Monday 27 January 2014

Inspiration Board Challenge: January 2014

Hi Everyone

The Holiday season has truly come to an end and it's back to work for most of us. Things are slowly getting back to normal and as such we have to prioritise to set some time aside to be creative. Saying that, I apologise for my absence during the last 3 weeks.

Today, I'd like to share the January Inspiration Board challenge from Scrapbook Creations Magazine. Have a look below or hop over to their blog following the link by clicking on the image.

http://scrapbookcreationsmag.wordpress.com/2014/01/04/inspiration-board-challenge-january-2014/#comments


I really loved the idea of different filters, and the photo of the colourful umbrella in the main image. It immediately reminded me of the photos I took of the hill tribes, visiting Sapa, Vietnam, in 2011. It rained on both days I was there and my guide did all she could to seek out some sunlight, by calling up relatives in nearby villages for a weather report.  We found our sunny or rather non raining areas, but the occasional showers just could not dampen our enthusiasm.

Pondering my layout and design I came up with the idea to convert my photo to black and white and then extract the colours of the umbrella in Photoshop Elements. The idea of the background originally came from an empty candy box wrapper which was stained by colours of the candy the inside. I loved the idea of all the bright colours on the white background,  but was unsure about how I would recreate it. It was then that found a beautiful tag made by Elieen Godwin on Pinterest. I just loved what she has done with the paint splatters and it was perfect for my background. I would strongly encourage you to go and hop over to her blog because her work is absolutely fabulous.

My take on the inspiration board challenge:





Step by step:

          Background:
  1. At first I played around with a couple of sheets, creating splatters of distress stain, by whacking them down on white American Crafts Cardstock. It took a bit of practice and can be a bit messy, but it's loads of fun, so do give it a try on your next layout.
  2. When the ink was completely dry I put a copy of my photo, which I printed at home on my background to see how it will look.
  3. I wanted to add some black and decided to spray a doily with Black Raven Starburst Spray. Once that was dry I again placed the photo and oily on the background and marked the position of the photo.
  4. I then used black Archival ink to stamp random flower patterns in the ink splats around the photo.
  5. To highlight the stamp images, I carefully coloured some sections of the stamps, using a white gel pen.
  6. Finally I lightly sprayed the whole page with Black Raven Starburst spray.

    Border:
  7. To create the border, I measured approximately 6mm around the page and carefully stick half a strip of washi-tape on the background, folding the other half backwards.
  8. I then measured a half an inch from the washi-tape line and draw a faint pencil line all around, and hand draw some balloon type shapes in each corner.
  9. I ran my Sew Easy tool against my guidelines to create stitching holes along the borders.
  10. Stitching holes for the balloon shapes in the corners was created manually with a piercing tool.
  11. Using some black sewing thread, I folded the thread 4 times to create a thicker line and sew the border by hand.

    Title:
  12. The Title was simply done by rub-on text I had in my stash, while the subtitle was made from shrink plastic.
  13. I firstly typed the word in Paint and reversed the text before printing it onto the shrink plastic.
  14. I then cut the shape and made a hole in it prior to heating it up for shrinking purposes.
  15. Once the shape was cooled, I colored the back using alcohol inks from Ranger.

    Embellishments:
  16. The little white flowers was made from the flowers from doilies that I cut and layered.
  17. These were then added to the stemple flowers I fussy cut and glittered with some Ice Stickles.
  18. I also added a piece of red Sew Easy thread randomly over the page.
Products:
Cardstock - American Crafts
Ink: Distress Stain - Ranger, Starburst spray - Lindy's Stamp Gang; Archival Ink - Ranger; Alcohol inks - Ranger
Stamps: Prima
Washi Tape
Rub-on Transfer letters
Black Thread, Sew Easy thread
Hessian
Material and bead embellishments from Vietnam and South Africa


Saturday 4 January 2014

January Kraft It Up Challenge

Hello everyone

I can't tell you how much I appreciate this little Christmas Break, which allows me to get a bit crafty and get the creative juices flowing. So today, I'd like to share my take on the Kraft It Up Challenge for January. 

The Criteria is to use washi tape, a number and a summer photo, working with the follow sketch:




So this is my take on it:



For the purpose of this challenge, I used washi tape to create a photomat for my photos.

The Title:



The title (February 2004) proved to be quite a challenge as my only white rub-on letters has deteriorated over time and had no numbers. I found a solution by using the ones I had and filled in the gaps with little bits from other letters with similar curves. To resolve the number issue, I used a z as the number 2, the letter o instead of 0 and finally a skewed x for the 4. To complete the 4, I again filled in the extra line with another line from another broken letter.


The rose vine:


To construct the rose vine, I covered florist wire with a craft paper string. I then bent it into shape, according to where I wanted the roses on my layout and attached them one by one.

Detail on the patterned paper:



I first fussy cut some shapes from my patterned craft paper and then colored some lines with smooch ink to match with my cardstock and photos.


