Pick Your Pumpkin Layout & Steampunk Spells Apothecary Cabinet ~ Scraps of Darkness October "Gothic" Kit

Today, I am sharing two more projects created with the Scraps of Darkness October "Gothic" Kit! First up is a minimalist/monochromatic layout and second is an Apothecary Cabinet created with this month's amazing Creativity Add-On.

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Pick Your Pumpkin

I love experimenting with different styles and I decided to try a very minimalist "scene" layout with a monochromatic colour scheme. For this layout, I have used a picture from my son's trip to the pumpkin patch with his daycare. 

I started this layout by using the Crafter's Workshop 12 x 12 Branches template along with some Distress Ink - Black Soot. I just used a sponge and smudged the ink around the edges of the template to create the tree silhouettes. I fussy-cut a corner off the Anna Griffin Bat Die-Cut paper for the top corner.

I have done some selective colouring on the black and white photo so that only the colour of the pumpkin is revealed - so much fun to use photo-editing as an artistic element in your layouts! If you're interested in a tutorial on selective colouring using Photoshop Elements - I have one here. I added some Spanish Moss along the bottom of the layout to make it look like my son is standing in the pumpkin vines picking his pumpkin.....see how the pumpkin vines in the picture run into the moss!? I added in some chipboard Barley Sheaves by Imaginarium Designs. I coloured the chipboard with Distress Stain in Old Paper and Frayed Burlap and then added some Shimmerz Blingz in Gold Glimmer. Finally, I tied the two chipboard pieces together with some twine.

The title letters are also chipboard by Imaginarium Designs - I used the same technique for the title as I did for the Barley sheaves. Then I did some scribbly outlining around the title letters with a fine-tip black Sharpie to help the title stand out.

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Steampunk Spells Apothecary Cabinet

My next project was created using this month's Creativity Add-On, which included an amazing Kaisercraft Shadowbox Unit and papers for Graphic 45's Steampunk Spells collection. 

I had so much fun creating this "Apothecary Cabinet" - I love how it turned out and will definitely be keeping it on display in my craft room! I focused on the papers with Clocks and Gears for the Cabinet - I loved them and they really lent themselves well to the design. 

I puzzled for a bit as to how to put the drawers together, since they came flat and didn't have tabs or anything to attach the sides together. Finally, I decided to use some drywall tape around the outside of the boxes - I love the texture this gave them and it was functional too! I painted and mod-podged the boxes after taping them to help hold everything together and then added  "knobs" made from some of the G45 Chipboard elements!

I wanted the sides to look like peeling billboards - so I cut out two of the labels from the G45 papers and distressed/curled the edges to make them look like posters peeling off a wall.

For the top, I used some mini craft bottles, which I painted orange, green and black withMartha Stewart Glass paint. I tied the necks of the bottles with black twine and added tags from the G45 Chipboard elements. I then dripped black wax over the corked bottles - how cool did that turn out?!?! I added black glitter to a plastic skull and used the larger feather from this month's Main Kit because I thought it looked like a writing quill. Finally, I added a G45 Potions and Charms sign to a chipboard sign post (treated with Distress Embossing Powder in Black Soot to make it look like wrought iron). 

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That's it for me today! I'll have a couple more projects with this kit to share over the next two weeks - only two days until Halloween and my camera is primed and ready to take some awesome shots!

As always, thanks for stopping by my blog!

1st Halloween ~ Scraps of Darkness October "Gothic" Kit

It is that time of the year -- time for the Scraps Of Darkness Halloween Kit Reveal! This October's Kit ~ Gothic ~ is utterly spooktacular! 

And here is this month's Spellbinding Sketch - created exclusively for SOD by the talented Sue Pup:

And here is my take on the sketch:

I started off this layout by using a Prima 12 x 12 mask and some Heavy Gel Medium mixed with the Distress Stickles included in the kit - it was an experiment, but I LOVE how it turned out! Then I did some misting with Lindy's Stamp Gang Glitz Spriz in Royal Amber Fire for a bit more shimmer and some drippy effects. Here is a close-up of the masking/misting.

I fussy cut the 31 from the My Mind's Eye (MME) Happy Haunting Cards paper. I also cut the Chevron paper along the zig-zags for the horizontal border. The Halloween Rhinestone title and glitter letters are from my stash.

I decided to play up the Harlequin pattern from my masking and used two diamonds instead of rectangular strips for my photo mat. I chose a picture of my son from his first Halloween for this layout - I just love the funny face he is making in this photo - and used one of the awesome Pebbles Photo Overlays (Embellishment Add-on) on top of the photo! For the photo cluster, I used some of the MME stickers, the ticket from the Anna Griffin Titles, Tags & Quotes and the Kaisercraft Paper Blooms included in the Main Kit and threw in some small resin roses and rose leaves from my stash. You also see a bit of the gorgeous black lace included in the Embellishment Add-On layered underneath the Chevron paper.

