CHRISTMAS JOY

Hi and a Merry Christmas. This month at Pixels and Paper it's all about Christmas and/or pets.

I liked the pet/traditional Christmas theme and decided to do a spin on these two subjects. We don't actually have any pets, but our semi-permanent resident tawny frogmouths disappear from about late July and often reappear during the Christmas season. When they come back, there are often youngsters in tow. This is a photo of two of the bubs who were a welcome Christmas surprise.

 

 

I've used traditional colours of reds and greens with a smattering of gold and silver. The black  background was stencilled with gold ink before I attached the tree shapes and silk ribbons.  

 

 

 



 

Pop on over to:pixelsandpaper and check out how the rest of the team has used this inspirational photo.

 

Cheers for now. Thanks for dropping by.

Di

A TOUCH OF GOLD.... MAYBE MORE!!

Hi!. November at Pixels and Paper is asking for a touch of gold (or more than a touch if you wish) on your project.
This month I was inspired to create a wall hanging. I kept the white canvas board and added touches of gold, pink and a few other colours with beads and embossing powders.

Some of these I let run down the canvas. I love the effect that can be achieved with the heat embossing... totally random speckles and splotches where embossing powders 'escaped'. To the centre I added a wooden starfish which had also been beaded randomly and coloured with embossing powders.

This gave the desired textural effect I wanted and added depth and richness to the colours  as suggested by the inspiration photo.
Pop on over to:pixelsandpaper and check out how the team has used this photo. We'd also love to see what you come up with.
Cheers for now.
Di

ZENNING UNDER THE SEA

Hi and welcome. This month's inspiration at Archiscraps is all about zentangling.
I've been doing this technique in various forms for a while now and decided to incorporate the idea into an underwater scene.

This is one of the three inspirational photos used this month.

Pop on over to archiscraps and check out the other two  inspirational photos and the work from their team members.
Catch you again soon.
Cheers, Di

BALL SEASON

Hi! October already!!!! Pixels and Paper, this month has gone shabby chic with frames as the additional criteria.

For this challenge, I went with the shabby chic feel and used a background paper that was patterned like lace. On this I stencilled overlapping oval frames, using a white pearl modelling cream.

In the corners, I added a lace diecut and then randomly added white and gold flowers. Some of these have ribbon and pearl centres, and on others I have added quilled roses I made from pearlised cream or gold paper.

 

 

The centres of the frames were cut out and photos inserted underneath. These were taken at  two different balls held in Lismore at the City Hall, 1973 and 1974. These are of my other half and myself.



Pop on over to:pixelsandpaper and check out what the rest of the team has done with this inspiration photo.

Catch you soon. Cheers, Di

WATERLILES: USING MULTIPLE PHOTOS AND PAGES ON A LAYOUT

Hi and welcome. With the coming of spring here in our part of the world (and another wedding anniversary celebrated on the 1st September... 43 years!)  Pixels and Paper have used a colour palette to help inspire you.
For this, I had the perfect photos that matched the palette; a series of waterlily photos taken at our local dam, Rocky Creek Dam, near Lismore.

Background for the layout and the mini-album on top. Mini-album has been decorated with punched dragonflies. Pages have been edged with dots of Perfect Pearls. This has also been used for centres of flowers on the background paper.

My son was experimenting with his camera lens to take a series of photos, zooming in to take macro shots of parts of the lilies. As I wanted these to feature on the one page without making the photos smaller, I designed a series of pages that could be used as a mini- album. These were placed on cardstock, also reflecting the colour palette to be used.

To coordinate the pages, I used the punched dragonflies and Perfect Pearls on each. Additional journalling has been written on this last page since these photos were taken. This tells about the day these were taken and the lucky viewing we had of freshwater turtles not far from the waterlilies.

As you can see from the inspiration photo, the palette is very springlike with the colours to be used. You might also like to take your inspiration from flowers, a spring-time event or even insects.

Pop on over to:pixelsandpaper and check out what the team has done for this month's challenge.
Thank you for dropping by.
Catch you again soon.
Cheers, Di

BUTTERFLIES

Hi! Spring is drawing closer in our part of the world... although some chilly winds remind us that it's not quite here!
Archiscraps challenge for this month was to add butterflies to our creations.
For this challenge I have done a large tag, featuring butterflies and an inspirational message. This has been written in the cut out left-over from one of the butterflies used. These were die cut and put through an embossing folder.

