Creative Inspiration - Using Embossed Backgrounds

Hello all. 

Back this week with a rather fun to create layout using the Chickaniddy Crafts - 365 paper range. 

So here's this week's share....

Now I have to admit to having had this piece of embossed card stock in my stash for AGES!!! I think I got it with a mixed pack of card stock I got from someone that destashing but honestly can't remember. To be honest too I never have been a huge fan of embossed card stock. I like to be able to create my own textured base and find that the whole piece textured can sometimes just be too much.  

Anyways.... it was time to tackle that UFO card stock which was originally black. It wasn't going to work for this layout as I wanted a softer base so I decided to roughly paint it with some gesso and then lightly sand it to highlight some of the pattern. I have then decide to focus on the pink and yellow from the paper range and have cut my paper into 3' x 1/2' strips and adhered them as shown. then added a photo, which I have lightly sanded the edges of, of my two younger daughters as shown. 

To finish the layout off with a couple of die cut wooden flourishes for a softer feel and then clustered up a mix of paper flowers. I then added a title using some aqua acrylic alphas from my stash. I quite like the look of the background for this and have FINALLY managed to use that horrid piece of embossed card stock from my stash.

Well.. will leave you all to have a super weekend.

Till next time.

TFL, M x 

Creative Inspiration - Week 35 2015

Well... finally back on track.... 

Here's the post that was due to be online on Friday last week....

I have been scrapping together the last bit ad pieces from the last of  the Crate Paper - Open Book paper range that Leanne from Mad About Scrappin sent me to play with.

This week I really didn't have a lot of the paper range left to create a layout but managed to squeeze two cards out of the scraps.

I had two cards that I needed to make in mind for two ladies from Calisthenics. The Calisthenics year all done and dusted for another year (apart from solos) and Kiah wanted to able to thank two people that have supported her a lot this year. Especially with the transition to a new club and with doing her first Graceful Girl performance. Without their support it wouldn't have all been possible.

Anyways...... 

Both cards were created on a recycled card base and I have inked the edges to give them both a vintage aged feel. Each card had a base of two pieces of the patterned paper as the base to start from the pink floral one I stamped to butterfly chicken wire stamp onto the base paper and the white floral has the same stamp on the white paper bag. Then I set about personalising each one.

For the white floral card I knew that I wanted to use the large fabric flower as the starting point  for the cluster and worked from there. I adhered a small white doily then made a double bow from garden twine to adhere the white fabric flower to. Then it was just a case of adding in the smaller flowers and a white paper leaf. I finished off the card by adding a tag to the paper bag and then added the greeting.

For the pink floral card I still had some of the floral paper from the range left. I decided to use the roses on the paper as the starting point for the embellishments and worked from there. I layered the hand cut roses and leaves then added in the sheer white ribbon bow. I scattered some paper flowers that matched perfectly. I then used a flair to create the greeting for  the card as it said it all. Then finished to card off with a sprinkle of mini gemstones here and there.

Both cards are simple and quick to make.

The best bit was that I was able to use up the last bits and pieces from the kit!

Well... Back to working on the new kit I have to share with you this week coming.

Till then.. 

Get Scrappy.

TFL, M x

Creative Inspiration - Week 31 2015

With the weather here in Adelaide being miserable lately I think that it carries over to feeling like hiding away next to the warmth of the heater.

I have had a chance to play around with a few more bit and pieces from this paper range by Crate Paper - Open Book.

This week I have created a fun layout using a mix of papers from the range.

Now it's not often I get photos to scrap of my eldest daughter... she usually hides from the camera.  I found this photo when I was sorting through a stash of photos I had printed a while ago. The colours in the photo worked really well with the papers in this range.

I have a bucket load of really old alpha rub ons that are really not in the best shape. I really didn't want to just chuck them out as I know that would just be a waste of money so have decided to use them up where-ever I could. I have used up a few mixed alphas on the base of this layout to mix it up a little. I didn't want to go with just the girlie floral feel of the papers in the range. 

