Wonder Years || Scrapbook Layout

Hi all,

I have a mixed media layout to share today.

It started out very differently with lots of big areas of yellow, red and blue on a white background. It was a mess.... so I had to come up with a Plan B! Instead I painted the colours onto watercolour paper and punched out circles. In the end I even punched some circles from the original background. 

I drew around the circles and added more paint behind them, allowing it to run down the page. 

The circles are stuck on with 3D foam and I added coloured thread around them too.

The picture was taken in Liverpool, there was a street where there was lots of umbrellas hanging between the rooftops. 

The title is from 'Wonder Years' by The Summer Set. Here's a video is you fancy a listen...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPsw2JUk1bA

Anyway, the coloured thickers are by Docrafts (I know, right?!), and the stickers are (I think) Amy Tan? The chipboard piece is from My Mind's Eye 'Jubilee'.

Thanks for stopping by!
Emily xx

Embrace Life || Scrapbook Layout

Hi all,

I have a layout to share today using a watercolour background.

I had just bought the Pink Paislee 'Fancy Free' chipboard sheet and I wanted to use them to make a layout. I grabbed a piece of 12x12" white cardstock and mixed up watercolours to match the colours in the chipboard sheet. Then, I painted circles in each colour, making sure the layer below was dry so that the colours didn't go muddy. Once that was all dry, I stitched more circles using the sewing machine.

The picture is of Nathan and I in York recently. It's our go-to place if it's a lovely day and we fancy a walk around and a nice burger. We like the Slug & Lettuce as it's right by the river, and we always make sure we get a window seat.

Thanks for stopping by!
Emily xx

Bee-autiful Cards! || StickerKitten 'Bee Garden'

 Hi all,

I have some cards to share today using the 'Bee Garden' collection by StickerKitten. At time of posting, Sarah will have been on Hochanda promoting her products and these first two cards are what I sent to her for use on the show, along with two A4 scrapbook layouts. I'm always happy to help out a friend and it's so exciting to make things for the telly!

You can pick up the collection HERE. < (Link)

The Bee Garden paper pad has a mixture of watercolour patterns and also kraft papers with delicate black linework and I tried to use a bit of both for my projects.

This first card is made using the kraft papers. I also used the stamp set and heat embossed the designs in gold.

This next one uses the watercolour papers. I decorated the wooden bee using Dovecraft 3D Pearl Effects. 

Finally I made a spinner card. I didn't send this in for Hochanda as the spinner didn't quite work right and I perhaps need another try. I'd never done it before so let's say I've learnt from it! 

Thanks for stopping by!
Emily xx

York || Scrapbook Layout || First Edition 'Wild Flower' || Step By Step

Hi all,

I have a pretty, watercolour-y scrapbook layout to share today using the First Edition 'Wild Flower' paper pad by Trimcraft. 

The picture is of the ruins in the Museum Gardens in York. 

Step by step:

1. Spread gesso across the centre of the page and allow to dry.
2. Scribble purple gelato or paint purple watercolour onto plastic packaging, add water and then smoosh onto the gesso.
3. Cut two strips from 12x12" paper, one 1" wide and the other 3" wide. Stick to the page, leaving a small gap in between.
4. Add a length of ribbon and a length of washi tape in the gap between the patterned paper. 
5. Print your photo at 3x4" and mount a couple of times with patterned paper. Stick down in the centre of the page.
6. Die cut several pennants from patterned paper and textured cardstock, layer and stick to the top left and bottom right of the page using a stapler. 
7. Add floral stickers and a title.
8. Finish with ink spatters, adhesive gems, buttons and flowers.

Thanks for stopping by!
Emily xx

You Are The Sunshine In My Soul || Scrapbook Layout || Cocoa Vanilla Studio 'Wild At Heart'

It's Saturdayyy!

