I Got Chills / Shimmerz Education Team

Hey, friends!  I'm here today with a new Winter-themed layout for the Shimmerz Education Team featuring some beautiful Shimmerz Paints :)  I'm loving the DT challenge this month to create a project focusing on one main color, and I chose Vibez Frost Bite.  It's a gorgeous blue, and it makes me think of Winter.  I decided to create my own background using some Glass Bead Gel from my stash and a circle stencil because it resembles snow.

I used thick smooth white cardstock as my background, and I coated it with clear gesso first.  I used  a palette knife to scrap the glass bead gel over the stencil to create all the circles.  Once that dried, I sprayed the Frost Bite over it.  I blended in some Coloringz Well Blue Me Down and Spritz Cotton Candy.  The liquid colors ran and blended so nicely over the circles.  I sprayed a bit of water over it all to help it blend even more.

Here you can see the fun texture from the glass bead gel.  It's very thick and bumpy and reacts wonderfully with the Shimmerz sprays.  I used some products from an older holiday kit from Hip Kit Club, and it had lots of Crate Paper Snow & Cocoa goodies in it.  These pretty blues made me think of silver, so I used some older chipboard silver glitter alphas for my title.  I did have to add glue to them to make them stick to the background.

I love these colors here...I'm such a blue fan :)  I had lots of die cut snowflakes in my stash, so I used several of them around the page.

I fussy cut some little trees from a Crate Paper patterned paper and added strips of adhesive foam under them to create dimension.  I used some exclusive Hip Kit Club Project Life cards and a patterned paper a layers behind the photo.  I mixed two different shades of pink thread together here for more added color & texture.

I decided to paint some of the white snowflakes, so I lightly coated them with the Frost Bite and mixed in hints of Spritz Granny Gray.  Once they were all glued down, I machine stitched through the middle of them with silver metallic thread.

I really like the dimension created by the overlapped snowflakes.  I also used a few of the light pink puff balls around the page.  I love how the echo the background circles.

Here you can see the light blue coat of Frost Bite on this snowflake.  It's fun to see how dark and how light one color can get just by adding water or adding more layers.  Frost Bite is the perfect blue shade for Winter.

Here's one last look at the fun details.

I hope this inspires you to give Vibez Frost Bite a try on your next project...it's a beautiful and versatile color.  I want to try it out on a Summer layout next!

Be sure to check out my process video to see this page in action.

Thank you for stopping by!

Product Used:

Vibez--Frost Bite

Coloringz--Well Blue Me Down

Spritz--Cotton Candy

Spritz--Granny Gray

Today Was So Fun / Hip Kit Club

Hello again!  I have a new layout to share for Hip Kit Club using the new 2018 November Hip Kits!  Yay!  They are beautiful, and I was inspired to used lots of leaves for this page.  I used a heart shaped leaf wreath cut file from the October cut files (available on the Hip Kit website) as a starting point.  I used a beautiful pink watercolor wash patterned paper from Heidi Swapp as my background and ran the cut file off the left side of the page.

I used a palette knife to smudge down some white gesso on the background paper to prep it for some mixed media work.  Patterned paper is pretty thin and isn't really sturdy enough to handle a lot of liquids.  The gesso prepares the surface so the liquids don't soak right through the paper.  I used lots of beautiful Shimmerz to create the watercolor splotches.  There are three Shimmerz Paints in the Color Kit--Vibez Deep Blue Sea, Creameez Good Ol' Summer Time & Shimmerz Mint To Be.  I used them all plus a few more from previous Color Kits.

The November Kits are full of various types of leaves.  I used some of the exclusive die cut leaves as well as these gorgeous acetate leaves.  They are perfect for Fall pages!  I mixed and matched my title using a Heidi Swapp vellum die cut, some dark blue exclusive alphas and some matte gold Thickers.  The black clear stickers are exclusive this month.

