Wednesday, March 11, 2015

March BAP and some fun chipboard tips!


Hi, everyone! Sandi here with you today sharing a very, very quick Build-a-page and then some tips on how I altered my chipboard for my designs this month using the gorgeous Limited Edition Kit. (I do apologize for my photos this month. Even though I work right by the window, these Winter storms are cramping my style! Please bear with me, Spring is right around the corner!)


First, I prepared the paper with some gesso on both  sides of the paper, heat set and then I added texture with a stencil and molding paste. Heat set again. 

 Next I got a general idea what layers and embellishments I wanted to use and where they would be placed. 


 My Blue Fern Studios Grid Pieces chippies were gessoed, misted with Lindy's Stamp Gang Steampunk Sepia mist and then treated with Stampendous Aged Gold Embossing Enamel. This photo shows where I have sprinkled the embossing powder on before pouring the excess back into the jar.





As you can see, I did not emboss both sections until they were totally shiny.  On one of them (on the left),  I have keep large parts of it still chunky because I wanted a gritty kind of texture. Then I later dabbed and flicked my pieces with gesso. See the difference between the two pieces? 


As for the layout,  I next stamped my paper with a text stamp to frame the photo area. I chose a peach Gelato that I intended to use for the project. This photo demonstrates the gelato in 3 states: (far left) scribbled on  and undiluted, (middle) thoroughly diluted as I wanted, and (far right) partially diluted and still in progress. 


Then I worked on my layers in earnest. 


I've inserted this photo because I got this shot during a brief period of sunshine last week.  I changed the LO afterward so I couldn't really use it but I thought it really gives you a better idea of the chunkiness of that embossing powder in it's semi-heat set state. Good enough that it's not going anywhere, though!  

***


On this Lucille Ball layout, my square Blue Fern Studios Grid Pieces chippy was gessoed and then inked with black Staz-on ink. I set that with a heat gun. After that was good and dry, I add some glossy accents in a few random places so that I could adhere some black crushed glass glitter. Yummy! The crushed glass glitter added some fun texture and I am all about texture! 


Can you see it better here? An "in progress" photo. 

***


For this one my Blue Fern Studios Grid Pieces chippies were gessoed, then sprayed with LSG Steampunk Sepia mist which interestingly almost gave it a silver color. Remember that while gesso gives your chipboard "tooth," it also acts as a resist for certain media.  So, I followed with a bit of biscotti ink. I did some spot embossing with Recollections Sparkle Powder. Love that it is subtle but still sparkles and catches the light. 

***


On this last layout I simply used the very flat shiny gold chipboard piece that I created earlier. 

There are endless ways to prepare, alter and treat your chipboard and that is half the fun! One of my favorite things to do with chipboard is to use gesso as my base, then ink or colorize. Finally, I coat it with Glossy Accents and add micro-beads in random spots while your GA is still wet. Oh, so pretty! Ombre-ing with inks is also very effective and pretty in titles! I have a friend who loves using her chipboard in their bare, naked form and they always looks great on her projects!

That about wraps it up for this month! Please let me know if you have any questions! 


Thursday, March 5, 2015

My Creative Scrapbook March Kit Reveal Blog Hop!


Welcome to the My Creative Scrapbook March Kit Reveal Blog Hop!



My Creative Scrapbook is thrilled to celebrate the reveal of our beautiful March kits with an inspiration-filled blog hop complete with beautiful PRIZES!  The design team has prepared a spectacular assortment of projects for you, so be sure to visit each blog to soak up all of the inspiration.

Several prizes are up for grabs!

*** One lucky winner will receive a March Limited Edition kit! ***

*** One lucky winner will receive a March Main kit! ***

*** One lucky winner will receive the assortment of chipboard below, courtesy of our fabulous friends at Blue Fern Studios! ***




>>>>> Here is how you can win <<<<<

Simply visit each of the participating blogs and leave comments along the way. You’ll find the links to the participating blogs at the end of this post.  The prize winners will be randomly chosen from the comments!