I have also hand stitched on some of the punched circles and the photo mat to add a bit of texture to the layout. I quite enjoy stitching on layouts and it is a quick way to add a bit of detail to a layout.

I have then added in a few features by using a journal spot, date spot and "today" tab in bold pink to added a bit of a different feel to the layout. It has helped to create the cross between a floral girlie look to the brighter bolder look. 

Quite a simple layout but I have used up some more rub ons that that have been taking up space in my scrap area.

Well... back to get some scrapping done.

TFL, M x

Creative Inspiration - Week 28 2015

Good morning everyone.

Wow... another super busy week here. In between getting kids back to school after school holidays I have been juggling getting sorted for study, calisthenics preparations and have had multiple doctors appointments from one end of town to the other.

Now.. I have the last layout I created a few weeks ago that I was super bad and didn't share to show you this week. 

I played around with the last bits and pieces from the MME Wild Berry paper range that Leanne sent me.

So here's the layout I had created to share....

I love the bold lime green in this paper range. I have really made it pop by matting it onto some black card stock as my base for the layout. I have to admit too to always smiling myself every time I see this photo of my youngest daughter. It kinda makes me giggle. I mean we always seem to document the good moods and the smiles.. however this particular day my daughter was just not happy. I was running around with camera madly snapping away and managed to snap her looking this this. I said smile and this was the look I got. lol. 

No to add a little bit extra I have played around with a few ticket stubs from my stash. I have then layered a mix of a kraft paper bag, washi tape and some stickers from my stash which all matched perfectly with the bright bold paper range. I love the nylon rosette too. Adds a bit of a feminine feel without being too girlie. 

I have added a bit of detail to the layout too by hand stitching with some white floss on the black. I love the feel of the stitching on a layout. I then finished off the layout with some acylic alphas from my stash which I added a bit of sparkle to with some kindy glitz.

Super quick layout to create but heaps of fun.

Well.. back to the scrapping grind stone.. have a fun card to share with you tomorrow.

TFL, M x

Creating texture to a layout with ease

With the weather here in Adelaide being cold and miserable it has been the perfect weather to hide away in my scrap area and create.

Now.. I have been busy with many layouts for designs team work using all sorts of scrap booking paper ranges. Just for something different I wanted to just get away from what I have been creating with and make a major mess. So with that all in mind I decided that I wanted to create a layout using no patterned paper at all. 

So here's the full layout once I had finished it.

I love being able to create a base for my layouts. Most of all I love being able to create dimension to the base of my layout. To help me be able to achieve this I have used some Canson  410gsm Pasteboard as the base for my layout.

 Now it was a process that I did over two days to create the base due to the wet weather here. I started with using some Pebeo modelling paste and a leaf mask that I had in my stash. I was kinda rough with the application of the texture paste as I didn't want a perfect finish. Once the texture paste was dry I then gave the whole thing a coat of gesso to give it a good even base to paint over. 

I wanted to be able to create matching embellishments too so I have used some Canson water colour paper to create them. I have kept the colours a little bolder than the base I I didn't want them to get lost in the background. Plus because I was mixing up my own colours I was able to get the colours to match perfectly with the photo I wanted to use.

You can see the texture here that I have created using the modelling paste. The leaves have also been enhanced with how I have applied the paint. I have achieved the enhanced look by firstly applying the light aqua colour I mixed up. Whilst the paint was still wet I then applied a wash of slightly darker aqua. I then blended it all slightly using more water and hat my heat gun drying it as I applied more water.   

As you can see it almost give the base a glow look to the leaves with the lighter colours peaking through. 

Because of the random painting stokes I have done to create the base before I cut out the vines with the leaves they have a tonal mix of colour on them. To finish them off I have randomly stamped a graph stamp on them. This has helped the leaves stand out from the base colour I have created also. 

