Creative Inspiration - White Space

I hope that this post finds everyone well and getting a chance to relax over the Easter Weekend. I would like to wish everyone a fun filled Easter. I also hope that you don't eat too much chocolate!

So.. I have had a chance to get creative once again and have created another layout to share using the Chickaniddy Crafts - 365 paper range.

Here's this weeks layout....

Certainly a layout with a very different feel.  I have also used a piece of very heavy weight paste board as my base for a different feel. I have also created this layout with the idea of leaving a lot of white space due to the boldness of the colours I have used. I also like this way of creating too as it really give you a clear focal point. 

As I didn't want the base to be too stark I have used a graph stamp here and there to break it us a little. I have also used a permanent marker to create a border to the layout which adds to the slightly messy feel of the layout. I have clustered stamps from my stash to add some depth to the layout here and there too. Then added a splash of wooden embellishments and small black sequins for shine. 

The paper range has a really good mix of journal cards and tags in various sizes. I have used some of theses to create a base for my photo then threw a few around the layout to embellish it. I have stuck to the ones that featured the pink and black theme that I was going with. I then added my title using some pink acrylic alphas from my stash that worked perfectly with this layout. I must say too the little sequin bow that I have finished the layout off with is so cute!!! I then threw a few more sequins around the layout to tie it all together and give that last bit of sparkled I wanted.

Super fun layout to create that really stands out.

Well enjoy the rest of your Easter break.

Till next week. 

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

Something just a little bit different !!!

I have been lucky enough to have been chosen to be part of an amazing team of extremely talented people, Crafty Crusaders, as part of their guest designers. I am super excited to be able to be part of this team and cannot wait to be able to share work I have created for them. 

Anyways... after having been with the team for a few weeks I was asked to play around with some products from Pebeo. I was extremely spoilt and had all these goodies to play around with to my hearts content.

Now I wasn't just playing around with these products for fun.. I had to get my head around them all in time for the Pebeo demonstration that I had been asked to do at Spotlight as part of their March Craft Fest earlier this month. I wanted to create a few samples to add to the display showing everyone what the products can do. 

However ... as most of you know I have to challenge the product a little an think outside the box. With that in mind I pulled out a few stamps and had a play.

One of the things that I always seem to encounter at demos is people saying that they would never be able to create something that I have or that they aren't able to work out their own designs. That got me thinking... I wondered if it was possible to use a image stamped onto porcelain to create a piece I was happy with.

I started by sponging the tile with some white Pebeo Vitrail Glass Paint and let it dry. I then used a Kaiser Craft stamp and some Stazon ink to stamp the rose image onto the tile when the paint was dry. I then used a Pebeo Porcelain marker to follow some of the main lines of the stamped image. This dried very quickly and went over the stamped image perfectly.

Once I had completely outlined with the Pebeo Porcelain marker I then used a fine paint brush and painted the rose and leaves using Pebeo Vitrail Glass paint and some Pebeo Porcelain paint.

  (*** I did mix the Pebeo Vitrail and Pebeo Porcelain paints to get the colours I desired and found that they mix really well.) 

Here's what the completed tile looks like. It has a lovely dimensional feel to it and was super easy to do using the stamped image. As you can see the ink from the stamp image did not effect the Pebeo paints in any way. I love how crisp the image has turned out using the stamped image and outlining it with the Pebeo Porcelain marker.

So once all my samples were ready the big demo day was upon me. 

I was extremely excited to be back demoing again. It was so much fun sharing with everyone that stopped by what these products can do. 

Looking forward to being able to share with you all what I get up to with Crafty Crusaders as a guest designer.

Till then.

TFL, M x