EWF Design Team Sketch Challenge Part II (using Oct CKC Kit!)

Hello lovelies!

I'm finally FINALLY (at long last) bringing you Part 2 of the Embellish With Flair sketch challenge which Heather and I did together...during October! 🙈

I know it's also December.  LATE December.  Soz, lovelies!  I actually had finished it over a month ago, but since I did a process video (and one with soooo much more raw footage than anticipated) editing has happened sporadically between other things.

It was actually rather involved and as usual I made it far more work than it needed to be!  But that's what I do. Every.Single.Time! 🤦

Heather really put me to the challenge with this sketch.  Definitely not my usual sort of style, but they don't call it a challenge for nothing, right?

I have no idea how I decided to use this sketch with this photo of my adorable niece on her very first Book Week.  I'm pretty sure there was a suitably convoluted train of thought with led to this decision, but overall I think it worked. 🤷

I used my October Counterfeit Kit (I know🤦) for this layout (well mostly.  I did use a ton of scraps...)

I do recommend you watch the process video (below) since I do go into that a little bit as well as walking you though how I made it.  I'm warning you...it's a bit of an ordeal!  I distinguish myself by making a fairly simple task faaaar more complicated than it needs to be!

The rough gesso on the background and anything needing to stick on the seam lines of the "circles" needs more than your average adhesive which gives you three options:

1.  Wet Glue.  Liquid Glue.  Whatever you want to call it.  You need something fairly robust and I hatehatehate any that dry tacky.  Why?  Because my hand-eye co-ordination is lacking at the best of times,  Occasionally it must be resorted to, but normally:

2.  Hot glue.  Even more messy.  Sometimes necessary, but waiting for ancient fossilized lump (which was once a stick) inside glue gun to melt then having to interrupt crafting in order to treat 3rd degree burns is something I'd prefer to avoid if I possibly can.

3.  Glue Dots.  Fast, clean, easy and they come in all the strengths and sizes.  This is my personal preference. They've been part of my life "these 20 years at least". (My fellow Janeites will get the reference!!)

Yes I do actually speak that way and my fambam know when to insert which quote!

Here are the still pics I promised you:

Title (with lots of messy threads! 😍)

"Tone on tone" embellishments and stitching detail

Fussy cut books embellished with tiny Wonder Woman stickers

Large book cut on the Silhouette

That name card that caused ever so much grief (and I still cant stick in s straight line despite multiple attempts! 🙈)

Lilya's First Book Week

Thanks for sticking with me and hope the vid wasn't too frustrating!


Love, and Embellish With Flair!

Shimelle's Sketches Re-imagined - Guest Designer

My buddy Sara Scraps came up with the brainchild that is Shimelle's Sketches Re-imagined.  It involved working her way through Shimelle's sketches on a weekly basis (links to Sara's socials below) and also having a guest or two with their take on it.

This week Sara asked me (and Christy from Christy's Beautiful Life) to tackle the sketch of 31 August 2011 together! It's not a design I normally gravitate to, so I was up for the challenge.

I did stay fairly true to the sketch so I needed a fair bit of "hand holding". but I changed up the number and placement of the embellishment groups in order to accommodate a decent amount of journaling and a longish title.


Shimelle has a process video for this sketch so I'll link to that below, but here are her versions of both the sketch and finished layout:

Shimelle's blog post including more info and a link to her process video can be FOUND HERE


I decided it was only fitting to use one of the backgrounds I made for Sara's new class - Mixed Media Backgrounds Vol 1.  I went a little rogue with my mixed media background.  It's based on Lesson 1.


I wanted to use my go-to patterned paper as I almost always do during my fairly infrequent attempts at mixed media.  You can kinda see it here,  I want to try it again though,
 





Equally apt was using patterned papers and embellies which were mostly from Shimelle's collections.

I didn't even show half the embellies I pulled out for this layout.  As I mentioned n the video, I thought about turning them into a sort of "mini kit" since I have quite a few pages I'd like to make from this event (the one in this video will probably be number 2) and they might as well co-ordinate.

I was aiming for pink and black with maybe a pop of aqua, but instead this particular layout turned into my go-to pink and aqua combination.  What can you do, right? 🤷 Old habits die hard!!

Oddly, I didn't pick any paper besides the ones I used.  Perhaps because I started with the sketch and knew which ones I needed?  Not to mention relatively few with a globe pattern.  I definitely will add more black in for some of the other pages.

