Thursday 16 June 2011

Thank You, Once Upon a Sketch {My Girl Layout} , Sketchy Thursdays/Colour Combos Galore 196 {The Olde Anchor}







Before I begin with my layout post I thank you all for your comments on Tuesday's post.  Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would get 30 comments on a post where I wasn't giving something away :)

Clearly what I had to say resonated with a lot of you & I am so glad my gamble paid off because when I hit "Publish Post" my heart was in my throat & for the next half hour or so (until the comments started rolling in) I was tossing around the idea of retrieving it!  Just goes to show that we are all the same & people love to read something with meaning, that they can relate to, that they have experience of themselves - so thanks for sharing my joy & my struggles.  

Blogland is really the most seriously underestimated place {I always say Facebook is for people who don't blog} and at the expense of sounding like a stuck record I ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ you all so much {and hubby is relieved that I am feeling better as the poor man never knows how to console me when I start talking scrappy!}  

Next week I'll do a Q & A post based on the feedback I got from the comments & the e mails I've received about the post.  

♥ ♥ ♥ Thank you all again - so very much ♥  ♥  ♥


Once Upon a Sketch has gone live with a new sketch/journaling challenge here.  You have 2 weeks to complete it, just don't forget the journaling criteria, which is "A Moment in Time" - you can interpret this any way you like but you must journal at least 4 sentences on why your pictures are memorable.

Once Upon a Sketch is going LIKE A TRAIN!!!  with over 600 followers already and  EIGHTY FIVE players last fortnight so if you are looking for a place to be inspired, and acknowledged (wink wink) this is the place.  The prizes are FANTASTIC and they are MERIT BASED as well as a RANDOM DRAW so it really is a WIN-WIN situation all round, no matter whether you are playing to win or playing for fun! Be there or be square :)


I used almost all Crate Paper Emma's Shoppe together with some crinkled seam-binding & twine.


The "My Girl" title comes from a sheet of ready-to-stick chipboard die-cuts that make creating a layout oh so easy :)


There is something really wonderful about scrapbooking "in the moment" (with current photos when your memories of the event are so clear that the journaling just flows).


Still loving my giant daisy-edged punch & using it at every given opportunity.  Here I sewed my crinkled seam-binding into a flower then glue-dotted a twine threaded button over the centre.  I doubled up my twine & looped & swirled it for something different.  The decorative pins are cheap ones from the supermarket!


Although my layout is bright and there are a couple of busy clusters I made sure to keep a good amount of space around the edges & kept my one corner free as usual.

I also entered this over at Crate Paper in their PINK/RED/YELLOW monthly colour challenge for June.


Supplies:-

Printed paper - Crate Paper "Emma's Shoppe" Dresses, Fabrics & Books
Embroidered ribbon - Crate Paper "Emma's Shoppe" Trims
Border sticker - Crate Paper exclusive to Studio Calico
Seam binding - Pixie Dust Paperie
Twine - Pixie Dust Paperie
Giant Daisy-edged punch - Martha Stewart Crafts
Mini-doilies - Little Yellow Bicycle
Chipboard stickers - Crate Paper "Emma's Shoppe" 
Stick pins - stash
Buttons - Crate Paper "Neighbourhood Collection" 


                                                                                                                                                                 



This is my week's entry at Colour Combos Galore & I used a Sketchy Thursdays sketch due in tonight

{ now you know why you're getting 2 layouts in one post :) }



This week the Designer's Challenge was to focus on topic - which in this case is SUMMER (based on the Northern Hemisphere seasons) as here in South Africa it is actually winter now & it is freezing!!


I used last week's sketch from Sketchy Thursdays




I hand-journaled at the top here but the other letters are alphabet stickers.


I used printed paper from two January CHA Webster's lines as they suited the colour challenge perfectly.


I also used Webster's bloomers & a hessian strip from Cocoa Daisy.  Chipboard letters are from Imaginarium Designs available online from Seriously Scrapbooking & given to all the Once Upon a Sketch girls free every month for the rest of the year (lucky me ♥ ♥ ♥)

I painted the letters black with one paint brush then stippled with metallic gold with another paint brush (if you use the same paint brush beware as the colours will mix to a muddy grey - past experience tells me so :)  then I glazed over with a cheap clear glitter nail varnish that I keep on my desk expressly for this purpose.


I created an embellishment to mimic Pirate Treasure (in keeping with The Olde Anchor theme), using Prima black bling swirls (cut into smaller pieces as usual), Webster's sparklers, Little Yellow Bicycle bling & Imaginarium Designs chipboard cogs that I paint-effected to match my letters.


Before painting them I lay them on my paper & lightly misted them so they acted as a mask.  As a finishing touch to my layout I inked the top left & bottom right corner substantially using Pretty Colour blue ink.  Just seemed to finish it off nicely :)


I would never have chosen these cog embellishments for myself as they don't fall far enough into the "pretty stash" category but having seen quite a few people work wonders with them I was delighted to discover that I had been sent some in my chippie pack and I love how they turned out.


