A Ladies Diary Cards

Graphic 45 has amazing collections of paper and embellishments.  Today I have been making cards for a craft fair I have tomorrow using the gorgeous A Ladies Diary collection.

This card was made using a variety of the papers and arranging them around the card in order to add layers and take the eye around the card.  The paper has been edged with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Broken China and Wild Honey.  IAmRoses were used and inked with Broken China using a blending tool also from the Tim Holtz collection and adhered using hot glue.  A sentiment was then added and raised on pop dots.

In this card again lots of layering was used to create dimension and interest.  A paper doily was cut in half and inked with Wild Honey Distress Ink. The lace trim is from the collection and this was fussy cut before adding to the page.  The stamps were also cut and added. IAmRoses were added  once they had been died with Adirondack alcohol ink in Pool then hot glue was used to adhere them to the page.

In this final card layers were achieved using lots of fussy cutting.  The postcard is from the collection and this was backed onto paper from the French Country collection.  Paper from this collection was also used as the base paper.  Pink IAmRoses were used and Wild Honey Distress Ink was used to darken the colour to help blend it into the page.  Pop dots and hot glue for the flowers was used and paper was distressed with both Broken China and Wild Honey Distress Ink.

Thankyou for visiting my site, have a wonderful weekend and take care of you.

Pauline

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Amazing Bo Bunny layouts

These are truly beautiful. Details of how to see tutorials on how to complete these visit the Bo Bunny blog link on the side of my page.

Graphic 45 A Ladies Diary.

Recently I had the greatest pleasure to be asked to make a photo album for a customer who having seen a previous album I made using the amazing Graphic 45 paper collection A Ladies Diary, wanted something similar for a wedding present.

This is the front cover.  As the album was travelling to South Africa it had to be fairly flat for transporting so there were some limitations in the amount that I could use to decorate the cover.  Here I did a lot of fussy cutting and used my sizzix Eclips machine both here on the front and throughout to accessories with die-cuts.  Here I used a die-cut of a hand mirror and adhered a fussy cut lady from the collection.  I also die-cut a frame and added one of the stamp cut-outs from the paper.  I have used a Tim Holtz embellishment, a Graphic 45 button to act as a closure and two button charms on a ribbon.  A clock charm was also added as a necklace around the hand mirror.

On the outside spine I use my Decorative Doodles Shapes and Alphabet cartridge to draw this manikin .  I love how the silver pen has drawn this out it looks really stunning.  I then cut around the shape and adhered it down.

In the inside cover I used the same cartridge and on my 5th attempt was happy with the drawing and also the writing inside.  

With page I cut around one of the borders on a page and adhered it to two sides of the page.  I then fussy cut flowers and two of the ladies.  The lady in middle was adhered only on the  stop and bottom and I used Claudine Helmuth multi-medium in matte to add some strength  to parts of the cut out that were particularly fragile.  I also used Ranger's Glossy Accents to add to her hat and fur trim around her dress.  Throughout this album there has been extensive fussy cutting, which I love to do.

In these pages once again there has been a lot of fussy cutting of flowers and my Eclips cartridge making the hand mirror and perfume bottles.  Both ladies have been cut from the paper and with +Basic Grey magnets attached them to the back to ensure they close. 

These pages were a lot of fun.  The art deco type borders were die cut from the Decorative Doodles cartridge as was the manikin.  The left hand page also has a place for adding either a photo mat or some memorabilia.  The right hand side page has a booklet tied with a ribbon and places for photos or journaling inside. 

Here is a picture of the left-hand page which opens up and has a place for pictures on the flap and also a tag placed under a band, which has been cut out and mounted on black card stock for additional strength and design.  Again lots and lots of fussy cutting.

These pages again have places for photos and for journaling both within the tag and the lift up page underneath the tag.  7 Gypsies metal embellishments have been used on the blue cut out on the right-hand page.  On the left page the Eclips cartridge was used again using a doily template where 4 were cut out and then a brad attached to allow the pages to fan out.

A view of the page with the flap lifted up.  There is also a small wallet type booklet with small photo mats inside, which have had the corners punched with a photo corner punch to enable the easy insert of photos.

 This page was lots of fun.  I used the Holiday cartridge to make the picket fence then fussy cut the lady out and made a booklet and used embroidery thread to bind the pages together. Tags and cut outs were used on the left side page and again 7 Gypsies metal embellishments adorn the band, which has again been adhered to black card stock.

I loved making these pages.  On the left  I again die-cut the manikin out and then made a cross over page, which is meant to emulate a corset.  This has been secured down and allows a photo mat wallet, above in picture, to be placed behind.  The manikin I used an darning needle and embroidery thread to zig-zag and make corset ribbons.  On the right I had seen other crafters make similar pages where the page is reinforced behind and then slit with a craft knife.  A tag is then added.  I think this has a fantastic effect for the page and it looks great.  The tags also have a place for photos on a mat or for journaling.  A ribbon was also added.

