It Was Only a Kiss - Silvia Aussie Scrapper's Awesome Godmother scrapbook layout

Hello Crafty Friends!
I love the way Silvia has used this month of love to create layouts featuring the people she loves most. And today's layout is just brilliant - celebrating her very special Godmother! Those flowers in the pot! Awesome!!!

Wow, I am really loving the core products that Aunty Vera put together, the papers are just so versatile.  Today I wanted to celebrate another very important person in my life my very own Fairy Godmother.  I have been truly blessed to have the best Godmother in the world so the month of February could not go by without me documenting the importance she has in my life.

I picked my photo and I knew immediately what paper I wanted to use.  This paper was perfect not only for my photos but for my godmother's personality,  she absolutely loves gardening and has always had a beautiful garden.

I was unsure how I was going to position my photos but in the end, I decided to matt the photos on some very light pink cardstock that I had in my scraps of paper.  I always like to use my scraps for matting my photos.  I then found this other scrap of paper which was left over from one of my previous layouts and is part of our February core product.  The paper is from Photoplay and its called "live wild"  I love this paper and I sadly now have none left. Its all used up

The layout is looking a bit too clean for my liking so out come the Distress Oxides and its time for a bit of mixed media.  To protect my paper I added some white gesso to my paper to the areas I knew I was going to add some colour to.  I then did the famous packaging technique and I also added some splatters.  Please do not worry it does look like a big mess but the end result is not bad at all.

On this layout, there are going to be a few layers to my project.  I was looking at the stamp set that came in our core products and I loved the swirls that were there so I thought yes a little bit of stamping is always fun so I grabbed a stamping block and had some stamping fun.

looking like a hot mess you might say but will I stop there?  One more layer.  I am now eyeing the Inka gold that I chose as my choice product and I am thinking oh yes some stencilling in gold would be perfect and I knew exactly what stencil I wanted to use.

I put this hot mess aside to dry and I am now going to work on my masterpiece that I have been dying to do.  It's my godmother so I definitely need flowers on this layout and I knew I wanted to make some with my new "toy" the flower soft.

I had some wire in my stash so I coloured the wire with some Nuvo green mouse and when the mouse was dry I used some strong double-sided tape to wrap around my wire and then dipped it into some flower soft, I used my finger to really squash the flower soft on to the tape.  I love the texture this gives and I must say I love my little creation. 

In my stash, I also had these printed pots plants that have been sitting there for well over a decade and I immediately knew I was going to use them on this layout so I picked out one pot plant and fussy cut it out.  I now have to adhere my little flowers to the pot somehow so I thought I would use this strong double sided tape and it was fantastic.  I Just added a strip of tape to the pot plant and then the wires stuck to the tape.  Once I was happy with the placement of my flower I added another strip of tape on top of the wires and this helped to adhere this to my page.

I glued down my matted photos and it was time to work on the title.  I did not have the right coloured thickers or letter in my stash so, in the end, I decided to use the word "awesome" that was a glittery bright green colour and alter it to suit my layout.  I did like the glittery green but I wanted to tone it down so of course, I used my chosen product the lovely "Inka gold".  I just used my fingers to rub it on the letters and I love the end result.

For the word Godmother, once again what I had did not work so I chose a font I liked in my thickers collection and then used some of my Nuvo mousse to change to colour to green and then I went over it with the Inka Gold so that it tied in with the layout.

The last step was to just put the layout together by glueing everything down.  Here my dear patient friends is the end product.  I hope you like it.  Now all I need is to have my fairy Godmother come and clean my craft room.

It Was Only A Kiss - Wendy's Fun Layout in My Picture Diary

Hello Crafty Friends!
here in Aunty Vera Land we are all firm believers that memory keeping doesn't only happen in a photo album. Today Wendy shares a wonderful layout from her Picture Diary..... what a fabulous idea!