I managed to kill 2 Sharpies to get through the journaling!  I was desperately hoping the third wouldn't fail me before I was done.  🤦 All were finer than I expected so I needed 2 layers and it ended up looking worse than my usual handwriting.  UGH!  Since this is not my first rodeo when it comes to journaling fails on mixed media you'd think I'd learned my lesson, right?  Apparently not!!

Here's my video and photos...and link to all Sara and Shimelle's socials below!  Sincere apologies for any weird editing during the video.  I probably shouldn't have done it while under the influence of premeds at the hospital, but it was GoGo Juice day and it needed to be done!

My Process Video

Embellie Clusters

You may notice that I also added some silver and holographic sequins to the centres of the flowers from the "Motley" mix by Spiegelmom Scraps as an afterthought!

My layout has the usual messy Alex look.  I just need to roll with it!!  Sara's layout is so elegant!  Maybe one day I'll succeed in the elegant department too!

#loveneverfails layout

Links to Sara and Shimelle's Socials

Sara
Blog
Classes
YouTube
Facebook Group
Insta

Shimelle
Blog
Facebook Page
Facebook Group
YouTube
Insta

Love and sketchy scrapbooking,

Arty Divas DT Project - 17 Dec

Hi Lovelies!

Today is Challenge 11 at Arty Divas.  This is a FORTNIGHTLY "anything goes" (any type of project and any theme) challenge with a design team who makes projects showcasing the sponsor who often offers PRIZES!

This week's sponsor is KLM Digital Designs (Katy's Card Emporium)
Prize:

About KLM:
"I started stamping in 2005 thanks to the help of my mother who at the time was a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator. Over the years my mother and I have designed and manufactured our own line of digital stamps, I have also been published in stamping magazines and have been a team member for many design teams.
I am a full time police officer as well as a single parent. I love crafts and use it as an escape from every day life. My kids love crafting as well and probably have accumulated just as much supplies as I have! (Lol)"

For this challenge I had an idea for a card as soon as I saw the image of the turtle stuck on his back.  With a custom sentiment (once again thanks to my pink vintage Olivetti typewriter) it makes a rather cheerful get well card!

Mr Turtle was coloured with Copics.  My laser printer and I are having a bit of a stand off when it comes to printing on correct paper for pencils 😡

After fussy cutting and mounting him on equally adorable swan paper (by Pebbles from their "Tealightful" collection circa 2016) since I was determined to place him in his natural habitat,  Even if his swan friends are wearing crowns rather like the AD logo 😉

I pulled the words for the sentiment off and on several times which has given them a bit of dimension.  I just love the perfectly imperfect quirks of an old typewriter!  Just be sure to use the correct version of You're/You.  (yes. this Pink Mama is also a grammarphile!)

To finish I pulled some sequins from the "Motley" mix by Spiegelmom Scraps and adhered with my trusty Micro Glue Dots.  I thought they looked somewhat like bubbles, but the sheen made them so much more whimsical!

Hope You're on Your Feet Again Soon

Love and whimsy,

Hello Limited Edition Layout (Quilter's Vibe)

Hello Lovelies!!

Today I'm sharing with you my project that I made for the monthly Quilter's Vibe YouTube collaboration started by Sara Scraps.  It's traditionally the last Thursday of the month, except this month it was bumped a week because I wasn't the only one swamped! 😅

How it works is that the four(?) ladies who take part take turns picking out a quilt or quilt block, but something quilty which we can interpret in any way into a layout (and of course YouTube process
video).

This is the inspiration for November on the right.  I'm afraid I don't know whose photo (or quilt) this is, otherwise I would credit the appropriate makers.  If you let me know in the comments, I'll edit the post with your deets!  I was just given the image.   Sorry!

 


Here's my process video if you prefer to head right over to that:

If you watch my video, you'll see how I managed to wreak havoc on a lovely, calm, understated inspiration piece and inject all kinds of crazy into it!  🤣🤣🤣

I also managed to use FOUR flair badges!😛

Two from the "3 Tone Stars Pinks" set and two from the "3 Tone Stars Grey-Black" set, which fit my colours and fun vibe perfectly!

In addition, I was super pleased to use some of my every increasing collection of "frames".  I got FOUR onto this page!  *cue Happy Dance*. You can also see some of the stitching detail above.

I finished by stitching down aaaallll those buttons using two strands of embroidery floss and a slightly larger needle.  A typical skein of floss is six stranded.  The chipboard button have large holes and this way I could get each one stitched down much faster!