The papers they were made from were hand done experiments with stencilling and sprays.The bottom butterfly has metallic blues, greens and golds on it, but these are not showing up clearly. To give the effect from the inspirational photo from archiscraps, one of the butterflies was cut from acetate packaging material and coloured using alcohol inks.
I also added some chipboard butterflies and wooden butterfly buttons.

Pop on over to archiscraps and check out what the team has created.
Catch you again soon.
Cheers, Di

DAWN SERENADE

Pixels and Paper, this month has very delicious -looking, decorated  cupcakes to inspire you, with the addition of tiny embellishments. Pop on over to:pixelsandpaper and check out what the rest of the team has been up to.

From this, I've used some of the colours  (blue, pink, green) in a  slightly softer hue, circles, domes and the tiny embellishments.

I tore paper to resemble a shell, and misted music background paper, to link with colours in the photo, as well as the title.
I sewed with string, used wire, mother of pearl shell discs, charms, rhinestones, seed pearls, jewellery backings and chipboard pieces.

First page of layout

Second page of layout

I foiled the chipboard music staff and heat embossed the title, shells and sea horses.

The photo for this layout was taken when on a short break with family, at Mooloolaba Qld. The day and night before was wet and we were wondering what had happened to the glorious weather. I decided to have an early start with some photography and was lucky enough to capture the various phases of dawn on the ocean (all from the balcony of the apartment we were staying in). Truly amazingly peaceful, and beautiful, soft hues.
The break away could have been longer, so this location is being added to a bucket list of places to revisit.

Catch you again soon.
Cheers, Di

BAD HAIR DAY!!

Archiscraps this month has a challenge involving distressing and wood.... a perfect combination for the photo I've used on my layout.

 

This is the juvenile of our 2008-2009 tawny pair. By far, this particular one has been the most inquisitive, wide-awake juvie. Everything attracted its attention when it should have been sleeping!! Maybe it had ADHD!! This shot is when its head feathers were really misbehaving.
I can relate to that at the moment, with my hair, after chemo, wanting to grow in different directions and never knowing what it'll be like each day.
I've used corrugated packaging, torn and inked for the background. To this I've added additional layers of paper, fibre, and bark from trees. Additional wooden components are the leaves and speech bubble.
This is the inspiration photo from archiscraps.

Pop on over and check it out.
Catch you soon,
Cheers, Di

LET IT SNOW!

Winter has certainly shown its face here at last, with some icy winds and frosts in our area and snowfalls in other parts of the country.
This month's inspiration photo for Pixels and Paper makes you think of the cold, misty mornings so the criteria is winter and what it means to you.

For this I chose photos from our first snow experience,  a trip to Tasmania's Mt Wellington , Hobart. The tower in the photo, moments before this was taken, had been covered in sheets of ice, which fell off and smashed. Bushes covered with flowers had turned into ice crystals; a real wonderland.
The page was smooshed with white distress ink to represent the feeling of mist and cold. I added strips of Kraft paper as well as glittered paper to give the snowy, crystalline effect that we saw when the sun glinted off the ice. Snowflakes were drawn on.

Pop on over to:pixelsandpaper and check out how the team has used the inspiration photo. Why not come and play. We'd love to see your ideas.
Cheers for now,
Di.

DISTRESSED OVER AT PIXELS AND PAPER

Hi! Over at pixelsandpaper  this month it's all about distressing. Check out this fab photo to help you with your inspiration.

This month I decided to go with a shabby style layout with lots of paper tearing, layering and inking.

I've added some soft gauze handmade roses, picked up at a local craft fair, and some beautiful vintage style velvet pansies, given to me from a close friend.
The black and white photo is a family grouping of the Chase/Davison Family. Seated, shows my Great, Great Grandmother (Esther Bowd), George Chase ( Great Grandfather), and Angelina Chase, my Great Grandmother. She was widowed when younger. Standing in the centre of the back row, is my Grandfather (Arthur Davison). He was the first child of Angelina and her first husband. The rest of the photo show his siblings.
I have added hidden journalling which can be revealed when you pull on the ribbon on the side of the photo.
Check out what the rest of the team has done with this month's challenge.

