Good Life / Paige Evans DT

Hello again, friends :)  Today I have a new layout to share for the Paige Evans Design Team.  I just love creating a stencil from a cut file and that’s exactly what I did for this layout. I used Paige’s new Flourish Butterfly cut file and cut it on white cardstock using a Silhouette Cameo. I placed it on top of Turn the Page Paper 10 at an angle to create my design. First, I scraped white gesso over the stencil so I could see the shape of the butterfly. Then I went around and on top of the shape with more white gesso using my finger to smudge it so it would appear light and hazy. I laid the stencil back over the design and then used a few colored texture pastes and sprays to create a fun, shiny, and colorful butterfly.

I used black and white photos to make the colors pop and I layered Oh My Heart Paper 09 and Paper 19 behind them for some more bursts of pink. I fussy cut some butterflies from Turn the Page Paper 04 to layer in on top of and around the photos. I wanted more pops of gold, so I machine stitched trails from the butterflies. I added smaller details with some phrase stickers from the 30-page Paige Evans #StickerBook.

I blended some of the colored pastes together and added some Heidi Swapp Gold Color Shine. Since my stencil was made of cardstock, some of the paste smudged underneath it. I’m okay with that because I think it just adds to the fun messy factor. I found another butterfly to add here from the Pick-Me-Up Stickers.

I went simple with my title and used these gold foiled Pick-Me-Up Chipboard Stickers. I love the shine! I wanted a bit more orange on the layout, so I fussy cut a small scalloped border piece from Oh My Heart Paper 17 and tucked it under the bottom of the photos. I also added in matching tangled thread in a few places.

I love the mix of pink and orange together, and tie in some blue and I'm sold.  These colors really stood out nicely against the coral background.

Here you can see more of the dimension.  Do you ever tuck stickers in between paper layers?  I did that with the WOW sticker and then placed the LOVE chipboard piece under that.

Here are a few more close-ups :)

I had a blast getting messy and making this fun page! I hope you are inspired to use one of Paige’s cut files as a stencil and create your own background.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Fly / Spellbinders Jane Davenport Artomology Release

Happy Monday, friends!  I participated in the new Jane Davenport Artomology Release with Spellbinders, and I was so excited to create this layout using some of the new products.  I chose to work with some of the new inks, dies and stamps.  I used the Fair Feathers Etched Dies to create the beautiful feathers along with several of the new Squid Inks:  Scallop Shell, Mermaid Eyes, Cave Black, and Gold Bullion.  I also used some of Jane's Watercolors from my stash that I purchased from Michael's.  The flower stamps are from the Build-a-Bouquet Clear Stamps and the "wild and free" stamp is from the Mad Confetti Clear Stamps. I also used the Deep Sea Die Cutting and Embossing Machine to cut the feathers.

I started this layout by using the inks and watercolors on a piece of mixed media paper.  I covered the entire paper with lots of pink, blue and gold color.  Once it dried, I die cut the feathers.  I love how they turned out!  I used the same colors on my white cardstock background.  I arranged the feathers in a whimsical vertical pattern, like they were falling from the sky.  I machine stitched through the centers using some gold thread.

I stamped the small flower on some mixed media paper and then cut them out to use as small embellishments around the photo.  Those fun pink circles are stamps from the Mad Confetti set.  I stamped them using the pink Scallop Shell ink.

I love this technique of painting an entire sheet of paper and then cutting shapes from it.  It may look like a big mess at first, but when you cut the shapes, they look amazing!  You really can't mess it up. They look so colorful and have a great watercolor look to them.

I love how dimensional these feathers are.  The edges curl up and look so pretty!  I used the watercolors to add lots of splatters around the layout.

I love adding tangled thread in matching colors to my projects.  I think it adds fun pops of color, lots of texture, and it just adds to the whole "messy" factor :)  I wanted to incorporate this "wild and free" stamp as part of my title, and so I just stamped it right onto my background.

I love the Gold Bullion ink...it's so shimmery and metallic.  It's more of a yellow gold, so I love how it looks mixed with the pinks and blues.  It works great for stamping as well as for watercoloring.  I added some water to it and used the packaging technique to add it to my background.
 
Here are a few more close-ups...

I hope this gives you some fun ideas to try on your next project.  I had a blast making this, and I want to thank everyone over at Spellbinders for inviting me to be a part of this gorgeous release.  You can check out my video here if you'd like more details on how I put this together:

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a great day!

Altenew October 2018 Stamp/Die Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

Hello and welcome to the Altenew October 2018 Blog Hop!  There are some really beautiful new stamps and dies being released this month.  Go HERE to see ALL the NEW products!  To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 Gift Certificate to SIX lucky winners!  Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or Altenew Scrapbook Blog by 10/17/18 for a chance to win.  SIX winners will be announced on the blogs on 10/20/18.

I created a layout using the Playful Blooms Stamps & Dies and the Potted Plants Stamps & Dies.

I was inspired by the pretty leaves, and they made me think of the tropics.  So I went with a bright and colorful color scheme and created lots of bold flowers and leaves.  I used a variety of distress oxides from my stash to stamp lots of green leaves and multi-colored flowers.  The flower stamps are really cool because you can layer them.  There are three stamps...the solid base (one color), the petals (a second color), and the outline (a third color).  I played around with lots of color combos and came up with some really fun looks.  Once they were all stamped, I used the coordinating dies to cut them out on my manual die cutting machine.

I know a lot of people like their stamped images to be crisp and clean, but I like mine to look a little messy.  I did stamp them on smooth mixed media paper, but the distress oxides made them look a little splotchy.  I love how they turned out!  I spritzed some of the flowers with water to make them have more of a watercolor effect.

