Top 10 Layouts of 2013

As another year draws to an end, it has become my blogging tradition (as it is with many other scrappers) to look back over my year's creations.  This year I have ventured into yet another style realm... mixed media.  I really like the learning and the challenge of it.  While I have gotten messy, I still like to keep it Clean & Simple or Layered and Playful at times.  As always, I love the inspiration of a good sketch, colour palette or photo inspiration.  Without a doubt, this is reflected in this year's choices.

In no particular order, here are my ten favourites of 2013:

Thanks for sharing in my creative journey in 2013.  Wishing you much happiness and creativeness in 2014.

Happy New Year!

TTFN,

A few of my favourite things

Well "selfie" made it into the dictionary in 2013 and living in a house with a teenager, I can sure understand the how and the why of it.  My goodness the number of self portraits young people take is astounding! My daughter and I were going through her electronic devices looking at photos when I spied this one and thought that it would be great for a layout using the December inspiration mood board at Scrap Around the World.

Supplies: patterned paper (Simple Stories), glitter letters (American Crafts), molding paste (Golden), stencil (Silhouette cut), watercolour paints (Daler Rowney), jeweled lace (Prima), silver tissue and leaves (Dollarama), ink (Tsukinenko), corner rounder punch (EK Success), pen (CTMH), peacock feather swag (Lucky Brand Clothing)

I used molding paste, on worn old wood with silver and bluish green touches ...

... and some Lucky Brand Clothing packaging "peacock feather swag" (as my daughter refers to it).

What I was attracted to in the board was some fav elements of mine...  old wood and plaster frames (I have a collection of them), the aquamarine silver ring and the large feather in the ladies hand . 

The perfect accompaniment to my daughter's filtered "selfie".


TTFN,

Black and White Beauty

Sometimes I see a sketch and wham... an idea hits... that was the case for the December sketch at ScrapFriends.

Supplies: cardstock (Canadian Scrapbooker Super Stock), paint (DecoArt), Silhoutte cuts - Swan title font (CAC Shoshoni Brush) and sketchy circles (SCT Nicole Nowosad), Metal Letters (MultiCrafts Canada), jeweled brackets (Prima), feathers (Ikea), glitter (Recollections), vellum, lace, sequins, and jewels (Dollarama), pen (Signo)

Black and white with glitter, sparkle and feathers were perfect accompaniment to these Hallowe'en photos of my daughter.  She was the white swan to her friend's black swan. She was so proud of her costume that she put together by herself creating the bustier and head pieces also. Only unplanned part was the cold weather for night time trick or treating. She threw on a black long sleeve under the tank.

Here are some different light and detail photos.

This one has the light at an angle and gives you an idea of the feathery texture and the black on black sequins.

Here is the wonderful sketch inspiration.

TTFN,

T'was the Night Before Christmas...

.... and I am sharing some more cards that I made starting with the post title's name.

Supplies: cardstock (CTMH), patterned paper (K & Company), border punch (Fiskars), chipboard and jewels (Dollarama), and thread (Aurifil Mako'ne)

I started these by using up leftovers of the K & Company papers that I used in creating my Brrr card.

Supplies: cardstock (Bazzill & CTMH), patterned paper (K & Company), die cutter (My Favorite Things), circle punch (Creative Memories), emboss folder (Cuttlebug), baker's twine (Maya Road), VersaMark (Tsukinenko), Heat N STick (Stampin' Up), Glitter Liner (Viva), chipboard, snowflake, vellum, glitter, jewels, foam pop up squares (Dollarama), thread (Aurifil Mako'ne)



For this one, I used the die cut negative as my starting point.  I backed it with a piece of the embossed and glittered cardstock.  Some twine, vellum, and glitter glue and it was done.