This is another view of the pages with the booklet removed and the flap page exposed.

These are the final pages and for me the Grand Finally.  I love them so much.  I had seen Anne Rostad first use this in one of her albums.  You can follow Anne on Youtube, xannero1 or follow her blog annespapercreations.

I hope you have enjoyed this run through and if you wish to see the album in more detail below is the video I made, which is also available to see on my Youtube site Scottishcrafter or click the link:

http://youtu.be/D1uej5V_R1w

First Ever Mixed Media

Mixed media is all the rage just now with everyone giving it a go and people making it look easy so I joined the crowd.    Today again I wanted to try out something new.  I have loved watching everyone's art on YouTube using a variety of mixed media mediums and I have wanted to try one for a while now.  As some of you will know I LOVE Graphic 45 paper and very soon a new collection is due out, which I have per-ordered, and for this project I really want to have a mixed media front cover.  So I needed to get in some practice.

Many people on YouTube have inspired me and their skills and knowledge as they create their crafts is just beautiful and amazing to watch unfold.  +Luvleescrappin . and Rach0113 (artfulevidence.blogspot.com) have been two of my favourites.  Their videoe on YouTube are definitely worth watching if you are looking for techniques and suggestions.

I started with a piece of my Graphic 45 paper and using my Tonic paper distress tool I roughed up the edges a bit.  I have never used this before so it took me a little while to get the finish I wanted.  I'm still at the stage where ripping my paper feels very uncomfortable haha but I am beginning to change.

Next I took some metal objects I had and as this is to be a page and not a canvas I was a bit wary of overloading the paper.  I used some charms, broke up some staples, used eyelets and I twisted some wire to make a couple of shapes.  I used Glossy Accents from Ranger to adhere them down and then painted them with white Gesso.  I wanted to make some dimension and I had seen someone use masking tape so I used this to create a frame of sorts.  I also used some dimensional gel I had called DecoArt 'Paper effects' in clear.  I have had this for a while as I hoped it would be similar to Glossy Accents but I just didn't find it the same but I'm a hoarder so I still had it.

Once dry, although admittedly I was crazy impatient and as I don't have a heat gun it was still a bit wet, I started to add in some colour.  Rachel uses some amazing colours of paint so I had to get them.   These are Lumiere  acrylic paints in Pearl Blue, Pearl Violet and Halo Blue Gold.  I also had some silver Starlite Silver Pearlescent Brilliance pigment ink, which I used as a highlighter.

I continued to play around adding colour, adding highlights and trying to add balance.  Now I am not an artist as such and the last time I used paint was 30years ago at school and I was not into art in any way back then.  So I have no style, I don't know what I'm doing, I have watched hundreds of hours of mixed media projects so I am hoping some of these tutorials have filtered into these aged brain cells, which at my age are much less than previous.

 

I then added some IAmRoses flowers and really just kept adding them until I felt I had enough, if there is ever such a thing.  I had taken the cut out from the Steampunk Debutante paper and after laying it down felt I needed more dimension so I tore up some tissue paper and used Deco-patch in gloss to adhere it down.  

I then used white Gesso over the flowers and frame to bring down the colours and to help tie the page all together.  

This is a butterfly I also tore and added in.  I  added colour to the areas with Gesso and then left it to dry, which was hard cos I just kept wanting to play with it.

+Luvleescrappin  uses Lindy's Stamp Gang sprays but I have been unable to get hold of these in the UK. I have been using Rangers Perfect Pearls and added these to mini misters and sprayed throughout to add some glimmer and sparkle.  

So here it is, the end result.  

Thankyou for stopping by, hope you are all having a great day crafting around the world.  Take care of you.

Pauline

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Framed In Glory: A Steampunk Story

Graphic 45 collection Steampunk Debutante is out of this world. 

Today I have another page in my Steampunk mini album to share with you.  Starting this project I didn't have the full paper collection but had more of some other sheets instead.  This has proved challenging but also taught me to think outside the box more, find my style and be increasingly creative with what you have available.  

                                                              So here is today's page.

                                                                       Using the flip side of the corset paper I used this as my background.  I then used a variety of the frames within the papers, fussy cut flowers and tags.  The frames punch out from the paper and this can leave small tags so I use an Emory board to smooth them down.  If you have a sanding tool that is terrific but I don't so I make use with what I have.

                                                              This time I chose to use Vintage Photo Distress Ink as I was aiming to achieve a softer effect and all the edges were inked with this.  This was time consuming as I did both inside and outside of the frames but it is worth it to achieve these outcomes.  Having played around win the flowers deciding how to layer them I started to adhere everything down. The stripped frame I raised on pop dots leaving the top open to allow a photo to be slipped underneath.  Pop dots were also used on one of the flowers.

                                                                I layered the tags and added a 7Gypsies metal button for embellishment and adhered them at an angle to the page.

