How to create a fun mixed media layout with your birthday photos....a tutorial

I find it highly entertaining to take consecutive photos of a birthday shoot because you never know what kind of pictures you get when kids [aka nephews and niece] are involved...*LOL*

I started with a Crafter's Workshop stencil and some mists.

Then I added a "happy birthday" panel [the negative panel after cutting the letters with my Cameo for birthday cards]  above the photo collage and added SRM stickers to the photos. Washi tape was added to the sides to create more interest.

I coloured the Pink Paislee swirls with the orange mist and added a Blue Fern Studios chipboard. Masked stars were added with distress inks. 

Fun and super easy right?

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New-found love for black...

Have you noticed my new-found love for black?  I love how classy and elegant black is! :)

I took the black from the patterned paper and extended it to the embellishment cluster. 

And black really goes well with my gold obsession! *winks*
Playing along with the All that glitters is gold challenge at Moxie Fab World.

P/s: Come play along with my guest Ashley's patterned paper challenge and LESSology Challenge #29: Birthday Party! :)

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Gift bag and coordinating card for SRM Stickers

Hello friends! Today I'm sharing a gift bag and coordinating card I created for SRM Stickers. 

Do you know that SRM stickers also sells these lovely gift purses? I embossed mine for some texture and interest. 

I used the same embossing folder for the card base and finished it off with a coat of PearlEX for an overall sheen. 

P/s: Come help us celebrate our birthday by playing along with LESSology Challenge #29: Birthday Party! :)

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Mixing patterned papers with Ashley Horton!

My guest today is the fabulous Ashley Horton of Ashley Horton Designs. If you love the look of patterned papers but have no idea how to use them, then Ashley is your go-to girl. Her layouts are a combination of patterns, colours and textures laid out in the most pleasing ways. Even though there are lots of eye-candy on her projects to drool over, I love that her pages stay relatively bulk-free. She shares her approach to mixing patterned papers and is hosting a challenge with an awesome prize for a lucky player! :)

Let's check out some of Ashley's fave layouts....

My name is Ashley Horton and I live in the Southern US, with my husband Tyler and our three kids ages 7, 5, and 4.  I've been Scrapbooking for over 7 years, and I love documenting the antics of my children on my layouts.  I have had the privilege of serving on several Design Teams over the years.  I have been published in Creating Keepsakes magazine, Scrapbook Trends Magazine, Life.Paper.Scrapbook magazine, and Scrapbook News & Review magazine.  I describe my style, as Cutesy Eclectic and I enjoy using a mix of products and techniques on my layouts.  Other than Scrapbooking, I enjoy cooking, reading, spending time with family, and watching movies with my hubby.

One of my most favorite techniques, is mixing patterned papers and colors.  I am definitely a patterned paper addict and 9 out of 10 layouts, are usually all patterned paper.  If you find this technique a little intimidating, here are a few tips for putting your patterns and colors together.

1.  The first tip for putting together patterns and colors is, use a Collection!  Working with a collection is a perfect way to dive into this technique, because the patterns and colors are specifically paired to go together.  For example, I used the Maggie Holmes collection from Crate Paper for my Cute New Do layout and used these patterns:

2.  Here is a second option for working with patterns and colors, that also ties into the papers I chose for this layout.  Use the Ounce, Pint, Quart, Gallon method.  That may sound complicated, but it's really easy.  When you are choosing your patterns and colors, decide which pattern/color you want to use the biggest "amount" of on your layout and then work down from there with your other patterns and colors.  The background pattern was my "Gallon" choice on my Cute New Do layout and then I used smaller doses of the other patterns.

3.  Another fun option, is finding a Color Scheme to work with.  Using Color Schemes can really help, when you are putting colors together and pulling papers that may not be all included in one collection.  This website offers many color combinations and you can also find several challenge sites, such as Life.Paper.Scrapbook that offer weekly or monthly color challenges.