Hello Everyone,

Today I thought I would like to have a play working in my Picture Diary. This is a handmade journal I made during a challenge recently and I started using it as a place to keep my family pictures, mainly of my grandchildren. I also wanted to try out some of the other items Aunty Vera had sent me this month: the Lawn Fawn's Valentines Border Die and the Kaisercraft Film Strip stencil.

What you will need:
* Valentine Border Die set
*Film Strip stencil from Lawn Fawns
*Tim Holtz Distress Ink-colour of your choice I used chipped saphire
*double-sided tape and wet glue
*scrap cardboard
*Photo Play Element Sticker Sheet
*...and of course your diary or journal.

Let's Get Started....!

 I used some white scrap cardboard to cut out the Valentine Border die which is such a very pretty die.  I used the die as a whole and didn't break it up. Using it on the scrap cardboard gave me the right size to add a little pocket in my diary. While I had my Big Shot out I also used the die to edge some coffee dyed papers. The edges turned out so lovely.

After the small amount of prep work, I grabbed my picture diary  and used glue to adhere my pocket on the right side page.  For my background I inked through the Film Strip stencil from Kaisercraft. I decided to use the Tim Holtz Chipped Saphire Distress Ink to stay in the bluish colours, which is throughout my diary. The stencil added a wonderful background detail to my page.

Then it was a matter of placing the photos I wanted to use of my granddaughter on the page. I did round the corners on the pictures and used a black gel pen to do some scrbbles around each picture. I made sure I left enough room to do some writing and as an added touch, I used some of the stickers from the Photo Play elements sticker sheet. I also had one set of lips left over from a previous project that I decided to use on the page as well. I like the way my layout turned out and each photo brings a wonderful memory for me with my cheeky little granddaughter.

You may like to watch the video process which is below:

Have a great day!

It Was Only a Kiss - Aussie Scrapper Silvia's XOXO Layout

Hello Crafty Friends!
Another brilliant scrapbook layout from Silvia today.... I really do need to get back into scrapbooking!! I so love the textures and mixed media approach that Silvia has to her layouts. And 'Wild Love' is proving such a fun and versatile collection for beautiful family love themed pages.

I cannot believe it, its nearly the end of February and I am onto my 4th layout for this wonderful collection Vera put together and in my head I am planning my 5th layout but I know I would have exceeded my "quota" but Vera this is a wonderful collection and truly is an "evil enabler".  Enough rambling and let's get started...
This layout came together super quickly.  I had picked my photo and the first paper to jump out at me is:  XOXO

Just have to say "I love this paper"

My next step was to matt my photo using scraps of cardstock I had. I was trying to go off the colors in my photos, so since my boy is wearing his dad's blue beanie and a red jumper, these are the colors I go for, I wanted a bit of a distressed look so I tore my paper instead of using a trimmer.  From the sticker sheet, I used the "love you" and mounted it on some blue cardstock then stuck it down, still from the sticker sheet I used the row of xoxoxo and cut it into strips to add it to bottom middle.

Next, I took some gesso and applied it to the 'xoxoxo' paper as a protective layer and I also wanted to tone down some of the paper.  I only applied the gesso to the middle of the paper.  Once the Gesso was dried I then decided some more blue was needed so I added some Nuvo mouse using a scraper tool and randomly applied it to the center. 

I must say I am loving the flower soft so I scrapped some glue onto my paper and sprinkled the red flower soft.  I love the texture that it adds.  I then glued my photo down.  My final touches were to add the love heart and bear both are from the sticker sheet.  The red and black circles are from a die swap I participated in last year on the Aunty Vera facebook group.

I love how this layout came together so really quickly.  My brain is quickly working on my next layout so off I go to create some more.  This evil enabler kit has created a scrapbook monster...

It Was Only A Kiss - Wendy's Mini Cards

Hello Crafty Friends!
Everyone loves Happy Mail! And todat Wendy has a great tutorial for special mini cards to send out with your Happy mailings. SO adorable!!

