Sand & Sun

September Challenge

Thanks to Aussie Scrap Society on fb. I've been entering the challenges each month which is a great way of motivating me to scrap and challenges me to try something new. This month (September) the challenge was Mesh/gauze and white space. Definitely a challenge for me. Not so much the mesh/gauze part, I'm often finding ways to use these materials in my work but the white space! now that's a different story. If you hadn't already noticed, my projects are busy. I struggle to leave space on a page. I get caught up in the creating and forget to stop.

I do love the white space style though. I really must get more into it I think.

I have a new favourite stamp. Kaiser Craft Arty Texture Stamp.

It is amazing. I'm not a big fan of clear stamps but I make an exception for Kaiser Craft. They have an awesome texture stamp range at the moment and I'm only just beginning to enjoy the last batch I bought.

I used Distress Ink, Barn Door and Forest Moss. I wet the white bazzill 12x12  page first with a mini mister then dabbed lightly using some paper towel over a doily stencil with the two distress inks. It left a smudgy kind of look for the back ground. I focussed on an upside down "L" shape knowing I would put my photo in the elbow of it. Once the paper was dry, I stamped the Arty texture stamp over the dabbing.

Then it was just a matter of layering what ever I could find. Gauze first then a white paper doily then a tag coloured in the Barn Door distress Ink then the photo mounted on some white card stock then some buttons, wooden clock from Prima and more gauze on top. I added a little bit of crackle paint in the Barn Door colour as well, just to add some texture to the page. I also stamped and fine cut the littlest stamp from the Kaszazz Moroccan tile stamp set. It's on page 13 of the Kaszazz catalogue. I'm loving this set. It's useful for so many things.

I tied some twine around the piece of white card stock that the photo is mounted on. It sticks out a little further on the right hand side than the left. It gives room to add twine and an embellishment without interfering with the photo. The next step was to define the "L" shape with paint drips or flicks. I used diluted distress ink (Barn Door) refill with a watery paint brush. I started by flicking but this is hard to control and I had a specific target for the paint drips in mind so I ended up holding the brush over the area I wanted to paint and tapped the handle slightly. It worked really well and gave me much more control over where the paint was landing.

Lastly I added some rub ons "Sand and Sun". I'm not usually a big user of words but I felt it needed something and I think it sets it off perfectly. I even managed to add some gauze butterfly that I purchased in a pack from Cheap as Chips. Gotta love that store!


Cheers

Fiona

Face Book Page

Hi guys

I just wanted to let you all know that Pastiche Scrapbook Studio has a community share Face Book page. You can catch up with other like minded scrappers and enjoy reading and viewing pages they have created.

All you need to do is either search on Face Book for "Pastiche Scrapbook Studio" or click on the link in the top left hand section of the page.

Click "Like" and your in!

Cheers

Fiona

Tim Holtz inspired Patchwork Canvas

Tim Holtz Inspiration

I would have to say Tim Holtz's influence on me has been significant. When I discovered his selection of inks, stamps, papers and all that goes with it, I have to say I went a bit Tim mad. I was insanely jealous when friends of mine, that are members of the Kaszazz team, got to meet him and attend one of his workshops on his Australian visit.

This is one of my very first Tim inspired pieces. I wanted to try every stamp and technique known to man (Tim the man that is)and so I put together this patchwork quilt.

The base is a piece of black card stock. You can barely see it except for the distressed edges that poke out like frayed material on the edges of an old quilt. Each square was made individually from grunge paper (gotta love grunge paper!!) then either stitched together or taped from behind.

I'm not really much chop with a needle and thread but it didn't really matter with this piece, the grungier the better. 

In this section I used the back of a playing card and scuffed it up a bit. The lock is from Tim's ready cut Grunge Board Elements. It's coloured with distress ink. I also did some embossing and blending on the little in between squares.

You can see stamping and embossing in every section and then a little something extra. In this piece, it's a metal clock from Tim Holtz's Time Pieces, also scuffed up with sand paper. I added little brads and trinkets all over the piece.

Umbrella Man from the Creative Muse collection and features a couple of times in this piece. He would have to be my favourite Tim Holtz stamp ever. I love how this section really shows the true brightness of the piece.

Another die of Tim's I use a lot is the caged bird. This bird was cut out and coloured with distress ink Then I used Clear Rock Candy Crackle Paint as a top coat. I also used staples in this section to join some of the squares.