Product List:

Cardstock: Francheville Kraft Boutique Paper Pad, Cre8tiv
Craft Paper: Dotty's Craft
Ink: Smooch Moonlight, Sassy Pink
Stamps: KAISERscrapbook Doodled frames
Rub-ons: Chriswick
Flowers: Little Birdie Boutique Elements
String
Washi tape

Friday 3 January 2014

12 Tags of 2014 - January

Hello everyone

Welcome to my take on Tim Holtz's first tag challenge for the year. Since it's only the third of January I thought to join in the fun this year and create a tag each month. Being a bit of a rebel, not wanting to copy someone's else's work, my tag  looks nothing like his. I like to use the techniques I learn from artists like him and put my own spin to it, rather than attempting to recreate their work. I do however think that you'd agree that there is little doubt that his work has been the source of my inspiration. Without further ado please see his tag below, or visit his website at http://timholtz.com/12-tags-of-2014-january/, followed by my interpretation with instructions and the products I used:






Anguree's January tag:
Instructions:

  1. Punch a hole in the tag.
  2. Place the top of the tag onto the section of the embossing folder you like and emboss.
  3. Wipe your Distress embossing pad over the embossed images and add embossing powder. Heat set the embossing powder and repeat this step if needed.
  4. Spray the top of the tag with black Dylusions Ink and set aside to dry. 
  5. Use a blending tool and blend some Iced Spruce ink on the bottom of the tag.
  6. Using your blending tool sponge Archival Ink through the cracks of your Prima die. 
  7. Ink your Kaszazz Stamp only in the corner where the figure of the man is and stamp on scrap paper, proceeding stamping in the right corner of your tag. Re-ink the stamp and then stamp in dark black over the first image, so it gives a shadow effect.
  8. Distress the edges of the tag and ink with Black Soot Distress ink.

  9. Cut a clean, empty soda can with a PKTool or any suitable pair of scissors. Cut off both the top and bottom. Use gloves to protect your hands and practice caution as the aluminium has very sharp edges.



  10. Put the sheet of aluminum in the embossing folder. (Do not worry if it is not flat, it will flatten during the embossing process. Using the multi-purpose platform, put the embossing folder on tab 1 or 2, then add your rubber embossing mat and texture plate.  It might struggle a little, but it will go through. Repeat this process with the little section of the can that did not fit in the embossing folder by turning it around. Repeat with both embossing folders.
  11. Now use your weathered clock die and cut the clock frame from the embossed aluminium. Then cut your clock hands from the leftover piece. (I only passed it through once but had to break out some sections, so try to send it through twice, but be careful not to move the aluminium.) Note that some sections of the aluminium may crack, but since it's not an expensive resource, you can always emboss another if needed. 
  12. Now apply black liquid pearls to your clock hands and set aside to dry - this may take several hours, depending on the climate where you live.
  13. Place the clock on your tag and decide which half you would like to use. Cut in half when you are satisfied.
  14. Use a circle to cut the inside of the weathered clock.
  15. Use a blending tool to apply distress ink black suit over the embossed circle. It will just colour lightly. Now use black Archival Ink and wipe over the raised images. Dry with a heatgun.


  16. Once dry, place the circle and half of the clock on your tag. Once satisfied, stick both the embossed circle and clock on the tag. Turn over the tag and trim excess of the circle with a suitable pair of scissors.



  17. Punch a hole through the aluminium and tag with an appropriate tool such as a Crop-A-Dile.
  18. Cut a paper measure tape from the Tattered Time collection and cut the number 14 and 20 as two separate pieces, allowing enough space on the sides before the other numbers. Join the numbers with double sided tape and place on the tag, but do not stick it as yet.
  19. Stamp your words on black cardstock using embossing ink and emboss with silver embossing powder. Cut the words of your choice.
  20. Add 3D foam to the back of the words and arrange on the tag, with the measure tape before sticking it down.
  21. Add your paperclip and other trinkets.
  22. String the little iron cord through the tag ( I had to colour my original bronze one to silver using Patina Silver Ink)
  23. Add the clock arms with a silver brad once they are completely dry.

Product List
Tag (3.5" x 5.5"):Kaszazz
Cardstock: Sam & Lucy
Patterned Paper: Tim Holtz Tattered Time
Die: Tim Holtz Weathered Clock, Impress 3 in one Nesting Dies
Ink: Ranger Dylusion ink, Distress Ink - Iced Spruce & Black Soot, Patina, Ranger Archival Ink, Ranger Liquid Pearls
Embossing Folders: Tim Holtz Patchwork, Sizzix Clocks
Embossing Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink, 
Embossing powder: Silver
Stamps: Kaszazz
Stencils: Prima 
Trinkets: Kaszazz, Scrap Matrix
Stickers: Yuan Fei Lai Printing Co.LTD
3D Foam squares
Empty soda can
Paperclip