Maureen and Cecilia

My mother (right) with her younger sister, Maureen in the 1940's

For this layout I used some Blue Fern Studios paper from their Serendipity and Timeless collections and some cream-coloured cardstock.

I used the backside for the background of the layout

I used the backside for the small leafy die-cuts

I coated both sides of the background paper with Liquitex Fluid Matte Medium in preparation for trying some multimedia techniques (last time I tried using clear gesso on the background).   Then I used a stencil with molding paste and sprayed some mist overtop once it was dry.

Prima stencil - Floral Petites

That was a disaster, lol, just like last time, so I wet the misted areas and lifted off most of the colour with paper towel again (luckily, the matte medium prevents the mist from sinking in and staining the paper just like the clear gesso did). I placed the stencil back overtop the stencilled areas and went over them with white paint to make them stand out a bit more since the mist had dulled them slightly.

I splattered the background with watery dark brown paint and Treasure Island Aqua Moonshadow mist by Lindy's Stamp Gang.  I also used the mist to splatter the cream die-cuts.

As usual I layered all the diecuts over a darker version, offsetting them slightly to accentuate the edges.  I traced around the edges of the green leaf die-cuts with a black marker and inked around the cream die-cuts with creamy brown Colorbox Chalk ink.

Cheery Lynn Designs - Canadian Kaleidoscope Doily

Memory Box - Fresh Foliage

Prima - Forest Leaves

The chipboard flourish was painted white then embossed with Imagine Ink Oatmeal embossing powder.

Blue Fern Studios - Whimsy Flourishes

I also added some touches of the Oatmeal embossing powder to the shells (I used an embossing pen so I could just mark small patches on the shells for the embossing powder to stick to before heating). 

The branches, shells and fish were all made with polymer clay and molds and then painted.  I used Sculpey Ultralight for the shells and fish and Premo Sculpey for the branches (the Ultralight clay is too stretchy to get out of the metal branch mold without distorting it too much).  I used a paintbrush to add some of the Treasure Island Aqua mist to the fish to give them an iridescent shimmer.

Lisa Pavelka - Au Natural Border Mold

First Impressions Molds - Fish Set

First Impressions Molds - Mini Seashell Set 1 (unfortunately they no longer make this mold)

I used regular matte gel to glue random patches of Prima Art Stones by Finnabair around the page then added some shading with brown watercolour paint (a mixture of ivory black, alizarin crimson and burnt umber) around the center of the layout and over the Art Stones.

Prima - Art Stones

Prima - Mini Art Stones

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Groovy Glasses

My mother in the 1940's

The photo I used for this layout was cropped and enlarged from one I have scrapped previously of my mother and two of her sisters.  I used Blue Fern Studios papers from their Timeless collection.

I used the backside of this for the background

I used both the front and backside for some of the layers

I used this for some of the layers

I used the backside of this for a small die-cut

I envy scrapbook artists that have a free, spontaneous looking, multimedia style but every time I try to be more adventurous I just seem to wreck paper and shed some tears, lol.  But I thought I'd try applying a layer of clear gesso to the background like I've seen some of them do.  It dulls and darkens the colour slightly and gives it a gritty texture which I wasn't sure I liked.

I used a stencil with modelling paste coloured with Pearl Ex across the corners of the paper.  The colour was darker than I liked so I brushed white paint overtop with my fingertip but then it seemed too subtle so I thought I would try some misting over the stencilled areas to add some contrast.  This is where I almost wrecked the paper.  Luckily I discovered I could wet the misted areas and lift off most of the colour with paper towel to undo the damage (the gesso keeps the water-based mists from sinking into the paper quickly and permanently staining it).  Yay, for clear gesso!  So I decided to stay with the "subtle" look after all.

Prima 2x12 Mask Set

To add some "punch" to the background I used a Mango Gelato (by Faber-Castell) which I scribbled onto the paper and then rubbed with my finger after dipping it in water.  The Gelato did blend a lot more smoothly on the gesso coated background.  I might be more inclined to use that pile of Gelatos I hardly ever touch now.  Another "Yay" for clear gesso, lol.

The background paper and rectangular layers were distressed and inked around the edges.  The die-cuts were layered over a black copy and offset slightly to accentuate the edges.

