A Canvas for Scraps of Elegance, March Kit...

Some of the products in this month Creative add on really post a challenge to me, for I have never worked with any of them before!!!! But in the end I think I did not do to bad...of course I had to source YouTube again for tutorials on how to use them lol!

We received a lovely Canvas from Winsor & Newton and Artisit Paint sticks from Shiva...and that was were my head started spinning....These are Oil paints in a stick form and something I had to experiment with. The biggest lesson certainly was that I had to leave this to dry for at least 48 hours for the oil paints to dry, and also that none of my mists would settle on the surface, but all's good in the end, I still got the look I was after. At some stage I really wanted to go wild with different mediums and textures, but decided to keep this a little cleaner and neater....

I started my back ground with the Oil sticks. The colours we received are, Medium Pink, Dioxazine Purple and Teal Blue. They are quite easy to mix and blend with one's finger, having a colourless Blender stick in the kit also helped to smooth the colours. And this was were patience is a virtue...it has to dry otherwise it will just rub of on your fingers wherever you touch it...time to put it aside and proceed with another project....

I cut a mask for the Prima Doll 'Megan"and used the Balzer Bitz 'Tree Bits' and Orange Blossom Archival Ink to create a woodland effect.

Did some stamping and stencilling with different stamps and Prima and The Crafters Workshop stencils.

Did not forget the sides of the canvas...

I created Megan's dress and boots by stamping on three different Graphic 45 "Botanical Tea" collection papers, fuzzy cut them and layered on plain paper stamped with the stamp.

Here are a Prima Plume Orchid and Ageless Adelynn flower with a canvas sticker.

I also used the Bisque Liquid Pearls to add a little definition...

 Always walk through life 

as if you have something

 new to learn ...

and you will.

  ~Vernon Howard~

Another Happy Announcement !

I am very proud to be one of the new FABulous members on the FabScraps Design Team for 2014/2015...So happy to be there among some old friends and also meeting new ones! Think it's going to be a great year this one....!

Creative Tags - Scraps of Elegance March kit-

I usually post the step by steps at the end of my post....but this time I needed you to see the technique in order to enjoy the end result...

Using the Bisque Liquid Pearls from the main kit of the March Floral Fantasy kit from Scraps of Elegance, I drew random lines on my Tags.

Using an old credit card I smeared the Liquid Pearls, making sure to keep parts of the tag uncovered.

Once dried, I coloured the tags using the Twinkling H2O's Coral Berry and Rainforest from the Colour Add on. I then wiped the excess paint of with a wet wipe, resulting in the Liquid Pearls acting as a resist, leaving me with a beautiful background.

A slightly angled shot shows the beautiful pink shimmer together with the orange of the Coral Berry. From here on I played with different colours and stamps on each tag. I was planing on doing only one tag...but had so much fun, I ended doing five of them...

I stamped with black Archival ink on each of them. The flowers and black lace trim are also from the main kit and flower add on. I also did some masking using Studio 490 embossing paste.

This shimmer is from spraying with Namorado from Luminarte.

The light blue on this tag was achieved by lightly spraying the tag with Bashful Blue from Luminarte and painting the inside of the balloon with Namorado.

All the Prima Chantelle Medallion flowers were coloured with both colours of the Luminarte.

All of the added sentiments and pockets are from Graphic 45 Botanical Tea collection Sticker sheet and Tags and Pocket sheet.

Thank you for having a look at these Tags of mine...I hope I have inspired you to try this technique some time as well....Remember that all of these products and kits are available at the Scraps of Elegance on-line shop...

Till a next time, take care....

Memories ~ March Scraps of Elegance kit ~

Our Floral Fantasy kit for March at Scraps of Elegance also contained these beautiful papers from Fabscraps. We received different colours, for this page I used two sheets from the Lilac Delight collection. I used one sheet as background and also used it to layer behind my photos...These photos of my son were taken  some 27 years ago...he was about 4 years old at the time and is busy collecting Easter eggs here.

I used a light grey card stock that I stamped on and also did some masking with texture paste. I actually did two layers of masking, after the first one I used a stencil and some mist.

These circles came from bursting an air bubble that the mist made...love the extra unexpected design that I got that way...

The mist that I used is Namorado from Luminarte that was part of our Colour add on.

The beautiful flowers are from Prima called Jute Jovial. The bannister is also from Prima's Shabby Chic Treasures.

Quite coincidently there was a nest with eggs canvas sticker in our Embellishment add on...

Created a border and interest on the grey card stock with my own stamps and my new favourite ink, Watering Can Archival Ink.

Please visit the Scraps of Elegance on-line store for many more products, and keep your eye open for our soon to be released April kit...it is another stunning kit that will certainly be very popular as well....

Look not at the days gone by with a forlorn heart. 

 They were simply the dots we can now connect with our present, 

to help us draw the outline of a beautiful tomorrow. 