I would love to see you use the technique of mixing patterns on your layout, so here's a little challenge:  Put together a layout, using no Cardstock and at least 5 different patterns.  If you get stuck, just remember the tips in this post and you can also visit my Blog for inspiration on putting those patterns together.

The prize is a $10 gift certificate to Paper Bakery. :)

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Ready to play along with Ashley's patterned paper challenge? Please link your newly created layouts featuring no cardstock and the use of at least 5 patterned papers via Inlinkz [located at the end of the post] by Friday, October 4th, 11.55pm (GMT +8).

As always, please leave a little love for my guest Ashley. :)

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The owl on a paper plate story....and a challenge winner! :)

So my niece S really enjoys colouring. She was really enamoured with my altered mixed media owl box so I drew an owl on a paper plate for her to colour....*winks*

Check out how happy she was! After that, I cut out holes for the eyes and nose...and she played with her paper plate owl mask for the rest of the day! :)

The background was made with strips of scrap paper with text stamping.

Washi tape, chipboard and stickers!

Playing along with the challenges at Scrapfriends and Scrap Around The World.

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Thanks to those who played along with my guest Lisa's shaped card challenge...the winner is...

Darlene Pavlick

Congrats Darlene! Please email me with your mailing address so that I can make arrangements for your RAK to be sent out to you! :)

P/s: I can't wait for you to make this month's guest blogger! *winks*

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The story about the red bean cake

Back in March, we took a family vacation to Taiwan. And it was an eating vacation. Really. If that street stall had some write-up about it, we just had to try it. *LOL*

So when we were exploring the city of Kaohsiung, my dad "disappeared" for a while...he crossed the street to queue up for the red bean cake [it's like an enclosed pancake with red bean filling].

We had to take photos while we were waiting for our red bean cake of course! *winks*

Currently enjoying colouring my Blue Fern Studios chipboard with a black Sharpie and outlining with a white pen. :)

Playing along with the challenge at Once Upon a Sketch and Bird is the Word.

*Edited* This layout was featured at Once Upon a Sketch.

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One mask + two mists = 3 looks with Blue Fern Studios chipboard

I love it when I see card sets that use similar materials to produce different but cohesive looks so I decided to attempt it for my creations for Blue Fern Studios this month. Love that we got to play with some 7 Dots Studio patterned papers in a product swap. :)

I started with a Prima mask, two Tattered Angels glimmermists [I like to use my own bottles for mists so that they maximize my storage area.] and created three looks. The first is from misting directly on the watercolour paper, the second is from pressing another sheet of paper to absorb the residual mists left on the mask and the third is by doing it again.

For this card, I misted the chipboard, covered the top of the frame with lace and added some glass bit gel for the rest of the frame. A torn strip of patterned paper was added to the base of the frame.

The base of the card was covered with a little lace. The bloom was misted. Then I added some SRM stickers.

For this card, I added lace to the base of the card, covered the frame with glass bead gel, then "painted" with the mist.

The paper bloom was misted again and added to the frame with some pearls and a bling butterfly.

For this card, I added patterned paper and lace to the base.

I misted the chipboard first, then added the white lace. So the colour is less intense even though it's the same colour as the bloom.

So, what do you think?

P/s: Happy weekend my friends! :)

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A not-so-secret obsession with lace...

Well my friends, you know that when I'm obsessed with something, I just have to use it over and over again. This month it just might be lace...*winks*

The lace was from an old dress [can you see the seam?]. I started with scrunched up wrapping tissue for the base of the canvas then adhered the lace with matt gel medium. Then, I coloured with Neocolor II watersoluble crayons, misting with water to blend the colours.

I painted the chipboard with lots of glazes and mediums for textures.

Then I went crazy with the Zeus and Zoe gold buttons. I finished with PearlEx for an overall sheen. :)

P/s: Just a few more days to play along with my guest Lisa's shaped card challenge!

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