Hello Everyone,

Today's project is a very easy fun technique making some mini 'snail mail' cards to add to any parcel you want to send such as happy mail or even a 'thinking of You' card. The technique is actual a mouthful to say, and is called 'monochromatic retiform'. But don't let the name put you off trying it, it's actually quite easy and heaps of fun!

What you will need:
*mini cards with envelopes to fit: really any size you wish to use, I chose 8cmx8cm
*scrap cardboard with a straight edge
*Stazon Ink pad: any colour, mine is Blazing Red
*Stazon Ink Pad- Jet Black
*Bouquet of Hearts Stamp Set
*a make-up sponge or ink dabber
*scissors
*a permanent marker
*dimensional tape or double-sided tape

Let's Get Started:

Decide on the shape you want to use. I use a triangle as it seems to be the easiest for me. Using the scrap cardboard's straight edge, line up your first triangle shape. Gently rub the blazing red ink along the edges of the triangle making it darker on the outer sides and lighter towards the center of your shape. Then move your scrap cardboard so you have your next triangle shape on your mini card and repeat the process until you have a whole lot of triangle shapes with dark edges to lighter in center on your card.

Once the front of your card is full of triangle shapes. Choose the stamp to make a repeat pattern using the same coloured ink. I used the small flower with stem from the Bouquet of Hearts Stamp Set. I used the scrap cardboard as a guide so I didn't stamp the image over the lines of the adjoinging triangle. The focal stamp images is to be stamped only in the center of your shape and not over the edges.

That is the base of the front of your card done and now it's a matter of stamping a sentiment on some scrap cardboard. I used the jet black stazon ink pad with the sentiment 'Thinking of You' stamp from the Bouquet of Hearts stamp set. I used a black permanent marker to go around the edges of my sentiment and stuck it onto the front of the card with dimensional tape.

To make the envelope match to the cards, I used the same flower stamp and stamped it a few times on the envelope. I also stamped the 'Snail Mail' sign onto a scrap piece of cardboard, black markered around the edges and glued it onto the envelope using double-sided tape. The "snail mail" stamp from the Bouquet of Hearts stamp set is so gorgeous and I think it will be one of my favourite stamps to use when sending out Happy Mail to friends.

The finished cards look so cute and would be a great addition to any mail sent by you.

You can watch the tutorial on video below:

You all have a great day!

It Was Only a Kiss - Aussie Scrapper Silvia's Love My Family Scrapbook Layout

Hello Crafty Friends
How great is it having a scrapper on the Team?
Family love is the theme to Silvia's project this week. I love the way she has incorporated so many products from her evil enabler box to create this mixed media layout!

Time is just flying past and I cannot believe this is my third layout for the month of February..the month of LOVE.. .I hope you are all spreading love to all friends and family and everyone.  I love this collection Aunty Vera picked and how versatile it is to celebrate all the different types of love.

For today's layout, I wanted to celebrate the love of family and I knew that I wanted to somehow incorporate the stamp that was part of the core products and I wanted to play with the flower soft that I chose...so off I went in search of a photo to scrap.  I knew that the photo would have to somehow coordinate with the red flower soft or red would have to be the contrasting colour.


Once I picked my photo, my next step was to pick the matching papers and I just fell in love with this paper from photoplay called "thief of hearts".  Very appropriately named because this little trio has most certainly stolen my heart.

Paper picked, and after a long thinking process, I decided mixed media was the way to go.  I go a piece of white cardstock from my stash and using my trimmer I  trimmed about half a centimetre off all four sides so that I could matt it on this paper.

I felt so guilty wasting all this beautiful paper for just matting so once again using my trimmer I gutted the inside of the paper so I could use it again somehow on this project.

How do I use the rest of this paper? hmm, let's see what is in the evil enabler box from Aunty Vera...

Oh! look the lawn fawn die set.  Inspiration hits and off I go to get my cuttlebug.