 ~Dodinsky~

Remember 2 Live your Dream ... March sketch - OUAS

Good morning friends on this Monday morning...The start of yet another week and soon another month! Autumn is slowly creeping up on us here in South Africa and I can't tell you how much I love the crisp feeling and colour changes it brings! I must admit that these past few weeks have seen me going through a bit of a Scrapping dip...I was finding it difficult to design and have just been doing the bare necessity's that had to be done...even Blogging has been taking a back seat! Therefore, be prepared for a bit of post overload, for I am going to try and get up to date as soon as possible...lol!

Apology's to OUAS...this challenge ends in 3 hours, enough time for some super fast Scrappers to still get an entry in!!! Although I battled to get the creative juices flowing, this one did turn out as I wanted and I even enjoyed doing it...The DT and especially the entries that we are getting on our challenges are just awe inspiring and so talented. Please take time to visit the Once Upon A...Sketch blog and enjoy the creativeness.

Our journalling theme this month was as follows...
You only live once, 
but if you do it right
Once is Enough

I chose to scrap my three children and have written a personal message to each of them on a Tag on the back. They each have their own weaknesses and also strengths, and my wish for them is to realise how special they are in their own unique way and to live life at it's fullest.

I did some mixed media work on the background, layering strips of papers, builders tape and Washi Tapes, just to cover some of it with Gesso and various inks and mists. Also did some stamping and masking with black Embossing paste.

The Elegant Flourish from Dusty Attic was embossed with Distress Embossing Powder; Dried Marigold and Tattered Rose. The inside got some Crackle Paint.

This border was created by covering a piece of card stock with some foil, coloured it with Alcohol Inks; Denim, Slate and Sunset Orange and Die cut it with the Washer Border Die from Tim Holtz.

I used 13arts Mist; Yellow Amber and Lindy's Down the Rabbit Hole for colour. The masking is done with Studio 490 black Embossing Paste and The Crafters Workshop's mini Ledger mask. 

The Taps are from Prima's Junkyard Findings.  I even used the inside confetti from the Die as added elements.

Every now and then,

when the world sits just right,

a gentle breath of heaven

fills my soul with delight...

~Hazelmarie ‘Mattie’ Elliott~

Dream your Dream ~ Scraps Of Elegance March Kit ~

Hello to all my Blog friends...

Today I would love to share the first project made with the beautiful Floral Fantasy Kit from Scraps of Elegance...our March Kit. It has the most amazing papers and embellishments, ideal for those soft and elegant looking pages.

I chose to scrap one of those rare photos of myself, not the best one, but I thought it suited the papers rather well.

I used two sheets from the Graphic 45 Botanical Tea Collection, Sweet Chamomile, I used the front and reverse side. Also used Fields of Flowers from the same collection and some Tag Notes as mats from a sheet of Love Notes. I lightly Gesso'd the green Polka Dot paper for a softer look.

I created flowers using the green satin Leaf trim from the embellishment add on and the Prima Raelynn Royal flowers from the main kit.

I did some light stamping and some masking as well. I found the result of using Studio 490 Embossing Paste to be quite interesting. As it dried, it became somewhat translucent, allowing the pattern from the paper to show through...It gives a lovely, velvety look without being heavy on the page...

I was so excited to find the Antique Garden Sinks from Prima in our kit...Brand new design in the Shabby Chic Treasures range...I altered mine by creating a water stream. I simply used Glossy Accents to make a flow of water and added some clear and blue micro beads to it. To age the sink some, I coloured it with Mushroom Alcohol ink.

I used several stickers from the Sticker Sheet to create layers. Also used the multi coloured yarn to do some stitching. The purple flower is a Prima Plume Orchid from the Floral add on.

I added some details using Bisque Liquid Pearls from the main kit.

I created a layered cluster with some more stickers and this adorable canvas sticker from Paper House.

This is what the gorgeous main kit looks like. Unfortunately the kit is already sold out, but there are still some add on kits available...It would be wise to subscribe to the kits at the STORE  for they are sold out way fast...

Thank you for your visit, I will be back with some Tags and an interesting way to use Liquid Pearls tomorrow...

Something to remember....

When the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence,

 it may be that they take better care of it there.

  ~Cecil Selig~

A Happy Announcement!!!

I am so excited to announce that I was chosen as one of the lucky girls to be on Couture Creations 2014 Design Team!!!! Doing a Happy Dance... Our term will start in April, and now comes the waiting game to wait for one of these packages to make it to our shores!!!

These are my fellow Team Mates...some are well known friends, and some are new friends!!! Congratulations to them as well...looking forwards to working with you all...

Adriana Bolzon

Amanda-Jayne Baldwin

Joanne Piccirilli

Jowilna Nolte

Lauren Tomeck

Lesa Bird

Mel Connell

Patricia Basson

Sue Smyth

Tina Connolly

Tracey Cooley (Special Projects)

Kerrie Gurney (Design Team Coordinator)

Thank you so much for all the lovely messages left on my application post...it warmed my heart reading all the words of encouragements...!!!

Wishing you all a lovely weekend...