Spring Time

Hi everyone!  Around this time of year, I find myself yearning for spring.  The winters here are long and quiet, with most of the birds having left to go south, to warmer climates.  So I thought I'd make myself happy scrapping some memories of spring weather, and at the same time, show you that the Life Isn't Perfect collection can also be used for happy layouts!  

I chose the background paper because it had a happy feel to me, it tied in with all the water in my photos, and the colours remind me of spring here in Alberta.

To start, I knew I was going to be doing a mixed media layout, so I painted clear gesso over the whole sheet, in case I should want to add any pastes or paints.  (In the end I chose not to.)  Then I took out some new Distress Oxide sprays that I've been dying to use and sprayed them on a piece of water colour paper.  The colours I used were Wilted Violet, Cracked Pistachio, and Fossilized Amber.

This took several layers of spraying and drying, but once I was happy with it I tore it into strips about 1 inch wide and glued it on the patterned paper.  (I did this while the back of the paper was still slightly damp, to make the tearing easier.)

As I work on a project I quite often take a picture of it during the process to see if it is looking the way I'd hoped it would.  In the collage below, I was second guessing myself about whether I should add the daffodil image, but after comparing the two photos side by side, I decided it was a yes!

Another thing I do when I first start working with a paper collection, is to make myself a chart of Copic colours that I feel coordinate with the collection.  Then if I choose to colour an image, as I did with the daffodils, I will have colours that go well with the paper collection.  It's nothing fancy, but it sure helps!

The image that I coloured is a digital stamp by Power Poppy called "Dancing with Daffodils" and let me tell you... I am dancing when spring finally arrives here!!

I love birds, and the wonderful thing about spring here, is the sound of the massive flocks singing their way back to Alberta, where they will nest and raise their babies.  It felt appropriate for me to embellish my layout with some beautiful birds that I created from a kit by gluing layers together and popping them up between each layer with foam tape.  Wild Whisper's wood veneer pieces made a perfect accent for them.  The Spring Time title was created using the Back to Basics Capital Letters  stamp set and stamping with Fossilized Amber Distress Oxide ink.

This glimpse of my other bird embellishment, shows you all the layers that are used to create it.

I think I have pretty "hardy" grandchildren, don't you agree!!  They are playing at one of the playgrounds in town and that big yellow thing in the photos is a slide.  I'm pretty sure that after sitting in an ice cold puddle, a big cup of hot chocolate was next on the agenda!!

Here's looking forward to a happy spring for us all... with lots of puddles to jump in, water to splash, and birds singing in the trees!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Linda

Oh... and a reminder... you have until 11:59 MST time tomorrow night (Feb 28th) to enter Wild Whisper's February challenge.  Go here and join the Wild Whisper Community for lots of inspiration and encouragement.  THEN, go here to enter the challenge.  You don't need to use Wild Whisper products, but if you DO, you receive two entries into the draw.  The prize is a stamp set and package of ephemera... a GREAT way to start your collection of Wild Whisper goodies, if you haven't already!!

Saying Goodbye

Hi everyone!

I'm back with another layout for Wild Whisper!

The "Life Isn't Perfect" collection is so versatile, as I'm sure you've seen with all the projects that have been shared this month.  It covers so many of those hard, difficult stories and my layout today is about one of the sad stories.  Pet lovers all know that there is just never enough time with our dearly loved fur babies.  

Our vet gave us an extra day to spend with Beau, our rescue beagle from Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans; before we had to send him over the rainbow bridge due to cancer that had destroyed his quality of life.  

We fed him french fries, and treats, gave him lots of cuddles, and pretty much allowed him to do everything that had previously been a "no/no"!  Of course we took lots of pictures as well, and I was really touched by this one of my daughter and Beau.  She was his best friend and defender.

To make the layout, I used a cut file from Paige Taylor Evans and backed it with papers from the "Small Patterns" collection.

The sequins from "Crazy Motivated" created such a pretty punch of colour on the flower blooms.

Because I love them so much, I also added the sequins to one of the wood veneer heart pieces!

He was a rascal, but we loved him!

A Valentine's Card - Wild Whisper Style!

Hi everyone!  

With it being Valentine's Day tomorrow, I figured I better get a card made for my husband!

This card is a mixture of papers from "Crazy Motivated" and "Life Isn't Perfect", plus some black cardstock from the "Back to Basics" collection. 

The paper collections all coordinate with each other so perfectly, that you really are able to stretch the number of projects you can make, by making use of your scraps and incorporating pieces from "Back to Basics".

Here are the dimensions for all the layers that were used:

Bottom orange mat - 6"x6"                                                                                        Large black mat - 4.25"x6"                                                                                        Square orange mat - 3.75"x3.75"                                                                              Square black mat - 3.5"x3.5"                                                                                  The heart image was cut out of the die cut page from "Life Isn't Perfect"

I made a round shaker to put over the heart image and filled it with the beautiful "Crazy Motivated" sequins.  Then, I coloured the top of it with Copic Sketch marker E08 to help it blend with the rest of the card.

The sequins are so pretty, that I added them to the top of the card as well and finished off with a piece of cording that I had in my stash.

"#inlove" is a cricut die cut.

I hope you all have a wonderful day tomorrow... sharing love with family and friends. 

Life Isn't Perfect

Hi everyone!  I'm so excited to be sharing my FIRST design team post for Wild Whisper Designs featuring February's collection "Life Isn't Perfect"! 

To create my layout I also used a piece from January's collection "Crazy Motivated", as well as a piece of cardstock from "Back to Basics".

I dug back through the years to find this photo of my granddaughter after she tangled with her bedframe!  This paper collection was perfect for THAT story!

To begin, I thought I'd share with you a bit of the process that I use when I'm planning a layout.  In this case, I started with Creative Scrapbooker Magazine's February Sketch.

Once I figured out what papers I was using, I cut out the centers that wouldn't be showing, in order to have scraps for my journaling and umbrella embellishments.

I cut out a couple of the umbrellas and ran a black copic marker around the edge to make them look more "finished".  In the photo below, the top umbrella has been finished with the marker, and the bottom one has not.  The difference the marker makes is quite dramatic!

To further jazz them up, I applied Ranger's Glossy Accents to the umbrellas and on the white parts of the boxing gloves.  The little flair button "Just Breathe" was the perfect addition.  I don't know if that advice was needed more for her or for her parents!

Then I got playing with the Pineapple Paradise embossing powder and OH MY... what wonderful stuff!  I fell in love and had to hold myself back from putting it on EVERYTHING!!!  It is such a pretty colour and SO sparkly.  

It turned these metal leaves from ho hum to fabulous!

How yummy is THAT!

With a little bit added to the top of the letters, my title now POPS!  

One last peek at the finished layout!

Thanks for stopping by and letting me share with you the fun I had with this paper collection AND the Pineapple Paradise embossing powder of course!

Do stop by Wild Whisper's store and check out "Life Isn't Perfect".  It is perfect for telling those stories that are begging to be told!

Happy creating!