Capture magic .. with Alz

Morning peeps!!!

I'm back with my second project for the current Scrap Matrix challenge "The Point Is". I've been scrapping my doogles so much lately I figured it was time to throw in a layout of my beautiful niece Mia ..

Capture magic

Of my many nieces and nephews, I'm probably closest to Mia. Maybe because she's as doogle crazy as I am? Anyways, this is Mia with Levy. If you're looking for Levy, just find Mia. You know how it goes .. if you're looking for Mia, just find Levy! Whilst I could wax poetic about Mia and Levy til the cows come home, I should probably give you a refresher of the current Scrap Matrix challenge ..

I had a lot of fun creating this page. A bit of work on a patterned paper background, some layering and embellishing and it was done and dusted. It only took about three weeks. Ha ha! Three weeks?!! I know right?! Life has been so extraordinarily hectic lately I've had to grab five minutes here and there to scrap. So frustrating. But for a greater purpose, so I no complain. The greater purpose? Hubby is retiring and the countdown to R Day is on. Don't worry, I know what you're thinking. For the record, I'm much, much younger than he is lol. But yeah who knew there would be so much to organise. Appointments, phone calls, meetings, paperwork, phone calls, more paperwork. Its all so very exciting though and in not too many weeks I'll have him home, home for good, and I can not wait!!!!! What's the point of sharing this I hear you say. No reason. Not really. Just chatting with you and digressing. A bit. As I do. Does there always have to be a point? Well I guess in this context maybe. So ..

My background is pretty much a recipe I follow when creating on a patterned paper background ..

start off with a piece of patterned paper (obviously duh!)

7 Dots Studio Northern Lights Board Games

apply white gesso with a brayer to tone it down a wee bit

figure out around about where my pic will go

 bringing the TCW 12x12 Mums stencil into play because I love the pointy petals

and applying Paper Artsy Fresco Finish acrylic paint in Wisteria with a sponge

then outlining the pointy petals, somewhat messily, because I like messy, with a Fudeball Pen

sanding it back, all the better to absorb Lindy's Starburst Spray

in Tea Pot Purple

and finally adding some black texture paste through TCW stencil

(12x12 Sketch Grid)

and using a Jet Black Archival Ink Pad to stamp some pointy triangles

with an Aall and Create stamp (#10)

When I'm happy with my background, I usually build up some layers to go behind my photo. Not always. But usually. It depends really on whether I want my background to be an extension of my photo or to enhance it. I guess. What about you? When you create a mixed media background do you use layers behind your photos? Anyways, in this instance I felt the need, the need for layers.

I've used .. Dina Wakley Media Collage Paper, Embossed Paper Lace

and Vintage Coloured Lace

FYI .. the lace isn't tattered! I deliberately cut into it to make it a bit frayed and grungy.  ;)

After fiddling with the layers a bit, it was time to actually stick the photo down, add some embellishments, a title and the journaling.

Here, I've broken down a large Curly Rose in Cream. I'm trying to create less bulky pages, but then I went and put a bulky-ish white rose from the Blue Fern Studios Heartland Roses and Blooms pack in the middle so that kinda defeated the purpose of pulling the large Curly Rose apart. Sigh. lol.

I've used various paints, including a Dina Wakley Media acrylic paint in Eggplant, for a bit of pop and contrast, on a couple of large Antique Silver Feathers. An Um Wow Studio Flair from the Teal Bloom pack almost finishes this embellishment cluster.

Except that I also added a Kinder Kreations chipboard feather which I painted with Violet 13 Arts Splash Glitter Ink. I was super inspired by Debbie Pulford's use of the Glitter Ink in her Guest Design Team post of 1st June 2018. Thanks for those tips Deb! Oh and I slotted in a couple of green wires I pulled off from the Curly Roses. In the past I used to throw them out but now I reckon they make great 'embellishment cluster fodder'. 

When I was ordering my supplies for this layout, I knew I'd want to cut out some shapes (most likely, triangles for arrow heads) but I didn't want to cut into a 12x12 sheet of patterned paper for, quite literally, some triangles. Instead, I ordered the 6x12 Die-Cut Elements from the same range as my patterned paper background (7 Dots Studio Northern Lights). The 12x12 Tags would have worked equally well, especially if you like tucking tags in here and there. 

Anyways, I'm probably showing my age with this next bit lol, but did you ever have a Math-O-Matt in school? I did. It was a bit of plastic with cut out geometric shapes, measurements and stuff. I never threw mine away. Heaven only knows why lol! These days I find it quite handy and in this instance, I used one of the triangles to outline which of the 6x12 Die-Cut Elements I was going to cut into.

pretty cool huh?

I sanded the edges of my triangles and added them to my layout in groups of three. You may have noticed that I sand pretty much every edge of pretty much everything. Its that 'one thing' I do. Do you have a 'one thing'?

