...a little birdie told me....

Cheerio my crafty girls! I'm taking a moment to share with you my very first creation 

with the lovely new kit from Scraps of Elegance called 'Wonderful'.

One of the things I've noticed in creating layouts over the years, is that the pages of mine that I like the most somehow have taken design clues straight from the papers I use. In this case, even though these gorgeous papers by Fabscraps with the soft blues, pinks and browns screamed shabby chic,  when I saw the black ink markings down the sides and around the edges of this paper,  I decided to create something really pretty but with an edge of darkness to it. Another design tip I followed is repeating the look of the black lines with a stencil and heavy white gesso to add texture and to further emphasize that feature of the paper. I often spend a few days just staring at the kit papers and try to let them 'talk' to me...ok, now you're thinking, she's lost her mind! lol I just thought I'd share some tips and tricks as to what I believe results in a design that your happy with in the end and one that 'works'. Creating a harmonious overall look by repeating design elements creates a visual rhythm to your work that's pleasing to the eye.  Of course, so many things happen a long the way while you're creating a page that aren't planned, and that's great too!

Here is the beautiful kit for April...

These kits sell like hotcakes so the best thing to do is become a subscriber...

more info on that here, And don't forget to check out our blog here.

Some close ups...

I used the Lindy's Stamp Gang embossing powder called 'Cosmic Blue 

Violet' on the Blue Fern Studios chipboard 'Small Spring Iris', 

the vertical lines played into my design perfectly :)

The 'Bird in Cage' stamp is so adorable I loved it. I used both the little saying and 

 the bird cage stamp all around the page. I also used the BoBunny Laser Cut Chipboard 

Tag: 'Trellis', the BoBunny 'Secret Garden' collection brads from the 'Elements' kit add-on, 

and the pink Prima 'Slate' flowers from the 'Floral' add-on.

See you soon,  Lisa xo

'Be brave'

'He who is brave, is free."

- Seneca

Happy monday to all my crafty girls, hope you are all well :)

While waiting on my April kit from Scraps of Darkness, I created one

more layout with our last kit 'Garden Gala'.

'Be brave'

This is my fourth project with this kit, and there's still so much left to play with! This Blue Fern Studios paper and the Prima ephemera pack went so well together. I have a box of photos that I keep for my layouts and this one looked like it was from a fairytale unfolding in a garden...

I would like to enter my layout in a challenge I found on a Russian blog (surprise! :)
 called Studio Leto for Sketch No. 1:

More details on this challenge here.

I created a simple background with some clear gesso over the whole page, 

added some heavy gesso through a stencil, and then built up a lot of layers with 

pieces from the ephemera pack, and lots of flowers.

I used from the kit:

Blue Fern Studios paper 'Fascination'

Blue Fern Studios stamp

Prima Ephemera pack 'Melange'

Petaloo flowers

I also added some beautiful ornate 2 Crafty Chipboard that I embossed, to add a medieval look.

Then I used some watercolors to add some earthy colors.

See you soon :)

Lisa xo

'Wander' a new layout for Memuaris Blog

Hello girls! I am back again today to share my layout that I created as a 

Guest Designer for the Russian blog Memuaris.

'Wander'

I treated my self to the new Prima paper collection 'Vintage Emporium', and it might be one of

my favourites ever! I adore the colors and the vintage patterns. This paper had some beautiful

oranges and yellows on it, so I just went with these colors with a bit of blue for contrast

Here is the sketch I followed:

For more details on this challenge, please go here.

Here are a few close ups:

I love the little stickers that came with the collection pack, perfect for my theme.

I love the new Prima Finnabair butterflies too :) 

Thanks for looking!

Lisa xo

'85'

Hello lovelies! I hope everyone has a safe, peaceful and happy Easter weekend :)

I would like to share my next project with the Scraps of Elegance kit 'Garden Gala'.

'85'

The 'Garden Gala' kit included the Prima Finnabair Ephemera Pack called 'Melange' and I wanted to do something special with these cards and make them the star of the show so to speak. You all know how much I love a vintage look and this image of a young girl really inspired me :)

I would like to enter my art journal pages into a challenge I found on the blog

Vintage Card Cafe called 'Neo Vintage'. 

Here is how the girls describe Neo Vintage : it is considered that the style-based  Neo Vintage  is light pastel color palette - milk, cream, biscuit bodily, as well as the presence of 1-2 bright colors: turquoise, yellow, pink, purple, etc.

More details here.

There are some really beautiful photographs to create the mood and also some

absolutely gorgeous projects too.

