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

Don't be afraid to experiment! (Distress Paint)

Hi everyone,

Picked up some real bargains at the weekend. The garden centre we usually go to while visiting my grandparents is stopping selling craft supplies (Boo!) but on the flipside, I got these lovely goodies half price.

I've never used Distress Paint before. But I do like to experiment with mixed media... So onto Youtube I went and I watched Tim Holtz show a couple techniques...

Then I had a play for myself. Just trying different layers of paint, adding water, adding spray ink both by misting and dripping onto the tag.
Once that dried, on the top left I used the blue paint on a stamp. This would work better on a less detailed stamp - when dry it didn't really look like anything so I went over it with a gel pen.
The top right is stamped and then sprayed with purple 'Cosmic Shimmer' ink.
First on the bottom row is stamped with a lime ink pad, the second is the same in blue. I do love Kaisercraft stamps...
Third is dripping inks in a row to follow the line of the paint.
And lastly stamped with a 3D butterfly at the bottom. Not because I messed up and needed a 3D butterfly to cover it up...

So, don't be afraid to experiment! Some of these I might not use, but it's practice with them so I know how to use them properly. If you've got a spare hour, just have a play with something you've not used before. 

I can't wait to use these paints on a new layout..!

Emily x

ATCs

Hi all,

You may not know this but before I got properly into crafting, I was an artist of sorts. I got an award for it in school and studied it to Foundation level. Not bad! After that I continued it as a hobby,and still do, to an extent. However, I attained more success as a crafter, so art took the back seat. 

On the docraft PDT, we did a swap and the theme was nature. I figured I could combine my art with papercraft in ATC form! The ATC I made was well received, and I enjoyed it so much that I made a series - They are for sale on my Etsy shop,  go check it out! 

The art is printed onto vellum and fussy cut out.

The backgrounds are made of layers of embossed papers. ATCs are a great way of using up scraps.

I hope you like these, I want to make more in the future.

Thanks for stopping by!