I used a few exclusive Project Life cards as layers behind the photos as well as some tissue paper.  I tucked in some exclusive floral puffy stickers, more acetate leaves and more Heidi Swapp vellum florals.  I mixed two blue thread together here for some added texture and color.  I also added some adhesive foam under the photos to raise them up of the page a bit.

My Cameo had a bit of trouble cutting this cut file because it's so detailed and intricate, but I was careful with it and was able to salvage most of it.  Honestly, the left side got pretty ripped up, so that's why I ran it off the page.  Turns out I love it like that...haha!  Here are some more of the exclusive leaves...so pretty!

We also get some enamel dots this month...the perfect little detail :)  I did a bit of machine stitching through the cut file to add some detail and texture.

My journaling worked nicely underneath the photo area.

And a few more photos of the details:

Have you gotten your November Kits yet?  They are really pretty, and I had fun making this.  I hope it inspires you!

If you'd like to watch how I made this, check out my process video here:

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Love You My Darling / Birds of a Feather

Hey, friends!  I wanted to share one of the layouts I created for the recent Birds of a Feather Retreat in the UK.  I was so honored to be a "virtual" Guest Designer for such a great event!  A huge thank you to Sam and Jackie for inviting me  :)

I can't give a lot of details about the page because it was for a paid class, but I can share photos.  I used the Maggie Holmes Willow Lane collection and some fun watercolors.

Thank you so much for taking a look...I had lots of fun putting this together.  I don't have a process video for this since it was for a class.

Have a wonderful day, and see you soon!

Lazy Days / Hip Kit Club

Happy Thursday, friends!  I'm back today with a new layout for the Hip Kit Club featuring the 2018 October Hip Kits. I focused on a grid design and the Heidi Swapp Stamps from the Project Life Kit.  I started off by stamping some of the flowers on a sheet of vellum.  I fussy cut them out and put them aside to use them as embellishments later.  I decided to create a grid design by using some patterned papers and a Project Life card.  I cut the papers to 3×4, which is the same size as my photo.  I used white cardstock as my background and applied clear gesso around the edges of the cards.  I used the label stamp to create some detail around the papers before adding some of the Shimmerz from the Color Kit.

I fussy cut some flowers from one of the Paige Evans Whimsical papers from the Main Kit and layered them in between the bottom paper and the Project Life card.  I added more flowers from the Whimsical Ephemera Die Cuts as well as some of the Rub-Ons and Sticker Book stickers.   I wanted to add more detail around the papers, so I machine stitched around the edges.

I fussy cut a few more bits from the Whimsical collection to add in, and I tucked in the stamped Heidi Swapp flowers along the edges here.  Here you can also see that I stamped the dotted square on the background for some extra detail.

I used some of the One Canoe Two Thickers for my title, and I love how that yellow pops against that pink papers.  Here on the background I used the Shimmerz Sunflower.  I did add some adhesive foam under the papers to create some dimension.

I wanted to add some color variation to the papers, so I smudged on some white gesso and then painted on some Shimmerz.  For this blue color, I mixed the Ride the Tide from the Color Kit with Oakie Bear Blue from the August Color Kit.  I just painted it on with a brush and then added black splatters at the very end.

I added another Whimsical Rub-On here at the top as well as another Heidi Swapp Stamp.

Here are a few more close-ups of all the fun details…

I used a white gel pen here to write my journaling on top of the Project Life card.

I hope this inspires you to create some fun embellishments and detail using the Heidi Swapp stamps.  I had lots of fun making this, and I love how it turned out.  Be sure to check out my process video here if you’d like to see how I put all this together:

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

You Are Awesome / Paige Evans DT

Happy Tuesday, friends! I'm here with a new layout for the Paige Evans Design Team using the new Whimsical collection. I have been eyeing all the beautiful scallops on Paper 23 and I decided to fussy cut them all out. My photo is of my daughter playing with her abacus and I was inspired by the shape and colors of all the little beads. I moved all the scallops around for a while trying to decide my design. I finally settled on putting the scallops in rows in rainbow order. I used white cardstock as my background and used clear gesso, Distress Oxides, and Shimmerz on the background to create a messy watercolor look. I also used some watered down white acrylic paint to add splatters and finished it off with some gold Heidi Swapp Gold Color Shine.

