A couple of Layouts to share...

Hello!

A couple of layouts to share today...

This one of myyoungest enjoying the trampoline...

And because I loved the colours so much on the first layout that I did another one to match, plus it was handy having all the supplies out ready on my desk. I'm getting more confidence with my inks and paints now so I thought I'd go to town (well subtley to town maybe!) on this layout of my eldest proudly showing off his new gappy smile, I must be gaining in confidence as this layout took me about an hour to complete :)

Thanks for your visit today, drop me a line to say you've been I'd love to return the compliment!

Nikki xxx

My Happy place

Hi There!

What a beautiful day to share another Quirky Layout, I hope the sun is out where you are too! The sun was out when the picture for my layout was taken earlier this month, the first nice weekend of the year and we were lucky enough to be in our caravan. There is nothing that I like better than sitting outside enjoying the company of my friends, listening to all our children playing together and enjoying a beer...or two ;)

There is so much scope with Roly Poly to get really creative, I saw a tutorial on felt pompom flowers a while back and wondered if it would work with the denim, and guess what, it did! If you would like to have a go yourself here is the tutorial I used, there doesn't seem to be a direct link so you have to scroll down a bit but I promise you will enjoy the ride! ;) (I didn't sew it together though, I just used strong double sided tape to bind the fabric together and along the whole edge again when I rolled it up)

I used the packaging the kit came in to make a mat for my photo, after cutting it to size I punched one edge and folded it into 4 before cutting along all the folded edges again, I then arranged the 4 pieces haphardly before placing some of the tulle over the top and held it all together with a staple. This meant I had loads of room to tuck other pieces of PP in between the layers.
The triangles are a large square punch cut in 2, I used them to make photo corners too. I used my sewing machine to add texture to some of the triangles and the die cut feathers. I used distress ink to colour the little birds.

Did I miss anything? Is there anything you would like me to explain? If so then let me know in the comments, I would be happy to help if I can.

See you soon!

One of the best days ever

Hi there!

This is my third layout using the main kit from Quirky and there's still plenty left for other projects (well apart from the Alison Kreft Woodgrain, which got eaten up by disasterous craftrobo attempts, but more of that later...)

This is me smiling my head off because I'm having brilliant fun crab fishing in Aberdovey a few years ago. The crabs were a-bitin, the kids were squealing with a mixture of fear and excitement, and they were precariously close to falling off the edge of the jetty...



I took inspiration from a few places for this layout, as soon as I saw this gorgeous Layout I knew I wanted to do my own version of it and this cute little idea was going to appear somewhere too. Plus I've been trying out a few new techniques, I've diligently been practising the cursive style of handwriting over the past few nights because I always think my writing makes my layouts look untidy, there's a way to go yet but I'll keep practising! Of course I couldn't go without telling you the rest of the robo saga, after finally pulling Mr Robo out of retirement (he's been languishing in a cupboard for about 5 years after failing to get to grips with him first time round) I failed miserably cutting my title with the Websters PP that I wanted to use. In the end I used copy paper, less tears (that's tears, not tears... you know, the ones that fall down your face...) if it all goes pear-shaped, and I still had to cut out all the little holes myself! Will keep practising with my robo too, there's always something to learn with this fantastic hobby isn't there?

Again, any questions you have about the layout please leave it in the comments and I'll be happy to answer it for you.

look forward to hearing from you!

Nikki xxx

When did you last use your Stampboard?

Have you still got some at the back of a drawer? I hunted mine out the other day, I bought some caviar beads from a pound shop recently (12 colours! in little glass vials! One Pound!!) and I wanted to use them. Not having a melt pot, (I really want a melt pot but I know I'll never use it *rollseyes*) my thoughts turned to those little squares and rectangles that haven't seen the light of day for many a year and I made this...



You can get an idea of scale from some the products I used for this little make. It really is quite tiny but I like working in small scale especially when I'm trying out new techniques or experimenting.

You can just see the caviar beads set into the clear embossing powder on the stampboard image, it was the very devil getting them to stop blowing about with the heat tool, but I managed (all the while wishing I had a melt pot!) and then added a few dabs of acrylic pearls for a bit of extra colour. The butterfly wings were stamped onto acetate and glittered from behind before being attached to the back of the image.

