Scrapbooking layout for Sketchabilities DT: More ideas than time

Hi!

Sketchabilities has revealed a new great sketch for you:


Sketchabilities sketches are so fun to work with. This sketch #146 inspired me to include lots of mixed media elements like splashes and paint drops on my page, so this is what I came up with:


The background pattern is created with my Gelli Plate; there was some leftover paint on the plate, and I just lifted it on a blank paper. Then I covered the page with clear gesso, and continued working with pink and purple watercolours.


The dots are stencilled and heat embossed with blue embossing powder. White splashes and circles are acrylic paint.


I also took out my sewing machine and added more texture with sewing both straight stitches and zig zag on the page.


Finishing touches were made with stamping black text on the background.


For more Sketchabilities inspiration I suggest you follow this link to see all the amazing layouts our design team has made for you. And our lovely sponsor, Heartfelt Creations, is offering three $30.00 gift certificates to three random linkers; how cool is that!


For more information on Heartfelt Creations follow the links below:
Website - Blog - Facebook

To participate all you need to do is to create a layout using the above sketch and link up your project no later than September 13th here.

Wishing you an inspiring week!
Hugs,
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Colouring: Fun, relaxing and stress-relieving!

Hi and happy Friday,

Colouring is not an activity dedicated only for children, on the contrary, adults are also have fun with coloring pages. If you look at the list of Amazon best selling books you can see that there are three (!!) adult colouring books among top ten sellers. Among the true top sellers there's Johanna Basford's 'Secred Garden' that has sold over 1.4 million copies. That's quite an achievement!

Even researchers and therapists are stating that colouring is very stress-relieving and relaxing. Well, that's something we paper crafters have known for a long time already. In my opinion the quickest way to unwind after a busy day is to start colouring; a stamped image, a page in an adult colouring book, or something you've drawn yourself. Let go of the inner critic and just have fun! The end result doesn't have to be a spectacular piece of art, because the creative process and being able to make something that pleases the eye is what matters the most.

There are many adult colouring pages in the market, but if you want to combine colouring pleasure with making a collage project I suggest you have a look what Imagine and Do has to offer. The company was founded by Finnish designer Minna Ainoa in 2012, after persistent persuading by her enthusiastic card making mother Leena. Leena thought that there was room in the market for good quality colouring images for cardmakers, and for meeting that need the first Imagine and Do sketch collection was released.

Their images are printed on good quality watercolour paper (300g/m2), but in addition to watercolours they can be coloured with any type of pens and markers, too. Working with these sets is like playing with paper dolls; in each set there's a selection of accessories showcasing the designs of Finnish clothing designers, and you can pick up your own favourites to dress up your dolls. Cool!

When colouring the Imagine and Do images you really don't need to be a colouring expert; the pre-shaded printed pictures are really easy to work with. Just choose your favourite colouring media and enjoy!

Picture by Imagine and Do

From the above 'Flora+Fauna+Fashion' A4 sized set I chose to work with the female image, and selected the accessories and embellishments from both sheets. I coloured them with my ProMarkers, cut out, and put in a frame I had painted with brown crackle paint. For the background I chose a grey patterned paper in retro style as I thought it matched my green-white-pink colour palette quite well:



I was really amazed how easily the collage come together. Pure crafing pleasure and stress relief!


Altering the cheap white wooden frame was super simple. I think this brown version is a better match to my paper doll collage, don't you think?



I love the beauty of the images, and the quality of the print-outs. Truly amazing!


I wish you a inspirational, colouring-full weekend. You have already purchased yourself an adult colouring book, right?

Hugs,
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Scrapbooking layout: So cute when bored

Hi!
Scrap Africa is a challenge blog with two monthly challenges. The first one always comes with a layout sketch, and the second one with a mood board, a special theme, a quote or such. Projects made by the design team and challenge participants are always a great source for inspiration, and when I saw the August mood board I decided to play along, too!


I loved the bright orange and yellow colours that reminded me of our wonderful family vacation trip in Germany this summer. Oh, how I miss those warm, beautiful and relaxing days! Those warm colours were the inspiration for this layout:


The layout background was first covered with a strip of patterned paper and strips of dotted tissue paper. I covered those first layers with clear gesso and painted over with yellow and orange watercolours. Additional pattern was created with stamps, bits of washi tape, and doodling with a black marker.


There are also stickers, pieces of a chipboard grid and leftover papers, and die-cut embellishments.



This layout was made of love for patterned papers, mixed media joy, and wonderful memories. Loved every creative minute of making it!

Wishing you a great day,
Hugs,
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Card for Take It Make It challenge: Be happy and smile!

Hi!
August Take It Make It challenge is ongoing, with a fun theme 'Pens and pencils'. Over 30 amazing projects have been linked to our challenge; what an inspiring collection that is! In case you have not started yours yet, there's no rush; you have still over 2 weeks to enter. Challenge details and information about our amazing prizes can be read here.
  
In order to get the creative juices flowing our Craft Stamper Take It Make It design team has put up more wonderful coloured and stamped creations for you. Just follow this link to see them all!