Presenting the My Creative Scrapbook March kits:


***

First of all, a big shout out to the gals at Blue Fern Studios!!
 Leslie, Valerie, Patter, thanks so much for having us this month! 
Had so much fun with these awesome products! Xxoo

Here below is what I created with the lovely LIMITED EDITION KIT:

The Limited Edition Kit is full of gorgeous Blue Fern Studios Love Story collection papers, along with some Prima and Marion Smith. The embellishments are so wonderful! Trims, brads, gorgeous metal title pieces, red Petaloo Botanica blooms, Prima Coventry roses (yummy), Prima Stationer's Draft flowers and last but not least Blue Fern Studios chipboard! Yay! 

Layout #1
"This"  (photo credit, Magnolia Adams Photography)

I had promised myself not to use the "A" side of this gorgeous Blue Fern Studios Love Story paper collection ... but in the end, I couldn't help myself! As a designer you want to create something original and different from your team members but the scrapper in me just wanted "pretty." So, pretty, romantic, shabby, that's what this kit is all about for me this time. I do apologize for the quality of my photos this time. We are having terrible winter storms and my little light box (with some photo editing) is doing the best it can!

My BFS Grid Pieces chippy was gessoed and then treated with Stampendous Aged Gold Embossing Enamel and flicked with more gesso. 

close-ups:
***

Layout #2
"Memories" (photo credit, copyright Everett collection)

This is my Lucille Ball layout for the month, a photo shoot from the 1940's. I've been wanting to use this photo for awhile now but haven't found the right papers. This Love Story collection was perfect for documenting this Hollywood photo shoot! With Lucy, I always try to use my Memory box bubbles stencil and my MS vintage lace punch just for consistency. Like anyway but me notices, LOL! 

My square BFS Grid Pieces chippy was gessoed and inked with black Staz-on ink. I set that with a heat gun. After that was good and dry, I add some glossy accents to a few random places so that I could adhere some black crushed glass glitter. The crushed glass glitter added some fun texture and I am all about texture! 

close-ups:
***

Layout #3
"Smile" (photo credit, Magnolia Adams Photography)

I've been needing to scrap this photo for awhile as well. But I have to really be "in the mood" to scrap maternity photos for some reason. I guess they are so meaningful that I want them to be just so-so.  These papers, this Kit, really got the creative juices going though! Even though the Winter storm tried to steal my joy, I trudged on! 

My BFS Grid Pieces chippies were gessoed and then treated with Stampendous Aged Gold Embossing Enamel. On this section, I did not emboss it until it was totally shiny.  I left large parts of it still chunky because I wanted that kind of texture. Then I dabbed and flicked my pieces with gesso. 

close-ups:
***

Layout #4
"Love" (photo credit Katie Van Buren Glymin)

This is the newest little member of our family, born on New Year's Eve! I stole some photos from her mommy's Facebook page! Love these newborn photo shoots! I went with lots of layers, chippies, those fabulous metal pieces, yummy trim and of course, flowers! 

My BFS Grid Pieces chippies were gessoed, then sprayed with LSG Steampunk Sepia which interestingly almost gave it a silver color. Remember that while gesso gives your chipboard "tooth," it also acts as a resist for certain media.  So, I followed with a bit of biscotti ink. I did some spot embossing with Recolletions Sparkle Powder. 

close-ups:


As you can see, there is a lot of product here. Plenty for 4 layered projects. I could probably make a card or 2 with my leftovers but I am out of flowers because I did go all out with my blooms! :) 

That's it for me this month. So on with the Hop … 

***

My Creative Scrapbook is currently accepting new members!
Subscription information can be found here: http://www.mycreativescrapbook.com/kits.htm

Before you go, remember to leave a comment to be entered into the prize drawings!

We would love it if you would follow us on Facebook, too.

The blog hop ends on Sunday, March 8, 2015 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time.
Winners will be announced on the My Creative Scrapbook blog.

The next stop on the blog hop is Marta's blog. Marta is on the Blue Fern Studios team, as well as the My Creative Scrapbook team.

Thanks for coming by! 

Here is the complete blog hop lineup:
Mariusz Gierszewski: http://scrapkiart.blogspot.com/

Monday, March 2, 2015

March MCS Kit Sneak Peeks! It's time!

It's time for our March My Creative Scrapbook Sneak Peeks!  
Please hurry on over to the website to reserve your kits.

Here are the peeks for the Limited Edition kit:


The full Reveal and Blog Hop is on the 5th of March. So see you then! 

I'm so excited about this beautiful romantic Kit! 
It's my all-time fave!