Did you know...?

...that the Ronda Palazzari Confetti stencil....

has a perfect-built-in-spot for a title?



I promise I didn't do a thing to alter the stencil and yet the Thickers work wonderfully in that space!



I don't know if that's on purpose or a happy accident but now I've got to experiment with other things that would fit there. Like some journaling or some lettering...definitely ideas on my "to-try" list.
 
Thanks for stopping by!

Cathie

I made a Fast and Fabulous page and You Can Too!

All you really need is one great photo.

This page came together so quickly because it started with a hilarious picture of my sister and Ben. I know not every photo is going to be "the best" but sometimes, I'm lucky. Sometimes, I have a photo that is strong enough to carry a layout all by its self and it doesn't need fancy embellishing or techniques. It's wonderful all on its own. And the good news is, we all have photos like that in our stash. And, it turns out, these are the photos that make for fast scrapbooking.



I paired my photo with that lovely patterned paper from Echo Park's All About a Boy collection. Then I cut the title using the Pacifico font and my Silhouette Cameo. You can download it for FREE here. I cut each word twice - once with white cardstock and again with a pattern paper. Then I offset them and stuck them down.



Finally, I added some Studio Calico wood veneer stars. I like to get a pinch of stars and then drop them on the page. If I don't like how they look, I pick them up and try again. When I'm happy, I glue them down with Claudine Hellmuth Studio Matte Multi-Medium in the 1/2 oz bottles. These little bottles are perfect for sticking down any kind of wood veneer. If you don't have a bottle, you need one.



I could have added more layers and embellishments and techniques but why? I didn't want to overwhelm my photo and I really didn't have a lot of time.  I'm definitely not a fast scrapper so not many of my pages come together this quickly but it sure helps to have a great photo to get the process started.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cathie

Root and Wings

This is last of the layouts I made using The Paperie's May kit.



This page was quite a long process and has its own story. At The Paperie's Spring Retreat a few weeks ago, I was speaking with Pam about parenting.  The quote is one her grandmother, Ethel Parsons, used to say.  It reads, "You can only give your children two things: roots and wings."

I loved it. It feels very wise and true. My kids are little so I'm in the roots phase but the wings phase isn't far away.  I knew the papers from Studio Calico's Sundrifter collection, part of The Paperie's "Hey Girl" kit, were perfect for the roots and wings in the quote.

Here are the wings...


and the roots...



I didn't want the patterns to overwhelm the quote or the photo so I covered them in tissue paper. I used Liquitex Gel Medium as an adhesive, dried it with my heat gun and then let it dry overnight.

The next day I added drips in Distress Paint Antique Linen. Then it was time to pack up and go home.  At home, I added the Claudine Hellmuth Studio Classic Teal paint drips and my photo but the page was still missing something. Time for my go-to paint dots and pen work.



It took me forever to make this page. There was a lot of thinking and deciding and each layer was really wet and took a long time to dry - definitely not one for a class but definitely a statement piece.

So, that is the last of my five layouts. I hope you've enjoyed them and have had a chance to play with your own kit. If you're curious to see the my other layouts, you can find them here and here and here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cathie

A Retirement Party for my Art Journal

I have reached the end of my first Dylusions art journal. I can't say it's finished because  I never consider my art journals "finished". There's always one more thing I could do or a tweak I could try. But I'm all out of blank pages so I'm retiring it. Today, I'm t sharing the good times I've had with my Dylusions Art Journal #1.

This one about coffee is one of my favorites.



I love this one with letter stickers, too.



I stuck a bunch of old letter stickers on the page. Covered everything in gesso, painted the whole thing blue and then added some drips for good measure.

Here's a closeup.



Here's another page with letter sticker leftovers.



And my favorite stencil, of course, Blazonry by Balzer Designs. I used it a lot in this journal...



Here's another of my favorites.



I played around with silhouette stencils.



This one looks like a superhero to me.



I photocopied photos (which I like quite a lot).



And covered a whole spread in tape.



And also stuck in a piece of wax paper that I had used as I made the journal as drop cloth to contain the mess.



All in all, I had a wonderful time. I've already moved on to Dylusions Art Journal #2 and I'm having a blast. I may go back and add more to DAJ #1 but probably not. Art journaling is about moving forward for me. I want to learn and try new things and for that I need blank pages. The blank page doesn't scare me. 

So, thank you Dylusions Art Journal #1. You were and still are awesome.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cathie

It's time for a two-fer

Today, I'm sharing two of the layouts I made using The Paperie's May kit and some of the artsy supplies from my stash. This is a big one so grab a beverage and let's get started.

This pic started as a 4x6 that I cut down to 4x4 and then matted it with a scrap of feather paper left over from yesterday.  I like to use photos that I have on hand whenever I can rather print extras.



This page is a little grungier than I had planned but sometimes you just gotta go with it. I sprayed my-go-to Studio Calico Mister Huey Clay and added Heidi Swapp Color Shine Mint Green spray. I wanted a calming monochromatic page to go with my photo.

