Kaisercraft - Romantique Part 2

Hello, Lynn here today with my second layout using the delightful Kaisercraft Romantique collection. I have used another old black and white photo, this time of my mother and her cousin when they were children.

I have selected the grey, silvery, black and white papers from this collection together with the magnificent Butterflies Printed Acetate.

I used a sheet of silvery grey Bazzill as the base, then added the strip of 'Eiffel' paper left over from my first project. In fact the whole page was based on using this left-over piece as I love the hydrangea design. With 'Fig Swirl' Bazzill I made scalloped edges for the paper using a punch, and tucked these under the long sides of the paper. I cut a small doily in half and tucked these under the scalloped edges too.

My photo was mounted with a narrow border, also using the Fig Swirl card.  Then with words from the manufacturer's strip of one of the papers, I arranged some around the photo.

I took one of the chipboard pieces from a pack of three Romantic Page Dangles by Blue Fern Studio and decorated this for the left side of the page. I heat embossed it with Stampendous Frantage, Shabby Pink Embossing Enamel. Then I filled in some of the holes with Tonic Studios Nuvo Crystal Drops in Wedgewood Blue and Glitter Drops in Silver Moondust. I also used the Glitter drops to add a tiny drop to each of the scallops.  From my stash I added a small piece of chain and ribbon to the top of the chipboard.

My 'Cousins' title was cut using a Sizzix die and the Fig Swirl card and some Crystal Stickles.  I wanted to have a different font for the 'And Friends' part of the title, so I used some very old Making Memories Rub-On letters. I thought these would split over the stickles so I rubbed them onto a piece of acetate and cut it out close to the letters, I stuck this in place with Glossy Accents. The names were added with some tiny type letters.

As before I cut out a selection of acetate butterflies and bending the wings up stuck the bodies in place with more Glossy Accents. This time I wanted some of the butterflies to appear to be resting on things. I found that by folding back a wing and twisting it slightly, I could see both wings and stick it in place where needed.
 

Finally I made a small cluster of embellishments with a butterfly, embossed hearts from the chipboard and some bling. 

Now that the page is complete, it reminds me of one I scraplifted back last summer, using the Indigo Blue papers and a layout designed by Kylie Kingham for the Kaisercraft Design Team - it was great inspiration.

Thanks for looking, I will be back with another layout soon.
Lynn

Blue Fern Studios - Christmas Hamper

Hi, Lynn here today - with a Christmas gift made using the delightful Blue Fern Studios Vintage Christmas & Vintage Christmas 2 collections. I wanted to create a special hamper to take along as contribution to our hosts on Christmas day. I found a crate style box at IKEA which I thought would be just the right size and set about painting and decorating it. Then I dressed up the contents of the hamper too.

The storage box from IKEA is called knagglig, it cost £5 and measures 23cm x 31cm x 15cm. I screwed it together following the simple instructions and painted inside and out with Ranger Distress Paints. 

I selected three sheets of double-sided paper, 2 from the Vintage Christmas collection - Wonderland and Greetings Cards and 1 from Vintage Christmas 2 - Holiday Treats. These papers all work well together. All the papers I cut were inked with Ranger Distress Ink. The papers are very thick making them ideal for this project, as they hold their shape well.

For the front of the box I cut the border pattern from 'Holiday Treats', cut the sides down and stuck it around the edges of the front of the box. I added embellishments including bells, ribbon, lace, flowers, holly leaves and dew drops - all from the shop.

The laser cut chipboard words on the front of the box 'Twas the Night Before Christmas'  (also Blue Fern Studios) was embossed with Stampendous Frantage Embossing Enamel in Shabby White. This has a great texture and is mainly white but has a bit of a golden sparkle too. 

Then I gathered all the goodies to go inside and set about decorating them to match.

The wine bottles were decorated with hangers made with patterned paper cut to 3" x 9" and folded over at 3" and 6" down from the top. I cut a hole with a circular die to go over the neck of the bottle. Pictures were cut from the paper called 'Greetings Cards'. I cut some with oval shaped dies and the other was cut cut to the shape with scissors and trimmed with a corner rounder punch (as were the corners of the hangers themselves). Lace, paper roses, poinsettia and gems were added to decorate. 