For my project I used a fun Sizzix stamp and die set. I coloured the die-cut elements with Inktense watersoluble ink pencils, and just layered them on the card front together with a chipboard grid.


I love those flowers! By only changing the colour set you can completely change the look and feel of the card. The images are so versatile!



The word stickers are from a Tim Holtz sticker album.


Such a simple and fun project to make!


Psst... Have you noticed that this stamp&die set is still on sale at Sizzix UK? Price is EUR 6.67 instead of EUR 26.69!!! Stephanie Ackerman has designed several matching items in this flower series, and yes, there are discounted prices for them all!! Woohoo!
Just follow this link to see the offer!

Wishing you a wonderful Sunday. Have a creative, inspiring week!

Hugs,
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Scrapbooking layout for Sketchabilities DT: Love you Precious

Hi!

Time to reveal a new Sketchabilities sketch!


Isn't it wonderful! I also happy to present to you our lovely challenge sponsor, Heartfelt Creations! If you have not yet visited their blog I really recommend you do that; it's filled with gorgeous projects and tutorials!




For my take I used a pink background paper from BasicGrey, clear gesso, watercolours, bit of white acrylic paint, some scrap paper pieces, and embellishments I had cut with my Cameo. The beautiful cut files are designed by one of my favourite designers, Wilna Furstenberg



Under the paper cuts I stamped some text patterns. The stamp by Wycinanka is my most used one; I love its versatility and use it on almost every project I make!








Playing with watercolours is soooo much fun. With them it's so simple to add cool patterns to a plain background and make the entire project interesting. Do you share the same watercolour passion with me?

Wishing you a lovely, creative, and inspiring Saturday. Hope you play along our challenge!

Hugs,
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Canvas trio for August Craft Stamper Take It Make It challenge

Hello my Friend,

So happy you stopped by in my blog!

I wanted to show you my project I made for August Craft Stamper Take It Make It challenge. August is a 'Take A Technique' month, as TIMI challenge is alternating between 'Take A Stamp', and 'Take A Technique'. August technique is 'Pens And Pencils'. In other words it's time to take out your favourite colouring markers, sketching pens or watercolour pencils and use them on any type of crafting project. Remember that there must be some real stamping somewhere on your project; this still is a stamping challenge :).

Our lovely sponsor for August is Chocolate Baroque



The prize this month is this wonderful plate of Artistic Afirmations:

Something to wish for, isn't it! For more details please follow this link. Challenge guidelines can be read here.


My aim was to use these lovely Stampin'Up stamps and make a simple card. Maybe even in CAS style; to stamp and colour the images and to create a simple inked background.


Well, I got a little carried away. The problem was that all these little animals were just too cute. I could not decide which one to use for my simple card, as I wanted to include them all! When trying to do that the card front got too crowded, and I had to think of something else.

I remembered that I had a pile of small canvases in my stash. Something I had purchased on sale a while back. They were just perfect for my Woodland project!


The backgrounds are painted with acrylic paints. In order to add a little bit of texture I glued down some embroidery thread, using gel medium as my glue.
The images are stamped on plain white cardstock, coloured with Promarkers, and cut out.


I used many stamped and coloured trees on each canvas, and wanted to make them look bit more interesting by stamping a grid pattern on them.






The canvases are attached together with ring screws and pieces of metal chain.


Such a fun and easy project to make! And an example to show you how the creative flow may easily take you to a completely different direction than you originally planned!
Wonder if this has ever happened to you?

Hugs,
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Scrapbooking layout for Sketchabilities DT: Documenting travel memories

Hello my crafty friend,
It's time for a new Sketchabilities sketch challenge!


This multi-photo sketch is perfect for documenting a holiday trip and precious vacation memories, and that's what I did with my take:


The background paper is from 7 Dots Studio. I started with adding more pattern to the background with stamps and black ink. Stamps are from Carabelle Studio; the edge stamp 'Life is Good' and the punchanella stamp ('Punchanella Background') are designed by my dear friend Birgit Koopsen. Aren't they so cool!


I wanted to add watercolours to the background, so I covered the page with clear gesso. Once dry I glued down some strips of washi tape and scrap pieces of paper I had printed with my Gelli Plate.


Then I printed a collage of instagram pictures I had taken on our long weekend trip to Milan. All the six pictures fit on one sheet of 10x15 cm (4 x 6 in) photo paper.


Blue rose is stamped using Altenew stamp set. Building a layered stamped image is so much fun!
Leaves are cut with my Cameo. Yes, those are the same paper cuts I used on my previous layout; I often use material I happen to have on my crafting table, and in many cases they are leftovers from my previous projects. So many of my consecutive projects contain same elements :)


White chipboard letters are covered with clear cracle paint and inked softly on the edges.


I tend to build layouts around one picture only, and using multiple photos is always a tricky thing for me. But this sketch was really fun to work with, and using six photos on one page was not hard at all!

Hope you decide to play along, too. We have amazing prizes to be won: Our lovely sponsor is
Infinite Designs Scrapbook Studio




For more information please follow these links: Website * Blog * Facebook

You have time until August 13 to link your project. Follow this link to see the challenge details and to view all the gorgeous layouts the design team has made for your inspiration!

Happy scrapping!
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