Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy / Hip Kit Club

Hello from the depths of Quarantine!  I don't know what day this is, but the Whiddens are still hanging in there.  I hope you all are doing okay and staying healthy (and sane) in the midst of all this crazy chaos.

Hopefully this layout will brighten your day!  It's my latest page for Hip Kit Club using the 2020 March Hip Kits.  I am in love with all the beautiful Heidi Swapp goodies.  The warm yellows, oranges and coral/pink tones are gorgeous.  I decided to focus on those colors from one of her cut apart patterned papers.  I started by cutting it up and playing around with layering everything behind my photos.  I got my title from one of those pieces.  Once I figured out where I wanted my photos to go, I chose my background.  It's a striped patterned paper.  I also wanted to use a lot of the citrus pieces.

I mixed and matched my large title by using part of the cut apart paper, the Heidi Swapp coral alpha stickers and the black & white Thickers.  I arranged all the oranges & lemons around the title.  Most of these citrus pieces are transparent stickers, so I stuck them to white cardstock first and cut them out.  I popped most of them up with adhesive foam and added some machine stitching to give them a little shelf to sit on.

I applied a lot of white gesso to the background.  Since this is patterned paper, it's pretty thin and not strong enough to handle a lot of liquid.  The gesso preps the paper and allows for the liquid.  It also fades out some of the pattern.  I mixed the yellow and pink Nuvo Mousses from the Color Kit to create a pretty orange color.  I started with the packaging technique and also used a brush with some water to help spread the color around.  I mixed in some of the Lindy's Cocklebells Coral Magical Powder from an older kit to create a deeper pink color.  It turned in to a big mess (haha), but in the end it dried really pretty.  The paper did warp a bit, but that is to be expected from patterned paper.  I tucked in a few more Heidi Swapp stickers...some pretty flowers and stems.

Here are more layers behind the photo.  I fussy cut this floral cluster from the same patterned paper and tucked in some metallic gold leaf stickers as well as this cute sunshine die cut.  I'm obsessed with all of these Heidi pieces!

The large orange is a vellum die cut.  I put white cardstock behind it so it would stay its true color and not let the background change it.  For the "LEMON" part, I also stuck those letters to white cardstock and then cut them out.  I just love all this dimension!

I added the same things to the bottom photo.  I used a black fine tip Sharpie to write my journaling.

Here are a few more close-ups...

At the end, I added some splatters from some of the Lindy's Sprays from older kits.

 I hope you are finding some time to get creative during all of this madness.  I have days where I want to create and days where I just want to nap.  Hopefully this will brighten your week and give you some inspiration for your next project.

The process video for this is up over on the HKC channel HERE.

My personal channel is almost fixed!  There are still a few things being worked out, but my older videos are back up.  I am not going to upload anything new until everything is back to normal.  Hopefully that will happen soon!

Have a great day, friends!

Happy Day / Hip Kit Club

Happy Friday, friends!  I hope you are all hanging in there during the Quarantine...sigh.  I wanted to share my newest layout for Hip Kit Club featuring the new 2020 March Hip Kits!  I really love every little piece...oh my gosh.  I made this page using a few of the exclusive February cut files.  I used various patterned papers to cut the cute rainbow, and then I cut the paint brush on white cardstock.  I've seen a few other scrappers do something similar to this, so I thought I'd give it a shot :)

I used smooth white cardstock as my base, and I covered a lot of it with clear gesso.  I wanted to add matching color behind each rainbow arc, so I pulled out some Lindy's Magical Powders from previous Color Kits.  They matched perfectly!  I used Plumeria Pink, Cocklebells Coral, Golden Sleigh Bells and Tilt-a-Wheel Teal.  I originally was just going to add color to the bottom of each arc and on top of the paint brush.  As I went that changed, and I wound up adding color all the way around each arc and adding splatters.

