fredag 18 januari 2013

The princess

We're still chillin' today. Little man is still a bit tired after being sick, although he's pretty OK now.  Luckily, noone else has caught the bug so far, but we're not in the clear just yet. So, please keep your fingers crossed for us.

I have a layout for you today, also this one with a background made from stamping in wet texture paste. I have a marvellous set of stamps from Unity Stamps, with ledgers, letters and phrases, and they turned out to be just about perfect for this purpose. I've been misting away on this one too, using different blue and green shades of glimmer mist, and I've also used some acrylic paint to create the blue dots.
I've made this layout after a sketch from Lillblomman (she has the most fabulous sketches, that girl!) The motif is of course my little princess Agnes, when she still had long hair that we could curl. She cut it all off a couple of weeks ago (no point in trying to persuade her not to, when she had put her mind into it), and even though I miss her long hair I think she looks fabulous in her new short bob.
Here are a couple of close-ups. Above, I have used a piece of a fiber glass stripe, you know the ones you put in between the plaster boards to prevent cracks after you have filled and painted the walls. Oh, having an ongoing renovation at the other house sure comes in handy when looking for new ways to create interest and texture on scrapbook pages.
Here you can see how the stamp works with the texture paste. The effect really doesn't show until you have misted the page, but I really love how it turns out, and i'm sure this is a technique I will be using a lot in the future.

Have a nice Friday, and a nice weekend everyone!

torsdag 17 januari 2013

Chillin'

Today is a day for chillin'. My little man has caught a stomach bug, and even though he's through being sick (i hope) we still have to stay at home. So, we're just chillin' with the telly, the iPad and the computer. Oh, well, I'm all over the house as usual, picking up something here, wiping off something there, putting away stuff and all those other little things that mothers do. Once in a while, I pause by an ongoing art project, and once in a while, I'm by the computer printing photos, checking my emails or, like right now, updating the blog.

This little lady was also chillin' on New Year's Eve, in her very best dress (all satin, tulle and glitter, you know), and, as most of the photos I snap of her, this photo ended up on a layout. I went for a vintage feel this time, although I see myself straying away from that more and more, and I used an amazing technique I caught from one of the Creative Jump Start Summit 2013 videos.
I have used texture paste and stamps to create my background, plus a fair amount of gesso and glimmer mist. I really love clustering embellishments and knick-knack together on my layouts, and I love that I can make them blend in, whatever color they were from the beginning. This is such a great way of getting rid of what you have got lying around and never use.
The pretty papers are from Riddersholm Design, and the background stamps are from You-Do.

tisdag 15 januari 2013

In a hurry!

Hi!

Here's just a short post for you today, with a layout I've made using up the very last scraps of one of my favourite Riddersholm Design lines - Huntington Garden.

Now I'm going to hit the sack. I haven't been sleeping a whole lot these last couple of nights - Monday becase I couldn't seem to put away the book I got my hands on, and last night because P was out and about on adventures with the big red fireengine... I never can sleep decently until he's safe back at home on those occasions.So I'm pretty exhausted tonight, and my pillow is calling my name right now, and I can't ignore it for much longer.

Good night, everyone!

söndag 13 januari 2013

Card time!

Hiy'all!

I have a couple of cards for you today! The first one was made for a challenge at Scraptastic Kit Club, where you had to add two tags to your card. This is what I did.
The other one is for my nephew, Samuel, who was christened today. We gave him this card along with a scrapbook album and a promise. My sister, Samuel's mother, doesn't scrap, so it will be up to me to fill it with layouts. I've already tucked a few in there, and I sure got a lot of great photos to scrap after today's ceremony.
 This weekend went by all too fast, and tomorrow it's time to get up early again. So good night!

tisdag 8 januari 2013

Mollys color challenge

I think I might have blogged more times already this year than I did last year in total... almost. Well, here's another post for you today, one more for the cybercrop at Mollys Scrapbooking:
It's an ultrasound picture of baby Samuel, for his baby album. It's made for the color challenge, in which to use kraft, teal and white. I've also added a little red and black to this layout. I've put the picture in a plastic pocket, to keep it safe, and as usual, it's virtually impossible to get a decent photo of it.

New Beginnings

I found a challenge at The Studio Challenges that suited me really well... Yeah, because this is what I should be doing right now - get going. I need to get rid of a few pounds that came sneaking up on me over the holidays, (why does that always happen?) and then keep going to get rid of the rest, that I put my mind to last year. I lost a lot, but there's more to lose, so I'd better get on with it...
I dug out some old October Afternoon papers for this layout. I haven't been buying any new papers for ages, it seams, so I'm kinda running out.

Otherwise, I'm back to work, the kids will be back in school tomorrow, and we're already looking forward to the winter holidays in February... Can't wait!

Have a great day, everyone!

lördag 5 januari 2013

Two gorgeous boys!

Here's a short post for you today, while I'm waiting for the gesso to dry on my latest project, featuring a couple of layouts I made for the ongoing cybercrop at Svensk Scrapbooking. The first one is for the sketch challenge, and it's my amazing Albin times three. I can't tell you just how blessed I am to have this one-of-a-kind smart, kind, empathic and generous little person for my son. I just adore him.
The next one is of the newest addition to our family - my super-cute little nephew Samuel, here cuddling with his sweet sister Nathalie. Isn't he adorable? Look at those dimples! ♥
OK, I think the gesso (trying out a new kind today, which I can tell already won't be a favourite, because it smells horribly) is dry enough for a second coat, so I had better get back to my little project again.

See ya!

onsdag 2 januari 2013

Creative JumpStart 2013


I happened to join in with Natalie Kalbach's Creative JumpStart 2013, and so far, there's been some amazing input there. After watching today's video, this is what I did, using masks and different techniques to create the background. I know, the photo isn't all that great, but you'll forgive me for that, right?
My studio is such a mess right now, and I suppose I will have some serious cleaning up to do before the next video is posted tomorrow.

Have a great night, everyone!

Let's live a colorful life

Here's another challenge from the cybercrop at Mollys. The challenge was to be inspired by this photo, and the twist was not to add anything straight.
I chose to make a full spread in my art journal, where I was inspired by the colors, and the building. I primed the pages with gesso, built up some texture with a brick wall mask and some texture paste, and then I used Distress reinkers to paint my brick walls. After that I added some embellisments, more gesso, and glimmer mist in various colors. I also mixed up some mist of my own from the Distress reinkers to fully match the colors of my brick walls.
I also added some crackle accent, doodling and my fav little stamp, and voila, a spread that is totally unlike me, but it was extremely inpiring to make, and it made me go even further on another art journal project, which I'm extremely happy about, but that I cannot show you just yet. You know, how one thing leads to another, and then you are suddenly sitting in a room which is covered in mists and paints, and you find yourself covered in it too...

I think I'm finally going to go put together that other art journal that I've been thinking of making for ages. I've got the cover all ready, just need to add some pages to it... Luckily, there are still a few days left of the Christmas break, so I have plenty of more time for being creative.