Here are a few details:

I have used quite a lot of items from the kit and the 

add-ons this month, I used:

Prima Marketing Finnabair Ephemera Pack 'Melange'

Blue Fern Studios Chipboard 'Whimsy Flourishes'

Blue Fern Studios Stamp 'Serendipity Medley'

Petaloo Turquoise flowers

Craft Consortium 'Always and Forever' Duck Egg Resin Roses

May Arts Teal Silky Crushed Ribbon

May Arts Natural ribbon with Brown Velvet Dots

Our kits sell out almost instantly, so being a subscriber is the best chance 

not to miss out! More information on where to buy our kits here.

And don't forget to check out the Scraps of Elegance blog here.

I created my background with heavy white gesso through a 13 Arts Stencil,

then used Ranger Ink in 'Vintage Photo' and Tattered Angels ink in turquoise.

Lots of stamping and then I sewed together some of the turquoise and beige ribbon

with some scraps of white cotton lace to add texture.

I used some Stampendous Embossing Powders from a previous kit 

on the chipboard swirl - love how it looks rusty and aged. 

Thanks for visiting today!

Hugs, Lisa xox

'Summer Fun'

Cheerio my crafty friends! I am up on the 2 Crafty Chipboard blog today with my 

March projects. The first one is a layout I designed for the blog

'Colors, Stories, and Inspiration' as a 2 Crafty Chipboard Guest Designer.

'Summer Fun'

For those of you who have never heard of 'Colors, Stories and Inspiration', it's an

American challenge blog run by Debbi Tehrani, who is also a designer at 2 Crafty Chipboard.

There are several Case Files published each month and I chose Case File No. 193

which had a beachy feel to it.

Please visit the blog here to see more of how the 2 Crafty Chipboard team solved the case.

Here I used the pieces 'Polaroid Frames', 'Film Strips', 

'Sharon's Butterflies' and 'Circle Word Set' that I painted with 

black acrylic paint.

I love these photos of my boys walking on the beach last summer,

I am really hoping we will get back again this year :)

See you soon!

Lisa xo

'take chances'

'Nothing lasts forever. So live it up, drink it down, laugh it off, avoid the drama,

take chances and never have regrets because at one point

everything you did was exactly what you wanted.'

- Marilyn Monroe

Hello girls! Are you ready for some inspiration? I felt so inspired by this quote from Miss Monroe herself that I went looking for a pretty photograph of her and found this one, isn't it gorgeous? 

Wasn't she the epitome of beauty? 

I was thinking about her (and another blonde lady who I was fascinated with all my life, Princess Diana) while creating this layout, and how some of the most beautiful women in the world are often unfortunately, some of the most unhappy. 

To find out more about the March Words & Painterly challenge, 

our Creative Guest and the prize for the month, please go here.

Here are a few close ups:

I used some gorgeous Blue Fern Studios paper from the 'Timeless' collection, and 

then I used some Prima Mica Powder in 'Powder Pink' mixed with gesso through a 

Prima stencil on my background.

I would like to enter my layout in a challenge on a blog called Skrapovy that's

all about creating with dark backgrounds, more details on the challenge here.

Thanks for visiting!

Hugs, Lisa xo

Rue de Clichy

Hello friends, I am dropping in to share a layout I created with the February

Scraps of Elegance kit.

'Rue de Clichy'

My favourite part of my Design Team package are always the different papers that are included in the Paper Add On. This months kit included two papers by Ruby Rock It from the Bella Memories Collection, I used one for the base paper for this layout as it had beautiful warm vintage brown tones and also some really cool French script on it. Inspired by the French on the paper I found an old photograph of a certain trip when I was young and carefree (read : WILD) and celebrating my 23rd birthday in Paris. Now, I find myself a happily married All-American working soccer mom, but back in my twenties I suffered quite a severe case of wanderlust, which led me to live in Spain for five years and allowed me many chances to travel around Europe. 

Here is this month's kit, which has already sold out.

To find out where you can subscribe, please go here.

Here are a few close ups:

I recently designed a layout for the Colors Stories Inspiration blog as a Designer for 

2 Crafty Chipboard. I went over to Debbi's blog to have a look around and found Case File No. 192

which I really loved. The clues and the colors seemed like a real challenge so I went for it.

The colors are unusual, beige, deep red, black and two shades of grey. 

In my layout I used as evidence : newspaper or text print, a journal card with a birdcage, leaves, flowers, vintage elements were a Prima light bulb and a Prima ticket, metal eyelets, and a round metal embellishment. As testimony I listed on the back of my layout the seven most memorable things I saw in Paris on that trip, the highlights being climbing the Eiffel Tower (breath-taking view of the city, although I suffer from fear of heights and couldn't step one foot out of the doorway lol), and seeing the famous Mona Lisa with my own eyes, her beguiling smile is as beautiful as you could ever imagine.

From the 'Garden Gala' kit I have used the Bella Memories paper, the Blue Fern Studios stamp - which fit perfectly into the French theme - the Petaloo flowers, and the Blue Fern Studios chipboard which I cut up into several pieces. 

Au revoir! Lisa xo