I loved being able to add so much dimension both with the Pebeo Modelling paste and with the embellishments I had created for this myself.

Once all the main elements of this layout were adhered I started on the embellishing to finish it off.  To tie it all together I have added a little bit of grey and white elements with paper doilies and a couple off graph journal cards I have printed with some digital stamps. 

So when it came time to add in some feminine touches I played around with some of my stamps and some water color paper to create some flowers. Once I had hand cut them I had a play with a few of them with some Mepxy markers to see what would work best with the stamp I had chosen. In the end I have just gone with highlighting the shadows that were on the stamp itself. I found that too much colour with the dove grey staz on was just too much for this layout. I then highlighted the edges randomly of some of the petals with a darker colour so that is slightly bled and then blended it with the lighter colour just slightly.  This has add just a hint of colour which was all I was looking for. 

Products used -

Pebeo Studio Modelling Paste  

Pebeo Studio Acrylics Standard Colours 100ml tubes

-        Colour No. 48 Primary Yellow 

-        Colour No. 49 Primary Cyan 

-        Colour No. 26 Mars Black 

-        Colour No. 41 Vivid White 

Princeton Real Value Set Green Value Pack Camel Brush Set


Pebeo One Coat Gesso

Mepxy Brush Markers 
- V15 Rosebud
- P00 Light Violet

Princeton Catalyst Contours 21 Green Contour  Size 21 

Canson Water Colour Pad A4 

Canson 410gsm Pasteboard 

It has been a while since I have made so much mess creating and must admit I am looking forward to to getting creative like this again soon.

 It was quite refreshing creating my own paper and layout base. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Looking forward to sharing with you all again. 

TFL, Michelle Wallace

Exciting Stuff !!!!!

Hello all.

I am most excited to be able to share with you my first post EVER on the Crafty Crusaders blog. 

I am looking forward to being able to share with you all what I have able to create using some of the goodies sent to my to play with. 

Now just to explain a little... one of my daughters is turning eight this month. 

For her birthday party she has decided that we are having an Alice In Wonderland Tea Party type of party with a bit of our own twist. 

Now... the twist is that for us there is A LOT of Alice in Wonderland things on the Internet to be able to create for a party. 

However we wanted it a bit more girlie in the twist so we have decided to create our own little bits and pieces for the table centre piece. 

With that in mind we started to chase up teapots to use for the centre piece of the table. As much as we wanted to use mismatch teapots, I wanted them to be personalised a little. 

I have already started the table centre pieces off with creating these goodies..

I managed to find one more teapot that I loved the style of that I just had to alter to finish off the table centre piece.

So with that is mind I would like to show you how I took this  patterned china teapot and made it our own. 

I started off the process by adhering two different napkins (just the single ply of the napkin that is patterned) directly onto the teapot using a glue wash and a #4 Shader Princeton Camel Hair Brush. I then adhered a paper doily that I had cut into quarters where I desired. Then I added a few more pieces of napkin to blend in the doily to the base. For the inner rim of the tea pot, top of the lid and the inner spout I used some Pebeo Studio Acrylic Paint #26 Mars Black to highlight them. I did use two coats to give a nice matt finish. This went onto the shiny surface of the teapot really well too.  

Now.. I found the napkins a little bit bright so using a #4 Shader Princeton Camel Hair Brush I painted the whole teapot with a white wash of  Pebeo Studio Acrylic #41 Vivid White. 

I then let the whole teapot dry before sealing it twice.

Then came the fun bit.  I gathered up paper flowers that I wanted to play around with on this teapot. I had some plain pink paper flowers that just didn't quite match the teapot colours. With that in mind I altered the flowers using a foam brush and some Pebeo Studio Acrylic #41 Vivid White Paint then a smidge of Pebeo Studio Acrylic #50 Magenta just on the edges . It really reminded me of the Queen from Alice in Wonderland when I was painting these.... painting the roses red and all that. 