I also fussy cut a few watercolor shaped images from one of the patterned papers in the Our Family collection by Altenew and used them as layers behind my photos.

Once they were all cut out, I layered them around my photos and around the page.  I used the same distress oxides on my background. I used clear gesso first, and then just smeared the ink pad down on top of it. I spritzed it with water and watched the color run and blend.  I used my small acrylic stamping block to smudge the color around at the bottom a bit.

Here are more close-ups of the flowers and background.

This "together" die cut is from the Our Family collection, and I added color to it to match my flowers.

I do have a process video here if you'd like to check it out:

Here is the full list of the Blog Hop designers.  Be sure to visit all of these blogs because many of them will be giving away a $30 GIFT CARD to Altenew!  I will be giving one away, so be sure to leave a comment here :)  I'll announce a winner on October 17, 2018 here on my blog.

Altenew Card Blog

Jennifer McGuire

Lilith Eeckels

Agnieszka Malyszek

Zsoka Marko

May Sukyong Park

Virginia Lu

Kristina Pokazanieva

Sveta Fotinia

Lisa Fonseca

Altenew Scrapbook Blog

Zinia Redo

Svitlana Shayevich

Missy Whidden

Therese Calvird

Jessica Frost-Ballas

Reiko Tsuchida

Rubeena Ianigro

Sandra Dietrich

Nicole Picadura

TaeEun Yoo

Erum Tasneem

Keeway Tsao

Kymona Tracey

Nathalie DeSousa

Norine Borys

Enza Gudor

Lydia Evans

Vicky Papaioannou

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a great time hopping!  Good luck to you all!

Beautiful Moment / Hip Kit Club

Hey friends!  I'm sharing my newest layout for Hip Kit Club today.  I used the 2018 September Hip Kits and the exclusive hexagon cut file (available HERE).  I decided to use the cut file as a stencil.  I first smudged down a lot of white gesso on the mint cardstock background.  I took the stencil and smudged a lot of modeling paste over it.  It created some really gorgeous bumpy texture.  Once that dried, I sprayed and painted all three Shimmerz Paints from the Color Kit.  It's magical to watch the colors run and blend around the paste.  You really can't mess it up...the mixed media does all the work for you.

Look how cool this is!  I love the blended look of the Shimmerz Mustard Seed & Cotton Candy.  I also used the Shimmerz Wisteria Lane, Well Blue Me Down and Miner Miner 49er from previous Color Kits.  I love the hexagon shape!

I used some tissue paper and a few Project Life cards behind my photo.  I used the beautiful Pinkfresh Studio Wood Veneer hexagons on the background as well as some matching tangled thread.

I used the same mixed media technique over on the right side to create a small cluster.  I decided to create a little banner with these PFS triangle sticker.  I glued them to some cord from my stash and connected it to both clusters.  I fussy cut those leaves from a PFS patterned paper.

I combined a Vicki Boutin Thicker with some PFS small mint alpha stickers to create my simple title. I added more fussy cut leaves and some PFS die cut ephemera here under the photo for more layering and detail.
 

Here are even more close-ups of all the awesome texture!

I take a lot of close-ups...haha!  I hope this gives you some fun ideas to try.  Creating your own stencil from a cut file is really fun, and you can control the size.  I can even use my cut file again; the modeling paste did not ruin it at all.

Be sure to check out my process video:

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a fabulous day!

Laugh the Day Away / Paige Evans DT

Happy Friday!  Yayyyy!  I have a new layout to share today for the Paige Evans Design Team showcasing Paige’s Geometric Background cut file and lots of the Oh My Heart collection. Using cut files is one of my favorite techniques, but on this layout I decided to use all the little bits and pieces that are usually discarded to complete my background design. I cut the image twice on Oh My Heart Paper 05. I wanted to create a fun and colorful mosaic type of look, so I placed the outline of the cut file down onto my background paper and very carefully glued all the little pieces back into their places. I then peeled up the actual cut file. I love how it turned out! I used Oh My Heart Paper 15 as my background and smudged a lot of white gesso first before gluing down the pieces.

This paper was perfect for this design because it creates all these fun sprinkles of color and it created some really nice texture. I embellished around my photo with Oh My Heart Chipboard Stickers and stickers from the 30-page Paige Evans #StickerBook. I also tucked in a few colors of matching tangled thread.

I wanted to play on all the bright colors on the background so I cut a few of the layered circles from Oh My Heart Paper 14 to use as layers around the photo. I also cut a few small ones from one of the washi tape pieces from the Oh My Heart Sticker Book. This cute circle sticker is from the 30-page #StickerBook as are the two stickers above the photo. I did add a few colors of spray inks on the background to add more solid areas of color so the photo could stand out a bit more.

I mixed and matched the title by using a piece from the Oh My Heart Chipboard Stickers and some of the small alphas from the 30-page #StickerBook. I also added a few pieces of washi tape underneath and a piece of an orange scallop I fussy cut from Oh My Heart Paper 17. I wrote my journaling in white pen.

This cute "You Are So Sweet" die cut was perfect for this spot, so I cut part of the phrase with my craft knife so I could overlap it onto the other sircles.

I think one of my favorite parts of making scrapbook pages is creating texture.  I love how the background created immediate texture.  By adding all the layers on top of it, you get some really fun dimension.

Here you can see where I machine stitched over parts of the title.

And a few more close-ups just because I take way too many...haha!

I hope this gives you some fun ideas to try with your next cut file! Try using the negative pieces instead and see what you come up with :)  Here's my process video if you'd like to check it out:

Thanks so much for stopping by!