Today I have a layout to share using the 'Wild At Heart' collection by Cocoa Vanilla Studio. It took a while for the collection to become available here in the UK and as soon as it arrived I ordered some things from Hey Little Magpie. I got a sheet of the 12x12" paper, the chipboard frames, die cut ephemera and sticker sheet. Cocoa Vanilla is one of my favourite scrapbooking brands, everything is so gorgeous and a pleasure to work with.

The pictures are of a recent 'date night' (read: Nathan really wanted a Wagamama, I am just, and I quote, a "by-product" (when my mother commented that he spoils me)) . I was taking selfies before we set off. This is the first selfies we have taken since Nathan had his hair cut. He brushes up quite well :0). I can't say why I'm laughing in the second picture. I just kept pressing the shutter on my phone.

I chose this paper because I am obsessed with watercolours. Need I say more! I added some of my own behind the picture and embellishments by using the packaging technique. I tried to emulate the colours that were on the paper already. Once dry I grabbed a heart stencil and painted select areas in 'Payne's Gray' (the best watercolour shade!) 

After that, the layout was super simple to make. I stuck the photos onto the large chipboard frames and layered them up with foam tape, then arranged the embellishments around it. 

Right, it's Nathan's birthday today. He's 22 now. Way to make me feel old. (He was 14 when I met him!!). As I write this ((April 1st)) he's not decided what to do for it so hopefully by now we have something planned. If not then we'll probably end up in Wagamama again...! Would have liked to have gone away but the final uni deadline is less than a week away and it wouldn't have been wise to plan anything.

Thanks for stopping by!
Emily xx

Mixed Media Scrapbook Layout || First Edition Paradise Crush

Happy Saturday!

I'm back with a new mixed media layout, I think I've finally got my mojo back. This layout is made using the First Edition Paradise Crush paper pad by Trimcraft. If you're one of my American followers then you can now pick up this paper pad (and 'Storyteller') too in Michaels. Funny how we struggle to get our hands on scrap supplies here in the UK, I never think of it being the other way around!

The picture was taken at the BioParc in Fuengirola, Spain. I asked (instructed..) my boyfriend to stand under this huge building so I could take the picture. It's untitled. Not a stylistic decision, I'm afraid, I'm just bad at titles...! 

 Step by step:

1) Take a sheet of coloured, textured cardstock and using an old credit card, paste gesso in the centre of the page. Leave to dry then add a couple more layers, depending on how thick the gesso you're using is.

2) Paint watercolour paint onto plastic packaging and 'smoosh' (press down) on top of the gesso. Repeat on more packaging with co-ordinating colours.

3) Print your photo at 2x3" and mount onto patterned paper.

4) Fussy cut flowers from the paper pad and cut a coloured doily in half.

5) Arrange the cut out items behind the photo in the centre of the page and when you are happy, stick them down.

6) Using a patterned stamp, stamp in co-ordinating colours behind some of the elements of the page.

7) Finish with stickers and adhesive gems.

If you're wondering what watercolours I use, they are by Reeves. I bought them when I was in art school and I still love them. 

Today my family and I are celebrating Christmas. With one thing and another, we never actually had Christmas dinner all together so it will be good to have a catch up with everybody. Fingers crossed no one asks about uni/etc :) :) :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

Spring || Scrapbook Layout || Dovecraft Painted Blooms

Hi all,

I have a layout to share using the Dovecraft Painted Blooms collection from Trimcraft.

When I first saw the floral stamps (before I got my mitts on them) I knew I wanted to make a layout stamping them over coloured watercolour patches....

Here it is!

When I got my hands on the stamps, this project was the first thing I tried but it took three attempts to get right. The first time, I used cardstock that absorbed the water too well and the second time I used too much paint and the result was a brightly coloured Kandinsky-inspired mess.

