Life is good - Sandra Brimelow

Hi everyone, I am sharing today the second of my guest design team projects for Scrap Matrix, it has been fun to be back as a guest designer, especially with the fun products I have had to work with.
I love how this layout came together, and playing with lots of products available in the shop was what brought it together.

Life is Good

So this layout, is one I decided to create continuing to use the wonderful paper selection from 7 Dots Studio Hazy Days range, this one is Gelly. I really loved these papers.

I wanted to grunge the paper up a bit more, so sanded it with some sand paper first. I then applied Ranger texture paste transparent matte through a Heidi Swapp 12 x 12 heart stencil. Whilst the texture paste was still wet, I sprinkled some Prima art sugar - antique silver, this is a really fine glitter, and looks fabulous sprinkled on to the page lightly.

I used some Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst spray over the background, to add a bit more colour, then did some stamping with Aall and Create stamp set # 25 and Ranger archival ink over the background randomly. 

So that's the background done, next came all of the embellishing. I stamped some feathers and leaves using the Aall and Create stamp set #11, Paper Artsy stamp set JOFY 32 and Ranger archival ink. I coloured the flowers and feathers with Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst sprays and then fussy cut them.

I also sprayed some German Scrap French Lace white, with Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst spray.

I matted the photo using Heidi Swapp 6 x 6 mixed media die cut paper. Then I simply tucked all of my flowers, feathers and german scraps around the photo. 

Finishing touches came with MAMBI Hey You chips, (the little pack of chipboard that just keeps giving), 7 Dots Studio Lost and Found elements. ecru roots and Prima flower from my stash.

I love the colours that I managed to put together on this layout, and the fact that I actually created a feminine grungy layout. 

Thanks for having me here as a guest designer, it has been fun.

7 Dots Studio patterned paper - Gelly

Heidi Swapp heart stencil

Ranger texture paste - transparent matte

Prima art sugar glitter

Heidi Swapp 6 x 6 mixed media diet cut paper

Aall and Create stamp sets - #11, #25

Paper Artsy stamp set - Jofy 32

Ranger archival ink

Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst sprays - cowabunga copper, Bodacisous Blush, Gag me with a spoon gray, time travel teal

MAMBI Hey You chips

7 Dots Studio Lost and Found elements
German Scrap - French Lace

Tam's Second Texture Share

Hi Scrap Matrix fans!

 

I've popped in today to share my second creation for the 'Texture' Challenge.

 

I'm loving this challenge and seeing all your entries.  You still have until the 14th of April to get these in, and today being Easter Monday, is a great chance to get some creative time in.

Lots of colour (as per usual!)

I had a lot of fun creating the feathers....

So let's start with how it all came together....

 

I began by adding white gesso to black cardstock. I kept this to the top of my layout......where I want the colour to be.

I then added Dylusions Ink Sprays in Pink and Lemon Zest. The yellow and pink blended together to create an orange colour....love when things you don't expect just happen....

 

Whilst waiting for this to dry, I grabbed some 'Marshmallow' cardstock - my favourite as it copes with Mixed Media and water without any prepping. I also got out ALL of my Dylusions Ink Sprays.....aren't they just beautiful!

Using the 'packaging' technique I sprayed each colour onto some old plastic packaging and then splodged it directly onto the cardstock.

 

I then got out this gorgeous stamp from AALL & CREATE. This one's designed by the fabulous Fiona Paltridge and I've been busting to give it a whirl.

I stamped the feathers onto the colour.

 

 

I also used a Kinder Kreations feather stencil and traced some feathers onto the colours.

 

I then got busy cutting all of these out.

 

I then went back to my background.

I added some black gesso using a 13Arts 'XOXO' Stencil

 

 

I then added White Gesso using another 13Arts Stencil.

Lots of texture!!!

 

Whilst this is all drying, it's time to work on the photo, and the layers around it.

 

I added loads of layers - papers, tags, stickers and my title around my photo.

I attached this to my layout using foam tape to lift it off the background.

 

I also added Mesh Tape to my background, I love the texture this gives.

I also added some German Scrap to the top of my layout and a strip below my photo.

 

 

I added colour to some lace as well to add more texture.

 

 

At this point there seemed too much colour (I know, can you believe it!!) So to balance this I added a black border to my photo, and also added the white die cut flowers in a cluster.  These are cut from the Heidi Swapp pack.

I wanted these to look like a dreamcatcher with all the feathers cascading down so I also added some flowers which I coloured with Dylusions Ink Spray.

 

 

 

I cut some feathers from the 13 Arts Strength in Numbers Paper to add in too.