This mini trug was filled with chocolate coins, a Santa and peppermint sticks. I cut another image from the 'Greetings Cards' paper ad wrote a message on the reverse side. This was all wrapped in a cellophane bag and tied with twine decorated with another paper rose.

Next I added a topper to this bag of nuts by folding over one of the larger images from the 'Greeting Cards' paper.

This long box of Maltesers was decorated on all four sides and the top with 'Wonderland' paper, and a small tag was cut from 'Greetings Cards' paper.

This jar of salted caramel spread was decorated using two images from the 'Greetings Cards' paper.

The Camembert was treated to more papers and a gold doily, ribbon and button.

The dates were decorated with paper cut from 'Holiday Treats' and 'Greetings Cards' topped off with a length of gold ribbon. 

These will all be put together with some roses, greenery, cinnamon sticks and pine cones for Christmas day.

Thanks for looking

Merry Christmas
Lynn x

Gotta Lotta Bottle ........ with Blue Fern Studios

Hello There, it's Anita with you today and it's my last post for November.

Today I am using my left over bits and peices of beautiful Seaside Cottage from Blue Fern Studios. This is such a lovely manufacturer and their collections are second to none, combining the beauty of shabby chic with various themes and all such wonderful quality! There is a lovely choice to pick from in the shop HERE

I had a couple of glass bottles at home in my window sill that I had some small bunches of gypsophelia in and thought they could do with 'prettying' up a bit. So I combined them with the papers, acrylic paint and items from a little glass jar that we have popped small shells and sea glass in over the years whilst on holiday when our girls were small.

I painted each bottle a different colour ( one blue, one rose pink) then when that layer was dry, I dry brushed over the top with white paint to give the shabby effect.

Starting with the pink bottle, I added  a wrap using some of the Glory sheet, I inked the edges and stuck it round the centre of the bottle, then popped on some hessian ribbon and some lace around the top of the bottle. I made a tiny tag using a clipping from the Calling Cards sheet and then finished the bottle off adding various blossoms, crystals, frills and shells and a sprinkling of Icicle Stickles.

I decorated the blue bottle in pretty much the same way, using the reverse side of the Glory sheet and a couple more items from the Calling Cards Sheet. I also made some rolled paper roses to add to the neck of the bottle with other little bits and bobs and then made a seed bead, pearl and crystal bead dangler to drape around the neck.

I hope you like my bottles I have *prettified* and if you have a go yourself I would love to see them, so please leave a comment with either a photo of them or a link so I can come and have a look.
Wishing you a wonderful and creative weekend...
Warmest Wishes
Anita xx

Seaside Cottage....Blue Fern Studios

Hello to you all, it's Anita here with my first offering using some items from the lush Seaside Cottage Collection by Blue Fern Studios. The soft vintage summer colours and sun bleached wood patterns make this such a pretty set....with a little extra distressing I achieved a look that I am happy with.

Our family holiday this year was based in Somerset, one day we drove down to Briport in Dorset and onto West Bay. It was such a pretty little place and we very much enjoyed seeing some of the places that were used in the making of the series Broadchurch. I took this selfie of us when we were out on the harbour wall (after we had all been crabbing) and when I saw this range of papers I just knew they would be a perfect pairing.

The layout is based on a sheet of Gala. I cut a few slices in random places on the wooden slats, rolled back gently and inked to distress the edges and make them stand out. I then cut the large ships wheel from the sheet of Mermaid and popped lots of foam pads underneath, raising it up to give some dimension to the layout.

Over the years unfortunately I seem to have acquired a rather large obsession with using blossoms.....everywhere and anywhere on my layouts, whatever the theme may be (nothing is safe!!) So I rummaged about and picked some that I liked and then layered some of them together. My photo seemed to be a bit stark against the softness of the papers so I softened the edge by gently sponging with light brown, then white acrylic paint and finishing by gently rubbing some gold gilding wax along the edges. I popped a couple of gold doilies under the photo for a partial mat.

I cut out a few elements from the Calling Cards sheet, inked the edges and added them to the page. I also had some wavy shaped die cuts to play with. I painted them white and then dragged wisps of pale turquoise across them and then finished them off with a gentle rub of more gilding wax. I also rubbed some gold wax onto the edges of the ships wheel, each of the blossoms and all around the edges of the layout, giving a soft metallic sheen which gently compliments the gold in the doilies.