I added a bit of texture to each arc by machine stitching with matching thread colors.  I also wanted to pop the rainbow up off the page, so I added adhesive foam behind it and the paint brush.

I staggered my photos so the rainbow wouldn't be completely covered up.  I also loved how the watercolor looked under the photo here, so I didn't want that to be covered up, either.  I embellished with lots of the Pebbles and Heidi Swapp stickers and die cuts in the kit.  I also added some of the black and white butterfly puffy stickers from Pink Paislee.  These light blue glitter Thickers were perfect for a small title.  I used some Pocket Life cards as layers behind the photos.

I distressed the paint brush a bit.  I covered it with clear gesso and let it dry.  I used a grey gelato to give it a weathered look.  I just barely colored a bit along the edges, dipped my finger in a bit of water and then smudged the color.  I love how it turned out!  I made sure to add the rainbow colors to the top of the brush so it looked like the brush painted the rainbow.

I added a few sunshine stickers to the yellow arc since they matched the paper.  Everything goes perfectly together....ahhhhhh!

I love this vellum butterfly...it pulls some of the color from the photos.  I also added in some of the puffy dot stickers in a few places.

Of course I tucked in some tangled thread in a few places...it gives such great texture and pops of color.

I added in a Heidi Swapp vellum piece here at the bottom along with some puffy heart stickers.  My journaling fit perfectly right under the title.

One last look :)

I just adore how this turned out!  I love rainbows, so this was so much fun to put together.  I hope it inspires you!  You can find the process video up on the HKC channel HERE.

Thanks for stopping by!

Beautiful Spring / Paige Evans DT

Hello again friends!  Today I have a new Bloom Street layout to share for the Paige Evans Design Team. I had every intention of using only blue and green on this layout, but some pink eventually worked its way in. And that’s not a bad thing…haha. I used Paige’s Butterfly Background cut file, which is one of my favorites. I cut all kinds of butterflies from several blue and green Bloom Street papers, stacked them, and then stitched through them. I played around with them and finally decided on a vertical design. I had some matching photos, so once I had my arrangement set, I added Distress Oxides to the white cardstock background. I did add gesso first. I simply scraped the ink pads lightly onto the paper and then spritzed it with water to let the color spread and blend.

To create even more butterflies, I used a butterfly stamp from the Acrylic Stamps. I distressed the edges of the butterflies with white acrylic paint and then bent the wings up once they were glued down. Butterflies are wonderful for creating dimension! I decided to add in some pops of pink, so I pulled out several flower stickers from the 4-Page Sticker Book. I also added in sequins from the Truly Grateful Mixed Embellishments. Perfect match!

I went small with the title. I mixed a piece that I trimmed from the Ephemera Die Cuts with one of the Puffy Word Stickers. I added my journaling under that using a metallic gold pen. I also tucked in matching tangled thread for more texture.

I created a small cluster on the left side using another butterfly stack and more flowers & leaf stems. I fussy cut this flower cluster from a Bloom Street tag from the Ephemera Die Cuts. I also used some of the Cardstock Stickers and sequins.

I just love the effect of using the Distress Oxides.  They always turn out beautifully, and they blend together so nicely.  I added some gold splatters as well...Heidi Swapp Gold Color Shine :)

Here some more close-ups of all the textures and dimension :)

Even though I didn’t stick to my original color scheme for this layout, I love how it turned out. I think the pops of pink are just what it needed! I hope this gets you in the Spring spirit and inspires you to use blue and green on your next layout!

Have a great day!

Making Memories / Pinkfresh Studio

Happy Monday, friends!  I wanted to share my newest layout for Pinkfresh Studio today featuring the Noteworthy collection.  I love these beautiful colors!  You know I love me some pink, blue and yellow on a layout.  I decided to cut some of the oval shapes from the Be Curious paper and start there for a design idea.  I arranged them in a horizontal line and tucked my photo behind them.  Once I decided on that, everything else was embellishing around it.