I expect it'll be a while until Mr stampboard comes out again but don't worry, like the sentiment on my project, you are loved!

Thanks for visiting!

Nikki x

Blog Hop Winner!

Hi there!

I'm pleased to announce the Blog Hop Winner picked at random was number 51 - Jane (Cassia)

Well done Jane and thank you to everyone else who commented.

Nikki xxx

The Grasshopper Hunt

Hi There!

Woo Hoo!! after an amazing Blog Hop earlier this week I'm super-motivated to create and after getting such lovely encouraging comments I may try to do more tutorials in the future. I'm also celebrating reaching over 10,000 pageviews! {I reckon about 5,000 are just me looking at my own blog though ;)}

Don't forget, you have until midnight 18th April to comment on this post to be in with a chance of winning this candy...


So here I am back to share another Layout with 'A Pocketful of Posies'. At first glance this Kit seems to have pink predominantly running through it but this time I managed to make a layout without using any!

I chose a sunny pic of my 3 gorgeous boys intent on their hunt for Grasshoppers in the fields of Brittany last year. The story is hidden in the pocket behind the photo, I love hidden journalling because I never think my handwriting looks right on the page!

I made use of the fabric leaves and wood veneers to embellish the page, covering the veneers with patterned paper as you can see here..

I hope that you se something here that inspires you today and if you have any questions please do so in the comments and I'll do my best to answer them.

Can you use your kit without any hints of pink? If you do I'd love to see them!

See you soon,

Nikki xxx

UKS Blog Hop!! Adding Layers and Dimension

Hello everyone!



Welcome to the UKS Spring BlogHop! You may have come to me from PaperCollecter Anon

If you lose your way, or have dropped in on me directly and want to follow the hop, you can see the full list with all the links here

Ever wondered how to get from this...

... to this?
I'm here today to share my process for adding layers and dimension to a scrapbook layout. I'm sure there are hundreds, if not thousands of other ways, but this is how I do it and if you manage to gain something useful here today it would make me very happy!

So, I started my first layer by rubbing over the cardstock with white acrylic paint where I expected the embellishments and photo to go. I tend to have a sketch in mind when I start a project although I'm pretty flexible and sometimes the end result is far removed from the original idea! to create more depth I overstamped the painted area with a background stamp with more acrylic. I try not to worry too much about how it looks at this stage because a lot of it will be covered up anyway.

Now to start adding some paper layers... my layout has a border top and bottom and along one side, I cut my strips ready and do a little inking and 'lifting' of the paper with my fingers to stop it looking too flat on the page...

I use the same process for adding layers behind my photo, I don't think about the size of the paper too much, just adding scraps and offcuts of coordinating papers in a way that pleases me and if I like it? I stick it down! (or I would be there for hours shuffling paper *rolls eyes*) HOWEVER... I only stick down in places that will still enable me to lift the edges of my papers and tuck more things in should I need to. Can you see the difference using your fingers to gently curl the edges of the paper makes to the overall look of the photomat?

Now for the fun bit! Notice that I haven't actually stuck down my mat yet, I still like to have a bit of 'shuffle-space'! I've added more depth by using the negative space from a scallop circle die cut, with a little PP peeking through behind and a fussy cut flower raised with popdots over the top. I've echoed the banner diecuts on the photomat with more banners in the top corner.

Nearly finished, but the layout needs more contrast so a bit of black stamping and ink spattering is required (that's another reason why I don't stick the mat down!, a few extra embellishments (yup, I stuck a bird on it!)and a bit more woodgrain tucked in here and there to help tie everything together.

So, just the title (and a few more twiddly bits...) to go! If you've managed to stick with me for this long then thank you for your patience. I do hope you found this useful and it has given you some ideas how to create layers in your own projects. The PPs I have used for this layout are all from the latest Quirky Kit from Crafty Templates.
The next blog on the hop is The House of Bears thank you again for visiting and I hope you come back soon!

Please comment on this post by midnight 18th April if you would like a chance to win this...

I will pick a prize at random and post the results in my next post.


Nikki xxx