Catch you again soon.
Cheers, Di

SWANS A-SWIMMING!

Hi! Just a quick post up today, showing my entry for: archiscraps where the criteria was to show layering and something reflective.

For this I have treated  the background paper with Color Burst Metallic Liquid which gives a great shimmery effect. I've also used pearlised cream cardstock and silver mirrorboard, finishing off with crystal beads.
The gorgeous black swans were photographed on the Derwent River, near Hobart.  We were lucky to have been in the right spot to see them fairly close by and were able to take some shots showing their reflections.
Catch you again soon.
Cheers, Di

DIANGLES

Hi! Just a quick peep at tghe post I have put up on Pixels and Paper Challenge site. Each month one of the team posts a tip or technique we like using and it's my turn this month.

Check out how I did this and what else I've done at:pixelsandpaper.
Catch you again soon.
Cheers, Di

MUM AND ME

Pixels and Paper again have a great challenge this month. You will definitely be using flowers as this is the additional criteria for this inspirational photo.

You might also think about celebrations, cake, decorated cakes and the colours used.
My take on this was a wedding day photo taken of my mum and self on my wedding day.. September 1st, 1973. (the first day of spring downunder). This is quite a rare photo of the two of us as mum really didn't like having her photo taken, so it is really special.

 

 

I used several papers from the same range  in layers. these were torn and inked with Old Paper Distress Ink. To the page I also added swirls of pink pearls, glass leaves, bought flowers and hand-quilled roses. I've also added a porcelain 'bluebird of happiness'. The roses were chosen, not only because of the inspiration photo but also because they were mum's favourite flowers. The blue quilled ones were from the inside of a business envelope.

From the inspiration photo, I also chose some of the colours: pinks, green, blue and white.

I was going to put my journalling on the page, but because there was so much to say, have written on the reverse side.

Pop on over to: pixelsandpaper and check out what the rest of the team has done with this photo. We'd also love to see your work here.

Cheers for now.

Di



WEDDING

Hi and welcome. Vintage?  Shabby chic? This month's inspiration photo at Pixels and Paper will have you reaching for the laces and gauzes as it did for me.

For this layout I've used several papers from the Couture Creations 'Vintage Rose Garden' collection. I've been using these papers to make a family history album using black and white or sepia reproductions of photos of past and present family members.
This is the only photo I know of, of my parent's wedding day. Dad was 17 and mum, 18..... so young,but obviously so happy! The date was December 31st 1929. 
All I've added to the different papers is some distressing of edges, inking,then lace and embroidered fabric roses, lace, mulberry bark which was teased out to look like gauze and bead swirls.

Take the time to pop over to pixelsandpaper to see how the rest of the team has used this fabulous inspiration photo.

We'd love to see how you use it, so why not come and play.
Catch you again soon.
Cheers. Di

PICTURE PERFECT

Hi! Challenges can get one working out of a comfort zone and this month's challenge at Archi-scraps has done this for me. I don't normally work with yellow, but have used this, together with the criteria of using gesso or some form of modelling paste to create a background.

Normally I would have used this photo with possibly a black background , but have taken the opportunity to highlight the bits of yellow foliage in the garden. This has also allowed other colours in the photo to pop. Three different stencils were used. To complete the layout I used flowers diecut and layered up, fibre and a wisp of mulberry bark. Some added pieces were the hexagon shapes left over from a diecut lattice.
Journalling on the reverse side reads: The photo was taken by Dan at the Hobart Botanical gardens in May 2009. This is part of the beautiful Japanese garden planned with Hobart's sister city in Japan. It is a gorgeous, serene garden room with beautiful pockets of trees and flowering shrubs all set off with a little lake and small cascades of water.

Pop on over to:archiscraps and check out what their team has done with this awesome inspiration photo.

Catch you again soon,
Cheers, Di

REST!

Hi and welcome! At the moment I'm having heaps of fun experimenting with different mediums to make background papers, some of which I've used to create the layout for this month's ARTastic challenge. The added criteria was to use wood veneer.