You can see the large queen of hearts playing card I have altered with white napkin here that I have used as the base of the embellishment cluster. I applied a white wash with Pebeo Studio Acrylic #41 Vivid White over the whole playing card before embellishing over it.

Here you can see I have used some Pebeo Studio Acrylic Paint #26 Mars Black and a dry foam brush to highlight the rim of the teapot and the spout just a little. I have also added subtle highlights to the textured napkin over the whole tea pot too.

I can also tell you too that I have played around with a few of the other paper roses on this teapot too with some of my Mepxy Markers. Once the aqua roses and pink magnolias were adhered to the tea pot I wasn't really happy with the colour match. The aqua looked too green to match the blue of the napkins and the pink magnolia were originally very very pale pink.

I did  the same thing with my Mepxy Brush Markers to finish off this large rose. It was also very pale pink. Just a touch here and there of the markers to the edges and I finally got the effect I was looking for. 

Have had so much fun playing around with creating this teapot and thinking outside the box just a little. Cannot wait to be able to set the table up for the party now. Have one very excited little girl who LOVES her new teapots for her party.

Lastly I wanted to show you the quick card I created using a digital stamp from my stash I have printed onto some Canson Illustration  250 Paper and coloured in using the Mepxy Brush Markers. 

Layered a couple of digital stamps onto a Project Life Graph card for the base age card. then adhered this on some of the matching Teresa Collins paper range I used on the teapots. Added some paper flowers, a chipboard greeting and matching sheer blue ribbon. 

To finish the card off I have printed the little girl digital stamp from my stash onto some Canson Illustration Paper and coloured it very basically with the Mexpy Brush Markers to keep it simple. 

She was then adhered using 3D foam to give a little dimension.

Super quick but fitting with the Alice In Wonderland look.

Well off to play with my Mepxy Brush Markers and some more digital stamps I have printed off.

Till next time. 

Get Creative !!

Michelle W xxx

Creative Inspiration - Week 15 2015

Hello.. hoping that everyone is having a super week.

I have been busy again using some more of this paper range by Teresa Collins - A Wonderful Life. 

Still loving this range. Love how the red really pops out. With that in mind I got to work on another piece for my daughter birthday party. This week I wanted to work on something more for the table. Looking at the red in the kit really got me thinking of Alice in Wonderland and the Queen of Hearts.

 Now with the whole tea party theme I got thinking that I wanted to alter a tea pot... So I raided my cupboard for the tea pot I just never use and decided to take the plunge. Here's what I came up with.

I must say I am pleased with how it turned out.. but it did take quite a bit of patience when I adhered the paper napkins to the shiny surface of the tea pot. I then enhanced it all with a bit of black to the top of the tea pot and spout. Then added some black ink here and there to show up the crinkle of the napkin.

Once I had adhered the sealer was completely dry I have added a paper doily and then a die cut frame as the starting base for my embellishments. I was super excited too as I manged to find a number 8 playing card in my stash which I have added a pink peg to and adhered before adding in the floral embellishments (it's my daughters' either birthday, so wanted it to be a bit symbolic).

You can see in this close up that as with the canvas I created last week I have once again used some of the paper range to create a vine. I have adhered a couple of these throughout the handle and then threaded the paper flowers from Mad About Scrappin around it as I desired. I love the super tiny aqua rose buds. They add just the tiny bit of colour pop with being too bold. I have woven a sheer white ribbon throughout the flowers too.

As you can see I have adhered the top of the tea pot on a bit tipsy giving it a bit of a wonderland feel. I have then added the famous Mad Hatter quote "Its always Tea time" printed onto card stock using the Alice in Wonderland font. this was then adhered to the teapot using 3D foam. 

I have had so much fun creating goodies for the table centre piece. I cannot wait to see it all set up and promise to share when the day come.

Till next week. 

Get creative.

TFL, M x