Carried Away / Hip Kit Club

Happy Monday, friends!  Here's a new layout for Hip Kit Club I created last week.  I used the 2020 April Hip Kits, and I featured all the adorable hot air balloons on this page.  All of these balloons are from the Crate Paper Sweet Story collection...a combination of chipboard stickers, cardstock stickers and images I fussy cut from a patterned paper.  I used the beautiful exclusive hot air balloon cut file designed by Anett as well...you can get that for free over on the website!

I used the gorgeous Art Philosophy Watercolors from the Color Kit on the background (the yellow portion).  I used a few Lindy's Gang Starburst Sprays from older Color Kits for the blue portion.  The two mixed created the pretty green.  I decided to leave the cut file plain and just place it over the watercolor.  I love how that looks!

I used thick smooth white cardstock as my background, and I coated it with clear gesso first.  I used the plastic packaging technique to apply the watercolor, and I love how that turned out.  I love the abstract "sky" behind the cut file.  I played around with the placement of all the balloons, and I wanted them to look as real as possible.  Since they were all different sizes, it was easy to create depth with them.  I added adhesive foam behind them to pop them off the page.  I mixed and matched the two sets of Thickers in the kits to create the title.

These colors....squeal!  I might have an obsession with bright colors.  (((Shocker...haha)))  I almost backed the cut file with patterned paper, but once I laid it over the background I knew I didn't want to cover it up.  Cut files don't always have to be used in complicated ways :)

I created a fun little cluster on the far side of the photo using some fussy cut flowers, chipboard, stickers, a glittery dimensional butterfly and a floral wreath that I fussy cut from a Pocket Life card.  My photo allowed for some overlapping, so I added the "smile" right on top of it.  My daughter was swinging, and she threw her foot up just as I snapped the photo.  Her face is priceless, and I just love this perfectly imperfect shot :)

The two blue colors I used from Lindy's are Tiffani Lou Blue & Blue Hawaiian Blue.  I LOVE how they look mixed together!  I did add in some tangled thread in a few places for added texture and color.

Here's another angle of all the beautiful balloons.  This big floral one I cut from a Pocket Life card...isn't it gorgeous?!

I added some tissue paper, patterned paper and part of a Pocket Life card behind the photo for some layering.

Also, I've mentioned this before, but whenever you have metallic stickers like these here...if the shine is too much, you can mute it a little by smudging some white gesso over the letters.  I did that here, and they're still shiny, just not as much.

I hope this gives you some fun ideas to try...I had a lot of fun putting this together!  I think the April Kits have been my favorite of 2020 so far.  I just keep getting inspired every time I look at them.

Here's my process video for this:

Thank you so much for stopping by!  See you again soon, and have a great week!

Beauty Live Life / Paige Evans DT

Happy Friday...woo hoo!!  I'm here with a new mixed media layout for the Paige Evans Design Team featuring Paige’s beautiful Bloom Street collection. I often get asked how I come up with design ideas and the answer is certain things just pop into my mind when I go to make a page. I wanted to use a lot of patterns on this layout, so making small shapes of those patterns sparked an idea. I pulled out a small square punch and chose a few papers to use. I also used four rolls of the Washi Tape. I stuck it to white cardstock and punched it out. I chose the B-side of Paper 18 as my background and I coated a lot of it with white gesso after deciding on the arrangement of the squares.

 

I used a combination of Distress Oxides and Shimmerz to create a watercolor effect. I also splattered some watered down white acrylic paint. Once I glued down all the squares, I machine stitched through them with white thread to add detail and texture. I wanted mostly solid colored embellishments since there was so much pattern going on. I added purple butterflies that I fussy cut from Paper 08 and one large one from the Layered Butterfly Stickers.

 

I embellished around the photo with mostly pink flowers. Since there was so much blue in the pool image, the pink was a nice contrast. I fussy cut flowers from Paper 11 and Paper 12 and layered them on both sides of the picture. My title is a combo of a Puffy Word Sticker and a few fussy cut words from an Ephemera Die Cut. I like the pop of dark blue that brings to this area, which echoes the dark blue in some of the washi tape. I added a few more pink flowers with blue thread underneath. That scalloped border under the photo is from the Ephemera Die Cuts.