                                                                I adhered one of the cut outs of a lady onto the inside of the last frame and used pop dots on the left side and bottom also, smaller thickness ones than those used on the stripped frame.  I also layer and adhered some flowers in this corner.

                                                         Again on the right side I adhered and layered the flowers and leaves blending these around each other and also the frame to add dimension and design. 

                                                               A large rose with leaves and small yellow rose underneath were used around the bottom right corner.

                                                              So it's now finished.  This page like the last has been more traditional than others but I am comfortable with this style too as I feel it's important to be flexible and creative using different styles.  I still have artistic mediums I hope to try as I continue to grow and develop my skills.  

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial, please leave a comment as I would love to hear your feedback.  Happy crafting.

Pauline

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Flowering Beauty: A Steampunk Story

Graphic 45 have this amazing collection and i have finished another page from my Steampunk Debutante mini album and am proud to share this with you.  On this page I wanted to try out a few ideas I have seen other artists use, which I have found  effective so I hope you enjoy my first attempts.

                                                             To start I fussy cut some of the flowers from the paper and some leaves.  I used one of the frames that comes with the collection but changed the inside picture to the one above.  As with the other pegs all the edges of the paper and cut outs have been inked with Black Soot Distress Ink.  I had considered using either Vintage Photo or Walnut Stain but decided on continuing with the theme.  However, I think using another choice equally would be effective.

                                                          This is the part that was new for me.  Ripping the paper, aahh this was so scary and I almost changed my mind.   I wanted the edges to curl and not just ripped so I used a darning needle to help roll it then adhered it down.  I chose to adhere the curls down simply because of the type of project it is as once finished the pages will be turned and touched and I didn't want the curl to flatten. If the page was to be within a shadow box or similar I think leaving it would been fine.  I then added a cut out flower into the gap and purposely left some black from the page showing as I think this helps define and make the flower pop more.  I hope you think so too.

                                                            The flowers I arranged around the page and adhered only the edges nearest to the sides to enable a tag or photo to slip in behind if wanted.  I also overlapped some of the flowers and raised one onto pop dots to add dimension and layers.  

I wanted the frame to lie flat onto the page as many of my previous pages have been raised and felt this page needed to be different but still interesting.  So rather than having it completely flat to co-ordinate with the curls on the opposite side of the page I curled one edge of the frame.

                                                           The frame was then adhered behind the flowers on the left side, along the bottom and on the right side I also raised it slightly off the page and adhered it up about 3/4 from the bottom only, leaving the entire right edge free to allow a photo to be placed within the frame if wished.

                                                           The inner part of the frame I wanted to have the option of being semi-permanent, moved or removed so this was placed at an angle for effect and only low tack foam strip.

                                                                I then ripped the opposite corner to add symmetry and added two of the stamps for design.

                                                                I hope you enjoyed this walk through and hope this inspires you to be creative.  Please feel free to add comments, I would love to hear how you feel this mini is developing.

Have a wonderful day and may your days be filled with all things inky and gluey.

Pauline

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The Flying Man: A Steampunk Story

The Flying Man from the Steampunk Debutante collection from Graphic 45.
Welcome to another blog and a further page of my Steampunk Debutante mini album using the amazing Graphic 45 paper collection.

                                               Here is the finished page which has wooden elements, mental embellishments and has a 3D effect.

                                                   To start my page I prefer to fold down the edges on all sides.  I use my scoring board and score at 1/2 inch on all sides then snip into the folds to allow the sides to side without added bulk.  I do this with all my pages as I feel this provides additional strength and stability, not just for the present but hopefully in the years to come.

                                                 This is how it looks adhered down.  I tend to do both shorter ends first then the longer ends as I will be having additional photo mats in between the pages and having the seam this way I feel minimises pulling or tearing of the seam and photo mat when putting them in and out.

                                                      I fussy cut the picture of this flying man from the paper and separated him from the hand and blades.  I used black VersaCraft Ink in Real Black on the wooden gears and then added a Graphic 45 brad to the smaller gear and metal button to the larger one.     

                                                                I also fussy cut one of the large butterflies from the paper, cut it in half then adhered it under the button with glue. 

Having fussy cut around the hand and blades I then adhered it under the page and added a platform underneath to raise it off the page.  I used a 3/4 inch piece of black card stock and creased this to create a rectangle before adhering to both the page and the underside of the hand.

                                                           You can see the platform in this picture.  I also fussy cut two more butterflies, applied Glossy Accents to highlight the wings and adhered one to the hand and the other to the smaller gear.  All the cut outs and page were inked with Black Soot Distress Ink for effect.

                                                      I positioned the larger gear onto the man's back to reflect the steampunk butterfly is helping him to fly.  However, he doesn't quite trust this butterfly so he has springs on his feet to bounce just in case!  Raising the hand and blades allowed me to change the use of the blades from part of the mechanics of his flying machine to that of a wind machine to help blow him to help him fly.  I hope it reflects this to you.  

Thanks for dropping by, have a wonderful crafting time and speak to you again soon.

X

Pauline