Once again Blue Fern Studios have produced another beautiful collection of papers that are lovely to work with and this and several other collections from them are available in the shop...... I hope you liked my layout, I will be back early next month with another project using some more of these gorgeous papers.

TTFN, Anita xx

Marvellous Metallics

I am a great fan of patterned papers, infact, if I am honest, I really struggle to use plain cardstock full stop. And even with pattern papers I often find it hard to keep them *clean* by not inking, spraying or painting them somewhere! I really like using acrylic paints on my pages and often just use standard matt colours.....so i thought I would break out my metallics this time and jazz up a sheet of Blue Fern Studios paper from the Tranquility Range.....I didn't manage to stop at just using metallic paints though as you will see!

This photo was taken on a holiday to the beautiful Camber Sands a couple of years ago and was on our last evening there. The sunset was very pretty and I wanted to try out the self timer on my new camera..... and i really liked how the photo turned out so thought I would scrap it.

I created the background by sponging acrylic paint in various metallic shades onto some bubble wrap and stamping it onto the page....I then repeated this, but used the gilding flakes glue instead and then added the flakes to the page and to some strips of paper.

The title was created by using letter stickers, which I sponged paint over and then when dry I peeled up the letters and threw them away( this is a good way to use old stash and also doesn't matter if they are from different sheets in different colours)  and using a fine marker pen, I edged the letters to make them stand out a bit more. It was great to actually use up some old stash that I have coveted for soooo long!!

I also used some Distress Stain dabbers in various places and added several mixed pearls, gems, metal photo corners and other bits and bobs to complete the page.

Do you use acrylic paint very often? And if so, do you tend to use standard colours or do you like metallics too?

Thanks for looking.
Warmest Wishes
Anita xx

Tranquility.....from Blue Fern Studios

Hi There, it's Anita here again and I am starting July off with some beautiful papers once again from Blue Fern Studios. If you haven't already had a play with these then I highly recommend them, they are really fabulous quality, nice and thick, double sided and beautiful designs throughout each range.

This time I am working with the Tranquility collection which will be in the shop soon and I thought this photo of my 2 girls, taken a few years ago now, at Virginia Water in Windsor Great park , would work well with it.

I used 2 sheets of Tranquility *Calm*, one to base the layout on and the other to cut a circle from and use the reverse side. I gently sponged some white acrylic paint through a script stencil that I have and also sponged around the outside of the photo and edge of the layout too.

I can never resist a bit of bling, so I stuck tiny crystals all around the circle and then used Stickles to add sparkle to some butterflies that I printed out at home .

In a couple of places i rolled some of the edge of the layout inwards and popped some fine mesh behind, leaving some poking out to soften the edge.I then added a few hand sewn stitches in various places about the page, including over a chipboard title that I had sponged white first. I added a section from the Calling Cards sheet of paper and gently inked and Stickled the edges.

I was given a couple of heart embellishments that were made of bark of some sort and whilst very pretty left natural, I decided to spray mist with some Cosmic Shimmer Spray in blue to work better on the page.

I really like making flowers in different ways and one of my favourites is to cut circles in various sizes out of voile or satin fabrics and melting the edges over a flame ( tea lights I find are best) to seal the edge and stop it fraying.  When they are all done you simply layer them up and hold together either with a stitch or a brad.
 

I used some voile for these ones and cut some fine white mesh for a couple of layers too, then used a large Kaisercraft brad to hold the layers together. Here is a quick step by step to make this type of flower ( image taken from Pinterest)

Would love to hear if you have a go at making some of the singed edge flowers. They are very versatile and could also be added to head bands, made into brooches or bracelets or added to the outside of a present to 'pretty' it up.

Have a super weekend xx

Blue Fern Studios 'Blush'.... And so the Adventure Begins.

 Hi There, it's Anita with you today.....
Having had the enjoyment of playing with papers from the 'Serendipity' Range from Blue Fern Studios earlier on in the month, I have also been lucky enough to play with some of the 'Blush' papers too. I thought they were perfect for scrapping one of our wedding photo's, taken back in Sept, 1992.