I arranged the scallops in rows and lightly glued them down. I added some texture and detail by machine stitching along each row. I was able to curl up the edges of the scallops to create fun dimension. I embellished with embellishments of matching colors. I fussy cut a few butterflies from Paper 06. I also used pieces from the Chipboard Stickers here as well as some of the Ephemera Die Cuts.

I used a paper from the 6x6 Paper Pad as a layer behind my photo as well as some tissue paper and adhesive foam. I added heart stickers from the Sticker Book. The cute rainbow heart is from one of the 2x2 Paper Pads. I went simple with the title and used a Sticker Book sticker. I added a bit more texture and color by tucking in pink tangled thread on the sides of the photos.

I used Rub-Ons in between some of the rows for small details. The Chipboard Stickers were perfect for adding tone-on-tone details. I highly recommend picking those up!

I love that there are so many opportunities for rainbow layouts with this collection.  And there are so many little bits and pieces that allow for lots of tone-on-tone embellishing.

Here are a few more detailed close-ups...

I hope this inspires you to do some fussy cutting with some of the Whimsical papers. Don’t be afraid to create your own designs with them! It’s so much fun to think outside the box!

Here's my process video:

 Thanks so much for stopping by!

Using Older Supplies / Speechless

Hey, friends!  I'm back today with another layout using up some older supplies.  I like browsing my shelves of hoarded supplies (haha) and picking something fun to use.  This particular bag of goodies was full of some Pebbles papers and stickers from 2013.  I believe this collection is called From Me to You.  I was drawn to a paper full of speech bubbles.  That inspired me to create a layout that I've been wanting to do for a while but have been kind of scared to make. 

With both of my daughters being autistic and nonverbal, I've shied away from making pages about anything related to speech.  It's a tough subject for me to talk about or even scrap about.  I decided to just kind of let my feelings out and go for it.  It wound up being a page that symbolizes my hopes for the future of my girls.  One day they will talk, and we have some amazing conversations :)  I chose this photo to scrap because it's real life.  Trying to get a selfie with both girls is not easy, so I've learned to embrace these real life moments.

Okay, so onto the page.  I fussy cut the speech bubbles from patterned paper. I also used the Speech Bubble Background cut file by Paige Evans.  I cut them into individual shapes and layered them with the speech bubbles.  I used white cardstock as my base, and I used clear gesso and watercolors to create the messy color effect.

I added some adhesive foam under some of the speech bubbles and glued some of them flat.  I really love the dimension here and all of the watercolor peeking through. 

I love these fun colors and the simple sayings on the speech bubbles.  These are things I can't wait to hear my girls say!

I layered some patterned paper, chipboard, floral stickers and a small acetate frame under the photo.  All of these are from Pebbles.  I also added in some tangled thread for more color and texture.

I used some older white foam Thickers for my title.  I honestly took a while to decide on the title.  "Speechless" seemed appropriate for a few reasons.  The obvious one is that my girls are literally speechless.  I, too, am often speechless at how awesome and smart they are.  I'm speechless at this whole situation and often wonder how both of my children aren't able to speak.  I used some Prima mini inks to smudge some color on the bottom of the letters.  I love the ombre look it created.

I created a cluster over on the upper left side of the layout using more of the floral stickers, speech bubbles, cut file and thread.

Here are a couple more close-ups of the details...

I hope this inspires you to dive into something that's difficult to scrap and make a layout about it.  Or journal about it.  It feels really good to get some of those feelings out on paper.  Embrace those imperfections and accept that they are okay.  Our life "is what it is" and we do our best to make things the best they can be for our girls.  They are happy, and that's the most important thing.

I hope you enjoyed this page...it was very therapeutic to put it together.  I do have a video here if you'd like to check it out:

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a great weekend!