Fast forward a couple weeks I had another go. Initially I started out using my 'Artiste' watercolour markers I have from my Docrafts days but a few circles in they decided to stop giving out ink. Instead, I bravely got my Reeves watercolour tubes out and squeezed a tiny bit of my chosen colours onto my clear acrylic block. I painted a circle of water and then dropped in a tiny bit of the paint for each circle. The paint spreads out into the wet area but you can help it along with a brush if you like. Once it was all completely dry I added the stamping.

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

Castle On The Hill || Scrapbook Layout

Happy Saturday!

I have a mixed media layout to share today and it's inspired by 'Castle On The Hill' by Ed Sheeran. If you haven't heard it then a) where have you been for the past 2 months and b) go listen, now! 

When we went to Edinburgh, that song had just come out and it was going through my head when, walking to go out for a drink that evening, the sun was setting over the castle (on the hill). I took a few pictures but there were trees in the way but we got to the art galleries and there was a podium that I climbed on to take this picture (I had to be lifted down).

I still wasn't sure about the picture but I had a play around on my phone on 'Camera 360 Sight' and it has lots of effects to emphasise different weather conditions. This one really brought out the blue and the fire of the sunset. 

For this layout I really wanted to use some orange to bring out the colours of the sky. However, I am repulsed by the colour orange for a silly reason that I don't want to mention...
Anyway, I chose some paper for the background, this is a rather old 'on my desk' paper by Gossamer Blue )which I haven't heard of in ages.) I covered some parts of the paper with gesso and then did the packaging technique with spray ink over the gessoed areas.

The tags/layered papers are from the 'Happy Watercolour' 6x6" paper pad from The Works. It's a real bargain at £1 and the papers are so pretty.

The wood veneer are some form of American Crafts but I can't remember what collection. A lot of my stash is a bit older but that doesn't make it any less wonderful to work with.

The large thickers are from the Paige Evans Fancy Free collections by Pink Paislee and this is the first time I've used them and I love them. They're larger than normal and really grab your attention.

I finished off the layout with some machine stitching and some scrunched up thread.

Thanks for stopping by!
Emily xx

Fly || Scrapbook Layout || Simply Creative 'Chalkboard'

Hi all,

I have a layout to share today using the Simply Creative 'Chalkboard' papers from Trimcraft, along with a little mixed media in the form of yellow watercolour paint.

The photograph is of some waxwings that spent a few days in the area at the beginning of February. It's a bit of an 'out-take' shot but I really like it, how the camera captured details like the birds' feet and yellow tails, but blurred some of the wings.

Thanks for stopping by!
Emily xx

C

Mother's Day Cards || Dovecraft Painted Blooms

Hi all,

With Mother's Day around the corner I have three blog posts full of inspiration to make a gorgeous card show your mum how much you appreciate her. I had five cards to make so I've been pretty busy!

These cards use the Dovecraft Painted Blooms collection from Trimcraft.

This one is my favourite and I'm giving it to my mum so shhhhh don't tell her
(Mum, if you're reading this, look away now.... Haha.... love you momma!)

It's so pretty yet it was so easy to make, stamping the flowers and colouring with watercolour pencils and then fussy-cutting them.

This one uses the Painted Blooms embossing folder. I find A6 embossing folders a little restrictive but with this one I covered the un-embossed area with shiny patterned paper.

To find out more about how I made these, head to my Trimcraft gallery (link)

Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned for more Mother's Day inspiration on Saturday!

Emily xx

More Than Words Challenge November 2016

Hi all

Here's my entry for the November More Than Words challenge and you can find out more and enter HERE

I used the November Like For Ever kit for this layout. I'm not currently a subscriber but I saw the kit on instagram and it looked awesome so I ordered it and I love it!

I also used watercolour on this layout and I love the effect it created.

I also made a lil' process video for it. I've had scrapper's block for a while and it's only today that my mojo has really come back so I was excited to make this.

Here is the challenge the folks at More Than Words set:

I chose the photo because it's SPECIAL. We hardly see Sam any more so when we do get to see them it has become tradition to take lots of selfies. I love our friendship because even though we cannot be together often, when we see them it's like we have never been apart.

