Monday 30 April 2018

Mixed Media Scrapbooking Layout Process Video

'Forever' By Elisa Ablett

Hi Scrap Matrix lovers!

Elisa here from the design team with my latest layout based on this month's awesome Tic Tac Toe/Monochromatic Challenge and I have a process video for you on how to complete this layout step by step! I am still new to Youtube and process videos so be kind :-) 

This layout I chose a Red, Black, White and Grey colour scheme and of course my usual mixed media and stamping!

If you haven't joined in the challenge this month there is still a VERY small amount of time left - head on over to Scrap Matrix Shares to add your photo.


Here is my process video :-) 








Here are some close ups for you !!





Products used from the Scrap Matrix Store







Image 1


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That's it from me today, I hope you have enjoyed my process video, make sure you leave me some love  and subscribe to my channel if you would like to see more!

Elisa xx



Saturday 28 April 2018

Tam finally catches on......Art Journaling Round 1

Hi there Arty Scrap Matrix souls...

Tammy here today - I thought I'd share with you my newest ADDICTION......Art Journaling!

Yep ok ok I'm a slow starter......I know, I know it's been a big thing for a while, but up until now I've made every excuse NOT to have a go (besides a few face sketches), plus between Project Life and my Design Team commitments, I knew that adding in another obsession would be a recipe for chaos.

BUT then three things happened.......
First I got some new goodies from Scrap Matrix, my favourite place to buy mixed media supplies, and I just wanted to try them out.......I wasn't organised enough to create a layout, but I wanted to PLAY.
Secondly, I continually drool over the gorgeous Art Journal classes at Scrap Matrix, and tell myself......."if only I lived closer I'd do that".
Thirdly the amazing Lisa Oxley (I adore her style - she's a big fan of COLOUR like me) was participating in the #100daychallenge and her art journaling was popping up on my instagram and facebook feed, and it was making me so itchy to give this a go.......
....So I dug out my small Dylusions Art Journal, that I'd been hoarding and just decided to go for it.


For my first play I burst open some Tracy Scott Paints (I also love her!!). The colours are just amazing!!


I also used a 13Arts xoxo Stencil and a 7Dots Dreamscapes Geometry Stencil.

 
 

I just love those colours together. 

I decided to add a quote to each page. I'm a big fan of quotes, and just know when I'm in a bit of a rut, or when I've lost my mojo, flicking through these pages will inspire me.


This one is again using the Tracy Scott Paints, plus 'Ocean' by Dina Wakley.
I used a Heidi Swapp Circle lattice stencil and my favourite stamp set by Tracy Scott #9 on here too. I then added some random doodling and a quote I love.

 
 



This one was again created  using Tracy Scott Paints and Tracy Scott #9 Stamp Set plus that gorgeous 7Dots Geometry Stencil, and a cool stencil #7 by AALL & CREATE.

 



For this one I used some Dina Wakley Paints plus some stamps and a stencil from my stash.

I added some doodling and the quote - I find the Fudeball pen draws amazingly over the paint and the mixed media.....I must get some more of these....I can't tell you how many pens I have wrecked over the years.  But this one is brilliant.


Here's another page using Tracy Scott paints plus 'Ocean', 'Lemon' and 'Magenta' by Dina Wakley.

I again used the Tracy Scott #9 stamps and the 7Dots Geometry Stencil.


This one again uses the Tracy Scott Paint Set (can you tell I adore the colours)! plus the 7Dots Geometry Stencil, and 7Dots Dots Stencil. I also stamped with 7Dots Dreamscapes Stamp.
I added some scribbly swirls to the roses using IrResistable Pico Embellisher in Black.  I love that this adds some dimension.


For this last one, I used Dylusions Paints in 'Fresh Lime', 'Squeezed Orange' and 'Bubblegum' and some white gesso.
I also used a stencil by Tim Holtz called 'Honeycomb'.

I really love the quote on this one. Lots of doodling.

So that's it for Round 1!
Round 2 is coming soon! (Told you I was addicted!) Ha ha

I'm learning lots as I go, and I'm loving the small area - I can get 2-3 done at one time.  I also love that it's experimental. It's going to become a great little place for me to try out ideas before I add it to a large 12x12 paper.

You can see more on my blog HERE

xxxx


Wednesday 25 April 2018

"I photograph" .. with Alz

Morning peeps!

I'm so very excited to join you with my first official Design Team member project ..

I photograph

I was inspired to create this layout by the current Tic Tac Toe challenge which, for a fun twist, also challenges you to create a monochromatic layout.


I've used the far right vertical line .. pretty patterned paper, lace and paper flower. My background was created on a very pretty piece of patterned paper from the Blue Fern Studios Wanderlust collection (Mountain View). I didn't have any fabric lace so used Embossed Paper Lace (love this stuff!), and the flower I found laying around my desk gathering dust, literally.

To create my background, I ripped some pages out of a dictionary I picked up for just a few dollars from one of our local op shops and, using a good old fashioned glue stick, randomly stuck strips of varying sizes down.