Since I was scrapping a pool photo, I wanted a sun somewhere. I fussy cut this one from Paper 17, popped it up with adhesive foam, and added yellow thread under it. Here is the larger butterfly I mentioned earlier.

Since I used patterned paper as my background, I did have some warping going on once I added the mixed media.  That's going to happen.  I try my best to flatten it out by laying heavy paper pads on top of it for a while.  I don't mind some warping...it's to be expected.  I still love using patterned paper like this :)

I also love wrinkling up the edges of die cuts to give them dimension like this.

Another way to add a little bit of depth is to add dimensional foam.  I added a small piece under this smaller flower, and you can see the difference it makes.  It just helps to bring the page to life a bit more.  Overlapping is another great idea...like I did the title here.

Here are a few more close-ups of all the colors and textures!

I hope this inspires you in some way today! I challenged myself to use patterned paper as a background here since I use white cardstock a lot. How often do you create little challenges for yourself? It was a lot of fun to make and thank you for stopping by to take a look!

Here's the process video for this layout if you're interested:

Have a great weekend!

 

 

Hey Sugar / Hip Kit Club iNSD 2020

Hello again, friends!  It's Monday.  But during the Quarantine, does that even matter?  Regardless, I'm here to share my newest layout for Hip Kit Club :)  I made this for the Mixed Media Challenge this past weekend for iNSD.  Were you able to play along with us?

I used the April 2020 Hip Kits.  I focused on all the food icons...there are a ton of cute berries, ice cream cones, lemons, etc.  Between the Sweet Story & Summer Market goodies, you can definitely create a foodie page!  I decided to play on the sweet aspect of these foods and scrap this cute picture of my daughter.  I used the Art Philosophy Watercolors from the Color Kit along with some Lindy's Gang sprays from older kits to create the background.

I decided to place the photo in the center and create two food clusters on either side.  These are a combination of stickers, puffy stickers, chipboard and die cuts.  I layered and overlapped them to create depth.

I love all these different colors!  I almost didn't include the lemons, but they were the perfect shade of yellow, so I had to :)

I applied clear gesso to the cardstock first and then used the packaging technique to apply the watercolor.  I also used a brush to blend and soften up the outside edges.  I used a few gelatos from my stash to add some of the peachy color down here.  I created a cluster of die cuts under the title with more berries and fruit.  I also wanted a pop of yellow under the photo, so I tucked in a few more lemons along with some thread.

I love the big acetate die cut!  It was perfect for a title.  I love how it looked over this coral color, and it just matched everything perfectly.

Here are a few more close-ups of all the colorful goodness!

I used a few patterned papers from the Main Kit to layer behind the photo.  I used my edge distresser to ruffle up the edges.

I hope you were able to play along with us!  So many beautiful layouts were uploaded, and I'm so happy to see so many scrappers dabbling in mixed media...yay!  I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but it is awesome to see some of you trying it.

I love how this page turned out, and I have a process video if you'd like to check it out:

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful Cinco de Mayo!

Sunny / Pinkfresh Studio iNSD 2020

Happy Sunday, friends!  I hope you got to play along with all the amazing iNSD challenges yesterday...my entire FB feed was overflowing with inspiration from so many places!  Pinkfresh Studio had challenges going up over on the blog all day long, and I hosted one!

My challenge was to use a CUT FILE on a project.  You can find all the details HERE.  I used the newest FREE cut file (available HERE on FB along with many more).  This adorable scalloped rainbow was right up my alley.  I decided to cut it in half and run it off the page, giving the effect of having two rainbows.  I cut it on white cardstock and used the Liquid Watercolors to paint the inside pieces.  I embellished with pieces from the My Favorite Story collection.

I wanted to create a soft blended rainbow to match all the die cuts and stickers.  Once the watercolor was dry, I machine stitched using matching thread colors.  I used the Sky Blue color on my white background to mimic an abstract "sky".  I did use clear gesso on the cardstock first.  I used adhesive foam behind the rainbow to pop it up off the page.  I wound up just gluing the actual cut file to the page and leaving the scallops alone.