  I always find it hard to photograph layouts to capture the true colours, sparkles and shimmers on the page and this is very true for this layout, such a shame. It started off as a shabby pink, but actually ended up in varying shimmering shades of copper, rose pink and stone white.

I used a sheet of Blush 'Celebration'
for the base of the layout and then I used a Harelquin mask and some texture paste to create the dimentional background.  I gave it a few squirts with some Rose spray and then a generous squirting of Copper Shimmer mist ( you can NEVER have too much shimmer and shine!!)
I had some harlequin chipboard to work with and I coated this with white acryic paint and lots of Copper shimmer mist, then scattered the peices about across the layout in various places. I wanted the photo to stand out, but without a mat to sit it on, so i sponged all round the edge with some more white paint just for some gentle definition.

I also had some black lace that I wanted to add, but it was way to harsh in black. So I sponged it with white paint and then added some Stickles.  I laid the lace just under the edge of the photo ( which I had raised up on foam pads for a little more dimension) I also added a couple of Prima Blossoms ( also gently sponged with white paint to tone the colours down a bit) And I made a couple of rolly roses and added a pearl in the centres. ( tutorial for roses here )

The sheet of Valentine Cards is covered with some lovely bits and peices, but I only cut out a couple of sections and added to the page. The bottom quote was taken from a sheet of Serendipity Calling Cards and I just popped on another rolly rose and a vintage cabouchon.

 

To finish the layout I just needed a bit more sparkle, but didn't know quite what.

I am really enjoying using sequins on my layouts at the moment. Normally I would just gently sprinkle a few around, but I went a bit wild! I started with just a few little odd sprinkles, but then decided I wanted some large clusters.....so i pooled some glue under the quote and built up a nice thick cluster of sequins in various golds, coppers and bronzes .... and then I thought I should stop!

I really have enjoyed creating with these Blue Fern Studios Papers and if you pop over to the shop you will find there are several designs available.
Thanks for looking, see you again soon.
Anita xx

Ma Cherie

Hello, Lynn here today to round off the month with a layout using the lovely Kaisercraft Ma Cherie collection and some Chipboard pieces. The photograph shows my Grandfather as Best Man to his Brother Frank, when he married Maud in 1913.

First of all I gutted a sheet of Beauty, to make a 1" frame 12"x12". I used this with the black patterned side up. Then I cut down a sheet of Glamour to 11"x11" and distressed the edges, tearing into the paper about 2" in from the left of the bottom edge, folding back the edges. All the edges were inked with Black Soot Distress Ink.

I stuck the pink paper to the black, leaving a narrow black border. I tore a piece about 2"x2" from the remainder of the Beauty paper, and tucked it under the tear with the floral side showing.

Using some Golden Gel Medium - Regular Matt Gel, mixed with a tiny amount of black mica powder to add colour and luster, I worked this through a Crafter's Workshop Stencil - Complicated Heart. I used the row of hearts near the left side of the layout and a single heart towards the bottom right. These were left to dry while preparing the chipboard pieces.

The Dusty Attic Chipboard Embellishments - Scroll #2 and Fancy Flourish #2 were painted with Ranger Distress Acrylic Paint - Black Soot and left to dry. They were then dry brushed lightly with Picket Fence. The Blue Fern Chipboard Embellishment - from the Romantic Page Dangles set, was painted with various colours to pick out metal work and the ribbon. I added a little gilding wax to the padlock and chain. A little Stickles was painted onto the outer heart and the inner heart was treated with some Clear Rock Candy Crackle Paint.

Once everything was dry the photo and the chipboard embellishments were stuck to the page. Arrange the Ribbon Roses at the base of the photo and other blossoms around the base and up the sides of the photo. I decorated the blossoms and the chipboard with pearls and gems. Some silver micro beads were sprinkled on the chipboard swirl.

I cut a butterfly from the Exquisite paper and curled the wings with the scissor blade, adding some Stickles to the body and antenna made of flower stamen.

I tucked a little lace into the the tear at the bottom of the page and added some more flower stamen and a single blossom.

To finish off, my title was cut from the black side of the Exquisite paper, using a Tim Holtz Alterations Thinlets Sizzix dies - 'Handwritten Love'

Thanks for looking.
Lynn x