Spellbinders die - Floral Assortment

The chipboard frame was coated with one mistake after another.  I ended up adding some Chandelier Glimmer Glam overtop which "awoke" some brown mist I thought I had covered up with white paint but I kind of liked the result.   I then traced around the edges with a brown marker to make it "pop" a bit more off the page.

Dusty Attic - Baroque Frame Set - Square

I painted the metal pieces with Vintaj Patina paints and sanded them lightly.

I glued random patches of  Prima glass beads and Art Stones by Finnabair around the layout.

Prima - Glass Beads - Plum

Prima - Art Stones

Prima - Mini Art Stones

I also used a paintbrush to splatter some Burnt Umber Moon Shadow Mist by Lindy's Stamp Gang on the background. I thought the page still needed something so I tried using a stitch stamp between the stencilled areas and the chipboard frame but the result was too subtle to really add any impact.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today!

May

My great-aunt, May

I used an old photo of my great-aunt May, taken sometime in the 1910's.  I'm not sure why she was dressed up like an 18th century boy (perhaps for a game of dress-up or a school play).  I tinted the scanned photograph to go better with the background papers.

For this layout I used papers from the Blue Fern Studios, Timeless collection and some plain brown Basic Grey papers for some of the die-cuts.

I used the backside for the background of the layout

I used the backside for the outer mat of the layout

I used the card on the middle left behind the window chipboard piece

I used the backside for some of the square die-cuts and foliage die-cuts

I used the backside of this for the dark brown large doily
 and mini doily die-cuts and the mat behind the photo

I carefully ripped the Freedom paper, trimmed and distressed the edges before tinting the exposed white core of the paper with some diluted ink.  The pink was a mixture of Milled Lavender and Tattered Rose Distress inks.  I then added a hint of brown ink to the edges ( a mixture of Distress inks I can't quite remember because I tried a bunch of stuff before I got a colour I liked).  I glued the ripped, distressed pieces to the Abode paper with Beacon's 3-in-1 glue (it's messy but I like using this glue because it has some initial tackiness so things stay in place but I also have some time to slide things around slightly if they aren't quite positioned right).

These are the chipboard pieces I used:

Blue Fern Studios - Lisa's Window

Blue Fern Studios- Mixed Chains

Dusty Attic - Elegant Swirl #13

For the window I painted it dark brown and then applied Tattered Rose, Distress Crackle paint.  I rubbed various colours of brown and grey ink overtop to highlight the cracks more (wiping off the excess).  I also used a waterproof brown marker to accentuate the edges.  I then cut  a piece from the Calling Card paper and glued the window on top.  Once this was dry I applied Ranger Glossy Accents into the "window panes" to look like glass.  I weighted the edges of the window down while this was drying because the paper and window started to warp.

I tried heat-embossing the swirl pieces with a couple of different powders but didn't like it so I mixed some paint to roughly match the colour of the window and painted over them. Then I dry-brushed white paint overtop so the colour didn't look so flat.

The small chain piece under the window was heat-embossed with Rust, Embossing Antiquities.  I also used the brown marker to accentuate the edges and dry-brushed it with a little of the same paint I had mixed for the swirls.

These are the dies I used:

Spellbinders - Fleur de Lis Squares

Spellbinders - Floral Assortment

Cheery Lynn - Canadian Kaleidoscope Doily

Cheery Lynn - Canadian Kaleidoscope Tiny Doily

Tattered Lace - Ferns

As usual, I glued all the die-cuts over a dark version (in this case, black) offsetting them slightly to accentuate the edges.  I inked around all the edges as well.  For the brown fern leaves I dipped my finger in the paint I had mixed earlier for the chipboard swirls, tapped off the excess on my craft mat and dragged my finger across the leaves. I also used this paint to highlight the edges of the roses and the details of the metal corner piece at the bottom left of the photo.

At a few random places along the edges of the layout I applied blobs of white glue, sprinkled on some mica flakes, beads, and embossing powder and melted it with my heat gun.  I then glued a bit of netting, a few more flakes and embossing powder and very briefly heated it (the netting will melt and dissolve if too much heat is applied).  A few small flowers were added at the end.

Mica Flakes - Henna

Mica Flakes - Mulberry

Thank you so much for taking a look!