Lastly, my title. Again, I've used the Tim Holtz Idea-Ology Chitchat Stickers Verbiage which I stuck with foam tape to one of the banners from the 6x12 Die-Cut Elements sheet. I also used foam tape to stick that onto my layout, just to give it a bit of definition. And that was that!

That's it for me today. You now only have a couple of days to get your entry done and uploaded to the appropriate album on the Scrap Matrix Shares Facebook page. Entries are due by midnight, 14th June. Please don't forget to let us know which of the products, available from Scrap Matrix, you've used. Its such a pleasure to be inspired by others' creations.

Wishing you happy scrappy days.

Cheers .. Alz   :)

Scrap Matrix products used:

7 Dots Studio Northern Lights - Board Games

7 Dots Studio Northern Lights - 6x12 Die-Cut Elements

TCW 12x12 Stencils - Mums and Sketch Grid

Paper Artsy Fresco Finish acrylic paint - Wisteria

Fudeball Pen black 1.5

Lindy's Starburst Spray - Tea Pot Purple

Ranger Archival Ink - Jet Black

Aall and Create stamp - #10

Dina Wakley Media Collage Paper

Embossed Paper Lace - French Lace Black

Vintage Coloured Lace - Gabrielle Lilac

large Curly Rose cream

Blue Fern Studios Heartland Roses and Blooms

Dina Wakley Media acrylic paint - Eggplant

Antique Silver Feathers

Kinder Kreations chipboard feather

13 Arts Splash Glitter Ink - Violet

Um Wow Studio Flair - Teal Bloom

Tim Holtz Idea-Ology Chitchat Stickers Verbiage

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Guest Designer Deb - The Point is.....

Hello Scrap Matrix friends,

Deb back with my second take on the May challenge - The point is.....

This time I went with the pointy option, using arrows and triangles - items available from Scrap Matrix.

I took a piece of paper from the Stamperia Atelier paperpad as my background piece and using the AALL & Create #20 stencil, along with distressed triangles stamp from the Paper Artsy JOFY 34 stamp set, combining with 13 @rts Splash Gold Glitter Ayeeda Ink, and Dina Wakely Acrylic paint in Turquoise and Rosy, I created a background around where my photo was going to go. The 13 @rts gold glitter ink worked quite a bit better with the stamp than I thought it would, and I really love how that turned out.

Whilst waiting for that to dry, I edged the base paper in the glitter ink as well.

Once all the mixed media was dry, I mixed the paints with some water and added some splatters to the background as well as some glitter drops, and then used the paint the same way, and added some pearls of Turquoise and Rosy.

 I also inked the edge of the photo mat with the gold glitter ink, and painted the 13 @rts Out of the Blue chipboard title and a couple of arrows as well.  I used a small round brush to do this and when almost dry added more glitter ink to the places that were patchy.  I will certainly be using this technique again.

I let this all dry overnight so as not to smudge any media and instead of twiddling my thumbs  I took another sheet from the paper pad and cut out the tags to create the layers under my photo.  I also took a sheet of tags, etc from the 13 @rts Art Journey 6x6 paper pad and cut out some circles, some arrows and some of the words on another sheet, as well as fussy cutting some flowers and a flutterby.

I placed the tags in the centre of the dry background,

then added the matted photo, before finishing off with various embellishments, including a puffy sticker from Pink Fresh Escape the Ordinary as well as a chipboard arrow head from the same collection.   Finally I placed the title layering some of it over the bottom of my photo.

 And thats it.

Hope you like my layout and have picked up a tip or two :)

A huge thank you to Vicki for allowing me the privilege to Guest Design for Scrap Matrix and showcase some of the wonderful products available in the shop. 

Supply List:

Stamperia Atelier paperpad (Out of stock) but other collections are available

AALL & Create #20 stencil

Paper Artsy JOFY 34 stamp set

13 @rts Splash Gold Glitter Ayeeda Ink

Dina Wakely Acrylic paint
small round brush
13 @rts Out of the Blue chipboard
13 @rts Art Journey 6x6 paper pad
Pink Fresh Escape the Ordinary

Go forth and create my friends :)

"The Point Is" layout by Lynn

Morning all, today I am sharing my layout that I have created for this months challenge - "the point is"

I have used the "points" of the arrows to direction you to the photo. I have also used the 7 Dots Dreamscapes stencil - triangles and some Paper lace with points.

I did process photos to share with you but technology got the better of me and they are somewhere in cyber space!

So i have done a few close ups and will explain what I have done:

The paper collection I have used is 7 Dots Paint Chip Collection which includes the die cuts and stickers.  The stencil is from 7 Dots Dreamscapes collection and I have used Ranger Archival Inks with a foam sponge.

The title is from 13 Arts - Secret Letter collection

I have stamped the background with AALL & Create Stamp # 30

I have used a white paint pen to add scribbles and doodles to the tags and stickers around the layout.