I'm getting a bit more adventurous with my misting now & trying 2 colours at a time now & loving the effect.  Less is definitely more with misting or your paper gets too soggy & buckles.  For the paint splatter effect I remove the lid with the nozzle lid with the tubular insert & tap on it so the ink splats on to the page.


                                                                       
                                                                            
Supplies:-


Vanilla cardstock - Bazzill
Printed Paper - Webster's Pages Country Estate "Restful Retreat" & Trendsetter "Accessorize"
Mists - Memories Mist "Diet Cola" & Studio Calico Mr Huey "Calico Cream"
Blue ink - Pretty Colour
Journaling pen - Shachihata Artline 200 - FINE - 0.4
Rose ribbon - Webster's Pages Bloomers
Hessian/Burlap strip - Cocoa Daisy
Black rose & bling swirls - Prima
Bling dots - Little Yellw Bicycle
Shiny buttons - Webster's Pages Sparklers
Chipboard - Imaginarium Designs
Paint - Making Memories
Clear Glitter Nailvarnish

If you made it this far reward yourself with a cup of tea NOW!  I am off to shower then catch up with my blog reading & commenting.  See you soon!!






24 comments:

Marilyn said...

Hi my friend!! GORGEOUS PAGES!!! love the colors in the first one, lovely pictures of your beautiful girl and great details. Love the technique with paint in the second one, and all the embellishments...Beautiful Work... I'm so happy to visit you again!! Hugs!! :)

Heather Jacob said...

hi Gorgeous Helen , this work is just divine and spectacular ... such striking elements and Helen always remember you are very special, unique and loved my many ... you fill your work with passion and love, and are very giving and sharing with all your info and details .... you are a GIFT to the world .. big hugz x

Keshet said...

I love how these are both sooo different from each other, but both absolutely fantastic! You are really inspiring me to break out the Crate!

Keshet said...

PS--Have you sent that first layout to Crate? If not, you really should! It's spectacular!

Diana Fisher said...

Gorgeous!! :)

Mitralee said...

Boy those are yummy pages!! There are so many things I like... The blue and the tan misting oh my!! And the pirate title is awesome!! The bling on your second post... The fist page is so strong with great colors and strength! Nice job! And great post explaining things I need some nail polish for my scrap stash now, lol!!

Julie Tucker-Wolek said...

You are AMAZING girl! I just loveeeeeeeeeeeeeee these! You are just WOW WOW WOW!! I loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeee the photos and the layers! Thanks soooooooooooooooo much for playing along with Sketchy Thursdays! :):):):):):):):):):):):):)

Unknown said...

Beautiful pages! I am loving that crinkle ribbon and the journaling layers. Thanks for playing along with Sketchy Thursdays! xoxo

Leonie said...

Both of them are absolutely gorgeous Helen! Love that Crate paper range and i love your misting and pirate treasure! Cheers. x

corrie said...

Both are gorgeous! Great colors and designs. Thanks for playing with Sketchy Thursdays!

Kayla W said...

wow! Gorgeous pages! Love the misting and the bright color combos on the first page!

Jolanda said...

amazing work like always!!! very very pretty!
Have a nice day!
x

tania said...

I am LOVING the colours on these pages!! These are beautiful!!

Bellaidea said...

It` a pleasure to visit you! Thank you for sharing :)

sandi said...

Wow! Both are absolutely gorgeous! So different, yet so beautiful!

Yolande (pronounced you-land-a) said...

Both layouts are absolutely superb! All your details are really beautiful...especially love the pleating and stunning photos on your "My Girl" Layout....as for your CCG layout...it is even better when you see the close ups. I really love your misting and the cluster of embellies and bling....Amazing details.

scrapbookertink said...

Thanks for blog visit today and yes it is good to have some me time again LOL! Love the 1st one the pics are fab. what camera do you use? The CCG one is my fav of the two, love the misting and spraying and those cogs are genius, love it, have a good weekend. x

Diana said...

2 gorgeous girls and 2 gorgeous pages...

Kirsty Vittetoe said...

Stunning pages Helen, they looked totally different but they are all beautiful in its own way, you are so versatile.
Ya, no one will understand how we bloggers are, we find "friends" that understand what we trying to express, we feel happy for friends that won a challenge or have work published, they won't understand and they would say, "your friend? you haven't even met yet? " Blog friends are different, we all knew that right? : )

Rachael Funnell said...

Gorgeous! Gorgeous! love both these Layouts, the first one is SOOOOOOOO Pretty love all the little details on this one & your CCG layout is Sensational too!! Gotta Love Webster pages hey!!!
hehehe
& what Gorgeous Girls you have, they take after her mother.....

Lynette Jacobs said...

Gorgeous layouts...I love the grunge combined with bling on the second layout.

Sharm Nidyanandan said...

Super duper gorgeous! I love the blue and brown tones on the second one! classy!! and the first layout so beautifully brings out ur gurl's dance pics! your daughters are lovely gurls!! :)

Kerryn said...

Helen, these pages are absolutely stunning!!! So very different in their style but both equally stunning.
And I'm glad you're feeling better. I've had that moment of eek when I've published posts before but sometimes you just have to get things off your chest. Glad it helped :).

Sophia said...

Both very beautiful LOs...