I can't wait to get back to creating with this kit - it is spectacularly fun! As always, thank you so much for stopping by my blog today - I appreciate your visits and comments so much!

Simple Things Matter Most - Mixed Media Art Journal Page - Imaginarium Designs & "Cracked Glass" Frame Tutorial

Hi There! Today, I am sharing a mixed media Art Journal page created for Imaginarium Designs! I used lots of different media on this one - mists, paint, gelatos and some coloured molding paste too! I made this page to remind myself that it isn't the big gestures that matter - it is the little things you do with your children that make a big impact - such as my weekly trip to the library with my son (which he loves) or taking the time to be a parent volunteer on a school field trip! 

I started out this page using Finnabair's 6x6 Doily Mask with some Light Molding Paste mixed with Luminarte Primary Elements Pigment in Mandarin Blush. After that dried, I used Finnabair's 12x12 Fishnet Mask with four colours of Lindy's Stamp Gang mists (Starbursts - Cocoa Bean Copper (SS-18), Edelweiss Moss Green (SS-21); Wild Honeysuckle Coral (SS-22); Lindy's Stamp Gang Moonshadow Mist - Van Dyke Sepia (MSM-24)). I am entering this Art Journal page in the Lindy's Stamp Gang October Color Challenge - I tried to get as close to the colours on the mood board as possible (orange, purple, green and black) - with some brown neutrals and coral tones thrown into the mix! The silver 'mesh' you see on the page (mostly on the left side) is actually some leftover plastic fencing from our garden.

For the title, I first cut the Simple Things Matter Most title into two separate pieces, then I painted each secition in a colour a gradient (purple>coral>orange) with three colours of Luminarte Silks Acrylic glaze (Pomegranate, Coral Berry and Spiced Pumpkin). The frames were coloured with two different tones of green gelatos and then coated with Ranger Crackle Accents - I have a simple tutorial on this technique below! Here is a close-up of the chipboard elements of this Art Journal page.

Imaginarium Designs Chipboard Used

Simple Things Matter Most - IDP0031

Oval Frames - IDT0002

Other Materials Used
Drawing Paper; Masking Tape; Plastic Mesh Fencing; Light Molding Paste; Luminarte Primary Elements Pigment - Mandarin Blush; Prima - Finnabiar - 6x6 Stencil - Doily; Prima - Finnabair - 12x12 Stencil - Fishnet; Lindy's Stamp Gang Starbursts - Cocoa Bean Copper (SS-18), Edelweiss Moss Green (SS-21); Wild Honeysuckle Coral (SS-22); Lindy's Stamp Gang Moonshadow Mist - Van Dyke Sepia (MSM-24); Jolee's Boutique Lace Border (French General); Luminarte Silks Acrylic Glaze - Pomegranate, Coral Berry, Spiced Pumpkin; Prima - Finnabair - Clear Stamps - Harlequin and Book Page; Memento Dye Ink - Tuxedo Black; Prima Sunrise Sunset Paper - Corona; Faber-Castell Gelatos - Pistachio and Lime; Ranger Crackle Accents.
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"Cracked Glass" Frame Tutorial

I thought I would also share a really simple photo tutorial as to how I created the frames on my Simple Things Matter Most Art Journal page.

Supplies:

Imaginarium Designs Chipboard 

Two Colours of Faber-Castell Gelatos (I have used Pistachio and Lime)

Water

Ranger Crackle Accents

1. Start out with your Chipboard and Gelatos.

 

2. Randomly colour the chipboard with the two colours of gelatos.
    (Looks pretty horrific right now, right? Don't worry - it gets a lot better!)

3. Lightly blend the gelatos together with a damp finger (not too wet - or you'll smudge all the colour together and you won't get the two-toned effect we're going for). You may want to add a little more of each colour here and there until you get a good two-toned appearance. It is pretty subtle right now - but wait for the next step!

4. Coat the coloured chipboard with a generous coat of Ranger Crackle Accents. And then wait for it to dry (and wait and wait and wait.....You can use a hair dryer to help speed this along but I don't recommend using a heat gun - the intense heat tends to make the wet chipboard smoke.....I speak from experience.)

5. Finally, the finished "Cracked Glass" frame on the Art Journal Page - isn't it pretty?!

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Well, thanks for sticking with me to the end of this long post - I hoped you like my Art Journal page and tutorial! Don't forget to leave a comment on my post on the Imaginarium Designs Blog for a chance to win some fabulous Imaginarium Designs chipboard! 

Precious Baby Boy - Mixed Media Canvas - Imaginarium Designs

This month for my Imaginarium Designs projects I decided to have some Mixed Media Fun - Finnabair style! Today, I am sharing the first of two projects with you - a Mixed Media Canvas! Check back in a couple of days to see my Art Journal Page!