I busted out some very precious and super "rare" paper from the vault (who remembers "Love, Elsie" by KI Memories??), managed to measure and cut wrong, change my mind several times and show a somewhat disturbing inability to count to nine.  🙈

In my defense, there was a tradie cutting floor tiles next door and not only can you hear his saw on the video, it never fails to give me a headache.  But it's life, right? 🤷








I have to say I don't often do grid-type layouts, but I have enjoyed them whenever a challenge has some my way.

Speaking of challenges, I still owe you (and Heather) Part ii of the October sketch challenge over at EWF!  It's finished, but I need to edit the vid etc, so it should follow this one in a few days.

Here's the whole thing:

Hello Limited Edition

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Love, and Embellish With Flair

TTCRD Design Team - 3 December

Hello, Lovelies!

Today is challenge day for Design Team B for the Through The Craft Room Door Challenge.   

This is a WEEKLY "anything goes" (any type of project and any theme) challenge with 2 design teams who alternate weeks to make projects showcasing the sponsor who often offers PRIZES!

This week's sponsor is DRS Designs
Prize:

I know my choice of image for this challenge mat seem a little odd, but rather topical not just as 2019 draws to a close, but more relevant to happenings relating to the TallCraftyDude.  This past year his academic performance has left a bit to be desired and he could benefit greatly from more organization and structure starting with the summer holidays and ideally continuing into the 2020 school year so we don't have a repeat performance.  😒😒😒

A blank calendar was a very versatile way to give him a month-at-a-glance way to see what is due and how soon...along with other school related deadlines.

I opened the file in Silhouette Studio, which is probably not the more natural software choice, but I;m comfortable with it and wanted to use some cut files in my library as images that would appeal to a 15 year old boy.

It looks deceptively simple, but each set of numbers needed to be added and resized individually to be able to move them around independently of each other.  If I had number stamps of the right size, I probably would have used those instead.

After printing, I added some stamping and gold mist spatter to give it a more handmade look and started to write in things for the last month of the holidays.  Perhaps a bit mean given they haven't even yet begun, but I wanted to trial a single month before creating a whole year! 

I can see using it to make personalized calendars as a great gift, though!

January 2020 Calendar

Love and stay organized!

Arty Divas DT - 3 December

Hello, Lovelies!

Today is Challenge 10 at Arty Divas.  This is a FORTNIGHTLY "anything goes" (any type of project and any theme) challenge with a design team who makes projects showcasing the sponsor who often offers PRIZES!

Sponsor: Hetty Clare Art
Hetty's Etsy Store:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/HettyClare
Prize:

The image the Design Team worked with was absolutely adorable!  That is until I started to meddle with them!! 🙈🙈🙈

See, the thing is that I decided to try using coloured pencils.  Most of the image I'm not entirely unhappy with (for a first attempt anyway), but I really don't like the "sky". 

Fortunately I can probably still work on it a little more especially if I try to blend it out a bit with Gamsol or odourless spirits.

Placing the sentiment formed a slight issue.  In the end I had to cover part of the image I really didn't mind too much!  I went with vellum to keep it light and so some still shows though.  I adhered with just a few stitched and stamped an older stamp set from Simon Says Stamp (in Kristina Werner's lovely whimsical script!)

I decided to use Glue Dots to adhere the coloured panel since the type of paper and use of a blending pen made me think it might start to pull away from the card base.

Well here's the finished card!

Thank You For Your Kindness Card

Love and practise those pencils!

TTCRD Design Team - 19 November

 Hi Lovelies!

Today is challenge day for Design Team B for the Through The Craft Room Door Challenge.   

This is a WEEKLY "anything goes" (any type of project and any theme) challenge with 2 design teams who alternate weeks to make projects showcasing the sponsor who often offers PRIZES!

This week's sponsor is KLM Digital Designs (Katy's Card Emporium)
Prize: $10 Gift Certificate

About KLM:
"I started stamping in 2005 thanks to the help of my mother who at the time was a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator. Over the years my mother and I have designed and manufactured our own line of digital stamps, I have also been published in stamping magazines and have been a team member for many design teams.
I am a full time police officer as well as a single parent. I love crafts and use it as an escape from every day life. My kids love crafting as well and probably have accumulated just as much supplies as I have! (Lol)"

How many of you have seen or read the classic book about gnomes by Wil Huygen?  This edition is the one I'm familiar with and I just can't imagine gnomes being coloured any other way.  Besides the colour of his boots and trousers reversed, he looks much the same as the sample image by the artist!