I added a bit of blue watercolor around the edges of the clouds and distressed the edges to give them some dimension.  Once the rainbows were settled, I knew exactly where my photos should go...right in the center.  I love cut files that give you clear spots for your pictures to go :)  I added some floral die cuts around them as well as some tangled thread.  I used a puffy word sticker as my short little title.  To make it stand out more, I first stuck it to some white cardstock and cut it out.

I used the plastic packaging technique on the background and then a brush to blend out some of the edges.  I always love the effect of using plastic...it spreads the color around in such a cool way.

I created clusters on the two clouds using floral and leaf die cuts, puffy stickers and chipboard stickers.  I also love bending up the edges of the flowers & leaves to create more depth.

I used a black fine tip Sharpie to write my journaling beneath the photos.
 

Here are a few more shots of all the pretty details :)

 I hope you'll play along with us...there are 12 challenges over on the blog, and you have until Saturday, May 9 to finish them.  Each challenge has its own prize...and they are AMAZING!!  You don't want to miss out. 

Here's the process video for this page:

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I'll see you again soon.  Have a fun day!

Love Happy Sunshine / Paige Evans DT iNSD 2020

Happy InterNational Scrapbooking Day!  Yayyyyyy!!  Also, it's the perfect day to announce that my YouTube Channel is FINALLY BACK!!  Yes!  All my older videos are still there!  I have the process video for this up TODAY....WOO HOOO!!!

So all day long over on Paige's Happy Scrappy Place FB Group you'll find a ton of hourly challenges lasting all day!  She's giving away free cut files all day long, too!  My challenge is to incorporate some MIXED MEDIA on your project.  No surprise there, right?  Haha!

I used all Bloom Street products for this layout.  I began with the Bloom Street Stamps.  I used the cute little sunshine stamp with some Distress Oxides to create a rainbow of suns horizontally across the page.  When water hits the oxides, they instantly bleed and become watercolor-like.  I applied clear gesso down first, and the colors just spread and blended so easily and beautifully! 

The background really didn't take that long.  The water and the ink do all the work.  Once it dried, I sorted through all the Bloom Street embellishments and chose lots of flowers, leaves and hearts that matched each color.  I wanted to mostly add things in the same color family, in a tone-on-tone fashion.  I used some of the Ephemera Die Cuts, Floral Die Cuts...I also used some of the floral and leaf sequins and rhinestones from the Embellishments pack.

I fussy cut LOVE from a patterned paper and created a little floral and leaf cluster under it.  I made this part of the title and added in a few Cardstock Stickers and some yellow thread.  I popped a lot of this up with adhesive foam for dimension.

I seriously love making rainbow layouts!  I just love all the bright colors together.  Here you can see how cool the stamping looks.  The oxides stamp really well, and they activate with water perfectly.  Here I added a floral and leaf cluster on top of the photo and layered a sticker under it.  It's from the 4-page Sticker Book.  Those tiny butterflies are from one of the Washi Tape rolls from Bloom Street.  I stuck it to some white cardstock and then cut them out to make tiny "die cuts."

Pink!  Sigh.....it will always be a favorite!  And I love how this transitions into the orange and yellow colors.

So I didn't like that there was so much WHITE at the top and the bottom of the page.  I wanted to add something, but I didn't want it to be something that would clash with the stamping and flowers.  I decided to stitch!  I pulled out all the thread colors from the rainbow and just made what looks like butterfly trails all across the top area.  I love how whimsy it turned out!  And it adds great texture yet doesn't overshadow the main part of the page.

The sewing isn't perfect, but who cares, right?!  Haha!  I added in more die cuts over here, and I fussy cut "everyday magic" from a patterned paper.

More close-ups of all the rainbow goodness!

I want to print this close-up out and just frame it so I can stare at it every day :)

I hope this inspires you on this wonderful day of scrapbooking...woo hoo!  Please come join us HERE to play along all day long. 

Here's my process video for this...YEAH!!  It feels so good to have my channel back again!!

Thanks for stopping by, and Happy Scrapping!!