I also chose the picture because of Sam's BLUE hair. (It's also incredibly soft...). I'm not sure about 'old', but the camera was BORROWED from Nathan, it's his new one and he let me take it around the convention all day to try it out. The screen folds out and flips over so it's perfect for selfies! Something NEW is the supplies I used, from the Pink Paislee Moonstruck collection which is my favourite ever scrapbook collection to date. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

PS excuse my terrible handwriting...

'Explore' Mixed Media Layout

Hi all,

A new mixed media layout to share today.

I made the title by stencilling the letters onto the background paper (from Mr Smith's Workshop by docrafts) and colouring them with watercolour pencils. I then took some embroidery thread and stitched around the edge of the letters, matching the colour of the thread to the colour of the watercolour pencils I had used. Here's a closeup

I started off the background by spreading tacky glue across it and sticking down lengths of twine. Once it dried I sprayed the whole think with Dylusions ink spray in Fresh Lime. The glue I had used created a barrier so the ink did not make the page warp (I really ought to get some gesso but I never get around to it...). I also used a Scrapberry's stencil and used the back as a stamp once I'd done the stencilling.

I backed the paper on more Mr Smith and Country Life papers, with strips of those and odd scraps behind that. The tags are by Gossamer Blue (I think). I added some die cuts from an Xcut woodland themed set, there's also a BoBunny flourish there at the bottom. Finally I covered my picture and again sprayed the whole thing with Fresh Lime. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

Girly MDF Cards!

Hi all,

Some girly cards to share today.

This all started when I was making some steampunk cards and I was colouring in a steampunk stamp. I wanted something a bit different to put behind it and out came my little box of bits from Things To Alter. I found this really cool steampunk piece, a head with gears coming out of the back... I painted it with Distress Paints and stuck the coloured image on top of the head. I used watercolour pencils to colour the image and then went over it with a little water to colour the image. I love how vibrant watercolour pencils are which is why I prefer them over watercolour pens.
The stamp and backing paper are from the Santoro Willow collection by Trimcraft and the sentiment die is by Sizzix.

I used the same watercolour colouring technique with these Belle & Boo stamps (also by Trimcraft, I'm a little addicted to their characters!) This card worked better tiny, it's 4x4" and I would have preferred it on kraft card to match the MDF but I only have white in this size. I layered up the MDF shells, they are the same depth as 3D foam dots so these are perfect to use when you are layering the shapes. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

Pattern Stamping

Hi all,

I spent Monday making up samples for Craft Consortium for their Hochanda shows next week (starting Monday 8pm!) and then at the weekend/yesterday I have been working on a guest design project that doesn't want to work no matter how hard I try so today I will try something different instead.
Meanwhile, here's something I made a while back, a card using pattern stamping, inspired by this video by Jennifer McGuire.

For this I used the Folk Floral stamps by docrafts and also the wooden postcard that came free with Creativity magazine a couple months ago. I don't like the docrafts stamps at all, they never want to stamp properly! I like a nice crisp image and these are all a bit faint... 

I traced the oval shape in the centre of the postcard onto cardstock and cut it out.

I arranged the stamps in a pattern around the oval shape and stamped it, then turned the block upside down and stamped on the lower half of the card.

I coloured the postcard with Artiste watercolour markers and stuck it to the stamped piece of cardstock and then stuck it to a 6x6" card blank using 3D foam dots.

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

Peacock Layout Using Resist Techniques

Hi all,

A new layout to share today showing how to make a scrapbook layout using some resist techniques.

I did have a video for this but I wasn't happy with it, so I'll explain the resist techniques I used here.
Firstly I took a white wax crayon and doodled leaves up the page. I then stuck down some peacock outline stickers and went over the whole thing with watercolour. The white of the crayon shows through. I removed the outline stickers and the white of the page behind them shows up brilliantly.