Products used:

7 Dots Studio - paper collection - Paint Chips

7 Dots Studio - Paint Chips Stickers

7 Dots Studio - Paint Chips Die Cuts

7 Dots Studio - Paint Chips Tags

13 Arts title sticker - Secret letters

7 Dots Dreamscapes Stencil

Ranger Archival Ink - Plum & Rose Madder

German Scrap Embossed Trims

White Paint Pen

AALL & Create Stamp # 30

This is such a fun challange - and you have until 14th June to enter - and it is easy peasy to do -  just upload a photo of your layout into the correct album in our Scrap Matrix Shares page and tell us at least one product you have used that is available on the Scrap Matrix Store.

I hope you find time to enter - I would love to see what you create.

Til next time - Happy Crafting

Tammy gets the BLUES

Hi there Scrap Matrix fans

Tammy here today to share another creation for our Monochramatic/Tic Tac Toe Challenge.

This time I went with BLUE!!

 

The perfect colour for my son's tennis photos!

 

 

I used the line that runs vertically through the centre:

Stamp (lots of them)

Big Title (Love those stickers!)

German Scrap (appears on most of my layouts)

 

 

So let's have a quick look at how this came together.....

 

I began with a sheet of Marshmallow Cardstock - just love this cardstock....it just takes mixed media so well!!

 

I added some 3D Gloss Gel in transparent using a cool 13Arts Bubbles Stencil in

I went with this stencil as all the circles reminded me of tennis balls.

 

Once this was dry I added some Dylusions Ink Spray in 'London Blue'. 

I did this in two different ways.

 

The first way was to use what I like to call the 'packaging splodge technique'. 

Just take some old plastic packaging, spray the Ink Spray directly onto it, also spray on a little water, then turn it over and 'splodge' it onto your cardstock.

Really technical right?

It does give a lovely effect though.  I use it all the time.

 

The second technique is to open the lid on the Ink Spray and paint it on with a paintbrush, similar to applying watercolour paint, but so very vivid!!

 

I can't stress enough the cardstock being a secret with this.

If you use normal cardstock or paper, you may need to apply clear gesso first or it will ruin your paper.

 

I then grabbed one of the AALL & CREATE stamps.  I selected this one, again because of the circles reminding me of tennis balls.

 

I stamped this randomly onto my background using Ranger Archival Ink in black.

 

I then added a stamp from 7Dots Studio - Dreamscapes. I love that chevron, arrow shape.  I use it often, particularly when scrapping my boy!

I was a little more strategic with my placement of these as I wanted them to point inwards to the layout, as this helps guide the eyes into the layout, and in particular, draws attention to the photos.

 

I then added some Washi Tape by Dina Wakley.  I again selected more circular shapes.

I found the tape a little wide on my layout, so I tore it roughly into narrower strips and applied these quite randomly.

 

I then laid out my photos.  I ensured these all overlapped as this draws they eye in and helps to tell the story within the photos better.

I then focused on adding lots of 7Dots Studio tags and stickers around/behind the photo cluster.

I adore these tags, and use them ALL the time.

 

I finished off with some ribbon, some German Scrap, a few word stickers and of course the 'LOVE life' title.

I often scrap with just 1-2 photos, so was happy to use a sequence of 4.  I felt 4 told the story better.

When using multiple photos, it's important to cluster them together.  Otherwise it can become confusing for the brain, not knowing where to settle and where to focus.

I also believe repeating a shape - in this case circles, helps to 'ground' the layout and gives a common thread.  Otherwise the layout would be overwhelming and confusing.

(Note the circles repeated in the tags too).

Don't forget to add a little bit of journaling to your layout to totally finish it off. 

There you have it!

 

As you know, if you follow my work or Scrap Matrix,  I love using colours in my layout. The brighter the better. At first this can be overwhelming.  I truly believe having a go with 1 colour, plus black and white simplifies the whole process.  It still gives stunning results, and can be a really great way to step into the amazing world of colour.

 

So why not give it a go?

With the challenge on this month, it's the perfect opportunity to do that.....so pick a colour, and a line from the above grid and give it a whirl.

 

We'd LOVE to see what you do, and believe me, it's wonderful to know that your work has inspired somebody to create, so don't forget to upload it into the Scrap Matrix Shares Page.  Just find the correct album - pop it in, and let us know which products from Scrap Matrix you used in your creation.  You have until the 14th of May to do this.

 

Well that's it from me, I'll be back again soon......

 

Feel free to visit my blog HERE

 

Scrap Matrix Products used:

 

Marshmallow Cardstock

3D Transparent Gloss Gel

London Blue Dylusions Ink Spray

13 Arts Stencil

7Dots Studio Dreamscapes Stamp

AALL & CREATE Stamp #34

Dina Wakley Media Tape

7Dots Studio Paint Chips 6x6 Pad

7Dots Studio Tags - Writer's Block

7Dots Studio Hazy Days Element Stickers

Pinkfresh Escape the Ordinary - Dare Paper

Pinkfresh Boys Fort Element Stickers

MAMBI Chips - Sweet Memories Value Pack

Black and White Ribbon

German Scrap Renaissance Petite Black

Ranger Archival Black Ink