I added some modeling paste through Rhonda Palazzari's Confetti Stencil. I love hearts so this stencil is a favorite of mine.  I love the dimension that modeling paste adds to pages but I found the white too stark so I sprayed it with more of Heidi's Mint Green mist.



 There are cream colored pearls in the kit that I quickly altered with some Copics. I used BG34 and BG13, if you're curious.



I also added some butterflies around the page. They are from Maya Road and come on a stick pin but I didn't want the pin to show and I couldn't cut it off. Not even with my Tim Holtz scissors. So, I changed plans and stuck the pins through the paper and it worked great. I put a piece of scotch tape on the back to keep the pin in place and from poking through anything.

Finally, I added stamping and more pen-work/doodling.



Those teeny-tiny hearts are from the stamp set that was released with Amy Tangerine's Ready, Set, Go collection in the fall. I'm not sure if you can still get it but you can get equally tiny hearts in other sets like the Lawn Fawn Ever After Critters set. I stamped the word "hugs" (from a Hero Arts set) in Hero Arts Shadow ink - Wet Cement. I stamped the hearts in Pool and Neon Blue, also from the Hero Arts Shadow ink line.

And here's the second page for today.



Oh, yes, it's blue because I can only make so many pages that aren't blue. You know what I mean? And to be fair, it does show that the pieces in this month's kit can work with supplies in your stash.



First, I painted some Liquitex Matte Gel Medium on my page and let that dry. Then I sprayed with some of the new Dylusions Calypso Teal.

It's fabulous. In case you were wondering.

Then I sprayed the ink with water to get it to blend and move around and that's what gave me the resist effect you can see above.



Then I layered paper,  and embellishments around my photo.  And, of course, more pen-work and SC Mister Huey Clay splats.



And here's my title block.

If you're still with me - kudos to you. That was a long one. I hope you're planning some creative time with your May kit. It's perfect for Mother's Day which is fast approaching!

And don't forget to check out my other posts about my pages this month.  You can find them here and here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cathie

Hey Handsome: The Paperie May kit

I had a great time adding mixed media elements to my pages this month. Here's a page I made using the Derwent Inktense Watercolor Pencils.



It all started with the feather paper from Studio Calico's Sundrifter collection. Here's the whole  collection..

You can see a little piece of that paper peeking out from behind my photo here.



First, I sketched my pattern of circles with a pencil. Then I gave the grid background paper a coat of clear gesso. Like regular white gesso, clear gesso acts as a tooth and a barrier and that helps cardstock stand up to mixed media techniques.

Quick tip: if you want to erase your pencil lines then gesso first and sketch second. Once you put the gesso over your pencil marks you can't erase them. Ok? Good!

When the gesso was dry,  I colored in the circles using the Derwent Inktense Watercolor Pencils. They are a quick and easy way to get color on a page without a lot mess. I chose Baked Earth, Poppy Red, Tangerine, Teal Green and Sun Yellow for this page. I used water and a round brush to blend the color. I let them dry and then I colored them again to intensify the color. Finally I sketched over each circle with the Ink Black watercolor pencil.



Then I added my title and journaling, some stamping and pen-work. I don't think it's honest to call dots "doodling" but it does involve work with a pen.

Here's a better look at the pen-work.



And that's it for today. I hope you're enjoying this month's kit from The Paperie. And don't forget to hop over to Krista's blog. She killed the kit this month and has lots of wonderful pages to share, too.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cathie

Awesome Mother: Paperie May kit

It's time to share the pages I made with the Paperie's May kit. The kit is full of lovely pastels - including mint (my fave) - just in time for Spring and Mother's Day pictures. This month, I made 5 mixed media layouts and I have lots of supplies left over for more projects. More on that later in the week.

You can see all my pages on the The Paperie's blog and this week I'm sharing the how-to's and close-ups.

First up, this little made-by me embellishment.




I know it's simple - a Studio Calico wood veneer potty lady with a Cosmo Cricket fabric brad from the Sweet Disposition/Summer Love collection in this month's kit. - but how cute is that glasses fabric brad?

And my little lady was just the right embellishment for this page...



Honestly, I don't think I'm the best mom in the world but I do love a little snark and I couldn't resist changing a diecut that said "All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother." Angel mother? I don't think so. And nobody would believe it anyway.

Here's a closeup of the ink splattery background.


I used 3 layers to make this background. First, I punched some hearts and used them as a mask before spraying with Studio Calico Clay. Then I used a pipette and filled it with Heidi Swapp Color Shine Mint Green and drew lines of color across the page. I did the same thing with Studio Calico Mister Huey Gold. And finally, I added some outlines to the hearts and doodling with a black pen. A few little details to add interest to a pretty simple page.

So, that's my first of 5 layouts but I still have lots of ideas and inspiration to share. So, I'll see tomorrow with the next page made with The Paperie's May kit.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cathie