This mixed media canvas features a sweet photo of my son when he was 4-months old - what a cutie! This canvas was created with the techniques I learned from Finnabair in a class I took with her in July! I just love how this canvas turned out - it is already hanging on my craft-room wall!

All the colour on this canvas was achieved with Starburst mists from Lindy's Stamp Gang, with the exception of the Gold - which is dry-brushed Luminarte Silks Acrylic Glaze (Emperor's Gold). The black/white areas are achieved with black/white gesso. Here are some close-ups of the chipboard so you can see the effects of the misting/gesso/dry brushing.

Imaginarium Designs Chipboard Used

Precious Baby Boy - IDP0083

Hot Air Balloons on Board - IDS0010

Small Clock Face - IDS0036

Balloons Board Small - IDT0010

Monarch Butterfly Small - IDT0031

Lou's Heart Shapes - IDDL0015

Other Materials Used

Q-Artist Quality Stretched Canvas; Lace - Tresors De Luxe Etsy; Mod Podge Matte; A.Mantegna Super Heavy Gel Medium; Lindy's Stamp Gang Starbursts - Wild Honeysuckle Coral (SS-52); Opal Sea Oats (SS-38); Edelweiss Moss Green (SS-21); Prima - Finnabair - Sunrise Sunset Vintage Trinkets, Paper Flowers, Bottle Caps, Metal Flowers, Mechanicals; Prima Resin Feathers; Prima Mini Roses (white); Cousin Glass Pearls; Buttons (stash); White Gesso; Black Gesso; Luminarte Silks Acrylic Glaze - Emperor's Gold.

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I hope you liked this canvas - I had so much fun creating it! Don't forget to leave a comment on my post on the Imaginarium Designs blog for a chance to win some fabulous Imaginarium Designs chipboard!

As always, thank you so much for stopping by my blog today - I appreciate your visits and comments so much!

The Day You Were Born ~ 7 Dots Studio Memories Challenge

Today, I am sharing a layout I created for the 7 Dots Studio Memories challenge. I used the gorgeous 9th Wave collection, designed by Finnabair, to create this layout, along with lots of different media. The pictures were taken the day my son was born, hence the title The Day You Were Born; it certainly was a day of incredible memories!

I started off with the Deep Water page as the base and did some masking with a 12 x 12 Crafters Workshop Stencil (Time Travel) and some Light Molding paste. I then misted the base page with Lindy's Stamp Gang Mists in Jack in the Pulpit Teal (Starburst - SS-30), Van Dyke Sepia (Moonshadow - MSM-24) and Tawny Turquoise (Moonshadow - MSM-22). The chipboard title was also misted with the Tawny Turquoise mist. I then layered some drywall tape, torn strips of the Coral Reef paper and a torn section of the Stormy Sea paper as the background for the photos. I wanted the layout to have a much softer look so I whitewashed all the layers with watered-down gesso. Finally, I drybrushed areas of the papers and the chipboard title with Luminarte Silks Acrylic Glaze in Bolivian Blue and Emperor's Gold. Here are some close-ups of the title and masking.

Finally, I embellished the layout with a mixture of Prima and Kaisercraft flowers/leaves, some Webster's Pages light aqua tulle (dabbed with a little gesso in places), and stickers from the 9th Wave Alpha Stickers that read "Incredible Memories". 

My son is three-years old now, so it is way past time that I scrapped some photos of the day of his birth - I love the soft look of this page - perfect for a beautiful baby boy!

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today! I appreciate your visit and kind comments so much!

Layered Tags ~ Scraps of Darkness

I have one final project to share with you created with the Scraps of Darkness September Kit The Black Album. I created a pair of inspirational layered tags using just the papers and flair buttons from the kit, along with a Prima Doll Tag base (cut down to 6 1/2 inches) some string and ribbon from my stash.

Here is a close-up of each tag. You can see all the layers (six of them) more clearly - I think my favourite layer on these is the fussy-cut frame!

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog - I appreciate your visits and comments so much!

Classes with Ania Dąbrowska - Third Class - 'Spell Book' Art Journal Cover & Pages

I'm finally getting around to sharing the results of the third class that I took with Finnabair in the summer. This was an Art Journal class in which we created the journal cover as well as two journal pages! I had SO much fun in this class - I had always been a little intimidated to venture into Art Journalling, but I loved it and will definitely be using it as a creative outlet a lot more! Here are my finished projects from this fantastic class!

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Art Journal Cover

Front Cover

Back Cover

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You Are My Son ~ Shine - Art Journal Page

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Seek & Find - Art Journal Page

That is it for today! If you would like to see another Art Journal page that I created, click here!

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog - I appreciate your visits and comments so much!