I used the Liquid Watercolors to create my background.  I used thick white cardstock, and I coated most of it with clear gesso first.  I used the Sky Blue on the top part of the page, and I mixed the Bubblegum, Candy Apple and Lavender to create the deep pink color at the bottom.

I used the packaging technique to apply the watercolor as well as my brush and water.  Once that dried, I worked on adding bits and pieces.  I mixed and matched the title by using both sets of the puffy alpha stickers from Noteworthy.  I added a sticker below that, and I added some adhesive foam behind it to pop it up.

I added in some puffy stickers, dimensional stickers, epoxy stickers, enamel dots...all the goodies!  This "together" piece had a little banner attached to it, but I dismantled it and used the banner over on the left side.  To make the title stand out a bit more I traced around some of the letters using a white pen.

I layered some patterned paper behind my photo.  These little circles are actually rainbows.  There are no rules saying that you must use things correctly...haha :D

This leaf sprig is part of one of the new cut files available soon in the Pinkfresh Store.   I tucked that in along with some more stickers and bits and pieces.  I love this envelope here...I used it as a layer.

I layered a few more floral pieces on top of the ovals.  Here's the banner I mentioned earlier :)

Above the photo I layered in a few more die cuts, thread and enamel dots.

And a few more detailed shots :)

I hope this inspires you in some way today.  I really love how it came together.  This collection is just beautiful, and I hope you'll get your hands on it!

Be sure to check out this process video for this HERE on the Pinkfresh Channel.

Have a great day!

You Capture Beauty / Hip Kit Club

Hello again, friends!  I'm back today with my newest layout for Hip Kit Club featuring the 2020 February Hip Kits.  I challenged myself to not use any PINK on this page, and I am happy to report that I succeeded :D 

There are so many non-pink goodies in the kits this month, so I decided to use lots of blue, yellow and green bits and pieces.  I love making grid designs when I want to use a lot of little things, and it makes tone-on-tone easier.  I began by drawing a big cross on some textured white cardstock.  I applied clear gesso to all four quadrants.  I used mostly the Lindy's Magical Powders & Starburst Sprays from past Color Kits as well as a few Shimmerz from older kits.  I separated all the die cuts and stickers according to color and went to work creating little clusters.

I used the powders & sprays in each corner with a bit of water.  I used a brush to spread the color around.  Once that dried, I machine stitched with black thread along the lines to really make the four areas stand out.  I arranged my photos in the center and worked the embellishments around them.  Here in this corner I used lots of light blue pieces from Pinkfresh Studio's Noteworthy collection and a few pieces from Paige Evans' Bloom Street collection.  It's kind of like putting a puzzle together.  You just have to work all the different shapes around until you get them like you want them.

Yellow makes me happy!  I actually wound up having too many pieces of each color, so I still have products left over.  I kept wanting to turn to all the pink things, but I resisted...haha.

I love how the green section turned out event though I'm not a huge green fan all on its own.  I fussy cut a few large leaves from a Paige Evans paper and mixed in some of her Sticker book stickers with more of the Pinkfresh Studio die cuts and stickers.  Some of the pieces have dimensional foam under them to raise them up off the page.

I really love this darker blue color and I don't use it enough.  I did add some matching thread on each quadrant for added texture and just because I love it!

Here you can see the idea of the four sections.  I love this design because it helps limit what you can use.  I treated each square separately, and I only had so many things in each color to use.  If you're ever stuck for an idea, this is a great way to get started.

I decided to write my journaling on this little lined heart.  I didn't want to add a giant title...where would it go?  So I punched a small white circle and added a few stickers and some of the small gold Thickers.

I am really pleased with how this turned out!  I hope it inspires you to give the grid design a go.  And take it a step further and divide up the colors.  It was a lot of fun, and I'll definitely do this again.

Thanks for stopping by, and be sure to check out the process video HERE.

Have a great day!