First I mount my photo on some white card to help it pop. I chose to once again use the hearts die from the valentines border die set.  I wanted to create a border of hearts using the remainder of my paper. These dies are about 1mm too long for the cuttlebug. When I put it through the machine they skewed up and my border on the top right went wonky.  I let out a few good words and then decided to just go with the flow and make do.. I like the end the result and I like that it's not perfect

I am now eyeing off the sticker sheet and I just love the XOXO but its the wrong colour.  No worries I will change it to suit my needs.  I get my gesso and start applying a layer of gesso, for some reason I start patting the gesso with my finger and this creates all these beautiful little bubble designs and my brain starts thinking steel and concrete. I get my heat tool and dry my bubbly gesso.  To colour my XOXO I use a layer of distress oxides in Iced spruce but that does not give me the look I want so I then apply some Mister Huey's colour mist in the Silver.  LOVE IT!

I now wanted to add some silver to my layout but I had no silver paper or a nice shade of grey cardstock so being me, I get to work.  Mister Huey is saying use me use me so I get a piece of white scrap cardstock and paint it silver.  This will now become a matt for beautifully cut border hearts and it will help to make the hearts stand out.

I am now starting to remember that I wanted to use the stamp from Pink Fresh called "Bouquet of Hearts" and I remembered that I wanted to play with the flower soft.  I decided that I would just stamp the image and see where it leads to.  I decided to use some old markers I had in my stash to colour in the image and then I got then that the idea to add the red flower soft to all the hearts.  I decided the best way to do this way to paint some glue onto the heart using an old paint brush and then sprinkle the flower soft onto the heart.  I let this dry naturally while I went for a walk and then I fussy cut the image out

My next step is to work on the white cardstock so I decide on the packaging technique using some spray mist.  I needed to add some orange to tie in with my daughter's tee shirt and some green.  I found a stencil in my stash and added some texture with some embossing paste.

The layout is finally coming together.  I have adhered my photo to my lovely new background paper and once again from the sticker I chose the navy blue banner to add to right-hand corner with the very appropriate words "love you beary much".  I have also adhered the XOXO.

I randomly added some glue about the page and then sprinkle some of the flower soft.

The title will be on the right corner and I just chose the word love from the sticker sheet.  I added the curved arrow and colourful arrows up the top are also from the sticker sheet.  Down the bottom, I just added the two words my family from the Tim Holtz word sticker book and to tie it in with the layout I just painted the words in orange.

My final touches were to add the balloon and love heart banner which is also from the sticker sheet and of course I adhered down my stamped image of the lovely bouquet of flowers that I am presenting to my family.

That my friends is the completed layout.  I hope you enjoyed the process and remember that the papers, sticker sheet, the stamp set, the lovely valentines border die as well as the flower soft are all from Aunty Vera Scrap and Craft and can all be found at discounted prices on her website, so happy shopping and till my next layout I wish you all the very best of everything.

Please click HERE to direct you to my Youtube process video.

xx Silvia

It Was Only A Kiss - Wendy's Art Doll Journal Page

Hello Crafty Friends!

Wendy has a fabulous and wacky project for us today - I so totally love it!! An art journal page featuring her brilliant art doll........ I'm so inspired!!! 

Hello Everyone,

Time to get 'wacky' with a hand drawn paper art doll using left over scraps from the Photo Play papers.

What you will need:

*scrap papers from Photo Play

*white scrap cardboard (for lips)

*double sided tape

*glue stick or wet glue

*a black and white marker

*WOW embossing powder-Primary Red

*Distress Embossing Ink

*threads for hair

*button for belt buckle

*your choice of paints (for journal page)

*paint brayer (optional)

*hole punch for hair

To start you need to design your art doll on some paper. You can make it as 'wacky' as you like, the 'wackier' the better. Below is my sketch of the art doll I will be using.

Once you have decided on the design of your art doll. You cut out the main pieces and make a template from them by gluing them down on to some recycled cardboard. So I cut the head in two and the body shape, then cut the eye shape and nose shape as well as the mouth shape.