I took a board (packaging from a shirt) and embossed it with an A4 peacock embossing folder. I went over it lightly with Gelatos and rubbed them with my finger to blend them together. The embossed areas stay white.

The feathers are made with dies by Xcut and the ends coloured with a silver Sharpie.

Thanks for stopping by, any questions then leave a comment!

Emily xx

Tutorial Tuesday - Watercolour Cards

Hi all,

Today I'll be showing you how to make these simple watercolour cards.

To start with, you'll need watercolour paper (or a heavier paper that won't warp when you add paint) and some watercolours. They either come in a palette or in tubes (I prefer the tubes as the colours are more vibrant). 

Measure the size of the paper you want and lightly mark this on the paper so you know where to paint.

Squeeze a little bit of each colour you have chosen onto a palette (or anything plastic if you don't have a palette - the paint will wipe off). Take a wide, damp brush and paint a stripe of each colour side by side onto the paper. The colours can overlap.

To assemble the flamingo, cut two flamingos, one in black and one in pink. Chop the legs and beak off the pink one and stick the pink onto the black. Both papers are by Xcut, adhesive glitter paper and adhesive chalkboard paper.

Here's a picture of the finished article. I added a brad in each corner for a bit of interest and a die cut sentiment in the same chalkboard paper as on the flamingo.

A second card using the same watercolour technique but with a sentiment die cut from the centre. (Xcut dies). I used the cut out leaves in each corner.

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

Conisbrough Castle layout

Hi all,

Here's a layout I made using pictures from a visit to Conisbrough Castle, a ruin just the other side of Doncaster. The first wooden castle on the site was built by the Normans but then this stone structure was built around it. We visited at the beginning of October when it was still warm out... Oh, how I miss those warm days!

I made the background by drawing vertical and horizontal lines with a biro and then colouring the spaces in between with watercolour pencils and then going over them with water to activate the paint. The rest of the layout uses the new Docrafts ranges - Bare Basics butterflies and ricrac, Creativity Essentials Alphabet and Forest stamps, and the XCut steel embossing folder and adhesive chalkboard sheets.

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily

A(nother) Selfie Layout

Hi all! Hope you've had a good weekend.

Been trying to think outside the box a bit more with my scrapping lately. Here's the background I came up with, using watercolour pencils on a stencil and outlining them with watercolour pens.

I ripped it, and layered it onto foiled paper (you can't tell from the photo..) and then onto plain teal paper. Colours I wouldn't normally use (orange is my least favourite) but it felt right using them so I just went with it. 

So the other day I went for a walk to the retail park with my better half.. I couldn't waste one of the last warm days we'll get this year. I picked up these fab My Mind's Eye goodies in TKMaxx.

I couldn't wait to use them on a layout. 

So I take a lot of selfies with my fella. What of it? At least then I've always got something to scrap...

One thing I'll say is that I shouldn't have stuck those flowers on with a glue gun... in retrospect I should've left them out and added more stencilled triangles instead. Ah well. 

Until next time...!

Some Days All I Do Is Watch The Sky

Hi all

Finally got around to making a layout I've been meaning to make for a while. I've found I've got to be in the right mood to mess around with mixed media...

Whenever there's a beautiful sunset I like to instagram it... I like how the light comes through the clouds and how they contrast with the sky and how buildings are silhouetted by the sun... lovely.

To begin with I picked some colours from the photograph and painted areas of the page in those colours in watercolour. Over the top of this I added a bit of gesso. 

Once that was dry, I added patterned stamping. 

Most on the embellishments on here have been painted in the same watercolour as the background - the washi tape, the wooden shapes, the tags and the text. This really brings the layout together. 

The title is from a song I love called "Watch The Sky", by a band called Something Corporate.

It's here if you want a listen...

(I had to crop this really close as the paper had buckled a little with the paint... if anyone's got any tips on how to prevent this, leave a comment below!)

Thanks for stopping by!