Once the glue was completely dry, I started picking off the bits that hadn't stuck down. I find this gives a really soft and random edge to the dictionary paper.


I was going to use some of the Lindy's Stamp Gang sprays and wasn't completely sure how they would react on the old dictionary paper versus the Blue Fern Studios patterned paper so, using a baby wipe for a soft and diluted, finish, I applied white gesso to my page.


Next up I sprayed the background with two yellow Linda's Stamp Gang Flat Fabio sprays. I started with the lighter colour first as I hadn't planned to use quite so much of the second, darker colour but it was just so yummy (Pineapple Paradise) I couldn't stop! I did end up with some lovely depth of colour though.


Once all this was dry I created a cascading, stamped image which I thought suited my photo perfectly, with Aall & Create stamps and a Jet Black Ranger Archival Ink Pad. I stamped them on scrap white paper first to cut out the images and create masks. I've used this technique previously (see here for step by step pics).


I also used an Aall & Create stencil (#8) with Ranger Texture Paste (I used the Opaque Matte) to add some texture to my page. I love this stencil and see it being used on so many of my pages.


So anyways, that's my background done and dusted. Next up it was time to stick down my photo and get on with embellishing. Frequently I'll use layers behind my photo but decided to skip that step for this page. It just didn't seem to need it.

I used a Paper Artsy Fresco Finish Acrylic Paint in Nougat to paint a strip of white French Lace Embossed Paper Lace, a paper flower from my stash, and one of the chipboard flourishes from the Blue Fern Studios chipboard packs (Mini Flourishes). I tucked the Embossed Paper Lace in behind my photo and added a Petaloo Mini Paintables Butterfly. In this instance I didn't need to alter the butterfly, but look forward to altering the other seven left in the pack (such good value).


I created a small embellishment cluster in the lower left corner of my layout grounding both the Embossed Paper Lace and my photo, using the Blue Fern Studios chipboard mini flourish, my painted paper flower, and two metal leaves. Vicki has a great range of metal in store; you can find it all here. At this time I realised the colour on my chipboard flourish was all wrong so I got out my Prima Watercolour Pencils and coloured it yellow.


Finally it was time for the finishing touches. Whilst I had the Prima Watercolour Pencil out I coloured in some of the stamped Aall & Create images. I flicked around some Black 13@rts Ayeeda Glitter Ink and stuck on some of the yellow 2mm Molossi Crystal Gems. I used Tim Holtz Idea-ology Chit Chat stickers to create my title "I photograph" and printed my journaling using a free typewriter font I found online .. 1942 report.


So that's my first monochromatic tic tac toe layout done and dusted! In case you've forgotten (this post is very long after all lol) I created the layout for the current Scrap Matrix challenge to create a project (not necessarily a scrapbooking layout) using a line from the tic tac toe box ..


But remember, it must be monochromatic, which means one colour with neutrals. I don't know about you, but I interpret neutrals to mean black, white and creams. Oh and you have until the 14th of May to upload photos of your project to the Scrap Matrix Shares page on Facebook. Please remember to add your photos to the Tic Tac Toe/Monochromatic April album.

Oh and heh please do let us know which Scrap Matrix products you've used. We all love seeing how different peeps use different products in different ways. That's a lot of "differents" lol!

Anyways that's it for me today. I look forward to dropping in again soon to share another monochromatic, tic tac toe layout with you.

Til next time, be cool!
Cheers .. Alz  :)



Scrap Matrix products used ..
Lindy's Stamp Gang Flat Fabios - Bonjour Butter and Pineapple Paradise
Ranger Texture Paste - Opaque Matte
Metal leaves .. see here for more metal
Prima Watercolour Pencils - The Basics (yellow #16)
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Sunday 22 April 2018

Are You Ready to Play Monochromatic Tic Tac Toe?

Good morning everyone,

This morning I am popping by the blog to share my take on the Monochromatic Tic Tac Toe challenge happening at the moment at Scrap Matrix.

So, for this challenge, the first thing you have to do is pick a colour.  You may combine that colour with neutrals - white, black, grey, kraft etc, and you can use shades of that colour.  However, you may not use any other colour on your layout besides your selected colour.

As you can see, I chose Blue:

Next, you use the Tic Tac Toe mat and choose a line - horizontal, vertical or diagonal - and use the three elements from that line.

So, here is the Tic Tac Toe Mat:



In this instance, I chose the vertical line on the right:

Pretty Patterned Paper
Lace
Paper Flower

Fairly easy right?

To create my layout I chose a paper from the 7 Dots Studio Northern Lights (what paper range is prettier -  right?) called "Frosted" as my base.  I added some texture paste with 6x6 Prima Flower Stencil.  I then added some colour.  First I put down some Lindy's Stamp Gang Spray Ink in Danny Zukko Denim, then to match the pops of deep blue on the paper, I went in with "London" from Prima Watercolours Odyssey set.  
Next, I swiped some white Crackle Texture Paste  randomly onto my background.  I waited a while for this to dry, by the way.  You can dry it with a heat tool, but the crackle texture won't be as deep or as pronounced.  
Once dry, I went in and stamped another layer on using the script stamp from 7 Dots Studio Paint Chips range, and some Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink in Vintage Photo.  I deliberately chose Distress Oxide Ink because of the effect it gives once wet - and I was planning on going in again with "London" from the Prima Watercolour Odyssey Set as I wanted to "balance" my colour more.  