Supplies: cardstock, pen and chalk (CTMH), patterned paper (K & Company), chipboard, fabric snowflake, and jewels (Dollarama), baker's twine (Maya Road), glitter liner (Viva), and thread (Aurifil Mako'ne)

This is one of my favs.  Clean and Simple but so pretty.  A little machine stitching and scallop punching with a corner rounder adds interest.  I matched up a circle die cut for the second layer of snowman , coloured and glittered it.

Supplies: cardstock and pen ( CTMH), patterned paper (K & Company), chipboard, vellum and jewels (Dollarama), emboss folder (Cuttlebug), snowflake (Silhouette), scalloped cutting blade (Fiskars), stickles (Ranger), and baker's twine (Maya Road)

This one got a little more complex.  I embossed a white core piece of cardstock and lightly sanded it and I Silhouette cut a large snowflake to back the chipboard sentiment.

Having fun getting my Christmas craft on.  This little elf is off to wrap some gifts and make some tags.

TTFN,

Brrr ~ It's Cold!

Baby it's is cold and icy outside.  We got dumped with freezing rain on top of layers of snow making for some interesting sidewalk and road conditions.

Perfect though for hanging out in a cozy warm house and crafting.  I created this seasonal card from this month's PageMap Blog sketch challenge.

Supplies: cardstock (Bazzill), patterned papers (K & Company), diecut (My Favorite Things), punches and Heat'n Stick(Stampin' Up), Silhouette sketchy circles cut file (SCT Nicole Nowosad), embossing folder (Cuttlebug), VersaMark (Tsukinenko), baker's twine (The Twinery), pen (CTMH), stickles (Ranger), mirror snowflakes, vellum and glitter (Dollarama)

Again, I dug into my stash and used some older Christmas papers and My Favorite Things die cuts.  I created the bottom piece by swiping a VersaMark pad over the flat side of an embossing folder, then sprinkling Heat & Stick to it.  After heating it with a heat gun, I sprinkled white glitter on, thus the recessed snow effect.

For a touch of newness, I used a circles cut file created by Nicole Nowosad that was available for free on the Scrapbook and Cards Today blog.


I stuck pretty much to the sketch and the pattern theme. It just fit my scrappy mood for today.

It is such a pretty sketch with lots of potential other than seasonal snowflakes don't you think?  Check out how others chose to use it here.


TTFN,

Some Glittery Cheer!

Christmas vacation means time to play. Yeah! (Clapping my hands like a glee-filled child with a big cheesy grin on my face.)

I made this pair of glittery seasonal cards using up some old stash.

I die cut some birch bark for the labels. Love the colour, look and texture touch it gives on each card.

Supplies: patterned papers (MME and Magenta), chipboard (Imaginisce), baker's twine (The Twinery), stamp (Unity Stamp Co.), ink (Tsukinenko, CTMH), die cut (Spellbinders), snowflake punch (Stampin' Up, stickles (Ranger), pen (Sharpie), jewels and birch bark (Misc.)

This one has a stamped sentiment to go with the gnome Santa and a punched snowflake.  Another Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog entry for their Stamping Out 2013 challenge.

Supplies: patterned papers (MME), chipboard (Imaginisce), leaves (Prima), baker's twine (The Twinery), die cut (Spellbinders), stickles (Ranger), ink (CTMH), pen (Sharpie), jewels and birch bark (Misc.)

For this one, some extra bling holly added to all the glitter. I also repurposed some Prima fabric leaves by cutting them to look like holly leaves.  This one is entered in Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog for Bling It On.

Off to play some more!

TTFN,

Upcycled Gift Canvas

  My daughter has crafty friends who love to hang out at our house with it's plethora of crafting supplies.  While I love inspiring these girls in time well spent crafting in conversation and creativity rather than "screen time", it often poses a bit of a clutter dilemma.  If you have a crafty household like mine, you will understand that I am left with a lot of little finished crafts that eventually find their way into the trash can.

While I was ironing a flower fuse bead for my daughter's friend the other day after she left early, I thought to myself that chances are it would eventually find its way into the garbage at her house.  It got me thinking.  What could I do with it so it does not suffer that fate and end up as landfill? I came up with a canvas style idea that would work for the look and colour of the fuse beads and that would be appreciated by the recipient.