The background was part of a paper created in a class held at timetocreate last month. On this we sponged paper soft- colour, through different-sized stencils. This paper soft is a wonderful product which gives fabulous effects. The shapes made were stamped. In the white sections remaining I added some of my tangled patterns with a black sharpie. I also used green, purple, copper and gold sharpies to some sections of the design.
The leaves were made from another piece of background paper I had made last year, using a distress ink smooshed tissue paper glued onto cardstock. This was then stamped with distress and archival inks.
To go with the quirky inspiration art piece, I used a photo of a tawny family from a few years ago. The youngster was definitely AD/HD and stayed awake quite  few hours during the day when it (and parents) should have been sleeping. This was just one of the photos we were able to capture of its antics!

The wood veneer came into play with the speech bubbles, title, butterflies, leaves and owl.
To complete the piece I added some fibres.

Pop on over to artasticchallengeblog to check out what the team has done with this amazing artwork.
Thank you for coming by. Catch you again soon.
Cheers, Di

ANGEL'S WINGS

Hi and welcome! this month's challenge at pixels and paper is all about monochrome.
My layout has been done in tones of brown including deep creams.

 

 The photo is of some gorgeous stalactite formations in the Hastings Caves, Tasmania. These have been called Angel's Wings and certainly do look like wings. Stamping, stencilling and edging have been done with Distress Inks: Ground Espresso. I've also used diecuts, chippie embellishments (heat embossed) and gauze. One of the papers in the piece is actually a piece from a wallpaper sample.
The inspiration photo makes one think of yummy indulgences.

 

 

Pop on over to: pixelsandpaper and check out what the rest of the team has come up with for this challenge. Remember you don't have to use the colours pictured. You can choose any colour providing the colours used are in the same tone and hue range as each other.

Catch you again soon.

Cheers, Di

RAINBOW LORIKEET

Hi and welcome. Today I'm sharing with you the layout I've entered into this months ARTastic Challenge, with the additional criteria of adding paint.
The photograph I used cried out for the rainbow colour spectrum.

For the criteria of paint, I had first applied a thin layer of gesso and then brushed in layers of different coloured acrylic paint over a stencil. Once the original stencilled background had been made, I was able to create my 'mop-ups'. The background behind the photo is one of these. The negative stencilled effect suited the photo more than the original piece made.
To create the leaves I used a number of different green- shaded distress inks smooshed over white cardstock and used the Tattered Leaves die. The base cardstock was stamped with archival inks.
Pop on over to artasticchallengeblog and check out how the team has used this fabulous inspiration artwork.

Catch you soon,
Cheers, Di

TRAVELLING

Hi and welcome to another month of inspiration for Pixels and Paper Challenges. This month it's all about travel.
For my layout I've used a map from a travel brochure and simply added photos from a favourite Aussie holiday destination.. Tasmania. In this particular case the south east area.

This trip took us to the Tarhune Airwalk near Geeveston. The photo shows the view above the Huon and Picton Rivers and where they join as well as a view of the cantilever outstretched above the forest floor. We also visited the Hastings Caves. My first trip underground and it was great. The road south took us to Cockle Creek, the furthest point we could travel by car.

 

Our inspiration photo for this month giving plenty of scope with backgrounds, ephemera and colours.

Pop on over to:pixelsandpaper and check out what the rest of the team has done with this. We'd love to have you join in.

Cheers for now,

Di





ROCKY CREEK DAM

Hi everyone! It's certainly been a while since my last post and quite a journey health-wise. Chemo treatments are almost completed and I feel as though I'm on the road to recovery.
This month's criteria at Pixels and Paper is to add paint to your creation. My layout of a favourite picnic spot in the local area features a painted background mat for the photo and title.

For this  I used acrylic paints, including metallic gold and silver, to create a background suggesting  light and reflections on water. This went perfectly with the photo I wanted to use. The bright zingy green from the inspiration piece caught my eye, so this colour was also used. The title was finished off with a black edging and some cross hatching.

Pop on over to pixelsandpaper and check out what the rest of the team has done with this gorgeous inspiration photo. We'd love to see what you come up with.
It's great to be back.
Cheers for now.
Di