"Cherished" Layout

Good Day everyone!!!!\

My New Year's resolution is to get my albums updated and caught up.  I have 9 grandchildren (updated 4 of them) and must continue on with the rest.  So today I am going to share with you a layout that I did for grandchild #5, who is now 9 years old.  Unfortunately, I keep finding more adorable pictures that I cannot resist adding to the albums.

For this layout I did some very basic background mixed media techniques to accent the background paper I selected.

Here is the completed layout.

To start with, using a spouncer, I applied white gesso in the area that the picture is and coming out to the outside edges.  I then applied white gesso with a spatula and a decorative stencil, again around the area where my picture will be placed.

Next, I sprayed the above gesso'd area with a light pink spray and then here and there with a darker pink spray.  I adhered my picture to a piece of thick chipboard then adhered it to the page just at the centre.  The chipboard raised the picture up so I can tuck things under the edge.

I placed two doilies under the picture at the upper left corner and bottom right corner.  After this I cut out some flower sections from another piece of patterned paper and added these to the left and right side of the picture, slightly tucking them under the edge.

From the same paper that I cut out the flower sections, I cut 6 strips, different widths and lengths and adhered them down so that they look like they are coming out from the bottom edge of the fussy cut flower section on the left of the picture.  I spounced white gesso onto these pieces to help blend them in and then added the same sprays that I did on the background paper.

I added a strip of lace at the bottom of the picture then the rest of the embellishments.

I embossed the Cherish title with white powder and then added some pink mica powder for accent.

At the very end I added my favourite micro beads here and there around the picture and flowers and lightly brushed on white gesso onto the flowers, just on the tips.  A closeup below.

And there you have it.  I have to keep going, so I will be showing you some more layouts soon.

Have a great day and remember

"Happiness" is

Three grand essentials - something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.

"Happy scrapping"

A Winter Scene

Hello everyone!!

Just before Christmas I saw a beautiful wood house made into a wintery theme by Finnibair on her website.  I instantly fell in love with it.  After Christmas I found a heavy cardboard church and house along with some trees, bushes, etc. (were on sale for 80% off) that I really liked, so I decided to make a winter scene of my own.   A lot of people would think that this would be great for a Christmas decor, but since it is still winter, I decided to complete it anyway. The main items I used to complete my scene were lots of heavy gesso, modeling paste, a 12 x 18 white canvas board for the base, white tissue, finely ground gravel, chipboard pieces, glass tiles and a few miscellaneous embellishments.  Here is the completed scene.

Using mod podge, I applied white very wrinkled tissue to the surface of the canvas board to give it texture.  I added modeling paste here and there to look like snow, painted the complete surface with white gesso then sprinkled this with some very glittery glitter while the gesso was still wet.

I have some very finely chopped gravel that I found at Micheal's called Tiny Treasures decorative filler.  I used a generous amount to cover the entire roof of the church.  I mixed the gravel into soft matte gel and applied it using a spatula.  Matte gel medium is an excellent adhesive for things like this.  When dry I painted the entire gravel surface with white gesso.  I also used this for the sidewalk at the front of the church.  I then added modeling paste around the outside edges to act as snow, then sprinkled this with the glitter.  I applied heavy gesso using a spatula to the rest of the church as well as the house.  I used lots as I wanted to have a lot of texture.  I added pieces of decorative chipboard to the front of the church just under the roof line on all sides then I added decorative chipboard pieces to the front windows of the house.  Again for the house, I applied modeling paste and glitter to the edges of the roof as well.  Using a brick stencil I applied heavy gesso the sides of the house.

I accented here and there with different colours of mists using a thin paint brush, not too much, just enough for accenting.  I did use lots and lost of glitter.  Unfortunately it does not show that good in the picture.  The rest is my trees, bushes, fences, sidewalk.   Under the bushes and trees I added green moss to look like grass. I wanted a lot of snow so I applied modeling paste to all the decorative pieces at the fronts of the two buildings.  And there you have it.  Below is a couple of pictures from a different angle.

I currently have it sitting in my living room.  I will put it away when the Easter bunny arrives.

Thank you for viewing my winter scene.  Comments are welcome.

Until next time, this is Donna wishing you a "Happy Scrapping" day.

And remember

"Yesterday is already a dream, and tomorrow is only a vision, but today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of  hope."

Altered Picture Frame

Happy New Year!!!!!

Now that Christmas is over it is time to settle into the new year and create.

I was working on an altered picture frame before Christmas and I have finally completed it and will now share it with you.

I started with a very inexpensive ornate picture frame that I picked up at Ikea some time ago.  Since I never used the frame for its purpose, I decided to alter it in my favourite style - mixed media.

I started out by adhering a decorative wood frame to the centre of the frame and topped this off with a decorative oval resin frame in the centre.  I then painted the entire surface of the frame and wood pieces with black gesso.  

I began adding different embellishments, metal, flowers, glass circles, wood flowers anything I could get my hands on - starting at the centre of the oval frame and adding and tucking here and there.  To adhere everything down I used a product from Prima called "soft matte gel".  This is an amazing product - I guarantee that nothing will fall off when you use this.  I then went to the upper left corner of the actual main frame and the bottom right corner as well and added different items.  When I decided that I had added enough (you can always add more later)  I adhered micro beads here and there, even onto the centre items to give more texture.  Again I painted all the embellishments with black gesso.

I then added sprays - gold, green, blue, silver.  And lastly I did my painting here and there onto the embellishments using various colours - pink, purple, green, blue, etc.  I just kept adding here and there in areas where it needed accenting.  The main paint that I used was from Finnibair (Prima) "art alchemy" acrylic paints.  Without sounding like an advertisement - another amazing product.   Below is the final result with a couple of close-ups.

I hope you have enjoyed this short tutorial.  Lots of new items will be coming your way.

Have a great week and a safe and happy new year.

"HAPPY SCRAPPING"

"Sing and dance and make good cheer, let's make it last throughout the year."