Having my templates of all the bodily parts, I then traced them on to the Photo Play scrap papers and used double sided tape to hold the cut out pieces together, in the shape of the doll.

Putting my doll to the side for awhile, I then began to work on my journal page background. Using the brayer to spread some paint in green, white and yellow as a base. The background was a little boring, so I added some circles using recycled tape centers and coloured the circles with my finger using some bright red, orange and greens. To finish off the background on my journal page, I went round the circles with a white signo pen and drew a border using a black paint marker.

When I was happy with my journal page background, I put it aside for it to dry and did some detail work on my art doll. I punched some holes around the top of the head to tie in some fibers for the hair, then using the black marker edged around the side of the doll. I also used both black and white marker to put some dot details around its eyes, drew on a belt and glued a heart shaped button on the belt as a buckle.

To make the rosey red lips: This is a rather easy process. I wanted the lips to be as rosey as possible so I used the WOW embossing powder in Primary Red. I drew the lips shape and cut it out of white scrap cardboard. Then pressed the lips in to the Distress Embossing ink and then sprinkled the lips with the Primary Red Embossing powder. Then gave it a blast with my heat tool. I did have to do this process twice to get an even coverage over the lips. I used the dimensional tape to place the lips on the face. They turned out gorgeous, heehee!

Now, it was time to glue my art doll on to my page and did this with a wet glue and double-sided tape for extra strength.

I made a few extra embossed lips and also added them to the bottom of the journal page. My little guy was giving away his kisses! On the left side of my layout I hand wrote, "It Was Only A Kiss" and my journal page art doll was finished.

Below are a few close up pictures of the finished layout.

You can watch the whole process from start to finish below.

I hope this has inspired you to go have some fun and create your only unique Art Doll.
xx Wendy

It Was Only A Kiss - Wendy's Heart Boxes

Hello Crafty Friends!
I love little gift bags and gift boxes.... they are always such fun and so handy for special little gifts.
So I went SWOON SWOON SWOON over Wendy's little heart boxes. How sweet!
Do you love the one with the handles or the one with the fiber thread the most? For me it's the red fibre... really makes these LOVEly boxes even more special looking!

Hello Everyone,

Today I was still in the mood to play with the wonderful paper from Photo Play and wanted to do a project that was fun, easy and quick. I searched Pinterest for a free downloadable  heart box  template and was quite surprised to find one straight off the bat.

What you will need for this cute heart treat box:
*a free printable from pinterest
*a Crop-o-dile
*Blazing Red Stazon ink
*Photo Play Crazy for you paper
*Elements sticker sheet called Wild Love
*double sided tape
*some thread or twine for decoration
*small brads to attach handles
*small piece of cheese cloth or fabric

 Then I used the template to cut the shape from The Photo Play 'Crazy for you' paper and folded the paper on the marked fold lines and that gave the shape of the heart box. I inked the edges of the heart box shape with the Stazon Blazing Red Ink and was now ready to decorate the front and back of the heart. I decorated the heart shapes before I folded and adhered the box together, it just makes it a little easier.

 I used the cute little bunnies and the heart banner stickers to decorate the hearts. For a little bit more texture I also used a small piece of cheese cloth under the bunny images.

Then added double-sided tape to the bottom small flap as well as the side flap (picture below) and put the heart shaped box together. It is a very easy process when you have previously folded the edges.

When the box was put together, I cut two 1 inch wide strips of the paper folded them in half and I used  these strips for the handles on the heart box. I punched the holes using my crop-o-dile on each side front and back and used some small brads from my supplies to fix the handles onto the box.

With the first little heart box being so simple to make, I decided to make another one using the same paper and process but using some of the other stickers from the Photo Play Elements Sticker sheet for decoration. Instead of making the handles, I tried something different and used some red fiber thread from my supplies to tie the heart box together at the top (below).

 This is such a super fun and easy project and when finished you can add your favourite sweets in it and give it to that someone special.

You can watch the process video here:

I hope you enjoyed this fun project.

Wendy Mason