He was coloured with Copics and I would have preferred his beard and boots to be a lighter grey but these things happen!  I used a white gel pen to add more streaks to his beard. 

At this point I realised I had no choice, but to fussy cut him and get into the small closed in crevices with ye olde craft knife.  This was due to the Copics bleeding a touch outside the lines and where my hand-eye-coordination was a bit of a fail!  Some areas could be improved a bit with the "Colourless Blender" but not all.  Fortunately I don't mind fussy cutting!

I had a floral paper I thought about using as a background, but the apples and oak leaf on his cap clearly make him Autumnal, so this paper from Shimelle's Go Now Go collection in the 6x6 size is perfect for a card being scaled down from the full size and uses most of the colours I did

I knew an abundance of gnome puns exist so the sentiment naturally required one with messy stamping using an alphabet stamp and some glittery Thickers.

I used "fun foam" to make the gnome stand out.  It's typically adhesive on one side so I stuck this bit against the back of the image and when I was finished cutting it to size to fill most of the areas needing support, I used the Permanent Glue Dots all over the back before adding him to the card.  It's easier this way when there are lots of small pieces of foam.  The backing gets removed as you go then you just add the adhesive at the end!

There's Gnome One Else Like You Card

Love and roll with your gnomies!

Arty Divas Design Team 19 November

Hi Lovelies!

Today is Challenge 9 at Arty Divas.  This is a FORTNIGHTLY "anything goes" (any type of project and any theme) challenge with a design team who makes projects showcasing the sponsor who often offers PRIZES!

Sponsor: Hetty Clare Art
Hetty's Etsy Store:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/HettyClare
Prize:

We got a very pretty, but rather tricky (for me anyway) image to work with for this challenge!  It definitely needed some thought.  The predominating one was "Goodness, this reminds me of Princess Buttercup"!  So that's the direction I took. 

Castle or wall print paper seemed an equally natural choice.  The only thing I had remotely similar was from Shimelle's "Head in the Clouds" collection.  While I did have a few 12x12 sheets with the castle print, I thought I'd have a look at the 6x8 journaling pad and indeed there was a sheet!

The purple wouldn't have been my first thought, but the more I looked at those thistles, the more perfect it became.  So much so that my initial resolve to leave the image uncoloured, vanished and I compromised by colouring said thistles with Copics to make the connection.

I trimmed the castle paper back, so the finished card would be 6x8 or so and wanted to layer up some coordinating patterns behind the image to reduce the amount of empty space and add some other colours found in the background paper.  I wanted to slot the block with the image under the banner, so I cut around it with a craft knife, but heat embossed the only possible sentiment (By Ink Road Stamps) for the card first.

I did want to add a BIT more gold, but the sequins turned out to be a bit of an unhappy accident since one of my Copics leaked and required damage control.  Removing both caps and letting the air pressure equalize helps with this, but too late in this case!

As You Wish Card

Love, and My Name Is Inigo Montoya...

Coffee Lovers Hop WINNERS!

I promise I couldn't see any any names in the jar - I was watching though the phone screen (which is pretty smashed up) and I wasn't wearing my glasses either!  This is why I prefer having TCD do it then all I have to do is film it!

Edited with Bonus winner!  Scroll down to find out more!

Aaaaaanyway...here is the video if you want to watch the draw and if not, scroll right down for a spoiler!

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1. Verna Angerhofer
2. Arianna Barbara
3. Denise Bryant

If you lovely ladies could drop me an email at alex@pinkcraftymama.com with the prizes in order of preference and a postal address!

To recap they are: pair of embossing folders, Sizzix cup and die set and the Dino stamp set by Gerda Steiner. 

BONUS PRIZE WINNER is...

This adorable card by Beverly of Bev's Creative Path. 

It's not on her blog, but her insta.  Regardless, check out both and give this super talented lady some love!

Max said: "I chose this card because I really liked the bright colours and the very realistic snow scene.  I love animals and they look really cute and funny in their jumpers.  The use of symmetry with four animals alone the bottom and the bow and owl balancing each other at the top adds to the aesthetic appeal". 

Oh if only he paid such attention to his English essays!  In the Cat Lovers Hop one of his favourites also involved a cat wearing a hat so I sense a pattern there! Bev, please inbox me with your snail addy and I'll get your prize out to you!

Love and congrats winners!