Supplies: canvas (Dollarama), gelatos (Faber-Castell), stencils (My Favorite Things), molding paste (Golden), stamp (Unity Stamps), ink (Rangers), felt (Creatology), marker (Sharpie), plastic fuse beads (Perler)

This was a fun one to make.  I finally got to use a couple of the lovely My Favorite Things stencils that Mona Pendleton sent me as a prize for being a featured artist  at AMMCC #4.  Using gelatos, molding paste, the stencils and an apropos stamped sentiment, this canvas came together quickly in one evening. I am entering this one in the Stamp Out 2013 challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog.

My daughter loved it when she saw it this morning and being of the "instant gratification spoiler generation" she wanted to immediately take a photo and send it to her friend.  I would have none of that. It is a gift to be nicely wrapped and placed under the tree for the excitement of Christmas! I am sure it will find a special place to be displayed in her friends room for several years.

TTFN,

A touch of Christmas with Magenta

Simply Christmas is the theme of Magenta's December challenge.  So what better way to take on the theme than with a Clean and Simple style layout using bits of red and green with neutrals.  For this layout, I had some fun with paint mediums, molding paste and lots of stamping.

Supplies: diamond stencil, sentiment stamp, title stamp, deer family stamp, and seasonal sentiment circle stamp (Magenta), cardstock (Canadian Scrapbooker Superstock), acrylic paint (Deco Art), molding paste (Golden), glimmer mist (Tattered Angels), ink (Ranger, CTMH, Stampin' Up, Tsukinenko), gelatos (Faber-Castell), baker's twine (The Twinery), pen and jewels (CTMH)

The tree was made using a diamond stencil, adding texture with the paste and then highlighting it with glimmer mist. A mix of brown gelatos was painted on to create the trunk.

Layered levels of stamping with traditional colours makes the seasonal circle sentiment stand out.  A repeated stamping deer family image creates a border strip to balance off the cluster.

The layout is doubly framed with a stamped sentiment and a variety of hand stitching with baker's twine.  The title, an apropos sentiment that fits perfectly with my daughter's clearly excited expressions.

Have fun with any type of Christmas themed project using one Magenta product and be sure to enter the challenge.


TTFN,

Catching Up with Fall

It has been a while since I have shared or visited.  I have missed it.  Today I bring some final fall inspiration.

I have been wanting to make this birch bark fall inspired layout idea for over a year and last month's Magenta DT assignment brought it to fruition. I used birch bark as the base, added stitching and fussy cut patterned paper.

Supplies: patterned papers and chipboard letters (Magenta), paint (Plaid), red chipboard letters (Heidi Swapp), pen (CTMH), misc. birch bark and thread 

Here are some close up detail photos.

TTFN,

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TTFN,

Spinnin' Round and Round And Round

I am so punny but I couldn't help myself, the layout... full of circles, the topic... a spinning ride, the carnival theme...  Simon Says Stamp,  the sketch... Scrap Around the World.

Supplies: water colour paper (Canson), gelatos (Faber-Castell), ink (Tsukinenko), blk paint (Plaid)Blue chipboard letters (K and Company), blk chipboard letters and stars (Heidi Swapp), chevron cut file (Chic Tags), Silhouette cutter, marker (Sharpie), pen and liquid glass (CTMH)

I went a little freestyle with this one.  For my base, I  started with a 12' x 12' piece of watercolour paper because I knew I would be painting my background.  I used gelatos and paint with chipboards and chevron Silhouette cuts from Chic Tags.  You would not believe how easy it is to colour chipboard with gelatos.  Love, love , lovin' that medium.  I finished off the stars with a bit of liquid glass to add a little shine.

While I didn't enter this layout in either challenge, for inspiration I used the sketch from Scrap Around the World's August Challenge #4

 

and the carnival theme from Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.

TTFN,