Fly is a theme throughout the whole piece with birds and wings adorning the squares. The heart and wings again came from the pre cut Creative Muse grunge board set. I first painted the wings with Picket Fence Crackle Paint, and the heart with Fired Brick Crackle Paint. Once it was dry, I lightly blended black soot distress ink over the top to highlight the cracks.

This project took a whole weekend to complete (during another of Pam's scrapbook camps) but it's the sort of thing you can do a little bit at a time. What I love most about Tim's style is that there is no real wrong and right way to do it. Just put it all together and it will look awesome.

Cheers

Fiona

Prima Debutante

An attempt at a Romantic Gothic layout

Last night I spent my time with some scrapbooking friends at The Old Mount Gambier Jail. Pam from Kaszazz put on one of her come and relax and scrap days. This was a special one though because it was Pam's 10th Anniversary with Kaszazz. Follow the link and you'll see her photo under "customer". She's the one on the left. Any way I had wanted to scrap this photo from my daughters Deb for some time now (um two years actually).

I picked out the main colours from her red lipstick and the red in her Kerr tartan sash. 

Then I went hunting for all things red in my craft room! I found the Prima wooden doors first. I'd purchased them a little while ago and was waiting for the right project to come along to be able to use them. Then I found a Prima red flower in amongst by bow of flowers. The colour was perfect, problem was I only had one of them. So I picked out any dark pink, light pink, orange and cream flowers I thought would work on the layout and began to change their colour. 

I removed the lid from my "Picked Raspberry" Distress Stain poured some into a mini mister and sprayed the flowers. I know why it's called picked Raspberry, my fingers are still all covered in dark pink dye even today! It reminds me of when we went out as kids on the farm picking blackberries.

I left them to dry over night. The colour wasn't exactly right so I then sponged them with "Festive Berries" Distress Ink. The pink from the first spray made an excellent base coat so that when I sponged the red over the top it took really well.

Putting it together was the easy bit. I stamped some "Moroccan Butterflies" from my Kaszazz stamp collection (these are my favourites at the moment) and edged some leaves with a little bit of "Black Soot" Distress Ink. Some of the leaves are material ones that either come with flower packs or are purchased in packs themselves or cut from the Kaszazz flower and leaf die. I coloured the butterflies using my Kaszazz Alcohol Ink Markers. I used "Crimson", "Scarlett" and "Ash". A beautiful and bright combination. The little cut out leaves are coloured with "Bundled Sage" and importantly edged ever so slightly with "Black Soot" to assist in separating each little piece. In other words, to make them pop. In fact everything on the page is edged with the black right down to the little shrinky dink bird cage. It helps to create a single style amongst pieces that aren't necessarily meant to fit together. It ties them together, gives them something in common. In this case makes them all appear "Romantic Gothic" in style.

I began by thinking the doors would be a feature in the page but when I stood back and took it all in at the end that wasn't the case. They do however do a great job of framing the photo which is really all they need to do.

 

The garden and the beautiful butterflies are the feature for me now but still don't deter from the photo, which I believe is important. We were discussing last night during the making of this piece, how many pages now are all about the embellishments. Pages that weigh a tonne because of the tin, resin or glass embellishments and so on that adorn them. Not only would they cost a sweet fortune but they also seem to be more significant than the photo itself. 

To keep the costs down, I often make my own embellishments. This black flower is made from different sized circles roughly cut out of satin material. I just picked up roll ends cheap and then sat down one day and cut out thousands of circles. They don't have to be perfect circles, in fact the more off they are the better the flower comes out. Then I used a gas stove lighter also know as a "clicky clicky" in our house, to singe ever so carefully, the edges of each circle. They'll curl slightly with the heat. Be careful they can melt very quickly and drip on your skin and that hurts! They only need a little heat so lay them flat on a fire proof surface and wave the heat over them until they begin to curl. Layer the pieces from big to little, pierce a hole through the middle and pop a pretty brad in and there you have it a poppy style flower that you haven't paid $4.00 for. 

Another cost saving tip is to keep the wire stems from your paper flowers. You can wind them a little around a thin pipe like something (I use my Kaiser craft file tool handle) to create a vine to place leaves or flowers on. They add some dimension to your pages and are much cheaper than buying vines from Prima.

I really enjoyed designing this page. Once I'd finished and I stood back from it I was really pleased with the result. Romantic Gothic isn't a style I've ever really dabbled in before but I think it could grow on me.

Cheers

Fiona