 

As you may have noticed, this layout tells a story.

It has a theme - feathers, wings and free.

My daughter collects dreamcatchers, so I was inspired by that when putting this layout together. 

I also wanted my journaling to fit into this theme.

I even added the cutest little metal wing charms on either side of the photo - right where my girls wings are!

 

 

Well that's it from me today.

 

As I mentioned above, there's plenty of time to enter our 'Texture' Challenge - there's even a guest DT spot up for grabs - we'd love you to come and PLAY with us. So get creating and add your entry to the Facebook Scrap Matrix Shares group - specifically in the 'Textures' Album, and don't forget to list the Scrap Matrix products used. It really is that easy.

 

You can see my list down at the end of this post (yep it's a long one, but I adore Scrap Matrix Products!!!)

 

Scrap Matrix Products used:

 

Black Bazzill

Marshmallow Cardstock

Dylusions Ink Spray - Bubblegum Pink

Dylusions Ink Spray - Lemon Zest

Dylusions Ink Spray - Polished Jade

Dylusions Ink Spray - London Blue

Dylusions Ink Spray - Fresh Lime

Dylusions Ink Spray - Crushed Grape

Dylusions Ink Spray - Dirty Martini

Black Gesso

White Gesso

13Arts Stencil xoxo

13Arts Stencil - Aria Song

AALL & CREATE Stamp No 11

Kinder Kreations Feather Stencil 6x6

13Arts Paper - Strength in Numbers - Foundation

Mesh Tape

Scrap Matrix Flowers Swan Rose White

Scrap Matrix Flowers - Paper - Small White

German Scrap - Renaissance Petite Black

Scrap Matrix Lace

Scrap Matrix Metal Angel Wing Charm

Heidi Swapp 6x6 Mixed Media Paper Pack

Heidi Swapp Epoxy Words - Celebrate

13Arts Stickers - Vintage moments - Big words

7Dots Paint Chips Tags

7Dots Paint Chips Element Stickers

Teresa Collins Hello My name is - Words Paper

 

Tam's first 'Holiday' Challenge Share

Hi everyone,

I'm excited to be here today sharing the details of my first 'Holiday Challenge'.

Such a great theme.....so many options!!!

Here's what I came up with.....

 

I scrapped a photo of a gorgeous sunset from a little getaway in Port Elliott (one of my fave and most peaceful places on Earth), and yep right around the corner from Vicki and Scrap Matrix.

Uh oh!

 

As a child, my grandparents lived at Port Elliott, so many a school holiday was spent here.

Such fond memories.

 

For the past 4 years, we've been going there as a family for a few days - sometimes even a week! in the January holidays.

So special to share this with my kids and to begin new traditions.

 

So I began this page by selecting a few papers from both 7Dots Studio and also Pinkfresh - Escape the Ordinary.

 

 

 

I began by adding some black paint to some 3D Gloss Gel and then applying this with one of my new AALL & CREATE stencils.

 

 

 

I then used one of their stamps - I just love this one and can't wait to do more with it, but for this one I just stamped randomly, concentrating on where the edges of the photos/papers would be.

 

 

I then layered a few 7Dots Studio tags together, ready for my photo.

 

I trimmed a strip from a Pinkfresh paper to create my title.

 

I then did some stamping using these funky AALL & CREATE stamps, to finish off my background.

 

I then placed my tags and photo onto my layout. 

I then began tucking and poking.....

I used some of the Ephemera from the Pinkfresh range, some metal flowers,  and a few stickers from 7Dots Studio.

 

 

 

I also added some extra texture by trimming some of the roses down from Heidi Swapp's 6x6 Mixed media Pack, and poking them behind my photo.

 

 Lots of layers, lots of textures.....

 

You may notice a few tags and stickers from the NEW 7Dots Studio Paint Chips range.....I LOVE this range, and can't wait to get stuck into more of it!!

It's right up my alley with bold colours and black!!

I stuck with blacks, whites and mustards for this layout, as I really wanted that gorgeous sunset photo to be the focus.

Just love how that title looks.....it's just a strip from the paper.  So simple, yet very effective.

Notice how the stamping and the stencilling is clustered around the photo?

 

Remember how I didn't stamp all over the background, just where I knew it would show....there's no point stamping everywhere and then covering it all up!

So there we have it.....my first Holiday creation......if only every day ended this way....with a gorgeous peaceful sunset.

 

 Don't forget to load your holiday creations into the album over at Scrap Matrix Shares, and remember to list the Scrap Matrix Products you used in the comments.

