, diecut trellis (Fabscraps again), diecut flowers from vellum, pearls and a store-bought butterfly.

 

 

All edges were smooshed with one of my new purchases from "Time To Create Handmade Treasures"... the gorgeous MementoLuxe inks. I used Angel Pink and Pear Tart. (green) .. both gorgeous, fresh colours. The vellum was sprayed lightly with Perfect Pearls and finished  with a touch of the the MementoLuxe as well.

The photo is of a good friend and self  having a quick interlude at 'http://timetocreate-handmadetreasure.blogspot.com.au/.
I hope you feel inspired to have a go at our challenge this month.
Cheers, for now.
Di

Designed for Pixels and Paper Challenges

Challenges Entered:
Lasting memories Scrapbook Layout Challenges  Friends) at:
http://kcclayoutchallenges.blogspot.ca/2014/10/lm-211-beautiful-friendship.html

STEAMPUNK TAG

Hi and welcome. This month at ABAC, we've been exploring the very versatile steampunk theme. As it was recently Father's Day here in Australia, I decided to do a male orientated tag.

Firstly I cut a tag from cardstock which was originally an experimentation piece. I then stencilled over it using silver Delicata ink (shown up as white, below).

 
After this was dry, I stamped in versamark and added black embossing powder to some of the edges.

 Cream cardstock was put through an embossing folder and smooshed with Distress Inks (Black Soot, Weathered Wood, Faded Jeans and Barn Door). This was mounted onto metallic black card and attached to the tag base.
The stamped playing card was smooshed with Barn Door. Cogs were die cut (Tim Holtz) from crumpled layers of aluminium foil and attached .

These looked too 'new' so I tipped on splashes of alcohol ink and vintaj patina then scratched off some of the colour in parts. Some black stazon was also added on some of the cogs.
A couple of metal embellishments, also treated the same way, completed the tag.
Thank you for stopping by. There's still time to enter  our steampunk challenge, so why not pop over to: http://anythingbutacard.blogspot.ca/ and check out what the rest of the team has done this STEAMPUNKTEMBER!!!

Cheers for now, Di.

COME INTO MY PARLOUR!

Who'd have thought geometry would have turned out to be so useful in my artwork this month. My DT piece for ARTastic is a retro-inspired piece, revisiting the very popular nail and string designs of the '70's, but using the same method on cardstock.

One of my favourite geometry exercises in my previous life, was to introduce the concept of producing curves using straight lines, teaching the basic concepts and then having the kids come up with their own designs.
I drew up the design on white paper first and then placed this over the black cardstock so I could pierce holes in it ready for sewing, using a metallic silver yarn and a needle threader (one of those ones that are about 10cms long and shaped like an oval). I find that these work well especially with all of the holes pre-pierced, and with my eyesight they're easier for me to thread thicker yarn and still have a fine implement to use.
The photos of spiderwebs were the perfect ones to use for the background. One, taken at night with a light sprinkle of dew, which has reflected the flash of the camera beautifully, and the other taken in the early morning.
The title of course was the only one that I could have used... first line from a children's song.
There's still plenty of time to pop on over to ARTastic and have a look at the inspiration piece for this month and of course, what the rest of the team has done. It's amazing how everyone has such varied interpretations. You'll find us at: http://artasticchallengeblog.blogspot.com.au/
Thank you for stopping by. I love to read your comments when you leave them.
Cheers, Di

EXPLORE

Hi and welcome again. Today I'm showing you my DT piece for Pixels and Paper. Pop on over to: http://pixelsandpaperchallengeblog.blogspot.com.au/  and have a look at our inspiration photo and how the team has interpreted it.

My layout is depicting a set of photos of my son (aged 8) and myself exploring the rockpools at Flat Rock near Ballina, NSW. This is a great rock platform where all sorts of little hidden treasures can be found. Some of our favourite finds of the day included sea anemones, urchins and starfish.

I've framed the photos  with shaped mats and stamped on these as well as on the photos. I've also added some leftover framing from diecuts previously used. These are perfect for highlighting specific parts of a photo, making it look like a slide.

The title was diecut and then painted with a thick texture paste. This was very grainy and gave the appearance of sand.  Some 'crab' trails were added with a gold Kindyglitz (a glitter glue).
Diecut sea creatures  were heat embossed with Opals embossing enamels.  The chipboard pieces were purchased from Julie at  http://timetocreatehandmadetreasure.blogspot.com.au/                       .

The sea anemones were fringed and quilled from textured pearlised  and cobweb papers.
To complete the whole piece is a lovely quote... so true!
Thank you for coming by. Catch you again soon.
Cheers, Di