Once I was happy with my background, I started to work on colouring my embellishments to stick with the "Monochrome" aspect of the challenge.  I diecut some leaves and swirls from the "Board Games" paper from 7 Dots Studio "Northern Lights" range.  I got this  lace and sprayed it with my Lindy's Stamp Gang Ink, and I painted my chipboard with Dina Wakley Media Heavy Body Acrylic Paint in Marine.

I layered my photo with some gorgeous paper from Stamperia (If you haven't seen this paper yet, I highly recommend you check it out here - it's divine!) and some muslin.  

Finally, I put the whole thing together with some random flowers from my stash.

Here are some close ups:




Here is a complete list of the products I've used that are available in the Scrap Matrix shop:


Well that's it then - don't forget, if you want to join in the fun of the Monochromatic Tic - Tac - Toe challenge, simply pick a colour to work with, pick a line of the grid and start playing!
Upload your entry to this month's folder on the Scrap Matrix Shares Page on Facebook by the 14 of May to have a chance of winning some fabulous prizes from Scrap Matrix.

Thank you for popping by the Scrap Matrix Blog today, I hope I have inspired you to play along with our challenge this month.




Saturday 21 April 2018

Tam's first Monochramatic Tic Tac Toe Challenge

Hi everyone!!
 
I've popped in today to share my first creation for the 'Tic Tac Toe' Challenge which happens to also be a Monochramatic challenge....... it sounds complicated ut it really isn't!
 
My colour is GREEN! which happens to be my favourite colour. So I can use green and neutrals.  Here's what I came up with.......

 
I also had to use a line from our Tic Tac Toe grid......
 
 
I went top to bottom, straight through the centre.....
Stamp
Big Title
German Scrap
 
 
So let's see how it all came together......
 
 
I began with some 'Marshmallow' Cardstock and added some 3D Gloss Gel through a 7Dots Geometry Stencil.  I focused it to the top section only - where I wanted my colour to be.

 
I then added Dylusions Ink Spray in 'Fresh Lime' and 'Dirty Martini', and added water to let it drip down the page.

 
Whilst this is drying I stamped some flowers using the Aall & Create Stamp No 20. I just LOVE this stamp.  I cut them out and then painted on some of the Dylusions Ink Sprays randomly.

 
I decided to add these buttons to a few of the larger flowers - the centre part of them hadn't stamped properly, so I decided to cover them up!! 
NEVER waste anything! Lol
 
 
I added a few layers behind my photos - some papers, 7Dots tags and some German Scrap.
I also coloured some white paper lace with the Dylusions Ink Spray in 'Fresh Lime'.

 
I then added in my stamped image, placing them so they cascaded down the page.
I adhered some flat, and some with foam tape to give them dimension.

 
I then poked in a few metal flowers.

 
For my BIG title, I decided to have a go at creating it myself.
I grabbed a botte of irresistible in black - I love how this has a really fine point, so makes freehand drawing simple. 
I love how it has a raised glossy finish.

 
I then cut this out and added it to my layout.
 

I left plenty of room as I wanted to journal.
Every year I select a word to focus on, inspired by Ali Edwards' One Little Word.
I always document my word and the reasons I selected it.
I thought I'd left plenty of room but NO! I hadn't.
 
 
A simple solution was to add the rest to a 7Dots tag and tuck that behind my photos.

 
 
 

Here's my journaling if you'd like to read it......
 
"Sometimes I need to regain control, to feel safe, to feel connected with the world.
Having the ability to choose gives me back my power, it empowers me.
I also want to choose wisely.
To make a conscious effort to choose, and not to go on 'autopilot'. Because it's up to me. I get to choose how I am going to react to the big things, the little things, and all the medium things inbetween.
I want to choose to be kind. To others and to myself.
I want to choose to see the natural beauty in the world.
I want to continue to choose gratitude - to notice and be thankful for all the little things.
I want to choose mindfulness - to be conscious of my thoughts and inner monologue.
I want to choose joy and happiness and cause a shift in my thinking.  A deep appreciation for life.
I want to choose me. Make time for the things I love."
 

My final step was to stamp with the 7Dots stamp - Hazy Days
I love that little stamp that looks like a paint flick,  I also love that I can place it exactly where I want it. Whenever I flick it always ends up where I DON'T want it.


And there you have it!
 
I really enjoyed creating this one, and working with just one colour.....what colour will you choose??
Remember you can team it with neutrals, and don't forget to be guided by a line in the grid above. 
The line can go any way - up, down, diagonal.
 
Don't forget to add your project to the Scrap Matrix Shares group on Facebook, and let us know which Scrap Matrix products you used.....it's not necessary to have a blog, just add your entry to the associated folder.
 
I'll be back again soon with another share!
 
 
 
Marshmallow Cardstock
Paper Lace - White