 

Here's a reminder of the Holiday Challenge Moodboard:

 

 

 

As the challenge is all about holidays - this can mean so many different things to different people.

It could be a recent Christmas page, a favourite holiday activity or destination, a tradition you celebrate, or, of course, a trip you have taken - or maybe just a memento from that special holiday...... Anything that evokes a memory of holidays.

 

I can't wait to see what you come up with.

 

I'll be back again soon with another 'Holiday' Creation.

 

 

Scrap Matrix Products used:

7Dots Studio paper - Cotton Candy Dreams - Brain Freeze

Aall & Create Stamp No 10 

Aall & Create Stamp No 21

Aall & Create Stencil No 4

3D Gloss Gel

Dina Wakley paint - Black

Metal Flowers Large No 1

Pinkfresh Escape the Ordinary Paper - Observe

Pinkfresh Escape the Ordinary Paper - Search

Pinkfresh Escape the Ordinary Ephemera

Heidi Swapp 6x6 Mixed Media Pack

7Dots Studio Paint Chips Stickers

7Dots Studio Paint Chips Tags

7Dots Studio Tags - Verano-Azul

 

Tammy's second Watercolour and Words Share

Hi Everyone!

 

This is Tammy and I'm here to share another colourful layout with you as part of the Watercolour and Words Challenge over at Scrap Matrix Shares.

 

This layout is a celebration of my mum.  She was such a vibrant soul, full of colour, and this layout reflects this. This photo is a special one to me so I really wanted to tell the story behind it.

 

Here's another view:

I began with some white cardstock which I coated in clear gesso.

 

I again used my Prima Watercolours in Tropical and painted some lines....love the simple rainbow effect.  I didn't wait for each colour to dry - I just kept going.

I added a few flicks of black Dina Wakley paint.

 

 

Whilst drying I grabbed my Dina Wakley Abstract Bloom Stamps.

LOVE THESE!!!

 

I stamped a few onto white cardstock.

 

 

I then cut them out

 

 

I then grabbed some tags from 7Dots Studio to tuck behind my photo, and some Scrap Matrix Paper Lace in Chantilly too.

 

 

I painted some Metal Roses in Black Gesso to give them a funkier look.

 

 

Lastly I grabbed some of these Paper Wings from the German Scrap section.

 

These were perfect for adding to my layout.  My mum's favourite colour was blue so I decided to paint them blue.

 

 

Ok, time to start layering behind my photo. 

 

I added a title from Heidi Swapp's Epoxy Stickers.

 

 

Lots of bits poking out.

 

I concentrated on the right hand bottom corner as I wanted to leave space for journaling.

 

 

Time to add lots of words......here's what I used...

 

 

There was some perfect sayings in there.....suited my layout so much.

 

 

 

I love how the clear ones look against the painted background. 

 

 

Next up I grabbed my 7Dots Studio Hazy Days Stamps and added a few black arrows around the cluster.

 

My final finishing touch to the cluster was to add a metal charm. 

Eternal Love! Perfect.

 

I just added black gesso.

 

 

Scrap Matrix really does have a charm for every occasion!

 

 

 

Now time to add the journaling.

 

This is one of my favourite parts of scrapping.

 

I find it very therapeutic. 

Actually, if I don't have a story in mind I find it really difficult to scrap. 

It's like there's no meaning to the layout. 

I end up just shuffling papers around.  But once I have that direction, I'm off.

 

 

Here's a few more close up's of my cluster......

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's it from me!

 

I'm so glad I created this layout and told this story.

 

It's something I will always treasure.

 

 

You've got until the 14th November at midnight to load your creation into the challenge folder over at Scrap Matrix shares, so there's still plenty of time to have a go at the Watercolour and Words challenge.....

 

Vicki has a Scrap Matrix voucher up for grabs....can't wait to pop over and see your entries.

 

 

 

See you again really soon

 

 

Scrap Matrix Products used:

 

Marshmallow Cardstock

Liquitex Clear Gesso

Black Gesso

Prima Watercolours - Tropical

Dina Wakley Black Heavy Body Acrylic Paint

Dina Wakley Abstract Blooms Stamp

7Dots Studio Hazy Days stamps

7Dots Studio Tags - Homegrown

7Dots Studio Tags - Writer's Block

Metal Roses - Filigree Large

Paper Lace - Chantilly

German Scrap - Paper Angel Wings White

Heidi Swapp Epoxy Buzz Words - Friends

7Dots Word Stickers Writer's Block

13 Arts Clear Word Stickers - Strength in Numbers

13 Arts Clear Marta Stickers

Metal Charm - Love Eternity